Möngke Khan

"Mongke" redirects here. For other uses, seeMongke (disambiguation).

Möngke Khan
Möngke and his court, depicted in theTarikh-i Jahangushay
Khagan of the Mongol Empire
Reign	1 July 1251 – 11 August 1259
Coronation	1 July 1251
Predecessor	Güyük Khan Oghul Qaimish(regent)
Successor	Ariq Böke(claimant) Kublai Khan
Born	11 January 1209 Mongol Empire
Died	11 August 1259 (aged 50) Sichuan,Southern Song
Burial	Unknown, presumptivelyBurkhan Khaldun
Names Mongolian:ᠮᠥᠩᠬᠡМөнхMöngke Posthumous name Emperor Huansu (Chinese:Hoàn túc hoàng đế) (conferred in 1266) Temple name Xianzong (Chinese:Hiến tông) (conferred in 1266)
House	Borjigin
Father	Tolui
Mother	Sorghaghtani Beki

Möngke Khan(alsoMöngke KhaganorMöngke;11 January 1209 – 11 August 1259) was the fourthkhaganof theMongol Empire,ruling from 1 July 1251 to 11 August 1259. He was the first Khagan from theToluid line,and made significant reforms to improve the administration of the Empire during his reign. Under Möngke, the Mongols conqueredIraqandSyriaas well as the kingdom ofDali(modernYunnan).

Early life

Möngke was born on 11 January 1209, as the eldest son ofGenghis Khan's teenaged sonToluiandSorghaghtani Beki.Teb Tengri Khokhcuu, ashaman,claimed to have seen in the stars a great future for the child and bestowed on him the name Möngke, meaning 'eternal' inMongolian.His uncleÖgedei Khan's childless queen Angqui raised him at herorda(nomadic palace).Ögedei instructed Persian scholar Idi-dan Muhammed to teach writing to Möngke.

On his way back home after theMongol conquest of Khwarezmia,Genghis Khanperformed a ceremony on his grandsons Möngke and Kublai after their first hunting in 1224 near theIli River.Möngke was fifteen years old, and with his brother,Kublai,killed a rabbit and an antelope. Their grandfather smeared fat from the killed animals onto their middle fingers following the Mongol tradition.

In 1230, Möngke went to war for the first time, following Ögedei and his father Tolui into battle against theJin dynasty.Tolui died in 1232, and Ögedei appointedSorghaghtanihead of the Toluidappanage.Following the Mongol custom, Möngke inherited at least one of his father's wives, Oghul-Khoimish of theOiratclan. Möngke deeply loved her and gave special favor to her elder daughter, Shirin.

The 1241Battle of Mohi,in which Möngke might have participated.

Ögedei dispatched him along with his relatives to attack theKipchaks,Kievan Rus',andBulgarsin the west in 1235. When the most formidable Kipchak chief, Bachman, fled to an island in theVolga deltaMöngke crossed the river and captured him. When he ordered Bachman to bend down on his knees, Bachman refused and was executed by Möngke's brother Bujek. Möngke also engaged in hand-to-hand combat during theMongol invasion of Rus'.While his cousins,ShibanandBüri,went toCrimea,Möngke andKadan,a son of Ögedei, were ordered to reduce the tribes in theCaucasus.The Mongols captured theAlancapitalMaghasand massacred its inhabitants. Many chiefs of the Alans andCircassianssurrendered to Möngke. Afterthe invasion of Eastern Europe,Möngke would bring them back to Mongolia. He also participated in theSiege of Kiev (1240).Möngke was apparently taken by the splendour ofKievand offered the city surrender, but his envoys were killed.AfterBatu's army joined Möngke's, they sacked the city. He also fought alongside Batu at theBattle of Mohi.In the summer of 1241, before the premature end of the campaign. Möngke returned home after his uncle Ögedei recalled him in the winter of 1240–41. However, Ögedei died in December 1241.

In 1246,Temüge,Genghis Khan's sole remaining brother, unsuccessfully tried to seize the throne without confirmation by akurultai.The new KhaganGüyükentrusted the delicate task of trying the Odchigin ('keeper of the hearth' – a title given to both of Genghis' younger brothers) to Möngke andOrda Khan,the eldest brother of Batu. Güyük eventually died en route to the west in 1248 and Batu and Möngke emerged as the main contenders.

