1206   After eliminating his opponents, the tribal chief Temujin ( = Blacksmith) was elevated to the position of  Genghis Khan and proclaimed 'supreme ruler' at an assembly of all Mongol, Turkish and Tartars peoples of the steppes. Genghis organized his military units into a national unit and after securing domestic peace the country stood ready for the conquest of the world.
Between 1205 and 1215 Genghis Khan subjugated the Hsi-Hsia kdm and then devastated the Chinese Ch'in empire. Genghis began to utilize the technology of Chinese engineers (artillery, signal systems, art of siege).
1219-25   Attack on the Empire of  Khorezm (Persia).
The Mongol horsemen subjected a world empire which stretched from Northern China to the Black Sea. But the conquered territories could not be effectively governed by the thin layer of the Mongol ruling class. The flowering cultures of Central Asia decayed and trade shifted from the Asiatic caravan routes to the Arabian sea lanes.

1227   Death of Genghis Khan and partition of the Empire between his four sons.  Karakorum in Mongolia became the the permanent capital.

1229-41   The great Khan Ugudei completed the subjugation of N. China and Persia.
1236-55   Batu Khan (gransdon of Genghis Khan) conquered the West; destruction of the Bulgars; fall of Kiev; and in 1240 invasion of  Wallachia and Poland. In 1241 the Hungarian army was also defeated.
Europe was saved because of the sudden retreat of the Mongols, caused by the death of the Great Khan Mongka in the Mongol capital Karakorum.

1241   Batu Khan est. the rule of the Golden Horde over much of Russia. Russia became isolated from Europe (exc. Novogorod)

Kublai Khan (Great Khan 1260-94) conquered the whole of China and in 1258 established the  Yuan dynasty which ruled China until 1368 during which time Marco Polo visited China.

1251-65   Hulagu Khan conquered Persia and established the empire of the  Il-Khans. Baghdad, a city of a million inhabitants destroyed; elimination of the Abbasid Caliphate; conquest of Damascus. The Mongol advance was broken by the Mamelukes (mercenary slaves from the Black Sea region who established military rule over Egypt) who inflicted in 1260 the defeat of Ain Jalut upon the Mongols.

1336 Dissolution of the Il-Khan Empire into subordinate dynasties