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The Ögödei Ulus -
The Kipchak Ulus -
The Chagatai Ulus -
The Il-Khan Ulus -
The Mongols after the Yuan
The so-called "Mongols" are actually a heterogenous group of different nomad peoples of Turk and "Tartar" origin. The word "Mongol" is derived from the name of a tribe called Manghol. Although the cultural stage of these ethnical groups was quite different, they had a common language that allowed a unification under the hand of the strongest clan. The strongest ethnics were the
Naiman,
Kereyid,
Kirghiz,
Oirat,
Buryat,
Merkid and
Tatar, socially divided into aristocracy, common people, slaves and prisoners of war. Except animism, the higher religions of Nestorian Christianity, Manicheism and Buddhism had won followers among the "Mongols". The economical base of these nomad people was cattle-breeding, hunting and the trade with different Inner Asian kingdoms and China.
The unifier of the nomad peoples, Chinggis Qaghan (Genghis Khan), was a vasall of the Kereyid people that was employed by the Jin 金 rulers to subdue the Kereyid Tatars. By 1206 Chinggis could defeat his opponents and unified the Mongol people under his rule as "ocean-wide emperor". Chinggis used the knowledge of the Uighurs - that had reached a higher cultural stage than the nomad steppe peoples - to crush the empires in northern China, the Western Xia (Xixia 西夏) and Jin. These empires were intended to play the role of an economical and military base for the intrusions into the rest of China. The capital of the early Mongol empire was Karakorum (Qara-qorum, Karakhorum, "Halahelin 哈剌和林", short: Helin 和林) at the Orkhon River.
A political balance between Persia and the new Mongol empire was not very easy, and some difficulties between these two empires lead to the first Mongol expedition to the west: northern Persia and southern Russia became part of a huge steppe empire.
Chinggis' son Ögedei created an alliance with the Southern Song (Nansong 南宋) emperors to crush the Jin Empire. Korea came under the rule of the Mongols, and Chinggis' grandson Batu (by the Europeans called "Bathy rex Tartarorum") conquered a great part of the Russian principalities, the Turk Kipchaks and the Volga and Kama Bulgars. The European kingdoms were frightened by the "black riders coming out of the Tartarus, the Hell", because the Medieval knight armies with their heavy cavalry had nothing to encounter the lightning-like attacks of the light Mongol cavalry. But the hilly, forested middle of Europe was topologically not too interesting for the nomad people, and the death of Ögedei forced the Mongol troops to withdraw. But the European powers were not only terrified by the Mongols: for the Pope and the kings of France, the religious liberal Mongol rulers seemed to be a first-class ally against the Muslims in the Near East. Diplomats like Piano Carpini visited the court of the Mongol rulers. While the new Qaghan Möngke tried to act as a governor of the vast empire, his brothers took over the mililtary tasks: Hülagü conquered Persia, the relations to China were laid in the hands of Khubilai, the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. Khubilai acted like a traditional Chinese emperor when he mounted the throne of northern China. His armies not only occupied the rest of China after the defeat of the Song emperors, but Mongol troops even advanced to Cambodia and Burma. The plan of an occupation of Japan was defeated by strong winds, send by the Japanese gods (kamikaze 神風).
The end of the military expansion was reached by the mid of 13th century. The vast empire of the Mongol Qaghans entered a phase of peaceful time ("Pax Mongolica" in Latin, "Mongol Peace", after the "Pax Romana" of the Roman Empire) of trade and exchange of thoughts, the Mongol language served as a business language ("lingua franca" in Latin, "Free (or rather French) Language" like Greek, Latin and French).
Historical sources for the history of the Mongol empires are Jami’ al-tawārīkh by Rašīd ad-Dīn, Masālik al-absār fi-mamālik al-amšār by Al-Umarī, and Tarikh-i-Rashidi by Mirza Muhammad Haidar.