Toluid revolution

Following his mother Sorghaghtani's advice, Möngke went to theGolden Hordeto meet Batu, who was afflicted with gout.Batu decided to support his election and called a kurultai at Ala Qamaq. The leader of the families of Genghis Khan's brothers, and several important generals, came to the kurultai. Güyük's sons Naqu and Khoja attended briefly but then left. Despite vehement objections from Bala,Oghul Qaimish's scribe, the kurultai approved Möngke. Given its limited attendance and location, this kurultai was of questionable validity. Batu sent Möngke under the protection of his brothers,Berkeand Tuqa-temur, and his sonSartaqto assemble a formal kurultai at Kodoe Aral in Mongolia. WhenSorghaghtaniand Berke organized a second kurultai on 1 July 1251, the assembled throng proclaimed Möngke the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and a few of theÖgedeidandChagatayid princes,such as his cousinKadanand the deposed khanQara Hülegü,acknowledged the decision.

Shortly thereafter, Oghul's son Khoja and Ögedei's favorite grandsonShiremuncame to "pay homage" to Möngke as the new ruler, but they brought the entire army of the Ögedei faction with them.Möngke'sKankalifalconer, Kheshig, discovered the preparations for the attack and told his lord. At the end of the investigation under his father's loyal servant Menggesarnoyan,he found his relatives guilty but at first wanted to give them mercy as written in the GreatYassa.Möngke's officials opposed it and then he began to punish his relatives. The trials took place in all parts of the empire from Mongolia and China in the east to Afghanistan and Iraq in the west. Möngke and Batu's brother Berke therefore arranged to have Oghul accused of using black magic against Möngke. After she was arrested and questioned bySorghaghtani,Oghul Qaimish was sewn up into a sack and tossed into a river and drowned, the traditional Mongol punishment for using black magic. Estimates of the deaths of aristocrats, officials, and Mongol commanders includeEljigidei,Yesü Möngke,Büri,and Shiremun and range from 77 to 300. However, most of the princesdescended from Genghis Khanwho were involved in the plot were given some form of exile. The anti-Möngke plot of aUyghurscribe, Bala, and the Idiqut Salindi (the monarch of the Uyghurs) was discovered and they were publicly executed. After his accession to the throne in 1251, Möngke announced that he would follow his ancestors but would not imitate the ways of other countries.To increase his legitimacy, in 1252 he retroactively awarded his father the title ofIkh Khagan.Möngke shared the western part of the empire with his ally Batu Khan, ensuring the unity of the empire. Möngke's mother Sorghaghtani died in 1252.

After the defeat of the Ögedeid and Chagataid families, Möngke eliminated their estates and assigned acquiescent family members new territories either in Turkestan or in northwestern China. After the bloody purge, Möngke ordered a general amnesty for prisoners and captives. In another move to consolidate his power, Möngke gave his brothers Kublai andHulagusupervisory powers in North China and Iran. Rumours spread that his brother Kublai founded a de facto independentulus(district), and perhaps took for himself some of the tax receipts that should by rights be coming toKarakorum.In 1257 the Emperor sent two tax inspectors to audit Kublai's official. They found fault, listed 142 breaches of regulations, accused Chinese officials, and even had some executed; Kublai's office was abolished. Möngke's authority took over the collection of all taxes in Kublai's estates. As hisConfucianand Buddhist advisers pointed out, Kublai first sent his wives to the court of Khagan and then appealed to Möngke in person. They embraced in tears and Möngke forgave his brother.

