Chaghadai Khanate

[Formerly the Chagatai Khanate.]

Dr George Lane, Dept of History, SOAS (School of Oriental & African Studies), University of
London, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

gl1@soas.ac.uk

Word Count: 3200

Abstract:

During the life of his father, Chinggis Khan (c.1162-1227), and the reigns of the Ogodaid khans,
Chaghadai (1183-1241/2) remained the role of steadfast loyalist and supporter of the throne.
However, after his death and the split in the Great Mongol Empire empire the Chaghadaids
confined themselves to Turkestan in Central Asia and the continuation of their ulus, or royal
appanage, against external threats. Though nominally the mainstay of Amir Timur, the
Chaghadai Khanate disappeared with Tughluq Temur in 1363.

Text:
The House of Chinggis Khan’s second son Chaghadai (1183-1241/2) never achieved the
position of power enjoyed by the other royal houses of the Great Mongol Empire. After the
death of Chinggis Khan in 1227, the Ogodaids and Toluids both occupied the imperial
throne. The Jochids though excluded from the ultimate seat of power due to questions
about Jochi’s paternity became king makers and at times enjoyed status and prestige equal
to that of the Great Khan. Chaghadai Khan and his successors, ruling over a vast but
variable swathe of Central Asia concentrated on Turkestan, provided support and muscle
and remained formidable enemies and dependable allies. The Chaghadaid khanate was an
integral though fluid component of the empire, originally defined by the peoples of whom it
was composed, an autonomous imperial limb. His father described his second son as “a
martial man who loves war. But he is proud by nature, more than he should be” (Ganjakets'I
n.d., tr. Bedrosian <<www.rbedrosian.com>>) adding that “any who had a desire to know
the yasa and yosun of the kingdom should follow Chaghadai”. (Rashīd al-Dīn 1994, 762)
In the Secret History it is claimed that when Chinggis intimated that his first-born,
Jochi, was higher in rank than his brothers and therefore might be most suitable as his
successor, Chaghadai rose in anger and grabbed his brother by the neck, deriding him as a
“bastard offspring of a Merkit.” (Rachewiltz 2006, 183) After an impassioned speech from
their father, the brothers calmed down and, humbled, pledged their future cooperation and
loyalty and agreed instead that Ogodai should be instructed in the “teachings of the hat”
(kingship). Chinggis, ever the realist, questioned the need for their cooperation with each
other declaring that “Mother Earth is wide: its rivers and waters are many . . . We shall make
each of you rule over a domain and We shall separate you.” (Rachewiltz 2006, 187)
Once the succession had been decided and accepted, Chaghadai became a
fanatically loyal subject and Rashīd al-Dīn recalls a telling anecdote about the prince
demonstrating his loyalty and sometimes obsessional observance of the yasa. One day, out
riding with his brother, both extremely drunk, Chaghadai challenged Ogodai to a race and
proceeded to win the wager and the heat by a head. That same night Chaghadai was
gripped with anguish and convinced he had set a dangerous precedent. “This was an act of

