HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

CHAPTER VI.

THE DESCENDANTS OF KUBLAI KHAN

 

ULDSHEITU KHAN.

 

OF the twelve sons of Kublai, four, who were the sons of his chief wife, namely, Dordji, Zhenjin, Manghala, and Numukan, held a superior rank. Dordji means noble stone, and is the designation of the dumb-bell-shaped sceptre, the symbol of office among the Lamaist priests. He seems to have died young, for we find Chingkin from an early part of Kublai’s reign treated as the heir apparent. Vassaf tells us that when Kublai was nearly seventy he wished to have him declared his successor. The chiefs to whom he applied for counsel declared it contrary to precedent, and to the Yassa of Genghis Khan to invest him with Imperial authority during his father’s life­time. They, however, consented to execute a solemn document, securing him the Khakanship, and pledging themselves life-long obedience and allegiance to him. He unfortunately died in 1285, at the age of forty-three. He had from early years exhibited great promise, and had shown considerable proficiency in the military art, in the science of government, history, mathematics, and the Chinese classics. He was well acquainted with the condition and numbers of the inhabitants of Mongolia and China, and with the topography and commerce of the empire. He was much beloved except by some of his father’s ministers, who were not all exemplary. He had married a princess of the Kunkurat tribe, named Kokochin, and by her had three sons and several daughters.

These three sons were named Kamala, Dharmabala, and Uldsheitu. According to Vassaf the eldest squinted, and the second was of a ricketty constitution. Ssanang Setzen merely says that the Khan having tested the three, chose Uldsheitu as his successor. His official title in Chinese history was Timur Khan. We are told that in 1293, eight years after the death of Chingkin, Bayan, urged by the latter’s widow, pressed upon the aged Khakan that he should point out his successor, and that he named Timur. He had shortly before, as I have described, given him the government of Karakorum, displacing Bayan from that position.

Raschid says that during the interregnum Timur’s mother acted as regent. At the diet that assembled after Kublai’s death, she declared the throne belonged, according to the wish of the late Khakan, to him, among his descendants who best knew the precepts of Genghis Khan, and called upon the assembly to decide for itself. Timur, who was a ready speaker, had no difficulty in putting his brother Kamala, who was somewhat embarrassed, in the shade, and he was unanimously declared the fittest. Kamala was not satisfied and still aspired to the sovereignty, and a section of the Mongol chiefs was disposed to support him. Bayan, Kublai’s renowned general, soon solved the difficulty. Sword in hand, he declared he would not permit anyone to mount the throne but he who had been named for it by the late Khakan. Thereupon the refractory gave way, and Timur was duly proclaimed Khakan. He raised his father and mother to the Imperial rank, and ordered monuments to be set up in honour of his father, of Kublai, and of the Empress Jambui. Kamala, who was Timur’s eldest brother, was appointed governor­general of Karakorum; while to Gukju and Kurguz, his brothers-in-law, was given the command of the troops on the western frontier. Ananda, his cousin, was made viceroy of the country west of the Yellow River, which post his father Manghala had previously held. Bayan Fentchan remained financial minister. He had eight colleagues, and together they controlled the financial department.

The very beginning of Timur’s reign was marked by the death of one of the greatest of the Mongol heroes, namely, Bayan. He died much regretted. He was fifty-nine years old. When he marched against the Sung, says De Mailla, he led 200,000 men with the same ease and coolness as if he had been leading one. His officers looked upon him as a prodigy, and had implicit confidence in him. His modesty was not less remarkable than his intrepidity, and he generally assigned the glory of his successes to the inferior officers, whose smallest actions he extolled. He was remarkable also among Mongol generals for his humanity.

The young Emperor at his accession did not wish to settle down at his capital, Yen king. He was persuaded to do so by one of the courtiers who used the quaint argument, most acceptable to a Chinaman, that the Emperor was the polestar of the political system, and like it he ought to be stationary, and allow the other stars to circle round him in the heavens. Accounts of portents form a considerable part of Eastern chronicles. We now read that an earthquake was followed by a curious effect in the Hoang ho, which was usually muddy and turbid, and now for a considerable distance flowed clear and bright. This was accepted as a good omen, but was nevertheless followed by a dreadful famine in Shensi. The Emperor at this time issued an order forbidding the grandees of the court to exercise their former rights of capital punishment over their vassals. This was forbidden except under the Imperial sanction. We are struck in reading the dry and monotonous annals of China by occasional anecdotes which illustrate the extraordinary fidelity and trustworthiness of Chinese officials. Thus we are told that Timur’s first minister, named Pu hu chu, was a very austere and strict disciplinarian, and became unpopular with the mandarins. He knew of his infirmity and asked to be relieved of his office. The Emperor consulted him about his successor, and he suggested To anchin. The retiring minister praised him, saying he had qualities in which he himself was deficient, and that he could combine the “fortiter in re”, with the “suaviter in modo” without sacrificing his duty to his amiability. To an chin was appointed. The Emperor gave Pu hu chu the title of inspector-general of troops and administrator of the important affairs of the empire, but he modestly objected, and urged that this title had been instituted fora much abler predecessor of his, named Se tien se, and only accepted it when the word important was erased. The famine and the exactions of local mandarins caused considerable distress, and this led to the country being troubled by bands of robbers, and as in so many other cases in China, these aggregated into a large body; they collected near Kan chau, in Kiang si, and became somewhat dangerous, An officer named Tong se siuen volunteered to put it down, and succeeded in doing so, not as usual in such cases by marching troops against the rebels, but by taking care that the chief culprits among the local administrators were sharply tried and decapitated, At the sight of their heads the rebels came to terms and submitted.

The stirring times of Mongol conquest had passed away, and the annals are now chiefly occupied with the internal reforms of the empire. We hear that Timur established an Imperial college at Tatu, which gave great satisfaction to the Chinese. They were even more pleased when he had a magnificent palace built there in honour of Confucius, which still remains at Peking. A great number of Muhammedans continued to be employed in the public service in accordance with the policy inaugurated: by Genghis Khan.

The exemption from taxes which had keen secured by the followers of the Ho chang and Tao se sects from the generous hands of Khubilai, led to considerable abuses; a vast number of rich people, under pretexts of various kinds, enrolled themselves in their ranks and evaded the tax collector. Orders were given that this abuse was to be remedied. A census of the two sects was taken, and it was found to be enormous; in the province of Kiang nan alone more than 500,000 people were ejected from the Miaos, and once more became mere laymen. Honkilachi, the widow of Khubilai, died early in 1300. She was much respected, resigned her appanage in order that its revenues might replenish the needy treasury, and lived a quiet, retired life.

Later in the year an envoy from Mien tien (Burma) reported that the King had been dethroned by his brother, and that his son, who had been promised the kingdom, appealed to the Emperor for assistance. The Mongol troops in Yunnan were ordered to cross the border and to punish the murderers.

Meanwhile the Emperor was persuaded that he might rival, if he would, the fame of Kublai in his foreign relations by attacking the kingdom of Papesifu, ome of the independent States west of Yunnan, which had refused to adopt the Chinese calendar. The Emperor was persuaded, and despatched an army of 20,000 under the generals Lieuchin and Halatai upon this foolish expedition, The climate was bad, and people barbarous and cruel. There was great distress and loss among the soldiers, and requisitions for their supply and the hard transport service caused great mortality among the poor inhabitants, who were Miaotze. These wild mountaineers of Yunnan are generally supposed to be the primitive stock out of which the Chinese race was constituted. More than 100,000 of them perished, and they revolted, placing Songlongtsi at their head. They found a second leader in an intrepid woman, the wife of a mandarin of those parts upon whom the Mongols had made very heavy requisitions. They assembled a considerable army, captured the forts the Chinese had built there, as well as the important town of Kue-chau, whose commander was killed.

Meanwhile the troops which had invaded Mien tien returned by way of the kingdom of the Kintchi, i.e., of the golden teeth. These latter fell upon it, destroyed a large number of men, and then allied themselves with the Papesifu. Their neighbours were encouraged to break off their allegiance to the empire, and killed the officers sent to collect tribute. The Emperor was much annoyed at his ill success; two of the commanders were put to death, others were cashiered.

Troops were sent to the rescue from Hu kuang, Su chuan, Shen si, and Yunnan, and Hoke, son of Kublai and viceroy of Yunnan, was ordered to assist, and just arrived in time to save the general Lieuchin, who had been surrounded.

Various barbarous tribes in the south-west of the empire, the Usan, the Uniong, the Tongtchuen, the Mang, the Uteng, the Wetchu, Pungan, most of them probably tribes of Miaotze origin, divided into various bodies, had made raids upon the Chinese towns. Lieu kue kie, who was sent with the auxiliary troops, being joined by a reinforcement, advanced into their country by different routes. He ordered his soldiers when attacked to feign to retire, and to throw down their bucklers. When the enemy pursued, their horses stumbled over these impediments, and when they dismounted they were sharply attacked by the Mongols, who retraced their steps. The rebels were badly beaten. They were again beaten at Metetchuen, where the heroine, Chetsiei, was killed on the battlefield. Shortly after the other leader, Songlongtsi, suffered the same fate. The rebels now submitted, and a general amnesty was proclaimed.

This year the officials charged with drawing up the Imperial annals presented the Emperor with the annals of Genghis Khan, Ogotai, Kuyuk, Tului, and Mangu. This historical work is known as the Tsienpien, and is much valued. It has the usual characteristic of Chinese annals of accuracy and fidelity.

Meanwhile the long and desultory war on the north-western frontier continued with varying success. At length Dua gained a victory in which Kurguz, one of Timur’s generals, was captured and only owed his life to his being a member of the Imperial house. This victory was won by a surprise, caused by the drunkenness of three of Timur’s commanders, who should have been guarding three points of a long line of communication, and were instead drinking. Soon after, three generals deserted Dua, and took with them 12,000 men. They had deserted from the Khakan in the previous reign. They now demanded that their fidelity might be tested by having the command of an army given them, against Dua. With this they pursued his retiring and unsuspecting army, overtook it as it was crossing a river in disorder, and gave it a severe, beating. Dua’s brother-in-law was captured, and he proposed to exchange Kurguz for him, but with true Mongol duplicity he had him killed, and then said he had died while on his way to the camp of Kaidu.

In 1301 Kaidu invaded the empire in conjunction with Dua, with forty princes of the houses of Ogotai, Jagatai, and an immense army. Khaissan, Timur’s nephew, gave them battle between Karakorum and the river Tamir. The Chinese historians say Kaidu was defeated. Vassaf, on the other hand, says he was “successful as usual”. Both agree that he retired to his own country and died on the march. He had been a redoubtable enemy to the Khakan, and during a long life controlled the central position of the Mongol dominions, in which Kublai was not even the nominal ruler, although he was acknowledged by the two great Khanates beyond those of Persia and the Golden Horde. Under the patronage of Dua, Kaidu’s son Chapar was elected head of the Horde of Ogotai, as I have related in a previous chapter. Dua proposed to him to recognise the supremacy of Timur, and to conclude the bitter strife which had for thirty years divided the family of Genghis Khan. This was agreed to by Chapar and the other princes.

Ambassadors were sent to Timur, and the vast conquests of the Mongols were once more united under one head, and this, too, at a time when they had attained their utmost limits. China continued to be troubled with earthquakes, in which serious suffering was caused to the inhabitants. There was an especially severe one in 1303 in Ping yang and Tai yuen, which took place in the night. The Emperor distributed relief to the distressed. A wise regulation, that might be imitated in more western climates, provided that those who had reached the age of seventy should retire from the public service, except those belonging to the tribunals of Hanlin and of Mathematics. There was another earthquake at Ping yang in 1304, and the following year a very severe frost, which destroyed the mulberry trees in the districts of Pan yang, I-tu, and Ho-kien; and we are told that 2,410,070 trees then perished. The chief religious cultus favoured by the Chinese literates is the adoration of the sky. The Mongols, in a rude way, had a similar cultus. The Emperor issued orders that the records should be examined, and an appropriate ceremonial drawn up from the precedents. This was done; but, with the accommodating tolerance of the Mongols, we find the Emperor at the end of the year offering sacrifices to Shang ti, according to the Nan kiao rite. He then sacrificed a horse, two black cows, nine sheep, nine pigs, and nine stags. Nothing was spared to make the ceremony solemn and imposing. Again we read of portents, hurricanes, and hailstorms, in which the hailstones were as big as hens’ eggs, and which cut down the apricot trees and destroyed the crops. In another province a terrible drought. In another a fatal earthquake. These portents, according to the Chinese annals, presaged something serious, and were fitly followed by the death of the Emperor. During his illness a decree was issued forbidding the killing of any animal for forty-two days, but he died nevertheless. He was forty-two years old, and had occupied the throne for twelve years. He is much praised by the Chinese for his clemency and wisdom. In early life he had been addicted to drunkenness and gluttony, for which he had been reproved by his grand­father, and had even been bastinadoed three times. After he mounted the throne we are told that he mastered his love of excessive drinking, but he became an invalid, and in his latter years left much of the government to those who abused their trust, and would have caused much mischief but for the wise measures of his predecessor Khubilai. We hardly realise in reading the history of one whose name is obscure and unfamiliar, and whose deeds are unrecorded by those who have dealt with the great currents of history, that Timur on his throne at Ta-tu was acknowledged as supreme sovereign by almost all Asia, and that in mere breadth of territory his dominions probably exceeded those of Russia, while in population, wealth, and general resources they were immensely greater.

 

KULUK KHAN

 

TIMUR’s accession to the throne was clearly an usurpation, for Kamala was his elder brother. His other brother Dharmapala was also older than he, but he had died during the reign of Kublai, and as the uncle generally succeeded to the exclusion of the nephew, Timur’s claims were paramount to those of his children. Kamala, however, was undoubtedly an aggrieved person. He died in 1302, much regretted for his fidelity, courage, and other good qualities. Timur had had a son and a daughter, the former of whom had been declared his successor, but died before him without issue, and he did not declare anyone to be his heir. The sons of Dharmapala were clearly entitled to the throne. Of these there were two: Khaissan, corrupted into Haischan by the Chinese, who was also styled Kuluk, or the indefatigable; and Ayur bali batra, the Aivulipalipata of De Mailla and Gaubil.

Bulugan, Timur’s widow (she is called Bulugan by Vassaf, Peyuchi by De Mailla, Péyau by Gaubil, and Buyut by Hyacinthe), had gained great influence in the latter part of his reign. She wished to put Ananda, son of Munghala and grandson of Kublai, who was viceroy of Kansuh, on the throne, and during the last illness of Timur she had sent him messengers bidding him hasten to the court. She wished to exclude the two sons of Dharmabala, with whose mother she had quarrelled, and had had her exiled to Hoai king fu, in Honan. Khaissan had distinguished himself in the war with Kaidu. Batra was with his mother. Bulugan was appointed Regent according to custom, several chiefs entered into her project, and troops were posted on the route to Mongolia: to intercept Khaissan, should he attempt to come. Other chiefs, among whom Karakhass was the leader, espoused the cause of the sons of Dharmabala, and wrote for Khaissan to come with all speed, but by another route, and also invited Batra to return to Tatu, which he did with his mother. Meanwhile the partizans of Ananda had fixed a time for his inauguration  and prompt measures were requisite. Melik Timur, son of Arikbuka, and one of the chief conspirators, was seized (he had been a supporter of Chapar, but had quarrelled with him and sought refuge in China). He was taken in chains to Shangtu. Agutai and other ministers of Ananda were also arrested, while Ananda and the Empress Regent were confined to the palace. The princes of the blood now preposed to proclaim Batra, but he refused, saying the crown belonged to his elder brother. He sent Khaissan the Imperial seal, and pending his arrival took the title of regent.

Khaissan was near the Khanggai mountains at the western extremity of the empire. When he heard of the death of Timur he hastened to Karakorug, and thence to Shangtu, the northern residence, where he had summoned his Mother and brother to meet him.

Batra had behaved very well during his short tenure of power. He had imprisoned Ananda and Melik Timur, and had fastened a cangue on them. Khaissan was received with great rejoicing at Shang tu, which he entered, escorted by the Imperial guards, and went to the palace. The two brothers embraced, and Batra was lauded for his zeal and energy. They then went to pay their respects to their mother.

