Kublai Khan Kublai Khan Kublai (; , "Hubilai"; Chinese: 忽必烈) was the fifth Khagan (Great Khan) of the Mongol Empire ("Ikh Mongol Uls"), reigning from 1260 to 1294 (although due to the division of the empire this was a nominal position). He also founded the Yuan dynasty in China as a conquest dynasty in 1271, and ruled as the first Yuan emperor until his death in 1294. Kublai was the fourth son of Tolui (his second son with Sorghaghtani Beki) and a grandson of Genghis Khan. He succeeded his older brother Möngke as Khagan in 1260, but had to defeat his younger
Society of the Mongol Empire when the Song dynasty started replacing their copper coinage with paper currency. When the Mongols invaded Song China they started issuing their own Mongolian bills in 1227. This first attempt by the Mongols did not last long because the notes issued expired after several years and were inconsistent throughout the parts of the Mongol Empire that issued them. In 1260, Kublai Khan created the Yuan Mongol's first unified paper currency with notes that did not have any expiration date. To validate the currency, it was made fully exchangeable to silver and gold and was accepted as tax payments. Currency distribution