Fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
Mongke Khan
(also
Mongke Khagan
or
Mongke
;
[a]
11 January 1209 ? 11 August 1259) was the fourth
khagan
of the
Mongol Empire
, ruling from 1 July 1251, to 11 August 1259. He was the first Khagan from the
Toluid line
, and made significant reforms to improve the administration of the Empire during his reign. Under Mongke, the Mongols conquered
Iraq
and
Syria
as well as the kingdom of
Dali
(modern-day
Yunnan
).
[2]
Appearance
[
edit
]
According to
William of Rubruck
, Mongke Khan was a man of medium height.
Early life
[
edit
]
Mongke was born on 11 January 1209, as the eldest son of
Genghis Khan
's teenaged son
Tolui
and
Sorghaghtani Beki
. Teb Tengri Khokhcuu, a
shaman
, claimed to have seen in the stars a great future for the child and bestowed on him the name Mongke, "eternal" in the
Mongolian language
. His uncle
Ogedei Khan
's childless queen Angqui raised him at her
orda
(nomadic palace).
[4]
Ogedei instructed Persian scholar Idi-dan Muhammed to teach writing to Mongke.
On his way back home after the
Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia
,
Genghis Khan
performed a ceremony on his grandsons Mongke and Kublai after their first hunting in 1224 near the
Ili River
.
[5]
Mongke was fifteen years old, and with his brother,
Kublai
, killed a
rabbit
and an
antelope
. Their grandfather smeared fat from the killed animals onto their middle fingers following the Mongol tradition.
In 1230, Mongke went to war for the first time, following
Ogedei Khan
and his father
Tolui
into battle against the
Jin dynasty
.
Tolui
died in 1232, and Ogedei appointed
Sorghaghtani
head of the Toluid
appanage
. Following the Mongol custom, Mongke inherited at least one of his father's wives, Oghul-Khoimish of the
Oirat
clan. Mongke deeply loved her and gave special favor to her elder daughter, Shirin.
[6]
Battle of Mohi
(on 11 April 1241), in which Mongke might have participated.
[7]
Ogedei
dispatched him along with his relatives to attack the
Kipchaks
,
Kievan Rus'
, and
Bulgars
in the west in 1235. When the most formidable Kipchak chief, Bachman, fled to an island in the
Volga delta
Mongke crossed the river and captured him. When he ordered Bachman to bend down on his knees, Bachman refused and was executed by Mongke's brother Bujek. Mongke also engaged in hand-to-hand combat during the
Mongol invasion of Rus'
. While his cousins,
Shiban
and
Buri
, went to
Crimea
, Mongke and
Kadan
, a son of
Ogedei
, were ordered to reduce the tribes in the
Caucasus
.
[8]
The Mongols captured the
Alan
capital
Maghas
and massacred its inhabitants. Many chiefs of the Alans and
Circassians
surrendered to Mongke. After
the invasion of Eastern Europe
, Mongke
would bring them back
to
Mongolia
. He also participated in the
Siege of Kiev (1240)
. Mongke was apparently taken by the splendour of
Kiev
and offered the city surrender, but his envoys were killed.
[9]
After
Batu
's army joined Mongke's, they sacked the city. He also fought alongside
Batu
at the
Battle of Mohi
. In the summer of 1241, before the premature end of the campaign. Mongke returned home after his uncle
Ogedei
recalled him in the winter of 1240?41. However, Ogedei died.
In 1246,
Temuge
, Genghis Khan's sole remaining brother, unsuccessfully tried to seize the throne without confirmation by a
kurultai
. The new Khagan
Guyuk
entrusted the delicate task of trying the Odchigin ("keeper of the hearth" ? a title given to both of Genghis' younger brothers) to Mongke and
Orda Khan
, the eldest brother of
Batu
.
Guyuk
eventually died en route to the west in 1248 and
Batu
and Mongke emerged as main contenders.
[
citation needed
]
Toluid revolution
[
edit
]
Following his mother Sorghaghtani's advice, Mongke went to the
Golden Horde
to meet
Batu
, who was afflicted with gout.
[
citation needed
]
Batu
decided to support his election and called a kurultai at Ala Qamaq. The leader of the families of Genghis Khan's brothers, and several important generals, came to the kurultai. Guyuk's sons Naqu and Khoja attended briefly but then left. Despite vehement objections from Bala,
Oghul Qaimish
's scribe, the kurultai approved Mongke. Given its limited attendance and location, this kurultai was of questionable validity.
Batu
sent Mongke under the protection of his brothers,
Berke
and Tuqa-temur, and his son
Sartaq
to assemble a formal kurultai at Kodoe Aral in
Mongolia
. When
Sorghaghtani
and
Berke
organized a second kurultai on 1 July 1251, the assembled throng proclaimed Mongke the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and a few of the
Ogedeid
and
Chagatayid princes
, such as his cousin
Kadan
and the deposed khan
Qara Hulegu
, acknowledged the decision.
Shortly thereafter, Oghul's son Khoja and Ogedei's favorite grandson
Shiremun
[
zh
;
ja
]
came to "pay homage" to Mongke as the new ruler, but they brought the entire army of the Ogedei faction with them.
