Chagatai Khan

Chagatai Khan
Statue of Chagatai Khan in Mongolia
Khan of the Chagatai Khanate
Reign	18 August 1227 – 1 July 1242
Successor	Qara Hülëgü
Born	c. 1184
Died	1242
Consort	Yesülün Tögen others
Issue	Mutukan Baidar Yesü Möngke others
House	Borjigin
Father	Genghis Khan
Mother	Börte

Chagatai Khan (Mongolian script: ᠴᠠᠭᠠᠲᠠᠶ; Čaɣatay; Mongolian: Цагадай, romanized: Tsagadai; Chagatay: چغتای, Čaġatāy; Uyghur: چاغاتاي خان, Chaghatay-Xan; Chinese: 察合台, Chágětái; Persian: جغتای, Joghatây; 22 December 1183 – 1 July 1242) was the second son of Genghis Khan and Börte. He was appointed by Genghis Khan to oversee the execution of the Yassa, the written code of law created by Genghis Khan in the Mongol Empire. He inherited most of the Central Asian Mongol territory after the death of his father.

Biography

Early life and personality

Chagatai's mother, Börte, was born into the Onggirat tribe, who lived along the Greater Khingan mountain range south of the Ergüne river, in modern-day Inner Mongolia. She married a Mongol leader named Temüjin c. 1178 after a seven-year betrothal. After giving birth to a daughter named Qojin, Börte was kidnapped and raped by members of the Merkit tribe—the true paternity of her next child, a son named Jochi, was never known, although Temüjin accepted his legitimacy. Chagatai, born in late 1183 or 1184, was thus the first son definitely fathered by Temüjin. He had six younger full siblings: two brothers named Ögedei and Tolui, and four sisters named Checheyigen, Alaqa, Tümelün, and Al Altan.

The Chagatay Khan and His Consort, Jāmiʿ al-tavārīkh of Rashid al-Din, Iran, late 14th century.

In 1206, having united the tribes of Mongolia, Temüjin held a large assembly called a kurultai where he was acclaimed as "Genghis Khan". He began to reorder his new nation, dividing it between members of his ruling dynasty. Chagatai was granted territories near the Altai Mountains, where the Naiman tribe had previously ruled. He also received either 4,000 or 8,000 subjects, drawn from the Jalayir, Barlas, Suldus, Sonit, and Dughlat tribes. Chagatai's two primary wives were the Onggirat women Yesülün and Tögen, the daughters of Börte's cousin Qata; Yesülün was his favourite and the mother of his favourite son Mutukan. His other named sons were Mochi Yaba, the son of one of Yesülün's servants and thus given little regard by his father, Balgashi, Sarban, Yesu-Mongke, and Baidar.

Chagatai was renowned for his expertise in Mongol laws and traditional customs, especially when it came to following the will of the khan. According to some sources, Genghis entrusted him and his adopted brother Shigi Qutuqu with administering the legal code known as the Yasa. He was infamously strict in interpreting the law.

Succession question and military campaigns

Although some Mongols argued that Chagatai's traits would make him an excellent successor to his father, Genghis thought that he was too strict and narrow-minded, indicating a degree of inflexibility that did not suit a ruler. Genghis was also concerned about Chagatai's intense dislike for Jochi, whom Chagatai regarded as illegitimate: at one family meeting, he reportedly called his brother a "Merkit bastard" and started brawling with him in front of their father. For these reasons, Genghis excluded Chagatai from succession to the throne and eventually settled on his younger brother Ögedei.

Alongside his brothers Chagatai and Ögedei, Jochi commanded the right wing in the 1211 invasion of the Chinese Jin dynasty. The Mongols marched southwards from Genghis's campaign headquarters in modern Inner Mongolia in November 1211: first they attacked the cities in the area between Hohhot and Datong, and then they followed the Taihang Mountains into Shanxi, where they pillaged and plundered in autumn 1213, capturing the pastures of their enemies' cavalry reserves. Later Chagatai appeared at the campaign against the Khwarazmian Empire with his father and brothers, capturing Otrar in 1218, Samarkand in 1220, Urgench in March-April 1221. The Urgench campaign was noticeably harder because Chagatai and Jochi failed to co-operate. After this incident Ögedei was appointed commander of the besieging forces and Chagatai was given the task of maintaining communication between Mongol forces with building bridges and restoring roads. He returned to his father's side during his siege of Talaqan. Chagatai was greatly affected when his son Mutukan was killed during the siege of Bamiyan in 1221. He was present at the battle where Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu was defeated near the Indus River. He later commanded the rear guard during conquest of Western Xia.

The funeral of Chagatai Khan.

