Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
{{infobox monarch|name	Khubilai
Title	Khagan of the Mongol EmpireFounder of the Yuan DynastyEmperor of China
Reign	May 5, 1260 – February 18, 1294()|coronationMay 5, 1260
Given name	Khubilai Kubilay Chinese transcription: 忽必烈)
othertitles	Setsen Khan (Цэцэн хаан)Temple name: Shizu (世祖)Posthumous name: Emperor Shengde Shengong Wenwu(聖德神功文武皇帝)Era names:Zhongtong (中統) 1260–1264Zhiyuan (至元) 1264–1294
Predecessor	Mongke Khan
Successor	Temur Khan
heir	Zhenjin
queen	TegulenChabiNambui
royal house	Borjigin ()
royal anthem	There is only god in heaven and only one lord Chingis Khan on earth.
Father	Tolui
Mother	Sorghaghtani Beki
Birth date	23 September 1215
Death date	18 February 1294 (aged 78)
Death place	Dadu (Khanbalic)
Place of burial	Burkhan Khaldun, Khentii province

Kublai Khan (; , ''Xubilaĭ xaan''; , "King Qubilai"; September 23, 1215 – February 18, 1294), born Kublai (, ''Xubilaĭ''; ; ; also spelled Khubilai) and also known by the temple name Shizu (), was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in East Asia. As the second son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he claimed the title of Khagan of the ''Ikh Mongol Uls'' (Mongol Empire) in 1260 after the death of his older brother Möngke in the previous year, though his younger brother Ariq Böke was also given this title in the Mongolian capital at Karakorum. He eventually won the battle against Ariq Böke in 1264, and the succession war essentially marked the beginning of disunity in the empire. Kublai's real power was limited to China and Mongolia after the victory over Ariq Böke, though his influence still remained in the Ilkhanate, and to a lesser degree, in the Golden Horde, in the western parts of the Mongol Empire. His realm reached from the Pacific to the Urals, from Siberia to modern day Afghanistan – one fifth of the world's inhabited land area.

In 1271, Kublai established the Yuan Dynasty, which at that time ruled over present-day Mongolia and China, and some adjacent areas, and assumed the role of Emperor of China. By 1279, the Yuan forces had successfully annihilated the last resistance of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Kublai thus became the first non-Chinese Emperor who conquered all China. He was the only Mongol khan after 1260 to win new great conquests.

A theoretical construction of Kublai, the "Pleasure Dome," is the subject of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1797 poem ''Kublai Khan''. Coleridge's work brought Kublai and his achievements to the attention of a widespread audience, and today Kublai is a well-known historical figure.

Early years

Kublai (b. 23 Sep. 1215) was the fifth son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki. As his grandfather Genghis Khan advised, Sorghaghtani chose as her son's nurse a Buddhist Tangut woman whom Kublai later honored highly.

On his way back home after the conquest of Khwarizmian Empire, Genghis Khan performed the ceremony on his grandsons Mongke and Kublai after their first hunting in 1224 near the Ili River. Kublai was nine years old and with his eldest brother killed a rabbit and an antelope. His grandfather smeared fat from killed animals onto Kublai's middle finger following the Mongol tradition.

After the Mongol-Jin War, in 1236, Ogedei gave Hebei Province (attached with 80,000 households) to the family of Tolui who died in 1232. Kublai received an estate of his own and 10,000 households there. Because he was inexperienced, Kublai allowed local officials free rein. Corruption amongst his officials and aggressive taxation caused the flight of large numbers of Chinese peasants, which in turn led to a decline in tax revenues. Kublai quickly came to his appanage in Hebei and ordered reforms. Sorghaghtani sent new officials to help him and tax laws were revised. Thanks to those efforts, people returned to their old towers.

The most prominent, and arguably influential component of Kublai Khan's early life was his study and strong attraction to contemporary Chinese culture. Kublai invited Haiyun, the leading Buddhist monk in North China, to his ordo in Mongolia. When he met Haiyun in Karakorum in 1242, Kublai asked him about the philosophy of Buddhism. Haiyun named Kublai's son, Zhenjin (True Gold in Chinese language), who was born in 1243. Haiyun also introduced Kublai the former Taoist and now Buddhist monk, Liu Bingzhong. Liu was a painter, calligrapher, poet and mathematician, and became Kublai's advisor when Haiyun returned to run his temple in modern Beijing. Kublai soon added the Shanxi scholar Zhao Bi to his entourage. Kublai employed other nationalities as well, for he was keen to balance local and imperial interests, Mongol and Turk.

Conversion to Buddhism

Genghis Khan's grandson and 5th Great Khan of Mongol empire Kublai was the first Mongol emperor to convert to Tibetan form of buddhism from the existing Shamamism religion. His conversion was made under miraculous circumstances. While most Mongols in contact with Muslims in Middle East and Eastern Europe converted to Islam, Kublai Khan converted to Buddhism and made Buddhism the state official religion.

Khagan's viceroy in North China

In 1251, his eldest brother Möngke became Khan of the Mongol Empire, and Khwarizmian Mahmud Yalavach and Kublai were sent to China. Kublai received the viceroyalty over North China and moved his ordo to central Inner Mongolia. During his years as viceroy, Kublai managed his territory well, boosting the agricultural output of Henan and increasing social welfare spendings after receiving Xi'an. These acts received great acclaim from the Chinese warlords and were essential to the building of the Yuan Dynasty. In 1252 Kublai criticized Mahmud Yalavach, who never stood high in the valuation of his Chinese associates, over his cavalier execution of suspects during a judicial view and Zhao Bi attacked him for his presumptuous attitude toward the throne. With Chinese Confucian-trained officials' resistance, Mongke dismissed Mahmud Yalavach.

In 1253, Kublai was ordered to attack Yunnan, and he asked the Kingdom of Dali to submit. The ruling faimly, Gao, resisted and murdered Mongol envoys. The Mongols divided their forces into three. One wing rode eastward into the Sichuan basin. The second column under Subotai's son Uryankhadai took a difficult way into the mountains of western Sichuan. Kublai himself headed south over the grasslands, meeting up with the first column. While Uryankhadai galloping in along the lakeside from the north, Kublai took the capital city of Dali and spared the residents despite the slaying of his ambassadors. The Mongols appointed King Duan Xingzhi as local ruler and stationed a pacification commissioner there. After Kublai's departure, unrest broke out among the Black jang. By 1256, Uryankhadai had completely pacified Yunnan.

Kublai was attracted by the abilities of Tibetan monks as healers. In 1253 he made Drogön Chögyal Phagpa of the Sakya order member of his entourage. Phagpa bestowed on Kublai and his wife, Chabi (Chabui), a Tantric Buddhist initiation. Kublai appointed Uyghur Lian Xixian (1231–1280) to head his Pacification Commission in 1254. Some officials who were jealous of Kublai's success muttered that he was getting above himself, dreaming of his own empire by rivalling Mongke's capital Karakorum (Хархорум). The Great Khan Mongke sent 2 tax inspectors, Alamdar (Ariq Böke's close friend and governor in North China) and Liu Taiping, to audit Kublai's officials in 1257. They found fault, listed 142 breaches of regulations, accused Chinese officials, even had some executed and Kublai's new Pacification Commission was abolished. Kublai sent a two-man embassy with his wives and then in person appealed to Mongke as brother to brother. Mongke publicly forgave his younger brother and reconciled with him.

The Taoists had exploited their wealth and status by seizing Buddhist temples. Mongke demanded that the Taoists cease their denigration of Buddhism repeatedly and ordered Kublai to end the clerical strife between the Taoists and Buddhists in his territory. Kublai called a conference of Taoist and Buddhist leaders in early 1258. At the conference, the Taoist claim was officially declared refuted and Kublai forcibly converted their 237 temples to Buddhism and destroyed all copies of the fraudulent texts.

In 1258, Möngke put Kublai in command of the Eastern Army and summoned him to assist with attack on Sichuan. Already suffering from gout, Kublai was allowed to stay, however, he moved to assist his brother, Mongke. Before Kublai could arrive in 1259, word reached him that Möngke had died. Kublai decided to keep the death of his brother a secret and continued to attack Wuhan, near Yangtze. While his force was besieging Wuchang, Subotai's son Uryankhadai joined him.

Enthronement and civil war

The Song minister Jia Sidao made a secret approach to Kublai to propose terms and asked whether the Song paid an annual tribute of 200,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk, in exchange for the Mongols agreeing that the Yangtze should be the frontier between the states. Kublai first declined but reached a peace agreement with Jia Sidao and returned north to the Mongolian plains because he learned in a message from his wife that Ariq Böke had been raising troops.

He soon received news that his younger brother Ariq Böke had held a kurultai at the Mongolian imperial capital of Karakorum and was pronounced Great Khan by Mongke's old officials. Most of Genghis Khan's descendants favored Ariq Böke as Great Khan; however, his two brothers Kublai and Hulegu opposed this. Kublai's Chinese staff encouraged him to ascend the throne, and virtually all the senior princes in North China and Manchuria supported his candidacy. Upon returning to his own territories, Kublai summoned his own kurultai. Few members of the royal family supported Kublai's claims to the title, though the small number of attendees included representatives of all the Borjigin lines except that of Jochi. This kurultai proclaimed him Great Khan, on April 15, 1260, despite his younger brother Ariq Böke's apparently legal claim. This subsequently led to warfare between Kublai and his younger brother Ariq Böke, resulting in the eventual destruction of the Mongolian capital at Karakorum. In Shaanxi and Sichuan, Mongke's army supported Ariq Böke. Kublai dispatched Lian Xixian to Shaanxi and Sichuan where they executed Ariq Böke's civil administrator Liu Taiping and won over several wavering generals. To secure the southern front, Kublai did attempt a diplomatic resolution by sending envoys to Hangzhou, but Jia broke his promise and arrested them. Kublai sent Abishqa as new khan to the Chagatai Khanate. Ariq Böke captured Abishqa, two other princes and 100 men and had his own man, Alghu, crowned khan of Chagatai's territory. In the first armed clash between Ariq Böke and Kublai Ariq Böke lost and his commander Alamdar was killed at the battle. In revenge, Ariq Böke had Abishqa executed. Kublai cut off the food supply to Karakorum with the support of his cousin Khadan, son of Ogedei Khan. Karakorum fell quickly at the hands of Kublai's large army, but following Kublai's departure it was temporarily re-taken by Ariq Böke in 1261. During the war with Ariq Böke, Yizhou governor Li Tan revolted against Mongol rule in February 1262. Hearing this, Kublai ordered his Chancellor Shi Tianze and Shi Shu to attack Li Tan. The two armies crushed Li Tan's revolt in just a few months and Li Tan was executed. These armies also executed Wang Wentong, the father-in-law of Li Tan who had been appointed the Chief Administrator of the Zhongshusheng, "Department of Central Governing") early in Kublai's reign and became one of the most trusted Han Chinese officials of Kublai. The incident instilled in Kublai a distrust of ethnic Hans. After becoming emperor, Kublai banned the titles of and tithes to Han Chinese warlords.

The Chagatayid Khan Alghu declared his allegiance to Kublai Khan and defeated a punitive expedition sent by Ariq Böke against him in 1262. Ilkhan Hulegu also sided with Kublai and criticized Ariq Böke. Ariq Böke surrendered to Kublai at Xanadu on August 21, 1264. The rulers of western khanates acknowledged the reality of Kublai's victory and rule in Mongolia. When Kublai summoned them to organize another kurultai, Alghu Khan demanded security for his illegal position from Kublai in return. Despite tensions between them, both Hulegu and Berke, khan of the Golden Horde, accepted Kublai's invitation at first. However, they soon declined to attend the new kurultai. Although, Kublai pardoned his younger brother, he executed Ariq Böke's chief supporters.

Reign

Great Khan of the Mongols

Suspicious deaths of 3 Jochid princes in Hulegu's service, the sack of Baghdad, and unequal distribution of war booties strained the Ilkhanate's relations with the Golden Horde. In 1262, Hulegu's complete purge of the Jochid troops, and support for Kublai in his conflict with Ariq Böke brought open war with the Golden Horde. Khagan Kublai reinforced Hulegu with 30,000 young Mongols in order to stabilize the political crises in western regions of the Mongol Empire. As soon as Hulegu died on 8 February 1264, Berke marched to cross near Tiflis to conquer the Ilkhanate, but died on the way. Within a few months of these deaths, Alghu Khan of the Chagatai Khanate also died. In the new official version of the family history, Kublai Khan refused to write Berke's name as the khan of the Golden Horde because of his support for Ariq Böke and wars with Hulegu, however, Jochi's family was fully recognized as legitimate family members.

Kublai Khan named Abagha as the new Ilkhan and nominated Batu's grandson Mongke Temur for the throne of Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde. The Kublaids in the east retained suzerainty over the Ilkhans (obedient khans) until the end of its regime. Kublai also sent his protege Baraq to overthrow the court of Oirat Orghana, the empress of the Chagatai Khanate, who put her young son Mubarak Shah on the throne in 1265, without Kublai's permission after her husband's death. Ogedeid prince Kaidu declined to personally come to the court of Kublai. Kublai instigated Baraq to attack him. Baraq began to expand his realm northward, fighting Kaidu and the Golden Horde after he seized power in 1266. He also pushed out Great Khan's overseer from the Tarim basin. When Kaidu and Mongke Timur defeated him together, Baraq joined an alliance with the House of Ogedei and the Golden Horde against Kublai in the east and Abagha in the west. Meanwhile, Mongke Temur stayed out of any direct military expedition against Kublai's realm. The armies of Mongol Persia defeated Baraq's invading forces in 1269. When Baraq died the next year, Kaidu took control of the Chagatai Khanate.

Meanwhile, Kublai tried to stabilize the control over Korea by mobilizing another Mongol invasion after he appointed Wonjong (r. 1260-1274) as the new Goryeo king in 1259 in Kanghwa. He forced two rulers of the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate to call a truce with each other in 1270 despite the Golden Horde's interests in the Middle East and Caucasia. He called 2 Iraqi siege engineers from the Ilkhanate in order to destroy the fortresses of the Song China. After the fall of Xiangyang in 1273, Kublai's commanders, Aju and Liu Zheng, proposed to him a final campaign of annihilation against the Song Dynasty, and Kublai made Bayan the supreme commander. Therefore, Kublai ordered Mongke Temur to revise the second census of the Golden Horde to provide sources and men for his conquest of China. The census took place in all parts of the Golden Horde, including Smolensk and Vitebsk in 1274-75. The Khans also sent Nogai to Balkan to strengthen Mongol influence there.

