Arpa Ke'un, also known as Arpa Khan or Gavon or Gawon (; died 1336), was an

Ilkhan The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...

(1335–1336) during the disintegration of the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

state in Southwest Asia based in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Life

Not much is known on Arpa's earlier life, except that he was a member of the house of

Tolui Tolui (also Toluy, Tului; , meaning: "the mirror"; – 1232) was a Mongol khan, the fourth son of Genghis Khan by his chief khatun, Börte. At his father's death in 1227, his ''Orda (organization), ulus'', or territorial inheritance, was the ...

. His lineage traced back to

Ariq Böke Ariq Böke (after 1219–1266), the components of his name also spelled Arigh, Arik and Bukha, Buka ( mn, Аригбөх, Arigböh, ; ), was the seventh and youngest son of Tolui and a grandson of Genghis Khan. After the death of his brother the ...

, who was the youngest brother of Möngke,

Kublai Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of the ...

and

Hulagu Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulegu ( mn, Хүлэгү/ , lit=Surplus, translit=Hu’legu’/Qülegü; chg, ; Arabic: fa, هولاکو خان, ''Holâku Khân;'' ; 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of West ...

.His grandfather Mingqan Ke'un was a son of Malik Temür and Emegen Khatun and arrived in Iran during reign of

Öljaitü Öljaitü ( mn, , Öljaitü Qaghan, fa, اولجایتو), also known as Mohammad-e Khodabande ( fa, محمد خدابنده, ''khodābande'' from Persian meaning the "slave of God" or "servant of God"; 1280 – December 16, 1316), was the eigh ...

in summer of 1306.

Reign

He was nominated to the throne by Abu Sa'id's vizier Ghiyas al-Din and was elected 5 days later with regnal title Sultan Muiz al-Dunya wa'l Din Mahmud on

Karabakh Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura (Caspia ...

. Instead of a golden crown, he had a felt and simple waistband as regaila. Almost immediately he had to deal with an invasion by

Özbeg Muzaffar al-Din Uzbek, also known as Özbeg ibn Muhammad Pahlawan (died 1225) was the fifth and last ruler (''atabeg'') of the Eldiguzids from 1210 to 1225, during the later Seljuk and Khwarezmian periods. He was married to Malika Khatun, widow ...

of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...

. He defeated the invasion, and furthermore used it as a pretext for executing Abu Sa'id's widow

Bagdad Katun Baghdad Khatun ( fa, بغداد خاتون; died 16 December 1335) (lit. Queen Baghdad), was a Chobanid princess, the daughter of Chupan. She was the Empress consort of the Ilkhanate as the wife of Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan. Family Baghdad Khatun w ...

, accusing her of poisoning Abu Sa'id and allying with Özbeg He afterwards married

Sati Beg Sati Beg ( 1316–1345) was an Ilkhanid princess, the sister of Il-Khan Abu Sa'id (r. 1316–1333). She was the consort of ''amir'' Chupan (1319–1327), Il-Khan Arpa (r. 1335–36), and Il-Khan Suleiman (r. 1339–1343). In 1338– ...

, Abu Sa'id's sister and widow of

Chupan Amir Chūpān ( fa, امیر چوپان; died November 1327), also spelt Choban or Coban, was a Chupanid noble of the Ilkhanate, and nominal general of the Mongol Empire. He was ennobled by Emperor Taiding of Yuan as Duke of Yi (翊國公). Bac ...

in order to legitimize his rule. Another execution was of Mahmudshah Inju, former ruler of Fars province in March 1336 (he was imprisoned by Abu Sa'id earlier because of his attempt on ilkhan's life). He also gave Shaykh Hasan the overall command of armies. He was characterized as not a practicing Muslim and more in favor of

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

Yasa Yasa was a bhikkhu during the time of Gautama Buddha. He was the sixth bhikkhu in the Buddha's sangha and was the sixth to achieve arahanthood. Yasa lived in the 6th century BCE in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in northern India. Yasa wa ...

, mostly ignoring laws of Muslim khans like

Ghazan Mahmud Ghazan (5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) (, Ghazan Khan, sometimes archaically spelled as Casanus by the Westerners) was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of A ...

and Abu Sa'id. His rule was not accepted by a part of

Oirats Oirats ( mn, Ойрад, ''Oirad'', or , Oird; xal-RU, Өөрд; zh, 瓦剌; in the past, also Eleuths) are the westernmost group of the Mongols whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western Mongolia. Histor ...

, whose leader and the governor of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

- Ali Padshah was an uncle of Abu Sa'id and had his own designs on throne. Claiming Abu Sa'id's wife

Dilshad Khatun Dilshad Khatun ( fa, دلشاد خاتون; died 27 December 1351) (lit. Queen Dilshad)(meaning 'Happy Hearted'), also Delshad, was a Chobanid princess. She was the wife of Ilkhan Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, and after him Hasan Buzurg, the first rule ...

was still pregnant, he raised Musa, the grandson of

Baydu Baydu (Mongolian script:; ) (died 1295) was the sixth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division in Iran. He was the son of Taraqai, who was in turn the fifth son of Hulagu Khan.Stevens, John. ''The history of Persia. Containing, the lives and ...

as rightful heir to the throne. Oirat traditional rivalry with Ariq Böke's line could also be a factor in this rebellion. After securing Shaykh Hasan's neutrality, Ali Padshah went on to battle Arpa on Jaghatu plains near

Maraga Maragheh ( fa, مراغه, Marāgheh or ''Marāgha''; az, ماراغا ) is a city and capital of Maragheh County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Maragheh is on the bank of the river Sufi Chay. The population consists mostly of Iranian Azerb ...

on 29 April 1336. Arpa's army were led by 60 emirs, notably Hajji Taghay (son of

Sutay Sutay or Sutai (, ) (died 1332) was a Mongol emir and governor of Diyar Bakr. He was appointed by Öljaitü as viceroy. His descendants held Diyar Bakr in their hands following the dissolution of the Ilkhanate and made it hereditary. Background ...

, Governor of

Diyar Bakr Diyar Bakr ( ar, دِيَارُ بَكرٍ, Diyār Bakr, abode of Bakr) is the medieval Arabic name of the northernmost of the three provinces of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), the other two being Diyar Mudar and Diyar Rabi'a. According to the m ...

), Uyghur commander Ögrünch, Torut (a son of Nari and relative of Narin Taghay), Ortuq-Shah (son of Alghu) and

's son Sorgan Sira. However, soon some emirs defected to the side of Ali Padshah, such as Mahmud b. Essen Qutlugh and Sultanshah Nikruz. The battle was a defeat for Arpa and soon after he was captured in Sultaniya and killed on 15 May 1336 by Mahmudshah's son, Amir Jalal al-Din Mas'ud Shah.

Ancestry

References

1336 deaths Il-Khan emperors 14th-century monarchs in Asia Year of birth unknown Executed monarchs {{noble-stub