Esen ( mn, Эсэн;
Mongol script
The classical or traditional Mongolian script, also known as the , was the first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most widespread until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946. It is traditionally written ...
: ; ), (?–1454) was a powerful
Oirat taishi
Taishi may refer to:
Names
*Taishi (surname), Chinese family name
*Taishi (given name), Japanese given name
Ranks
* Grand Preceptor, ancient Chinese top civilian position: ''taishi'' () in Chinese
*Taishi, an alternate name of the Japanese Daij ...
and the ''de facto'' ruler of the
Northern Yuan dynasty
The Northern Yuan () was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Ji ...
between 12 September 1453 and 1454. He is best known for capturing the
Emperor Yingzong of Ming
Emperor Yingzong of Ming (; 29 November 1427 – 23 February 1464), personal name Zhu Qizhen (), was the sixth and eighth Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He ascended the throne as the Zhengtong Emperor () in 1435, but was forced to abdicate in ...
in 1450 in the
Battle of Tumu Fortress and briefly reuniting the Mongol tribes. The
Four Oirat
The Four Oirat ( Mongolian: Дөрвөн Ойрад, ''Dorben Oirad''; ); also Oirads and formerly Eleuths, alternatively known as the Alliance of the Four Oirat Tribes or the Oirat Confederation, was the confederation of the Oirat tribes which ...
reached the peak of their power under his rule.
Name
Esen means "good health" in Mongolian. Taishi is derived from the Chinese title 太師 (tàishī), meaning
Grand Preceptor
Grand Preceptor, also referred to as Grand Master, Section Cp2:192 C was the senior-most of the top three civil positions of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The other two were Grand Tutor (太傅) and Grand Protector (太保), respectively. These three p ...
. Among Mongol tribes, this title was used for powerful nobles who were not part of the
Chinggisid
A Borjigin, ; ; russian: Борджигин, Bordžigin; English plural: Borjigins or Borjigid (from Middle Mongolian);''Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan'', p. 119. Manchu plural: is a member of the Mongol sub-clan, which started with ...
lineage.
In Chinese, Esen is rendered as 也先 (Yěxiān) or less commonly as 額森 (Ésēn).
Youth and early career
Esen was born to his father,
Toghan, the
Choros Choros may refer to:
* Choros (Oirats), a Mongolic people and historical clan
* Chôros, a series of compositions by Heitor Villa-Lobos
* Choros (dance), Greek dances
* Choros (Greek drama), an ancient Greek group of performers
* Choros District, ...
taishi who had expanded Oirat territory substantially, with more Mongol tribes acknowledging his supremacy. As an Oirat, Esen himself was not descended from Genghis Khan, which would hamper his claim to the title of great khan throughout his life.
In his early campaigns he fought against the
Chaghatayid khans
The Chagatai Khans were the monarchs of the Chagatai Khanate from Chagatai Khan's inheritance of the state in 1227 to their removal from power by the Dzungars and their vassals in 1687. The power of the Chagatai Khans varied; from its beginning, ...
of
Moghulistan
Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Ten ...
. Esen three times defeated and twice captured the
Moghul ruler
Uwais Khan
Uwais Khan ibn Sher Ali also referred to as Sultan Vais Khan, was the Moghul Khan of Mughalistan; (first from 1418 to 1421 C.E. and again from 1425 to 1429 C.E.). He was the nephew of Sher Muhammad. In English, his name has been variously spelle ...
(Ways Khan, 1418–1432). Esen released him out of respect for his
Chinggisid
A Borjigin, ; ; russian: Борджигин, Bordžigin; English plural: Borjigins or Borjigid (from Middle Mongolian);''Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan'', p. 119. Manchu plural: is a member of the Mongol sub-clan, which started with ...
blood in both cases. The third time, Uwais Khan granted Esen his sister Makhtum Khanim, who bore his two sons. Esen nominally converted to Islam in order to marry the Muslim princess, but remained effectively a shamanist.
