Some reflections on the Khans Qaidu and Du’a and the great Khan’s lost legacy

Prolog
In our youth we spent an inordinate amount of time reveling in intricacies of history that few around us really cared for. Not unexpectedly, a girl told us that she was shocked that we took these readings in history more seriously than much else of what she considered fundamentally important. We were once in an involved discourse, surrounded by our few companions, of something we had recently learned about – the great Gujarati rebellion of 1320 CE. In course of his great jihads Alla-ad-din Khalji had brought 40,000 Hindu slaves from Gujarat to Delhi. Among them was a boy who was renamed Kushroo and taken as a homosexual partner by Sultan Qutub-ad-din Mubaraq Khalji the son of Alla. Recalling his past, Khusroo assassinated his lover, declared himself the ruler of Delhi, and aided by his fellow Gujaratis unleashed a Hindu rebellion in Delhi. The Hindu fighters killed the Mullahs of the Jami Masjid and seized the masjid. The masjid was converted to a temple the worship of Hindu gods reinstated. Qorans were confiscated and torn to pieces. Other Masjids in Delhi were also taken over and converted to temples and cow slaughter was proscribed. Mohammedans killing cows were captured and forthwith executed. Mohammedans were also prevented from taking Hindu women. Khusroo declared himself Hinduan Khan aur Sultan (hindUkAnAM suratrANa) and strove to roll back Islam from Hindustan. He established contact with the energetic Mongol princess Sati Khatun (great-great grand daughter of Hülegü) who was similarly facing the problem of subversion by the Mohammedan faction upon the death of Il Khan Oljeitu and sought to form an alliance to sandwiching the Islamic army between theirs. His ally the brave rAjpUt mokhadAjI guhila started a naval campaign on the coast of saurAShTra against Arabs and Moslem shipping to cut off horse supplies from Arabia. Sadly, all this came to an abrupt end. The Mullahs in Delhi sent Fakhr Maliq to alert his father Tughlaq Ghazi Baba who was with the bulk of the Khalji army to come and save them from the Hindu wrath. In the ensuing battle the Gujarati force was routed and Khusroo Khan met a gruesome end. On ascending the throne as Sultan Ghiyas-ad-din in Delhi, the Amirs, Mullahs and Fuckihs praised him as Amir al Momin and the proselytizing sword of Islam but Tughlaq modestly stated: “mai.n to AwAra mard hU.n”. Nevertheless, Amir Khusroo sung a peculiarly worded panegyric for him:
Your name was Tughlaq the holy warrior, the revered one,
The Mongol Khan too at that time had the same name, Tughlaq!

This Tughlaq Ghazi whose line was to be as a dreadful disease upon India was a representative of the Qaraunas Turks. Our companions asked who were the Qaraunas Turks. The answer to this led us back to a part of Mongol history that is generally neglected i.e., the later days of the house of Ögödei and Chagadai. The house of Ögödei had some connections with our land which we had narrated before – some members fought on the side of Hindus led by hammIradeva against Alla-ad-din Khalji. But their story in Central Asia is one of interest primarily to connoisseurs though with some general instructive lessons.

The successors of Chingiz Khan
In August of 1227 CE the great Chingiz Khan, on verge of victory over the Tangut Kingdom, lay on his deathbed from a hunting accident surrounded by his clansmen and warriors. After having laid out the grand plan for “world” conquest, he counseled them with his famous maxim: “The glory of a deed lies in its completion”. Then by the illustration of the bundle of arrows he asked his family to be united and conceived a system wherein the whole Mongol Ulus would be their common inheritance with each Horde having one of his sons as a ruler. He formally appointed his 3rd son Ögödei as as his successor, the great Khan, but he was only primus inter pares with respect to the lords of the other Ordas governed by his descendants from his principle wife Boerte. However, he did not depart from the old Altaic tradition of the youngest son inheriting the mainstay of all his father’s property. Thus, it was not Ögödei but the 4th and youngest Tolui who got this distinction. Tolui had inherited his father’s military abilities and ferocity in battle. A good archer, at age of 21, Tolui led the Mongol force against the Jurchen (the ancestors of the Manchus, the Jin dynasty) in the Dexing campaign. He showed extraordinary personal bravery by scaling the strong fort of Dexing under fire and seizing it from the Jurchen defenders. This marked the beginning of the end for the Jurchen. Now after the death of Chingiz he acquired the largest share of the Mongol army (over 100,000 men) and was the caretaker ruler for 2 years till his brother was formally elected in the subsequent Quriltai.