As Kublai Khan renamed the Mongol regime in China Dai Yuan in 1271, he sought to sinicize his image as Emperor of China in order to win the control of millions Chinese people. When he moved his headquarters to Khanbalic or Dadu at modern Beijing, there was an uprising in the old capital Karakorum that he barely staunched. His actions were condemned by traditionalists and his critics still accused him of being too closely tied to Chinese culture. They sent a message to him: "The old customs of our Empire are not those of the Chinese laws… What will happen to the old customs?". Even Kaidu attracted the other elites of Mongol Khanates, declaring himself to be a legitimate heir to the throne instead of Kublai who had turned away from the ways of Genghis Khan. Defections from Kublai's Dynasty swelled the Ogedeids' forces. The Song imperial family surrendered to the Yuan in 1276, making the Mongols the first non-Chinese people to conquer all of China. Three years later, Yuan marines crushed the last of the Song loyalists. The Song Empress Dowager and her grandson, Zhao Xian, were then settled in Khanbalic where they were given tax-free property. Kublai's wife Chabi took a personal interest in their well-being. However, Kublai had Zhao sent away to become a monk to Zhangye later. Kublai succeeded in building powerful Empire, creating an academy, offices, trade ports and canals and sponsoring arts and science. The record of the Mongols lists 20,166 public schools created during his reign. Achieving actual or nominal dominion over much of Eurasia, and having seen his successful conquest of China, Kublai was in a position to look beyond China. However, Kublai's costly invasions of Burma, Annam, Sakhalin and Champa secured only the vassal status of those countries. Mongol invasions of Japan (1274 and 1280) and Java (1293) failed. At the same time his nephew Ilkhan Abagha tried to form a grand alliance of the Mongols and the Western Europeans to defeat the Mamluks in Syria and North Africa that constantly invaded the Mongol dominions. Abagha and his uncle Kublai focused mostly on foreign alliances, and opened trade routes. Khagan Kublai dined with a large court every day, and met with many ambassadors, foreign merchants.

Kublai's son Nomukhan and generals occupied Almaliq from 1266-76. In 1277, a group of Genghisid princes under Mongke's son Shiregi rebelled, kidnapping Kublai's two sons and his general Antong. The rebels handed them over to Kaidu and Mongke Temur. The latter was still allied with Kaidu who fashioned an alliance with him in 1269, although, he promised Kublai Khan his military support to protect him from the Ogedeids. Great Khan's armies suppressed the rebellion and strengthened the Yuan garrisons in Mongolia and Uighurstan. However, Kaidu took control over Almaliq. In 1279-80, Kublai decreed death for those who performed Islamic-Jewish slaughtering of cattles, which offended Mongolian custom. When the Ahmad Teguder seized the throne of the Ilkhanate in 1282, attempting to make peace with the Mamluks, Abagha's old Mongols under prince Arghun appealed to the Great Khan. After the execution of Ahmad, Kublai confirmed Arghun's coronation and awarded his commander in chief Buqa who helped his master the title of chingsang.

Kublai's niece Kelmish, who was married a Khunggirat general of the Golden Horde, was powerful enough to have Kublai's sons Nomuqan and Kokhchu returned. The court of the Golden Horde sent them back as a peace overture to the Yuan Dynasty in 1282 and induced Kaidu to release the general of Kublai. Konchi, khan of White Horde, established friendly relations with the Yuan and the Ilkhanate, receiving luxury gifts and grain from Kublai as reward. Despite political disagreement between contending branches of the family over the office of Khagan, the economic and commercial system which trumped their squabbles continued.

Warfare and foreign relations

thumb|right|175px|Hand cannon from the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) Despite that Kublai restricted the functions of kheshig (khan's bodyguard), he created a new imperial bodyguard, at first entirely Chinese in composition but later strengthened with Kipchak, Alan (Asud), and Russian units. Once his own kheshig was organized in 1263, Kublai put three of the four shifts of the kheshig under descendants of Genghis Khan's four steeds, Borokhula, Boorchu and Muqali. Kublai Khan began the practice of having the four great aristocrats in his kheshig sign all jarliqs (decree), a practice that spread to all other Mongol khanates. Both Mongol and Chinese units were organized according to the same decimal organization that Genghis Khan used. The Mongols eagerly adopted new artillery and technologies. While Kublai's younger brother Hulegu used 1,000 Chinese mangonel operators under Barga Mongol Ambaghai, he brought siege engineers, Ismail and Al al-Din, from Iraq and Iran. The world's earliest known cannon, dated 1282, was found in Mongol-held Manchuria. Kublai and his generals avoided total destruction of South China for economic benefits. Effective assimilation of Chinese naval techniques allowed the Yuan army to quickly conquer the Song and advance beyond the seas.

Diplomatically and militarily, Kublai's foreign policy, as the previous Mongolian Khagans, was imperialistic. Kublai Khan invaded then made Goryeo (Korea) a tributary vassal in 1260. After the Mongol invasion in 1273, the Goryeo was subjugated and fully integrated in the Yuan realm. The Goryeo in Korea became a Mongol military base and several myriarchy commands were established there. The court of the Goryeo supplied Korean troops and ocean naval force for the Mongol campaigns. Despite the opposition of his Confucian-trained Chinese advisers, Kublai decided to invade Japan, Burma, Vietnam and Java, following his Mongol officials. These costly conquests along with the introduction of paper currency, caused inflation. From 1273 to 1276 war against the Song Dynasty and Japan made emissions of paper currency explode from 110,000 ding to 1,420,000 ding.

Invasions of Japan

Kublai Khan twice attempted to invade Japan. Both times it is believed that bad weather, or a flaw in the design of ships that were based on river boats without keels, destroyed his fleets. The first attempt took place in 1274, with a fleet of 900 ships. The second invasion occurred in 1281.The Mongols sent two separate forces this time; an impressive force of 900 ships containing 40,000 Korean, Chinese, and Mongol troops set out from Masan, while an even larger force of 100,000 sailed from southern China in 3,500 ships, each close to long. The fleet was hastily assembled and ill-equipped to handle the sea. In November, they sailed out into the treacherous waters that separated Korea and Japan by 110 miles. The Mongols easily took over Tsushima Island about halfway across the strait and then Ika Island closer to Kyushu. The Korean fleet reached Hakata Bay on June 23, 1281 landing its forces and animals, but the ships from China were nowhere to be seen.

The samurai warriors rode out against the Mongol forces for individual combat, but the Mongols held their formation. As usual, the Mongols fought as a united force, not as individuals. Instead of coming out for duels, the Mongols bombarded the samurai with exploding missiles and showered them in arrows. Eventually, the remaining Japanese withdrew from the coastal zone inland to a fortress. The Mongol forces did not chase the fleeting Japanese into an area about which they lacked reliable intelligence at that time.

Dr. Kenzo Hayashida, a marine archaeologist, headed the investigation that discovered the wreckage of the second invasion fleet off the western coast of Takashima. His team's findings strongly indicate that Kublai Khan rushed to invade Japan and attempted to construct his enormous fleet in only one year (a task that should have taken up to 5 years). This forced the Chinese to use any available ships, including river boats, in order to achieve readiness. Most importantly, the Chinese, then under Kublai's control, were forced to build many ships quickly in order to contribute to the fleet in both of the invasions. Hayashida theorizes that, had Kublai used standard, well-constructed ocean-going ships, which have a curved keel to prevent capsizing, his navy might have survived the journey to and from Japan and might have conquered it as intended.

David Nicolle writes in ''The Mongol Warlords'' that "Huge losses had also been suffered in terms of casualties and sheer expense, while the myth of Mongol invincibility had been shattered throughout eastern Asia." He also wrote that Kublai Khan was determined to mount a third invasion, despite the horrendous cost to the economy and to his and Mongol prestige of the first two defeats, and only his death and the unanimous agreement of his advisers not to invade prevented such a third attempt.

After his first invasion of Japan, in response, the Japanese pirates, known as Wokou, raided Korea. But the Mongol-Korean forces pushed them back, and the Wokou pirates experienced a low point of their activity due to the higher degree of military preparedness in the Goryeo and the Kamakura. In 1293, the Yuan navy captured 100 Japanese from Okinawa.

Invasions of Vietnam

thumb|right|200px|Map depicting [[Mongol invasions of Vietnam|Mongol campaign in Đại Việt(the name for Vietnam at the time, which consisted of the present-day northern Vietnam) in the north and Champa in the south in 1285]]Kublai Khan also twice invaded Đại Việt. When Kublai became the Great Khan in 1260, the Trần Dynasty sent tribute every 3 years and received a darugachi. But their king soon declined to attend the court in person. The first incursion (the second Mongol invasion of Đại Việt) began in December 1284 when Mongols under the command of Toghan, the prince of Kublai Khan, crossed the border and quickly occupied Thăng Long (now Hanoi) in January 1285 after the victorious battle of Omar in Vạn Kiếp (north east of Hanoi). At the same time Sogetu from Champa moved northward and rapidly marched to Nghe An (in the north central region of Vietnam now) where the army of the Tran under general Tran Kien surrendered to him. However, the Trần kings and the commander-in-chief Trần Hưng Đạo changed tactics from defence to attack and struck against the Mongols. In April, General Trần Quang Khải defeated Sogetu in Chuong Duong (now part of Hanoi) and then the Trần kings won a big battle in Tây Kết where Sogetu died. Soon after, general Trần Nhật Duật also won a battle in Hàm Tử (now part of Hưng Yên) while Toghan was defeated by General Trần Hưng Đạo and Kublai Khan failed in his first attempt to invade Đại Việt. Toghan had to hide himself inside a bronze pipe to avoid being killed by the Đại Việt archers; this shameful act became a disastrous humiliation for the Mongol Empire and for Toghan himself.

After his first failure, Kublai wanted to install Nhan Tong's brother Tran Ich Tac, who had defected to the Mongols, as king of Annam, but hardship in the Yuan's supply base in Hunan, and Kaidu's invasion aborted his planned invasion. In 1285 the Brigung sect rebelled, attacking monasteries of Paghspa's sect in Tibet. The Chagatayid Khan, Duwa, came in to aid the rebels, and laid siege to Kara-Kocho while defeating Kublai's garrisons in the Tarim basin. Kaidu destroyed an army at Beshbalik and occupied the city the next year. Many Uyghurs abandoned Kashgar for safer bases back east in the Yuan. Only after Kublai's grandson Buqa-Temur crushed the resistance of the Brigung sect, killing 10,000 Tibetans in 1291, Tibet was fully pacified.

The second invasion of Đại Việt by Kublai Khan began in 1287 and was better organized than the previous effort, utilizing a large fleet and plentiful stocks of food. The Mongols, under the command of Toghan, moved to Vạn Kiếp (from the north west) and met the infantry and cavalry of Omar (coming by another way along the Red River) and there they quickly won the battle. The naval fleet rapidly attained victory in Vân Đồn (near Ha Long Bay) but they left the heavy cargo ships stocked with food behind which General Trần Khánh Dư quickly captured. As foreseen, the Mongolians in Thăng Long (now Hanoi) suffered an acute shortage of sustenance. Without any news about the supply fleet Toghan found himself in a tight corner and had to order his army to retreat to Vạn Kiếp. This was when Đại Việt's Army began the general offensive by recapturing a number of locations occupied by the Mongol invaders. Groups of infantry were given orders to attack the Mongols in Vạn Kiếp. Toghan had to split his army into two and retreat.

In early April the naval fleet led by Kublai's Kipchak commander Omar and escorted by infantry fled home along the Bạch Đằng river. As bridges and roads were destroyed and attacks were launched by Đại Việt's troops, the Mongols reached Bạch Đằng without an infantry escort. Đại Việt's small flotilla engaged in battle and pretended to retreat. The Mongols eagerly pursued Đại Việt troops and fell into their prearranged battlefield. "Thousands" of Đại Việt's small boats from both banks quickly appeared, fiercely launched the attack and broke the combat formation of the enemy. Meeting a sudden and strong attack, the Mongols tried to withdraw to the sea in panic. Hitting the stakes, their boats were halted, many of which were broken and sank. At that time, a number of fire rafts quickly rushed toward them. Frightened, the Mongolian troops jumped down to get to the banks where they were dealt a heavy blow by an army led by the Trần king and Trần Hưng Đạo. The Mongolian naval fleet was totally destroyed and Omar was captured. At the same time, Đại Việt's Army made continuous attacks and smashed to pieces Toghan's army on its route of withdrawal through Lạng Sơn. Toghan risked his life making a shortcut through thick forest to flee home. Nevertheless, the Đại Việt and the Kingdom of Champa had recognized Kublai's supremacy in order to avoid more conflicts.

Southeast Asia and South seas

Three expeditions against Burma (1277, 1283, 1287) brought the Mongol forces to the Irrawaddy delta, and the Mongols captured Bagan, the capital of Pagan Kingdom in Burma, and established their puppet government. Kublai had to be content with the acknowledgment of a formal suzerainty again but the Burmese finally became tributary state and sent tributes until the expulsion of the Mongols from China. The Khmer kingdom of Cambodia and small states in Malay and South India submitted to Kublai's rule between 1278-1294. Mongol interests in these parts had always been purely commercial and tributary relationship.

During the last years of his reign Kublai launched a naval punitive expedition of 20-30,000 men against the Javanese kingdom of Singhasari (1293), but the Mongol forces were compelled to withdraw, by the Majapahit Dynasty, after considerable losses of more than 3,000 troops. In 1294, two Thai kingdoms of Sukhotai and Chiangmai became vassal states of Kublai's empire.

Conquest of Sakhalin

The Mongol forces made several attacks on Sakhalin, beginning in 1264 and continuing until 1308. Economically, the conquest of new peoples provided further wealth for the tribute-based Mongol Dynasty. The Nivkhs and the Oroks were subjugated by the Mongols. However, the Ainu people raided Mongol posts and fought with the indigenous people of Sakhalin, who submitted to the Great Khan. Finally, the Ainu tribes accepted Mongol supremacy in 1308.

Europe

Under Kublai, the opening of direct contact between East Asia and the West, made possible by the Mongol control of the central Asian trade routes and facilitated by the presence of efficient postal services, was another spectacular phenomenon in the Mongol Empire. In the beginning of the 13th century, large numbers of Europeans and Central Asians - merchants, travelers, and missionaries of different orders - made their way to China. The presence of the Mongol power also enabled throngs of Chinese, bent on warfare or trade, to make their appearance everywhere in the Mongol Empire, all the way to Russia, Persia, and Mesopotamia.