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great impropriety. If this keeps up, we and the others will become brazen, and it will result
in weakening the kingdom.” He then demanded to be hauled before the courts and
publically punished. However, on Ogodai’s insistence he was formally pardoned and a gift
of nine horses was accepted in lieu of a fine. As a further sign of Ogodai’s trust in and love
for his brother, the Qa’an Ogodai placed his son and named successor, Guyuk Khan, in
Chaghadai’s retinue as a guard and “Chaghadai’s status reached a magnificence beyond
description”. Though none doubted his respect and loyalty, it was thought that
unconsciously or otherwise, Chaghadai was able to intimidate his brother. Secure in his
ordu in the vicinity of Almaliq, Chaghadai provided Ogodai with unwavering support and
provided advice on matters of law and tradition recalling the Great Khan’s advice that “any
who desire to know customs and wisdom well, go to Chaghadai.” (Rashīd al-Dīn 1994, 619)
He was severe in his judgments and harsh in his application of the law and in its
infringement, attributes which cost him any hope of the qa’anship. He died seven months
before his brother, the Qa’an, in 1241. (Rashīd al-Dīn 1994, 766)
On Chaghadai Khan’s death in 1241, his position was filled by his grandson Qara
Hulegu whose father, Mö’etüken, a favourite of Chinggis Khan, had died in the battle for
Bamiyan in 1221. Mö’etüken was Chaghadai’s first born and his early death greatly grieved
his father (Rashīd al-Dīn 1994, 751-59). However, Qa’an Guyuk (1246-48) not trusting Qara
Hulegu, awarded the powerful position to Chaghadai’s fifth and oldest living son, Yesü
Möngkä who was also a close drinking buddy, a nadīm or “boon companion”, of Guyuk.
Yesü Möngkä’s reign did not long survive that of his mentor and with the rise of the Toluids
and Mongke Khan, he was quickly deposed in favour of Qara Hulegu whose earlier support
for Mongke had now worked to his advantage. However, it was Qara Hulegu’s Muslim wife,
Orgina Khatun, who had to carry out Mongke Qa’an’s yasa against Yesü Möngkä after her
husband’s sudden, untimely death, and who then claimed Qara Hulegu’s throne for herself.
The bloody establishment of the House of Tolui at the heart of the Chinggisid Empire
had dire repercussions on the houses of the Ogodaids and Chaghadaids. With accusations
of rebellion and plots levied against the leading Ogodaid princes and what were perceived
as their Chaghadaid supporters, Mongke Khan instigated a limited but cautionary blood bath
against the opposition tempered by the wise words of the minister Mahmud Yalavach. The
minister had intimated that it would be better to maintain a cowed but obedient ulus than
an exiled, disenfranchised body of potential rebels and therefore the lands and appanages
of his executed enemies were granted to those sons and grandsons not directly implicated
in sedition. (Rashid al-Dīn 1994, 836) Orgina Khatun, a granddaughter of Chinggis was
confirmed in office as regent for her infant son, Mubārakshāh and head of the ulus of
Chaghadai. A layer of power and potential rebellion had been removed but the Ogodaids
and Chaghadaids had in no way been cauterised.
The subsequent history of the House of Chaghadai is dominated by its khans’
relationships with other Chinggisid khanates either as allies or as rivals and enemies and in
particular with the Ogodaids who initially dominated their partners under the imposing rule
of Qaidu Khan. Power resided with the Khan who was able to impose his will on those
around him and was dependant on his ability to collect tribute and control the tanma
(federal) army. The history of the Chaghadaids until their effective dissolution with the
appearance of Timur Khan and the appropriation of their name by the tyrant, is struggling
to retain power and occasionally rising above the common fray to leave their mark on the
development of the Chinggisid Empire.

