National Palace Museum, Taipei

Khubilai Khan (1215-1294)
Grandson of Chinggis Khan

Khubilai Khan was an important transitional figure in Mongol history, in particular because he sought to rule — and not merely conquer — the vast domains that the Mongols had subjugated.

This portrait of Khubilai was probably painted by the Nepalese architect and artist Aniko, who designed a number of buildings in the Mongol's second capital Daidu (present-day Beijing), as well as Shangdu (also known as Xanadu), the site of Khubilai's summer palaces, of which we have many detailed descriptions in the writings of Marco Polo.

Read Marco Polo's Description of Khubilai's palace at Daidu (also called Cambuluc) [PDF] [Text excerpted from The Book of Ser Marco Polo: The Venetian Concerning Kingdoms and Marvels of the East, translated and edited by Colonel Sir Henry Yule]