The Öködei Ulus ("Wokuotai hanguo 窩闊台汗國")  
Öködei (Ögödei), the third son of Genghis Khan, obtained his own ulus (realm, kingdom) with Yemili 葉密立 (near modern Emin 額敏/Xinjiang) as capital. When Ögödei became Great Khan in 1229 he proclaimed that the ulus had to be the eternal possession of the descendants of the actual owner. Thus, his son Güyük obtained the rulership of the Öködei Ulus, his second son Woduan 窩端 was given the region west of the Yellow River, i.e. modern Gansu province. When Güyük died and Möngke, a son of Tölüi, became Great Khan, the Öködei Ulus nontheless fell in the hands of another line. As a compension, Möngke enfeoffed Öködei's sons and grandsons "Hedan 合丹", "Mieli 滅里", Qaidu "Haidu 海都", Toghan "Tuotuo 脫脫", and others, with different territories in the western regions of China. After Möngke's death, the question of succession ended in a war between Arigh Böke "Ali Buge 阿里不哥", fourth son of Genghis Khan, and Khubilai. Qaidu, a supporter of Arigh Böke, made peace with Khubilai after the defeat of Arigh Böke. As the supreme leader of the Öködei Ulus Qaidu attacked the territory of the Chagatai Ulus and conquered the Ili Valley and Kashgar. He reunited the three imperial lines of Öködei, Chagatai and Ĵoči in a national assembly, with the result that Qaidu was in fact ruler of both the Öködei and the Chagatai ulus. He permanently attacked the frontiers to Yuan China, the ulus of Khubilai. Qaidu's empire stretched from the River Irtysh south to the Tianshan Mountains and from Kashgar and to Turfan. His son Chabar submitted after numerous wars with Du'a ("Duwa 篤哇"), the khan of the Chagatai Ulus, and Yuan China, and the Öködei Ulus was divided between these neighboring empires in 1309.
The Öködei Ulus Khans 1229-1309 |
| Öködei ("Wokuotai 窩闊台", son of Genghis Qan "Chengjisi Han 成吉思汗") | 1229-1241 |
| Naimaĵin Töregene ("Naimazhen Tuoliegena 乃馬真脫列哥那", daughter of Genghis Qan) | 1241-1246 |
| Güyük ("Guiyou 貴由") | 1246-1248 |
| Oγul Qaimiš ("Wowuli Haimishi 斡兀立海迷失", daughter of Töregene) | 1248-1251 |
| Möngke ("Mengge 蒙哥", son of Tölüi "Tuolei 拖雷", grandson of Genghis Qan) | 1251-1259 |
Qubilai (Khubilai, "Hubilie 忽必烈", brother of Möngke) Founder of the Yuan Dynasty 元朝. His descendants see rulers of Yuan. | 1260-1294 |
| Qaidu ("Haidu 海都", grandson of Öködei) | -1301 |
| "Chabar 察八兒" | 1301-1309 |
The Qibčaq Ulus (Kipchak, Golden Horde; "Qincha hanguo 欽察汗國")  
After the death of Great Khan Ögödei, Batu stayed in eastern Europe and founded his own empire, the empire of the "Golden Horde" (Jinzhang hanguo 金帳汗國). His ulus was the greatest of the succession empires of Genghis Khan's empire. The capital city of the Golden Horde was Batu-Saray 拔都薩萊 (near Astrakhan) on the Volga River, from 1320 on Berke-Saray 別兒哥薩萊 (near Volgograd). The name of this ulus is derived from the Qibčaq, a Turkish people that built a great part of the Mongol troops that invaded Russia, Poland and Hungaria. Turkish soon became the traffic language of the Kipchak Ulus. The ethnic composition, geographical conditions and economic background of the vast Kipchak Ulus differed widely. From the particular parts of the empire, representants (daruqači, 達魯花赤) were sent to the capital city. The sons and descendants of Batu were enfeoffed as princes and obtained territory with adjacent households. The east with Siberia and modern Kazakhstan was ruled by the White Horde (Baizhang hanguo 白帳汗國) under Worda 斡兒答 (Woluduo 斡魯朵), Batu's brother Xiban 昔班 ruled the Blue Horde (Lanzhang hanguo 藍帳汗國). The independance of this vast western empire can clearly be seen in the fact that the Kipchak Khans did not interfere in the succession war between Arigh Böke and Khubilai. In 1266 Berke Khan ("Bierge 別兒哥") started relations with the Mamluk empire in Egypt in order to resist the attacks of the Il-Khan Ulus, and Islam found entrance in the Mongol and Tatar communities. At the begin of the 14th century the war between the Chagatai Ulus and the Öködei Ulus also had its impact on the Kipchak Ulus whose Khans often took side for one of the two fighting states. In 1380 the Kipchak armies under Mamai 馬買 were defeated by the Russians for the first time and lost their grip on the Russian principalities, and the White Horde took over the control of the Kipchak Ulus. In the 15th century the empire was divided into the khanates of the Krim (1443-1783), Kazan (1445-1552), Astrakhan (1460-1556) and Siberia. From 1480 on the Kipchak khanates were one by one conquered by the Great-principality of Moscow. The Kipchak Khanate itself was ended in 1502.