After his father died in 1438, Esen inherited his position, taishi, for the reigning khan
Taisun Khan
Taisun Khan ( Mongolian: mn, Тайсун хаан; ), born Toghtoa Bukha (), (1416–1452) was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, reigning from 1433 to 1452. Under his nominal rule, the Oirats successfully reunited the Mongol tribes and thre ...
(reigned 1433–52). Under Esen Taishi's leadership, the Mongols under Taisun Khan unified the North Yuan, including the
Jurchens
Jurchen (Manchu: ''Jušen'', ; zh, 女真, ''Nǚzhēn'', ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian Tungusic-speaking peoples, descended from the Donghu people. They lived in the northeast of China, later known as Manch ...
and
Tuvans
The Tuvans ( tyv, Тывалар, Tıvalar) are a TurkicOtto Maenchen-Helfen, Journey to Tuva, p. 169 ethnic group indigenous to Siberia who live in Russia ( Tuva), Mongolia, and China. They speak Tuvan, a Siberian Turkic language. They are a ...
in
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...
and
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
. In the 1430s, Esen also took over control of the Mongol kingdom known as
Kara Del
Kara Del or Qara Del was a Mongol-led kingdom that existed in Hami in present-day Xinjiang. It was founded by the Yuan prince Gunashiri, a descendant of Chagatai Khan, in the late 14th century (c.1389), and ruled by the Chagatayids thereafter un ...
in the
Hami
Hami (Kumul) is a prefecture-level city in Eastern Xinjiang, China. It is well known as the home of sweet Hami melons. In early 2016, the former Hami county-level city was merged with Hami Prefecture to form the Hami prefecture-level city with t ...
oasis between the
Gobi
The Gobi Desert ( Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world.
Geography
The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast ...
and the
Takla Makan
The Taklimakan or Taklamakan Desert (; zh, s=塔克拉玛干沙漠, p=Tǎkèlāmǎgān Shāmò, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Такәламаган Шамә; ug, تەكلىماكان قۇملۇقى, Täklimakan qumluqi; also spelled Taklimakan and Te ...
deserts. After 1443–45 the Northern Yuan reached
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
.
Conflict with Ming dynasty
Background
Esen entered into conflict with the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
. The Ming dynasty had for some time pursued a "
divide and rule
Divide and rule policy ( la, divide et impera), or divide and conquer, in politics and sociology is gaining and maintaining power divisively. Historically, this strategy was used in many different ways by empires seeking to expand their ter ...
" strategy in dealings with their northern neighbors, maintaining trade relationships, functioning as a kind of state-subsidized monopoly, with multiple leaders who they could then turn against one another by inciting jealousy or suggesting intrigue. However, a unified Northern Yuan was less susceptible to such tactics. Many of the tribes brought under Oirat dominion had inhabited areas claimed by the Ming, and other tribes had been pushed south into Ming territory seeking to escape Oirat subjugation. The Chagatayid Hami oasis, furthermore, had paid tribute to the emperor before Esen convinced its ruler to pay tribute to the Oirats instead. Throughout the 1440s, Esen increased both the frequency of tribute missions to the Ming and the number of representatives sent on each mission. According to surviving Chinese accounts, the Oirats asked for more and more lucrative tribute and trade agreements.
The Ming tried to stir rivalry between Taisun Khan, but Esen chose "rivals" below him in status to counter the divide and rule strategy. So the Ming resorted to another strategy: to buy off the Northern Yuan with gifts.
Esen encouraged hundreds of
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 ...
, Hami, and
Samarkand-based
Muslim merchants to accompany his missions to the Ming Emperor. Beginning in 1439 Taisun Khan and Esen sent envoys to the Ming, often numbering more than 1,000. They asked for more and more gifts. In response to this inflation of numbers, the
Emperor Yingzong of Ming
Emperor Yingzong of Ming (; 29 November 1427 – 23 February 1464), personal name Zhu Qizhen (), was the sixth and eighth Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He ascended the throne as the Zhengtong Emperor () in 1435, but was forced to abdicate in ...
