By 1200, the eastern part of China was under the command of the Dynasty of Generals, and the western area of former China was a collection of three independent kingdoms known as Kipchak, Persia and Arabia. Besides these were the strong states of Japan, Sri Vijaya, and the Byzantine Empire. All three of these non-Chinese states gained clout throughout the latter half of the 12th century. The kings of the new break-away states, however, were immediately faced with internal rebellions and war. Such was the case in Arabia in 1204, when an Arabic tribal leader known as Yusuf bin Ghazi al-Qassimi. Yusuf managed to gather a large group of southern Arabs (who hadn't been as severely subject to Chinese rules because of weak rule in the region) and ride to Baghdad, attacking the Chinese Arabian mona