[
citation needed
]
Mongke's
Kankali
falconer, Kheshig, discovered the preparations for the attack and told his lord. At the end of the investigation under his father's loyal servant Menggesar
noyan
, he found his relatives guilty but at first wanted to give them mercy as written in the Great
Yassa
. Mongke's officials opposed it and then he began to punish his relatives. The trials took place in all parts of the empire from Mongolia and China in the east to
Afghanistan
and Iraq in the west. Mongke and Batu's brother
Berke
therefore arranged to have
Oghul
accused of using
black magic
against Mongke. After she was arrested and questioned by
Sorghaghtani
,
Oghul Qaimish
was sewn up into a sack and tossed into a river and drowned, the traditional Mongol punishment for using black magic. Estimates of the deaths of aristocrats, officials, and Mongol commanders include
Eljigidei
,
Yesu Mongke
,
Buri
, and Shiremun and range from 77 to 300. However, most of the princes
descended from Genghis Khan
who were involved in the plot were given some form of exile. The anti-Mongke plot of a
Uyghur
scribe, Bala, and the Idiqut Salindi (the monarch of the Uyghurs) was discovered and they were publicly executed. After his accession to the throne in 1251, Mongke announced that he would follow his ancestors but would not imitate the ways of other countries.
[10]
To increase his legitimacy, in 1252 he retroactively awarded his father the title of
Ikh Khagan
. Mongke shared the western part of the empire with his ally Batu Khan, ensuring the unity of the empire. Mongke's mother Sorghaghtani died in 1252.
[
citation needed
]
After the defeat of the Ogedeid and Chagataid families, Mongke eliminated their estates and assigned acquiescent family members new territories either in Turkestan or in northwest China. After the bloody purge, Mongke ordered a general
amnesty
for prisoners and captives. In another move to consolidate his power, Mongke gave his brothers
Kublai
and
Hulagu
supervisory powers in North China and Iran. Rumours spread that his brother
Kublai
founded a de facto independent ulus (district) and perhaps took for himself some of the tax receipts that should by rights be coming to
Karakorum
. In 1257 the Emperor sent two tax
inspectors
to audit Kublai's official. They found fault, listed 142 breaches of regulations, accused Chinese officials, and even had some executed; Kublai's office was abolished. Mongke's authority took over the collection of all taxes in Kublai's estates. As his
Confucian
and
Buddhist
advisers pointed out,
Kublai
first sent his wives to the court of Khagan and then appealed to Mongke in person. They embraced in tears and Mongke forgave his brother.
[
citation needed
]
Administrative ethos
[
edit
]
The
Mongol Empire
during the reign of Mongke Khan (r.1251?59)
Mengeser Noyan
Mongke drafted his own decrees and kept close watch on their revision. Mongke forbade practices of extravagant costs of the
Borjigin
and non-Borjigid nobles. He also limited gifts to the princes, converting them into regular salaries, and made the merchants subject to taxes.
[11]
Mongke limited notorious abuses and sent imperial investigators to supervise the business of the merchants who were sponsored by the Mongols. He prohibited them from using the imperial relay stations,
yam (route)
, and
paizas
, tablets that gave the bearer authority to demand goods and services from civilian populations.
[11]
With Guyuk dead, many local officials no longer wanted to pay off the paper drafts used by Guyuk. Mongke recognized that if he did not meet the financial
obligations
of Guyuk, it would make merchants reluctant to continue business with the Mongols. Mongke paid out all drafts drawn by high ranking Mongol elites to these merchants.
Ata-Malik Juvayni
stated, "And from what book of history has it been read or heard...that a king paid the debt of another king?"
[
citation needed
]
The generals and princes (including his son) who allowed their troops to plunder civilians without authorization were repeatedly punished by Mongke Khan.
[12]
He used
North Chinese
, Muslim, and Uyghur officials. The Khagan's chief judge (
darughachi
) was the
Jait-Jalayir
official
Menggeser
[
zh
;
ja
]
, while the chief scribe was the Bulghai of the
Keraites
, who was a Christian. Nine of the 16 chief provincial officials of Mongke Khan were certainly Muslims. He reappointed Guyuk's three officials: Mahmud Yalavach in China, Masud Beg in
Turkestan
, and
Arghun Aqa
of the
Oirat
in
Iran
. Mongke separated the position of the great judge at court from that of chief scribe.
"Struck by the
Georgian King
David
in the name of his overlord Mongke, by the power of Heaven" (
Persian
, dated 1253)
In 1253, Mongke established the Department of Monetary affairs to control the issuance of paper money in order to eliminate the over-issue of the currency by Mongol and non-Mongol nobles since the reign of Great Khan Ogedei.
[13]
His authority established united measure based on
sukhe
or silver ingot, however, the Mongols allowed their foreign subjects to mint coins in the denominations and use weight they traditionally used.
[14]
During the reigns of Ogedei, Guyuk, and Mongke, Mongol coinage increased with gold and silver coinage in Central Asia and
copper
and silver coins in the
Caucasus
, Iran, and
Bolghar
.
[15]
In 1252?59, Mongke conducted a census of the Mongol Empire, including Iran,
Afghanistan
,
Georgia
,
Armenia
,
Russia
,
Central Asia
, and
North China
.
[16]
While the census of China was completed in 1252,
Novgorod
in the far north-west was not counted until winter 1258?59. There was an uprising in Novgorod against Mongol rule in 1257, but
Alexander Nevsky
forced the city to submit to the Mongol census and taxation. The new census counted not only households but also the number of men aged 15?60 and the number of fields, livestock, vineyards, and orchards. Within the civilian register craftsmen were listed separately, while in the military registers
auxiliary
and regular households were distinguished. Clergy of the approved religions were separated and not counted. When the new register was completed, one copy was sent to Karakorum and one copy kept for the local administration.