Marco Polo, Niccolo Polo's son, accompanied his father and his uncle Maffeo Polo, on their second trip to China starting in 1271. Marco Polo was probably the best-known foreign visitor ever to set foot in China and Mongolia. It is said that after reaching China in 1275, he spent the next 17 years (1275–1292) under the administration and patronage of Kublai Khan, including official service in the salt administration and trips through the provinces of Yunnan and Fukien. Although the numerous flaws in his description of China have tempted modern historians to dispute his sojourn in the Middle Kingdom, the popularity of his journal, ''Description of the World'', was such that it subsequently generated unprecedented enthusiasm in Europe for going east.

Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty

Kublai used traditional decimal organization of the Mongol Empire and set up special gerfalcon posts exclusively for the highest officials in 1261. He adopted Chinese political and cultural models, and also worked to minimize the influences of regional lords who had held immense power before and during the Song Dynasty. Kublai heavily relied on his Chinese advisers until 1276. He had many Han Chinese advisers such as Liu Bingzhong and Xu Heng. He employed 66 Uyghur Turks, 21 of whom were resident commissioner running Chinese districts.

Kublai also appointed Phagspa Lama his state preceptor, giving him power over all the empire's Buddhist monks. In 1270, after Phagspa created the Square script, he was promoted to imperial preceptor. Kublai established the Supreme Control Commission under Phagspa to administer affairs of both Tibetan and Chinese monks. During Phagspa's absence in Tibet, the Tibetan monk Sangha rose to high office and had the office renamed the Commission for Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs. In 1286, Tibetan Sangha became the dynasty's chief fiscal officer. However, their corruption later embittered Kublai. Thenceforwards, Kublai came to rely wholly on younger Mongol aristocrats. While Antong of the Jalayir, and Bayan of the Baarin served as grand councillors from 1265, Oz-temur of the Arulad headed the censorate. Borokhula's descendant, Ochicher, headed a kheshig and the palace provision commission.

In the 8th Year of Zhiyuan (1271), Kublai Khan officially declared the creation of the Yuan Dynasty, and proclaimed the capital to be at Dadu (, lit. "Great Capital", known as Daidu to the Mongols, at today's Beijing) in the following year. His summer capital was in Shangdu (, "Upper Capital", a.k.a. Xanadu, near what today is Dolonnur). To unify China, Kublai Khan began a massive offensive against the remnants of the Southern Song Dynasty in the 11th year of Zhiyuan (1274), and finally destroyed the Song Dynasty in the 16th year of Zhiyuan (1279), unifying the country at last. China proper, Korea and Mongolia itself were administered in 11 provinces during his reign with a governor and vice-governor each. Aside from the 11 provinces was the Central Region (), consisting of much of present-day North China, was considered the most important region of the dynasty and directly governed by the Zhongshusheng (Chinese: 中書省, "Department of Central Governing") at Dadu. In addition, Tibet was governed by another top-level administrative department called the Xuanzheng Institute ().

He ruled well, promoting economic growth with the rebuilding of the Grand Canal, repairing public buildings, and extending highways. However, Kublai Khan's domestic policy also included some aspects of the old Mongol living traditions, and as Kublai Khan continued his reign, these traditions would clash more and more frequently with traditional Chinese economic and social culture. Kublai decreed that partner merchants of the Mongols should be subject to taxes in 1263 and set up the Office of Market Taxes to supervise them in 1268. With the Mongol conquest of the Song, the merchants expanded their sphere of operations to the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. In 1286 maritime trade was put under the Office of Market Taxes. The main source of revenue of the government was the salt monopoly.

The Mongol administration issued paper currencies from 1227 on. In August 1260, Kublai created the first unified paper currency with bills that circulated throughout the Yuan with no expiration date. To guard against devaluation, the currency was convertible with silver and gold, and the government accepted tax payments in paper currency. In 1273, He issued a new series of state sponsored bills to finance his conquest of the Song, although eventually a lack of fiscal discipline and inflation turned this move into an economic disaster in the later course of the dynasty. It was required to pay only in the form of paper money called Chao. To ensure its use in circles, Kublai's government confiscated gold and silver from private citizens as well as foreign merchants. But traders received government-issued notes in exchange. That is why Kublai Khan is considered to be the first of fiat money makers. The paper bills made collecting taxes and administering the huge empire much easier while reducing cost of transporting coins. In 1287 Kublai's minister Sangha created a new currency, Zhiyuan, to deal with the budget shortfall. It was non-convertible and denominated in copper cash. Later Gaykhatu of the Ilkhanate attempted to adopt the system in Persia and Middle east, which was however a complete failure, and he was assassinated shortly after that.

He encouraged Asian arts and demonstrated religious tolerance. Despite his anti-Taoist edicts, Kublai respected the Taoist master and appointed Zhang Liushan the patriarch of Taoist Xuanjiao order. Under Zhang's advice, Taoist temples were put under the Academy of Scholarly Worthies. The empire was visited by several Europeans, notably Marco Polo in the 1270s who may have seen the summer capital Shangdu.

The capital city of the Emperor

After Kublai was proclaimed Khagan at his residence in Shangdu on 5 May 1260, he began to organize the country. Zhang Wenqian, who was a friend of Guo and like him was a central government official, was sent by Kublai Khan in 1260 to Daming where unrest had been reported in the local population. Guo accompanied Zhang on his mission. Guo was not only interested in engineering, but he was also an expert astronomer. In particular he was a skilled instrument maker and understood that good astronomical observations depended on expertly made instruments. He now began to construct astronomical instruments, including water clocks for accurate timing and armillary spheres which represent the celestial globe. Turkestani architect Ikhtiyar al-Din (also known as Igder) designed the buildings of the city of Khagan or Khanbalic. The Great Khan also employed many foreign artists to build his new capital. One of them named Arniko from Nepal built the White Stupa which was the largest structure in Khanbalic/Dadu.

Zhang advised Kublai Khan that his friend Guo was a leading expert in hydraulic engineering. Kublai knew the importance of water management, for irrigation, transport of grain, and flood control, and he asked Guo to look at these aspects in the area between Dadu (now Beijing or Peking) and the Yellow River. To provide Dadu with a new supply of water, Guo found the Baifu spring in the Shenshan Mountain and had a 30 km channel built to bring the water to Dadu. He proposed connecting the water supply across different river basins, built new canals with many sluices to control the water level, and achieved great success with the improvements which he was able to make. This pleased Kublai Khan and led to Guo being asked to undertake similar projects in other parts of the country. In 1264 he was asked to go to Gansu province to repair the damage that had been caused to the irrigation systems by the years of war during the Mongol advance through the region. Guo travelled extensively along with his friend Zhang taking notes of the work which needed to be done to unblock damaged parts of the system and to make improvements to its efficiency. He sent his report directly to Kublai Khan.

Nayan's rebellion

During the conquest of the Jin, Genghis Khan's younger brothers received large appanages in Manchuria. Descendants of them strongly supported Kublai's coronation in 1260, but the younger generation desired more independence. Kublai enforced Ogedei Khan's regulations that the Mongol noblemen could appoint overseers, along with the Great Khan's special officials, in their appanages, but otherwise respected appanage rights. His son Manggala established direct control over Singan and Shansi in 1272. In 1274 Kublai Khan appointed Lian Xixian to investigate abuses of power by Mongol appanage holders in Manchuria. Lia-tung region was brought immediately under the Khagan's control, in 1284, eliminating autonomy of the Mongol nobles there. Threatened by the advance of the Great Khan's bureaucratization, Belgutei's fourth generation descendant, Nayan (not confused with Temuge's descendant Nayan), instigated revolt in 1287. Nayan attempted to link up with Kublai's competitor Kaidu in Central Asia. Manchuria's native Jurchens and Water Tatars, who had suffered famine, supported Nayan. Virtually all the fraternal lines under Qadaan, a descendant of Khachiun, and Shikqtur, a grandson of Qasar, joined his rebellion. Because Nayan was popular prince, Ebugen, a grandson of Genghis Khan's son Khulgen, and the family of Khuden, a younger brother of Guyuk Khan, contributed troops for his rebellion.

The rebellion was crippled by early detection and timid leadership. Kublai sent Bayan to keep Nayan and Kaidu apart by occupying Karakorum, while he himself led another army against the rebels in Manchuria. Kublai's commander Oz Temur's Mongol force attacked Nayan's 60,000 green soldiers on June 14, while Chinese and Alan guards under Li Ting protected Kublai. The army of Chungnyeol of Goryeo assisted Kublai in battle. After the hard fight, Nayan's troops withdrew behind their carts, and Li Ting began bombardment and attacked Nayan's camp that night. Kublai's force pursued Nayan, who was eventually captured and executed in the traditional way for princes, without shedding of blood. Meanwhile, the rebel prince Shikqtur invaded the Chinese districts in Liaoning but was defeated within a month. Kaidu pulled back westward to avoid a battle. However, Kaidu defeated a major Yuan army in Khangai and briefly occupied Karakorum in 1289. Kaidu had ridden away before Kublai himself mobilized a larger army.

Widespread but uncoordinated risings of Nayan's supporters continued until 1289 but were ruthlessly repressed. The rebel princes' troops were taken from them and redistributed among the imperial family. Kublai harshly punished the darugachis appointed by the rebels in Mongolia and Manchuria. This rebellion forced Kublai to approve the creation of the Liaoyang Branch Secretariat on December 4, 1287, while rewarding loyal fraternal princes.

Later years

Kublai dispatched his grandson Gammala to Burkhan Khaldun in 1291. Because Kublai wanted to make sure that he laid claims to the sacred place (Ikh Khorig), Burkhan Khaldun, where Genghis was buried, Mongolia was strongly protected by the Kublaids. With Bayan in control of Karakorum and reestablishing control over surrounding areas in 1293, Kublai's rival relative Kaidu did not attempt anything large-scale for the next three years. From 1293 on Kublai's army cleared Kaidu's forces out of Central Siberian Plateau.

Kublai Khan originally designated his son Zhenjin as his successor. Zhenjin became the head of Zhongshusheng ("Department of Central Governing"), and actively administrated the dynasty in the Confucian fashion. After Nomukhan returned from the captivity in the Golden Horde, he expressed his resentment that Zhenjin had been made heir apparent. However, he was banished north. An official proposed that Kublai's abdicate in favor of Zhenjin in 1285. This action angered Kublai Khan, who refused to see his son. Unfortunately, Zhenjin died in 1285, 9 years before his father. Kublai regretted and remained very close to his wife, Bairam (also known as Kokejin). With the death of Chabi, he began to withdraw from direct contact with his advisers, issuing instructions through one of his other queens Nambui. Kublai Khan, on the other hand, developed severe gout in the later part of his life. He also gained weight due to a fondness for eating animal organs and other delicacies. This also more than likely increased the amount of purines in his blood, leading to his problems with gout.

His illness may have been related to the deaths of not only his favorite wife, but also his chosen heir Zhenjin. Before his death, Kublai made Zhenjin's son Temür the new Crown Prince, who in turn became the next Khagan of the Mongol Empire and the second ruler of the Yuan Dynasty after the death of Kublai Khan. Seeking an old companion to comfort him in his final illness, the palace staff could choose only Bayan, more than 30 years his junior. Kublai weakened steadily, and on 18 February 1294 he died. Two days later, the funeral cortege was ready and set out for the burial place of the khans in Mongolia.

Family

Kublai married Tegulen at first but she died very early. Then he married Chabi Khatun of the Khunggirat. Chabi was his most beloved empress. After her death in 1286, Kublai married her young cousin, Nambui, in accordance with Chabi's wish.

Kublai and his wives' children included:

Dorji. He was the director of the Secretariat and head of the Bureau of Military Affairs from 1263. But he was sickly and died young.

Zhenjin. He was the father of Temur Khan, Kublai's successor.

Manggala. He was a viceroy in Shaanxi.

Nomukhan.

Khungjil

Aychi

Saqulghachi

Qughchu

Toghan, led Mongol armies into Burma and Vietnam.

Khulan-temur

Tsever

Khutugh beki. She married the king Chungnyeol and became the Empress of the Goryeo.

and 1 son and 2 daughters

Legacy

Kublai's seizure of power in 1260 pushed the Mongolian Empire into a new direction. Despite his controversial election, which accelerated the disunity of the Mongols, his willingness to formalize the Mongol realm's symbiotic relation with China gave the Mongolian Empire a cultural and administrative brilliance that impressed the world.

Kublai and his predecessors' conquests were largely responsible for re-creating a unified, militarily powerful China. The Mongol rule of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia proper from a capital at modern Beijing also supplied the precedent for the Qing Dynasty's Inner Asian Empire.

See also

References in Art

Kublai and Shangdu or Xanadu are the subject of various later artworks, including the English Romantic Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan", in which Coleridge makes Xanadu a symbol of mystery and splendour.

Kublai Khan and Xanadu are both mentioned in the song "Xanadu" by Canadian band Rush.

Kublai Khan is mentioned by Indie Hip Hop Artist Vinnie Paz Where he glorifies his battle thirst.

Kublai Khan is mentioned by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros in their song Mega Bottle Ride.

Historical Fiction

Kublai Khan is depicted in Italo Calvino's novel ''Invisible Cities'', where he converses with Marco Polo about imaginary cities in his empire.

Along with Marco Polo, Kublai Khan is depicted in the 2011 Young Adult novel ''Daughter of Xanadu'' by Dori Jones Yang.

Notes

General note: Dates given here are in the Julian calendar. They are not in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. Weatherford, Jack 'Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World' pg.210-211

References

Rossabi, Morris. ''Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times '' (University of California Press (May 1, 1990)) ISBN 0-520-06740-1.

Saunders, J.J. ''The History of the Mongol Conquests'' (University of Pennsylvania Press (March 1, 2001)) ISBN 0-8122-1766-7.

External links

Inflation under Kublai

Relics of the Kamikaze (Archaeological Institute of America)

Category:1215 births Category:1294 deaths Category:Yuan Dynasty emperors Category:Great Khans of the Mongol Empire Category:13th-century Mongolian monarchs Category:13th-century Chinese monarchs Category:Borjigin

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Jedi Mind Tricks
img size	150px
background	group_or_band
alias	JMT
origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
genre	Hip hop
years active	1993–present
label	Enemy Soil
associated acts	Army of the Pharaohs, Outerspace, Ill Bill, R.A. The Rugged Man, Apathy
website	jmthiphop.com
current members	Vinnie PazStoupe the Enemy of MankindJus Allah
former members	}}

Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) is a hip hop Trio with Vinnie Paz and Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Jus Allah from Camden, New Jersey. The group was founded by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz (Vincenzo Luvineri) and producer/DJ Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind (Kevin Baldwin). In 1999 the New Jersey rapper Jus Allah (James Bostick) joined the group to record the second studio album by JMT, ''Violent by Design'' but left shortly after for reasons that remain unexplained. The track "The Rebuilding" (2006) marked his unofficial return to JMT since the split, but made a full fledged return aside Vinnie Paz for the sixth studio album, ''A History of Violence'' (2008).

