The Yuan dynasty in Inner Asia was the domination of the Yuan dynasty in Inner Asia in the 13th and the 14th centuries. The Borjigin rulers of the Yuan came from the Mongolian steppe, and the Mongols under Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) based in Khanbaliq (modern Beijing). The Yuan was a Chinese dynasty that incorporated many aspects of Mongol and Inner Asian political and military institutions.
The Yuan directly ruled over parts of modern China, Korea, Mongolia, and Siberia (Russia). Specifically, the Yuan extended to Manchuria (modern Northeast China and Outer Manchuria), Mongolia, southern Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and parts of Xinjiang. People from these 'Inner Asian' regions either belonged to the 'Mongol' class, 'Northern Han' class, or 'Semu' class.
In addition, the Yuan emperors held nominal suzerainty over the three western Mongol khanates (the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate and the Ilkhanate).
Manchuria
Manchuria was originally ruled by the Han, Tang, Liao, and Jin dynasties before the emergence of the Mongol Empire in the early 13th century. During the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty (1211–1234), North China became ruled by Mongols, and Manchuria became part of the Yuan dynasty.
In 1269, the Yuan founder Kublai Khan set up the Liaoyang province (遼陽行省) which extended to the Korean Peninsula. In 1286, it became a Xuanweisi (宣慰司). In 1287, the Liaoyang province was established again, and lasted until the end of the Yuan dynasty.
According to Yuanshi, the official history of the Yuan dynasty, the Mongols militarily invaded Sakhalin island and subdued the Guwei (骨嵬) there. By 1308, all inhabitants of Sakhalin had submitted to the Yuan dynasty. After the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty by the Ming dynasty in 1368, some Mongols under Naghachu (originally a Yuan official) fled to Northeast Asia, where he became a general of the Northern Yuan dynasty. The Ming then conquered and annexed Manchuria after the Ming military campaign against Naghachu in 1387.
Mongolia
The ethnic Mongol rulers of the Yuan dynasty came from the Mongolian steppe, and Karakorum was the capital of the Mongol Empire until 1260.
During the Toluid Civil War, Mongolia was controlled by Ariq Böke, a younger brother of Kublai Khan. After Kublai's victory over Ariq Böke, Mongolia was put within the Central Region (腹裏) directly governed by the Central Secretariat at the capital Khanbaliq (Dadu). However, it was shortly occupied by Kaidu, leader of the House of Ögedei and de facto khan of the Chagatai Khanate during his war with Kublai Khan, although it was later recovered by the Yuan commander Bayan of the Baarin.
Temur was later appointed a governor in Karakorum and Bayan became a minister.
During the rule of Külüg Khan, the third Yuan emperor, Mongolia was put under the Karakorum province (和林行省; Helin Province) in 1307, although parts of Inner Mongolia were still governed by the Central Secretariat.
The province was renamed to the Lingbei province (嶺北行省) by his successor Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan in 1312. After the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty by the Ming dynasty in 1368, the Yuan court retreated north whilst maintaining the dynastic name of "Great Yuan" (thenceforth known as the Northern Yuan dynasty in historiography) and maintained control over northern China, the Mongolian Plateau and Siberia.
Tibet
After the Mongol conquest of Tibet in the 1240s, Tibet was incorporated into the Mongol Empire. After the enthronement of Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty, Tibet was put under the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs or Xuanzheng Yuan, a government agency and top-level administrative department set up in Khanbaliq that supervised Buddhist monks in addition to managing the territory of Tibet.
Besides modern-day Tibet Autonomous Region, the Yuan also governed parts of Sichuan, Qinghai and Kashmir. It was separate from the other provinces of the Yuan dynasty such as those of former Song dynasty, but still under the administrative rule of the Yuan.
One of the department's purposes was to select a dpon-chen ('great administrator'), usually appointed by the lama and confirmed by the Yuan emperor in Beijing.
During the Yuan rule of Tibet, Tibet retained nominal power over religious and regional affairs, while the Yun managed a structural and administrative rule over the region, reinforced by military intervention.
Tibetan Buddhism was one of the main state religions of the Yuan dynasty, and the Sakya leader Drogön Chögyal Phagpa became Imperial Preceptor of Kublai Khan.