The Mongol Empire at its greatest extent included all of modern-day
Mongolia,
China, much or all of
Russia,
Ukraine,
Cilicia,
Anatolia,
Georgia,
Armenia,
Iran,
Iraq,
Korea,
Afghanistan,
Central Asia, parts of
Burma,
Romania and
Pakistan. In the meantime, many countries became vassals or tributary states of the Mongol Empire.
European vassals and tributary states •
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the nominal vassal. However, Mongols under
Orda and
Burundai successfully invaded southern regions of Lithuania in 1241 and in 1259 (Later
Nogai),
Jogaila,
the Grand Duke of Lithuania and the King of Poland, officially acknowledged
Tokhtamysh as overlord in 1382 after the fall of the Yuan in 1368. The Mongols of the
Golden Horde always counted the Lithuanians among their subjects, and Tokhtamysh demanded the Lithuanian ruler for him to collect taxes from
Kiev (then under Jogaila and his successors) for his campaign against the
Timurids. • A number of Russian states, including the
Republic of Novgorod,
Pskov and
Smolensk. Batu Khan could not reach northern part of Russia due to the marshlands surrounding city-states such as Novgorod and Pskov in 1239. But the combined effects of
Alexander Nevsky's diplomacy, Mongol threats and invasions by the
Teutonic Knights, forced Novgorod and later Pskov to accept the terms of vassalage. In 1274, the last of the
Russian principalities became subject to the Horde of
Möngke-Temür. The khans considered the Russian principalities to be part of their dominion and therefore took censuses in order to tax the people who lived there. Although direct rule was not imposed, the
grand prince of Vladimir, the leading Russian prince, was closely supervised and the khans later placed the throne in the hands of
Moscow. •
Byzantine Empire. When an Egyptian diplomat was arrested by emperor
Michael VIII Palaiologos, Sultan
Baibars insisted his ally
Berke Khan to attack the Greek Empire. In the winter of 1265
Nogai Khan led a Mongol raid on Byzantine
Thrace with his vassal Bulgaria. In the spring of 1265 he defeated the armies of Michael and freed the diplomat and former Seljuk sultan
Kaykaus II. Instead of fighting, most of the Byzantines fled. Michael managed to escape with the assistance of Italian merchants. After this Thrace was plundered by Nogai's army, and the Byzantine emperor signed a treaty with Berke of the
Golden Horde, giving his daughter
Euphrosyne in marriage to Nogai. Michael also sent much valuable fabric to the Golden Horde as a tribute thereafter. But after that event, the imperial court of
Byzantium developed and retained a policy of good relations with both the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate, which became allies against intrusion of the Mamluks of Egypt and the Ghazi emirs of Anatolia. •
Second Bulgarian Empire. During the end of Mongol invasion of Europe, the
Bulgarians under
Ivan Asen II tried to destroy Mongol tumen. But
Kadan's raids through Bulgaria on his retreat from Central Europe induced the young
Kaliman I of Bulgaria to pay tribute and accept Mongol suzerainty. According to a letter of
Béla IV to the pope written in 1254 indicates that at that time the Bulgarians were still paying tribute to the Mongols. •
Kingdom of Serbia. After the Vietnamese captured Mongol envoys sent to ask a route to attack Southern China, the Mongol forces invaded the
Trần dynasty in 1257. The Mongols routed city defenders and massacred inhabitants of capital Thăng Long (
Hanoi). King Than Tong agreed to pay tributes to Möngke Khan to spare his country. At the same time, the Mongols were unable to withstand the tropical heat, mosquitoes and malaria. So they retreated after securing a promise of tribute from the king. When Kublai Khan demanded full submission of the dynasty where Mongol darughachis were well received before, the relationship between two states deteriorated in 1264. The Mongols then launched two large-scale invasions in 1285 and 1288, both were repulsed. But the king of Đại Việt or Trần dynasty eventually accepted Mongol
suzerainty to avoid further conflicts. •
Champa. •
Small states of the Malay Peninsula. Kublai sent surrounding nations his envoys to demand their submission in 1270-1280. Most of states in
Indo-China and Malay accepted the demand. According to Marco Polo, those subjects sent tribute on to the Mongol court, including
elephants,
rhinoceroses, jewels and a tooth of
Buddha. One notable scholar identified that these acts of submission were more ceremonial in some regard. During the
Mongol invasion of Java in 1293, small states of Malay and
Sumatra submitted and sent envoys or hostages to them.
