Which city became the capital of the Mongol Empire under Ögedei Khan? The answer is Karakorum. Located in Mongolia’s Orkhon Valley, Karakorum became the empire’s principal settled political center during the reign of Ögedei, Genghis Khan’s successor.
Genghis Khan had established a camp or administrative base at the site around 1220, but Ögedei transformed it into a true capital. Construction of the city’s palace and defenses began in the 1230s, with major building work associated with 1235 and 1236. Its location gave the Mongols access to pasture, rivers, and important routes across the steppe.
Karakorum was more than a military headquarters. Visitors described a cosmopolitan city containing Chinese and Muslim quarters, Buddhist temples, mosques, and a Nestorian Christian church. Its famous palace included a mechanical silver tree designed by the Parisian goldsmith Guillaume Boucher.
The capital’s prominence declined after Kublai Khan established his main seat at Dadu, present-day Beijing, in China. Karakorum remained an important symbolic center, but it was no longer the empire’s dominant capital.