Ögedei Khan, the third son of Genghis Khan by his principal wife Börte, played a central role in the history of the Mongol Empire as the second great khan and the ruler under whom the empire reached most of its maximum territorial extent. Designated as his father’s successor before Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, Ögedei was elected great khan at a kurultai in 1229 and ruled until his own death in 1241.
The role of Ögedei Khan was multifaceted. He was at once a military commander, an administrative reformer, a patron of culture, and a unifying figure for the Mongol ruling class. His reign was, in many ways, the high-water mark of the unified Mongol state, and the institutions and the political traditions that he established remained the basis of the Mongol state for the next century and a half.
Ögedei as Military Commander
The military campaigns of Ögedei’s reign were among the most extensive in the history of warfare. Under his rule, the Mongol armies conquered the Jin Dynasty in northern China, completed the conquest of Korea, defeated the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad (in 1258, under his son-in-law Hulagu), and launched the invasion of Europe that conquered Russia, Poland, and Hungary in the early 1240s.
The military campaigns were directed by a number of Ögedei’s most trusted generals, including Subutai, who was the mastermind of the invasion of Europe, and Batu Khan, who was the commander of the western campaigns. Ögedei himself did not always lead the campaigns in person, but he was the supreme commander of the Mongol armies, and the campaigns were conducted under his authority.
Ögedei as Administrative Reformer
Ögedei was also an important administrative reformer. He established the imperial administration on a more permanent footing, and he expanded the yam postal system into a continental network connecting the far ends of the empire. He also established a system of taxation and census that became the basis of the Mongol imperial administration, and he made the first tentative arrangements for the codification of the Yassa code of law.
The administrative reforms of Ögedei were carried out largely through his most trusted advisers, including the Chinese administrator Yelu Chucai and the Uyghur administrator Mahmud Yalavach. Yelu Chucai, in particular, was an important figure in the administration of the empire, and he is credited with persuading Ögedei to spare the populations of the conquered territories in northern China and to make them productive taxpayers.
Ögedei as Patron of Culture
Ögedei was also an important patron of culture. He was reportedly a sophisticated, multilingual ruler with a strong interest in Chinese culture, and he is reported to have maintained a large collection of painters, musicians, and poets at his court. He was also a patron of religion, and he is reported to have established a number of Buddhist monasteries, Muslim mosques, Christian churches, and Confucian temples in his capital at Karakorum.
The patronage of culture was an important part of the Mongol imperial tradition, and it was continued by Ögedei’s successors. The Mongol court at Karakorum was a major center of cultural exchange, and the city was a meeting point for the cultures of the medieval world. The most famous of the cultural institutions of Karakorum was the famous “Silver Tree” fountain, a mechanical device that dispensed four different kinds of wine to the guests of the great khan.
Ögedei as Unifying Figure
Ögedei was also an important unifying figure for the Mongol ruling class. He was a grandson of Genghis Khan, and he had the right pedigree to rule the empire. He was also a capable and determined ruler, and he was able to maintain the unity of the imperial family during a period that was marked by political tensions and military challenges.
The most important of the political challenges that Ögedei faced was the tension between the different branches of the imperial family. The Toluid branch of the family, in particular, was ambitious and powerful, and Ögedei had to balance the interests of the different branches in order to maintain the unity of the empire. He did this largely through personal diplomacy and through the distribution of patronage, and he was generally successful in maintaining the unity of the imperial family during his reign.
The Death of Ögedei and the Succession Crisis
Ögedei died on 11 December 1241, while on a hunting trip near the Orkhon River. The cause of his death is not entirely clear, but it was probably a combination of alcoholism and the strain of overwork. His death was a major blow to the Mongol Empire, and the succession crisis that followed was the first major political crisis of the unified Mongol state.
The succession crisis was resolved in 1246 with the election of Ögedei’s son Güyük as the new great khan. The election was a controversial one, and it was followed by a period of political tension between the Toluid branch of the family and the Ögedeid branch. The tension eventually erupted in the Toluid Civil War of 1260-1264, in which the Toluid branch defeated the Ögedeid branch and established the Toluid line as the ruling line of the empire.
Sources
- John Man, Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Legacy (London, 2004).
- Igor de Rachewiltz, ed., The Secret History of the Mongols (2 vols., Brill, 2004–2013).
- Paul Ratchnevsky, Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy (Oxford, 1991).