Native people of modern
Taiwan and
Philippines helped the Mongol armada but they were never conquered.
East and Central Asian vassals and tributary states •
Kingdom of Goryeo. The
Mongol invasions of Korea consisted of a series of campaigns by the Mongol Empire against Korea, then known as Goryeo, from 1231 to 1270. There were six major campaigns at tremendous cost to civilian lives throughout the Korean peninsula, ultimately resulting in Korea becoming a
semi-autonomous vassal state of the Mongol Yuan dynasty for approximately 80 years. The Mongol Empire and the Kingdom of Goryeo tied with marriages as Mongol princesses were married to Korean Kings, while Mongol Emperors took many Korean women as concubines. A Korean woman called the
Empress Gi became an empress through her marriage with
Ukhaantu Khan, and her son,
Biligtü Khan of the
Northern Yuan dynasty, became a Mongol Khan. King
Chungnyeol of Goryeo married a daughter of Kubilai Khan, and marriages between Mongol and Korea continued for eighty years. The Goryeo dynasty survived under Mongolian influence until King Gongmin began to push Mongolian garrisons of the Yuan back starting in the 1350s. Goryeo was the lowest rank vassal of the Mongols, below the Karluks and Uighurs, because the Koreans surrendered last. •
Kingdom of Qocho, a Buddhist Uighur Kingdom. When the Mongols placed the Uighurs of the
Kingdom of Qocho over the Koreans at the court the Korean King objected, then the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan rebuked the Korean King, saying that the
Uighur King of Qocho was ranked higher than the Karluk Kara-Khanid ruler, who in turn was ranked higher than the Korean King, who was ranked last, because the Uighurs surrendered to the Mongols first, the Karluks surrendered after the Uighurs, and the Koreans surrendered last, and that the Uighurs surrendered peacefully without violently resisting. • The
Karluks. •
Maharajah of Yunnan. King Duan Xingzhi of Dali was then enfeoffed as
Maharaja (摩诃罗嵯) by the Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan, and the Dali Kingdom Duan royal family continued to hold the title of Maharaja in Yunnan as vassals to the Mongols. After the
Ming dynasty conquered Yunnan from the Yuan, the Duan royals were shipped off to the Ming capital of Nanjing by the
Hongwu Emperor. • The
indigenous people of Sakhalin. The Mongol forces made
several attacks on Sakhalin, beginning in 1264 and continuing until 1308. Economically, the conquest of new peoples provided further wealth for the tribute-based Yuan dynasty. The
Nivkhs and the
Oroks were subjugated by the Mongols. However, the
Ainu people raided Mongol posts every year. The Ainus finally accepted Mongol supremacy in 1308.
Middle Eastern vassals and tributary states •
Principality of Antioch and County of Tripoli. The small crusader state paid annual tributes for many years. The closest thing to actual Frankish cooperation with Mongol military actions was the overlord-subject relationship between the Mongols and the Franks of Antioch and others. Mongols lost their vassal and ally
Franks as the fall of
Antioch in 1268 and
Tripoli in 1289 to the Mamluks. •
Empire of Trebizond. The
Seljuks and the military forces of Trebizond were
defeated by the Mongols in 1243. After that,
Kaykhusraw II, the Sultan of
Iconium was compelled to pay tribute and supply annually horses, hunting dogs, and jewels. The emperor
Manuel I of Trebizond, realizing the impossibility of fighting the Mongols, made a speedy peace with them and, on condition of paying an annual tribute, became a Mongol vassal. The empire reached its greatest prosperity and had opportunity to export the produce of its own rich hinterland during the era of
Ilkhans. But with the decline of Mongol power in 1335, Trebizond suffered increasingly from Turkish attacks, civil wars, and domestic intrigues. ==See also==