ABSTRACT
The centre of the Mongolian Empire was steppe-land, the land of nomads. It consisted of Mongolia proper and the country westward thereof, the former realm of Kara-Khitai, which Jenghiz Khan had conquered. Down to the time of Mangu's death, these were the regions which produced the hardiest Mongolian warriors, and sent forth invincible armies of horsemen into all parts of the world. Driven by Kublai's armies into the Altai Mountains on the uttermost limits of Mongolia, Kaidu extended his rule westward and south-westward over the whole of Jagatai's fief. Being no more than the weak centre of powerful bordering territories, confined in all directions by the great Mongolian "local Khanates" of the Yuen Emperors, the Ilkhans, and the Golden Horde, it had no possibility of expansion. Turcomans mingled with the dominant Mongols, the two together constituting the typical Central Asiatic people of Jagatai, with a mongrel language which was also known as "Jagatai".