DJ Kwestion is also a part of the group, mainly scratching choruses on the turntable. Kwestion (or Kwes) is also a part of the group Skratch Makaniks. Kwestion was a replacement for JMT's previous tour DJ, Drew Dollars, who is no longer affiliated with the group.

JMT has collaborations with both regional MCs and rap veterans, including GZA, Kool G Rap, 7L & Esoteric, Sean Price, Ras Kass, Canibus, Percee P, Killah Priest, Immortal Technique, Virtuoso, Louis Logic, R.A. the Rugged Man, Tragedy Khadafi, and Ill Bill. The group has sold over 250,000 albums in the United States and 400,000 albums worldwide, all of which were released independently.

History

Amber Probe EP and Psycho-Social LP

JMT officially debuted with the ''Amber Probe EP''.

"The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological, And Electro-Magnetic Manipulation Of Human Consciousness" known as "The Psycho-Social" for short was released under Babygrande Records and is JMT's first full length LP. It featured 12 tracks and 6 bonus tracks. It is considered JMT's most groundbreaking and influential album.

Five Perfect Exertions EP and Violent By Design

Prior to the release of their first LP, Vinnie Paz had conceived the idea of forming a rotating, collaborative super-group of underground East Coast artists called the Army of the Pharaohs (AotP). 1998 saw the first result of these efforts in The Five Perfect Exertions EP. The release featured Virtuoso, 7L & Esoteric, Chief Kamachi and Bahamadia as well as Vinnie Paz himself. The EP was later remixed for JMT's next LP, ''Violent by Design'' (2000), albeit without Chief Kamachi's verse.

The LP was originally titled "Nyugha Reincarnation of the Hologramic Christ". Vinnie Paz became noticeably more aggressive, abandoning his cosmic, paranoid rhyme style from The Psycho-Social CD for more violent lyrics. The LP also introduced Jus Allah, a founding member of JMT who had left for college but dropped out a short while after. A self-proclaimed five-percenter, Jus was present on every non-AotP track on ''Violent by Design'' as JMT's unofficial third member. Most of the lyrics in Violent By Design show Jus and Paz describing exaggerated ways of killing people as well as their metaphorical superhuman powers. Typically, they do this by combining themes of hardcore/gangsta rap with mythological or fantasy imagery.

The list of guest artists on this album was also their longest, including Mr. Lif, Planetary of OuterSpace, Louis Logic, Diamondback, Philip King Rappah,Coffee Gangsta Child L-Fudge, B.A. Barakus, J-Treds, Killa Sha, C-Baz and Tragedy Khadafi, plus a couple of odd phone-call interludes by Mr. Len.

During the course of ''Violent by Design's'' 1999-2000 recording period, Paz changed his alias to Vinnie Paz, inspired by the boxer of the same name. The reason for this has been reported to be the result of a short-lived rivalry instigated by fellow Philly underground rapper iCON the Mic King. Vinnie Paz decided to settle on his new moniker in order to prevent any further confusion. It was also around this time that he formally declared himself to be a follower of Islam, alluding to this fact several times on record.

Visions of Gandhi

In late 2001, JMT was made an offer by Babygrande Records founder Chuck Wilson to sign a deal. Jus Allah's uncertainty caused him to leave the group on good terms. Stoupe and Vinnie Paz closed their homegrown Superegular label and migrated to Babygrande. Before his ''White Nightmare'' EP on Virtuoso's "Omnipotent Records" label, Jus was somewhat isolated from the entire Philadelphia underground scene; the two sides wouldn't talk to each other for over three years. Virtuoso was also estranged from JMT and AOTP for his support of Jus, among other reasons.

Mid-2003 saw the release of JMT's third LP, ''Visions of Gandhi''. In an interview, Vinnie Paz said the title was inspired by Foxy Brown's verse in Nas's song "Affirmative Action", and expresses the need for a prominent figure of non-violent social change such as Gandhi in a post-9/11 world.

Stoupe, now supplied with a professional studio in New York, also expanded his variety of production, incorporating grand orchestral samples and a stronger Latin feel. In response, some longtime fans felt let down by Vinnie Paz's lyricism and delivery, as well as the abundance of slick, upbeat loops adopted by Stoupe . Nevertheless, the album helped expand the group's audience as its popularity and commercial success continued to grow.

Legacy of Blood and Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell

A little over a year later, JMT continued their creative streak with ''Legacy of Blood'', this time intentionally keeping guest artists to a minimum. Carrying with them their lessons from Gandhi, Stoupe and Vinnie tried to strike a balance between the past two albums. Vinnie Paz also added a more personal aspect to his lyrics, most notably in the last song "Before the Great Collapse".

In February, 2005, Babygrande officially announced that Jus Allah had signed on to the label after reconciling with his former partners. Babygrande released his long-awaited debut LP, ''All Fates Have Changed'', in May of that year. However, after a dispute with label CEO Chuck Wilson soon after the album's release, Jus left Babygrande and denied any new association with JMT.

In March, 2006, a reunited Army of the Pharaohs released ''The Torture Papers'' LP. The crew now consisted of Vinnie Paz, Chief Kamachi, 7L & Esoteric, Apathy, Celph Titled, Planetary & Crypt the Warchild of Outerspace, King Syze, Faez One, Reef the Lost Cauze, and new Jedi Mind Tricks hype-man Des Devious. This time, however, Virtuoso and Bahamadia were not featured and are no longer associated with the Army.

The fifth Jedi Mind Tricks album, titled ''Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell'', was released on September 19, 2006. The release coincided with the beginning of the album's supportive tour, which kicked off in New York City's Time Square. The album was widely acclaimed, unlike the group's two previous albums, which both received mixed reviews. A large part of the acclaim was due to the album's lyrical and musical diversity, both missing from their previous efforts. The album featured the single "Heavy Metal Kings" with Ill Bill, the Shara Worden-assisted "Razorblade Salvation", and the storytelling track "Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story" with R.A. The Rugged Man. A day after the release of the album, Vinnie Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks did an interview with The Breakdown, a show on ItsHipHop.tv where he discussed the album and his thoughts on Jus Allah.

In early 2006, rumors spread that the group had reunited with estranged member Jus Allah, and that he would be featured on ''Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell'', but no collaboration appeared. However, on September 20, 2006 a newly-recorded Jedi Mind Tricks/Jus Allah collaboration, produced by Brods, titled "The Rebuilding" appeared online. Jus is also planning to release his second album, ''The Colossus'', in the summer of 2007. In a January 2007 interview Paz stated that Jus will be featured on the group's upcoming sixth album, titled ''A History of Violence''. Jus Allah, Doap Nixon and Demoz were added to the AotP roster in 2007, and will contribute verses to the group's second studio album ''Ritual of Battle'', scheduled for release on September 25, 2007. Also, in summer 2008, Jedi Mind Tricks' Label, Babygrande, will be releasing a JMT DVD. "With a 12+ year career under their belt and a continually growing rabid fan base, the history of Jedi Mind Tricks has never been officially documented…until summer 2008, “Divine Fire: The Story of Jedi Mind Tricks DVD,” promises an insightful excursion into the roots of an underground empire." This is from Babygrande's Newsletter.

Reunion with Jus Allah and A History of Violence

In an interview conducted in September 2007 on the Art of Rhyme website, Jus Allah announced that he has rejoined Jedi Mind Tricks. In the interview he states that "I'm back in the group [and that] I'm focused on... putting out the next Jedi Mind Tricks album... a History of Violence."

Enemy Soil

Jedi Mind Tricks recently started their own record label called Enemy Soil which features Reef The Lost Cauze, Dutch (Stoupe's side group), Vinnie Paz (solo), Jedi Mind Tricks and Army of the Pharaohs.

Vinnie Paz released his first solo album "Season of the Assassin" on June 22, 2010. Jus Allah is also releasing a solo album titled, "MMA (Meanest Man Alive)". They are also releasing a new Jedi Mind Tricks record in 2011, "Violence Begets Violence". Army of the Pharaohs has a new album called The Unholy Terror which was released on March 30, 2010 and had an early release date on undergroundhiphop.com. Reef the Lost Cauze released his new album on Enemy Soil titled "Fight Music" on June 8, 2010, a collaboration with Guns & Butter. Stoupe also teamed up with Liz Fullerton and put out "A Bright Cold Day" on June 8, 2010 through Enemy Soil & Dusty Pockets.

Discography

Albums

{| |- style="background:#ccc;" !align="left"|Album information |- |align="left"|''The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness''

Released: November 4, 1997 (Re-released May 6, 2003 on Babygrande Records)

Label: Superegular Records

Sales: 25,000 copies

Singles: "I Who Have Nothing"

|- |align="left"|''Violent by Design''

Released: October 3, 2000 (Re-released May 25, 2004 on Babygrande Records)

Label: Superegular Records

Sales: 50,000 copies

Singles: "Heavenly Divine"/"Trinity", "Genghis Khan", "Retaliation"/"Blood Runs Cold"

|- |align="left"|''Visions of Gandhi''

Released: August 26, 2003

Label: Babygrande Records

Sales: 50,000 copies

Singles: "Animal Rap", "Kublai Khan", "Rise of the Machines"

|- |align="left"|''Legacy of Blood''

Released: August 24, 2004

Label: Babygrande Records

Sales: 50,000 copies

Singles: "Before the Great Collapse"/"On the Eve of War", "The Age of Sacred Terror"/"Saviorself"

|- |align="left"|''Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell''

Released: September 19, 2006

U.S. Sales: 75,000 copies

Label: Babygrande Records

Singles: "Heavy Metal Kings"

|- |align="left"|''A History of Violence''

Released: November 11, 2008

U.S. Sales: 11,205

Label: Babygrande Records

Singles: "Monolith","Godflesh"

|- |align="left"|''Violence Begets Violence'' Release Date: October 25, 2011

U.S. Sales:

Label: Enemy Soil

Singles:

|}

EPs/Singles

{| |- style="background:#ccc;" !align="left"|Album information |- |align="left"|''Amber Probe EP''

Released: 1996

Label: Superegular Records

|- |align="left"|''"Heavenly Divine"''

Released: 1999

Label: Superegular Records

B-Side: "Trinity" (featuring Louis Logic & L-Fudge), "Heavenly Divine (Remix)"

|- |align="left"|''"Raw is War"'' (Vinnie Paz)

Released: 2000

Label: Direct Records

B-Side: "Language is Fatal" (featuring Doap Nixon, Jus Allah & Planetary)

|- |align="left"|''"Genghis Khan"'' (featuring Tragedy Khadafi)

Released: 2000

Label: Superegular Records

B-Side:

|- |align="left"|''"Retaliation"''

Released: 2001

Label: Superegular Records

B-Side: "Blood Runs Cold" (featuring Sean Price)

|- |align="left"|''"Animal Rap" (Arturo Gatti Mix)'' (featuring Kool G Rap)

Released: 2003

Label: Babygrande Records

B-Side: "Animal Rap" (Micky Ward Mix)

|- |align="left"|''"Kublai Khan"'' (featuring Goretex & Tragedy Khadafi)

Released: 2003

Label: Babygrande Records

B-Side:

|- |align="left"|''"Rise of the Machines"'' (featuring Ras Kass)

Released: 2004

Label: Babygrande Records

B-Side:

|- |align="left"|''"Before the Great Collapse"''

Released: 2004

Label: Babygrande Records

B-Side: "On the Eve of War" (Julio César Chávez Mix) (featuring GZA),"On the Eve of War" (Meldrick Taylor Mix) (featuring GZA) |- |align="left"|''"The Age of Sacred Terror"''

Released: 2005

Label: Babygrande Records

B-Side: "Saviorself" (featuring Killah Priest)

|- |align="left"|''"Heavy Metal Kings"'' (featuring Ill Bill)

Released: August 1, 2006

Label: Babygrande Records

B-Side:

|}

Compilations

{| |- style="background:#ccc;" !align="left"|Album information |- |align="left"|''The Greatest Feature''

Released: June 23, 2009

Label: Babygrande Records

|}

Jus Allah discography

{| |- style="background:#ccc;" !align="left"|Album information |- |align="left"|''"White Nightmare"'' (EP/Single)

Released: 2002

Label: Omnipotent Records

B-Side: "Reign of the Lord"

|- |align="left"|''"All Fates Have Changed"'' (Full-length album)

Released: May 10, 2005

Label: Babygrande Records

Singles: "Pool of Blood"/"Hell Razors", "G-O-D"/"Supreme"

|- |align="left"|''"Pool of Blood"'' (featuring GZA) (Single)

Released: 2005

Label: Babygrande Records

B-Side: "Hell Razors" (featuring Evil Dead)

|- |align="left"|''"G-O-D"'' (Single)

Released: 2005

Label: Babygrande Records

B-Side: "Supreme"

|- |align="left"|''"MMA (Meanest Man Alive)"'' (Second full-length album)

Released: 2011

Label: Enemy Soil

|}

References

External links

Official Jedi Mind Tricks website

Official Babygrande website

Official CrackSpace page

Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Musical groups from Pennsylvania Category:Musical groups from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:East Coast hip hop groups Category:Rappers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Horrorcore groups Category:Underground rappers

da:Jedi Mind Tricks de:Jedi Mind Tricks es:Jedi Mind Tricks fr:Jedi Mind Tricks it:Jedi Mind Tricks pl:Jedi Mind Tricks ru:Jedi Mind Tricks simple:Jedi Mind Tricks fi:Jedi Mind Tricks sv:Jedi Mind Tricks tr:Jedi Mind Tricks

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Marco Polo
Birth place	''c''. 1254, presumably in Venice, Italy
Death date	January 08, 1324
Death place	Venice, Venetian Republic
Resting place	Church of San Lorenzo
Resting place coordinates
Known for	''The Travels of Marco Polo''
Occupation	Merchant, Explorer
Spouse	Donata Badoer
Children	Fantina, Bellela, and Moretta
Parents	Mother: UnknownFather: Niccolò Polo }}

Marco Polo (; ; ''c''. 1254 – January 8, 1324) was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in ''Il Milione'', a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, returning after 24 years to find Venice at war with Genoa; Marco was imprisoned, and dictated his stories to a cellmate. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married and had 3 children. He died in 1324, and was buried in San Lorenzo.