(1427–64) decreased trade with Esen and Taisun Khan, and closed border trade with the Northern Yuan.
Capture of the Emperor Yingzong of Ming
In retaliation to these trade sanctions, Esen Taishi led an invasion of the Ming Empire in 1449 that culminated in the capture of the Ming emperor during the
Tumu Crisis
The Crisis of the Tumu Fortress (), also known as the Tumu Crisis (; mn, Тумугийн тулалдаан), or the Jisi Incident (), was a frontier conflict between the Northern Yuan and Ming dynasties. The Oirat ruler of the Northern Yuan, ...
. The large-scale, three-pronged invasion began in July, with Taisun Khan leading the easternmost force to
Liaodong
The Liaodong Peninsula (also Liaotung Peninsula, ) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located between the mouths of the Daliao River (the ...
, the grand
councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
Alag attacking
Xuanfu
Xuanhua is an urban district of Zhangjiakou in northwestern Hebei Province, China.
Xuanhua is a very old city with a rich military and agricultural history. Xuanhua was historically the "Gateway to Beijing", which lies to its southeast. As a c ...
, and Esen himself leading the troops that sacked
Datong in August. Another column of the Mongols invaded
Ganzhou
Ganzhou (), alternately romanized as Kanchow, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jiangxi province, China, bordering Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, and Hunan to the west. Its administrative seat is at Zhanggong District.
Hist ...
.
The campaign was a massive victory for the Northern Yuan, with the Mongols crushing Zhu Qizhen's forces. Even though Zhu's troops in the region are estimated to have numbered as many as 500,000, Zhu was still crushed by Esen Taishi's 20,000 cavalry. Datong lay next to the south side of the
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic gro ...
. After the initial attack on Datong, Esen pretended to retreat back into the Mongolian
steppes
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grassland ...
. The emperor and his hastily raised army chased the invaders west and met an ambush upon arriving at Datong. Mongol horsemen harried Zhu's retreat back towards the wall for four days while hampered by thunderstorms. The imperial army eventually reached the Tumu Fortress. However rather than having secured a defensible position, Zhu's troops were trapped against the northern side of the fortress, and the Northern Yuan horsemen annihilated Zhu's army.
Most of the remaining soldiers were slaughtered. Esen was still some distance away, near Xianfu. Six weeks later, when the captured emperor Zhu Qizhen was brought to his camp, Esen attempted to ransom the emperor back to the Ming. According to some accounts, it was at this point that Esen was granted the title "Taishi."
In any case, the Ming refused to negotiate a ransom, perhaps in part because the emperor's brother (prince Zhu Qiyu, later the
Jingtai Emperor
The Jingtai Emperor (21 September 1428 – 14 March 1457), born Zhu Qiyu, was the seventh Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1449 to 1457. The second son of the Xuande Emperor, he was selected in 1449 to succeed his elder brother Emper ...
) was by then installed on the throne and not eager to give up his new position.
Yu Qian
Yu Qian (; 1398–1457), courtesy name Tingyi, art name Jie'an, was a Chinese official who served under the Ming dynasty.
Biography
Yu Qian was born in Qiantang County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He started his career in the Ming civil service after o ...
(于謙), the defense minister of Ming, who was organizing the counterstrike, commented that the emperor's life is not as important as the fate of the country. He also believed that ransoming the emperor might boost the Northern Yuan's morale and reduce that of the Ming.
Beijing
Esen still considered the emperor more valuable alive than dead. Esen then laid siege to Beijing, but it failed.
Esen offered the emperor his sister in marriage (
Heqin
''Heqin'', also known as marriage alliance, refers to the historical practice of Chinese monarchs marrying princesses—usually members of minor branches of the ruling family—to rulers of neighboring states. It was often adopted as an appeaseme ...