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 In 1259 Mongke Khan’s death saw the political, cultural, and ideological split which
had been undermining Chinggisid unity for decades, openly proclaimed as the imperial
princes revealed their true convictions in their choice of successor to the Qa’anate. On the
Steppe military might dominated whereas among the settled peoples an administration
separated the khan from his people. The progressive Toluids who had embraced the
sedentary cultures of Persia and China flocked to Qubilai Khan’s flag which fluttered high
above China and even received the tacit support of the Song emperors while the disgruntled
traditionalists who hankered after the glory days when the steppe ruled supreme found
their champion in Qubilai’s youngest brother, Ariq Buqa, who had raised the flag of the
Yasa-ites above the steppe capital of Qaraqorum. Each brother now courted all who might
provide support and aid and as rival Great Khans awarded positions to their own supporters.
In 1261, Ariq Buqa appointed prince Alghu to head the Chaghadaid ulus and Qubilai’s
appointee, Abishqa, was dismissively murdered. However, as Ariq Buqa’s resistance
crumbled Alghu formally switched his allegiance (in 1263) to Qubilai Khan, hastening the
inevitable victory. As a reward Qubilai confirmed him as effective overlord of the territory
stretching from the Altai to the Oxus, including all the former Ogodaid lands as well. To
cement his position he had gained the support and the hand of Orghina, a Muslim, and
crucially the active support of the veteran administrator, Mas’ūd Beg, son of the legendary
Maḥmūd Yalavach. If Alghu had been able to solidify these gains and achieve wider
recognition the final endgame of the Chinggisid empire might have been very different.
Alghu’s death in 1266 shortly after Hulegu Khan’s demise in 1265, and just prior to
the Golden Horde’s Berke Khan’s death in 1267, left a dangerous political vacuum which
Orghina Khatun attempted to fill by appointing her own son Mubārakshāh to the
Chaghadaid leadership without first seeking the approval of Qubilai Khan, now putative
Great Khan. Qubilai’s disastrous choice of Baraq led to a period of great instability and the
final glorious swan song of the House of Ogodai. Baraq switched allegiance from Qubilai to
the ambitious Ogodaid prince, Qaidu (1236-1301). The sixteenth century historian,
Khwandamīr spoke for many when he declared
“As is agreed upon by all historians, Baraq Khan was a harsh, tyrannical ruler who was
overfond of confiscating his subjects’ goods, known for his bravery and courage, and
renowned for his over-bearing pride and conceit”. (Khwāndamīr 2012, 83)
Baraq was cleverly manipulated by Qaidu (On Qaidu see Biran 1997; Curzon, 1997 cf Haw
forthcoming) who used the Chaghadaid khan’s predictable, ignoble fall to assume power for
himself and to dominate Turkestan and beyond until his death in 1301. Though few outside
his political neighbourhood credited his aspirations, Qaidu aspired to the Chinggisid throne.
He adopted the title Qa’an and had his tamgha alongside his Chaghadaid subordinate, Du’a
Khan’s insignia, embossed on specially minted coins. He adopted the trappings of imperial
power and exercised authority over his neighbours and received recognition as the
dominant ruler over the lands of Transoxiana and Moghulistan. Though he never made any
serious attempts to invade either Iran or China, his raids and incursions had powerful
symbolic value. His short-lived occupation of the first imperial capital, Qaraqorum, in 1289
and his capture of the old Chaghadaid capital, Almaliq, however, were enough to assure him
the allegiance of the Chaghadaid prince, Du’a.
Qaidu entrusted his loyal subordinate Du’a Khan (r.1282–1307) with ensuring a
smooth transition to power of his capable son Orus when he died. Though Du’a had been
content to defer to Qaidu he had always strongly resisted any attempts by Qaidu to merge
their two armies. Upon Qaidu’s death, Du’a used the power invested in him by Qaidu to

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cynically place not Qaidu’s choice, Orus, but his frail sibling Chapar on the throne, despite
Chapar being “weak in opinion and weak in understanding” (Qashānī 1969, 32) and
“extremely thin and contemptible”. (Rashīd al-Dīn 1994, 627) Qaidu had instructed his sons
to heed the advice of Du’a and within a few years Chapar’s rule was in disarray and Qaidu’s
sons had fled seeking asylum in both the Yuan court and the Ilkhanate.
As the spokesman for the whole region Du’a abandoned Qaidu’s hostile foreign
policies and sought to establish peace with his neighbours. In 1303 Du’a proposed a peace
treaty binding on all the Chinggisid Khanates which recognised the Yuan Qa’an as the titular
head of the Empire and he accordingly agreed to pay tribute. In 1304 Du’a and Chapar
formally surrendered to the Yuan court and subsequently had their leadership recognised.
Du’a was now in a position firstly to continue unhindered his raids on India which was a
major source of wealth and secondly to dominate the unruly Qara’unas of Eastern
Afghanistan who provided him military assistance. (The Qara’aunas or Nikudaris were semi-
autonomous mercenaries based in eastern Afghanistan from c. 1255.) First he staged a
showdown between his forces allied with the Yuan commander and future Qa’an, Qaishan
(r.1308-11), and Chapar’s brother Orus who had command of the Ogodaid crack troops
stationed on the Yuan frontier. The resulting victory saw the Ogodaid princes crushed and
their ulus dissolved as they were all forced into exile in the neighbouring states, never to re-
group again, leaving Du’a free to consolidate his gains and strengthen his rule.
The one weakness in Du’a Khan’s plans was the numerous sons that he left and the
succession battles which gripped the region following his death. Though Du’a lay claim to
the whole region of Turkestan this region divided naturally into western Transoxiana,
containing some of Islam’s greatest urban jewels like Bokhara and Samarqand, and eastern
Moghulistan which lay firmly in the hands of the nomadic tribes. The conflict between
these two regions and the resistance of the east to domination by the west defined
Chaghadaid politics until the rise of Timur and beyond.
Among the many claimants to the Chaghadaid throne and to leadership of the tribes
a few names stand out. Esen Buqa I (1310-20), Köbek (1318-1326), Tarmashirin (1226-34)
and Tughluq Temur (1347-63) defined and shaped the last decades of the Chaghadaid ulus
and deserve recognition.
Esen Buqa I ruled for a decade struggling to gain back territory in the east over
which he felt that Yuan forces were encroaching and in the south-west where his attempts
at inciting rebellion in Khorasan back-fired. He had sent his brother and successor, Kobek,
to invade Khorasan in 1314 along with the armies of the Qara’unas to neutralise any threat
to his activities in Afghanistan but when he recalled Kobek who he needed to bolster the
eastern front a rebel commander, Yara’ur, at the instigation of the Ilkhan, Uljaytu,
devastated Transoxiana in retaliation.
On his death Esen Buqa I’s brother Kobek assumed control and with stability as his
priority he re-established peace with the Yuan Qa’an though such a move angered the tribal
leaders in Moghulestan who considered that the Yuan princes were occupying their
territory. In 1323 he struck a deal which satisfied his emirs and pleased the Chinese. In
return for a formal submission and the establishment of a tribute relationship, authority
over Uyghuria was returned to Köbek and the Chaghadaid khan could now concentrate on
ruling his state and return it to economic prosperity and political stability. It was his internal
affairs and reforms for which he is remembered rather than his foreign policies and
adventures. He built his capital in Qarshi near Nakhshab where he resided in his new palace
and he strove to restore the economy of a country which had known nothing but war and

