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Toluid Civil War
The Toluid Civil War was a war of succession fought between Kublai Khan and his younger brother, Ariq Böke, from 1260 to 1264. Möngke Khan died in 1259 with no declared successor, precipitating infighting between members of the Tolui family line for the title of Great Khan that escalated to a civil war. The Toluid Civil War, and the wars that followed it, such as the Berke–Hulegu war and the Kaidu–Kublai war, weakened the authority of the Great Khan over the Mongol Empire and split the empire into autonomous khanates.
The Tolui family successfully enthroned their candidate for Great Khan, Möngke, in the kurultais of 1250 and 1251. The Ögedeid candidate for Great Khan, Shiremun, and his cousin Nakhu, were embittered by their loss and plotted a failed assassination of Möngke. Möngke took revenge by purging his opponents in the royal house, and members of both the Chagatai and Ögedei families.
Möngke handed control over the Caucasus region to the Golden Horde in 1252. With the approval of Möngke, Berke succeeded his His nephew, Ulaghuci, as the khan of the Golden Horde in Russia in 1257. Hulagu of the Ilkhanate seized control of the Caucasus from the Golden Horde, and his sacking of Baghdad in 1258 angered Berke, a convert to Islam. Möngke Khan died in 1259 without appointing a successor. He probably favored Ariq Böke, whom Möngke designated in 1258 as commander of Karakorum (then capital of the empire), but he did too little else to secure Ariq Böke's claim to the throne.
Kublai Khan was fighting against the southern Song in 1260 when he received news that Ariq Böke was challenging him for the succession of the throne. Ariq Böke formed alliances with powerful members of the Mongol nobility to endorse him as a candidate for Great Khan. Most of Möngke's immediate family supported Ariq Böke including the member of Ögedei, Chagatai and Jochi. Kublai withdrew from the Song and mobilized his troops to fight Ariq Böke. In China, Kublai summoned a kurultai at Kaiping, where he was elected Great Khan. This was the first kurultai to proclaim a Great Khan outside the Mongol homeland or Central Asia. Ariq Böke convened his own kurultai in Karakorum that proclaimed him Great Khan a month later, creating two rival claimants for the throne. Hulagu embarked for Mongolia to attend the kurultai, but the Mamluk defeat of the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in early September 1260 forced him to return to the Middle East. Berke capitalized on the Mamluk victory over Mongols by invading the Ilkhanate, beginning the Berke–Hulegu war.
Ariq Böke allied with Berke Khan of the Golden Horde and Alghu of the Chagatai Khanate. Hulagu of the Ilkhanate was the sole ally of Kublai Khan. Berke supported Ariq Böke because he was resentful of Hulagu, who had close ties with Kublai. However, Hulagu and Berke became occupied with their own war and could not intervene in the Toluid Civil War.
Kublai Khan had access to supplies from the fertile lands of China, while Ariq Böke had to import resources to Karakorum in the semi-arid steppes. Kublai Khan depended on these supplies from China and therefore needed Chinese popular support to win the civil war. Kublai ingratiated himself to his subjects with the help of his Chinese advisers. He presented himself as a sage emperor capable of uniting the Chinese, Korean and his fellow Mongols, while calling out Ariq Böke as a destructive usurper. Kublai promised to reduce taxes, modeled his government institutions to resemble those of the Chinese dynasties, and adopted the era name of Zhongtong, which means "moderate rule". His policies were popular in northern China, but had no impact on his relations with the Southern Song. The Song invaded while Kublai was preoccupied with the civil war, and recovered territory previously lost to the Mongols. Kublai dispatched a diplomat, Hao Jing, to discuss the prospects of a peaceful resolution to the war with the Southern Song. However, the Song rejected Kublai's overtures and imprisoned Hao for the next decade.
Kublai now controlled three of the four possible supply lines to Karakorum. Kadan, Kublai's Ögedeid ally, defended the territories of the former Western Xia from Ariq Böke and commanded the forces stationed in Gansu. Kublai's troops guarded the area surrounding Yan (modern Beijing). The only supply line still open to Ariq Böke was the Yenisei River valley in the northwest. When Kublai's army advanced towards Karakorum in late 1260, Ariq Böke retreated from Karakorum to a tributary of the Yenisei. The oncoming winter then compelled Kublai and Ariq Böke to encamp their armies and wait for spring.
In the interim, Kublai acquired more supplies and men. He fortified Yan and the border defenses of northern China. Kadan defeated and executed Alandar, a general sent to secure the vital Central Asian trade routes for Ariq Böke. Lian Xixian, one of Kublai's Confucian advisers, commanded soldiers for the khan in western China. He won a victory against Ariq Böke's ally, Liu Taiping, in northwestern China, seizing food supplies intended for Ariq Böke's army. Lian also drove supporters of Ariq Böke out of the towns of Liangzhou and Ganzhou. In southwestern China, his forces protected Sichuan from Ariq Böke's encroaching troops. Kublai paid Kadan and Lian Xixian handsomely for their military service in gifts and promotions. He rewarded Kadan with 300 packs of silk and 300 taels of silver, and appointed Lian Xixian to the position of Prime Minister of the Right in the Secretariat.
