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Mongke's death brought on a period of turbulent internecine warfare. Most dramatically, in 1260, Khubilai and Arik Boke each convened a khuriltai—Khubilai's in Xanadu, Arik Boke's in Karakorum—and had himself declared Great Khan. The struggle between them would permanently fracture the Mongol Empire.

Among his brothers, Khubilai was unquestionably the odd man out. The rest of his siblings clung to their steppe traditions. They were, above all, nomads and warriors, and like Genghis Khan they saw the luxuries of sedentary civilization as invidious temptations. By contrast, Khubilai preferred palaces and cities to the steppe. He loved comfort and feasting, and grew fat and gouty early on.

In the end, Khubilai triumphed over Arik Boke. His triumph was in part that of the farmer over the nomad. At the worst possible time for Arik Boke, Mongolia suffered a cold-induced famine that decimated much of the animal population on the steppe. With no food for his starving followers, Arik Boke found himself at the mercy of Khubilai, whose territory included agricultural lands and food supplies. In 1264, Arik Boke submitted to Khubilai, explaining his defeat with some telling words: “We were then, and you are today.” Khubilai forgave his brother (who conveniently died of poisoning two years later) but destroyed Karakorum. For the new Mongol capital he chose the site of the former Jurchen capital of Zhongdu—sacked by Genghis Khan in 1214—which later became Beijing.

The reality, however, was that the Mongol Empire was now divided. The factions of the Mongol royal family that had wanted Arik Boke to be Great Khan refused to recognize Khubilai's legitimacy. Meanwhile, Hulegu and his descendants ruled the Arab and Persian lands, which became known as the Ilkhanate, while descendants of Genghis Khan's eldest son, Jochi, controlled Russia and eastern Europe, and also openly refused to recognize Khubilai as their Great Khan.37

But even without his family's full support, Khubilai accomplished what his famous grandfather had not been able to do: He conquered southern China and reunified the Middle Kingdom. In many ways, Khubilai's victory over the Song was less a military victory than the conquest of the proverbial hearts and minds of the Chinese people. In contrast to Genghis Khan's blitzkriegs, Khubilai's defeat of the Song occurred gradually, over almost forty years. Throughout this period, Khubilai worked patiently, through propaganda and shrewd public policies, to convince the Chinese that he, far more than the aloofly decadent Song leaders, embodied China's traditional virtues.

With each military victory over the Song, however small, Khubilai promoted the idea that the Mandate of Heaven had fallen to him. This was a hard case for a “barbarian” to make, but each year a growing number of Chinese peasants, students, soldiers, and even generals deserted to the Mongol side. More remarkable, the Mongols—famous for their cavalry—triumphed in naval warfare as well. Once again, Khubilai recruited experienced non-Mongols to build and man his fleet. He also secured the allegiance of powerful Chinese admirals, whose control of China's seaboard and internal waterways proved pivotal to the Mongol victory.38

Khubilai's reign (1260-94) was long and relatively peaceful. When Hangzhou, the magnificent Song capital, finally succumbed to Mongol forces in 1276, Khubilai found himself in control of China's greatest treasures, richest cities, and most flourishing ports—some 200,000 trading boats plied the Yangtze River alone each year—as well as a massive, meticulously trained navy. Moreover, China, now reunited, was far and away the most populous nation in the world, with an estimated 110 to 120 million subjects.

Although their empire was now fragmented, the descendants of Genghis Khan dominated virtually the entire civilized world. Khubilai alone ruled over more people than perhaps any previous sovereign in history. To govern his Chinese subjects, who were not only