[17]
Mongke tried to create a fixed poll tax collected by imperial agents that could be forwarded to the needy units. Initially, the maximum rate was fixed at 10?11 gold
dinars
in the Middle East and 6?7
taels
of silver in China. Protests from the landlord classes reduced this relatively low rate to 6?7 dinars and taels. Some officials raised the top rate on the wealthy of 500 dinars. While the reform did not lighten the tax burden, it made the payments more predictable.
[18]
Even so, the census and the regressive taxation it facilitated sparked popular riots and resistance in the western districts.
In 1259, the Georgian king,
David VI
, revolted, unsuccessfully, against the Mongols and then fled to
Kutaisi
, whence he reigned over
Imereti
in western Georgia as de facto separate ruler. In 1261, he gave shelter to
David VII
, who had later attempted to end the Mongol dominance. David Ulu made peace with the Mongols, however, and returned to
Tbilisi
in 1262. Mongke and Batu's official, Arghun, harshly punished the Georgian and Armenian nobles, plundering their cities and executing their prominent leaders.
[19]
He divided the Georgians into six
tumens
. Meanwhile,
Baiju
crushed the rebellion of the
Seljuk
Sultan
Kaykaus II
near
Ankara
in 1256 and re-established Mongol authority over Eastern Turkey. By that time the
Kashmiris
had revolted, and Mongke appointed his generals, Sali and Takudar, to replace the court and a Buddhist master, Otochi, as darughachi to Kashmir. However, the Kashmiri king killed Otochi at
Srinagar
. Sali invaded again, killing the king, and put down the rebellion, after which the country remained subject to the Mongol Empire for many years.
[20]
Religious policy
[
edit
]
Mongke confirmed Guyuk's appointment of
Haiyun
as chief of all the Buddhists in the
Mongol Empire
in 1251.
[21]
In 1253 Namo from
Kashmir
was made chief of all the
Buddhist monks
in the empire. During the conquest of Tibet in 1252?53, all Buddhist clergy were exempted from taxation. The Tibetan
Karma Pakshi, 2nd Karmapa Lama
, received Mongke's patronage. Mongke had been impressed by the aged
Taoist
monk
Qiu Chuji
, who met his grandfather Genghis Khan in
Afghanistan
. Mongke made
Li Zhichang
chief of the Taoists. However, the Taoists had exploited their wealth and status by seizing
Buddhist temples
. Mongke demanded that the Taoists cease their denigration of
Buddhism
. Mongke 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.
[22]
Hethum I
(seated) in the Mongol court of
Karakorum
, "receiving the homage of the Mongols".
[23]
"Histoire des Tartars",
Hayton of Corycus
, 1307.
Despite his conquests of the
Abbasid Caliphate
and the
Isma'ili state
, Mongke favoured Muslim perceptions. He and Hulagu made the
Twelver
community at
Najaf
an autonomous tax-exempt ecclesiastical polity. Like his predecessors, he exempted clerics, monks, churches, mosques, monasteries, and doctors from taxation.
During Mongke's reign,
Louis IX of France
sent
William of Rubruck
as a diplomat seeking an
alliance
with the Mongols against the Muslims. By that time Mongke's khatun Oghul-Khoimish was already dead. After making the French envoy wait for many months, Mongke officially received William Rubruck on 24 May 1254. Rubruck informed him that he had come to spread the word of
Jesus
. Then he stayed to help the Christians in Karakorum and attended debates among rival religions organized by the Mongols. Mongke Khan summoned William Rubruck to send him back home in 1255. He told Rubruck:
"We Mongols believe in one God, by Whom we live and die," he then continued "Just as God gave different fingers to the hand so has He given different ways to men. To you God has given the Scriptures and you Christians do not observe them". He explained God had given the Mongols
their shamans
. Mongke offered Louis IX his cooperation but warned all Christians that "If, when you hear and understand the decree of the eternal God, you are unwilling to pay attention and believe it...and in this confidence you bring an army against us-we know what we can do".
[24]
Ambassadors from the
Latin Empire
and the
Empire of Nicaea
came to the Mongol court to negotiate terms with Mongke Khan as well. In 1252 King
Hethum I
of
Lesser Armenia
began his journey to Mongolia. He brought many sumptuous presents and met with Mongke at
Karakorum
.
[25]
He had an audience with Mongke on 13 September 1254, advised the Khagan on Christian matters in Western Asia, and obtained from Mongke documents guaranteeing the inviolability of his person and his kingdom. As per Armenian documents, Hethum asked the Khagan and his officials to convert to
Christianity
. In reply, Mongke explained that he wished his subjects to truly worship the
Messiah
, but he could not force them to change their religion. Mongke also informed Hethum that he was preparing to mount an attack on
Baghdad
and that he would remit
Jerusalem
to the Christians if they collaborated with him.
[26]
Hethum strongly encouraged other
Crusaders
to follow his example and submit to Mongol overlordship, but he persuaded only his son-in-law
Bohemond VI
, ruler of the
Principality of Antioch
and
County of Tripoli
, who offered his own submission sometime in the 1250s.
