Four major khanates emerged after the Mongol Empire fragmented: the Yuan dynasty, the Chagatai Khanate, the Golden Horde, and the Ilkhanate. The division developed as the empire’s enormous territories became increasingly governed by different branches of the Mongol royal family.
The Yuan dynasty in China and the Ilkhanate in Persia were ruled by descendants of Tolui, Genghis Khan’s youngest son. The Golden Horde, also called the Jochid Ulus, was founded by the line of Jochi, while the Chagatai Khanate was established by the descendants of Chagatai.
Kublai Khan’s establishment of the Yuan dynasty in 1271 accelerated the political separation. Although a 1304 peace treaty recognized the Yuan emperor’s nominal supremacy over the western khanates, the four states functioned largely as independent sovereign powers and pursued their own military and diplomatic goals.
The four khanates did not disappear at the same time. The Yuan dynasty survived in China until 1368, while the western khanates endured in different forms for varying periods. Their division was therefore a gradual political fragmentation rather than one single event.