The Qibčaq Khans 1243-1502 |
| Batu ("Badu" 拔都, son of Ĵoči "Zhuchi 朮赤", grandson of Genghis Qan "Chengjisi Han 成吉思汗") | 1243-1255 |
| Sartaq ("Salida 撒里答") | 1256-1257 |
| Ulaħchi ("Wulachi 兀剌赤") | 1257 |
| Berke ("Bierge 別兒哥") | 1257-1266 |
| Möngke-temür ("Mangge-tiemur 忙哥帖木兒") | 1266-1282 |
| Töde-möngke ("Tuotuo-mengge 脫脫蒙哥") | 1282-1287 |
| Tola-buqa ("Tula-buhua 禿剌不花") | 1287-1291 |
| Toqtoħa ("Tuotuo 脫脫") | 1291-1313 |
| Oz-beg ("Yueji-bo 月即伯") | 1313-1341 |
| Tini-beg ("Dini-bie 遞尼別") | 1341-1342 |
| Jani-beg ("Zhani-bie 札尼別") | 1342-1357 |
| Berdi-beg ("Bierdi-bo 別兒迪伯") | 1357-1359 |
| Qulina ("Hulina 忽里納") | 1359-1360 |
| Neürüz ("Niewulusi 捏兀魯思") | 1360-1361 |
The Čaqadai Ulus (Chagatai Horde; "Chahetai hanguo 察合台汗國")  
Chagatai, the second son of Genghis Qan obtained the old territory of the Western Liao empire 西遼 with the capital at Almaliq "Alimali 阿力麻里" (modern Huocheng 霍城 /Xinjiang). The empire stretched from Turfan/modern Xinjiang to the Amu-Darya River in the west and from the Altai Mountains south to the Hindukush Mountains. Yesü-möngke, together with the descendants of Ögedei, resiste the election of Möngke to Great Khan of the Mongols. Möngke therfore deposed Yesü-möngke, and Orqina, widow of Qara-hülegü ruled the Chagatai Horde until 1260. Alghu, Chagatai's son, was installed by Arigh Böke ("Ali Buge 阿里不哥"), the fourth son of Genghis Qan, in his fight for supreme power against Khubilai. Alghu, on his side, turned his support to Khubilai and was badly defeated by the troops of Arigh Böke. Orqina, reigning widow of Qara-hülegü and wife of Alghu, enthroned her son Mubārak Šhāh in 1265, but Mubārak Šhāh was deposed by Boraq, son of Alghu. Boraq fought against Qaidu 海都, a supporter of Arigh Böke and grandson of Ögöde, was badly defeated but later invaded Qaidu's territory west of the Amu-Darya River in 1270. Under the reign of Du'a Qaidu controlled the territory of the Chagatai Ulus, and Du'a Khan participated in Qaidu's war against the Yuan Dynasty (Kubilai Khan). After Qaidu's death Du'a changed side, made peace with the Yuan ruler Timur 鐵穆耳 (Yuan Chengzong 元成宗) and took part in the conquest of the Ögödei Ulus. After the death of Künček the Chagatai Horde was disturbed by succession struggles. Khan Kebek ("Jiebie 怯別") moved the capital more to the west to Qarši "Herxi 合兒昔" around 1325. Darmašrin ("Darmashili 答兒麻失里") gave up Buddhism and installed Islam as the national religion, but Papal ambassadors also arrived at the court of the