''Il Milione'' was dictated by Marco Polo to Rustichello da Pisa while both were prisoners of the Genova Republic. Rustichello translated it from Venetian Language to Tuscan dialect, subsequently embellished, copied by hand and adapted by many others; there is no authoritative version. It documents his father's journey to meet the Kublai Khan, who asked them to become ambassadors, and communicate with the pope. This led to Marco's quest, through Acre, and to the Mongol court in China. Marco apparently wrote of his extensive travels throughout Asia on behalf of the Khan, and their eventual return after 15000 miles (24000 km) and 24 years of adventures.

Their pioneering journey inspired Christopher Columbus and others. Marco Polo's other legacies include Venice Marco Polo Airport, the Marco Polo sheep, and several books and films. He also had an influence on European cartography, leading to the introduction of the Fra Mauro map.

Life

Early life and Asian travel

The exact time and place of Marco Polo's birth are unknown, and current theories are mostly conjectural. One possible place of birth is Venice's former contrada of San Giovanni Crisostomo, which is sometimes presented by historians as the birthplace, and it is generally accepted that Marco Polo was born in the Venetian Republic with most biographers pointing towards Venice itself as Marco Polo's home town. Some biographers suggest that Polo was born in the town of Korčula (Curzola), on the island of Korčula in today's Croatia. The most quoted specific date of Polo's birth is somewhere "around 1254". His father Niccolò was a merchant who traded with the Middle East, becoming wealthy and achieving great prestige. Niccolò and his brother Maffeo set off on a trading voyage, before Marco was born. In 1260, Niccolò and Maffeo were residing in Constantinople when they foresaw a political change; they liquidated their assets into jewels and moved away. According to ''The Travels of Marco Polo'', they passed through much of Asia, and met with the Kublai Khan. Meanwhile, Marco Polo's mother died, and he was raised by an aunt and uncle. Polo was well educated, and learned merchant subjects including foreign currency, appraising, and the handling of cargo ships, although he learned little or no Latin.

In 1269, Niccolò and Maffeo returned to Venice, meeting Marco for the first time. In 1271, Marco Polo (at seventeen years of age), his father, and his uncle set off for Asia on the series of adventures that were later documented in Marco's book. They returned to Venice in 1295, 24 years later, with many riches and treasures. They had traveled almost .

Genoese captivity and later life

Upon the Polos' return to Italy, Venice was at war with Genoa. Genoese admiral Lamba D'Oria overwhelmed a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Curzola near the island of Korčula, and Marco Polo was taken prisoner. He spent several months of his imprisonment dictating a detailed account of his travels to a fellow inmate, Rustichello da Pisa, who incorporated tales of his own as well as other collected anecdotes and current affairs from China. The book, soon spread throughout Europe in manuscript form, became known as ''The Travels of Marco Polo'', and depicts the Polos' journeys throughout Asia, giving Europeans their first comprehensive look into the inner workings of the Far East, including China, India, and Japan.

While Polo's book describes paper money and the burning of coal, it fails to mention the Great Wall of China, chopsticks, and footbinding, making skeptics wonder if Marco Polo had really gone to China, or wrote his book based on hearsay. However, researchers note that the Great Wall familiar to us today is a Ming structure, post-dating Marco Polo's travels by more than two centuries. The Yuan rulers whom Polo served, as well as the preceding Jin and Liao Empires controlled territories both north and south of the today's wall, and would have no reasons to maintain any fortifications that may have remained there from the earlier dynasties. Other Europeans who traveled to Khanbaliq during the Yuan Dynasty, such as Giovanni de' Marignolli and Odoric of Pordenone, said nothing about the wall either.

Marco Polo was finally released from captivity in August 1299, and returned home to Venice, where his father and uncle had purchased a large house in the central quarter named ''contrada San Giovanni Crisostomo''. The company continued its activities and Marco soon became a wealthy merchant. Polo financed other expeditions, but never left Venice again. In 1300, he married Donata Badoer, the daughter of Vitale Badoer, a merchant. They had three daughters, called Fantina, Bellela and Moreta.

Death

In 1323, Polo was confined to bed, due to illness. On January 8, 1324, despite physicians' efforts to treat him, Polo was on his deathbed. To write and certify the will, his family requested Giovanni Giustiniani, a priest of San Procolo. His wife, Donata, and his three daughters were appointed by him as co-executrices. The church was entitled by law to a portion of his estate; he approved of this and ordered that a further sum be paid to the convent of San Lorenzo, the place where he wished to be buried. He also set free a "Tartar slave" who may have accompanied him from Asia.

He divided up the rest of his assets, including several properties, between individuals, religious institutions, and every guild and fraternity to which he belonged. He also wrote-off multiple debts including 300 lire that his sister-in-law owed him, and others for the convent of San Giovanni, San Paolo of the Order of Preachers, and a cleric named Friar Benvenuto. He ordered 220 soldi be paid to Giovanni Giustiniani for his work as a notary and his prayers. The will, which was not signed by Polo, but was validated by then relevant "signum manus" rule, by which the testator only had to touch the document to make it abide to the rule of law, was dated January 9, 1324. Due to the Venetian law stating that the day ends at sunset, the exact date of Marco Polo's death cannot be determined, but it was between the sunsets of January 8 and 9, 1324.

Travels of Marco Polo

An authoritative version of Marco Polo's book does not exist, and the early manuscripts differ significantly. The published versions of his book either rely on single scripts, blend multiple versions together or add notes to clarify, for example in the English translation by Henry Yule. Another English translation by A.C. Moule and Paul Pelliot, published in 1938, is based on the Latin manuscript which was found in the library of the Cathedral of Toledo in 1932, and is 50% longer than other versions. Approximately 150 variants in various languages are known to exist, and without the availability of a printing press many errors were made during copying and translation, resulting in many discrepancies.

Narrative

The book starts with a preface about his father and uncle traveling to Bolghar where Prince Berke Khan lived. A year later, they went to Ukek and continued to Bukhara. There, an envoy from Levant invited them to meet Kublai Khan, who had never met Europeans. In 1266, they reached the seat of the Kublai Khan at Dadu, present day Beijing, China. Khan received the brothers with hospitality and asked them many questions regarding the European legal and political system. He also inquired about the Pope and Church in Rome. After the brothers answered the questions he tasked them with delivering a letter to the Pope, requesting 100 Christians acquainted with the Seven Arts (grammar, rhetoric, logic, geometry, arithmetic, music and astronomy). Kublai Khan requested that an envoy bring him back oil of the lamp in Jerusalem. The long ''sede vacante'' between the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268 and the election of his successor delayed the Polos in fulfilling Khan's request. They followed the suggestion of Theobald Visconti, then papal legate for the realm of Egypt, and returned to Venice in 1269 or 1270 to await the nomination of the new Pope, which allowed Marco to see his father for the first time, at the age of fifteen or sixteen. In 1271, Niccolò, Maffeo and Marco Polo embarked on their voyage to fulfill Khan's request. They sailed to Acre, and then rode on camels to the Persian port of Hormuz. They wanted to sail to China, but the ships there were not seaworthy, so they continued overland until reaching Khan's summer palace in Shangdu, near present-day Zhangjiakou. Three and one-half years after leaving Venice, when Marco was about 21 years old, Khan welcomed the Polos into his palace. The exact date of their arrival is unknown, but scholars estimate it to be between 1271 and 1275. On reaching the Yuan court, the Polos presented the sacred oil from Jerusalem and the papal letters to their patron.

Marco knew four languages, and the family had accumulated a great deal of knowledge and experience that was useful to Khan. It is possible that he became a government official; he wrote about many imperial visits to China's southern and eastern provinces, the far south and Burma.

Kublai Khan declined the Polos' requests to leave China. They became worried about returning home safely, believing that if Khan died, his enemies might turn against them because of their close involvement with the ruler. In 1292, Khan's great-nephew, then ruler of Persia, sent representatives to China in search of a potential wife, and they asked the Polos to accompany them, so they were permitted to return to Persia with the wedding party — which left that same year from Zaitun in southern China on a fleet of 14 junks. The party sailed to the port of Singapore, travelled north to Sumatra , sailed west to the Trincomalee port of Jaffna under Savakanmaindan and to Pandyan of Tamilakkam. Describing the Pandyan kingdom under Lord Emperor Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I as the richest empire in existence, Polo arrived during the reign of Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I, son of Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I and one of five brother kings on the continent. Eventually Polo crossed the Arabian Sea to Hormuz. The two-years voyage was a perilous one - of the six hundred people (not including the crew) in the convoy only eighteen had survived (including all three Polos). The Polos left the wedding party after reaching Hormuz and travelled overland to the port of Trebizond on the Black Sea, the present day Trabzon.

Legacy

Further exploration

Other lesser-known European explorers had already travelled to China, such as Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, but Polo's book meant that their journey was the first to be widely known. Christopher Columbus was inspired enough by Polo's description of the Far East to visit those lands for himself; a copy of the book was among his belongings, with handwritten annotations. Bento de Góis, inspired by Polo's writings of a Christian kingdom in the east, travelled in three years across Central Asia. He never found the kingdom, but ended his travels at the Great Wall of China in 1605, proving that Cathay was what Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) called "China".

Commemoration

The Marco Polo sheep, a subspecies of ''Ovis aries'', is named after the explorer, who described it during his crossing of Pamir (ancient Mount Imeon) in 1271. In 1851, a three-masted Clipper built in Saint John, New Brunswick also took his name; ''the Marco Polo'' was the first ship to sail around the world in under six months. The airport in Venice is named Venice Marco Polo Airport, and the frequent flyer program of Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific is known as the "Marco Polo Club". The travels of Marco Polo are fictionalised in Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne's ''Messer Marco Polo'' and Gary Jennings' 1984 novel ''The Journeyer''. Polo also appears as the pivotal character in Italo Calvino's novel ''Invisible Cities''. The 1982 television miniseries, ''Marco Polo'', directed by Giuliano Montaldo and depicting Polo's travels, won two Emmy Awards and was nominated for six more. Marco Polo also appears as a Great Explorer in the 2008 strategy video game ''Civilization Revolution''.

Cartography

Marco Polo's travels may have had some influence on the development of European cartography, ultimately leading to the European voyages of exploration a century later. The 1453 Fra Mauro map was said by Giovanni Battista Ramusio to have been partially based on the one brought from Cathay by Marco Polo:

See also

Chronology of European exploration of Asia

Silk Road, which Marco Polo traveled.

1284 Yuan expedition to Sri Lanka

''Did Marco Polo go to China?''

Notes

References

Bibliography

(Article republished in 2006 World Almanac Books, available online from History.com)

Marco Polo. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 28, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/468139/Marco-Polo

Further reading

(Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison) ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' — Volume 1 and Volume 2, written by Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa, were published by Project Gutenberg (Young Adult novel)

Television

''In the Footsteps of Marco Polo'' is a 2009 PBS documentary about two friends (Denis Belliveau and Francis O’Donnell), who conceived of the ultimate road trip to retrace Marco Polo's journey from Venice to China via land and sea. A 1982 miniseries featured Ken Marshall and Ruocheng Ying. The 2007 television miniseries, ''Marco Polo'', starring Brian Dennehy as Kublai Khan, and Ian Somerhalder as Marco, portrays Marco Polo being left alone in China while his uncle and father return to Venice, to be reunited with him many years later.

External links

The birthplace of Marco Polo

National Geographic Marco Polo: Journey from Venice to China

In the Footsteps of Marco Polo: A Journey through the Met to the Land of the Great Khan

Category:Italian Roman Catholics Category:1254 births Category:1324 deaths Category:13th-century explorers Category:Expatriates in China Category:Explorers of Asia Category:Explorers of Central Asia Category:Venetian explorers Category:Venetian merchants Category:Italian travel writers Category:People from Venice (city)

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Kurt Angle
Names	Kurt Angle
Height
Weight
Birth date	December 09, 1968
Birth place	Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Resides	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Billed	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Trainer	Dave SchultzDory Funk, Jr.Tom Prichard
Debut	October 15, 1998
Retired	}}

Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is the current TNA World Heavyweight Champion in his fifth reign. He is also known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (WWF/E).

Angle was involved in amateur wrestling during both high school and college. In college at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, he won numerous accolades, including being a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion. After graduating, he won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships. Angle then competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he won a gold medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling. Kurt Angle is also one of only four people in the world to complete the Grand Slam in amateur wrestling which is the junior nationals, the NCAAs, the World Championships and the Olympics. He is also one of only four Americans to win the Krasnoyarsk. He was named the greatest shoot wrestler and one of the top 15 college wrestlers of all time by USA Wrestling.

Initially turning down an offer to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Angle signed a multi-year contract with the company in 1998. His first big push in the company was in February 2000, when he held both the European Championship and the Intercontinental Championship at the same time. A few months later he won the King of the Ring tournament. Not long after, Angle began pursuing the WWF Championship. He continued to be a part of main event matches until August 2006, when Angle was granted a release from his contract. Throughout his tenure in the company, he was a six-time world champion (four-time WWF/E Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and WCW Champion), he also held the United States Championship, Intercontinental Championship, European Championship, Hardcore Championship and WWE Tag Team Champion once each. In addition, he was the winner of the King of the Ring tournament in 2000, the tenth Triple Crown Champion, and the fifth Grand Slam Champion. In addition, he is one of two wrestlers (Edge being the other) to have held every currently active male championship in the WWE.

After leaving WWE, Angle joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he became the second wrestler in TNA to win TNA's Triple Crown and the first man to hold all three TNA championships simultaneously. While in TNA, his real-life wife Karen began accompanying him to the ring and playing a part in his on-screen storylines. Angle has also made appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling as well as Inoki Genome Federation, where he held their version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In addition, he is a five-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, the second Triple Crown winner in TNA history—being the only one to hold all the required titles at once (while also holding the IWGP Title, making him a quadruple champion for a brief time).

Angle is the only wrestler in history to be a Triple Crown winner in both WWE and TNA. He is the first man to have held the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, the WCW Championship, and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in his career. Angle is also a two time King of the Mountain winner, winning at the 2007 and 2009 Slammiversary PPV event, making him the only wrestler to have been both King of the Ring (WWE) and King of the Mountain (TNA). Between WWE, TNA, and Japan, Angle has won 18 total championships. In 2010 the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Angle the Wrestler of the Decade of the 2000s.