[27]
The armies of the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
and Bohemond VI would assist Mongke's army in the West soon.
Muslim rulers also presented their submission to Mongke in
Karakorum
, such as the Ayyubid ruler of
Mayyafariqin
Al-Kamil Muhammad
, who went in person in 1253 and encountered there other Muslim rulers from
Mosul
(envoys of
Badr al'Din Lu'lu'
) and
Mardin
(
Artuqids
) offering their submission.
[28]
Shamans played an important role in the court and sometimes influenced the war preparation.
Period of conquests
[
edit
]
Capitulation of Goryeo
[
edit
]
As Khagan, Mongke seemed to take the legacy of world conquest he had inherited much more seriously than had Guyuk. His conquests were all directed at
East Asia
and the Middle East. In his first plans for additional conquests, Mongke chose
Korea
and the
Dali Kingdom
in
Yunnan
in 1252.
Mongke sent envoys to
Goryeo
, announcing his coronation in October 1251. He also demanded that
King Gojong
submit before him in person and to move his headquarters from
Ganghwa Island
to the mainland of Korea. But the Goryeo court refused to send the king because he was elderly and unable to travel so far. Mongke dispatched his envoys with specific tasks again. The envoys were well received by the Goryeo officials, but they criticized the Goryeo officials because their king did not follow his overlord Mongke's orders.
[29]
Mongke ordered prince Yeku to command the army against Korea. However, a Korean in the court of Mongke convinced them to begin their campaign in July 1253. Yeku, along with Amuqan, demanded that the Goryeo court surrender. The court refused but did not resist the Mongols and gathered the peasantry into mountain fortresses and islands. Working together with the Goryeo commanders who had joined the Mongols, Jalairtai Qorchi ravaged Korea. When one of Yeku's envoys arrived, Gojong personally met him at his new palace. The king Gojong sent his stepson as hostage to Mongolia. The Mongols agreed to a truce in January 1254.
[
citation needed
]
Mongke realized that the hostage was not the blood prince of the Goryeo dynasty and blamed the Goryeo court for deceiving him. Mongke's commander Jalairtai devastated much of Goryeo and took 206,800 captives in 1254.
[30]
Famine and despair forced peasants to surrender to the Mongols. They established a
chiliarchy
office at Yonghung with local officials. Ordering defectors to build ships, the Mongols began attacking the coastal islands from 1255 on.
[31]
In the
Liaodong
Peninsula, the Mongols formed Korean defectors into a colony of eventually 5,000 households.
In 1258 the king and the
Ch'oe
clan retainer
Kim Chun
staged a counter-coup, assassinated the head of the Ch'oe family, and sued for peace. When the Goryeo court sent the future king
Wonjong of Goryeo
as hostage to the Mongol court and promised to return to
Gaegyeong
, the Mongols withdrew from Korea.
[32]
Dali, Vietnam and Tibet
[
edit
]
Mongke concerned himself more with the war in China, outflanking the
Song dynasty
through the conquest of the
Kingdom of Dali
(in modern
Yunnan
) in 1254 and an invasion of
Indochina
, which allowed the Mongols to invade from the north, west, and south.
Mongke Khan dispatched
Kublai
to the
Dali Kingdom
in 1253. The ruling family, Gao, resisted and murdered the Mongol envoys. The Mongols divided their forces into three. One wing rode eastward into the
Sichuan
basin. The second column under Uryankhadai took a difficult way into the mountains of western Sichuan.
[33]
Kublai himself headed south over the grasslands, meeting up with the first column. With 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.
[34]
After Kublai's departure, unrest broke out among the Black jang. By 1256, Uryankhadai, the son of
Subutai
, had completely pacified Dali.
Mongol invasion of Vietnam
in 1257
After subjugating the Dali, Kublai sent a column south under
Uriyangkhadai
, the son of
Subutai
. Uriyangkhadai sent envoys to ask the
Vietnamese
for a route to attack the
Southern Song
, but the Tran Vietnamese imprisoned the Mongol envoys.
[35]
In 1257, a Mongol column under Uriyangkhadai invaded Vietnam (then known as
đ?i Vi?t
) along with his son
Aju
and an army of 3,000 Mongols and 10,000
Yi tribesmen
.
[35]
They routed the Vietnamese army and sacked the capital Th?ng Long (renamed
Hanoi
in 1831). Uriyangkhadai executed its inhabitants for the murder of the envoys. After staying in Th?ng Long for a while, the Mongols fell ill due to the unfamiliar climate. Realizing that it was time to drive the Mongols out, the Vietnamese launched a counter-attack and won the decisive battle of Dong Bo Dau. To avoid further war, the Tran accepted Mongol overlordship,
[36]
and Uriyangkhadai withdrew.
[37]
The Vietnamese king
Tr?n Thai Tong
paid tribute to Uriyangkhadai who had quickly evacuated Vietnam to escape
malaria
. The
Tr?n dynasty
accepted terms of vassalage and sent tributes to the administration of Mongke.
[38]
To strengthen his control over Tibet, Mongke made Qoridai commander of the Mongol and Han troops in Tibet in 1251. In 1252?53
Qoridai invaded Tibet
, reaching as far as
Damxung
. The Central Tibetan monasteries submitted to the Mongols, and the Mongol princes divided them as their
appanages
.