Chaghatai Horde. Some khans from 1340 on were descendants of Ögödei and actually belonged to the neighboring horde. From the mid-14th century on the state disintegrated into small fiefdoms, the western part was devastated by Timur Lenk around 1370, and the eastern part was reigned by Tuqluq-temür ("Tuhulu-tiemur 禿忽魯帖木兒") 1348-1362, his son Īlyās-khōja ("Yiliyasi-huozhe" 亦里牙思火者), and descendants that are known as the rulers of Beš Baliq "Bieshbali 別失八里" and Yili Baliq "Yilibali 亦力把里" during the Ming period 明.
The Čaqadai Ulus Khans 1235-1370 |
| Čaqadai ("Chahetai 察合台", son of Genghis Qan "Chengjisi Han 成吉思汗") | ?-1241 |
| Qara-hülegü ("Hela-xulie 合剌旭烈") | 1242-1246 |
| Yesü-möngke ("Yesu-mengge 也速蒙哥") | 1246-1251 |
| Orqina ("Wuluhunai 兀魯忽乃", widow of Qara-hülegü) | 1252-1260 |
| Alγu (Alghu, "Aluhu 阿魯忽", married with Orqina) | 1260-1265 |
| Mubārak Šhāh ("Mubala Sha 木八剌沙") | 1265 |
| Boraq ("Bala 八剌") | 1266-1271 |
| Negübei ("Niegubo 聶古伯") | 1272-1274 |
| Buqa-temür ("Buhe-tiemur 不合帖木兒") | 1274 |
| Du-a ("Duwa 篤哇") | 1275 ?-1306 |
| Künček ("Kuandu 寬闍") | 1307-1308 |
| Taliqu ("Talihu 塔里忽") | 1309-1310 |
| Esen-buqa ("Yexian-buhua 也先不花") | 1310-1320 |
| Kebek ("Jiebie 怯別") | 1320-1327 |
| Elĵigidei ("Yanzhijitai 燕只吉台") | 1327-1330 |
| Durai-temür ("Dulai-tiemur 篤來帖木兒") | 1330-1331 |
| Darmašrin ("Darmashili 答兒麻失里") | 1331-1334 |
| Būzān ("Buzan 不贊") | 1334 |
| Čangši ("Changshi 敞失") | 1335-1338 |
| Yesün-temür ("Yesun-tiemur 也孫帖木兒") | 1338-1339 |
| Alī Sulţan ("Ali Suanduan 阿里算端") | 1340 |
| Muhammad ("Mahamode 麻哈沒的") | 1341- ? |
| Qazān Sulţan ("Hezan Suanduan 合贊算端") | ? -1347 |
| Dašman ("Dashiman 答失蠻") | 1347-1349 |
| Bayan-quli ("Baiyan-huli 拜延忽里") | 1349-? |
| Adil ("Adile 阿的勒") | ?-? |
| Qabul ("Hebule 合不勒") | 1362-? |
| Siur-qaimiš ("Xiwur-haimishi 昔兀兒海迷失") | ?-? |
| Mahmūd Sulţan ("Mahamode Suanduan 麻哈沒的算端") | ?-? |
The Il-Qaγan Ulus (Ilkhans; "Yili hanguo" 伊利汗國)  
Hülegü (Hulagu, 旭烈兀), son of the fourth grandson of Genghis Khan, Tolui 拖雷, founded his own empire in Persia. The name "Il" is derived from a Turkish word for "appeased, peaceful". The most important event for the conquest of Persia was not the final defeat of the Persian king, but rather the extermination of the Ismalian sect (known as Assassins) in 1256. Two years later Mustasim, the khalif of Baghdad was killed. In 1259 the Mongolian troops under Ked Bukha "Juedebuhua 怯的不花" advanced into Syria but were defeated at Ain Jalyut by the Mamluks troops of Egypt (Misr, Chinese: Miexier 蔑昔兒).
