Although the reigns of Kublai and his successor Temür were generally peaceful, weaknesses in the Yuan administration became apparent and led to a gradual breakdown of political stability.

The campaigns of the following decades saw Mongol armies invade and conquer China, Central Asia, Persia and much of the Middle East, and Russia.

As a result, by 1265, the once-united empire had begun to split into four independent states: the Golden Horde in modern-day Russia, the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, the Ilkhanate in the Near East, and a regime in China which was ruled by Genghis's grandson Kublai Khan and which was nominally superior to the rest.

[2] To appease his Han Chinese-majority population, Kublai declared the foundation of a new imperial dynasty titled Da Yuan.

Although his reign was generally long and prosperous, weaknesses in the Yuan's economy, society, and administration became apparent after the death of his successor Temür in 1307, culminating in two decades of near-anarchy between 1320 and 1340.