Khaissan was now proclaimed Khakan at a grand Kuriltai. The ceremony is thus described by Vassaf. Four of the first princes of the blood raised him aloft on a white felt; two others supported him; and a seventh offered him the cup. Meanwhile, while the Shamans offered up prayers for his prosperity and saluted him by the title of Kuluk Khan, carts full of gold pieces and rich tissues were brought out and distributed. So many pearls were spread on the ground that it resembled the sky. The feast lasted a week, during each day of which 40 oxen and 4,000 sheep were consumed. Libations of milk from 700 sacred cows and 7,000 ewes were sprinkled on the ground. The whole environs of the Ordu were thus strewn. These sacred animals, called ongus, were kept in sacred herds, and were white in colour; their flesh was not eaten, nor were the white horses ridden except by the Khakan.

After his election Khaissan raised his father to the rank of Emperor, and his mother to that of Empress, and to reward his brother Batra he named him his successor, although he had sons of his own; Ananda, the Empress Bulugan, and Melik Timur were executed; Ananda had been a zealous Muhammedan, and had spread that faith very much in Tangut; he knew the Koran by heart, and was skilful in writing Arabic, and it was probably therefore the Turks, Persians, and other Muhammedans at the court who were his chief supporters. It was reported that a portion of the troops in his command had adapted Muhammedanism. A complaint was laid before Timur that he spent his time in a mosque, reading the Koran; that he caused Mongol children to be circumcised and was busy in a propaganda. Timur sent two officers to try and induce him to conform to Buddhism, and when they failed he summoned him to the court; as he was still obstinate, he was imprisoned. He was set at liberty on the request of the Empress Gukjin, who feared an insurrection of the inhabitants of Tangut, who were much attached to Ananda.

After his inauguration Khaissan went to the Temple of the Ancestors at Tatu, and there went through the ceremonies. The tablets of the ancestors ought to be arranged in a prescribed way, and Gaubil’s authorities have a grievance against those in authority on this occasion in that they placed the tablets of some individuals honoured with the posthumous title of Emperor before those who had actually been Emperors, and that, contrary to rule, they built special chambers for the former as well as the latter.

Soon after his accession the Hiaoking, a treatise on filial obedience, one of the works attributed to Confucius, having been translated into the Mongol language, was distributed in the empire. Fresh honours were decreed to the memory of the old sage, and the characters Ta ching were added to his titles. Kara Hasun, the son of Likisili, who was an Alan and a favourite of Genghis Khan’s, and Targai were Khaissan’s chief ministers. The Emperor was much addicted to women and to drink, two vices upon which men seldom listen to homilies patiently. He did so, however, and we are told rewarded one of his officers who rebuked him for his failings with the title of Kang kue kong.

The Chinese make their usual complaints about Khaissan that he greatly favoured the Lamas. By his orders the Lama Choigji Odzer translated the greater part of the sacred books of the Buddhists into Mongol. The Lamas became very insolent in consequence of this patronage. One of them, who had forced a man to sell him an article, attacked, illtreated, and put under restraint the judge who was to try him. The Lama was imprisoned for this, but easily got respited at the court. Another Lama disputed with the Princess Horpala as to who should give way on the footpath, and as she would not, pushed against and overturned her, and although the Emperor heard of this he failed to punish him.§ A law was passed that whoever struck a Lama should have his hand cut off, and whoever slandered one should lose his tongue; but this law was repealed by his brother as entirely contrary to precedent. Notwithstanding this partiality, he was the first to tax the lands held by the Buddhists and the followers of the Tao se faith, hitherto exempt. Kara hasun, who had been so faithful to him, was appointed governor of Karakorum, and proved himself an able administrator. He imported labourers, artisans, and those skilled in making canals, from China, and improved the agriculture and the roads of the province. He encouraged the Mongols to utilize their many rivers and lakes stored with fish, by becoming fishermen. He built granaries, and so improved the condition of the land, that there were at intervals of thirty leagues in it depôts of provisions, of carriages, and escorts. A wonderful state of things in the very focus of Mongolia! In other parts of the empire famine, pestilence, and drought made sad havoc with the population. The year 1308 was marked by the severity of these disasters. In Kiang hoai the people were reduced to feed on roots and the bark of trees. In Honan and Shang tung fathers ate their children, while Kiang si and Che kiang were nearly depopulated. The mandarins in charge were terrified, and fancying that heaven had an especial quarrel with them, resigned their charges. The Emperor urged them rather to exert greater zeal in their duties. The days prophesied by Genghis had already arrived, and we now hear that the Mongol court employed messengers, who had a distinguishing mark in their dress, who scoured foreign countries for jewels, pearls, precious stones, and other rarities. These messengers were chiefly Turks. They are called merchants of Si yu. Under cover of their commission, they were in the habit of exacting relays of horses, &c., on their expeditions.

In 1308 the King of Corea died, and the Emperor sent letters patent for his successor, and the same year Chapar, the eldest son of Kaidu, and other princes came to the court with their submission. Tula, a descendant of Jagatai, was a drunken and dissipated person. He had been a partisan of Ananda, and had latterly been insolent to the Emperor. On one occasion, when drunk, he threw down his girdle, saying, “Take back a gift which I despise; it is all I ever received from you.” This was said in a rage. The Emperor suspected that he had a further object, and had him tried and put to death. Through exemption from taxes and other causes, the inhabitants of Kiang nan had become very wealthy; some had as many as 10,000 slaves. It was suggested that so much wealth was dangerous, and in consequence decreed that whoever harvested more than 50,000 measures of grain should surrender 10,000 of them to the State—one half to feed the troops, the other half to go into the public granaries; and that such rich families should enrol one of their children in the army as a guarantee for their good behaviour.

I have already described with what profusion paper money was issued in the reign of Kublai. I ought to add that Pauthier says that during his reign no metallic currency of any kind was issued. The paper became so depreciated in value that in 1309 there was a fresh issue, made to replace that which was the discredited paper, but this also sank rapidly in value, and at length the Emperor Ulu tsong, i.e., Khaissan, determined upon a recurrence to the ancient money, and accordingly, in 1310, there were struck two kinds of copper coins, having Mongol characters upon them. Some with the inscription Chi ta thung pao, precious money of the Chi ta period; and others with this legend, Tai yuen thung pao, i.e., precious money of the Great Yuen (i.e., Mongols). These copper coins were of three sizes: 1, of the value of one li; 2, of the value of ten li; and 3, of coins worth several of those of the dynasties Tang and Sung. Ten lis made one fen, ten fens one tsien, and ten tsiens one ounce. In 1309 the wild frontager tribes of Yunnan broke over the border. The Chinese annals accuse the commander who marched against them of having been bribed. He was at all events beaten by them. They afterwards retired.

In 1310, Kokokchu, a son of Tula, in concert with Alanacheli and a number of Lamas, conspired against the Emperor; but their plans were divulged, the Lamas were duly executed, and Kokokchu was exiled to Corea. Shortly after, Arslan, the governor of Tatu and commander of the Imperial guards, was accused of a similar conspiracy, and was executed with several of his connexions. He was a favourite with the people, and when his head was cut off they shouted out that he was innocent, which afterwards turned out to be true. Khaissan died in February, 1311, aged thirty-one. The Chinese give him the posthumous title of Wu tsong. It was probably during the latter part of the reign of Timur, and during the whole of that of Khaissan, that John of Montecorvino held the exalted post of Archbishop of Khanbaligh or Peking. The bull nominating him is dated in 1307. Two of his letters are extant, describing for us his operations for the conversion of the Chinese. As in recent times Christianity in China has been chiefly distinguished by the savage feud between the Dominicans and the Jesuits, so we find the archbishop complaining of the constant slanders which he suffered at the hands of the Nestorians, which led to his being much persecuted. He had lived there, he says, since 1295, and had built a church with a bell tower to it containing three bells, and had baptised 6,000 persons. He had bought 150 boys, varying from seven to eleven years old, who had never learnt any religion; he had baptised them, and taught them Greek and Latin, and written out Psalters, Hymnaries, and Breviaries for them. Out of these boys he had raised a choir. He had converted a certain King George of the family of Prester John, who had built a splendid church in China, and given it the name of the Roman Church. He had learned the Tartar language, into which he had translated the New Testament and the Psalter. This letter was dated at Cambalek, in 1305, two years before his appointment as archbishop. In a second letter he mentions having built another church, close to the Khakan’s palace. I will extract a portion of his naive account from Colonel Yule’s edition.

“In that same year of the Lord 1305, began another new place before the gate of the Lord Cham, so that there is but the width of the street between his palace and our place, and we are but a stone’s throw from his Majesty’s gate. Master Peter of Lucolongo, a faithful Christian man and great merchant, who was the companion of my travels from Tauris, himself bought the ground for the establishment of which I have been speaking, and gave it to me for the love of God. And by the divine favour I think that a more suitable position for a Catholic church could not be found in the whole empire of his Majesty the Cham. In the beginning of August I got the ground, and by the aid of sundry benefactors and well-wishers it was completed by the Feast of St. Francis with an enclosure wall, houses, offices, courts, and chapel, the latter capable of holding 200 persons. On account of winter coming on I have not been able to finish the church, but I have the timber collected at the house, and please God I hope to finish it in summer. And I tell you it is thought a perfect marvel by all the people who come from the city and elsewhere, and who had previously never heard a word about it. And when they see our new building, and the red cross planted aloft, and us in our chapel with all decorum chaunting the service, they wonder more than ever. When we are singing, his Majesty the Cham can hear our voices in his chamber; and this wonderful fact is spread far and wide among the heathen, and will have the greatest effect, if the divine mercy so disposes matters and fulfils our hopes.

“From the first church and house to the second church which I built afterwards, is a distance of two miles and a half within the city, which is passing great. And I have divided the boys into two parties, putting one of them in the first church and the other in the second, and so each party performs the service by itself. But I act as chaplain and celebrate mass in each church on alternate weeks, for none of those boys are priests.”

These extracts prove that Christianity had more than a merely nominal footing in China during the domination of the Mongol Khans, and makes it interesting to inquire what its organisation there was. I shall abstract a very valuable summary of it from one of Colonel Yule’s works. The mission was founded by John of Montecorvino, already mentioned, who was bom in 1247. He was a Franciscan, and had been a good deal in the East, whence he brought back news that the Mongol princes were favourably disposed towards Christianity, and he was sent by the Pope on a special mission to the further East, to the great Khan Kublai, to his great rival Kaidu, to the Ilkhan Argun, to the King and Queen of Lesser Armenia, to the Patriarch of the Jacobites, and the Bishop of Tauris. He travelled by way of India, and according to Colonel Yule, probably reached China after Kublai’s death. Two of his letters are extant. The accounts that reached Rome of his diligence led to his being nominated Archbishop of Khanbaligh. This was probably in the spring of 1307. About the same time seven other Franciscans were appointed suffragan bishops under his authority. “The powers conferred on the archbishop,” says Colonel Yule, “were unusually ample, empowering him to rule like a Patriarch over all bishops and prelates of those parts, subject only to his recognition of the superiority of the Roman See, and to the reception of the pallium from it by himself and his successors. The suffragans thus nominated for Cathay were Gerard, Peregrine of Castello, Andrew of Perugia, reader in theology; Nicholas of Bantra or of Apulia, minister (in the order) of the province of St. Franci; Andrutius of Assisi, Ulrich Sayfustordt, and William of Villeneuve. Of these only the first three reached their destination. They consecrated the archbishop, and in course of time all three succeeded as bishops of Zayton. In 1312 the Pope nominated three more bishops to serve under Archbishop John, by name Thomas, Jerome, and Peter of Florence. The last is heard of as presiding over one of the convents at Zayton, whilst Andrew of Perugia ruled the other. John of Montecorvino died about 1328. We are told that both Pagans and Christians followed him to the grave with demonstrations of the deepest grief and veneration. Colonel Yule says “he was the first and last Archbishop of Khanbaligh.” In 1333, after the news of John’s death had reached Avignon, one Friar Nicholas was appointed to the see, and was sent forth accompanied by twenty friars and six laymen, but it is not known what became of the party. Their arrival at Almalig and civil treatment there were heard of, but nothing beyond. There is no indication of their having ever reached the court of Cathay.

Wadding has a story that John of Montecorvino converted the Khan and his mother, and that shortly after the Khan died, and was buried with Imperial solemnity in the convent church, and that thirty years later, when the troubles broke out and the friars had to quit Cathay, they removed the body to Serai, and when taken up it was found all fresh as when just buried. Colonel Yule identifies this Khan with Ayur bali batra, who, he says, died in 1311; but this is a mistake, that Khan, in fact, mounted the throne in that year, which was the year of Khaissan’s death; and if the story, which is very improbable, have any truth in it, it refers to Khaissan and not to Ayur bali batra.

 

BUYANTU KHAN.

 

Khaissan left two sons, Kushala and Tu Timur, or Du Timur, but they did not immediately succeed him. As I have said, he named his brother Ayur bali batra as his successor. This, as Schmidt suggests, is probably a Sanskrit and not a Mongol name, and was given him by the Lamas. He is called Buyantu Khan by Ssanang Setzen. Vassaf, in describing his inauguration, tells us the Kuriltai was composed of 14,000 princes, each of whom employed relays of from 700 to 1,000 horses. This shows the extravagant way in which the revenue was squandered. The feast lasted a week. Forty oxen and 4,000 sheep, besides a great number of animals whose flesh is forbidden to the Mussulmans, were eaten daily. At the hour fixed by the astrologers, the new Emperor seated himself on his throne, his face turned towards the south, in the Karshi, which was hung with silk and brocade. The descendants of Genghis Khan were on the right, and the descendants of his brother Juji Kassar on the left of the throne. The Khatuns, or princesses, were seated on stools. The Finchans, or ministers, and the generals, were ranged according to their rank. In front of the throne sparkled a great number of vases and cups, decorated with precious stones. The inauguration was conducted with the usual ceremony, and the Khakan was saluted under the title of Bui Yantuc Kaan (the Buyantu of Ssanang Setzen).

At the commencement of his reign a census was made of the old people living at Ta-tu, and in that city alone there were found 2,331 who were upwards of ninety years old, and 8,331 of upwards of eighty. The Emperor ordered two pieces of silk to be given to each of the former, and one to each of the latter. He was evidently of a kindly disposition. On one occasion five brothers were condemned to death for some crime. He inquired if their father had any more sons, and on hearing that he had not, he ordered that the least culpable of the five should be reprimanded and set at liberty to go and look after his parents.

After his accession he proceeded to punish those officers who had been led in the weak reign of Khaissan to commit abuses. Among the tributary princes to whom he notified his advent to the throne are named those of Chen ching (Cochin China), Ngan nan (Annam), Papesifu (a kingdom on the borders of Yunnan), Ta Cheli (?), Chao cheli, Mapon (? Malabar), and Hien (an island near Japan). He reminded them of his accession, and told them to remember and send their tribute at the proper time, and assured them that however distant they were he carried them in his heart. The tributary kings sent him ambassadors with presents. The King of Chen ching sent him elephants and rhinoceroses. Those of Papésifu and Tacheli sent him tame clephants taught to perform various tricks. Vassaf relates that among his other envoys he sent Ayadji Chinsang and Devlet shah to the Ilkhan Uldjaitu. They arrived at Baghdad, where he was passing the winter, in February, 1312, taking with them presents and friendly letters. They were well received, and Uldjaitu presented them with robes of golden tissue and jewelled girdles. Each of these envoys took with him 600 posting horses. The Ikhan sent an embassy in reply, which we are told was charged with collecting the arrears of income which were owing to their master from the possessions he held in the East as one of the descendants of Genghis Khan. This curious fact proves that the Ilkhans stilt looked upon Mongolia in some measure as their home, still considered themselves members of the Khakan’s family, and claimed to share in the distribution of the ancestral patrimony.

The chief posts in the various bureaux had been previously filled by Mongols. The Emperor now doubled the number of these officials, and appointed an equal number of Chinese and Mongols. He also increased the strictness of the examinations, and arranged a kind of hierarchy of scholars. Commissioners were appointed to make confidential reports on the condition of the various provinces of the empire, and to distribute relief among those who had suffered from the terrible earthquakes and other misfortunes that troubled this reign. A Muhammedan governor in Kiansi, named Jemaleddin, caused a revolt by his exactions. This was put down, and its leaders punished, but with equal justice the cause of the mischief was also tried, deprived of his office, and branded in the face with a hot iron as a public thief.

Buyantu was of a studious disposition, very much encouraged the class of literates, and revived the public examinations which had been partially disused since the days of Kublai, and in 1312 he transported to Pekin some ancient stone monuments in the shape of drums, of the time of the Emperor Suenwang, 827 BC. They were originally ten in number, and were three feet in height and one foot in diameter, and were made of marble. They had verses inscribed on them in the characters Ta chuen. These drums have been considered among the finest monuments in China. One was lost in the various revolutions that have overtaken the country. The nine others still remained in De Mailla’s day, and were preserved in the Kué tse kien or Imperial College at Peking. Buyantu caused the names of the most distinguished literates to be set up in the Hall of Confucius. Among those so honoured the historian Semakuang, Chuhi, Chaokangtsie, Nanhien, Chautung, Chinghao, Changtsay, Lustukien, Hiuheng, are specially named. A Muhammedan named Il meddin constructed a calendar to serve for 10,000 years. In 1314 Buyantu forbade the employment of eunuchs in the public service, but the very next year he created one of them chief mandarin, to the vexation of the Chinese.