Tolui had four sons Möngke, Qubilai, Hülegü and Arigh Böke. When Qubilai and Hülegü came of age their grandfather took them out on their first hunt. The younger Hülegü brought down a ghural while the older Qubilai shot a fast-running hare. In this incident the Khan noticed that while Hülegü had the makings of a future warrior like his father, Qubilai had the cunning to catch elusive prey, like his mother the niece of Toghrul Wang Khan. Hence, on his death bed, the Khan remarked that someday the wise Qubilai will sit on his throne. In this statement he had already set the stage for the future conflict between the houses of Ögödei and Tolui. However, the more politically savvy Ögödei and the closeness of Tolui to him kept Mongol empire intact and even expanding after the death to Chingiz. After Tolui’s death, his wife Sorghaghtani stood by Ögödei while ensuring that her four sons got good education, military training and high ranks in the Mongol system. She trained them in various lores by appointing the Uighur bauddha scholar Tolochu and a paNDita who had arrived via Tibet. She also had Möngke gain good battle experience and acquire military distinction by participating with Batu the son of Jochi in the great campaign against the white Christians. Her other sons gained experience in the Chinese campaigns like the battles in Hebei. The great Khan title was next taken by Ögödei’s son Güyüg but after his death Sorghaghtani cunningly moved to get her son Möngke the title, in the process having the rival women from the house of Ögödei brutally murdered during the internecine “war of the princesses”. Batu also supported Möngke reminding members of the Quriltai of his acts of valor against the Europeans and his higher intelligence than most. When Möngke died from dysentery during the final conquest of China his brother Qubilai took over as grand Khan, thereby fulfilling Chingiz Khan’s deathbed prognostication. Before that he had already proven himself in the war against the chIna-s by his cunning strategies which resulted in huge victories. The long reign of Qubilai was a high point of the Mongols except for the meteorological ill-luck from the Kamikazes in Japan and Kit Buqa’s disaster against the Mohammedans.

But wrapped under these successes was the disastrous war between the Ordas, which was to eventually mean that Mongols for all their achievements and influence on world history were never to leave behind an expansive civilization like that of the Indo-Europeans. At the heart of this war between the Ordas was the rivalry between the Toluids and the houses of Ögödei and Chagadai. Much of the synthesis of these events is due the Judaist scholars Biran and Amitai-Preiss. We are much indebted to their works in what is said below though we differ in interpretation of some points from them.

Qaidu and Du’a
Ögödei had 7 sons of whom Güyüg became the grand Khan. Of his other sons, Köten was a major patron of paNDita-s from Tibet, Köchü’s descendants fought against Alla-ad-din with rAjpUt-s and Qashi the father of Qaidu. Qaidu’s mother was Shabkine who was the princess of the Mekrin tribe that originally ruled mountain belt north of Tarim before being subjugated by the Mongols. He was born in 1235 CE and Qashi died just before his birth after passing out on a large volume of drink. It was Qaidu who was to revive the house of Ögödei in the process going to war against the house of Tolui. In this he was aided by Du’a the great great grandson of Chagadai (Chagadai->Möetüken [killed in Afghan campaign of Chingiz]->Yesünto’a->Baraq->Du’a).