Conflicts with the Delhi Sultanate
[
edit
]
In 1252?53
Sali Noyan
of the
Tatar
clan was sent to the Indian borderlands at the head of fresh troops and was given authority over the
Qara'unas
. Sali himself was subordinate to Mongke's brother
Hulagu
. Due to the internal conflicts of the
Delhi Sultanate
, the
Mamluk
Sultan
Nasiruddin Mahmud
's brother, Jalal al-Din Masud, fled into Mongol territory in 1248. When Mongke was crowned as Khagan, Jalal al-Din Masud attended the ceremony and asked help from Mongke, who ordered Sali to assist him to recover his ancestral realm.
[39]
Sali made successive attacks on
Multan
and
Lahore
.
Sham al-Din Muhammad Kart
, the client malik of
Herat
, accompanied the Mongols. Jalal al-Din was installed as client ruler of Lahore, Kujah, and
Sodra
. In 1254 the Delhi official Kushlu Khan offered his submission to Mongke Khan and accepted a Mongol
darughachi
. When he failed to take Delhi, Kushlu turned to Hulagu. In the winter of 1257?58 Sali Noyan entered
Sind
in strength and dismantled the fortifications of Multan; his forces may also have invested the island fortress of Bakhkar on the
Indus
.
[40]
Conquest of the Middle East
[
edit
]
Hulagu
imprisons the Caliph
Al-Musta'sim
among his treasures to starve him to death ("Le livre des merveilles", 15th century).
Mongols sacked Syrian cities in 1259?1260 and advanced to the Egyptian border.
When Mongke called a kurultai to prepare the next conquest in 1252/53, the
Sultanate of Rum
and the
Lu'lu'id dynasty
of
Mosul
were subject to the Mongol Empire. The
Ayyubid
ruler of
Mayyafariqin
, Malik Kamil, and his cousin in
Aleppo
and future Sultan,
Malik Nasir Yusuf
, sent envoys to Mongke Khan, who imposed darughachis (overseers) and a census on the
Diyarbakır
area.
[41]
Mongke followed the schemes of his predecessor against the
Nizari Ismailis
(Assassins). Mongke's decision to launch a campaign against Nizari castles followed anti-Nizari urges by Sunnis in the Mongol court, new anti-Nizari complaints (including Shams-ud-Din, the chief judge of
Qazvin
), and warnings from local Mongol commanders in Persia. In 1252, Mongke entrusted the mission of conquering the rest of Western Asia to his brother
Hulegu
, with the highest priority being the conquest of the Nizari state and the Abbasid Caliphate.
[42]
In 1253,
William of Rubruck
, a Flemish priest sent on a mission to Karakorum in Mongolia, was struck by the security precautions there, reportedly in response to the more than forty assassins who had been sent by Imam
Ala al-Din Muhammad
there to assassinate Mongke;
[43]
it is possible that the assassination attempt was merely rumored.
[42]
[44]
[45]
[46]
Mongke ordered the Jochid and Chagataid families to join Hulagu's expedition to Iran and strengthened the army with 1,000 siege engineers from China. Mongke's armies, led by his brother Hulagu, launched an attack on the Ismailis in Iran, crushing the last major resistance there by the end of 1256. The Hashashin Imam Rukn ad-Din requested permission to travel to Karakorum to meet with the Great Khan Mongke himself. Hulagu sent him on the long journey to Mongolia, but once the Imam arrived there, Mongke criticized his action and dismissed him. Rukn ad-Din was killed in uncertain circumstances.
For the
Abbasids
, envoys from Baghdad attended the coronation of Mongke in 1251 to come to terms with the Mongols. However, Mongke told Hulagu that if the
Caliph
Al-Musta'sim
refused to meet him in person, then Hulagu was to destroy
Baghdad
. Hulagu then advanced on
Iraq
, taking the capital at Baghdad in 1258. Hulagu sent Mongke some of his war booty with the news of his conquest of Baghdad. Mongke dispatched a Chinese messenger to congratulate him for his victory. Outraged by the attack on the caliphate, Malik Kamil revolted, killing his Mongol overseer. Hulagu's son Yoshumut invested Mayyafariqin and executed Malik Kamil. From there they moved into
Syria
in 1259, took
Damascus
and
Aleppo
, and reached the shores of the Mediterranean. Fearing the Mongol advance, the Ayyubid Sultan Malik Nasir Yusuf refused to see Hulagu and fled. However, the Mongols captured him at
Gaza
.
[
citation needed
]
South China
[
edit
]
In 1241,
Toregene Khatun
had sent an envoy to make peace proposals and discuss with Zhao Yun (posthumously known as
Emperor Lizong
). The Song court arrested the envoy and imprisoned him in a fortress with his suite of seventy persons.
[47]
The envoy died, but his suite were detained until 1254. That year the Mongol army attacked to take Hejiu but failed. The Chinese freed the suite of the late envoy to show their desire for peace. Mongke concentrated all his attention on the conquest of the
Song dynasty
. Taking personal command late in the decade, he captured many of the fortified cities along the northern front.
In 1252, Mongke commissioned his younger brother
Kublai
and experienced general
Uriyangkhadai
to conquer the
Dali Kingdom
.
[48]
[49]
From the summer of 1253 to early 1254,
[48]
the campaigns were successful in conquering and pacifying the tribes, with Uriyangkhadai's military experience proving invaluable in battle.
