[1] In 1218–1219, Genghis Khan rallied his troops for the campaign against the Khwarazmian Empire in a place called Karakorum,[2] but the actual foundation of a city is usually said to have occurred only in 1220.

Until 1235, Karakorum seems to have been little more than a yurt town; only then, after the defeat of the Jin empire, did Genghis' successor Ögedei erect city walls and build a fixed palace.

[3] Ögedei Khan gave the decree to build the Tumen Amgalan Ord (Palace of Myriad Peace; Wan'angong in Chinese) in 1235, the year after he defeated the Jin dynasty.

One of Genghis Khan's nine ministers, Yelü Chucai (1190–1244), said the following poem during the ridge raising ceremony of the Tumen Amgalan Ord: "Installed ridge well fit and stone foundation, The parallel placed majestic palace has been raised, When the bells and drums of the Lord and officials sound pleasantly, The setting sun calls the horses of war to itself from the mountain peaks."

The Mongolian version of the poem is as follows: "Tsogtslon tavih nuruu chuluun tulguur, Zeregtsen zogsoh surleg asriig bosgovoi, Ezen tushmediin honh hengereg ayataihan hanginan duursahad, Echih naran uuliin tolgoigoos dainii agtadiig ugtnam.

Silver fruit hung from the limbs and it had four golden serpents braided around the trunk, while within the top of the tree was placed a trumpet angel, all as automata performing for the emperor's pleasure.

When the khan wanted to summon the drinks for his guests, the mechanical angel raised the trumpet to his lips and sounded the horn, whereupon the mouths of the serpents began to gush out a fountain of alcoholic beverages into the large silver basin arranged at the base of the tree.

He compared it rather unfavorably to the village of Saint-Denis near Paris, and was of the opinion that the royal abbey there was ten times as magnificent as the Khan's palace.

[11] On the other hand, he also described the town as a very cosmopolitan and religiously tolerant place, and the silver tree he described as part of Möngke Khan's palace as having become the symbol of Karakorum.

[12][13] He described the walled city as having four gates facing the four directions, two quarters of fixed houses, one for the "Saracenes" and one for the "Cathai", twelve pagan temples, two mosques, as well as a Nestorian church.

[3][14] When Kublai Khan claimed the throne of the Mongol Empire in 1260—as did his younger brother, Ariq Böke—he relocated his capital to Shangdu, and later to Khanbaliq (Dadu, today's Beijing).

In 1260, Kublai disrupted the town's grain supply, while in 1277 Kaidu took Karakorum, only to be ousted by Yuan troops and Bayan of the Baarin in the following year.

However, this conclusion has been put into doubt by the findings of the 2000–2004 German-Mongolian excavations, which seem to identify them as belonging to the great stupa temple rather than to Ögödei's palace.

[16] Excavation findings include paved roads, some brick and many adobe buildings, floor heating systems, bed-stoves, evidence for the processing of copper, gold, silver, iron (including iron wheel naves), glass, jewels, bones, and birch bark, as well as ceramics and coins from China and Central Asia.

The Tumen Amgalan Ord (Palace of Myriad Peace), built in 1236, was located at the southern end of the city enclosed by a wall of its own.

This not only followed the general principle of the Khuree but also provided the Khan unhindered access to the nearby river and forested mountains to the south and south-west which were his hunting grounds.

A similar arrangement existed in Urga (present-day Ulaanbaatar) where the southern part of the city close to the river and mountain was reserved for the Khan whereas the ger districts expanded to the north.

This was in line with the internal arrangement of a Mongolian ger, as William of Rubruck states separately in his account: "When they have fixed their dwelling, the door turned to the south, they set up the couch of the master on the north side.