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Ogedei Khan Becomes Great Khan and Builds Karakorum

Genghis Khan's third son takes the title khagan and gives the empire its first fixed capital

On the timeline · around 1229 · Ogedei, the Golden Horde, and EuropeConquest and EmpireOgedei, the Golden Horde, and EuropeOgedei Khan Becomes Great Khan and Builds Karakorum122412261228123012321234

Quick facts

Became Great Khan
1229
Title
First to use khagan ('great khan')
Capital founded
Karakorum, ordered 1235
Karakorum's peak population
c. 10,000

What happened

Ogedei, Genghis Khan's third son, was chosen as the new Great Khan in 1229 and was the first Mongol ruler to formally use the title khagan, or 'great khan,' where his father had used only 'khan.' In 1235 Ogedei ordered the construction of a walled capital at Karakorum in the Orkhon Valley, roughly 400 kilometers southwest of modern Ulaanbaatar, a site chosen partly for its traditional use as a gathering ground and its reliable water and pasture. The World History Encyclopedia notes Ogedei himself rarely lived there, preferring to move between traditional yurt camps, but the city became a genuinely cosmopolitan hub even though its resident population never exceeded about 10,000 people.

Why it matters

Karakorum gave the sprawling Mongol Empire a fixed administrative center for the first time, a place foreign envoys, merchants, and religious missionaries like William of Rubruck could travel to and find the government. Ogedei's reign also continued the conquest of the Jin dynasty, finished in 1234, and set the stage for the campaigns into Europe under Batu Khan.

How we know

Ogedei's succession and Karakorum's founding are documented in the World History Encyclopedia's articles on Ogedei Khan and Karakorum, which draw on the Secret History of the Mongols and later Mongol and Chinese administrative records.

Sources

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