5th May 1260: Kublai Khan declared Mongol Emperor

On 5th May 1260, Kublai Khan was declared Emperor of the Mongolian Empire.  A grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai reigned for 34 years and established the Yuan dynasty that was the first non-Han dynasty to control the whole of China.  This is significant, because the Mongols were traditionally a nomadic tribe who ruled by the sword rather than diplomacy. The area governed by Kublai Khan was enormous, sweeping from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Black Sea in the west, and from Afghanistan i...