Chagatai succeeded Genghis Khan in his domains in what came to be known as the Chagatai Khanate in 1227 with its capital in Almaliq city, in the valley of the Upper Ili, near the site of the present Kulja, and consequently in the extreme east of his dominion. According to Edward Ross, "his reason for fixing it in that remote position, instead of at Bukhara or Samarkand, was probably one of necessity. His Mongol tribesmen and followers—the mainstay of his power—were passionately fond of the life of the steppes." As the eldest surviving son and head of the house, he was present at the enthronement ceremony of Ögedei on 13 September 1229 and supported his reign. Ögedei in his turn sent Güyük as Chagatai's ward. Although Rashidaddin claimed that Chagatai died shortly before Ögedei, Juvayni told of further activities of Chagatai, such as strong support to regency of Töregene. However, he soon died.

His known viziers include Vajir, Baha al-Din Marghinani and Habash Amid. Vajir was described as Turkish, Uyghur and Khitan by different authors. He was employed by Qushuq Noyan from Jalayir tribe to court of Chagatai. Having written a book about history of Mongol Empire, he was regarded highly by Chagatai. He even let him to execute one of his daughters-in-law in charges of adultery. After Chagatai's death, Vajir was executed for treason alongside Chagatai's physician Majd al-Din, since his widow Yesülün charged them with poisoning of Chagatai. Habash Amid was a Muslim Khwarazmian from Otrar and a secretary originally. He was assigned to Chagatai in 1218 and survived the purge thanks to his support for Qara Hülegü. Baha al-Din Marghinani also survived Chagatai, being a friend of his son Yesü Möngke although he was purged later.

According to Rashidaddin, he was a just and competent ruler. Minhaj-i-Siraj Juzjani also considered him to be dignified and open hearted. Muslims viewed Chagatai Khan with negativity and hostility because Chagatai Khan strictly enforced Mongol Yasa law against Islamic Shariah law banning Halal animal slaughter and Islamic prayer ritual ablution as well as the Islamic legal system. The Chagatai language takes its name from him, as well as people surnamed Chughtai, city of Joghatai in Iran and Ciğatay village in Azerbaijan.

Ancestry

See also: Family tree of Genghis Khan

Hoelun

Yesugei Baghatur

Börte

Temüjin (Genghis Khan)

Hasar

Hachiun

Temüge

Belgutei

Behter

Jochi

Chagatai

Ögedei

Tolui

References

Sources

• Allsen, Thomas T. (1993). "Mahmud Yalavac, Mas'ud Beg, 'Ali Beg, Safaliq, Bujir". In de Rachewiltz, Igor (ed.). In the Service of the Khan: Eminent Personalities of the Early Mongol-Yüan Period (1200-1300). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 122–135. ISBN 978-3-4470-3339-8.
• Atwood, Christopher P. (2004). Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-4671-3.
• Atwood, Christopher P. (2017). "Jochi and the Early Western Campaigns". In Rossabi, Morris (ed.). How Mongolia Matters: War, Law, and Society. Leiden: Brill. pp. 35–56. ISBN 978-9-0043-4340-5.
• Biran, Michal (2009). "The Mongols in Central Asia from Chinggis Khan's invasion to the rise of Temür: the Ögödeid and Chaghadaid realms". The Chinggisid Age. The Cambridge History of Inner Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 46–66. ISBN 978-1-1390-5604-5.
• Biran, Michal; Kim, Hodong, eds. (2023). The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-3163-3742-4.
  • Biran, Michal. "Mongol Central Asia: The Chaghadaids and the Ögödeids, 1260–1370". In Biran & Kim (2023), pp. 319–396.
  • Dunnell, Ruth W. "The Rise of Chinggis Khan and the United Empire". In Biran & Kim (2023), pp. 19–106.
• Boyle, John Andrew (1971), The Successors of Genghis Khan : Translated from the Persian of Rashīd al-Dīn, New York City: Columbia University Press
• Boyle, John Andrew (1958), The History Of The World Conqueror by Ata Malik Juvaini, Harvard University Press
• Broadbridge, Anne F. (2018). Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. Great Barrington: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-1086-3662-9.
• Hope, Michael (2022). "The Middle Empire". In May, Timothy; Hope, Michael (eds.). The Mongol World. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 298–316. ISBN 978-1-3151-6517-2.
• May, Timothy (2017). "Chagatai Khan (d. 1242)". In May, Timothy (ed.). The Mongol Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. I. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 138–139. ISBN 978-1-6106-9339-4.
• May, Timothy (2018). The Mongol Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-4237-3.
• Morgan, David (1986). The Mongols. The Peoples of Europe. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-6311-7563-6.
• Ratchnevsky, Paul (1991). Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy. Translated by Thomas Haining. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-6311-6785-3.
• Ross, Edward Denison (1895), A History of the Moghuls of Central Asia: The Tarikh-i-Rashidi