Taisun Khan (

Mongolian script The traditional Mongolian script, also known as the Hudum Mongol bichig, was the first Mongolian alphabet, writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most widespread until the introduction of Cyrillic script, Cy ...

: ; ), born Toghtoa Bukha (), (1416–1452) was a khagan of the

Northern Yuan dynasty The Northern Yuan was a dynastic state 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 people, Jurchen-led ...

, reigning from 1433 to 1452. Under his nominal rule, the

Oirats Oirats (; ) or Oirds ( ; ), formerly known as Eluts and Eleuths ( or ; zh, 厄魯特, ''Èlǔtè'') are the westernmost group of Mongols, whose ancestral home is in the Altai Mountains, Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western Mongolia. ...

successfully reunited the Mongol tribes and threatened the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

to their south for the first time since the Battle of Kherlen in 1409.

Early life

After the previous khan Oyiradai's death in 1425, an internecine war lasting several years broke out among the

under Mahamud (Bahamu, Batula) and western Mongol clans led by Gulichi's family. Meanwhile, the central and eastern Mongol clans proclaimed Adai Khan as the Great Khan shortly after Oyiradai's death in 1425. Toghtoa Bukha was the eldest son of Ajai who was a

posthumous birth A posthumous birth is the birth of a child after the death of a parent. A person born in these circumstances is called a posthumous child or a posthumously born person. Most instances of posthumous birth involve the birth of a child after the dea ...

of Elbeg Khan (d.1399) and Öljeitü the Beauty. Toghtoa Bukha had two younger brothers, Agbarjin and Manduul. While wandering with his brothers in western Mongolia, Toghtoa Bukha met Mahamud's son and successor, Toghan Taishi of the Four Oirats. The latter married him to his daughter and wanted to use him as pawn. The Oirats crowned Toghtoa Bukha as their own

khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

in 1433. This resulted in half a decade of simultaneous existence of two khans supported by opposing Mongol clans.

Reign

Toghtoa Bukha Khan was an ambitious leader who aspired to gain real power and regaining the former glory of the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

. His ambitions inevitably lead to a conflict of interests with powerful Oirat nobles. Although the Oirats shared the same ambition of recovering the glory of

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

with the new khan, they were well aware of the fractured nature of the Mongol tribes. To buy time before being able to unite them, they first needed to make peace with the

. The Oirats were careful not to enrage the Ming by not officially proclaiming the Yuan and thereby obtained help from the Ming court in defeating the Khorchin. Adai Khan of the Khorchin was killed in 1438. In 1439 Toghan installed Toghtoa Bukha as leader of the eastern Mongols under the title of Bogd Khagan Taisun of the Northern Yuan before the eight white yurts of Genghis Khan. Taisun Khan felt that the Ming was already weak enough to be dismissed, and openly proclaimed the Yuan dynasty with himself as Taisun (Taizong; 太宗), a move supported by most Mongols except the Oirats, who felt more time was needed to consolidate their gains. Fortunately, the Ming were indeed too weak to strike into the Mongol heartland like the deceased

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Chengzu of Ming, personal name Zhu Di, was the third List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 142 ...

had done in the past. Ming showed its disapproval by calling Taisun Khan of the Northern Yuan instead of Taizong (太宗) of the Great Yuan. After Toghan died, Taisun Khan made Toghan's son

Esen Taishi Esen (; Mongol script: ; ) (1407–1454), was a powerful Oirat taishi and the ''de facto'' ruler of the Northern Yuan dynasty between 12 September 1453 and 1454. He is best known for capturing the Emperor Yingzong of Ming in 1449 in the Batt ...

a taishi, and his younger brother Agbarjin 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 ...

. During the reign of Taisun Khan, Esen Taishi subjugated the

Jurchens Jurchen (, ; , ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people, East Asian Tungusic languages, Tungusic-speaking people. They lived in northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, before the 18th century. The Jurchens wer ...

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

, the Kara Del kingdom around

Hami City Hami ( zh, c=哈密) or Kumul () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Xinjiang, China. It is well known for sweet Hami melons. In early 2016, the former Hami county-level city merged with Hami Prefecture to form the Hami prefecture-level cit ...