Kushala, the son of Khaissan, was now grown up, and began to be discontented that his uncle should occupy the throne, and to keep him out of harm’s way, he was appointed governor of Yunnan, a post which was generally chosen when a mild exile was needed for a troublesome relative. This was in 1316. Kushala resented this appointment. He was supported, by several generals, who gained over the troops of Kwangchung, and even got possession of the famous fortress of Tung kuan, but Tatchar, the most important of the rebels, shortly after submitted, and Kushala was deserted by most of his other officers. He had to escape to the Altai mountains, to the Khans of Jagatai. The Jagatai Khans had apparently continued the rebellion of the Ogotai princes, and we now hear of a war which Buyantu carried on on his western frontier against Issenbuka, the Khan of Jagatai, over whom his general Kipchak Choanggor won two victories, and pursued him to the country of Chair, near the defile called the Iron Gate.

He encouraged learned men to settle at his court. Among these, De Guignes mentions especially a Muhammedan named Chahan, a native of Balkh, and one of the most learned men of his time, who composed a history of China in Mongol. He fixed the Chinese chronology, generally followed by the better Chinese historians, and wrote a history of the wars of Ogotai with the Kins. The Emperor’s elder son, Chotepala, who was now seventeen, was a great favourite of his father’s, who wished to resign the empire to him, but he was dissuaded from it, and appointed him lieutenant-governor of the kingdom instead. The tutor of the young prince was one Temudar, against whom the Imperial censors presented a report, demanding his death, for various malpractices and extortions, and for his despotism. The Emperor ordered his trial, and removal from office, but his part was taken by the Empress mother, who so tormented her son the Emperor, that he fell ill. His life was despaired of. Shutepala offered the six days’ sacrifice, and invoked heaven to preserve his father’s life, and distributed alms among the poor and prisoners, but it was unavailing, for he died in February, 1320, and received the posthumous title of Gin tsong. The courtly Kang mu annals assign his illness to his mother’s shrewish tongue, but Gaubil has translated for us a more natural explanation. Under the year 1317 I find it stated, “The Emperor this year began to have a love for wine, and he fell several times into this evil habit.” We can hardly doubt, therefore, that like many other Mongol sovereigns, he fell a victim to dissipation. The Chinese praise him highly for his literary tastes and patronage of learning.

The annals of Buyantu’s reign are chiefly occupied with accounts of terrible fires, earthquakes, droughts, pestilence, and by what the astrologers no doubt thought equally unfortunate, namely, the apparition of a comet, and the happening of a solar eclipse on the first day of the year, and by the measures he adopted to alleviate the condition of the sufferers. He took an interest in social matters, very unusual in Eastern Sovereigns. Thus, in 1318 the department of public works presented a treatise on the cultivation of the mulberry, and the best way of rearing silkworms; this was written by one Miao-hao-kien. The Emperor read the work himself, paid for illustrations to it, and had a large number of copies printed and distributed.

The control of barbarous tribes within the Imperial frontier began to bring with it, as it so often does, trouble and anxiety, and we are told that in 1319 the ministers proposed, on the death of the governor of a mountain district of Yunnan, to make the government hereditary in some family of the country, so that it should pass to the eldest son on his being approved of by the Emperor. It was urged that these tribes were savage and numerous, and that they could best be controlled by some one who was savage also, and understood their mode of life. This was accordingly done.

Karakorum is called Holin in the earlier Chinese annals. Holin being the transcription into Chinese, which has no letter r, of the Mongol Kolin or Korum, city. We are told that in 1300 the name of the city was changed from Ho lin to Ho ning, meaning peace and concord.

 

GEGEN KHAN.

 

As t have said, Temudar was a protégé of the Dowager Empress, and also of Buyantu’s son and heir, Shutepala or Gegen, the latter having been his pupil, and on the death of Buyantu he was specially protected by them.

The young prince was much affected by his father’s death; day and night he watched by his coffin in his habits of mourning, fasted largely, and dispensed large sums in charity. The return to power of Temudar was signalised by fresh excesses, and by the execution of several of those whom he suspected of having been the cause of his late trial. At length the young prince began to feel the leading strings of the Empress and Temudar rather irksome, and determined to speed on his inauguration. This took place in the third month of 1320. Meanwhile Baidju, the commander of the Imperial guard, who was descended from Mukuli, the renowned general of Genghis, and was a man of high character, gained great influence over the Emperor, and displaced that of Temudar. He instructed him in the cultus of the ancestors, and we are told that the young Emperor summoned the various princes and grandees, and in grand ceremonial robes went in stately procession through the streets, amidst great rejoicing, to the temple of his ancestors to perform the usual rites. He was the first of the Mongol sovereigns to go through this ceremony. The various mandarins and literates congratulated Baidju for having recommended the Emperor, and the commonalty were equally delighted with a general amnesty that was published about the same time. The Chinese were not so well pleased at the patronage extended by the young Emperor to the Buddhists. In the beginning of 1321 he built a Buddhist temple on the mountains west of Peking, and when the censors reproached him he had several of them put to death; among them a very distinguished officer, named Soyaoelhatimichi, whose ancestors had been faithful dependents of the Mongol Imperial house. We are told the Emperor destroyed a temple built by the Hoeihu, the Turkish Muhammedans, at Shangtu, and prohibited these Turks from buying slaves from the Mongols and selling them again to the Chinese.

About 1323 there was published the Tai Yuen tong chi, the code of laws of the Yuen dynasty. This was drawn up by Wanien-nadan and Tsaopeki. It was a revised code of all the laws that had been passed since the accession of the dynasty, and consisted of 2,539 articles.

The growing influence of Baidju greatly disgusted Temudar, who absented himself from the court. The former now went to Liau tung to put up a monument to his ancestors, on which was graven an eulogium written by the Emperor himself. Temudar thought this a favourable opportunity of regaining his influence at court, and presented himself at the palace, but was refused admittance, and died shortly after of vexation. The Empress, his patron, died about the same time. The dead minister was now bitterly attacked by his victims; his goods were confiscated, he was deprived of his titles, and his tomb was overthrown. A plot was formed among his supporters, who were afraid of vengeance overtaking them. It was headed by his adopted son Tekchi, and it was determined to assassinate the Emperor and his chief minister, Baidju, and messengers were sent to Yissun Timur, the son of Kamala, who commanded on the river Tula, and was probably governor of Karakorum, to apprise him of this and to offer him the crown. The envoy who was sent was named Walus. Tekchi, who held the office of inspector-general of the empire, had great influence with the army. Beside him the chief conspirators were the Princes Hassan and Yesien Timur.

Yissun Timur caused Walus to be seized, and sent notice of the plot to the Emperor. But the messengers arrived too late. Fearing that they would be discovered, the conspirators sped their work. They won over the escort which accompanied the Emperor from Shangtu, and at a place named Nanpo they entered the tent of Baidju and killed him there, and then went to that of the Emperor, who was assassinated in his bed by the hand of Tekchi himself. He was only twenty-one, and left no children. Quick and shrewd, he inherited the good qualities of his father. He had a ready ear for those who would correct him. He was chargeable only with too great severity, a fear of which aroused the conspiracy against him. His death, the first instance of assassination in the Imperial annals since the foundation of the empire by Genghis, marks a stage to which such empires tend, when the Praetorians, whose office it is to guard the throne, begin to treat their Sovereign as their protégé, and betray him when it suits them.

 

YISSUN TIMUR KHAN.

 

Gegen Khan left no children, and Yissun Timur, who commanded in the north, and who was the son of the Kamala who was wrongfully excluded from the throne by Timur Khan, was his successor. He was proclaimed Khakan on the banks of the Longku, probably the Arungu, which flows into lake Kizilbash, and is called Ulungku by the Chinese. He began his reign by rewarding the late conspirators and promoting them to important mandarinates, but, on having it represented to him that by this he would incur the suspicion of having been a party to the murders, he suddenly reversed his policy, and ordered Tekchi and others to be put to death. Others again were exiled to Yunnan, Hainan, and other distant places. During the first year of his reign there occurred an earthquake, an eclipse, great floods, and drought, supplemented by a plague of locusts. The literates declared that heaven was wroth with the nation, and by their advice a distinguished scholar was ordered to prepare a memoir on the evils that caused this divine displeasure. He began by representing that many of the relations and creatures of the murderer Tekchi were still at large, unpunished, and their goods unconfiscated, while the Imperial princes who had been implicated were merely exiled. He denounced the extravagance of the court in buying costly precious stones, imported by foreign merchants, and sold for ten times their value, while the poor were starving. He denounced the conduct of the Prince Toto, the viceroy of Liautung, who had put many people to death and seized their goods; he also denounced, like a good Chinese literate, the vast army of bonzes and Lamas who were riding about the country, and the crowd of eunuchs, astrologers, doctors, and women about the court. The empire, he said, is a family of which the Emperor is the father, and it is pitiful that he should be so engrossed in luxury as not to hear the cries of the wretched; he bade him see to the condition of the oppressed and the poor everywhere; to cause the dead to be carried to their own provinces so that their relatives might look after them, and to forbid the pearl fishery at Canton in which so many perished in searching the bottom of the sea for useless trifles. The Emperor read the memoir, but the fear of offending the Mongols and the Lamas prevented him doing anything effectual. Another report was sometime after presented on the condition of the province of Shensi. This was also full of complaints of the Lamas who, armed with their golden seals, rode about the province making exactions and lording it over the people in a shameful way. They put up at private houses, drove out their masters, and debauched their wives, and did pretty much as they wished. De Mailla tells us that on hearing this report the Emperor forbade the Lamas to enter China. Besides these grievances the Chinese had another, in that Yissun Temur neglected the ancient worship of the sky.

The Emperor divided the empire into eighteen departments. It had formerly been divided into twelve. These were controlled by a board called “the Lords of the Provinces.” The succession of bad seasons caused a great scarcity of grain among the poor, notwithstanding that a considerable amount was hoarded by the grandees. To get at this it was proposed to offer them, not money, but mandarinates in exchange for it, and this distribution of honours was very successful. The annals are crowded with calamities. In 1327 some thieves stole the silver tablet of Khaissan from the Temple of the Ancestors. During an earthquake that happened this year a mountain disappeared. Such disastrous revolutions in the earth’s crust seem to have been very numerous at this period. The Mongols were rapidly acquiring a literature, chiefly, it is true, consisting of translations from the Chinese and Thibetan, and we read that in this year the great history of China, by Serna kuang, was translated into Mongol. The Chinese officials have a custom that on the death of father or mother they wear mourning for three years, and retire into seclusion. At the beginning of Yissun Timur’s reign this rule was extended to the Mongols, but was apparently found most irksome, for in 1328 it was decreed that mourning might be worn, but that the mourners should continue to exercise their functions. Yissun Timur died at Shang tu, where he had gone to pass the summer heats, in August, 1328, in his thirty-sixth year, and his posthumous title was Tai ting. He was little skilled in government, and had only mediocre talents. He was more fitted to head an army than to occupy a throne, and left his empire a prey to factions and troubles.

According to Colonel Yule it was between 1322 and 1328, that is, during the reign of Yissun Timur, that Friar Odoric, of Pordenone, was in China. He has left us a few notices which supplement those of Marco Polo, and I shall extract some of them. Describing the Khakan’s palace at Tatu, he says, its basement was raised about two paces from the ground, and within, there were twenty-four columns of gold, and all the walls were hung with skins of red leather, said to be the finest in the world. In the midst of the palace was a great jar, more than two paces in height, made of a certain precious stone called merdacas; its price, he was told, exceeded the value of four great towns. “It was all hooped round with gold, and in every comer of it was a dragon, represented in the act of striking most fiercely. It had fringes of network of great pearls hanging from it, and these fringes were a span in breadth. Into this vessel drink was conducted by certain conduits from the court of the palace, and beside it were many golden goblets, from which those drank who listed. In the hall of the palace were also many golden peacocks, and when any of the Tartars wished to amuse their lord, they went one after another and clapped their hands, upon which the peacocks flapped their wings, and made as if they would dance.” He tells us that “when the Khakan sat on his throne, the Queen was on his left hand, and a step lower two others of his women, while at the bottom of the steps stood the other ladies of his family. All of these, who were married, wore upon their heads the foot of a man, as it were a cubit and a half in length, and at the top of the foot there were certain cranes’ feathers, the whole foot being set with great pearls, so that if there were in the whole world any fine and large pearls, they were to be found in the decorations oi those ladies.” Colonel Yule quotes several authorities in regard to this head ornament, which are very interesting; thus, Ricold, of Montecroee, after telling a story of how the Tartar women helped to gain a great victory, adds, “In memory of this victory, the Tartars granted leave to their wives to wear lofty crowns to the height of a cubit or more. But, lest the women should wax over proud, thereupon they determined that these crowns should take the form of a foot, and, in fact, at the top of such a great crown, there is, as it were, a foot over it, as if to maintain a testimony that the women did not win the victory alone, but by the help of their husbands, who came to their rescue; and, as if it were said to them, crowned though ye be forget not that ye be under the power of your husbands, and so by a kind of natural reason, they seem to have divined that which is written in the law of God. Sub viri potestate eris.” Whatever the truth of this quaint sage, the fact of some such ornament being worn is also attested by others. Thus Rubruquis, speaking of the headdress of the Tartar women, says, “they have an ornament for their head called Bocca. This was made of the bark of trees or similar light stuff, round, and large enough to require both hands to span it. It was more than a cubit high, and was square above, like the capital of a pillar. The whole was covered with silk, and on the top or capital, there was put in the middle a thin tuft of quills or slender canes, also of a cubit or more, and this tuft was adorned at the top with peacocks’ feathers, and round about with mallards’ feathers and precious stones.” Women of a certain age among the Circassians and Ossetes still wear a headdress called Bogtac. Odoric describes the court of the Khakan in much the same way that Polo does. He tells us he was three years at Khanbaligh, and often present at the festivals, for the minor friars had a place assigned them at court, and were in duty bound to go and give the Khakan their benison. He made diligent inquiries, and learnt that his players numbered thirteen tumens, 130,000 men !!! Of those who kept the dogs, wild beasts, and fowls, fifteen tumans !!! of leeches, 400 idolaters, eight Christians, and one Muhammedan. When the Khakan rode from Khanbaligh to Shangtu, or vice versa, he was escorted by four armies on horseback; one went a day’s march before, one a day’s march behind, and one on either hand, so that he travelled in the centre of a cross. His palanquin was made of lign aloes and gold, covered with fine skins, and ornamented with precious stones. The four Cuthe, i.e., Kuesie, keeping guard by him.

The following story is so quaint that I have been tempted to extract it from Odoric’s travels. “When I was still in the province of Manzi (Southern China), I passed by the foot of the palace wall of a certain burgess, whose manner of life is thus He hath fifty damsels, virgins, who wait on him continually, and when he goeth to dinner and taketh his seat at table the dishes are brought to him by fives and fives, those virgins carrying them in with singing of songs and the music of many kinds of instruments. And they also feed him as if he were a pet sparrow, putting the food into his mouth, singing before him continually until those dishes be disposed of. Then other five dishes ate brought by other five maidens, with other songs and kinds of music, while the first maidens retire, and thus he leadeth his life daily until he shall have lived it out. This story illustrates the luxury and wealth which abounded in China during the Mongol supremacy.

 

KUSHALA KHAN.

 

YISSUN TIMUR had hardly closed his eyes when the Empress Regent sent to have the seals of government seized. Her eldest son Radchapika, called Asukipa by De Mailla and Gaubil, was then nine years old, and had been declared his heir by his father; but there were some about the court who deemed that others had a better claim to it. When Batra succeeded his brother Khaissan, it was on condition that the latter’s children should succeed him, but Batra had violated this agreement, and put his own son on the throne,

Khaissan had left two sons, of whom Kushala had a command in the north, while the other, called Tu Timur, had been long in exile, first in Hainan, and mere lately at Kienkang or Nanking.

