Buqa (or Bugha) (died January 16, 1289) was a

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

lord and

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

who was instrumental in sweeping

Arghun Arghun Khan ( Mongolian Cyrillic: Аргун; Traditional Mongolian: ; c. 1258 – 10 March 1291) was the fourth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division, from 1284 to 1291. He was the son of Abaqa Khan, and like his father, was a de ...

to power as the fourth Il-Khan of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1284 and became his chief minister (

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

) and advisor, succeeding Shams ad-Din Juvayni whom Arghun had executed in October 1284. Buqa too was executed on Arghun's order in January 1289.

Life

Childhood

Buqa was an orphan from the Jalayir tribe. His father was Ugulay Qurchi who accompanied

Hulagu Khan Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu; ; ; ; ( 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Western Asia. As a son of Tolui and the Keraite princess Sorghaghtani Beki, he was a grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of ...

as his scout. He was given to Abaqa's court alongside his brother Aruq as an orphan kid and became his follower.

Life under Abaqa and Tekuder

He served Abaqa as his trusted counselor, keeper of treasury, keeper of pelts and keeper of seal; meanwhile befriending his son Arghun. After Abaqa's death in 1282, he supported

for the throne in opposition to Tekuder, however, still served him as keeper of seal after his election and became his trusted commander. During Arghun's insurrection against Tekuder in 1284, ilkhan entrusted him to collect Prince

Gaykhatu Gaykhatu (Mongolian script:; ) was the fifth Ilkhanate ruler in Iran. He reigned from 1291 to 1295. His Buddhist baghshi gave him the Tibetan name Rinchindorj () which appeared on his paper money. Early life He was born to Abaqa and Nukdan K ...

as hostage from Arghun. Arghun agreed to terms and sent his brother accompanied by two amirs, including Nawruz to custody of Buqa, then most senior of Tekuder's commanders on 13 or 28 June. Buqa in turn handed over him to Ahmad who put Gaykhatu in Tödai Khatun's encampment. Despite this, Tekuder continued hostilities and kept advancing on Arghun. This made Buqa to harbor resentment towards Tekuder and grow more sympathetic to Arghun. On the other hand, he lost Tekuder's favor who started to invest his trust in Aq Buqa, another Jalair general and his cousin. Starting to plan his coup, he broke into Arghun's captor and Tekuder's son-in-law Alinaq's camp and set Arghun free, while killing Alinaq. Tekuder fled west and looted Buqa's encampment near Sultaniya in revenge. He continued on to his own pasturelands near Takht-i Suleyman on 17 July planning to escape to

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( 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 division of ...

via

Derbent Derbent, also historically known as Darband, or Derbend, is the southernmost city in Russia. It is situated along the southeastern coast of the Dagestan, Republic of Dagestan, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucas ...

. However, Qaraunas sent by Buqa soon caught up with him and arrested Tekuder. He was turned over to Arghun on 26 July on Ab-i Shur pasturelands, near

Maragha Maragheh () is a city in the Central District of Maragheh County, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Maragheh is on the bank of the river Sufi Chay. It is from Tabriz, the largest city ...

Life under Arghun

After deposition of Tekuder, Arghun became the new il-khan while Buqa succeeded Shams ad-Din Juvayni as new ''sahib-i divan'' (grand vizier) and actual ruler of the empire. He was the first person to hold both ''

amir al-umara The office of (), variously rendered in English as emir of emirs, prince of princes, chief emir, and commander of commanders, was a senior military position in the 10th-century Abbasid Caliphate, whose holders in the decade after 936 came to super ...

'' and ''sahib-i divan'' titles, managing both military and civil matters. Aided by his elder brother Aruq, Buqa embarked on a reform that revolutionized the monetary and fiscal structure of the empire. The Great Khan

Kublai Khan Kublai Khan (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 and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...

rewarded Buqa the title of ''chingsang'' () for his loyalty to the Ilkhan Arghun in 1286. To strengthen his position, he appointed his brother Aruq as governor of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

(while Jumghur's son Prince Jushkab was practically his puppet) and his follower Imad ud-Din Alavi as governor-general of Fars. Another one of his associates, Tegüne Yarguchi was stationed in Anatolia with Prince Hulachu. Under his orders, Arghun's infant son

Ghazan Mahmud Ghazan (5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) (, Ghazan Khan, sometimes westernized as Casanus was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun, grandson of Abaqa K ...

was as viceroy of Khorasan with Nawruz as his military governor. His and Aruq's arrogance and excesses soon raised him many enemies. Aruq practically ruled Baghdad as his own appanage, not paying taxes to central government, murdering his critics. Sayyid Imad ud-Din Alavi's murder on 30 December 1284 angered Buqa to the point summoning

Abish Khatun Abish Khatun () – was the 9th and last ruler of the Salghurids of Shiraz from 1264 to 1284. Life as princess She was born in Shiraz around 1259/1260 to Salghurid Atabeg Sa'd II ( ca) and Turkan Khatun (who was originally from Yazd). After the ...

herself to his court. It was Jalal ad-Din Arqan, one of her attendants first to reveal the details of murder, after which he was sawed in half. She was ordered to pay blood money worth 700.000 dinars to Sayyed's sons as the result of court. Other emirs, including Tuladai,

Taghachar Taghachar, also spelled Tajir, Ta'achar (, ; died c. 1296) was a commander in the Mongol Empire's army. He was one of the conspirators involved in the overthrow of three Ilkhanate khans, and placed the short-lived Baydu on the throne in 1295. Ba ...

and Toghan started to conspire with Arghun to depose overpowered Buqa. His first step was to investigate former non-paid

Salghurid The Salghurids (), also known as the Atabegs of Fars (), were a Persianate society, Persianate dynasty of Salur tribe, Salur Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman origin that ruled Fars province, Fars, first as vassals of the Seljuks then for the Khwara ...

taxes. As a result, he gained over 1.5 million dinars from Fars province. His next step came in 1287, when Buqa fell ill. He investigated Aruq in same fashion and started to control Baghdad's income as well, replacing him with Ordo Qiya. Another replacement came when Buqa's ally Amir Ali was removed from governorate of Tabriz. Perceiving that he had lost the khan's favour, Buqa organized a conspiracy in Prince Jushkab and Arghun's vassal king Demetre II of Georgia (whose daughter Rusudan was married to Buqa's son) were implicated. Buqa promised Jushkab the throne on condition of appointment as ''

naib Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kings of Saxony to the Ge ...

'' of the empire upon success. However Jushkab sent news to Arghun about the treachery. Arghun in his turn sent his new emir Qoncuqbal to arrest Buqa. It's unknown how Rusudan escaped the purge by Arghun but Demetre II was summoned to capital and imprisoned as well. Buqa was put to death on January 16, 1289. He was succeeded as vizier by a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish physician Sa’d al-Daula of Abhar. Thomas T. Allsen (2001), ''Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia'', p. 27.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buqa 1289 deaths People from the Ilkhanate Year of birth unknown People executed by the Mongol Empire Viziers of the Ilkhanate