Power, economy, and culture on the Mongol steppe in the Yuan era : the case of Qara Qorum

Qubilai (1215-1295) and his Yuan dynasty (1260-1388) brought critical change to the Great Mongol Empire. The Empire broke down into several parts. Different lines of descendents of Č̆̆inggis Qan struggled for the Qaγan reign of the Great Mongol Empire. The Yuan dynasty of Qubilai's lineage succeeded in gaining the core part of the Empire, i.e. the Mongol Steppe and also the whole of China proper. The Yuan rulers were both the Qaγan of the Great Mongol Empire and the Emperor of the Chinese dynasty. Scholars have researched in depth how the Yuan emperors proved themselves, as a non-Han-Chinese people, to be the legitimate Emperors of China proper. However, it seems that there are relatively few studies about how the Yuan dynasty showed that it was the true successor of the Great Mongol Empire. How did the Yuan Emperors prove themselves to be the Qaγan of the Mongol Empire after they migrated to their new capital inside China-proper? Indeed, proving legitimacy is one of the ways for the ruler to show his absolute power towards the public. How did the Yuan dynasty show its absolute power towards the public in the Mongolian steppe? At the same time, the Yuan government tried to influence the public but the public had its own response. Did the Yuan government's methods work efficiently? As the Mongols totally controlled the whole of China, there was no more resistance or obstruction in exchanging commodities. Was there then any critical change in the life of the Mongol nomads? This thesis does not directly describe the life on steppe but rise out some interesting and important questions on it. The backbone of my thesis is the interaction between economy and political power during the Mongol-Yuan era. The goal I want to obtain is the life on the Mongolian Steppe under this interaction