Administrative ethos

TheMongol Empireduring the reign of Möngke

Mengeser Noyan

Möngke drafted his own decrees and kept close watch on their revision. Möngke forbade practices of extravagant costs of theBorjiginand non-Borjigid nobles. He also limited gifts to the princes, converting them into regular salaries, and made the merchants subject to taxes.Möngke limited notorious abuses and sent imperial investigators to supervise the business of the merchants who were sponsored by the Mongols. He prohibited them from using the imperial relay stations,yam (route),andpaizas,tablets that gave the bearer authority to demand goods and services from civilian populations.With Güyük dead, many local officials no longer wanted to pay off the paper drafts used by Güyük. Möngke recognized that if he did not meet the financialobligationsof Güyük, it would make merchants reluctant to continue business with the Mongols. Möngke paid out all drafts drawn by high ranking Mongol elites to these merchants.Ata-Malik Juvaynistated, "And from what book of history has it been read or heard...that a king paid the debt of another king?"The generals and princes (including his son) who allowed their troops to plunder civilians without authorization were repeatedly punished by Möngke Khan.He usedNorth Chinese,Muslim, and Uyghur officials. The Khagan's chief judge (darughachi) was theJait-JalayirofficialMenggeser,while the chief scribe was the Bulghai of theKeraites,who was a Christian. Nine of the 16 chief provincial officials of Möngke Khan were certainly Muslims. He reappointed Güyük's three officials: Mahmud Yalavach in China, Masud Beg inTurkestan,andArghun Aqaof theOiratinIran.Möngke separated the position of the great judge at court from that of chief scribe.

"Struck by theGeorgian KingDavidin the name of his overlord Möngke, by the power of Heaven "(Persian,dated 1253)

In 1253, Möngke established the Department of Monetary affairs to control the issuance of paper money in order to eliminate the over-issue of the currency by Mongol and non-Mongol nobles since the reign of Great Khan Ögedei.His authority established united measure based onsukheor silver ingot, however, the Mongols allowed their foreign subjects to mint coins in the denominations and use weight they traditionally used.During the reigns of Ögedei, Güyük, and Möngke, Mongol coinage increased with gold and silver coinage in Central Asia and copper and silver coins in theCaucasus,Iran, andBolghar.

Between 1252 and 1259, Möngke conducted a census of the Mongol Empire, including Iran,Afghanistan,Georgia,Armenia,Russia,Central Asia,andNorth China.While the census of China was completed in 1252,Novgorodin the far north-west was not counted until winter 1258–59. There was an uprising in Novgorod against Mongol rule in 1257, butAlexander Nevskyforced the city to submit to the Mongol census and taxation. The new census counted not only households but also the number of men aged 15–60 and the number of fields, livestock, vineyards, and orchards. Within the civilian register craftsmen were listed separately, while in the military registersauxiliaryand regular households were distinguished. Clergy of the approved religions were separated and not counted. When the new register was completed, one copy was sent to Karakorum and one copy kept for the local administration.Möngke tried to create a fixed poll tax collected by imperial agents that could be forwarded to the needy units. Initially, the maximum rate was fixed at 10–11 golddinarsin the Middle East and 6–7taelsof silver in China. Protests from the landlord classes reduced this relatively low rate to 6–7 dinars and taels. Some officials raised the top rate on the wealthy of 500 dinars. While the reform did not lighten the tax burden, it made the payments more predictable.Even so, the census and the regressive taxation it facilitated sparked popular riots and resistance in the western districts.

In 1259, the Georgian king,David VI,revolted, unsuccessfully, against the Mongols and then fled toKutaisi,whence he reigned overImeretiin western Georgia as de facto separate ruler. In 1261, he gave shelter toDavid VII,who had later attempted to end the Mongol dominance. David Ulu made peace with the Mongols, however, and returned toTbilisiin 1262. Möngke and Batu's official, Arghun, harshly punished the Georgian and Armenian nobles, plundering their cities and executing their prominent leaders.He divided the Georgians into sixtumens.Meanwhile,Baijucrushed the rebellion of theSeljukSultanKaykaus IInearAnkarain 1256 and re-established Mongol authority over Eastern Turkey. By that time theKashmirishad revolted, and Möngke appointed his generals, Sali and Takudar, to replace the court and a Buddhist master, Otochi, as darughachi to Kashmir. However, the Kashmiri king killed Otochi atSrinagar.Sali invaded again, killing the king, and put down the rebellion, after which the country remained subject to the Mongol Empire for many years.