When Hülegü heard from the succession struggle between Khubilai 忽必烈 and Arigh Böke 阿里不哥 he decided not to turn back to Mongolia but to govern Persia as his own empire, although he nominally supported Khubilai and he and his successors were nominally enfeoffed as kings of the Il-Khan Ulus. His empire stretched from the Amu-Darya and Indus Rivers in the east to Minor Asia and Egypt in the west, and from the Caucasus to the Gulf of Persia, the capital was "Meraghah 蔑剌哈" (modern Maragheh/Iran). In 1261 Berge Khan 別兒哥 of the Chagatai Ulus challenged Hülegü's control of Azerbaijan, and from then on permanently military conflicts arose at the border between the two khanates. Hülegü's successor Abaqa 阿八哈 shifted the capital to Meris 梅里寺 (modern Täbris/Iran). Persian engineers were employed during Khubilai's conquest of China. In order to conquer Syria (Chinese: Xuliya 敘利亞), Abaqa and his song Arγun 阿魯渾 tied relationships with the crusader states in Palestine, as was proposed by their chancellor Boluo 勃羅. The Il-Khan Qazan 合贊 converted to Islam in order to obtain the support of the local magnates and the Islamic clerus. Qazan underwent substantial reform in the land, tax, post and currency system and restricted the exploitation of the population by the Mongol upper class. Furthermore he organized the erection of an astronomical institute and the compilation of the history of Genghis Khan's successors, the Jami’ al-tawārīkh by his chancellor Rašīd ad-Dīn (in Chinese called Shiji 史集). But under Qazan's rule occured also severe fightings with the Chagatai Khans and the Mamluks in Egypt. Qazan's successor Qarbands 合兒班答 shifted the capital to Sundanniya 孫丹尼牙 (modern Sudanniye). After the death of the khan Abū Sa'īd 阿不賽因 in 1335 the Il-Khan Ulus soon disintegrated. The local potentate Hasan Jalaghir 哈散札剌亦兒 made himself khan in 1340. His dynasty was ended at the end of the 14th century by Timur Lenk.
The Il Khans |
| Hüleħü ("Xuliewu 旭烈兀", son of Tölüi "Tuolei 拖雷", grandson of Genghis Qan "Chengjisi Han 成吉思汗") | 1256-1265 |
| Abaqa ("Abaha 阿八哈") | 1265-1282 |
| Tegüder Aħmad ("Tiegudier Ahema 帖古迭兒阿合馬") | 1282-1284 |
| Arγun ("Aluhun 阿魯渾") | 1284-1291 |
| Rinchen-dorji Qaiqatu ("Yilinzhen-duorzhi Haihedu 亦鄰真朵兒只海合都") | 1291-1295 |
| Baidu ("Baidu 拜都") | 1295 |
| Qazan ("Hezan 合贊") | 1295-1304 |
| Qarbanda Ölĵejtu ("Herbanda Wanzhedu 合兒班答完者都") | 1304-1316 |
| Abū Sa'īd ("Abu Saiyin 阿不賽因") | 1317-1335 |
| Arpa ("Arba 阿兒巴") | 1335-1336 |
| Mūsā ("Musa 木撒") | 1336-1337 |
| Muħammad ("Mahema 麻合馬") | 1336-1338 |
| Toq-temür ("Tuohe-tiemur 脫合帖木兒") | 1338-1352 |
| Jiqan-temür ("Zhihan-tiemur 只罕帖木兒") | 1339-1341 |
| Queen Sātī-beg ("Sadibie 撒迪別", sister of Ölĵejtu) | 1339-1340 |
| Sulaimān ("Sulaiman 速來蠻") | 1339-? |
| Nušerwān ("Nushierwan 努失兒完") | 1344-? |
The Mongols after the Yuan  
After the Ming 明 troops had driven back the Mongols to Mongolia the first great leader was Dayan Qan 大延汗 who divided the Mongol federation into six tribes: Chahar 察哈爾, Uriyangkai 烏梁海, and Khalkha 喀爾喀 to the "left" (east), and Ordos 鄂爾多斯, Tumet 土默特, and Yongxiebu 永謝布 to the "right" (west). Under Altan Qan 阿勒坦汗 (Anda Qan 俺答汗) in the mid-16th century the Mongols divided into the western and eastern group, the western being the Oirats (Wala 瓦剌 or Elute 厄魯特), and the western named the Outer Khalkha. Except the Buryats all Mongol tribes submitted to the Qing Dynasty 清.