Amateur wrestling career

}}

Angle started amateur wrestling at the age of six. He attended Mt. Lebanon High School, where he won varsity letters in football and wrestling and was an All-State linebacker. He went undefeated on the freshman wrestling team at Mt. Lebanon High and qualified for the state wrestling tournament his sophomore year. Angle also placed third in the state wrestling tournament as a junior and was the 1987 Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion as a senior.

Upon graduating from high school, Angle attended the Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he continued to wrestle at an amateur level. He was a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion, national runner-up in 1991, and a three-time NCAA Division I All-American. In addition, Angle was the 1987 USA Junior Freestyle champion, a two-time USA Senior Freestyle champion, and the 1988 USA International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles Junior World Freestyle champion.

After graduating from college, Angle continued to wrestle. In 1995, he won a gold medal at the World Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. Following this victory, Angle began preparing for the 1996 Summer Olympics under Dave Schultz at the Pennsylvanian Foxcatcher Club, training between eight and ten hours a day. In January 1996, not long after Angle began training at the club, Schultz was murdered by John Eleuthère du Pont, the sponsor of Schultz's team of Olympic prospectives. As a result, Angle quit Eleuthère du Pont's team, searched for new sponsors, and joined the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club in Schultz's memory.

Angle faced further hardships while taking part in the 1996 Olympic Trials, when he suffered a severe neck injury, fracturing two of his cervical vertebrae, herniating two discs, and pulling four muscles. Nonetheless, Angle won the trials and then spent the subsequent five months resting and rehabilitating. By the Olympics, Angle was able to compete, albeit with several pain-reducing injections in his neck. In the fall of 2006, Angle stated that he temporarily became addicted to the analgesic Vicodin after injuring his neck. He won his gold medal in the heavyweight (90–100 kg; 198–220 lb) weight class despite his injury, defeating the Iranian Abbas Jadidi by officials' decision after the competitors wrestled to an eight minute, one-one draw. The bout saw Jadidi earn a point after two minutes and 46 seconds by turning Angle, and Angle earning a point of his own with a takedown after three minutes and eleven seconds. The officials' decision was protested by Jadidi.

Shortly after his victory, Angle turned down a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In the same year, he became a marketing representative for Protos Foods, the manufacturers of OSTRIM, an ostrich meat based foodstuff.

Professional wrestling career

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996)

On October 26, 1996, Angle was convinced by Shane Douglas to attend the taping of an Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) event named ''High Incident''. He provided guest commentary during a match between Taz and Little Guido, but left the building after Raven "crucified" The Sandman by attaching him to a cross using barbed wire. Angle, shocked by the controversial imagery and afraid that his career prospects would be damaged if he was associated with the incident, threatened to sue ECW owner Paul Heyman if he was shown on television in the same broadcast as the stunt.

In 1997, following the incident, Angle worked for a year as a sportscaster on Pittsburgh's local Fox affiliate WPGH-TV. He also did a commercial for Pittsburgh-based pizza chain Pizza Outlet.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1998–2006)

Debut and various rivalries (1998–2000)

In October 1998, Angle began a career in professional wrestling and signed an eight-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He was assigned to the Power Pro Wrestling developmental territory in Memphis, Tennessee, where he began training. Angle's first appearance on WWF television was on the March 7, 1999 episode of ''Sunday Night Heat'', where he took part in an angle with Tiger Ali Singh. This angle involved Singh paying him money to blow his nose on the American flag. Angle instead blew his nose on Singh's flag and fought him off. His first official WWF match was a dark match victory over Brian Christopher on April 11, 1999. In the following months, he wrestled in house shows and other dark matches in preparation for his televised debut.

After several weeks of vignettes, Angle made his in-ring debut on November 14, 1999 at the Survivor Series, defeating Shawn Stasiak. In his initial push, he remained undefeated for several weeks, eventually losing to the debuting Tazz at the Royal Rumble. Angle's television character was an "American hero" gimmick based on his gold medal win at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In his promos, Angle presented himself as a role model and stressed the need to work hard to realize one's dreams, stressing the ''3 I''s, "Intensity, Integrity, and Intelligence". In his promos and ring entrances, Angle would always wear replicas of his gold medals around his neck. Despite standing for many principles that are associated with "good guy" wrestlers, Angle's character was arrogant, talked down to the audience, and behaved as if he thought he was better than the fans, leading to him quickly becoming a villain. Angle won both the WWF European Championship and the WWF Intercontinental Championship in February 2000, billing himself as the "Eurocontinental Champion". He dropped both of his titles without ever conceding a fall in a two falls Triple Threat match with Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 2000. The match had been agreed to on Angle's behalf by his mentor, Bob Backlund.

Pursuit of the WWF Championship (2000–2001)

Throughout mid-2000, Angle and Edge and Christian ("Team ECK") feuded with Too Cool and Rikishi, with Angle defeating Rikishi in the finals of the King of the Ring tournament. He went on to feud with Triple H after a love triangle between Angle, Triple H, and Triple H's wife Stephanie McMahon developed. As a change to the intended storyline of Stephanie turning on her husband and going with Angle, he lost to Triple H at Unforgiven. Following his feud with Triple H, Angle received another push and began pursuing the WWF Championship, defeating The Rock at No Mercy, after interference from Rikishi. With his victory over the Rock, Angle became the first wrestler to have won both an Olympic Gold medal and the World title. Angle retained the WWF Championship for the rest of the year in matches with The Undertaker at Survivor Series and in a six way Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon.

After beating Triple H at the Royal Rumble, Angle eventually lost the title to The Rock at No Way Out, he held the WWF Championship for four months. He then feuded with Chris Benoit, whom he defeated at WrestleMania X-Seven but lost to him at Backlash in an Ultimate Submission match; Benoit defeated Angle four falls to three in sudden-death overtime. Continuing the feud, Angle again defeated Benoit in a two out of three falls match at Judgment Day. Benoit pinned Angle after an ''Angle Slam'' in a "Pinfalls Only" fall, and then Angle made Benoit submit with the ankle lock in the "Submissions Only" fall. Angle won the third fall, a Ladder match, with the help of Edge and Christian.

The Invasion; Team Angle (2001–2002)

When World Championship Wrestling and ECW formed The Alliance and invaded the WWF in mid-2001 (dubbed as "The Invasion"), Angle became a face character and began a storyline where he joined forces with WWF Champion Steve Austin to repel them. At Invasion, Angle and Austin captained a team of five WWF superstars against five handpicked members of the Alliance. As part of the angle, Team WWF lost to Team Alliance when Austin turned on his team to join The Alliance. At the close of the match, Austin nailed Angle with a Stone Cold Stunner, causing him to get pinned by the other team. After winning and losing the WCW Championship, WCW United States Championship, and the WWF Hardcore Championship in matches with Alliance members, Angle was booked to defeat Austin in a SummerSlam rematch for his second WWF Championship at Unforgiven. He dropped the title back to Austin on the October 8, 2001 episode of ''Raw'' when WWF Commissioner William Regal joined The Alliance and cost Angle the match. As part of the storyline, Angle subsequently turned into a villain again and joined the Alliance himself; during a WrestleMania X-Seven rematch between Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon, he interfered seemingly to aid Vince but instead struck the members of team WWF with a steel chair. Angle, however, ultimately returned to the WWF side by enabling The Rock to defeat Austin in a "Winner Takes All" match between the WWF and The Alliance at Survivor Series. He remained a villain by claiming sole responsibility for the destruction of The Alliance.

After dropping the WCW United States Championship to Edge, the duo were booked into a lengthy feud. During this feud, Edge started the "you suck" chants every time Angle entered a WWE ring, usually in tune with Angle's entrance music. The chants followed Angle throughout the rest of his WWE career. In the course of the feud, the naturally balding Angle lost a "hair versus hair" match to Edge at Judgment Day, and his head was shaved bald. Angle has retained the shaved head since. Following the loss of his hair, Angle's storyline called for him to wear a wig and insult bald people, leading to a feud with Hollywood Hogan, who stripped Angle of his wig. Angle later scored a submission victory over Hogan at King of the Ring.

In October 2002, Angle became the fifth WWE Grand Slam Championship winner when he won the WWE Tag Team Championship with Chris Benoit at No Mercy 2002. Their team was successful but problematic, as the two bickered constantly, with Benoit often fed up with Angle's over-the-top antics. After dropping the title to Edge and Rey Mysterio on an edition of ''SmackDown!'', Angle won his third WWE Championship at Armageddon, defeating The Big Show, with the help of Brock Lesnar. While still in his third reign, Angle began a new storyline when he gained the services of manager Paul Heyman and "Team Angle".

Feuding with Lesnar and Guerrero (2003–2004)

He then began feuding with Brock Lesnar, who had won the 2003 Royal Rumble match, after Lesnar claimed to be the new top superstar on ''SmackDown!''. Angle dropped the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XIX to Lesnar.

On April 11, 2003, Angle underwent neck surgery performed by Dr. Hae-Dong Jho to repair nerve and spinal damage, calcium buildup, bone spurs, and intervertebral disc problems. Rather than have Dr. Jho remove the afflicted discs and fuse his vertebrae together, Angle opted for a less conventional surgery where Jho removed only the spurs and selected portions of the discs. The alternative surgery reduced Angle's rehabilitation time from one year to three months. He returned as a face character in June. Shortly after returning, Angle defeated Lesnar and Big Show in a Triple Threat match at Vengeance to regain the WWE Championship. During this time, Lesnar seemed to become an ally to Angle. Lesnar, however, secretly worked with Vince McMahon on a plot against Angle, turning on him during a steel cage match between himself and McMahon in which Angle was the special guest referee, and stated that he never tolerated losing the belt to him at Vengeance. After retaining the title in a singles bout at SummerSlam by making Brock Lesnar tap out to the ankle lock, he dropped the title to Lesnar in an Iron Man match on an episode of ''SmackDown!''. Angle then formed a five-man team to rival Lesnar's team at the Survivor Series, with Angle's team coming out victorious.

Angle then got involved in a feud with Eddie Guerrero. Initially being a firm friend and ally to Eddie during the latter's feud with his nephew Chavo, Angle turned on him when it was announced that Guerrero, not Angle, was the number one contender for the WWE Championship, thus becoming a villain once again. At No Way Out, Guerrero defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Championship, and Angle won a match to become new number one contender. After losing to Guerrero at WrestleMania XX, Angle began to once again suffer from legitimate neck problems. As a response, he was made the on-screen General Manager of SmackDown!, with his absence from the ring attributed to injuries suffered after Big Show chokeslammed him off a ledge. Angle continued his feud with Guerrero throughout 2004. He cost Guerrero the WWE championship against John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a Texas Bull Rope match at The Great American Bash by participating in the worked finish; Angle came down to the ring and showed a replay where JBL's shoulder hit the corner pad before Guerrero's hand. Angle was later fired by Vince McMahon as General Manager in July 2004, after discovering that he was faking his handicapped status.

In November 2004, Angle initiated the ''Kurt Angle Invitational'', a worked weekly segment where "hometown heroes" (plants), challenged him to a match, with Angle promising to give his Olympic gold medal to the first person to last more than three minutes in the ring with him. The Invitational was won by Eugene in July 2005 starting a new angle for both men. As a result, Angle faced Eugene at SummerSlam, defeating him by making him tap out to the ankle lock.

On November 4, 2004, episode of ''SmackDown!'', taped in St. Louis, Missouri, during an unscripted segment of ''Tough Enough'', Angle challenged the finalists through a squat thrust competition. Chris Nawrocki won the competition, and the prize Nawrocki won was a match against Angle. Angle quickly took Nawrocki down, breaking his ribs, then made him tap out with a ''neck crank''. After Angle defeated Nawrocki, Angle challenged the other finalists. Daniel Puder, an American professional mixed martial artist, accepted Angle's challenge. Angle and Puder wrestled for position, with Angle taking Puder down, however, in the process, Puder locked Angle in a ''kimura lock''. With Puder on his back and Angle's arm locked in the ''kimura'', Angle attempted a pin, one of two referees in the ring, Jim Korderas, quickly counted three to end the bout, despite the fact that Puder's shoulders weren't fully down on the mat, bridging up at two. Puder later claimed he would have snapped Angle's arm, thus making Angle tap out on national television, if Korderas had not ended the match. Dave Meltzer and Dave Scherer gave these following comments:

"The Wrestling Machine" and departure (2005–2006)

In January 2005, Angle took part in the Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Shawn Michaels, who had returned to the ring to eliminate in retaliation. After mocking Michaels by defeating his former tag team partner, Marty Jannetty, and attacking former manager, Sherri Martel, Angle defeated Michaels in an interpromotional match at WrestleMania 21, which won Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) Match of the Year Award. He continued to feud with Michaels upon being drafted from ''SmackDown!'' to ''Raw'' in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, losing to Michaels at Vengeance. Angle later challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship at Unforgiven, where Angle won the match by disqualification, thus not winning the title. Angle also challenged Cena again in a Triple Threat match along with Michaels at Taboo Tuesday, in a losing effort.

Angle returned to the SmackDown! brand in January 2006, where he was pushed to gain the vacant World Heavyweight Championship in a twenty man battle royal, turning face in the process for the first time since 2004. He retained the title against Mark Henry at the Royal Rumble. Shortly after the match, The Undertaker made his return and challenged Angle for the title. Angle retained the title in a match with Undertaker at No Way Out before dropping it to Rey Mysterio in a Triple Threat match, which also included Randy Orton, at WrestleMania 22.

At Judgment Day, Angle was defeated by Mark Henry via countout. On May 29, 2006, Angle was drafted to the newly created ECW brand. It was during this time that he acquired the nickname "The Wrestling Machine," wearing a mouth guard and quickly squashing opponents. Upon coming to ''ECW'', he issued an open challenge for One Night Stand, which was accepted by Orton. Angle defeated Orton at One Night Stand, later losing to him in a rematch at Vengeance. Angle appeared sporadically on WWE television throughout mid 2006. On August 25, 2006, Angle was granted an early release from his WWE contract because of health reasons. Angle stated in the ''Kurt Angle: Champion'' documentary DVD that he asked for his release from WWE because Angle couldn't take time off and he was working hurt, severely on some occasions. He also states that when he quit, WWE lost their very top talent, as he was at the very top of the payroll.

Japan (2007–2009)

On February 18, 2007, Angle made his debut in New Japan Pro Wrestling, teaming with former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata to defeat fellow TNA wrestler Travis Tomko and fellow WWE alumnus Giant Bernard.