[49]
After Kublai's return to northern China, Uriyangkhadai conquered neighboring tribes in
Tibet
before turning east towards the
Tr?n dynasty
by 1257.
[49]
In October 1257, Mongke set out for South China, leaving his administration to his brother,
Ariq Boke
, in Karakorum with Alamdar as assistant, and fixed his camps near the Liu-pan mountains in May of the following year. He first attacked Song positions in
Sichuan
and took Paoning (modern-day
Langzhong
) in 1258.
[50]
Mongke forbade his army to plunder civilians. When his son accidentally destroyed a
crop
in the field of the Chinese peasants, Mongke punished him.
Meanwhile, Uriyangkhadai's forces
invaded Vietnam
with generals Trechecdu and
Aju
and captured the
Tr?n dynasty
capital of
Thang Long
in 1258.
[51]
While Chinese source material incorrectly stated that Uriyangkhadai withdrew from Vietnam after nine days due to poor climate, his forces did not leave until 1259.
[52]
[53]
On 18 February 1259,
Tsagaan Sar
, the Mongol New Year feast was given by Mongke near the mountain Zhonggui.
[54]
At this feast his relative, Togan, a chief of the Jalairs, declared that
South China
was dangerous because of its climate, and that the Great Khagan should go northward for safety. Baritchi of the Erlat tribe called this advice cowardly and advised Mongke to remain with his army. These words pleased Mongke who wished to take the city nearby. The Song commander slew his envoy who had been sent to ask the city's submission.
In 1259, Uriyangkhadai's forces attacked
Guangxi
from Thang Long as part of a coordinated Mongol attack in 1259 with armies attacking in
Sichuan
under Mongke and other Mongol armies attacking in modern-day
Shandong
and
Henan
.
[53]
[55]
Wives, concubines, and children
[
edit
]
Principal wives:
[56]
- Qutuqtai Khatun (d. 1256, posthumously renamed
Empress Zhenjie
by
Kublai
) ? daughter of Uladai Kuregen son of Butu Kuregen, from Ikeres clan of
Khongirad
- Baltu (d. 1258)
- Urung-Tash (d. 1267)
- Sarban (died young)
- Oljei (died young)
- Mongke Temur
(only attested in
Timurid
sources)
[57]
- Princess Bayalun ? married to Kurin Kuregen (nephew of Uladai Kuregen)
- Yesu'er Khatun (d. after 1260)
- Oghul Tutmish or Oghul Qaimish (daughter of
Qutuqa Beki
of
Oirats
)
- Princess Shirin ? married to Chochimtai Kuregen (son of Taiju Kuregen of
Olkhunut
)
- Princess Bichige ? married to Chochimtai Kuregen (son of Taiju Kuregen of
Olkhunut
)
- Chubei Khatun (d. 8 September 1259)
Concubines:
- Bayavchin (from
Bayaut tribe
)
- Quitani (from
Eljigin
clan of
Khongirad
)
- Asutai ? supported the election of
Ariq Boke
- Oljei
- Hulachu
- Hantum
- Oljei Buqa
Death
[
edit
]
There is no consensus concerning Mongke Khan's death. His last recorded appearances were at the
Siege of Diaoyucheng
near modern-day
Chongqing
; where it is also generally agreed he died. After his death, the Mongol armies were forced to withdraw from action. Chinese sources record Mongke as having been killed in battle during an assault on the fortress: a contemporary Song poem describes the "victory in Sichuan" where Mongke was killed by a crossbow arrow, which is corroborated in the writing of the
Syriac
monk
Bar Hebraeus
. The account in the
History of Yuan
, which was written during the
Ming dynasty
, relates that Mongke was fatally wounded instead by a stone projectile from either a
cannon
or
trebuchet
.
Persian accounts largely originating from
Rashid al-Din
claim that Mongke died of
dysentery
or
cholera
near the site of the siege on 11 August 1259
[59]
[60]
[61]
? the
History of Yuan
does not directly corroborate this, but it mentions a fatal disease outbreak in the Mongol camp during the campaign. In line with the lack of clarity in Mongol historiography concerning the deaths of khans, it has been speculated that possible that Mongols covered up the story by claiming that his death was due to illness, leading to the story in Persian accounts.
Other accounts include those of the Armenian historian
Hayton of Corycus
's claims that Mongke was on a Mongol war ship that sank in the Chinese seas while the Mongols were besieging an island fortress.
[63]
Hayton's work is noted for including errors and amalgamating distinct events, so the account of Mongke's death could be a confused reference to the later
Mongol invasions of Japan
.
A month after Mongke's death, his youngest wife Chubei died at the Liupanshan Mountains. Mongke's son Asutai conducted the corpse to
Burkhan Khaldun
,
[65]
Mongolia, where the late Khagan was buried near the graves of Genghis and Tolui.
Mongke's death in 1259 led to the four-year
Toluid Civil War
between his two younger brothers,
Kublai Khan
and
Ariq Boke
. Though Kublai Khan eventually won, the succession war and the subsequent
Kaidu?Kublai war
essentially resulted in the permanent
division of the Mongol Empire
. It was not until 1304, when all Mongol khans submitted to Kublai's successor,
Temur Khan
, that the Mongol world again acknowledged a single paramount sovereign, although the authority of the
late Khagans
rested on nothing like the same foundations as that of Genghis Khan and his first three successors.