, and the

Uriankhai Uriankhai is a term of address applied by the Mongols to a group of forest peoples of the North, who include the Turkic-speaking Tuvans and Yakuts, while sometimes it is also applied to the Mongolian-speaking Altai Uriankhai. The Uria ...

s (

Tuvans The Tuvans (from Russian ) or Tyvans (from Tuvan ) are a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Siberia that live in Tuva, Mongolia, and China. They speak the Tuvan language, a Siberian Turkic language. In Mongolia, they are regarded as one ...

) in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

.Peter C. Perdue-China marches west: the Qing conquest of Central Eurasia, p. 59.

Conflict with Ming dynasty

Despite his ambitions, Taisun Khan was still far more inclined towards peaceful relations with the Ming dynasty than his commander Esen. He kept a friendly relationship with the Ming court. His taishi, Esen, was even more ambitious and wanted to restore the glory of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

in name and territory. Esen first directed his attention to the Hami Oasis where the Ming ally,

Borjigin A Borjigin is a member of the Mongol sub-clan that started with Bodonchar Munkhag of the Kiyat clan. Yesugei's descendants were thus said to be Kiyat-Borjigin. The senior Borjigids provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia u ...

prince descended from

Chagatai Khan Chagatai Khan (; – 1242) was a son of Genghis Khan and a prominent figure in the early Mongol Empire. The second son of Genghis's wife Börte, Chagatai was renowned for his masterful knowledge of Mongol custom and law, which he scrupulously ...

, ruled. Repeated raids and threats by Esen forced him to surrender in 1448. Esen then attacked the

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

region where the Mongol satellite states of the Ming, known collectively as the Three Guards, were located. The Fuyu guard was forced to flee, and Esen appointed his own governor in the area. Taisun Khan personally led the attack on the Taining guard. After that, Esen also plundered the Doyin Uriankhai guard, forcing them to surrender. With the submission of the Three Guards, the revived Yuan dynasty became a direct threat to Ming. When the Ming refused the Mongols their request to allow additional Mongol envoys to China and a Chinese princess, Esen decided to invade the Ming. Taisun Khan was apprehensive of this and did not support Esen at first. However, he was induced to lead the easternmost force of Uriankhais to

Liaodong The Liaodong or Liaotung Peninsula ( zh, s=辽东半岛, t=遼東半島, p=Liáodōng Bàndǎo) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located ...

in 1449. He besieged the city and ravaged its outskirts for 40 days while Esen crushed the Ming armies en route to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. After defeating the Ming army during the Tumu Crisis and capturing the

Zhengtong Emperor , succession = Emperor of the Ming dynasty , reign-type = First reign , reign = 31 January 1435 – 22 September 1449 , coronation = 7 February 1435 , cor-type = Enthronement , regent = , reg-type = Regents , ...

the Mongols returned north. Taisun Khan treated the captured emperor kindly. Upon realizing that the Ming would not pay a ransom for the captured emperor, the Zhengtong Emperor was returned in 1450.

Decline

Taisun Khan's consort, the elder sister of Esen, attempted to persuade the khan to make his sister's son the designated heir. The request was denied, causing Taisun and Esen to go to war in 1451. Esen promised Taisun Khan's brother, Agbarjin, the title of khan instead. Esen and Agbarjin besieged

Karakorum Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian script:, ''Qaraqorum'') was the capital city, capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan, Northern Yuan dynasty in the late 14th and 1 ...

where Taisun Khan was located. Because most of the eastern Mongols deserted to the Oirats, the Khan's troops were defeated in

Turfan Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the prefectural area has shifted ...

and he fled towards the Khentii Khan mountains and the

Kherlen River Kherlen River (also known as Kerülen; ; ) is a 1,254 km river in Mongolia and China. It is also one of the two longest rivers in Mongolia, along with the Orkhon River. Course The river originates in the south slopes of the Khentii mount ...

with a few of his entourage. Taisun Khan was killed in 1452 by his former father-in-law, Tsabdan, while fleeing. Tsabdan later defected to Esen.

Wives and children

His known wives and children included: *An Oirat princess, daughter of Toghan taishi. She bore a son named Abdan. *Altagana of the Khorlad tribe. The Khan and her son was Molon (Mulan). *Samar taifu who bore Markörgis.

References