Angle was booked to face Brock Lesnar in a champion versus champion match for the Inoki Genome Federation on June 29, 2007, and defeated him by submission for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, and he challenged him to an MMA fight. On December 19, 2007, Angle defended the IWGP World Title successfully against Kendo Kashin.

On January 4, 2008, Angle made his third successful IWGP World Championship defense when he defeated Yuji Nagata at the New Japan Pro Wrestling supershow ''Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome'' by forcing Nagata to tap out to the ankle lock. On February 17, 2008, Angle lost the IWGP title to Shinsuke Nakamura in a unification match, thus ending the IWGP championship controversy. Kurt Angle is not recognized as an IWGP Heavyweight Champion by New Japan. He returned in August during the G1 Climax in two special tag matches A.J. Styles as his opponent with Shinsuke Nakamura and Masahiro Chono as Angle's partners and Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinjiro Otani as Styles' partners. Angle's team won both matches.

He returned on January 4, 2009, at ''Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome'' in a special eight man tag match, where he, Kevin Nash, Chono, and Riki Chōshū faced G.B.H. (Giant Bernard, Karl Anderson, Takashi Iizuka and Tomohiro Ishii), with Angle getting the win for his team. Angle then went on to defeat Bernard in a singles match at New Japan's ISM tour on February 15. After Hiroshi Tanahashi retained the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Nakamura in the main event, Angle challenged him for the title, which Tanahashi accepted. Tanahashi defeated Angle on April 5 at New Japan's ''Resolution '09'' to retain the title.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2006–present)

Debut and World Championships (2006–2007)

A few weeks after his WWE contract expired, Angle signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). The new signing was viewed by some as a promotion not having concern for the health of a wrestler. On September 24, 2006, during the closing segment of No Surrender, TNA President Dixie Carter announced that TNA Wrestling had signed Angle to a contract, with Jim Cornette introducing video footage of Angle training in a six-sided TNA ring. On the December 28, 2006 episode of ''TNA Impact!'', this was announced as the "Moment of the Year" for TNA.

Angle made his TNA debut on October 19, confronting Samoa Joe after Joe refused to relinquish the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt that, according to the storyline, he had stolen from Jeff Jarrett. The two men ended up fighting while Jarrett took the title back. Angle was then the special enforcer for the Title vs. Career match between Jarrett and Sting at Bound for Glory, but, as part of the worked finish, he took out referee Rudy Charles and assumed the referee's role for the rest of the match-up. Angle's first match in TNA took place on the November 16 airing of ''Impact!'', where he was booked to defeat Abyss with the ankle lock and be attacked after the match by Samoa Joe. At Genesis, Angle defeated Samoa Joe, ending Joe's undefeated push.

At Final Resolution, Angle was booked to defeat Samoa Joe in a thirty minute Iron Man match 3–2 to earn a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Against All Odds, which he lost to Christian Cage after interference from Tomko and Scott Steiner. This led to a feud between Angle and Steiner, with Angle pinning Steiner at Destination X. After Angle defeated Steiner, he was picked to lead a team of four other wrestlers against a team of Christian Cage's choice in a Lethal Lockdown match at April's Lockdown. Angle chose Samoa Joe, Rhino, Sting, and Jeff Jarrett for Team Angle, while Cage chose A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, Tomko, and Abyss. The man who gained the winning pinfall would become the number one contender to Christian Cage's NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Team Angle was victorious after Jeff Jarrett hit Abyss with a gimmicked guitar full of thumbtacks and allowed Sting to score the pin. Cage was set to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Sting and Angle in a triple threat match at Sacrifice. The day of the PPV, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the owners of the NWA World Heavyweight and the NWA World Tag Team Championships, stripped Cage of the title and Team 3D of the tag team title. NWA Executive Director Robert K. Trobich stated the reason was that Cage refused to defend the NWA Title at NWA live events. At the PPV event, Cage, still holding the physical NWA Championship belt, defended what was billed as the "World Heavyweight Championship" against Angle and Sting. Angle was the victor of said contest by making Sting submit, who had technically just pinned Cage, and was announced as the new "World Heavyweight Champion". The ''Impact!'' following the event, Angle came to the ring with a new championship belt, and announced he was the new "TNA World Heavyweight Champion". Afterward, Cage and Sting came to the ring and the three began to argue over who was the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Due to the controversial finish to their match at Sacrifice, the title was declared vacant by Cornette. A tournament was held for the title which culminated in a King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary on June 17, 2007. At the event, Angle became the TNA World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Cage, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, and Chris Harris. He then attacked Joe after denying a request for a handshake, reigniting their feud.

At Victory Road, newly-crowned X Division Champion Samoa Joe teamed with Kurt Angle to face TNA Tag Team Champions Team 3D, with the stipulation that if a wrestler pinned the other opponent, he won his championship. As part of the planned outcome of the match, Joe pinned Brother Ray of Team 3D to win both tag team belts, which he held by himself. On the following episode of ''Impact!'', Joe (now holding the X Division and Tag Team Championships, with Angle holding the TNA and (IGF recognized) IWGP Heavyweight Championships) challenged Angle to a match at Hard Justice where it was winner take all. While illustrating how he would take away everything important in Angle's life, Joe brought Angle's wife Karen into the fray, as she demanded a divorce. During the match, however, Karen turned on Joe and aided her husband. As part of his next push, Angle won, gaining all the championships and becoming the second Triple Crown champion in TNA and the first to hold all three titles at the same time. Including the IWGP Title, this made Angle a quadruple champion. Angle, however, dropped both the X Division and Tag Team Titles to Jay Lethal and Team Pacman, respectively, at No Surrender. At Bound for Glory, Angle lost the TNA World Title to Sting, but won it back on the October 25 edition of ''Impact!''.

The Angle Alliance (2007–2008)

Angle then joined forces with A.J. Styles and Tomko as The Angle Alliance at Turning Point against Samoa Joe, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. Styles had planned for Christian's Coalition and The Angle Alliance to team up together, but Christian Cage demanded to be the leader of The Angle Alliance after Cage denied Angle's request of being his "lackey". At Final Resolution, Angle successfully defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Cage due to interference from Styles and again at Against All Odds with help from Tomko. At Lockdown, Angle lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Samoa Joe after being pinned.

The Main Event Mafia (2008–2009)

After suffering a neck injury, Angle was out of action. In the storyline, he returned to ''Impact!'' to ask his estranged wife Karen to reunite with him, but she declined his offer. Later that night, after Styles suffered a beating at the hands of Team 3D, Booker T, and Tomko, Angle added to the mugging by hitting Styles with a steel chair. At Slammiversery, Angle lost to Styles, being pinned after interference from Karen. At Victory Road, Angle and Team 3D won a six-man tag team Full Metal Mayhem match defeating the team of Christian Cage, Rhino, and Styles. At Hard Justice, Angle once again lost to Styles – this time in a Last Man Standing match. The feud continued on the next edition of ''Impact!'', with Styles winning Angle's gold medal in a mock amateur wrestling match. The next week Angle challenged Styles to a ladder match for the Olympic Gold Medal. As they both stood on the top of the ladder, the arena went dark and Jeff Jarrett's music played. When the lights turned on, Styles had a guitar and performed an ''Acoustic Equalizer'' on Angle to win the match. Angle began a feud with Jarrett after No Surrender when Jarrett hit Angle with his guitar, a match that involved him, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the October 2 edition of ''Impact'', Mick Foley announced that he would be the special enforcer for Angle's match with Jarrett at Bound for Glory IV. Angle lost to Jarrett in this match, being pinned after taking the mandible claw from Foley and a guitar shot and Stroke from Jarrett. He started attacking other superstars backstage in order to get a rematch against Jarrett. On the first HD ''Impact!'', Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash, and Sting started a new stable of legends called The Main Event Mafia. Scott Steiner joined the group the following week. Angle then defeated Abyss at Turning Point in a Falls Count Anywhere match. After weeks of torturing Jeff Jarrett to give him a rematch, Jarrett said that if Angle could defeat Rhino at the second Final Resolution of 2008, with Mick Foley as the Special Enforcer, he would grant it. Angle defeated Rhino to earn a rematch with Jarrett at Genesis after Al Snow made a surprise appearance and distracted Foley for Angle to cheat. At Sacrifice, Angle lost his leadership of the Mafia to Sting because of their match's stipulation. On June 21 at Slammiversary, Angle won (so he wouldn't leave TNA) the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the third time in a King of the Mountain match with help from Samoa Joe. On the following edition of ''Impact!'', Angle regained leadership of the Main Event Mafia after he and the rest of the Mafia, attacked Sting while introducing Joe as their newest member. At No Surrender Angle lost his championship to A.J. Styles in a five-way match which also included Matt Morgan, Sting, and Hernandez.

Various feuds (2009–2010)

After defeating Morgan at Bound for Glory, Angle came out on the following edition of ''Impact!'' and put over the younger talent of the company. Afterward, he was assaulted by the debuting Desmond Wolfe, who defeated him via knockout in a street fight the following week. At Turning Point Angle defeated Wolfe in a rematch. The following month at Final Resolution Angle faced Wolfe in a "Three Degrees of Pain" two out of three falls match. Wolfe managed to gain the first fall by pinning Angle following the Tower of London, but Angle forced him to tap out with the ankle lock to win the second fall. In the final fall, which could only be won by escaping the Six Sides of Steel, Angle managed to escape first and won the match. On the January 4, 2010, live, three hour, Monday night edition of ''Impact!'' Angle received a shot at A.J. Styles' World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated in the main event of the show. Two weeks later at Genesis Angle received one last shot at the World Heavyweight Title, but was once again defeated by Styles, who turned heel with the help of Ric Flair and nailed him with the title belt. As a result, Angle was barred from challenging for the belt as long as Styles is the title holder. Due to the circumstances surrounding the loss, Hulk Hogan gave Angle another shot at Styles and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on the January 21 edition of ''Impact!'', but this time he lost the match after referee Earl Hebner, who was later revealed to have been paid off by Flair, called for the bell in an incident similar to the Montreal Screwjob. Angle responded to the incident by spitting in Hogan's face, threatening to quit TNA and go back to WWE. Angle apologized to Hogan, after being saved by him from Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac. At Against All Odds Angle took part in the 8 Card Stud Tournament to crown a new number one contender, but was defeated in the first round by Mr. Anderson, after Anderson used Angle's dog tags to bust him open. On the following edition of ''Impact!'' Angle promised to make Anderson suffer for disrespecting the U.S. soldiers, but was in the end once again laid out by him, effectively starting a feud between the two. At Destination X Angle defeated Anderson in a rematch. Angle and Anderson were booked in a rubber match inside a steel cage at Lockdown. On the April 5 edition of ''Impact!'' Anderson defeated Angle in a ladder match to win possession of the key to the cage door. At Lockdown, Angle defeated Anderson in a steel cage match and afterwards announced that he would now be taking some time off from wrestling.

Rankings climb (2010)

Angle returned on the May 20 edition of ''Impact!'' and was ranked number two by the Championship Committee in the inaugural top 10 rankings for a World Heavyweight title shot. Angle, however, decided to take his name out of the running for a title shot and vowed to fight his way through the top 10 and earn his spot at the top of the company. At Slammiversary VIII Angle started his climb back to the top by defeating Kazarian, who was ranked number ten. Angle continued his climb, defeating Desmond Wolfe, who was ranked number nine prior to the match, on the June 24 edition of ''Impact!'', and D'Angelo Dinero, ranked number eight, at Victory Road. Prior to his match with Dinero, Angle announced that should he lose on his way to the top of the rankings, he would retire from professional wrestling On the July 22 edition of ''Impact!'' Angle defeated number seven ranked Hernandez and followed that up three weeks later by defeating number six ranked A.J. Styles. On the August 19 edition of ''Impact!'' the TNA World Heavyweight Championship was vacated and instead of continuing his climb, Angle was entered into an eight man tournament for the title, defeating X Division Champion Douglas Williams in his first round match. At No Surrender Angle first wrestled Jeff Hardy to a twenty minute time limit draw, after which Eric Bischoff ordered a five minute extra time. After that and a second five minute extra time also ended in draws, it was ruled that, due to a cut, Angle wouldn't be allowed to continue the match, ending the match in a no contest. After wrestling a draw on the September 16 edition of ''Impact!'', it was announced that both Angle and Hardy would advance to the finals at Bound for Glory, where they would compete with Mr. Anderson in a three–way match.

Feud with Jeff Jarrett (2010–2011)

At Bound for Glory Angle was defeated by Hardy, when he turned heel and pinned Anderson, after an interference from Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, who then went on to form an alliance named Immortal, with Hardy, Abyss and Jeff Jarrett. On the following edition of ''Impact!'' Angle came out to make his retirement speech, after his failed attempt to win the World Heavyweight Champion, but was interrupted by Jarrett, who announced that he had made a deal with Hogan and Bischoff in order to end Angle's career at Bound for Glory, before attacking him, when he was restrained by TNA's security officers Gunner and Murphy. The following week Angle returned, trying to get his hands on Bischoff and Ric Flair, before being stopped by TNA's security officers. Angle returned three weeks later on the November 11 edition of ''Impact!'', saving Samoa Joe from Jeff Jarrett, Gunner and Murphy. After not appearing again for two weeks, Angle made another return on the December 2 edition of ''Impact!'', saving Samoa Joe from Jeff Jarrett and Abyss. On the January 6, 2011, edition of ''Impact!'' Angle interrupted Jarrett's $100,000 Mixed Martial Arts Challenge and signed a contract to face him at Genesis in an MMA exhibition match, since he had promised not to wrestle again. The match was thrown out in the third round after Jarrett blinded Angle. After the match Jarrett bloodied Angle, before announcing that he was ending his mixed martial arts career and promised that his wife, Karen Jarrett (formerly Karen Angle), would be joining the retirement party. On the January 13 edition of ''Impact!'' Karen made her return and stopped Angle just as he was about to attack Jeff, telling him that she would not allow him to ruin their personal lives and promised to tell all about their divorce the following week. The following week Karen slapped Kurt, providing a distraction which allowed Jeff to beat him down. At the end of the show Crimson saved Angle from a beating at the hands of Immortal and Fortune. The following week Ric Flair reinstated Angle in order to place him and Crimson in a seven–on–two handicap match against Jarrett, James Storm, Robert Roode, Kazarian, Rob Terry, Gunner and Murphy. The match ended with Jarrett pinning Angle for the win. Afterwards, Angle was saved from another beatdown by the returning Scott Steiner. The following week Fortune turned on Immortal and aligned themselves with Angle, Crimson and Steiner. On February 13 at Against All Odds Jarrett defeated Angle in a singles match and as a result Angle was forced to walk Karen down the aisle, when she and Jarrett renewed their wedding vows on the March 3 edition of ''Impact!''. After the match Angle hinted at a possible retirement by leaving his wrestling boots in the ring. On March 3 Angle proceeded to destroy the wedding set with an axe and forced wedding guest, New York Jet Bart Scott to tap out with the ankle lock. On April 17 at Lockdown, Jarrett defeated Angle in an "Ultra Male Rules" Two out of Three Falls steel cage match, with help from Karen. On the May 12 edition of ''Impact!'', Angle revealed Chyna as his backup in taking care of the Jarretts. At Sacrifice, Angle and Chyna defeated the Jarretts in a mixed tag team match. Later that same month, Angle signed a new three-year contract with TNA. With Karen out of the picture, Angle defeated Jarrett on June 12 at Slammiversary IX in what was billed as the "final battle" between the two to retain his Olympic gold medal and become the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. However, on the following edition of ''Impact Wrestling'', Jarrett challenged Angle to a Parking Lot Brawl and agreed to sign a contract that would force him to move to Mexico without Angle's children, should he lose the match. Angle ended up winning the fight after choking Jarrett with a shirt, forcing him to say "adiós".