The chief partisan of the family of Khaissan was Yen Timur, the governor of Peking. He assembled the mandarins, recited to them the wrongs of his prótegés, and imprisoned Upetula, the first minister, Tiemuku, the first censor, and certain influential mandarins, and effectually overawed the discontented. We are told that the officers whom he appointed were at a loss to know which of the two brothers was to be proclaimed, and only found out that it was Tu Timur when they were ordered to face the south and do homage in the prescribed form. Several princes and others who threatened a revolt were put to death. Meanwhile the Empress Regent caused her son to be proclaimed at Shangtu, and Wanchen, Prince of Leang, was named his first minister. Taché Timur was given command of the troops, and ordered to march against Tu Timur. Tu Timur having arrived at Tatu, he ordered several of those who had been imprisoned by Yen Timur to be executed.

The latter now pressed him to take advantage of the popular enthusiasm and have himself proclaimed Emperor. He replied that the crown belonged to his clder brother, who had performed very arduous services in the north. He at length, however, consented, but in his proclamation he declared that he intended to resign the dignity on his brother’s arrival.

The division in the Imperial family was already beginning to bear fruit. We are told that Nankiatai, governor of Suchuan, made himself independent, and created his province into a separate kingdom. He took the title of Prince, put to death those who opposed his usurpation, appointed officers, and devastated Chen tao. He is treated as Emperor in the history of the Mongols. His rebellion is interesting as the first token of that break-up of the empire which was so closely impending. The party of the young prince, who is numbered among the Khakans by Ssanang Setzen, was by no means contemptible, and besides many of the princes of the blood and provincial governors, it also included the greater part of the western troops. Having been declared his heir by the late Sovereign, he was according to Chinese usage, the legitimate Sovereign. Yen, Timur marched against the partisans of the young prince in Liau tung. He defeated Wanchen, who had captured Kiu yong Koan. Meanwhile the officers of Asukipa occupied the famous fortress of Tung kuan, and even marched upon Peking, They were defeated. An end was at length put to the war by the successful march of Buka Timur, an uncle of Yen Timur, with several commanders from Eastern Tartary, who marched upon Shangtu, where the young prince held his court. Its commander made several ineffectual sorties, and deserted with the Imperial seal and the jewels of Asukipa. Meanwhile that young claimant disappeared: no one knew how. His disappearance was the signal for the disintegration of his forces, which were completely dispersed. He was styled by the Chinese Tien chun. Tu Timur sent word to Kushala of what had happened. Meanwhile the latter advanced leisurely. He caused himself to be proclaimed Emperor at Karakorum, and there received Yen Timur, who came from his brother, and boye the Imperial seal and other insignia of office. Yen Timur was well received by Kushala, who appointed several of his father’s old officers as his ministers, and named his brother Tu Timur as his heir. Tu Timur sent messengegs to Nankiatai to recall him to his allegiance, promising him that the past should be forgotten; but, as usual in China, such promise was not kept. His submission was followed by his execution and the confiscation of his goods. Kushala continued his margh, and met his brother near Shangtu. The meeting was cordial enough on his part, but Tu Timur showed signs of jealousy, and Yen Timur complained of having been slighted by the Mongol grandees, The same evening, at a feast, Kushala was suddenly seized with iliness. He died a few days after, not without suspicion of poisoning. This was in the latter part of 1329. He was only thirty years old, and received the posthumous title of Ming tsong. His body was removed to Shangtu.

 

JIYAGHATU KHAN.

 

Tu Timur, who is called Jiyaghatu Khan by Ssanang Setzen, now had himself proclaimed afresh, with greater ceremony than before. He was much attached to the Lamaists, and spent immense sums upon them. He summoned Nienchinkilas, a famous western Lama, whom he called his master, to his court, and sent the grandees of the court to meet him and do him honour. They obeyed, and offered him wine, while he treated them in a very cavalier manner. The president of the Imperial College, who was much piqued at this conduct, said to him, when presenting the cup, “You are a disciple of Buddha and master of all the Hochang, and I am a disciple of Confucius and head of all the literates of China. Confucius was as great as Buddha. Between us there is no need of so much ceremony.” The Lama smiled, rose from his seat, and received the cup which the president offered him in the same attitude, standing. The young Emperor ordered the college of Han lin to draw up a collection of the Mongol customs, similar to the works styled Hoei yao of the Thang and Sung dynasties. In imitation of Khubilai, he wished to have only one minister. He accordingly suppressed the rest, and appointed Yen Timur to the post. After his appointment, he became tyrannical, insolent, and very unpopular.

Early in 1330 there was a revolt in Yunnan, where the Prince Tukien declared himself independent. Troops were sent against him, and were ordered to march by the country of Pa fan. Tukien was supported by the Lolos and other tribes of Miaotze, on the borders of Yunnan. The khan’s army, under the command of Timur buka, was defeated, and sent for reinforcements. Upon which the Prince Yuntu Timur was ordered to withdraw 20,000 men from the provinces of Kiang nan, Honan, and Kiang si, and to lead them by way of Hu kuang towards Yunnan. These successful outbreaks at the extremities of the empire were doing a good deal, no doubt, to break the prestige of the Mongols. The court also was growing demoralised, and we are told that the Empress Putacheli having a grudge against her sister-in-law, the widow of the late Khan, had her assassinated by an eunuch.

In order to gain the esteem of the literates, whose influence with the Chinese (at this time distressed by inundations and famine) was very great, fresh honours were decreed to the father and mother of Confucius. These inundations are said to have entirely ruined 5,180,000 arpens of land in the provinces of Kiang nan and Hu kuang, and to have reduced to poverty more than 400,000 families.

In the latter part of 1330 the Emperor went in person to perform the great sacrifice to the sky. Previously it was done by deputy. This was followed by a general amnesty, and by the proclamation of his young son Alatehatala as heir; he, however, died the next year. The following year the harvest was still worse, and in the province of Chekiang there were 800,000 families who harvested nothing of either grain or rice. The war in Yunnan continued with doubtful success, but the Imperial general Alatenacheli having collected an army of 100,000 men, defeated the Lolos and other mountaineers, and killed two of their chiefs. He seems to have quelled the rebellion and pacified Yunnan and Suchuan. It is a remarkable custom in China that the Imperial annals are not published or even seen by any one, save the officials of the College of Historians, during the Emperor’s life. In the latter part of 1331 Tu Timur went to the college and ordered the bureau containing the account of his own doings to be opened. The chief officials were cowed, but a subordinate had the courage to throw himself at the Emperor’s feet, and to declare that it was impossible the tribunal could continue to be independent; could pronounce judgment on the good and bad actions of the Emperor and his officers unless protected by secrecy. That it was indispensable that they should write the truth and omit nothing. That hitherto no Emperor had violated the sacred memoirs of his dynasty, much less of his own reign, and that he hoped the Emperor would not insist on doing so. Tu Timur, after some hesitation, assented to this reasoning, and praised the official for his integrity.

Lo yu, one of the rebel chiefs in Yunnan, had escaped to the mountains; he collected a body of his people, and dividing them into sixty small parties, overran the country of Chun yuen, where they committed frightful devastation. A force marched against them, under the orders of the general Kiehé, who stormed their chief stronghold. Five hundred of them perished. Three sons and two brothers of Prince Tukien were made prisoners, while a third brother drowned himself rather than fall into the hands of the Chinese. Lo yu himself escaped. We are told that Tu Timur was so occupied with his pleasures that he hardly deigned to show any interest in this distant campaign. Yen Timur possessed his entire confidence, and pandered to his tastes. So infatuated was the Emperor with him that he caused his own son Kulatana to live with him and recognise him as his father, wishing him even to change his name. A son of Yen Timur’s, called Targai, was brought up in the palace in the place of Kulatana.

The conduct of the Emperor caused much discontent, and Yuelu Timur, son of Ananda, in conjunction with the heads of the Lama religion in China, formed a plot to displace him; but this was discovered, and they were duly punished. He however survived only a short time, and died at Shangtu in the latter part of 1332. His death occurs in the annals amidst the accounts of earthquakes and other disasters, that presaged so well the coming disasters to Mongol dominion. He was twenty-nine years old when he died; his posthumous title was Wen-tsong.

 

RINTSHENPAL KHAN.

 

I have said how infatuated Tu Timur became with his minister Yen Timur, and how he had sent his son to be brought up in his house. This son was named originally Kulatana, but he then took the name of Yen tikusi. On the death of the Emperor, Yen Timur naturally wished to place this young prince on the throne, but the Empress Regent declared that Tu Timur had nominated the second son of Kushala as his successor. He is called Ilintshepan by De Mailla and Gaubil, Yléchébé by Hyacinthe, and Rintshenpal by Ssanang Setzen. He was only seven years old. She caused him to be proclaimed, and declared herself Regent; but he was of a delicate constitution, and died two months after. His title in Chinese history is Ning-tsong.

 

TOGHON TIMUR KHAN.

 

ON the death of Ning-tsong, Yen Timur made another effort to put his protégé on the throne, but the Empress Regent again intervened in favour of Toghon Timur, the elder brother of Ning-tsong, urging that Yentikusi was too young, and that Tu Timur had promised to place a son of Kushala on the throne.

There were grave doubts about the legitimacy of Toghon Timur. His father had escaped westwards, as I have described, and had married a descendant of Arselan, who had submitted to Genghis (clearly the Arslan Khan of the Karluks, to whom I have already referred). Toghon Timur was the product of this marriage. His mother had died many years before, and he himself had been exiled to an island on the Corean coast. As the rumour spread that this exile was prompted by Tu Timur’s desire to remove a dangerous rival, who was clearly entitled to succeed him if he was the eldest son of Kushala, he published the news that Kushala had had no sons during his exile, and that Toghon Timur was not legitimate; he also removed him to Tsing kiang (Kuei lin fu) in Kwangsi. ' There he was on the death of his brother. Yen Timur went with a large cortege to bring him to the capital. He was coldly received, and grew suspicious. Toghon Timur, however, married his daughter. He shortly after died from his debauchery and excesses. He had been suspected, not without reason, of the deaths of Kushala Khan, and also of Tu Timur, and it was deemed fortunate for the new Khan that he should have died when he did. He is styled audacious and perfidious by De Mailla. He was extravagant and debauched. In his feasts he killed as many as thirteen and fourteen horses. On the death of Yissun Timur he forced his widow to marry him. Among his concubines were numbered forty princesses of the Imperial blood, whom he took up one after another, retaining some of them only three days. The young Emperor was only thirteen, of limited capacity, and of a feeble and timid character.

He left the affairs of State in the management of his chief officers, whom he chose mainly from the family of Yen Timur. Bayan, a Merkit, and Satun, a brother of Yen Timur, were created chief ministers. De Mailla says that on the day when the former was appointed there was a dreadful earthquake at Tsin chan, as if to show how much heaven disapproved of the choice. This was followed by other prodigies. A rain of blood, which discoloured the clothes of those it fell upon, in Kaifong fu; a shower of green threads, like hairs, in the district of Chang; while rain and drought devastated other districts; and 13,000,000 people are said to have died in the southern provinces. Bayan and Santun did not agree. The latter shortly after died, and was succeeded by Tangkichi, the eldest son of Yen Timur, who, jealous of his colleague, determined to rebel and to place Hoanho Timur, son of Shireki and grandson of the Khakan Mangu, on the throne. Bayan having heard of the conspiracy, caused the rebels to be arrested. Tangkichi was killed. His brother Targai took refuge in the apartments of his sister, the Empress, but was sabred in her presence. She herself was also executed, while Hoanho Timur committed suicide. Thus perished, says D’Ohsson, the illustrious house of Yen Timur.

The Emperor was given up to frivolity. While famine and disaster were overtaking his people he engaged in hunting and other amusements, and when the Imperial censors blamed him, he endeavoured to bribe them into silence by presents. After some pressure, we are told, these were accepted, but the remonstrances were not discontinued.il We need not be cynics to doubt the efficacy of remonstrances when thus rewarded. Meanwhile revolts occurred in various provinces. A peasant, named Chu kuang king, with some companions, raised a rebellion at Cheng chin in Kwan tung, erased the dynastic title of Yuen and set up that of Kin. Other similar rebellions took place at Hoei chau, in Kwang tung, and in Honan. These were put down, but the discontent was not eradicated. The Emperor having remarked that the rebels were mainly Chinese, began to suspect that the mandarins had only an official, and not a real attachment to his dynasty. It was determined to deprive them of their horses, and to forbid them, on pain of death, to carry arms. The use of the Mongol language was also interdicted them. The year 1337, like the preceding one, was marked by natural phenomena of a serious aspect to a race afraid of omens. A comet, heavy rains, hail (of which some of the stones were shaped like children and others like lions), and an earthquake. The last of which overturned the Temple-of-the-Ancestors of the reigning dynasty.

The following year a rebellion broke out in Fukien, the Imperial troops were beaten, and it was not till two years later that it was suppressed. Another revolt broke out the next year in Honan. Everywhere, apparently, the people were growing weary of the exactions of the Mongols and the weakness of the court. To this was added the cruel and imperious conduct of Bayan. He was a Merkit by origin, and descended from the great Bayan of the days of Genghis; he had been governor of Honan, and rose to great favour during the reign of Tu Timur. After the death of Gegen Khan he monopolised almost all authority, and used it badly. With his own hand he had killed the Empress Péyau, and in 1339, for some unexplained reason, proposed to the Emperor to put to death all those with the surnames Chang, Wang, Lian, Li, and Chao. This did not come about, but it created him many enemies; and his conduct is set down as one of the main causes of the final expulsion of the Mongols from China. He even took upon himself to have the prince Tan wang executed, and the princes Timur buka and Koan-che-buka exiled without the Emperor’s authority. Bayan had a brother, Matchartai, equal to him in talent but without his vices. He and his son Toto or Toktagha, fearing that Bayan’s misconduct would lead to the ruin of the whole family, and mindful of the Chinese maxim that a faithful subject ought to sacrifice his family to his Sovereign and country, determined to make a representation to the Emperor. Toktagha accordingly did so, and plans were laid for deposing him. One day when Bayan absented himself from the city for the purpose of hunting, the gates were closed against him. He was deprived of his honours and exiled to Honan, but died on the way there of disappointment. On his way he halted at Ching ting fu, and some old men brought him out some wine. He asked them, referring to what Toktagha had done, if they had heard the news of a son who intended to kill his father.

They replied that they had not, but that they had heard of subjects who wished to kill their Sovereign. Confused by this ambiguous answer, Bayan, we are told, held down his head and passed on without reply.

His brother Matchartai, the father of Toktagha, who had won much favour at court for his exemplary conduct, succeeded him. This was in 1340. The same year Toghon Timur caused the name of Tu Timur to be erased from the tablets of the ancestors. These tablets are made of wood or silver, five or six inches wide and a foot or more long, and have the name and title of the person and the year of his birth and death inscribed on them. The Chinese believe that the spirit of the deceased resides in them, and pay adoration to them. The name of Tu Timur was erased for the part he took in the murder of Kushala Khan, the father of Toghon Timur, the exile of himself to Corea, and the indignity of suggesting that he was a bastard. At the same time the Empress Putacheli, who had preferred his younger brother to himself, was exiled to Tong ngan chau, where she shortly after died, while Yentikusi, the son of Tu Timur, was sent to Corea. He was put to death on the way by the mandarin who escorted him. To escape responsibility for these events, which were against his counsel, Matchartai resigned his office of chief minister, and was succeeded by his son Toktagha. Toghon Timur now caused to be completed a great historical work, which had been in progress since the days of Kublai Khan, namely, the history of the dynasties of the Liau, Kin, and Sung. According to Gaubil, this work contains calendars, astronomical observations, biographies of celebrated men, bibliographies of the various reigns, and many details on the neighbouring countries. It is somewhat scandalous to our age that it has not yet been translated. About the same time was published the King chi ta tien, a Chinese work containing the customs of the Mongols, and the political and other precepts of the different Emperors. This was a kind of sequel to a work published in the reign of Gegen Khan, with the title Tai Yuan tong chi, containing the Mongol laws. The year 1342 was marked by revolts in Hu kuang and Shan tung. These were quelled, the latter with some difficulty. The following year there arrived—as a present to the Emperor—some horses from the country of Fu lang (the Franks). They were of a breed hitherto unknown in China. One of them was eleven feet and a half long, and six feet and a half high. It was black all over, except the hind feet, which were white. It is curious to meet with such a notice among the various accounts of disaster that occupy the annals. But these big western horses were doubtless very wonderful to the Chinese, who only knew the little breed of Mongolian ponies.