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Toluid Civil War
The Toluid Civil War was a war of succession fought between Kublai Khan and his younger brother, Ariq Böke, from 1260 to 1264. Möngke Khan died in 1259 with no declared successor, precipitating infighting between members of the Tolui family line for the title of Great Khan that escalated to a civil war. The Toluid Civil War, and the wars that followed it, such as the Berke–Hulegu war and the Kaidu–Kublai war, weakened the authority of the Great Khan over the Mongol Empire and split the empire into autonomous khanates.
The Tolui family successfully enthroned their candidate for Great Khan, Möngke, in the kurultais of 1250 and 1251. The Ögedeid candidate for Great Khan, Shiremun, and his cousin Nakhu, were embittered by their loss and plotted a failed assassination of Möngke. Möngke took revenge by purging his opponents in the royal house, and members of both the Chagatai and Ögedei families.
Möngke handed control over the Caucasus region to the Golden Horde in 1252. With the approval of Möngke, Berke succeeded his His nephew, Ulaghuci, as the khan of the Golden Horde in Russia in 1257. Hulagu of the Ilkhanate seized control of the Caucasus from the Golden Horde, and his sacking of Baghdad in 1258 angered Berke, a convert to Islam. Möngke Khan died in 1259 without appointing a successor. He probably favored Ariq Böke, whom Möngke designated in 1258 as commander of Karakorum (then capital of the empire), but he did too little else to secure Ariq Böke's claim to the throne.
Kublai Khan was fighting against the southern Song in 1260 when he received news that Ariq Böke was challenging him for the succession of the throne. Ariq Böke formed alliances with powerful members of the Mongol nobility to endorse him as a candidate for Great Khan. Most of Möngke's immediate family supported Ariq Böke including the member of Ögedei, Chagatai and Jochi. Kublai withdrew from the Song and mobilized his troops to fight Ariq Böke. In China, Kublai summoned a kurultai at Kaiping, where he was elected Great Khan. This was the first kurultai to proclaim a Great Khan outside the Mongol homeland or Central Asia. Ariq Böke convened his own kurultai in Karakorum that proclaimed him Great Khan a month later, creating two rival claimants for the throne. Hulagu embarked for Mongolia to attend the kurultai, but the Mamluk defeat of the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in early September 1260 forced him to return to the Middle East. Berke capitalized on the Mamluk victory over Mongols by invading the Ilkhanate, beginning the Berke–Hulegu war.
Ariq Böke allied with Berke Khan of the Golden Horde and Alghu of the Chagatai Khanate. Hulagu of the Ilkhanate was the sole ally of Kublai Khan. Berke supported Ariq Böke because he was resentful of Hulagu, who had close ties with Kublai. However, Hulagu and Berke became occupied with their own war and could not intervene in the Toluid Civil War.
Kublai Khan had access to supplies from the fertile lands of China, while Ariq Böke had to import resources to Karakorum in the semi-arid steppes. Kublai Khan depended on these supplies from China and therefore needed Chinese popular support to win the civil war. Kublai ingratiated himself to his subjects with the help of his Chinese advisers. He presented himself as a sage emperor capable of uniting the Chinese, Korean and his fellow Mongols, while calling out Ariq Böke as a destructive usurper. Kublai promised to reduce taxes, modeled his government institutions to resemble those of the Chinese dynasties, and adopted the era name of Zhongtong, which means "moderate rule". His policies were popular in northern China, but had no impact on his relations with the Southern Song. The Song invaded while Kublai was preoccupied with the civil war, and recovered territory previously lost to the Mongols. Kublai dispatched a diplomat, Hao Jing, to discuss the prospects of a peaceful resolution to the war with the Southern Song. However, the Song rejected Kublai's overtures and imprisoned Hao for the next decade.
Kublai now controlled three of the four possible supply lines to Karakorum. Kadan, Kublai's Ögedeid ally, defended the territories of the former Western Xia from Ariq Böke and commanded the forces stationed in Gansu. Kublai's troops guarded the area surrounding Yan (modern Beijing). The only supply line still open to Ariq Böke was the Yenisei River valley in the northwest. When Kublai's army advanced towards Karakorum in late 1260, Ariq Böke retreated from Karakorum to a tributary of the Yenisei. The oncoming winter then compelled Kublai and Ariq Böke to encamp their armies and wait for spring.
In the interim, Kublai acquired more supplies and men. He fortified Yan and the border defenses of northern China. Kadan defeated and executed Alandar, a general sent to secure the vital Central Asian trade routes for Ariq Böke. Lian Xixian, one of Kublai's Confucian advisers, commanded soldiers for the khan in western China. He won a victory against Ariq Böke's ally, Liu Taiping, in northwestern China, seizing food supplies intended for Ariq Böke's army. Lian also drove supporters of Ariq Böke out of the towns of Liangzhou and Ganzhou. In southwestern China, his forces protected Sichuan from Ariq Böke's encroaching troops. Kublai paid Kadan and Lian Xixian handsomely for their military service in gifts and promotions. He rewarded Kadan with 300 packs of silk and 300 taels of silver, and appointed Lian Xixian to the position of Prime Minister of the Right in the Secretariat.