), but the emperor rejected Esen. The Ming Beijing garrison led by
Yu Qian
Yu Qian (; 1398–1457), courtesy name Tingyi, art name Jie'an, was a Chinese official who served under the Ming dynasty.
Biography
Yu Qian was born in Qiantang County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He started his career in the Ming civil service after o ...
soon turned the situation around. Yu Qian ordered his forces to pretend that they had lost control of the city gate in order to lure Mongol horsemen into the city. Once a large portion of the Mongol force was inside, the gate was shut and the Mongols were ambushed. Esen's sworn
blood brother
Blood brother can refer to two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand or ...
was killed in the attack. Having failed to take the city, Esen was forced to retreat under pressure from his own troops and by the arrival of Ming reinforcements.
Esen and Taisun Khan turned to attack Manchuria and East Siberia, under Ming rule, around the
Nen River
The Nen River or Nenjiang (), or Nonni () is a river in Northeast China. The Nen River flows through the northern part of Heilongjiang Province and the northeastern section of Inner Mongolia, some parts of the river forming the border between the ...
and
Songhua River
The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from the Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea bo ...
, but failed and were defeated by the Ming.
Negotiations
The Ming court elevated the
Jingtai Emperor
The Jingtai Emperor (21 September 1428 – 14 March 1457), born Zhu Qiyu, was the seventh Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1449 to 1457. The second son of the Xuande Emperor, he was selected in 1449 to succeed his elder brother Emper ...
(reigned 1449–57) to the throne. Esen sent the captured emperor back in 1450. Since the Mongol economy relied on their trade with the Ming dynasty, Esen was obligated to reopen negotiations, now under a much weaker position. While Ming-Mongol trade did not cease entirely during the Tumu Crisis, Esen had not only failed to win better terms than the prior arrangements, he was forced to accept less favorable terms in return for resumption of trade with the Ming. The Northern Yuan then entered a vassal relationship with the Ming for some time.
Reign and death
Taisun Khan and Esen Taishi quarreled over the heir to the throne. Esen wanted a son of his sister to be the successor of Taisun Khan, but Taisun nominated another son of the eastern Mongol
khatun
Khatun ( Mongolian: хатан; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣, katun; ota, خاتون, hatun or قادین ''kadın''; fa, خاتون ''khātūn''; ; hi, ख़ातून ') is a female title of nobility and counterpart to " khan" or " Khagan" promine ...
as his heir instead. Taisun Khan, supported by the Three Guards, openly led his own forces against Esen in 1451, but they were outnumbered by Oirat loyalists and the khan was caught and killed by eastern tribesmen while attempting to retreat. Taisun Khan's brother
Agbarjin
Agbarjin (also spelled Agvarjin and Akbarjin; mn, Агваржин; ), (1423–1454) was a claimant to the throne of the Northern Yuan dynasty in 1453. He was the youngest brother of Tayisung Khan Toghtoa Bukha and Manduul Khan.
Tayisung Khan a ...
jinong
Jinong () was a title of the Mongols. It was derived from Chinese ''Jinwang'' (, a title for crown prince, similar to Prince of Wales) although some historians have suggested it originates from ''Qinwang'' (). Whatever its relation with the Chine ...
(
viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...
), who was married to Esen's daughter Tsetseg, deserted to the Oirats and was promised the title of khagan of the
Northern Yuan dynasty
The Northern Yuan () was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Ji ...
. However, Esen murdered him and his Borjigin heirs at a feast. Tsetseg was pregnant at the time, and Esen promised to kill the baby if it was a boy, but
Samur Gunj hid the infant prince when he was born. This prince would grow up to be Bayan-Mongke, the father of
Dayan Khan
Dayan Khan ( mn, Даян Хаан; Mongol script: ; ), born Batumöngke ( mn, Батмөнх; ), (1472–1517) was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, reigning from 1479 to 1517. During his rule, he reunited the Mongols under Chinggisid sup ...