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depredation for generations through his encouragement of agriculture, trade and urban
renewal. Coins were minted in his name (kebeks – kopeika) and a new decimal based
administration was formed with attempts to limit the powers of his emirs, all moves which
earned him the reputation of being a just ruler.
Köbek’s reign is sometimes pictured as the zenith of the Chaghadaid Khanate with a
semblance of stability returning to Transoxiana and with his authority re-established over
the Qara’unas again which enabled raids and campaigns into India to resume. As a sign of
his military confidence, the “champion of justice”(Khwandamir 2012, 51 [3:90]) Köbek
mounted a raid on Khurasan with his ally, Ozbek Khan of the Golden Horde, and led by his
brother and commander in Afghanistan, Tarmashirin. However, the raid was repelled and
Tarmashirin’s forces were routed, but Ghazni stayed firmly in Chaghadaid hands and
therefore Köbek’s ability to campaign in India where his commander Tarmashirin led a very
successful raid, sacking Delhi and Gujarat before returning to Ghazni with vast amounts of
plunder.
Tarmashirin (r.1331-34) known also as Sultan ‘Alā al-Dīn after his conversion,
returned the capital to Transoxiana when he ascended the throne and like Köbek he
encouraged trade and agriculture. Ibn Battuta described the Sultan as “a man of great
distinction, possessed of numerous troops and regiments of cavalry, a vast kingdom, and
immense power, and just in his government.” (Ibn Battuta 1971, vol.III: 556) He also
promoted Islam and actually encouraged his soldiers and courtiers to convert, though many
were already converts at this time. (Khwandamir 2012, 51 [3:90]) Being a devout Muslim,
he used his faith to promote diplomatic and mercantile ties with other Muslim nations
including Mamluk Egypt and the Delhi Sultanate but not Muslim Iran. In fact he led an
attack on Khurasan circa 1326 which was not only repulsed but led to a counter raid on
Ghazni by the Ilkhan Abu Sa’īd’s chief commander, Amir Chupan.
Though Tarmashirin maintained warm relations with Yuan China he avoided
traveling to the east of his lands where many of his policies were not only disliked but were
considered ‘blasphemous’, breaking with the yasa of Chinggis Khan. (Ibn Battuta 1971,
vol.III: 560-61) His promotion of trade and agriculture alienated him from the khans of
Moghulistan and Uyghuria where Nestorian Christians continued to flourish and European
missionaries were generally welcomed. His death was followed by a confused period where
power bounced between khans and amirs and east and west Turkestan.
Tughluq Temur (1329-r.1347-63) who eventually succeeded Qazan Sultan (1343-47),
“the last bad ruler” of the Chaghadaid ulus, was a Muslim convert who “circumcised
himself” and “that day 120,000 people shaved their heads and became Muslim.” (Dughlat
2012, 6 [8b-9]) Tughluq Temur is said to have introduced Islam to Moghulistan, as the
eastern provinces became known after invading and holding Transoxiana, and so for a short
period from 1361 until his death in 1363 he united the Khanate. He was politically astute
and it is debateable whether his conversion to Islam was from conviction or from his
political judgment and his interpretation of the relentless spread of Islam from western
Turkestan. He was appointed by a tribal confederacy led by the Dughlats and his
acceptance by the peoples of the west of the khanate meant that the ulus enjoyed a short
period of unity before the devastation of Timurlane and his usurpation of the khanate in
1363.
Though in some histories the story of the Chaghadaid Khanate is continued until well
into the seventeenth century and some breakaway khanates such as the Dzungars until the
early twentieth century, Tughluq Temur is a worthy figure with which to end the classical