[66]
[67]
When Kublai Khan established the
Yuan dynasty
in China in 1271, Mongke Khan was placed on the official record of the dynasty as Xianzong (
simplified Chinese
:
?宗
;
traditional Chinese
:
憲宗
;
pinyin
:
Xianz?ng
).
Foreign influence in Karakorum
[
edit
]
Silver Tree fountain in front of Tumen Amugulang Palace, 18th-century European imagination
The Model of the Khan Palace in
Karakorum
in the National History Museum of Mongolia in Ulaan-Baatar
In 1252?53, Flemish missionary and explorer
William of Rubruck
saw Hungarians, Russians, Germans, and a Parisian goldsmith,
Guillaume Boucher
, in
Karakorum
.
[68]
He even heard of
Saxon
miners in
Dzungaria
and other foreigners such as a woman from the
Duchy of Lorraine
mastered
yurt
-making.
In 1253, Mongke deported households from
China proper
to repair and maintain the imperial
ordas
. He decorated the capital city of Karakorum with
Chinese
,
European
, and
Persian
architectures. One example of the construction was a large silver tree, with pipes that discharge various drinks and a triumphant angel at its top, made by Guillaume Boucher. Foreign merchants’ quarters,
Buddhist monasteries
,
mosques
, and
churches
were newly built. Markets were in the Muslim sector and outside the four gates. Ethnic
Han
farmers grew vegetables and grains outside the wall of Karakorum.
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
М?нх хаан
"
.
mongoltoli.mn, mongolian state dictionary
(in Mongolian)
. Retrieved
5 October
2017
.
- ^
Encyclopædia Britannica
"Mongke"
- ^
Pratt Atwood, Christopher (2004).
Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire
. Facts on File. p.
362
.
ISBN
978-0-8160-4671-3
.
- ^
Jack Weatherford,
The Secret History of the Mongol Queens
, p. 135
- ^
Willem van Ruysbroeck, Peter Jackson, David Morgan, Hakluyt Society
The mission of Friar William of Rubruck: his journey to the court of the Mongols
, p. 168
- ^
John Man-
Kublai Khan
, p. 32
- ^
Leo de Hartog
Genghis Khan
, p. 168
- ^
Lawrence N. Langer
Historical dictionary of medieval Russia
, p. 131
- ^
J. Weatherford
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
, p. 169,
ISBN
978-0609809648
- ^
a
b
Enkhbold, Enerelt (2019). "The role of the ortoq in the Mongol Empire in forming business partnerships".
Central Asian Survey
.
38
(4): 531?547.
doi
:
10.1080/02634937.2019.1652799
.
S2CID
203044817
.
- ^
C. P. Atwood
Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire
, p. 364
- ^
Jack Weatherford,
Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world
, p. 176
- ^
Jack Weatherford,
Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world
, pp. 175?76
- ^
Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire
, p. 362
- ^
The Cambridge History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States 907?1368 (edited by Denis C. Twitchett, Herbert Franke, John King Fairbank, 1994),
p. 401
.
- ^
C. P. Atwood
Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire
, p. 78
- ^
Thomas T. Allsen
Mongol Imperialism
, p. 142
- ^
Kirakos Ganjakets'i',
History of the Armenians
, $63 and $64
- ^
Andre Wink-Al-Hind,
The Making of the Indo-Islamic World
, p. 208
- ^
J. Gordon Melton, Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History (2014),
p. 844
.
- ^
"Kokuan Sun-Yu chi and Southern Taoism during the Yuan period", in
China under Mongol rule
, pp. 212?253
- ^
"Hethoum I receiving the homage of the Tatars: during his voyage to Mongolia in 1254, Hethoum I was received with honours by the Mongol Khan who "ordered several of his noble subjects to honour and attend him"" in
Le Royaume Armenien de Cilicie
Claude Mutafian
, p. 58, quoting Hayton of Corycus.
- ^
Jack Weatherford
Genghis Khan
, p. 175.
- ^
Emil Bretschneider
tr. of
Kirakos Gandzaketsi
,
The Journey of Haithon, King of Little Armenia, To Mongolia and Back
, Mediaeval Researches Vol 1, Trubner Oriental Series 1888 London, facsimile reprint 2005 Elibron Classics
ISBN
1-4021-9303-3
- ^
Runciman, p. 297.
- ^
The Islamic World in Ascendency: From the Arab conquest to the Siege of Vienna
by Dr. Martin Sicker (p. 111): "Bohemond, however, resided exclusively in Tripoli and, as a practical matter,
Hetoum
, whose realm was contiguous with it, ruled Antioch. Accordingly, Antioch was drawn into the Mongolian-Armenian alliance".
- ^
Meri, Josef W. (2006).
Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia
. Psychology Press. p. 541.
ISBN
978-0-415-96690-0
.
The Ayyubid ruler of Mayyafariqin, al-Kamil Muhammad, arrived at Mo ?ngke's court in 1253, made his submission, and found there Muslim princes from Mosul and Mardin. It is clear, then, that years before Hulegu's arrival in the area, the majority of Muslim princes in Iraq, Jazira, and Syria had made some type of submission to the Mongols and that at least some were paying tribute.
- ^
J.Bor
Mongol hiigeed Eurasiin diplomat shashtir, boyi II
, p. 254.
- ^
John Man
Kublai Khan
, p. 208.
- ^
C. P. Atwood
Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire
, p. 319.