Due to Qaidu’s falling out with the house of Tolui he is not the center of any chronicle. While he had 14 recorded sons and at least 3 daughters the Orda of Ögödei came to an end sometime after him (Qaidu->Chabar->Oljei Timur->Quladai). But the Orda which he founded continued under the Chagadais with whom he allied against Qubilai. Thus, we have very little by way of a sympathetic account from his own side. What we know of him suggests that he was a rather distinctive character. Accounts state that unlike his father and grandfather or for that matter most Mongols he abstained from all forms of alcohol and never used salt in his food. He was reputed to be a disciplined man who woke up around 3.30 AM daily and meditated for about an hour. He kept aside as much time as possible for discussion of various topics with men who were reputed to be wise. He was very “secular” in the sense Indians to use it these days – he met Islamic, Christian and bauddha missionaries patiently heard their truth claims or ideas and inquired about their views on religion. While he heard all their views, from all we know he remained faithful to the old Mongol religion. The tale of his daughter Qutulun Aiyaruk became a widely known fable and has been unduly romanticized, or presented a paragon of sexual equality in the west. Nevertheless, by all accounts she was a fierce warrior whom Marco Polo describes as striking like a hawk deep within enemy ranks to carry away men as prisoners. Qaidu even wanted to make her his successor upon his death bypassing his sons.

Qaidu was brought up by Ögödei initially and being young he did not participate in the politics against Möngke after Güyüg’s death. Hence, as part of the reconciliation package Möngke appointed the 17 year old Qaidu as the local Khan of the region in Southern Khazakastan between the Ili and Emil rivers (between Balkash and Alakol Lakes). Being very “secular” he allowed representatives of all religions to build religious structures in his domain and also set up a chain of well-protected and managed markets that increased the prosperity of his domain. In 1256 CE Möngke sent the chIna Tianlin Shi to assist Qaidu with standardizing the legal system. However, he felt Shi was interfering with the system and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. However, the relations still remained calm until the early years of Qubilai when he confirmed Qaidu as the local Khan of his realm and sent him gifts to mark their continued collaboration. The Mongols used to practice a form of astrology similar to Indians that they had acquired from the Uighurs or perhaps Tibetans. Berke the son of Batu told Qaidu that his horoscope indicated great promise. But none of this showed in his early campaigns against the local Chagadai Khan Alghu which met with limited success. Luckily for him Alghu death gave him a chance to get greater power in the region. Qaidu then decided to occupy Alghu’s territory which was to his west. But Qubilai interceded by sending troops to drive him out of Chagadai territory and enjoined him to act only with his consent. It seems this incident inspired Qaidu to break free from the great Khan and live up to his horoscope. He decided to extend his domain by using his maternal connections to the mountainous region near Uighuria which they formerly ruled. Thus with Shabkine and her Mekrin clansmen he annexed their former territory to his own ulus. The Uighurs had a special relationship with the family of Chingiz Khan because their lord was married to his daughter. Thus even though Uighuristan was annexed by Chingiz they retained their cities and had certain control over their territory with Chingiz’s daughter acting as the viceroy. Chingiz also recognized that the Uighurs had the most advanced civilization among the Altaic peoples and saw them as civilizational teachers of the Mongols and wanted to preserve their knowledge systems for the benefit of the Mongols – e.g. their script was derived from the Uighur script. Subsequently, Qubilai retained this special relationship vis-a-vis Uighuristan. But now having taken the adjoining mountainous territory Qaidu decided to dispossess the Uighurs completely. His troops swept down upon the Uighurs in 1267 CE, sacking and burning their cities. Their capital Besh Baliq was besieged and they were forced to flee eventually. This caused immense harm to the Uighurs and was to ultimately weaken them for their later capitulation to the West Asian delusion. It also brought end to the Altaic civilizational center that Chingiz had cultivated. Qubilai was alarmed at this conquest of Uighuristan by Qaidu and sent the royal Mongol army against Qaidu. He was defeated and forced to retreat west of Talas.