Regaining the World Heavyweight Championship (2011)

With his feud with Jarrett behind him, Angle aligned himself with Sting to feud with the rest of Immortal, including the group's newest member, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Mr. Anderson. On the July 14 edition of ''Impact Wrestling'', Angle helped Sting regain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Anderson. On August 7 at Hardcore Justice, Angle defeated Sting, after hitting him with a chair he snatched away from Hulk Hogan, to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the record-breaking fifth time. On the following edition of ''Impact Wrestling'', Angle explained that he did not agree with Sting, who, using the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, wanted to hand the promotion back to Dixie Carter, as he had found out that she had lied to him about not knowing of the relationship between Karen and Jeff Jarrett. When Sting confronted Angle, he was attacked by Hogan, which led to Angle revealing that Hogan had been the one who had exposed Carter's lie to him. Angle also revealed that his goal was now to ruin Carter's youth movement in TNA by eliminating the younger wrestlers one-by-one and started by attacking Bound for Glory Series leader Crimson after the main event, thus solidifying his heel turn.

Personal life

Angle attended Clarion University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in education in 1993. In his later life, Angle got a Clarion University Golden Eagle, wearing a singlet, tattooed on his upper back.

Angle has four older brothers (one of whom, Eric, is also a wrestler) and a sister, Le'Anne, who died of a drug overdose. His father was killed in a construction accident when Angle was sixteen, and Angle dedicated both his career and his autobiography ''It's True, It's True'' to him as a result. Angle claimed in an interview that, following the death of his father, he regarded his wrestling coach, David Schultz, as a paternal figure. While training Angle, Schultz was murdered in January 1996 by John Eleuthère du Pont, the sponsor of Schultz's team of Olympic prospectives.

He married Karen Smedley on December 19, 1998, and the couple have a daughter, Kyra, who was born on December 2, 2002. They also have a son, Kody, who was born on October 26, 2006. In August 2007, Karen debuted in TNA as Angle's regular valet. In September 2008, it was reported that Karen had filed for divorce from Kurt. He is now engaged to actress Giovanna Yannotti. On September 30, 2010, Yannotti announced that the couple was expecting their first child. On January 22, 2011, Yannotti gave birth to a daughter named Giuliana Marie Angle.

In 2008, Angle was selected to be featured on the cover for metal band Emmure's second album ''The Respect Issue'' where he is depicted on the front and back covers for the record as well as in the inlay. Angle also further promoted the album by wearing an Emmure shirt during fights broadcasted on ''TNA Impact!''.

In 2009, It was reported that TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett was romantically linked to Karen Angle, beginning while Karen and Angle were separated. This resulted in TNA president Dixie Carter, placing Jeff Jarrett on leave of absence. The situation was revealed in July 2009 when a caller claiming to be a former TNA employee called in on ''The Bubba the Love Sponge Show''. Dixie Carter commented on the situation on Impact, stating "a personal situation that affected the company and it put all of us in a very difficult position." She said Jeff was placed "on leave as both a talent and in his capacity with the company and I'd like to leave it at that." In December 2009, Jarrett returned to TNA. He would marry Karen on August 21, 2010.

In April 2011, Angle revealed that he was planning a comeback to amateur wrestling for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Substance abuse allegations

Wellness Policy violation

On March 6, 2007, ''Sports Illustrated'' reported that Angle's name was found in the client database of a Florida wellness center suspected of being a front for distributing performance-enhancing drugs. The magazine alleged Angle had received prescriptions for trenbolone (which is not approved for human use by the FDA) and nandrolone, both anabolic steroids. Angle responded on his official website: "I did not improperly receive prescriptions. It is well documented that in my career I have broken vertebrae in my neck on five occasions and each time the course of treatment was under the care and supervision of my doctors. Any attempt to link me to the athletes in the current news accounts who may have improperly sought performance-enhancing drugs is without foundation."

Approximately two weeks later on March 19, 2007, ''Sports Illustrated'' posted on its website another article in its continuing series investigating a steroid and HGH ring used by a number of professional athletes in several sports. That article mentioned that 10 other professional wrestlers were implicated to have received performance-enhancing drugs from the same drug ring including four WWE wrestlers and Eddie Guerrero. Kurt never failed a drug test for pain pills. He did, however, fail a steroid test under WWE's Wellness Policy because his prescription for Deca-Durabolin had expired.

Driving under the influence charges

Angle was arrested at his home by Moon Township, Pennsylvania police on September 28, 2007 on a charge of driving under the influence after being reported by a woman who claimed that he almost hit her while leaving a local restaurant. Officials said Angle failed a field sobriety test but refused a blood test. Angle was charged with driving under the influence and careless driving, but he denies the charges. On September 9, 2008, Angle was cleared of all charges pertaining to his DUI arrest. On March 25, 2011, Angle was arrested in Grand Forks, North Dakota and charged with "being in control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated", after failing a field sobriety test. Angle later pled guilty to the charges and was on April 20 sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation, a chemical dependency evaluation, a $250 fine, $225 in court fees, and a ten day suspended jail sentence.

2009 arrest

On August 15, 2009, Pittsburgh-based NBC affiliate WPXI reported that Angle had been arrested. His girlfriend stated that she had filed a protection from abuse (PFA) order and that he was stalking her in the Robinson Township area. Angle was charged with "driving while operating privilege is suspended, prohibited acts-possession, harassment and prohibited acts". Hygetropin, a human growth hormone, was found in his car; Angle maintained that he had a prescription for the drug. On September 15 a District Court Judge dropped the harassment, suspended license, and drug charges against Angle. On November 9, 2009 the PFA charges were dropped after he and former girlfriend Trenesha Biggers reached an agreement to avoid contact with each other.

Acting career

In regards to his future, Angle has expressed interest on several occasions in pursuing an acting career after retirement from professional wrestling. In the spring of 2008, Angle made his film debut in the short film ''Chains''. He played a racist prison deputy, credited as The Deputy.

In the fall of 2008, Angle played the role of maniacal serial killer Brad Mayfield in the movie ''End Game''. In addition, on an episode of ''Pros vs. Joes'' season three, he was teamed up with Jimmy Smith and Kendall Gill against the Joes.

Angle also made an appearance on ''Criss Angel Mindfreak'', during the segment "Car Wreck Vanish." He will also make an appearance in the upcoming 2011 film ''Warrior'' as the Russian mixed-martial arts champion, Koba. Kurt stars alongside Kevin Nash, Sam Nicotero, Bill Laing, Mary Rutledge, and Bill Hinzman in the movie ''River of Darkness,'' directed by Bruce Koehler. In the movie, he portrayed the town sheriff, Will Logan. On the ''Right After Wrestling'' program on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 98, Angle told hosts Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas that he would become a part time wrestler after his contract expires in 2011 to focus on Angle Foods and his acting career.

Filmography

2009: ''End Game'' – as Brad Mayfield

2009: ''Chain's'' – as The Deputy (Short Film)

2010: ''Death from Above'' – as Thule

2010: ''Devil Dogs'' – as Steve Stagger (pre-Production)

2010: ''Dylan Dog: Dead of Night'' – as Wolfgang (2010)

2010: ''River of Darkness'' – as Sheriff Will Logan (2010)

2010: ''Beyond the Mat'' – as Coach Kamen

2011: ''Warrior'' – as Koba (2011)

Television

2011:''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' – Himself (1 episode)

2009:''Howard Stern On Demand'' – Himself (2 episodes, Eric the Midget Visits the Studio, Kurt Angle Wants Robin)

2009:''Criss Angel Mindfreak'' – Himself (1 episode, Car Wreck Vanish)

2008:''Pros vs. Joes'' – Himself (1 episode)

2007:''Inside MMA'' – Himself (2 episodes)

2006:''2006 Scream Awards'' – Himself

2005:''MTV's Made'' – Himself (1 episode)

2002:''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' – Himself (1 episode)

2001:''The Weakest Link'' – Himself (1 episode)

2001:''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' – Himself (1 episode)

2000:''The Big Breakfast'' – Himself (1 episode)

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''Angle Slam'' / ''Olympic Slam'', sometimes from the top rope or an elevated position

Ankle lock, sometimes followed by grapevining the opponent's leg

Crossface chickenwing – 2000; adopted from Bob Backlund

Signature moves

Bodyscissors

Double leg takedown, often transitioned into a pin or a suplex

European uppercut

Frog splash – TNA

Headbutt

Moonsault

Multiple suplex variations

*Bridging / Release belly to back

*Bridging / Release / Rolling German

*Overhead belly to belly, sometimes from the top rope

Rear naked choke

Triangle choke

Managers

*Bob Backlund

*Paul Heyman

*Shane McMahon

*Stephanie McMahon

*Trish Stratus

*Luther Reigns

*Daivari

*Tomko

*Karen Angle

*Kevin Nash

*Frank Trigg

Nicknames

*"The American Hero" (WWF / NJPW)

*"The Most Celebrated Real Athlete in WWF History" (WWF)

*"The Olympic Gold Medalist" (WWF/E / TNA)

*"The Olympic Hero" (WWF)

*"The Wrestling Machine" (WWE)

*"The Godfather of The Main Event Mafia" (TNA)

Entrance themes

*World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

**"Medal" by Jim Johnston (1999–2006)

**"I Don't Suck" by Jim Johnston

**"Medal (Remix)" by Jim Johnston (2006)

*Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

**"My Quest" by Dale Oliver (2006–2007)

**"Gold Medal" by Tha Trademarc (2007–present)

*"Main Event Mafia" by Dale Oliver (used while a member of The Main Event Mafia; 2008–2009)

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

Canadian Cup Championship

*Winner (1990)

Collegiate / High School

*Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion (1987)

*Clarion University Freshman of the Year (1988)

Espoir World Cup

*Runner-up (1989)

International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles

*FILA Junior World Freestyle Champion (1988)

*FILA World Championships gold medal in freestyle wrestling (100 kg) (1995)

National Amateur Wrestling

*National Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 2001)

National Collegiate Athletic Association

*NCAA Division I All-American (1990–1992)

*NCAA Division I Champion (1990, 1992)

*NCAA Division I Runner-up (1991)

Olympic Games

*Summer Olympics gold medal in freestyle wrestling (heavyweight) (1996)

USA Wrestling

*USA Junior Freestyle Champion (1987)

*USA Senior Freestyle Champion (1995, 1996)

*USA Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 2001)

Yasar Dogu Tournament

*Runner-up (1989)

Professional wrestling

'''Cauliflower Alley Club

*Future Legend Award (2000)

Inoki Genome Federation

IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Power Pro Wrestling

PPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Comeback of the Year (2003)

PWI Feud of the Year (2000)vs. Triple H

PWI Feud of the Year (2003) vs. Brock Lesnar

*PWI Feud of the Year (2007) vs. Samoa Joe

PWI Match of the Year (2003) vs. Brock Lesnar in a 60-minute Iron Man match on SmackDown!, September 16

PWI Match of the Year (2005) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21

PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2000)

PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2001)

PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2003)

PWI Rookie of the Year (2000)

PWI Wrestler of the Year (2003)

PWI ranked him #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2001

SoCal Uncensored

Match of the Year (2000) vs. Christopher Daniels, September 13, 2000, Ultimate Pro Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

TNA World Heavyweight Championship (5 times, current)¹

TNA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sting

TNA X Division Championship (1 time)

*King of the Mountain (2007, 2009)

*Second Triple Crown Champion

Feud of the Year (2006–2007)

Match of the Year (2007)

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

WCW United States Championship (1 time)²

WCW Championship (1 time)²

World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

WWF/E Championship (4 times)

WWF European Championship (1 time)

WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)

WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)

WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Benoit

King of the Ring (2000)

*Tenth Triple Crown Champion

*Fifth Grand Slam Championship

'''Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

*Best Gimmick (2000)

*Best on Interviews (2002)

*Best Technical Wrestler (2002)

*Feud of the Year (2003) vs. Brock Lesnar

*Match of the Year with Chris Benoit vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio, No Mercy 2002

*Most Improved (2000)

*Most Outstanding Wrestler (2001–2003)

*Readers' Favorite Wrestler (2002–2003)

Wrestler of the Decade (2000s)

*Wrestler of the Year (2002)

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)

1 Angle's first reign is no longer recognized by TNA. 2 Won during the Invasion storyline.

Lucha de Apuesta record

{|class="wikitable sortable" width=100% |- !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=5%|Wager !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Winner !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Loser !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Location !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=15%|Date !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Notes |----- align="center" |Hair || Edge || Kurt Angle || Nashville, Tennessee || || Hair vs. Hair match at Judgment Day |}

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Interview with HitTheRopes.com

Professional wrestling record for Kurt Angle from The Internet Wrestling Database

TNA Profile

Kurt Angle at The National Wrestling Hall of Fame website

Category:1968 births Category:American professional wrestlers Category:American sport wrestlers Category:Living people Category:Olympic athletes who wrestled professionally Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Olympic wrestlers of the United States Category:People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania Category:Professional wrestling executives Category:Sportspeople from Pennsylvania Category:Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Clarion University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:Pennsylvania Republicans Category:Fictional kings Category:Olympic medalists in wrestling

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