The particular horses are of greater interest to us, however, for they introduce us to another of those intrepid mediaeval travellers whose audacity and enterprise have hardly been equalled in later times. The traveller who is brought into our notice by the horses above named was Marignolli, a Franciscan, who was probably born about 1290. In 1338, says Colonel Yule, there arrived at Avignon an embassy from the great Khan of Cathay, consisting of Andrew, a Frank, and fifteen other persons. They brought two letters to the Pope; one purporting to be from the Khan himself, the other from certain Christian Alans in his service. It is possible that this Andrew was the Andrew, Bishop of Zayton, already named. Colonel Yule is disposed to accept the Khan’s letter as genuine. It is thus phrased:—

“In the strength of the Omnipotent God, the Emperor of Emperors commandeth :

“We send our envoy, Andrew the Frank, with fifteen others, to the Pope, the Lord of the Christians, in Frankland, beyond the seven seas where the sun goes down, to open a way for the frequent exchange of messengers between us and the Pope; and to request the Pope himself to send us his blessing, and always to remember us in his holy prayers; and to commend to him the Alans, our servants and his Christian sons. Also we desire that our messengers bring back to us horses and other rarities from the sun setting.

“ Written in Cambalec, in the year of the Rat, in the 6th month, on the 3rd day of the Moon.”

Whether the letter be from the Khan himself or no, there cannot be much doubt about the arrival of this embassy, which was “graciously received by the Pope, Benedict the Twelfth, one mark of his favour being to create one of the Tartar envoys sergeant-at-arms to himself.” Shortly after he appointed legates to return the courtesies of the Khan, and also to further the cause of the faith. His letters to the great Khan, and to the Alans in reply, were accompanied by letters to the Khans of Kipchak and Jagatai, and to two Christian ministers of the latter Sovereign. With these letters the Eastern envoys departed from Avignon in 1338, bearing recommendations also from the Pope to the Doge and Senate of Venice, and to the Kings of Hungary and Sicily. The legates who were named were Nicholas Boneti, S.T.P., Nicholas of Molano, John of Florence (Marignolli), and Gregory of Hungary. Marignolli’s notices of his recollections were found during the last century in a Bohemian chronicle. The mission went by way of Constantinople, Kafifa, Serai (the capital of the Golden Horde), where they passed the winter of 1339; Almalig, where they stayed till 1341; Kamil, and finally arrived at Cambalec in May or June, 13424

There they stayed three or four years, and returned to Europe by way of India. Marignolli expressly mentions horses among the presents he took with him. One of these, which he presented to Uzbek, the Khan of the Golden Horde, he calls “a great war horse.” This was no doubt similar to the one he took with him to China. He says that “when the grand Khan beheld the great horses, and the Pope’s presents with his letter, and King Robert’s too, with their golden seals; and when he saw them (the envoys) also, he rejoiced greatly, being delighted, yea exceedingly delighted with everything, and treated them with the greatest honour; and when he (Marignolli) entered the Khan’s presence it was in full festival vestments, with a very fine cross carried before him and candles and incense, while Credo in unum Deum was chaunted in that glorious palace where he dwelt. And when the chaunt was ended he bestowed a full benediction, which he received with all humility.” He tells us they were treated very liberally, not only in regard to meat and drink, but even down to such things as paper for lanterns, and the necessary servants were detached from the court to wait upon them, and this for nearly four years. They also kept him and his establishment clothed in costly raiment. He calculated that, considering there were thirty-two persons, it must have cost the Khan more than 4,000 marks to entertain them. “And,” he adds, “we had many and glorious disputations with the Jews and other sectaries, and we made also a great harvest of souls in that empire.” When he left, the Khan sent presents by him to the Pope, and also gave him an allowance for three years’ expenses; he also sent a request that either he or some one else should be speedily sent back with the rank of cardinal, and with full powers to be bishop there; that he should be of the Minorite or Franciscan order, because they were the only priests whom they were acquainted with, and because Pope Girolamo, who sent them John of Montecorvino, whom they so much revered, was one of them. The horses which our traveller took form a most curious link between Chinese and European history, inasmuch as they are mentioned in the Imperial annals of the former, and also in a contemporary Western chronicle, written by our traveller, who was the chaplain to the Emperor Charles the Fourth in the latter.

Gaubil tells us in his translation of the Chinese Chronology, 186, that there was preserved in the Imperial palace a picture in which Shunti (Toghon Timur), the last Emperor of the Yuen dynasty, was represented on a fine horse, of which all the dimensions were detailed, and also that it was presented to Shunti by a foreigner of the kingdom of France. (Rather, as Colonel Yule suggests, of the kingdom of the Franks, Europeans in China, as in the East generally, being known as Franks). But we must proceed with our narrative.

In 1344, Toktagha weary of his office resigned it, and received the title of Ching wang. He was succeeded by Ilacho, a descendant of Bughurdshi, one of Genghis Khan’s favourite chiefs. He is called Alutu by De Mailla.

In 1346, some thieves stole the silver tablets of the Emperors from the Temple of the Ancestors, a fact which, as De Mailla says, shows the unsettled condition to which things were fast tending. The weakness of the Emperor led to constant intriguing for place among the ministers. Ilacho grew disgusted. One Pierke buka, son of the Agutai who had been put to death by Khaissan, gained the Emperor’s ear and persuaded him to exile Matchartai, who was so much esteemed for his integrity. His son Toktagha having failed to get this decision reversed, followed his father. Matchartai was sent to Kan chau, in Shen si, where he shortly after died.

Ilacho also determined to resign, especially as some of the Imperial censors supported Pierke buka in his intrigues. “I am a great grandson of Bughurdshi, he said, and I am not very proud of being a minister. I only accepted the office to please the Emperor. He pressed me and I could only obey, but as the censors have thought me guilty I submit to their judgment, and resign with pleasure a post I only filled with repugnance.”

Pierke buka succeeded to the vacant office, his incapacity or misconduct led to his being superseded by the Prince Turtchi, who asked that he might have Tai ping as a colleague. This was granted, and they applied themselves with vigour to various reforms. One of their inspectors named Hanyong proceeded to found schools in the various departments, and to appoint special costumes for masters and pupils. He also ordered several temples to be destroyed, and the land they occupied to be brought into cultivation. The people who had suffered so much from the recent bad seasons were much pleased with these reforms. The Emperor was also interested and paid a visit to the Imperial College, to which he had not been since he mounted the throne. He gave a silver seal to a descendant of Confucius, who bore the title of Yen ching kong, and raised the mandarins who were there in charge to a higher rank.

At the end of 1348, the Imperial censor Chang chin presented a memoir on the fact that so many of Bayan’s relatives were still at large, and that this encouraged the pirates and robbers on the frontier of the empire, who deemed themselves safe from justice, and he warned the Emperor that he was thus tempting the fate which overtook the dynasty of the Tang. About this time Toktagha was recalled at the instance of Tai ping and recovered his influence at court. He was not on good terms however with his benefactor, and even joined in the chorus of voices that depreciated him. Tai ping seems to have lost his position, and his friends suggested that he should commit suicide, rather than outlive the disgrace. He refused, saying he was not conscious of any fault, and that he should only be confirming the judgment of his enemies if he killed himself. He retired to Fong yuen, his birthplace.

Toktagha was now appointed tutor to the heir apparent, Ayuchélitala. The lessons were given in the hall called Toan pen tang, at the bottom of which was placed a throne upon which the Emperor intended to sit sometimes. The young prince and his masters were ranged round the room. One La hao ven was appointed to teach him statecraft, and composed for him several works on history, the duties of princes, &c., but his scholar was impatient of restraint and learnt little. He had a leaning towards Buddhism, and one day, when he gave an audience to some Coreans and Lamas, he caused much chagrin to the Chinese, by saying that he could not understand the doctrines contained in the Chinese books, which Li hao ven had tried so carefully to teach him, but that he understood perfectly the Buddhist doctrines.

The Chinese discontent was increased by the favour shown to foreigners, especially to Ama and Sue, two Turks from the Kipchak, who were the Khakan’s confidantes, and without capacity or talents. Meanwhile, the condition of China was growing worse. The straw that eventually crushed the camel’s back was not an important one. The banks of the Hoang ho, which has a reputation for changing its course, were constantly breaking down and causing inundations. In 1348, a mathematician named Kia lu made a report upon it, and suggested that the course of the river should be changed and turned back into an ancient channel, which was now deserted. In this opinion he was supported by Toktagha, and opposed by others, including the superintendent of public works, who declared the new course to be impracticable. It was decided to be made notwithstanding. It involved the cutting of an immense ditch, twenty-eight leagues long, and for this work a forced levy of 70,000 men was ordered from the people on the banks, and large taxes were levied to pay for the same. These causes led to a revolt, headed by one Han chan tong, who at first declared himself a Buddha, but his Chinese supporters deftly found a new excuse for him, in proclaiming that he was a scion of the ancient house of the Sung Emperors. He was joined by a large body of insurgents, who swore allegiance to him, and sacrificed a white horse and a black one, and adopted a red cap as their symbol. Han chan tong wa9 shortly afterwards captured by the Mongols, but his wife and son escaped. This was in 1351.8 Meanwhile, a pirate named Fang ku chin pillaged the coasts of Chekiang and Kiang nan, entered the river, and captured much booty. The grandees kept the matter secret, and the pirate and his brother were even rewarded.

Liau fu tong, a supporter of Han chan tong, continued to struggle after the latter’s capture. He captured several towns in Kiang nan, and entered Honan. Another rebel, named Siu chau hoei, also appeared in Hu kuang. He had himself proclaimed Emperor at Ki chui, and gave his dynasty the title of Tien wan, and afterwards captured Yao chau and Siu chau. The Mongols fled before him. He descended the river Kiang with a numerous fleet. Meanwhile Li fu, one of the Imperial generals, threw several thousand beams whose ends were armed with hooks and iron points, into the river. Upon these the rebel fleet was forced, and while they were thus entangled he fired their ships by means of burning arrows. Many of the rebels thus perished. They were, however, still strong enough to attack Kiau kiang. Li fu marched to the rescue, but they had already forced a gate. He fought his way from street to street, and at length fell pierced with many wounds. He was a Chinese, and not a Mongol, and is specially named for his fidelity to the foreign dynasty by De Guignes, and was granted many posthumous titles of honour by the Emperor.

At this time the Mongol army, commanded by Yesien Timur, Toktagha’s brother, which had marched against the rebels in Honan, and was encamped at Cha ho, was seized with unaccountable panic and dispersed. The blame was laid upon its commander, but he was supported by his brother, who even punished the mandarin who had declared against him. The court began to grow nervous about the state of affairs, and determined to send a descendant of the Sung Emperor’s, named Chao wan pu, in favour of whom many of the rebels pretended to rise, into Tartary.

Meanwhile Siu chau hoei continued his successes, and with the peculiar policy that animated the Tai ping rebels of our day, he allowed his soldiers to plunder the towns which he captured.

He now attacked Hang chau, the ancient capital of the Sung Emperors. The Mongol troops which were sent to rescue it, having arrived too late to save it, their intrepid commander, Tong pu siao, notwithstanding marched on. The rebels speedily evacuated the city. They were attacked when in a state of disorder. A portion of them took shelter in a miao or temple, Tong pu siao fired it, and not one escaped. Hang chau was recaptured Its fall was followed by that of several other towns. Another rebellion in Hu kiang and Kiangsi was also put down at this time. The rebels were assisted, we are told, by a Tao si, who could by his magical arts cover a space of twelve li with storms. He was captured with his books. His head was cut off in presence of the army, and his books were burnt.

Meanwhile Fang ku chin, the pirate, continued his ravages, and Tia buka, who had occupied some of the most important places of trust in the empire, and was a man of considerable resources, was sent against him. He was then at the mouth of the Kiang. Tai buka, instead of attacking him, sent him proposals of peace. Fancying that some treachery was intended, he seized the envoy, mounted the Kiang with 200 boats, and pillaged the district of Mangan and its neighbourhood. Tai buka, seeing that his plans had failed, determined to collect a large force and to exterminate the pirates. Fang ku chin now made overtures for submission, but these were treacherous ones; and Tai buka having trusted his fleet too close to the enemy, he was captured after a hard resistance and was killed.

Toktagha seeing how matters were going, determined to march himself against the rebels, notwithstanding the dictum of the grandees that the ministers are to the Sovereign what the hands and feet are to the body, and that all affairs ought to pass through their hands. He marched against those who were assembled near Pe siu chau. They were defeated, and the town was destroyed for having harboured them. This victory was balanced by a severe defeat sustained by the Imperial general Singki near Hu keau, in Kiang si. He had been sent against the arch rebel Siu chau hoei, with orders to recover Kiang chau. He gained several small successes, and posted his forces in the defile of the lake of Po yang to protect his recent conquests. There he was attacked by the rebels with great vigour. He himself was killed, and his death secured the victory to the enemy. Gaubil says he was only wounded, and was captured alive, and that the rebels, who respected him as a hero, knelt down before him and gave him something to eat, but that he died of his wounds seven days after.

On the advice of Toktagha, Toghon Timur now, namely in 1353, nominated his son Aiyuchélitala, as his successor.

The pirate Fang ku chin continued his ravage, and intercepted the merchandise and grain that was sent from the southern provinces to the capital by sea. Another attempt to induce him to submit was made by the promise that he and his brothers should be appointed to certain important mandarinates. They suspected this lavish generosity, and continued their incursions and ravage, at the head of 10,000 ships.

Siu chau hoei, the arch rebel, had fixed his court at Kichui. There he was attacked by the Imperial generals Puyen Timur and Yahancha. He was defeated and 400 of his supporters captured.

While the empire was distracted by rebellions and other calamities, the Emperor was indulging in debauchery and extravagance. Toktagha had nominated Kima or Ama, to whom he was under obligations, as a minister. He gained the good opinion of the Empress Ki, and corrupted the Emperor’s mind. He imported Lamas from Thibet, who introduced into the palace various voluptuous amusements. One of these games was called Yencher, which in Mongol means pleasure. It was accompanied by certain dances called Tien me. These were performed by sixteen young girls, whose hair, divided into many tresses, fell loosely over their shoulders. Their heads were covered with ivory caps, decorated with delicate open work. Their dresses had wide sleeves, and their petticoats were of red damask embroidered in silk. Over them was a kind of jacket, called a spirit dress. These were ornamented with a fringe that floated about gracefully while they danced. In their hands they held a kind of kiubalapan or sceptre. One of the party had a castagnette or little bell, with which she marked the time. In another kind of dance there were eleven girls, whose hair was negligently tied with very pretty handker­chiefs. They wore the ordinary dress, only that their caps were of the style worn during the dynasty of the Tang. Each one had a musical instrument. One a German flute, another a little drum, a third a guitar, &c. These musicians, under charge of the eunuch Antie buka, chiefly played when the Emperor worshipped Buddha. During the secret cultus, De Mailla says that only the eunuchs were admitted, and he suggests that various orgies were carried on.

As a reward apparently for providing the Emperor with these amusements, Kima was named chief minister, and the warnings and advice of his better subjects and of his son were alike disregarded by the Emperor. Meanwhile the faithful Toktagha was making head against the rebels. In 1354 he recovered several towns of Kiang nan, and defeated the rebel leader Chang se ching, who had recently won a battle over the Imperial general Taché Timur. These good services availed him little at the court, where the ungrateful Kima intrigued against him, and charged him with misspending the State’s resources in the war, and with doing very little. A memoirs on the subject was presented to the weak Emperor, through the censors, and Toghon Timur consented to the exile of his faithful minister. He was sent to the country of Hoai nan, and his brother Yesien Timur to Ning hia. The order reached him at the camp. Although counselled to resist, he received it on his knees, and told the officer who took it, that he recognised himself as unworthy of the Emperor’s favours, and thanked him for having relieved him of responsibility. He distributed his armour and horses among the officers. He bade them be faithful to their new commander. He then mounted his horse and went away with his servants.

Toghon Timur continued his frivolous conduct. He now had a state barge built, of which he furnished the model. It was from 120 to 130 feet long, and from 20 to 25 feet wide. It was rowed by twenty-four rowers, magnificently dressed, and was used on the canal joining the summer and winter palaces. This barge was called the dragon. It was of the shape of that animal, and when it moved its head, eyes, tongue, claws, and tail were set in motion. In the midst of the boat was a kind of tower six or seven feet high, at the top of which were placed the two characters, San ching tien (Hall of the Three Saints), in golden letters. Inside it was a statue of the goddess Yuniu, which marked the hours. At each hour water flowed from a basin. On each side of the goddess was the figure of a spirit, dressed in golden tissues; one held a bell; the other, an instrument made of bamboo, to strike the watches of the night, which were marked by a finger, while at every hour statues of lions and phoenixes respectively jumped and flapped their wings. On each side of the tower was the palace of the sun and moon, in front of which were figures of six immortals. At six and at mid-day they walked two and two, crossed the bridge, called the Bridge of Spirits, entered the Hall of the Three Saints, and returned to their places. This machine was made with extraordinary dexterity, and the Emperor had the credit of its invention.