Qubilai then asked the local Chagadai Khan Baraq to contain Qaidu even as the capital of the Mongol empire was permanently moved from Qara Qorum to Shangdu in China. Thereafter Qaidu fought a see-saw war with Baraq and finally drove him out with help from Jochi’s successors to Samarkand. But at this point he decided to reconcile with Baraq and other Chagadai princes and together they held a grand rival Quriltai in 1269 CE at Talas. There in a fiery speech Qaidu prophetically pointed out that contact with Han legalism will bring catastrophe to the Mongols and advantage to the Hans. He called upon his fellow princes assembled at the Quriltai to draft a strong warning to Qubilai. The Tangut chronicler Gao Zhiyao recorded this statement issued at the Quriltai, in which Qubilai was addressed pejoratively as the local Khan of China:
“The old customs of our dynasty are not those of the Han laws. Today, when you remain in the Han territory, build a capital and construct cities learn their method of reading and writing and use Han laws what will happen to the old tradition ours.  They declared that we will be lost and all that will be left is the law of the Han despite having followed the way of the great Khans to conquer China.” Clearly, Qaidu was seeing the Chinese legalism as being used as the inner core which will marginalize the Mongols even as they adopted Chinese practices. Thus, he felt a total rupture with Qubilai was necessary. While further details of this quriltai remain unclear it appears that the participants tacitly accepted Qaidu as the grand Khan (Kha’khan) place of Qubilai. Qubilai then shifted his capital to Beijing completing his immersion in the Han sphere – an act which only seemed to confirm Qaidu’s views and also gave him an opportunity to establish himself as a rival power center among the Mongols. But Qubilai was not to sit quiet and asked his nephew Abaqa the son of Hülegü to cut off Baraq from Qaidu. In 1270 CE a great inter-Mongol battle was fought in Herat where Abaqa smashed the forces of Baraq and sent him fleeing to Bukhara. At this point Qaidu surrounded his erstwhile ally and Baraq supposedly died from the shock that night. After this about 30,000 of Baraq’s troops joined Qaidu. In 1271 CE Qaidu declared himself the combined ruler of the Chagadai and Ögödei Ordas. Thus, rather than weaken Qaidu, Qubilai and Abaqa’s actions had only strengthened him. But for the next several years he was occupied with various rebellions among different Chagadaid princes in the combined Orda even as Qubilai called on them to bring Qaidu in line. But by 1276 CE he had defeated or diplomatically brought everyone in in line and they acknowledged him as the supreme Khan in opposition to Qubilai. Finally, 1281 CE he sealed the deal by appointing Du’a, the second son of Baraq as the Khan of all the Chagadaids. This was to inaugurate a 20 year collaboration between the two where they de facto ruled an independent Mongol ulus spanning most of central Asia. In this period Du’a and his daughter Aiyaruk became his main assistants who were to fight many campaigns in extending their domain.

Despite the sources not being exactly pro-Qaidu they all admit that he was a legendary maker of armies and had developed a scheme of discipline and training that was seen before only his great-grandfather, the great Chingiz. The Jewish chronicler Rashid-ad-din also noted that Qaidu was one of the most intelligent men he had ever seen and could put this ability to use in both strategic and political cunning. Now at the lord of a mighty force he sent an embassy to Abaqa and obtained peace with him. Then the Moslem rebellion in Kabul attempted to recapture southern Afghanistan for the Mamluq Sultans of al Hind. With Qaidu having secured the alliance with Abaqa, Du’a invaded Kabul and smashed the Islamic army there. In a subsequent campaign he took back Ghazni from the Moslems incorporated it into the Ulus of Qaidu with him as the local Khan. It appears that in course of these campaigns the Mongols became acquainted with Hindustani music an incorporated some of its instruments into their system. These appear to have come back several years later to al Hind when a Mongol woman was captured near Delhi by Alla-ad-din Khalji.

Continued…