Middle Ages
Great Buddha of Kamakura: The Bronze Amida Buddha (1252)
The bronze statue was completed in the 13th century and has stood in the open air since its hall was lost in the 14th and 15th centuries; it is a National Treasure of Japan.
Region
Asia
Middle Ages
William of Rubruck's Journey to the Mongol Court (1253-1255)
Rubruck reached Möngke's court and returned with a detailed eyewitness report, but no alliance or mission resulted.
Middle Ages
Xanadu (Shangdu): Kublai Khan's Summer Capital (1256)
Shangdu served as the Yuan dynasty's summer capital for about a century before being burned in 1358; its ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Middle Ages
Ilkhanate: Hulagu Khan's Mongol Realm in Persia (1256)
A Mongol dynasty ruled Iran and Iraq for about eighty years, converted to Islam in 1295 and broke apart after 1335.
Middle Ages
Mongol Invasions of Dai Viet (1258-1288): Tran Hung Dao
All three Mongol-Yuan invasions were repelled; Dai Viet kept its independence while sending nominal tribute to the Yuan court.
Middle Ages
Toluid Civil War (1260-1264): Kublai Khan Versus Ariq Böke
Kublai won and Ariq Böke surrendered in 1264, but the Mongol Empire split into rival khanates that never again acted as one.
Middle Ages
Khanbaliq (Dadu): Kublai Khan's Capital at Beijing (1267)
Dadu became the Yuan dynasty's main capital and laid out the core of the later city of Beijing.
Middle Ages
Battle of Xiangyang (1268-1273): The Mongol Siege of the Song
Mongol victory; Fancheng was stormed and Xiangyang surrendered in 1273, opening the Yangtze valley to the conquest of the Song.
Middle Ages
Kublai Khan and the Founding of the Yuan Dynasty (1271)
Kublai founded the Yuan dynasty, conquered the Song by 1279 and became the first non-Chinese ruler of all of China.
Middle Ages
Mongol Invasions of Japan (1274 and 1281): The Kamikaze
Both invasions failed; Japan remained independent, but the cost of defence weakened the Kamakura shogunate.
Middle Ages
Marco Polo in China: A Venetian at Kublai Khan's Court (1275)
Marco Polo spent about 17 years in Yuan China, and his book became medieval Europe's most influential account of Asia.
Middle Ages
Gaocheng Observatory: Guo Shoujing's Yuan Star Tower (1276)
A giant gnomon tower that supplied precise solar measurements for the Shoushi calendar of 1281, used in China for more than 360 years.