Religious policy

Möngke confirmed Güyük's appointment ofHaiyunas chief of all the Buddhists in the Mongol Empire in 1251.In 1253 Namo fromKashmirwas made chief of all theBuddhist monksin the empire. During the conquest of Tibet in 1252–53, all Buddhist clergy were exempted from taxation. The TibetanKarma Pakshi, 2nd Karmapa Lama,received Möngke's patronage. Möngke had been impressed by the agedTaoistmonkQiu Chuji,who met his grandfather Genghis Khan in Afghanistan. Möngke madeLi Zhichangchief of the Taoists. However, the Taoists had exploited their wealth and status by seizingBuddhist temples.Möngke demanded that the Taoists cease their denigration of Buddhism. Möngke ordered Kublai to end the clerical strife between the Taoists and Buddhists in his territory. Kublai called a conference of Taoist and Buddhist leaders in early 1258. At the conference, the Taoist claim was officially declared refuted, and Kublai forcibly converted their 237 temples to Buddhism and destroyed all copies of the fraudulent texts.

Hethum I(seated) in the Mongol court of Karakorum, "receiving the homage of the Mongols"."Histoire des Tartars",Hayton of Corycus,1307.

Despite his conquests of theAbbasid Caliphateand theIsma'ili state,Möngke favoured Muslim perceptions. He and Hulagu made theTwelvercommunity atNajafan autonomous tax-exempt ecclesiastical polity. Like his predecessors, he exempted clerics, monks, churches, mosques, monasteries, and doctors from taxation.

During Möngke's reign,Louis IX of FrancesentWilliam of Rubruckas a diplomat seekingan alliancewith the Mongols against the Muslims. By that time Möngke's khatun Oghul-Khoimish was already dead. After making the French envoy wait for many months, Möngke officially received William Rubruck on 24 May 1254. Rubruck informed him that he had come to spread the word of Jesus. Then he stayed to help the Christians in Karakorum and attended debates among rival religions organized by the Mongols. Möngke Khan summoned William Rubruck to send him back home in 1255. He told Rubruck:

"We Mongols believe in one God, by Whom we live and die," he then continued "Just as God gave different fingers to the hand so has He given different ways to men. To you God has given the Scriptures and you Christians do not observe them". He explained God had given the Mongols their shamans. Möngke offered Louis IX his cooperation but warned all Christians that "If, when you hear and understand the decree of the eternal God, you are unwilling to pay attention and believe it...and in this confidence you bring an army against us-we know what we can do".

Ambassadors from theLatin Empireand theEmpire of Nicaeacame to the Mongol court to negotiate terms with Möngke Khan as well. In 1252 KingHethum IofLesser Armeniabegan his journey to Mongolia. He brought many sumptuous presents and met with Möngke at Karakorum.He had an audience with Möngke on 13 September 1254, advised the Khagan on Christian matters in Western Asia, and obtained from Möngke documents guaranteeing the inviolability of his person and his kingdom. As per Armenian documents, Hethum asked the Khagan and his officials to convert to Christianity. In reply, Möngke explained that he wished his subjects to truly worship theMessiah,but he could not force them to change their religion. Möngke also informed Hethum that he was preparing to mount an attack on Baghdad and that he would remitJerusalemto the Christians if they collaborated with him.Hethum strongly encouraged otherCrusadersto follow his example and submit to Mongol overlordship, but he persuaded only his son-in-lawBohemond VI,ruler of thePrincipality of AntiochandCounty of Tripoli,who offered his own submission sometime in the 1250s.The armies of theArmenian Kingdom of Ciliciaand Bohemond VI would assist Möngke's army in the West soon.

Muslim rulers also presented their submission to Möngke in Karakorum, such as the Ayyubid ruler ofMayyafariqinAl-Kamil Muhammad,who went in person in 1253 and encountered there other Muslim rulers fromMosul(envoys ofBadr al'Din Lu'lu') andMardin(Artuqids) offering their submission.

Shamans played an important role in the court and sometimes influenced the war preparation.

Period of conquests

Capitulation of Goryeo

Main article:Mongol invasions of Korea

As Khagan, Möngke seemed to take the legacy of world conquest he had inherited much more seriously than had Güyük. His conquests were all directed at East Asia and the Middle East. In his first plans for additional conquests, Möngke choseKoreaand theDali KingdominYunnanin 1252.