- ^
The Cambridge History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States 907?1368 (edited by Denis C. Twitchett, Herbert Franke, John King Fairbank, 1994),
p. 436
.
- ^
John Man
Kublai Khan
, p. 79.
- ^
C. P. Atwood
Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongols
, p. 613.
- ^
a
b
Christopher Pratt Atwood
Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol empire
, p. 579.
- ^
Tran, Trong Kim
Viet Nam Su Luoc
, p. 52.
- ^
Matthew Bennett, Peter
The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare
, p. 332.
- ^
C. P. Atwood, Ibid, p. 579.
- ^
The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History
, p. 111.
- ^
The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History
, p. 112.
- ^
Reuven Amitai-Preiss
Mongols and Mamluks: the Mamluk-?lkh?nid War, 1260?1281
, p. 78.
- ^
a
b
Daftary, Farhad (1992).
The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines
. Cambridge University Press. pp. 418?420.
ISBN
978-0-521-42974-0
.
- ^
Lewis, Bernard (2011).
The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam
. Orion.
ISBN
978-0-297-86333-5
.
- ^
Waterson, James (30 October 2008). "1: A House Divided: The Origins of the Ismaili Assassins".
The Ismaili Assassins: A History of Medieval Murder
. Barnsley:
Pen and Sword Books
.
ISBN
978-1-78346-150-9
.
- ^
Fiennes, Ranulph
(17 October 2019).
The Elite: The Story of Special Forces ? From Ancient Sparta to the War on Terror
. New York:
Simon & Schuster
. p. 135.
ISBN
978-1-4711-5664-9
.
- ^
Brown, Daniel W. (24 August 2011).
A New Introduction to Islam
(2nd ed.). Hoboken:
John Wiley & Sons
. p. 229.
ISBN
978-1-4443-5772-1
.
- ^
Jeremiah Curtin
The Mongols: A History
, p. 327.
- ^
a
b
Ebrey et al., 240.
- ^
a
b
c
Rossabi, Morris (2009).
Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times
. University of California Press. pp. 24?27.
ISBN
978-0520261327
.
- ^
Rene Grousset
The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia
, p. 284.
- ^
Lien, Vu Hong; Sharrock, Peter (2014). "The First Mongol Invasion (1257-8 CE)".
Descending Dragon, Rising Tiger: A History of Vietnam
. Reaktion Books.
ISBN
978-1780233888
.
- ^
Buell, P. D. "Mongols in Vietnam: end of one era, beginning of another".
First Congress of the Asian Association of World Historians 29?31 May 2009 Osaka University Nakanoshima-Center
.
- ^
a
b
Haw, Stephen G.
(2013). "The deaths of two Khaghans: a comparison of events in 1242 and 1260".
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
.
76
(3): 361?371.
doi
:
10.1017/S0041977X13000475
.
JSTOR
24692275
.
- ^
Jeremiah Curtin
The Mongols: A History
, p. 329.
- ^
Rossabi, Morris (2009).
Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times
. University of California Press. p. 45.
ISBN
978-0520261327
.
- ^
Rash?d al-D?n ?ab?b, 1247?-1318. (1971).
The successors of Genghis Khan
. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 198?199.
ISBN
0-231-03351-6
.
OCLC
160563
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
松田/孝一; オチル; 宇野/伸浩; 松川/節; 中村/淳; 村岡/倫; 松井/太; 村岡/倫; 谷口/綾 (2013).
モンゴル?現存モンゴル帝??元朝碑文の?究 : ビチェ?ス?プロジェクト成果報告書
[
Study of the existing Mongol Empire and Yuan dynasty inscriptions in Mongolia
] (in Japanese). 枚方: 大阪?際大?ビジネス?部松田孝一?究室.
- ^
George Lane
Daily life in the Mongol empire
, p. 9.
- ^
John Man
Kublai Khan
, p. 98.
- ^
Jack Weatherford
Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world
, p. 188
- ^
Henry Hoyle Howorth
History of the Mongols: The Mongols Proper and the Kalmuks
, p. 214.
- ^
Christoph Baumer
, John Hare
Traces in the Desert: Journeys of Discovery Across Central Asia
, p. 57.
- ^
Peter Jackson
The Mongols and the West
, p. 127.
- ^
Lubin, Nancy. "Rule of Timur". In Curtis.
- ^
Christopher Dawson
Mission to Asia
, p. 129.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Mongol Imperialism: The Policies of the Grand Qan Mongke in China, Russia, and the Islamic Lands, 1251?1259
by Thomas T. Allsen, University of California Press, 1987
ISBN
0-520-05527-6
- The Empire of the Steppes
by Rene Grousset, Rutgers University Press, 1970.
ISBN
0-8135-1304-9
.
- Pow, Stephen (2017).
"Fortresses that Shatter Empires: A Look at Mongke Khan's Failed Campaign against the Song Dynasty, 1258?1259"
.
Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU
.
27
.
Central European University
: 102.
- Rockhill, William Woodville (1967),
The Journey of William of Rubruck to The Eastern Parts of the World, 1253-55, As Narrated by Himself, With Two Accounts of the Earlier Journey of John of Pian de Carpine.
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
by Jack Weatherford
- The mission of William of Rubruck: His journey to the court of the Great Khan Mongke 1253?1255
by William, Peter Jackson, David Morgan, Hakluyt Society, Hakluyt Society, Hakluyt Society, 1990.
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