Claim: Ilkhanate was established as a khanate in Asia.

The Mongol Empire -LRB- Mongolian : Mongolyn Ezent Güren ; Mongolian Cyrillic : Монголын эзэнт гүрэн ; -LSB- mɔŋɡ ɮˈiːŋ ɛt͡sˈɛnt ˈɡurəŋ -RSB- also Орда -LRB- `` Horde '' -RRB- in Russian chronicles -RRB- existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history . Originating in the steppes of Central Asia , the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from Central Europe to the Sea of Japan , extending northwards into Siberia , eastwards and southwards into the Indian subcontinent , Indochina , and the Iranian plateau , and westwards as far as the Levant and Arabia .   The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of nomadic tribes in the Mongol homeland under the leadership of Genghis Khan , whom a council proclaimed ruler of all the Mongols in 1206 . The empire grew rapidly under his rule and that of his descendants , who sent invasions in every direction . The vast transcontinental empire connected the east with the west with an enforced Pax Mongolica , allowing the dissemination and exchange of trade , technologies , commodities , and ideologies across Eurasia .   The empire began to split due to wars over succession , as the grandchildren of Genghis Khan disputed whether the royal line should follow from his son and initial heir Ögedei or from one of his other sons , such as Tolui , Chagatai , or Jochi . The Toluids prevailed after a bloody purge of Ögedeid and Chagataid factions , but disputes continued even among the descendants of Tolui . After Möngke Khan died -LRB- 1259 -RRB- , rival kurultai councils simultaneously elected different successors , the brothers Ariq Böke and Kublai Khan , who then not only fought each other in the Toluid Civil War -LRB- 1260-1264 -RRB- , but also dealt with challenges from descendants of other sons of Genghis . Kublai successfully took power , but civil war ensued as Kublai sought unsuccessfully to regain control of the Chagatayid and Ögedeid families .   The Battle of Ain Jalut in Galilee in 1260 marked both the high point of the Mongol conquests and the first time opponents had ever beaten back a Mongol advance in direct combat on the battlefield . Though the Mongols launched many more invasions on the Levant , briefly occupying it and raiding as far as Gaza after a decisive victory at the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in 1299 , they withdrew due to various geopolitical factors .   By the time of Kublai 's death in 1294 , the Mongol Empire had fractured into four separate khanates or empires , each pursuing its own separate interests and objectives :   the Golden Horde khanate in the northwest  the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia  the Ilkhanate in the southwest  the Yuan dynasty in the east based near modern-day Beijing .   In 1304 the three western khanates briefly accepted the nominal suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty ,  but in 1368 the Han Chinese Ming dynasty took over the Mongol capital . The Genghisid rulers of the Yuan retreated to the Mongolian homeland and continued to rule there as the Northern Yuan dynasty , while the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate lasted in one form or another for some additional centuries after the fall of the Yuan dynasty and of the Ilkhanate -LRB- which disintegrated in the period 1335-1353 -RRB- .