In 1355, Siu chau hoei, who had adopted the Imperial title, sent his general Ni wen tsiun to capture the country of Mien yang. He severely defeated the Mongols, and burnt a portion of their fleet. The court was little moved by these defeats in the south of the empire, but began to be more nervous when the rebels ventured across the Hoang ho, and made raids into Honan. The troops in that province were reprimanded, and reinforcements were sent there, which for a while kept it free from invasion. Liau fu tong, the chief of the red caps of Honan, now proclaimed Han lin ulh, a son of the Sung Emperor Han chan tong under the title of Ming wang, and established his court at Pochau, in Honan. After some indecisive battles, he and his protege were forced to take refuge towards Ngan. Kima now prosecuted his designs against Toktagha. He changed his place of exile to Yunnan, but had him poisoned on the way. Toktagha is described as tall and majestic in person, of an affable and kind disposition, austere in virtue and disinterested, the companion of wise men, and he was very faithful to his Sovereign. De Mailla says his disgrace is an external reproach to the courtiers of Toghon Timur. He blames him, however, for his patronage of his brother Yesien Timur, and for his promotion of Kima.

This year, namely in 1355, there comes upon the scene a very important individual named Chu yuen chang, who became the founder of the Ming dynasty. Originally a Buddhist priest, he had joined the rebel Ko tse hing as a private soldier, was promoted to the rank of officer, and ended by leading a band of his own. He captured Hoyan, which he protected from being plundered. This clemency gained him many adherents. He then crossed the Kiang and secured Tai ping, which he would not allow to be ravaged. We are told that an old literate named Tao ngan, at the head of some venerable men, went out to welcome him. He described the empire as being troubled like a sea tossed with a violent wind, and said that those who were working to make themselves masters of it at the point of the sword, gained only a passing success at the cost of ruined provinces and pillaged people. He hoped that he would do otherwise, and in following the dictates of heaven would also gain the affection of die people. He was received in the city with a cordial welcome.

The empire was in a dreadful state. The first minister Kima began to dread the consequences of his policy, which had reduced the Emperor to the verge of imbecility. He knew how he was disliked, and to reinstate his reputation determined to depose Toghon Timur, and to replace him by his son. He made his own father a party to the plot. The plot was disclosed by his sister, who was married to one of the Emperor’s boon companions, who reported it to him. Kima and his brother were exiled, but were strangled on the way. This was in 1356.

The rebel Chang se ching, who had been defeated by Toktagha, had recruited his forces, crossed the Kiang, and captured several towns of Eastern Che kiang. At the same time, Chu yuen chang, whom De Mailla calls “the destroyer of the empire of the Mongols,” advanced from one success to another. Tsi king (now called Nanking), Chin kiang, and Chang chau were among his important captures. His policy was entirely different to that of the other rebels. As he allowed no plundering, he was wdcomed by the inhabitants as a saviour, nor would he make common cause with the other disturbers of the peace.

However different their policy, the rebels in the north were not less successful. The troops of the revived Sung Emperor there captured Shang tu, the fortress of Ukoan, pillaged Tung hoa, and ravaged the country. That their success was due to the feebleness of the government is shown by the fact that when the Mongol general Chaghan Timur chose to exercise a little vigour, he managed to disperse them with only 500 cuirassiers. Further east Liaufu tong, the chief patron of the pretended Sung Emperor, was more successful, and overran a large part of Shang tung and Honan. The Emperor, who concluded that the unpractised and undisciplined rebels only made head against the Imperial troops because of the want of skill and weakness of his commanders, sent them strict orders to attack them vigorously. The rebels, who heard of this, fanned the feeling by so dropping a letter, offering the general Tache Timur a high command among them, that it came into official hands. The general was so affected by this, that he fell ill and died. The Emperor, who was assured of his innocence, gave his command to his son Polo Timur, but it was of small avail. Tsinan and Hokien successively fell into the hands of the Sung pretender, and the Imperial troops were badly beaten near the village of Wei kia chuang, and their commander Tong toan siao, a brave and resolute officer, was killed. This was in 1357. The rebel commander on this occasion was Maokué, and he followed up his success by making raids as far as the environs of Ta tu. The Emperor was counselled by some to seek refuge in Tartary, by others that he should go to the country of Koan chen. This was opposed by the minister Tai ping. He summoned a skilled general, who defeated Maokué, but his defeat was balanced by the victory of Liau fu tong, who took possession of Pien ling, or Kai fong fu, the capital of Honan, which was basely deserted by its commander. He took his protégé there and made it his capital. The other arch rebel Siu chau hoei, who had set up the dynasty of Tien wang, was master of nearly all Hu kuang and Kiang si. He had secured the services of an able Chinaman, named Chin yeou lang, who rose from being the son of a fisherman to a post of confidence, and to the command of a large force. He descended the river Kiang, both by land and in boats, and proceeded to attack the strong fortress of Ngan king. The Imperialists opposed him, fought bravely but ineffectually for four days and nights, and had to retire. The Kiang being now free, the rebels advanced as far as the walls of Ngan king. It was well defended by its commander Yukiue, but was as bravely attacked. There was a severe carnage. Yukiue was badly wounded and committed suicide. His wife and children threw themselves into the ditch, while the greater part of the garrison preferred to perish in the flames, rather than submit to the rebels. This was in 1358. During the same year, the troops of the revived Sung dynasty, whose capital, as I have said, was Kai fong fu, made a cruel raid into Shan si, and desolated the country beyond the Great Wall. Another division made a long detour; entered Liau tung; pillaged its capital, Liau yang; and advanced as far as the borders of Corea; and on its return, burnt the magnificent palace which Khubilai had built at Shangtu. We are told this caused the Emperor more pain than all his other disasters, and so feeble was he that he ordered it to be rebuilt at once, and had to be reminded that in the distracted condition of the empire, it was impossible to raise the necessary funds.

The progress of Chu yuen chang, the founder of the Ming dynasty, was, if slower, more secured, as he gained the goodwill of the districts which he occupied by his moderation. The pirate chief, Fang ku chin, who saw that the Mongol power was crumbling, and that Chu yuen chang was their most promising successor, determined to submit to him, and sent his son as a hostage. He returned him to his father, urging that hostages were only needed by those who could not trust each other’s word. Shortly after, Fang ku chin sent him a magnificently caparisoned horse. He refused, saying he merely wanted to serve the State, and needed grain, cloth, and silk to clothe his soldiers with, and had no taste for jewels. A large part of Che kiang fell into his hands.

The generals of the Sung pretender soon after engaged in quarrels and murdered one another. The court of Siu chau hoei, the other Imperial pretender, was also the scene of violence. His troops attacked the important town of Sin chau. Twice they were beaten off, but the third time they succeeded, after a siege which De Mailla says was one of the most remarkable in history. The garrison did not scruple to feed on human flesh, and even to kill the old people and the useless inhabitants for food. It was at length captured after a subterraneous attack, and several distinguished officers who defended it perished sword in hand. After the capture of Long hing and Sin chau, the pretender wished to move his capital to the former town, but was resisted by his chief general, Chin yeou leang. As he persisted, the latter determined to suppress him, arranged an ambuscade, into which he fell with his escort. He spared his life and left him his title, but put him under restraint, and himself took the title of Prince of Han. He marched against Tai ping, taking his prisoner with him. When he had captured the town, he had him murdered, and then had himself proclaimed Emperor, giving his dynasty the name of Han.

The Mongol general, Chaghan Timur, determined to take advantage of this disunion. He marched rapidly with three divisions upon Kai fong fu, and having blockaded it for some time, assaulted and captured it, but Liau fu tong and his protege, the Sung Emperor, eluded pursuit and escaped. The Mongol court continued to be the scene of intrigue and dissipation. Ayuché litala, the heir to the throne, in concert with his mother Ki, tried to induce the minister Tai ping to persuade Toghon Timur to abdicate. Tai ping refused, and was supported by the grandees. The young prince revenged himself by having Several of them poisoned, and others condemned to death, and Tai ping, seeing that his authority was vanishing, resigned his office. This was in the early part of 1360. He was succeeded by two scoundrels, the eunuch Pa pu hoa and Chosse kien, “grand seigneur” of Kuélió. Their chief object was to enrich themselves, and keep the Emperor ignorant of the grave position of affairs.

Meanwhile the proverbial discipline of the Mongols began to give way, and to join in the general decay of authority.

Chaghan Timur, who had been so successful in his campaign in Honan, quarrelled with Polo Timur, as to their respective authorities in the district of Tsin ki. The Emperor tried to settle matters by making a new division, but he afterwards favoured Polo Timur, and ordered Chaghan to surrender the district of Ki ning to him. He refused, crossed the Yellow River, and marched against his rival, but retired on the peremptory orders of the Emperor, that each of the two generals should retire to his own government. This was in 1360, and about the same time Ahihoei Timur, a descendant of Ogotai, in the eighth generation, having collected a force of several hundred thousand troops, marched towards the frontier with the intention of displacing the Emperor, whom he charged with not being able to defend the heritage he had received from his ancestors, and with having already lost half of it. He defeated the Imperial general who was sent against him. The court was naturally afraid, but misfortunes may sometimes be turned to advantage. The Emperor’s son thought that if his enemy, the minister Tai ping, was sent against the rebel, he would necessarily fail, and as certainly be disgraced, but there was in the rebel army, an old protégé of Tai ping's, who, out of consideration for his former patron, surrendered his new master. He was sent on to the Emperor, was tried, and put to death. The founder of the Ming dynasty continued to strengthen his position, and now marched against the Han pretender, who had so basely killed and displaced his master, Siu chau hoei. He defeated him and captured several towns of Kiang si. This was in 1361. At this time, the vigour of Chaghan Timur seemed to promise that the Mongol authority might yet be everywhere restored. He had recovered Honan, and now entered Shang tung, crossing the Yellow River. He captured one city after another, and was further encouraged by the invitation of one of the rebels, Tien fong, who joined his army. So successful was he, that at the beginning of 1362 there only remained in the province of Shan tung the town of Itu which had not surrendered. He proceeded to lay siege to it, when his career and the reviving hopes of the Mongols were shattered by his assassination. This was effected by Wang se ching, a friend of Tien fang’s, who had gone over with him, and had latterly plotted in concert with him against the great Mongol commander. The two confederates took refuge within the city, and Kuku Timur, the adopted son of Chaghan Timur, was granted the latter’s dignities and command. He continued the siege vigorously, and entered the town by means of galleries undermining the walls. He sent the chief prisoners to the court, reserving only the two murderers for his own vengeance. These he took to his father’s corpse, and having tom out their hearts offered them to his manes.

A revolt now broke out in Corea. The Empress Ki was a Corean. She persuaded the Emperor to depose the tributary King of that secluded kingdom, and to appoint one of her relatives in his place. To this the Coreans refused to submit, and the Mongol army which was sent against them suffered a terrible defeat. Of 10,000 men, of which it consisted, only seventeen escaped. Another revolt took place at the other end of the empire. One of the officers of Siu chau hoei, who had been sent to conquer Suchuan, having heard of his master’s death, occupied a large part of that province, where he had himself declared Emperor, and gave his dynasty the name of Hia. Chin yeou leang (the murderer of Siu chau hoei), whom I have described as founding a new dynasty called Han, had, as I have said, been defeated by Chu yuen chang and deprived of his capital. He now raised a fresh force, and made a furious attack by water and land upon the captured city, with a force of 200,000 men, but after a three days’ struggle between the fleets he was killed by an arrow. His fleet dispersed, and his son Chin chan ulh, who had been appointed his successor, was taken prisoner. Another son, Chin li, escaped, and was proclaimed Emperor; but he was speedily forced to surrender, and the whole province of Hu kuang became subject to the conqueror Chu yuen chang, whose moderation in victory was as remarkable as his prowess in fight. He now advanced against Ngan fong, where the revived Sung Emperor had lately retired.

Meanwhile the Mongol court was the scene of constant dissensions. Polo Timur, the old rival of Chaghan Timur, became the rival also of his son Kuku Timur, and sent an envoy to get possession of the coveted district of Tsinki, which had aroused his envy originally. This, however, was defeated.

The heir to the throne, or dauphin, was a turbulent and ambitious prince. His great object, which was much pressed by his Corean mother, the Empress Ki, was to persuade his father to abdicate in his favour. The young prince was persuaded by his father’s two disreputable ministers that some of the grandees who opposed themselves to the intrigues of the court were plotting against him, upon which he had two of them put to death. The evil councillors of the prince were afraid that Tukien Timur, a friend of the two victims, might revenge their death, determined to ruin him also. They charged him with malpractice. He was supported by his friend Polo Timur, upon which the young prince got the latter’s commission as general of Tai tong cancelled, and gave it to his rival Tuku Timur. He in turn supplied some troops to Tukien Timur, with which he seized the fortress of Kiu yong koan, and they determined to sweep the court of its crowd of intriguers and scoundrels. Tukien Timur defeated the troops sent against him, and advanced to the river Tsing ho, while the young prince thought it prudent to escape to Tartary with his guards. Polo Timur insisted that the two obnoxious ministers should be surrendered to him, and that he should be reinstated in his command; and after some parleying, in which he was very firm, his terms were agreed to.t The Emperor now sent a peremptory order to his son to return. He did so, but at the head of 120,000 men, and at the same time ordered Kuku Timur to attack Polo Timur in his appanage of Tai tong. The latter, leaving a strong force to protect Tai tong, marched upon the capital. At his approach the troops of the young prince melted away, and he was constrained to retire, and went to Ta yuen fu, the capital of Shansi. Polo Timur now entered Peking, went to the palace, threw himself on his knees before the Emperor, and asked for pardon for what he had done, urging the strong excuse he had for his conduct. The Emperor appointed him generalissimo of the Imperial forces and first minister. He had Tolo Timur, one of the Emperor’s companions in debauchery, put to death, and cleared the palace of its crowd of eunuchs, Lamas, &c. And at his instance the Emperor once more summoned the prince to return. This was in 1364. Chagrined at the influence of his enemy Polo Timur, the prince determined at all hazards to punish him, and collected a large force, with which he again marched towards the capital.

Polo Timur sent an army against him; but either his discipline or his haughtiness had disgusted the soldiers, and they refused to fight. He was furious, and killed several officers without discrimination, and gave himself up to wine and debauchery. A conspiracy was formed against him, to which the Emperor was apparently a party, and one day as he was entering the palace his head was cut off with the stroke of a sabre. The Emperor sent it to his son, who now returned, and appointed Kuku Timur to his office.

In 1366, Ming yu chin, who had taken the title of Emperor of Hia, died, and was succeeded by his son Ming ching, a boy of nine years old, while his mother was appointed Regent. The history of China at this period is curious to a Western student. Each rebel, as soon as he had a decent following, and had conquered a small territory, had himself proclaimed Emperor, and adopted a dynastic title for himself and his successors. So that beside the Yuen Emperors at Peking, there were two or three others in various parts of the empire, each with a stately dynastic title. The most important of them, of course, was the founder of the Ming dynasty. He had lately occupied the towns of Kao yeou fu, Hao chau, Se chau, Pe siu chau, and Ning chau, and those of the southern district of Hoai, almost without opposition. He fixed his court at Kien kang, where he collected a great number of Chinese literates, and guided his conduct by their advice. He promoted only those who were distinguished for their talents, and was as affable to the poor as he was strict with the grandees. In 1366, his generals Suta and Chang yu chun marched against Chang se ching, who had set up an independent sovereignty in a portion of Che kiang and Kiang nan. They defeated his armies and captured Hu chau, one of the richest and most beautiful towns of Che kiang, and afterwards occupied Hang chau, the capital of that province. At the end of the same year, 1366, Han lin ulh, the representative of the revived Sung dynasty, died, and his party dispersed.

Chang se ching, after his late defeat, had taken refuge at Ping kiang. There the Ming generals followed him. They captured the town and took him prisoner. He was sent on to Kien kang, where he was affably received by the Ming Emperor, but he was so much dejected by his fall that he went and hanged himself. While the Ming Emperor was gradually and surely subduing the country south of the Yang tse kiang, confusion continued to reign at the Mongol court. The dauphin tried once more to persuade his feeble father to abdicate. Kuku Timur disapproved of this, and as a consequence gained the prince’s ill will. Shortly after, he was ordered to march at the head of the troops against the rebels in the country of Hoai, with the intention, no doubt, of getting him out of the way. He evaded the order, and had the temerity to kill a person whom the Emperor had sent to him to try and heal his differences with the young prince. The Emperor was naturally enraged, nominated his son commander-in-chief of the empire, and again ordered him to march against the rebels in Kiang hoai. He again evaded the order, to the disgust of his officers, and was then deprived of his office, and exiled him to Yu chau ; Gaubil says to Teche chu, in Shapsi. His brother Toin Timur was also disgraced.