Möngke sent envoys toGoryeo,announcing his coronation in October 1251. He also demanded thatKing Gojongsubmit before him in person and to move his headquarters fromGanghwa Islandto the mainland of Korea. But the Goryeo court refused to send the king because he was elderly and unable to travel so far. Möngke dispatched his envoys with specific tasks again. The envoys were well received by the Goryeo officials, but they criticized the Goryeo officials because their king did not follow his overlord Möngke's orders.Möngke ordered prince Yeku to command the army against Korea. However, a Korean in the court of Möngke convinced them to begin their campaign in July 1253. Yeku, along with Amuqan, demanded that the Goryeo court surrender. The court refused but did not resist the Mongols and gathered the peasantry into mountain fortresses and islands. Working together with the Goryeo commanders who had joined the Mongols, Jalairtai Qorchi ravaged Korea. When one of Yeku's envoys arrived, Gojong personally met him at his new palace. The king Gojong sent his stepson as hostage to Mongolia. The Mongols agreed to a truce in January 1254.

Möngke realized that the hostage was not the blood prince of the Goryeo dynasty and blamed the Goryeo court for deceiving him. Möngke's commander Jalairtai devastated much of Goryeo and took 206,800 captives in 1254.Famine and despair forced peasants to surrender to the Mongols. They established achiliarchyoffice at Yonghung with local officials. Ordering defectors to build ships, the Mongols began attacking the coastal islands from 1255 on.In theLiaodong Peninsula,the Mongols formed Korean defectors into a colony of eventually 5,000 households.

In 1258 the king and theCh'oeclan retainerKim Chunstaged a counter-coup, assassinated the head of the Ch'oe family, and sued for peace. When the Goryeo court sent the future kingWonjong of Goryeoas hostage to the Mongol court and promised to return toGaegyeong,the Mongols withdrew from Korea.

Dali, Vietnam and Tibet

Main articles:Mongol invasion of China,Mongol invasions of Vietnam,andMongol conquest of Tibet

Möngke concerned himself more with the war in China, outflanking theSong dynastythrough the conquest of theKingdom of Dali(in modernYunnan) in 1254 and an invasion of Southeast Asia, which allowed the Mongols to invade from the north, west, and south.

Möngke Khan dispatched Kublai to theDali Kingdomin 1253. The ruling family, Gao, resisted and murdered the Mongol envoys. The Mongols divided their forces into three. One wing rode eastward into theSichuanbasin. The second column under Uryankhadai took a difficult way into the mountains of western Sichuan.Kublai himself headed south over the grasslands, meeting up with the first column. With Uryankhadai galloping in along the lakeside from the north, Kublai took the capital city ofDaliand spared the residents despite the slaying of his ambassadors. The Mongols appointed King Duan Xingzhi as local ruler and stationed a pacification commissioner there.After Kublai's departure, unrest broke out among the Black jang. By 1256, Uryankhadai, the son ofSubutai,had completely pacified Dali.

Mongol invasion of Vietnamin 1257

After subjugating the Dali, Kublai sent a column south underUriyangkhadai,the son of Subutai. Uriyangkhadai sent envoys to ask theVietnamesefor a route to attack theSouthern Song,but the Tran Vietnamese imprisoned the Mongol envoys.In 1257, a Mongol column under Uriyangkhadai invaded Vietnam (then known asĐại Việt) along with his sonAjuand an army of 3,000 Mongols and 10,000Yi tribesmen.They routed the Vietnamese army and sacked the capital Thăng Long (renamedHanoiin 1831). Uriyangkhadai executed its inhabitants for the murder of the envoys. After staying in Thăng Long for a while, the Mongols fell ill due to the unfamiliar climate. Realizing that it was time to drive the Mongols out, the Vietnamese launched a counter-attack and won the decisive battle of Dong Bo Dau, and Uriyangkhadai withdrew.To avoid further war, the Tran sent tributes to the administration of Möngke.

To strengthen his control over Tibet, Möngke made Qoridai commander of the Mongol and Han troops in Tibet in 1251. In 1252–1253Qoridai invaded Tibet,reaching as far asDamxung.The Central Tibetan monasteries submitted to the Mongols, and the Mongol princes divided them as theirappanages.