Before the Manchu conquered China, they incorporated the Mongols into their Eight Banner system, later a ministerial Mongol Agency (Menggu yamen 蒙古衙門) was installed that was replaced by the Court of Colonial Affairs (Lifanyuan 理蕃院) in 1638 that administered the officials, court audiences, tributes and military politics of the subjugated neighboring peoples. After the Manchus replaced the Ming Dynasty in 1644, The Mongols were organized in a union-banner system (mengqi zhidu 盟旗制度) that was strucured like the military administration of the Manchus, the Mongol chieftains were adressed and treated like the particular Manchu princes and nobles, and intermarriages between Manchus and Mongols were allowed, even half of the Manchu empresses came from the Mongol aristocracy. At the end of the 16th century Tibetian Lamaism became widespread among the Mongols. The regions of Inner and Outer Mongolia kept calm during the whole Qing period because of this mixture of strict control and political union in several matters. Only from the end of the 19th century some rebellions originated among the Mongols, like the Duguilong movement 獨貴龍運動 in 1891. Under the influence of Russian diplomates the highest Mongol leaders proclaimed the independency of Mongolia in 1911, and although the Republic of China never gave up the sovereignity over Outer Mongolia, in November 1924 the Mongolian People's Republic was proclaimed.
Mongol Khans and Rulers of Chahar |
name title | time |
Yesüder (descendant of Ariγ Buqa) Ĵoriγtu Qaγan | 1388-1391 |
| Engke Qaγan | 1391-1394 |
Elbeg Nigülesügchi Qaγan | 1394-1399 |
| Gün Temür Qaγan | 1399-1402 |
Guilichi (decendant of Ögedei) Örüg Temür Qaγan | 1402-1408 |
Bunyashiri, Punyaśri Öljei Temür Qaγan | 1408-1412 |
| Dalbag, Delbeg Qaγan | 1415 |
| Oyiradai Qaγan | 1415-1425 |
| Adai Qaγan (son of Orüg Temür) | 1425-1433 |
Toγtoγa Buqa (descendant of Qubilai) Tayisung Qaγan | 1433-1452 |
| Esen Tayisi, khan of the Oyirad | 1453-1454 |
| Markörgis (Ükegtü) | 1455-1465 |
| Mulan Qaγan | 1465-1466 |
| Manduγulun Qaγan | 1475-1479 |
Bayan Möngke Bolqu Ĵinong | 1479-1487 |
Batu Möngke Dayan Qaγan | 1487-1524 |
Barsbolad Ĵinong Sayin Araγ Qaγan | 1524 |
| Bodi Araγ Qaγan | 1524-1547 |
Darayisung Gödeng Qaγan | 1547-1557 |
Tümen Ĵasaγtu Qaγan | 1557-1592 |
Buyan Sečen Qaγan | 1592-1603 |
Lingdan Qutuγtu Qaγan | 1604-1634 |
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