. In 1453, Eighteen months after his defeat of Taisun Khan, Esen himself took the title of
Great Khan
Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...
of the
Great Yuan
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
(大元天盛大可汗).
[Sechin Jagchid, Van Jay Symons – Peace, war, and trade along the Great Wall: Nomadic-Chinese interaction through two millennia, p. 49] At the same time the Oirats launched an invasion against
Moghulistan
Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Ten ...
,
Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...
, and
Transoxiana
Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
.
The Ming emperor was among the first to acknowledge the new title, but the reaction of Esen's fellow Mongols, Oirat and otherwise, mostly ranged from disapproving to enraged. Though Esen's lineage was related to the royal line descended from
Temüjin
''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
, ...
(Genghis Khan) through his grandmother Samur Gunj (
princess
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subs ...
), it was unlikely that he would have been considered eligible for election as Khan, and in any case Esen ignored the usual selection process. Rather than the title of khan falling automatically to the eldest eligible male of the line, as in
primogeniture, Mongol leaders were traditionally chosen by means of the
kurultai, an
elective monarchy system, with members of the lineage voting to choose the title's successor from among themselves. This dissatisfaction soon escalated into open revolt against Esen.
Esen gave his son Amasanj the title of taishi, an action which led to Alag, leader of the
Baatud
The Baatuds , (baatud, baɣatud) are a sub-ethnic group of the Oirats. They were a large tribe of the Oirats but the Baatuds were divided into other Oirat tribes in the 16th century. Many Baatud people were killed by the Qing dynasty
...
, into rebellion as he had expected to be awarded the title himself after his contribution in Esen's conquests and usurption. Other Oirat leaders joined the rebellion against Esen, and he was defeated in battle and murdered in 1455, a year after his assumption of the title of khan. After his death, the Oirat no longer held sway over eastern Mongolia, which had come under their control through Esen and his father's influence, so the eastern and western Mongols remained divided for the centuries to come. The 17th and 18th century
Zunghar rulers considered themselves to be descendants of Esen Taishi.
See also
*
List of khans of the Northern Yuan dynasty
The following is a list of khagans of the Northern Yuan (1368–1635) based in Northern China and the Mongolian Plateau.
List of khans
Period of small kings
See also
* Borjigin
* List of Yuan emperors
* Yuan dynasty family tree
* List of C ...
*
Four Oirat
The Four Oirat ( Mongolian: Дөрвөн Ойрад, ''Dorben Oirad''; ); also Oirads and formerly Eleuths, alternatively known as the Alliance of the Four Oirat Tribes or the Oirat Confederation, was the confederation of the Oirat tribes which ...
*
Tumu Crisis
The Crisis of the Tumu Fortress (), also known as the Tumu Crisis (; mn, Тумугийн тулалдаан), or the Jisi Incident (), was a frontier conflict between the Northern Yuan and Ming dynasties. The Oirat ruler of the Northern Yuan, ...
*
Kara Del
Kara Del or Qara Del was a Mongol-led kingdom that existed in Hami in present-day Xinjiang. It was founded by the Yuan prince Gunashiri, a descendant of Chagatai Khan, in the late 14th century (c.1389), and ruled by the Chagatayids thereafter un ...
References
Citations
Sources
*
* Twitchett, Denis, Frederick W. Mote, & John K. Fairbank (eds.) (1998).
The Cambridge History of China: Volume 8, the Ming Dynasty, Part 2, 1368–1644'. Cambridge University Press. pp. 233–239. . Google Print. Retrieved 2 November 2005.
* Mancini, Robert David (publication year unknown).
.
* van der Kuijp, Leonard W.J. (1993).
. ''The Journal of the American Oriental Society'' 113 (4), 538–?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tayisi, Esen
1455 deaths
History of Mongolia
Mongol khans
Northern Yuan rulers
Oirats
15th-century Mongol rulers
15th-century Chinese monarchs
Year of birth unknown