Conflicts with the Delhi Sultanate

Main article:Mongol invasions of India

In 1252–53Sali Noyanof theTatarclan was sent to the Indian borderlands at the head of fresh troops and was given authority over theQara'unas.Sali himself was subordinate to Möngke's brotherHulagu.Due to the internal conflicts of theDelhi Sultanate,theMamlukSultanNasiruddin Mahmud's brother, Jalal al-Din Masud, fled into Mongol territory in 1248. When Möngke was crowned as Khagan, Jalal al-Din Masud attended the ceremony and asked help from Möngke, who ordered Sali to assist him to recover his ancestral realm.Sali made successive attacks onMultanandLahore.Sham al-Din Muhammad Kart,the client malik ofHerat,accompanied the Mongols. Jalal al-Din was installed as client ruler of Lahore, Kujah, andSodra.In 1254 the Delhi official Kushlu Khan offered his submission to Möngke and accepted a Mongoldarughachi.When he failed to take Delhi, Kushlu turned to Hulagu. In the winter of 1257–1258, Sali Noyan enteredSindin strength and dismantled the fortifications of Multan; his forces may also have invested the island fortress of Bakhkar on theIndus.

Conquest of the Middle East

See also:Mongol campaign against the Nizaris,Siege of Baghdad (1258),andMongol invasions of Syria

Hulaguimprisons the CaliphAl-Musta'simamong his treasures to starve him to death ( "Le livre des merveilles", 15th century).

Mongols sacked Syrian cities in 1259–1260 and advanced to the Egyptian border.

When Möngke called a kurultai to prepare the next conquest in 1252–1253, theSultanate of Rumand theLu'lu'id dynastyofMosulwere subject to the Mongol Empire. TheAyyubidruler ofMayyafariqin,Malik Kamil, and his cousin inAleppoand future Sultan,Malik Nasir Yusuf,sent envoys to Möngke Khan, who imposed darughachis (overseers) and a census on theDiyarbakırarea.

Möngke followed the schemes of his predecessor against theNizari Ismailis(Assassins). Möngke's decision to launch a campaign against Nizari castles followed anti-Nizari urges by Sunnis in the Mongol court, new anti-Nizari complaints (including Shams-ud-Din, the chief judge ofQazvin), and warnings from local Mongol commanders in Persia. In 1252, Möngke entrusted the mission of conquering the rest of Western Asia to his brotherHülegü,with the highest priority being the conquest of the Nizari state and the Abbasid Caliphate.In 1253, William of Rubruck sent on a mission to Karakorum in Mongolia, was struck by the security precautions there, reportedly in response to the more than forty assassins who had been sent by ImamAla al-Din Muhammadthere to assassinate Möngke;it is possible that the assassination attempt was merely rumored.

Möngke ordered the Jochid and Chagataid families to join Hulagu's expedition to Iran and strengthened the army with 1,000 siege engineers from China. Möngke's armies, led by his brother Hulagu, launched an attack on the Ismailis in Iran, crushing the last major resistance there by the end of 1256. The Hashashin Imam Rukn ad-Din requested permission to travel to Karakorum to meet with the Great Khan Möngke himself. Hulagu sent him on the long journey to Mongolia, but once the Imam arrived there, Möngke criticized his action and dismissed him. Rukn ad-Din was killed in uncertain circumstances.

For theAbbasids,envoys from Baghdad attended the coronation of Möngke in 1251 to come to terms with the Mongols. However, Möngke told Hulagu that if the caliphAl-Musta'simrefused to meet him in person, then Hulagu was to destroy Baghdad. Hulagu then advanced onIraq,taking the capital at Baghdad in 1258. Hulagu sent Möngke some of his war booty with the news of his conquest of Baghdad. Möngke dispatched a Chinese messenger to congratulate him for his victory. Outraged by the attack on the caliphate, Malik Kamil revolted, killing his Mongol overseer. Hulagu's son Yoshumut invested Mayyafariqin and executed Malik Kamil. From there they moved intoSyriain 1259, tookDamascusand Aleppo, and reached the shores of the Mediterranean. Fearing the Mongol advance, the Ayyubid Sultan Malik Nasir Yusuf refused to see Hulagu and fled. However, the Mongols captured him atGaza.