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period of the ulus. His history and the history of the khans of Moghulistan is recorded in the
Tārīkh-i-Rashīdī. Though the infamous Timur Khan sought legitimacy through his ties with
the Chaghadaid khans, in fact the khan who acted as his head of state actually belonged to
the Ogodaid ulus.

See Also
Cavalry and empire; Ilkhanate empire; Mongol empire, Great; Steppe empires; Timurid
empire

References and Further Reading

Biran, Michal. 1997. Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State in Central Asia.
London:Curzon 1997?

Dughlat, Haydar. 2012. Tārīkh-i-Rashīdī. In Classical Writings on the Mediaeval Islamic

World: Persian Histories of the Mongol Dynasties, edited and translated by Wheeler
Thackston, vol.1. London: I.B.Tauris.
Ganjakets'i, Kirakos. n.d. History of Armenia. Translated by Robert Bedrosian.
http://rbedrosian.com/kgtoc.html.
Haw, Stephen G., forthcoming. "A Mongol family saga – Qaidu and the Ögödeid-Toluid
power-struggle." Any publisher, journal, place of publication known?
Ibn Battuta. 1971. Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354. Translated by H.A.R.
Gibb, 5 vols. London: Hakluyt Society.
Jackson, Peter. 1992. Chaghadayid Khanate. Vol. 2, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, by Ehsan
Yarshater, Fasc. 4, 343-346. New York. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/
Khwandamir. 2012. Habib's-Siyar. In Classical Writings on the Mediaeval Islamic World:
Persian Histories of the Mongol Dynasties, edited and translated by Wheeler Thackston,
Tome 3. Vol. 2. London: I.B.Tauris.
Qāshānī, Abū al-Qāsem 'Abd Allah bin Mohammad al-. 1969. The History of Uljaytu. Tehran:
B.T.N.K.
Rachewiltz, Igor De, ed. 2006. The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle
of the Thirteenth Century. Translated by Igor De Rachewiltz. 3 vols. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
Rashīd al-Dīn Hamdānī. 1994. Jāmi’ al-Tawārīkh. Edited by M. Roushān and M. Mūsawī.
Tehran: Nashr Elburz.
Rashīd al-Dīn Hamdānī. 2012. Jāmi' al-Tavārīkh. Vol. 3, in Classical Writings on the
Mediaeval Islamic World: Persian Histories of the Mongol Dynasties, edited and translated
by Wheeler Thackston. London: I.B.Tauris.
Vasary, Istvan. 2009. “The Jochid Realm: the Western Steppe and Eastern Europe”. In The
Cambridge History of Inner Asia: The Chinggisid Age, edited by Di Cosmo, Nicola, Allen J.
Frank, Peter B. Golden. Cambridge, New York, Singapore: CUP.

Keywords:
1220-1370 CE; Chinggis Khan; Qaidu; Turkestan; Moghulistan

Biography:
After many years traveling around the Middle East and East Asia seeking work and
adventure, I finally settled down at SOAS and at the age of 40 began my academic career

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concentrating on the Middle East and eventually specialising on the Chinggisids. Since
gaining my PhD in 2001, I have had a number of books and articles published on my chosen
subject and have travelled to three continents attending conferences and delivering lectures
and slowly building up a modest reputation. I am currently working on a general history of
the Mongol Empire for OUP to reflect the changes in attitude towards the Chinggisids that
have occurred since 2001. Thanks are due to the British Academy for providing funds for a
year’s sabbatical which is enabling me to complete this and other projects and the time to
contribute the current entries for this encyclopaedia.

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