Military of the Yuan dynasty

The military of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) were the armed forces of the Yuan dynasty, a fragment of the Mongol Empire that Kublai Khan established as a Mongol-led dynasty of China. The forces of the Yuan were based on the troops that were loyal to Kublai after the Division of the Mongol Empire in 1260. Initially, this force was a Tamma, a frontier army drawn from all Mongol tribes for conquest of China, which had no central organisation but was rather a loose collection of local warlords and Mongol princely armies. However, the army was gradually reformed by Kublai Khan into a more systematic force.

Army Organisation

Unlike previous Chinese dynasties that strictly separated military and civilian power, the Yuan administration of military and civil affairs tended to overlap, due to the traditional Mongol favour for the military over civilian affairs. This practice was harshly criticised by the Han Chinese scholar-officials at the time. Military officers were allowed to pass on their positions to their sons or grandsons after death, retirement or sometimes even after a promotion. Due to their Mongol background and unlike the previous Chinese dynasties, the Yuan granted feudal fief appanages with accompanying serfs throughout North China to military leaders, whether Mongol, Middle Eastern/Central Asian or Han. The conflict between these military nobles with the Imperial government was a persistent feature until the end of the dynasty.

Coming from a fully militarised culture, the Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty attempted to replicate elements of their own military in Chinese society.