South China

Main article:Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty

In 1241,Töregene Khatunhad sent an envoy to make peace proposals and discuss with Zhao Yun (posthumously known asEmperor Lizong). The Song court arrested the envoy and imprisoned him in a fortress with his suite of seventy persons.The envoy died, but his suite were detained until 1254. That year the Mongol army attacked to take Hejiu but failed. The Chinese freed the suite of the late envoy to show their desire for peace. Möngke concentrated all his attention on the conquest of theSong dynasty.Taking personal command late in the decade, he captured many of the fortified cities along the northern front.

In 1252, Möngke commissioned Kublai and experienced generalUriyangkhadaito conquer theDali Kingdom.From the summer of 1253 to early 1254,the campaigns were successful in conquering and pacifying the tribes, with Uriyangkhadai's military experience proving invaluable in battle.After Kublai's return to northern China, Uriyangkhadai conquered neighboring tribes inTibetbefore turning east towards theTrần dynastyby 1257.

In October 1257, Möngke set out for South China, leaving his administration to his brother,Ariq Böke,in Karakorum with Alamdar as assistant, and fixed his camps near the Liu-pan mountains in May of the following year. He first attacked Song positions inSichuanand took Paoning (modern-dayLangzhong) in 1258.Möngke forbade his army to plunder civilians. When his son accidentally destroyed acropin the field of the Chinese peasants, Möngke punished him.

Meanwhile, Uriyangkhadai's forcesinvaded Vietnamwith generals Trechecdu andAjuand captured theTrần dynastycapital ofThang Longin 1258.While Chinese source material incorrectly stated that Uriyangkhadai withdrew from Vietnam after nine days due to poor climate, his forces did not leave until 1259.

On 18 February 1259,Tsagaan Sar,the Mongol New Year feast was given by Möngke near the mountain Zhonggui.At this feast his relative, Togan, a chief of the Jalairs, declared thatSouth Chinawas dangerous because of its climate, and that the Great Khagan should go northward for safety. Baritchi of the Erlat tribe called this advice cowardly and advised Möngke to remain with his army. These words pleased Möngke who wished to take the city nearby. The Song commander slew his envoy who had been sent to ask the city's submission.

In 1259, Uriyangkhadai's forces attackedGuangxifrom Thang Long as part of a coordinated Mongol attack in 1259 with armies attacking in Sichuan under Möngke and other Mongol armies attacking in modern-dayShandongandHenan.

Wives, concubines, and children

Principal wives:

• Empress Zhenjie,of theHongjila clan of Khongirad,personal name Qutuqhai ( hốt đô đài ), daughter of Uladai Küregen
  • Baltu ( ban ngốc đại tử, d. 1258), 1st son
  • Ürüng-Tash ( ngọc long đáp thất, d. 1267), 3rd son
  • Bayalun,Grand Princess of Chang State ( bá nhã luân xương quốc đại trường công chủ ), 1st daughter
    • Married to Kurin Küregen (nephew of Uladai Küreg
• Empress, of theHongjila clan of Khongirad( dã tốc nhi hoàng hậu hoằng cát lạt thị d. after 1260), personal name Yesü'er ( dã tốc nhi )
• Empress, of theOirats Borjigin,personal nameOghul Tutmish or Oghul Qaimish (daughter ofQutuqa BekiofOirats)
  • Princess Shirin, Grand Princess of Chang State ( thất lân xương quốc đại trường công chủ ), 2nd daughter
    • Married to Chochimtai Küregen (son of Taiju Küregen ofOlkhunut)
  • Bichige, Grand Princess of Chang State ( tất xích hợp ), 3rd daughter
    • Married to Chochimtai Küregen (son of Taiju Küregen ofOlkhunut)
• Chübei Khatun (d. 8 September 1259)

Concubines:

• Consort, of theBayaut Borjiginclan, personal name Bayavchin ( ba nha ngột chân quý phi )
  • Shiregi,Prince of Heping ( tích lí hà bình vương, d. 1280s), 4th son
• Consort, of theEljiginclan ofKhongirad( quý phi ), Quitani ( khuê thiếp ni )
  • Asutai( a tốc đài ), 2nd son

Death

Further information:Siege of Diaoyucheng,Toluid Civil War,andDivision of the Mongol Empire

There is no consensus concerning Möngke Khan's death. His last recorded appearances were at theSiege of Diaoyuchengnear modern-dayChongqing;where it is also generally agreed he died. After his death, the Mongol armies were forced to withdraw from action. Chinese sources record Möngke as having been killed in battle during an assault on the fortress: a contemporary Song poem describes the "victory in Sichuan" where Möngke was killed by a crossbow arrow, which is corroborated in the writing of theSyriacmonkBar Hebraeus.The account in theHistory of Yuan,which was written during theMing dynasty,relates that Möngke was fatally wounded instead by a stone projectile from either acannonortrebuchet.

