- 1206: the year chinggis khan was elected
- 1433: the year the ming dynasty halted state-sponspored commercial voyages
- Asia: the region where most of the technological innovations came from and ended up in the west during the 13th and 14th centuries
- cavalry: the type of military force that made up the entire mongol military
- Hulegu: ruler of ikhan horde
- Ikhan khanate: the khanate that invaded the muslim heartland
- Kabul Khan: Chinggis khan's great grandfather
- karakorum: capital of mongol empire
- khwarazm empire: an islamic territory that Chinggis Khan directed his troops against
- Kubilai khan: chinggis khan's grandson who went against the song
- Mamluk: the group who defeated the mongols in 1260 at Ain Jalut
- Ogedei: the person who succeeded chinggis khan
- Seljuk turks: mongol conquest other than the abbasid dynasty in Baghdad
- timur-I Lang: the turkic nomadic leader who began a period of conquests in 1360s
- tumens: basic fighting units