ABSTRACT
The underlying structure and long-term political dynamics of the Mongolian Empire were shaped by a series of major territorial dispensations of its early rulers. So, too, was the fate of the empire's numerous sedentary subjects; their political status and economic well-being often turned on the character and conditions of these allotments to the senior Chinggisid lines. The place to begin this exploration is with Chinggis Khan's original dispensation of territories among his sons and immediate kin.