Persian accounts largely originating fromRashid al-Dinclaim that Möngke died ofdysenteryorcholeranear the site of the siege on 11 August 1259— theHistory of Yuandoes not directly corroborate this, but it mentions a fatal disease outbreak in the Mongol camp during the campaign. In line with the lack of clarity in Mongol historiography concerning the deaths of khans, it has been speculated that possible that Mongols covered up the story by claiming that his death was due to illness, leading to the story in Persian accounts.

Other accounts include those of the Armenian historianHayton of Corycus's claims that Möngke was on a Mongol war ship that sank in the Chinese seas while the Mongols were besieging an island fortress.Hayton's work is noted for including errors and amalgamating distinct events, so the account of Möngke's death could be a confused reference to the laterMongol invasions of Japan.

A month after Möngke's death, his youngest wife Chubei died at the Liupanshan Mountains. Möngke's son Asutai conducted the corpse toBurkhan Khaldun,Mongolia, where the late Khagan was buried near the graves of Genghis and Tolui.

Möngke's death in 1259 led to the four-yearToluid Civil Warbetween his two younger brothers,Kublai KhanandAriq Böke.Though Kublai Khan eventually won, the succession war and the subsequentKaidu–Kublai waressentially resulted in the permanentdivision of the Mongol Empire.It was not until 1304, when all Mongol khans submitted to Kublai's successor,Temür Khan,that the Mongol world again acknowledged a single paramount sovereign, although the authority of thelate Khagansrested on nothing like the same foundations as that of Genghis Khan and his first three successors.

When Kublai Khan established theYuan dynastyin China in 1271, Möngke Khan was placed on the official record of the dynasty as Xianzong (simplified Chinese:Hiến tông;traditional Chinese:Hiến tông;pinyin:Xiànzōng).

Foreign influence in Karakorum

Silver Tree fountain in front of Tumen Amugulang Palace, 18th-century European imagination

The Model of the Khan Palace inKarakorumin the National History Museum of Mongolia in Ulaan-Baatar

In 1252–53, Flemish missionary and explorerWilliam of Rubrucksaw Hungarians, Russians, Germans, and a Parisian goldsmith,Guillaume Boucher,in Karakorum.He even heard ofSaxonminers inDzungariaand other foreigners such as a woman from theDuchy of Lorrainemasteredyurt-making.

In 1253, Möngke deported households fromChina properto repair and maintain the imperialordas.He decorated the capital city of Karakorum withChinese,European,andPersianarchitectures. One example of the construction was a large silver tree, with pipes that discharge various drinks and a triumphant angel at its top, made by Guillaume Boucher. Foreign merchants’ quarters,Buddhist monasteries,mosques, andchurcheswere newly built. Markets were in the Muslim sector and outside the four gates. EthnicHan Chinesefarmers grew vegetables and grains outside the wall of Karakorum.

Further reading

• Mongol Imperialism: The Policies of the Grand Qan Möngke in China, Russia, and the Islamic Lands, 1251–1259by Thomas T. Allsen, University of California Press, 1987ISBN0-520-05527-6
• The Empire of the Steppesby René Grousset, Rutgers University Press, 1970.ISBN0-8135-1304-9.
• Pow, Stephen (2017)."Fortresses that Shatter Empires: A Look at Möngke Khan's Failed Campaign against the Song Dynasty, 1258–1259".Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU.27.Central European University:102.
• Rockhill, William Woodville (1967),The Journey of William of Rubruck to The Eastern Parts of the World, 1253-55, As Narrated by Himself, With Two Accounts of the Earlier Journey of John of Pian de Carpine.
• Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern Worldby Jack Weatherford
• The mission of William of Rubruck: His journey to the court of the Great Khan Möngke 1253–1255by William, Peter Jackson, David Morgan, Hakluyt Society, Hakluyt Society, Hakluyt Society, 1990.