Mongols in Vietnam: End of one Era, Beginning of Another By Paul D. Buell Horst-Görtz-Stiftung Institut, Charitè Medical University, Berlin The Mongols are best known for their role as conquerors. As a consequence, their empire united more of the Old World under a single regime than any empire before or after them. Less well known is their role in promoting trade during what became the first true era of commercial globalization, one that has, in many ways continued down to our own day. In this paper we will look at one aspect of this globalization, the efforts of Qubilai-qan (r. 1260-1294) of the Mongol qanate of China, the later Yuan 元 Dynasty (1279-1368), 1 to achieve an empire not only over China and surrounding parts of Central Asia controlled by him and by his house, but also over the seas and the distant nations lying in and around them. This particularly involved the states of peninsula Southeast Asia and Indonesia. By way of understanding what happened, also examined will be the background to Qubilai’s endeavor in the long-term growth of Chinese commerce in the South Seas and the remarkable cosmopolitanism and exotic consumption, largely supported by imports, of Mongol China. Rise of Mongol Power in China Mongol control in China began with land conquest, at first of the China borderlands, then interior Jin 金 Dynasty (1125-1234) domains, bringing north China under definitive Mongol control. The advance continued with a movement into west China, to outflank the major Mongol enemy, the Southern Song 宋 Dynasty (1125-1279), and from there the march continued into what is now Yunnan 雲南, then ruled by the Thai state of Dali大理. They Mongols seem to have been particularly interested in the Yunnan plateau in its own terms, as a possible center for their own tribal presence, although it too was well situated to attack outlying Song domains. Leading the Mongol advance south was Qan Möngke (r. 1251-59) personally, seconded by his younger brother, prince Qubilai (ruled in China 1260-1294), the latter having at first primary command of the Dali operation. This latter advance had a particular impact since thanks to Mongol efforts, Yunnan ultimately became truly a part of China for the first time in its history. 2 Each further advance brought Mongol armies closer to the maritime world of China although a final Mongol attack was postponed due to the premature death of Möngke just as his western operation was getting underway and the Mongol world momentarily fell into civil war. It took Qubilai, his challenged successor in China, nearly 10 years to stabilize his new regime and resume the advance. 1 For an introduction to Mongol China see Paul D. Buell, Historical Dictionary of the Mongolian World Empire, Lanham, Md., and Oxford: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. (Historical Dictionaries of Ancient Civilizations and Historical Eras, No. 8), 2003, 53-70. 2 See Buell, 2003, 49-50. See also Paul D. Buell, “Saiyid Ajall,” in Igor de Rachewiltz, Chan Hok-lam, Hsiao Ch'i-ch'ing and Peter W. Geier, editors, In the Service of the Khan, Eminent Personalities of the Early Mongol-Yuan Period (1200-1300), Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 466-479.