And then, towards the end of the twelfth century, began to rise to great power in Asia a people called the Mongols. Huns, Tartars, and Mongols we have to look on as closely related; and to some degree the last two names are interchangeable. They were divided into tribes under the rule of chieftains called Khans; and over the whole was a chosen ruler named the Khakan--the Khan of Khans. Their numbers grew. They led the pastoral life. As conquerors they were as ruthless as the Huns from whom they were descended, and at length, under the famous Kublai Khan, they possessed by far the greater portion of Asia and Europe as far as the boundaries of Poland. Before the end of the thirteenth century Kublai Khan, with his palace at Peking, dominated the whole of China, and a vast portion of the earth's surface besides. It was to his court that the famous Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, made his way. He lived there no less than seventeen years in all, and probably at no other time was it so easy for a western traveller to go to China overland, because at no other time has there been a single power which could ensure his safety on so long a journey through lands in possession of such lawless people. On land, Kublai and his Mongols were irresistible, but they failed entirely by sea in two expeditions sent out to attempt the conquest of Japan. Kublai's successors had little of what must have been his very extraordinary genius, both for government and war. In the middle of the fourteenth century a Buddhist monk headed a revolution in China which was completely successful, and ended with the expulsion of the Mongol conquerors and the establishment of the monk on the throne as Emperor, the first of the great Ming dynasty which lasted till {25} 1626. It was the last native dynasty to rule in China, for in that year, 1626, the Manchus came in as conquerors, and are there still. The first of the Mings not only drove the Mongols out of China, but defeated their principal armies so decisively that it was the beginning of the end of their power in other parts of Asia and in Europe. The tribes broke away from their dependence on the Khakan, or central ruler, and with that loss of union their military predominance was lost and they ceased to take nearly so large a part in our story. [Sidenote: Japan]