The pirate chief Fang ku chin had only nominally submitted to the Ming Emperor. He refused to go in person to his court or to send the promised tribute of grain, and had even allied himself with Kuku Timur in the north, and Chin yeou ting (who had occupied a portion of Fukien) in the south. The Ming Emperor sent an army, which captured his three chief strongholds of Wen chau, Tai chau, and King yuen, while the pirate sought refuge on an island off the coast. Thence, having repented of his conduct, he sent his son with offers of submission and offering to become a faithful subject of the Ming, and shortly after went in person with his principal officers, and made his peace with the founder of the dynasty. The latter, having nothing now to fear in the south, which  was almost all in his power, determined to attack the Mongols in the north. He ordered Suta, his first general, and Chang  yuchun to march at the head of 250,000 troops, upon the district of Chong yuen, while Hu ting chui went with the troops of Ngan ki and Ning kue, secured the provinces of Fukien and Kuan tong, and another general that of Kuan si. Chongchitcheng and nine princes of the blood were captured. They were sent to Kien kang, but the former died on the way. The latter were courteously received, and a mandarin was ordered to escort them to the Mongol court. The main army of 250,000 men, under the command of Suta and Chang yu chun, marched towards the north; they speedily conquered the country between the rivers Hoai and Hoang ho, and having entered the province of Shan tung, they issued a proclamation, setting out that it was the Chinese who ought to rule the barbarians, and not that the latter should rule in China, That the Mongols had not conquered China either by their strength or courage, but by the favour of heaven. That now this same heaven deprived them of it on account of their crimes. Since the days of Jingis the order of succession had been disturbed, brothers had poisoned brothers, and sons had taken their fathers’ wives, all subordination had been destroyed, the laws of China despised, and heaven had sent Chu to restore them. Everywhere they were gladly received. They speedily occupied Shan tung, and Honan followed its example; its cities opened their gates at their approach.

The Emperor sent for Kuku Timur to go to the rescue with all his troops. He went at the head of a large force, but instead of covering the threatened court, he encamped near Ta yuen, in Shansi. Hitherto Chu yuen Chang, when we have named the Ming Emperor by anticipation, had only taken the title of Prince of U. He now, namely, on the first of February, 1368, being the first day of the Chinese year, had himself proclaimed Emperor at Kien kang, He gave his dynasty the name of Ming (fight), and to the years of his reign that of Hung wu (fortunate war). In August, 1368, he set out from Nanking and marched towards the Imperial capital. At the same time, Suta and Chang yu chun entered the province of Pehchchli and captured Tong chau, defeating and killing the Mongol general Puyen Timur. The Chinese army now appeared at Tatu or Peking. At this critical moment, one Che lie men took the tablets of the Mongol Emperors from the palace, and went north to Mongolia, with the heir to the throne. Toghong Timur decided to follow them, left Peking by the gate Kien té men, and retired to Shangtu. The capital did not long resist the Chinese, although, we are told, that Timur Buka, the prince of Hoai; the minister, King tsang, and many others bravely died in its defence.

In the foregoing narrative of the gradual sapping of the Mongol power in China, and of its eventual overthrow, I have followed the Chinese account, as given by De Mailla and Gaubil. If we turn to the native chronicler Ssanang Setzen, we find a very different story. There we have little confession of decrepitude at the court and of the general decay of public virtue and authority. There it is treason, the machinations of evil men, and the more potent working of fate which caused the disaster. For the reigns that intervene between Genghis and Toghon Timur he furnishes hardly any material, except indeed in the case of Kublai, whose conversion to Lamaism was a notable event in Mongol history, and upon which I shall enlarge in a future chapter, and his account is little more than a mere list of the Khans, with the dates of their birth, accession, and death. With the reign of Toghon Timur he begins to be much more detailed, and as his story is interesting as a picture of Mongol modes of thought, I shall abstract it.

I may say in limine that he seems to have made a curious error which was not detected by Schmidt, and which prevents his account as it stands from being reconciled with that of the Chinese. He has confounded Chu, the founder of the Ming dynasty, with Sue, or Suesue, as he is called by De Mailla, the companion and assistant of Kima or Hama, in the administration which brought ruin on the Mongols. Rolling both these personages into one, he applies the name Juge to him, and has told the continuous story as if it all applied to the supplanter of Toghon Timur.

Premising this, we are in a position to examine his narrative. He tells us, then, that in 1344 an old man named Jui, of the family Ju, had a son who took the name of Juge. At his birth there radiated from his house a five-tinted rainbow.

At this time there lived a great grandson of Boghordshi Noyan, of the Arulads, named Ilacho Ching sang, son of Hia. He spoke to the Khakan as follows: “When this happens at the birth of a common person it is not without meaning. He is of a foreign family. It were well to make an end of him while yet a boy.” The Khakan, however, blamed this warning and let the boy live. Then spoke Ilacho once more: “You will not heed my advice now. In the end it may be your power shall tremble before him. It seems to me that this boy when grown up will bring upon us many calamities and troubles.” When the boy had grown up, and showed uncommon sharpness and intelligence, the Khakan grew very fond of him. He then issued the following order : “Toktagha and Kharatsang, father and son, I appoint over the western provinces; while the eastern ones I place under Juge and Bugha, sons of old Jui.” Thus Juge obtained the chief authority in the eastern provinces. Shortly after this Juge Noyan and a Chinese minister named Kima Bindshing (the Hama of De Mailla), much trusted by the Khakan, made a plot against him. They began by suggesting that Toktagha Taishi was indisposed towards the Khakan and meant to make himself independent and to rule over the foreign peoples. This suggestion was apparently sent to the Khakan by the hand of Kima.

About that time the Khakan dreamt that a wild boar with iron tusks rushed into the city and wounded the people, who were driven hither and thither without finding shelter. Meanwhile the sun and moon rushed together and perished.

The following morning the Khakan demanded the meaning of this dream from the Chinese Wang Sangtsang. He replied : “This dream is a prophecy that the Khakan will lose his empire.” As an antidote to this lugubrious interpretation, the Khakan sought a fresh interpreter in Ilacho Ching sang, of the Arulads, who replied: “I fear the dream may not betoken much happiness. Have I not said it before? Shortly there will rise smoke in this place and dust in that.” The Khakan now had recourse again to Toktagha Taishi, of the Kunkurats, who spoke out thus : “The swine with iron tusks signifies a man of the family Ju who has hostile intentions. The strife between the sun and moon betokens that the Khakan and his subjects will quarrel.” “What is to be done, then ?” said the Khakan. Toktagha replied that the former counsel of Ilacho was very good, and that he could give no better, and he bade him kill the men of the family Ju. The Khakan thought that Toktagha was jealous of Juge, who had been promoted over him, and that this prompted his advice. He accordingly allowed Juge to live on. The latter heard of what had passed. He drew more and more people into his plot, and meanwhile Toktagha’s warnings were neglected by the Khakan. Juge was naturally suspicious of Toktagha, and had him watched by spies. The latter heard of this, and on one occasion when he knew such an one was coming, he placed a basin of water at his door. This he covered with shreds of felt, and placed a knife and some hair on it. When the spy saw this he returned home and reported it to his master. The very enigmatical riddle was thus interpreted by Juge: “The water in the basin represents the whole people, the world's ocean. The shavings of felt signify the Khakan, the Taishi, the princes, and lordlings who sail on the sea like steered ships. The knife and hair signify the power of the empire, sharp as a knife and fine as hair. I must get rid of this dangerous man in some way. So long as he lives I cannot carry out my design. He knows everything.” Having arranged his plan, he sent the Khakan the following notice through Kima Bingdshing: “There is no longer any doubt that Toktagha Taishi has evil designs against the person of the Khakan. He can satisfy himself of this by summoning him to appear before him. He will certainly not go.” This was told to the Khakan by a third person. Upon which Kima Bingdshing received orders to go to the Taishi and fetch him to the court.

He set out, but retraced his steps when he had gone part way, and reported that although he had invited the Taishi to come, yet he had refused. Then spoke the Khakan : “ If he were faithful and innocent, what reason is there why he should not come ? It seems made out that he has some evil designs.”

He then ordered Kima Bingdshing to take troops with him and to kill Toktagha Taishi. Kima Bingdshing accordingly collected some troops, which he stationed at the city Siro Khakan. Meanwhile he himself sent to Toktagha Taishi and announced to him that he was the bearer of secret despatches. During the conversation that followed he said, “Some one has told the Khakan you have evil designs against him. To disprove this he has sent me to summon you, so that he may speak with you.”

The Taishi was suspicious of the whole affair, but “as his time had come” he was obliged to go, even against his will; and as he had been the most faithful of the Khakan’s servants, he went on in the hope that the invitation possibly was genuine. On their departure Kima Bingdshing said: “I will speed on to arrange that the posthorses shall be ready. Delay and negligence will bring upon us the Khan’s rebuke.” Upon this he went on ahead, collected his troops together, surrounded the Taishi, and killed him. Such is Ssanang Setzen’s account of the destruction of the faithful Toktagha. It will be remembered that in the Chinese account he was the victim of Ama’s or Kima’s jealousy, while nothing is said about Suesue; and as to Chu, the founder of the Ming dynasty, he only appears for the first time in the Chinese accounts in the year of Toktagha’s death.

But to continue the story as told by the Mongol prince.

When Kima Bingdshing, on his return, gave an account of his doings, the Khakan ordered that Juge Noyan should be promoted to the government of the eastern as well as the western provinces, and that Kima should have the direction of all internal affairs. At this time Juge Noyan made the following remonstrance to the Khakan: “As my lord has raised me to such a distinguished position, it is unbecoming in me when I go to my house that I should seek repose. If the small governors (in the provinces) are zealous men, the people will be oppressed. I wish myself to overhaul their doings, and would go and superintend their tax collecting.” The Khakan consented, with the words “Be this so also.”

Juge Noyan thereupon set out on his tramp, but had not returned in three years. Upon which the Khakan was very angry, and gave the following order: “As Juge Noyan has stayed so long away he shall not be received in the city when he returns.” The guards were ordered to see that this was carried out strictly.

About this time the Khakan had the following dream ;—There appeared to him an old hoary man, who addressed him with angry mien and voice : “Thou thyself hast killed thy faithful watchdog, and now the strange wolf comes into thy inclosure, and by what means canst thou hope to keep him off?” With these words the vision disappeared.

The Khakan was much disquieted by this dream, and said to himself, “The watchdog was surely Toktagha Taishi, whom I have killed, and the wolf that comes from without is surely the approaching Juge.” The Khakan told the dream to Ananda Madi Lama. The latter, after a while, answered him, and said : “In one of the Shastirs (Sastras) called Sain ugetu Erdenin Sang, written by our former leader, the Bogda Sakia Pandita, who attained to the furthest limits of all wisdom, it is said, ‘It is well not to yield to one’s closest friends in everything, but to wish to make a friend of an alien enemy is ruinous.’ The meaning of your dream is, that having killed your faithful watchdog Toktagha Taishi, that you then gave your confidence to an alien wolf, namely, Juge, and it has shown you the unfailing end of this policy.” When the Khakan asked what was the best to be done, the Lama replied: “In the time of your ancestor, the Bogda Khubilai Setzen Khakan, it happened that the sublime chief of the faith, P’agpa Lama, spent three days in crying and lamentation.” “Wherefore, my Lama,” said the Khakan, “dost thou weep so distressingly?” P’agpa Lama answered: “Neither in your nor in my time, but in nine or ten generations hence, there will be born a Khakan named Toghon. In his day will our religion go under, and this is the reason of my grief.” “How canst thou, who are so young, my Lama,” said the Khakan, “know what will happen so far off in the future?” “Khakan,” said P’agpa Lama, “I know that long ago there once fell for seven days a rain of blood.” The Khakan then ordered the ancient books to be examined. In one of these it was found that in the reign of the Chinese Emperor Tai tsong, of the Tang, there fell in China during seven days a rain of blood. Upon this a learned Chinese philologist named Tang Wang tsang, an assistant of Sunitu Bakshi, a younger brother of the Indian Turbel ugei Bakshi spoke to the Emperor as follows: “This is a forewarning that not in your time, but in the tenth generation from you, when the Emperor Ingshi Ting, of the Tang, shall be bom again in your family (by Metemptsychosis), a vicissitude will impend over your dynasty.” When the Khakan (Khu­bilai) had this passage pointed out in the book he became more than ever attached to the faith. The Lama Ananda Madi then delivered the following not very consoling homily to Toghon Timur: “The prophecy of the Bogda will surely happen when its time has arrived, and who can prevent its issue? Nevertheless it will conduce to your good if you will invoke the sublime Lama, if you will trust in the three superior disciples, and keep faithful to your tutelary genius.”

The Khakan, whose mind was excited by the Shimnus (the evil spirits), turned upon the Lama in a rage, and said : “Lama, make thy way homewards.” The Lama, who was much rejoiced with this answer, replied : “ The order of the Khakan that I should return home while the golden girths of his house are still tight and his noble realm is still powerful is not a suggestion of his own. It comes directly from the Lama.” With these words he took his departure homewards.

In this Saga we have the characteristic features of Mongol notions as to the moral government of the world. The influence of an unswerving fate, the curious faith in dreams and their interpretation, and a ready excuse for disaster in the predestined and not to be averted course of events, rather than in the decrepitude of the ruler and his servants.

But to conclude Ssanang Setzen’s story. He goes on to say that Juge Noyan remained three years in the city of Nanking, and confirmed a pact with the eight hundred and eighty thousand Chinese by a solemn oath. Then he set out, and sent the Khakan the following note : “Conformably to the decrees of the all powerful and of the Khakan, I have taken hold of the rudder, which I still hold.” He had tampered with the guards of the various forts, whom he had gained over by bribes and presents, and he everywhere marched with a following of 90,000 two­wheeled waggons, on which were stowed all kinds of costly objects, which he could distribute; 30,000 waggons were filled with merely rich objects, a second 30,000 with all kinds of weapons and war stores, and a third with food and provisions. With these he seems to have approached the city, where the waggons with costly objects were first unladen. In the waggons of the other two divisions lay concealed completely armed and equipped men. Besides these there were also three large cannons covered with wax, which it was pretended were torches to be used if night should come on before the first section was unladen. The warriors in the other waggons were told that the time for them to rise would be when the wax had burnt down to the tinder sponge and the fire threatened to burn the stores.

Such, according to the Mongol prince, was the treacherous caravan that approached the city. When the first 30,000 waggons were unladen, the cannons were fired off, the armed men sprang from their retreat and occupied the place, where the panic was too great for them to think of defence. The Khakan, seeing the fulfilment of the fatal dream at hand, hid away the great seal, Chas Boo, in his sleeve, and fled with his wives and children, under the guidance of Ilacho Ching sang, of the Arulads; Bucha Ching sang, of the Naimans; and Togholcho Baghatur Taidshi, a descendant of Kassar, the brother of Jingis, with seven companions, who cut a passage for him.

Thus did Toghon Timur Uchagatu Khakan lose his capital, Daitu, and his kingdom, and while he was given up to pleasure and debauchery he was fooled by the wily plotting of his hostile subjects. I will now add the Curious Jeremiah-like wail which Setzen says that the [Khakan uttered as he left the city by the gate Moltoshi, amidst cries of distress and woe.

“My great capital, my Daitu, decked with various sheen. My delicious cool summer seat, Shangtu Keibung Kurdu Balghassun. Yellow plains, the pleasant playground of my God-like sires. How ill I’ve done to lose my kingdom thus.

“Oh, my Daitu, built in the yellow serpent year with sixfold skill. My Shantu Keibung, union of the nine and ninety perfect things. My fortune founded on benign religion and my stately power. My great name and fame as the Almighty Khakan.

“When I arose betimes and looked forth, how the fragrance blew towards me. Before, behind, where’er I looked was grace and beauty. My noble Daitu, built by the mighty Setzen Khakan, where neither summer nor winter brought dull ennui. My Daitu, where my fathers dwelt in joy and gladness, my faithful lords and princes, and my dear people. Oh, that I had followed the sage words of Ilacho Ching sang. That I had not nursed the wily treachery of Juge Noyan. What fatal error to exile my wise Toktagha Taishi; to send the noble Lama to his home again. Alas for my Imperial fame and all my happy days. My Daitu, made cynosure of art by Khubilai Setzen Khakan. Ye are all torn from me, and even my good name is gone. Thou treacherous Chinaman, Juge Noyan.”

