The succession of Genghis Khan as the great khan of the Mongol Empire was a major political event that shaped the history of the Mongol world for the next century and a half. Genghis Khan had designated his third son, Ögedei, as his successor, and the choice was confirmed at a kurultai held shortly before the great khan’s death in 1227. The succession was eventually formalized at a kurultai in 1229, which elected Ögedei as the second great khan of the Mongol Empire.
The succession was not without controversy. The original choice for the successor had been Tolui, the youngest of Genghis Khan’s four sons, but the choice was made for Ögedei on a number of grounds, including his military ability, his political prudence, and his willingness to follow his father’s wishes. The choice of Ögedei was also a reflection of the political realities of the Mongol world, in which the senior son by the principal wife was the natural successor.
The Succession of 1229
The succession of Ögedei was held at a kurultai in 1229, two years after the death of Genghis Khan. The delay was the result of a number of political considerations, including the need to consult with the various branches of the imperial family and the need to settle a number of outstanding political questions. The kurultai was held at the imperial camp at the source of the Onon River, and it was attended by representatives of all the major branches of the imperial family.
The election of Ögedei was unanimous, and the new great khan was formally recognized as the ruler of the Mongol Empire. The election was followed by an elaborate enthronement ceremony, in which the new great khan was raised on a felt carpet and presented to the assembly. The ceremony was a major political event, and it was the model for the enthronement ceremonies of the later great khans.
The Succession After Ögedei
The succession of Ögedei was followed by a long period of political instability. Ögedei died in 1241, and the succession was contested by several candidates, including his son Güyük and the Toluid prince Kublai. The kurultai that should have elected a new great khan was delayed for several years by internal squabbles, and the empire was effectively leaderless until the election of Güyük in 1246.
The election of Güyük in 1246 was itself controversial, and it was followed by a period of political tension between the different branches of the imperial family. Güyük died in 1248, and the succession was contested by several candidates, including the Toluid prince Möngke and the Ögedeid prince Kaidu. The election of Möngke in 1251 was, in effect, a Toluid coup, and it marked the beginning of Toluid dominance in the imperial politics.
The Toluid Succession
The Toluid succession began with the election of Möngke in 1251, and it continued with the election of Kublai in 1260. Kublai’s election was contested by his younger brother Ariq Böke, and the contest led to the Toluid Civil War of 1260-1264. The civil war was the central political crisis of the mid-thirteenth century, and it marked the end of the unified Mongol state.
The Toluid succession was a major turning point in the history of the Mongol Empire. It established the Toluid line as the ruling line of the empire, and it effectively excluded the descendants of Ögedei and Chagatai from the succession. The Toluid succession also marked the beginning of the era of the four khanates, in which the unified Mongol state was replaced by a loose federation of four semi-independent khanates.
The Yuan Dynasty and the Great Khans
The Toluid succession continued in the Yuan Dynasty in China, which was founded by Kublai in 1271. The Yuan Dynasty was the khanate of the imperial heartland, and it was the cultural and political center of the Mongol world for most of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. The Yuan Dynasty was ruled by a line of Toluid khans, including Kublai, Temür, Külüg, and Ayurbarwada Buyantu, and it lasted until 1368.
The Yuan Dynasty was not, however, the only khanate that claimed the title of “great khan.” The Golden Horde, the Ilkhanate, and the Chagatai Khanate all claimed the right to elect a great khan, and the title was contested by the various khanates throughout the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. The contest for the title of great khan was a major source of political tension between the khanates, and it was one of the factors that contributed to the eventual decline of the Mongol Empire.
The Legacy of the Succession
The succession of Genghis Khan as the great khan of the Mongol Empire was a major political event that shaped the history of the Mongol world for the next century and a half. The designation of Ögedei as the successor was a major decision that established the principle of fraternal succession in the Mongol state, and the subsequent succession disputes were a major source of political tension in the Mongol world. The Toluid Civil War of 1260-1264 was the most serious of these disputes, and it marked the end of the unified Mongol state.
The legacy of the succession is also visible in the political traditions of the successor states. The Yuan Dynasty, the Ilkhanate, the Golden Horde, and the Chagatai Khanate all maintained the tradition of electing a great khan, and the title was contested by the various khanates throughout the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. The tradition of election was eventually abandoned in most of the khanates, but it remained an important part of the political tradition of the Mongols until the seventeenth century.
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).