When the Emperor escaped from his capital, he went first to Shangtu, and not feeling safe there, afterwards continued his Hight to Ing chang fu, which Timkowski describes as a town now destroyed, in the district of Kichikten, on the north-east of the Dolonnor. It is, according to Schmidt, the same which Ssanang Setzen calls Bars Chotan, Tiger city, which he says is found on some of the Jesuit maps.

Notwithstanding the fall of the capital, the great Western provinces still held out Kuku Timur had a strong force in Shansi, and Li se chi, who commanded in Shensi, seemed disposed to set up an independent sovereignty there. After the capture of Yen king, the Ming Emperor ordered Sutu and Chang yu chun to conquer the former province ; they were assisted by other generals, who entered it at several points, and captured the town of Hoai king. Ta yuen was then the capital of Shansi. Upon this city Suta marched at the head of the main army. Kuku Timur had set out to attack Pet pin, but he now retraced his steps to save his capital He was attacked suddenly in his camp, during the night, by the Chinese forces. He was occupied in writing despatches by candle light; he managed to escape on a horse without a saddle, with but one boot on, and in the company of only ten followers; but his army, 40,000 strong, with, the second in command, Ho pi ma, had to surrender. Besides other booty, Suta captured 40,000 horses. Kuku Timur was pursued towards Kan su. Ta yuen submitted, and the Chinese army was divided into several bodies, which rapidly subdued the remaining towns of Shansi. The Ming Emperor busied himself, meanwhile, in destroying the luxurious surroundings of the late court, and in introducing greater simplicity. The magnificent chariots of the Mongol Emperors, decorated with gold and silver work, were exchanged for copper ones, and we are told, that one day he noticed a celebrated tower, built by the same luxurious sovereigns, which was of a very rich structure. In it were two figures, that sounded a bell and beat a drum at each hour, and having examined it for a while in silence, he remarked that the Yuen dynasty would still have been flourishing if the Emperors had busied themselves with the improvement of the people rather than with these trifles, and he ordered it to be destroyed. In the second month of 1369 an edict was published, ordering the composition of the history of the late dynasty. The first minister Li chan chang was charged with revising it.

While Suta was conquering Shansi, Esu, a dependent of the Mongol Emperor, made a diversion towards Pet pin. Its garrison was weak, but its commander having collected a large number of boats on the river Pin, extending for almost a league, placed red flags on them, and made such a noise with drums and cymbals, that Esu was afraid to venture an attack and retired. Suta now prepared to cross the Hoang ho, and to reduce Shensi, where many of the Mongols who fled from Shansi had joined the forces of Li se chi. His passage over the river was not disputed; the town of Tsin yuen submitted at his approach, and its garrison fled; at Koan kia tong there was considerable resistance, and its commander rather than surrender killed himself and his family, and his example was followed by several other officers. Other successes followed. Fong tsiang, where Li se chi had taken refuge, submitted, and he was forced to fly, while the towns of Long chau, Tsin Chau, and Kong chang followed its example. Li se chi, pressed on every side, at length determined to surrender, and was well received by the Chinese general. His submission was followed by the surrender of Lin thao, and that of several other towns.

While Suta’s progress was everywhere a triumphant march, the other great Ming general, Chang yu chun, was also most successful further east. He defeated the Mongol general Wen tshin at Kin chau, and Esu at Thsuen nin, and proceeded to attack Ta hin, about which he hid 1,000 horsemen in eight ambuscades. The garrison, which tried to escape during the night, were all captured. He then became master of Khai pin, and pursued the fallen Emperor towards the north, captured Prince Khin sén, who was a member of the Imperial family, and the general Tin chau, and decapitated them; he also took 10,000 prisoners, as many chariots, 3,000 horses and 5,000 cattle, and the province of Ky pet (Peking) was entirely subdued. The brave general, Chang yu chun, died in his camp at Liau ho choan ; he was a great loss to the Ming Emperor, for he had acquired much skill and power, and boasted that at the head of 100,000 men he would undertake to traverse China from end to end, whence he was called Chang-hundred-thousand. His command was given to Li wen chong, who received orders to march against the frontier town of Ta tong, which the Mongols still held, and which would make a good base whence they could attack the empire. The new general executed his part bravely; neither the snow nor rain that fell in torrents availed the garrison much, he forced his way into the town, and captured or killed 10,000 of its garrison. Its commander, Tho lie pet, was among the prisoners. He was taken to the court, where the Emperor presented him with a State robe. The fugitives were pursued as far as Mang kotsang. Meanwhile the town of King yang made a most determined defence. Its commander was named Chang sang chin. The Chinese beleaguered it on every side, but he made desperate sorties, and he sent for aid to his brother and to the Mongol general Kuku Timur, who were at Ninghia, for help. They sent a body of troops under Hantchar, to make a diversion, which captured the town of Yuen chau; and another took Pang yuen, but neither reached their goal, the beleaguered city. Seven of the Mongol generals at this time were known from their intrepidity as the seven lances. These were Chang se tao, Chang sang chin, Wang pao pao (Kuku Timur), Ho tsong che, Hantchar, Yao hoei, and Kong hing.

Chang sang chin, finding that his desperate efforts were of little avail, now sent out to treat with Suta; but the latter said he must pay the penalty of rebellion and die. He twitted him with the soubriquet just mentioned, and said that he was determined to show that the golden shields (the Ming troops) were more than a match for the much-vaunted seven lances. At length his soldiers were wearied out, and began to plot with the besiegers; one of the gates was opened, and the Chinese marched in. Chang sang chin and his father threw themselves into the ditch, but were taken out and executed, as were also their chief supporters, while others who escaped were pursued beyond the Hoang ho. The province of Shensi being pacified, Suta returned to his master, and left the army in command of Fong tsong y.

The Mongols, although broken and disintegrated, still continued to make intermittent efforts to regain a footing in their old empire. Thus, we are told that no sooner was Suta gone than Kuku Timur advanced by way of Suchau and laid siege to Lan chau. This he pressed very hard. He defeated Yu kuang, who came to rescue it, and having captured him, took him up to the city and bade him tell the garrison that their hoped-for succour had vanished. He, on the contrary, bade them take no heed of his defeat, and that Suta was at hand with a large force. The Mongols, in a rage, cut him in pieces. The resistance was so bravely continued that the Mongols had at length to raise the siege. Chang wen was much lauded at the court for his defence of the city, and the Emperor read him and Suta a very proper homily, in which praise and counsel were judiciously combined. About this time the Mongols also laid siege to Fong tsiang. They employed a kind of hood made of basketwork plaited with thorns, shaped like half a boat, and reminding one of the similar shields used in the siege operations of the Romans. Each of these hoods was carried by six men. They were impervious to either stones or arrows, and the besieged employed hooks to tear them asunder, and also set fire to them. Besides this mode of approach, the Mongols also tried to enter the town by an underground excavation, but their efforts failed; their good fortune had gone.

The Mongol Emperor still remained, it would appear, in the neighbourhood of the Great Wall, while his chief general Kuku Timur, called Wang pao pao by De Mailla, was encamped to the north-west. Suta was now ordered to march against him, and Li wen chong to march against Toghon Timur, and to enter the desert of Shamo, as if hunting, by the gate Ku yong koan.

Suta set out in the second month of 1370 to take command of his army. He advanced as far as Ping si, whence he sent on a detachment under Teng yu to reconnoitre the enemy’s position. He found him in a camp protected by several strong ditches, at a place called Chen erh ku, and having attempted to storm it, was beaten off and lost many men. When Suta himself arrived the attack was renewed, the camp was forced, and a terrible slaughter followed. The Mongol princes of Khin than and Wen tsi, the Chinese Prince Yen tsi hiao, several generals, 1,800 officers and grandees, and 80,000 soldiers fell into the conqueror’s hands, (De Mailla would make it out that 85,000 men were slaughtered), besides 15,280 horses, and a large number of camels, mules, and baggage. Kuku, with his wife and ten followers, escaped and fled, first to Ning hia, and afterwards to Karakorum. Suta now detached a division of his troops, under Ten yu, to overawe the Tufans or Thibetans, who were more favourably disposed to the setting than the rising dynasty. Their King, Holananpu, with several grandees, came to his camp and submitted. Ten yu continued his march for 1,000 li beyond Kan su, and secured the submission of the people west of the Hoang ho, while his subordinate Wei ching went to occupy Ho chau. Here he found only ruined houses and heaps of corpses. The inhabitants having shown some desire to welcome the Ming dynasty had been slaughtered by the Mongols. The soldiers were much depressed by the sight, and wished to leave the place, but Wei ching reminded them their duty was to face such evils and not desert them, and he bade them make themselves everlastingly famous by rebuilding the ruined town. They set to work with a will, and with the assistance of the neighbouring peasants and the strangers they attracted there, swept away the traces of the revenge of the Mongols.

Soon after this prosperous campaign Suta returned once more to the court. Let us now follow Li wen chong, who, as I have said, had been sent against the Yuen Emperor. He despatched one division towards Yun chau, where Horuta and Halai, two Mongol leaders, with all the garrison were captured. Other divisions took Tong ching chau, U chau, and Su chau. Li wen chong, with the main army, went by way of the mountain Ye hu ling, and captured Chau chin, who defended the defile there. At the mountain Lo to khan he met the Mongol army, commanded by Mantse cha puting and Turchipala. He attacked them and captured their baggage, and then marched on to Shangtu, whose commander surrendered. He then advanced towards Ing chang, where the Yuen Emperor had taken refuge. He learnt on the march that he was dead.

He was fifty-one years old, and had reigned for thirty-five years. His title in Chinese history is Chun-ti.

It is curious to read that in this very year Pope Urban the Fifth, who was probably far removed from any news of these revolutions in the far east, nominated the Franciscan William de Prat, a doctor in theology at Paris, Archbishop of Khanbaligh. He left with twelve companions, bearing letters to the Emperor of China and the Tartar princes on his way.

In reviewing the life of Toghon Timur we must be struck by the ease and rapidity with which the Mongol dominion in China was shattered to pieces, and we must conclude that its strength was but of a hollow character, and more a pretence than a reality. Its history is curiously repeated in the history of other Chinese dynasties, in which we find an equally surprising decay of authority. One other thing is very remarkable in these dynastic revolutions, so often caused in China by an invasion of barbarous tribes from without, and that is the very little immediate effect they have had in modifying the customs, laws, or habits of the people. The conquest comes and destroys a great deal, like the invasion of a locust swarm does, but in a few years all is green again, and the greenness is pretty much the same greenness as before. If the Chinese have been so often conquered by their neighbours, they have at least the cynical satisfaction that they have also rapidly conquered their conquerors. Have imposed upon them their idiosyncrasies and have forced them to assimilate themselves to them. In most cases they have borrowed little from the invaders, who have had their national peculiarities demoralised by contact with the exacting Philistinism that is so largely the heritage of Chinamen. And apparently these invaders have affected the immoveable race as little as the choughs who make such a noise about the Cornish cliffs have affected them. In the case of the Mongols this was not altogether so. It is true that they adopted the Chinese civilisation, and that in reading their annals after they settled in China, we do not feel that we are dealing with a different folk to those who founded the Ming empire. Yet there can be no doubt that their far-reaching enterprise, their widely-extended empire, the vast number of western people whom they had at their court, must have introduced a great mass of fresh ideas and notions, and made their period an epoch of renaissance in the arts and literature. In the words of D’Ohsson, we find bodies of Alans and Kipchaks employed in the war in Tungking, while Chinese engineers were found in the Mongol armies on the Tigris, and Persian astronomers and mathematicians compared notes with those of China. The Mongol Sovereigns controlled the destinies and commanded the resources of so many peoples, that their court might well be described as a microcosm of the known world.

When we come to inquire what were the immediate causes of their downfall, we shall not have far to go. The later period of the Mongol dominion was marked by extraordinary natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, droughts, floods, &c. These in a densely-peopled country cause wide-spread misery and distress, and in most cases the government which has not provided the remedy is visited with blame for the disaster. These evils, in many cases local no doubt, caused many of the local outbreaks that gradually sapped the Mongol power. They were doubtless supplemented by the harsh conduct of the local Mongol governors, by the outrageous exactions and ill-conduct of the Lamas, who, as a sacred caste, deemed themselves privileged to do almost as they pleased, even where they were so hated and despised as in China. The depreciated currency, to which I have already referred, no doubt brought great distress upon the poor. Meanwhile the court was extravagant and profligate. Independence and honesty were not virtues that a minister could practise long and retain his post. Adventurers and intriguers surrounded the throne, and their creatures were placed in positions of responsibility. Discipline broke down in the army, and the officers, so famous two or three generations before for their strict observance of duty, quarrelled with one another and with the court. Lastly, there was the overpowering feeling, fostered no doubt everywhere by the literates, that these Mongols were mere barbarians whom it was an indignity to obey ; that they ought to be the servants and proteges of the Chinese and not their masters ; and that the sooner they were rid of them and the better.

 

BILIKTU KHAN.

 

As I have said, the Ming general Li wen chong heard of the death of Toghon Timur as he was marching against Ing chang fu, where he had taken shelter. Having sent word to his master, he continued his march, and having severely defeated a body of Mongols who would have disputed his passage, he appeared before the city, which opened its gates. Ayuchelipata, the heir to the throne, managed to escape towards Karakorum, but his son Maitilipalat was captured, as were also the late Emperor’s harem and several princes and grandees. They were sent off as prisoners to China. Li wen chong continued his advance to Hingchau, where 37,000 Mongols submitted; thence he marched to Honglo khan, where 16,000 more submitted. The power of the Mongols was fairly broken, and the Emperor received the congratulations of his court on this event. In his reply he said inter alia that he had not taken up arms against the Yuen dynasty, but merely to put down the rebels who desolated the empire, and if the Yuen Emperors had only behaved decently, he would not have displaced them. The grandees demanded that the captive Prince Maitilipala should be immolated in the hall of the Emperor’s ancestors. The Emperor refused: he said that there were precedents for such a course, but he would not follow them. The princes of Yuen had been masters of China for nearly a hundred years, while his own ancestors had been their subjects, and he could not bring himself to do such a thing. He merely ordered that the young prince should take off his Mongol dress and that he should dress himself in the Chinese fashion. After which he created him a prince of the third rank, with the title of Marquis of Thsengli (who respects politeness), and gave him and the princesses a palace and attendants. Meanwhile the heir to the throne retired to Karakorum, where he was shortly afterwards joined by Kuku Timur, by whom he was proclaimed Emperor. He is called Gaiucheritala in the Ming annals; Ngai jeouchili pala by De Mailla; Aijen fu li tha la by Remusat; and Ajur shiridara by Timkowski. This name, as Schmidt says, appears to be Sanscrit, and to be properly Ajusri-Dara. Petis de la Croix and De Guignes call him Bisurdar. The form of the name in the Muhammedan accounts is apparently a corruption of Biliktu Khakan, which is the name he bears in Ssanang Setzen. Biliktu means “ the wise,” which makes it probable that it is a title. Setzen says he was born in 1338, and mounted the throne in 1371.

The great province of Liau tung still held out for the Mongols, but early in 1371 it was surrendered by its governor Liau y, who sent to the Ming Emperor an enumeration of the soldiers, inhabitants, and towns there. The Emperor kept him in his employment, but he was shortly after assassinated by some officers who were faithful to the fallen dynasty, namely, Hong pao pao and Ma yen hoei. The latter was afterwards captured, but Pao pao escaped to Naha chu.

The Mongol general Kao kia nu still controlled the mountain fortresses of Liau tung, while Naha chu had a strong force in the King ghan range on its borders. The latter constantly threatened Liau tung, and its inhabitants sent for aid to the Ming Emperor, who despatched two armies, one by sea, the other by land. The latter captured several fortresses and prisoners, among these latter were the Princes Petu buka, Peyen buka, and Manpe timur. They were taken to the Ming court, where the Emperor gave them houses.

Meanwhile the Ming Emperor had another campaign on his hands at the other end of the empire. The great province of Suchuan has always been a centre of rebellion; its isolated position and great wealth and resources doubtless being the cause. When the Yuen dynasty fell, the Chinese officers there did not submit to the Ming at once, but set up an independent authority, and it required a sharp campaign, which is described by De Mailla, to bring it to terms. Its history is, however, no part of our subject. More connected with it is the submission of the remoter province of Yunnan. Its governor Patsaluarmi, the Prince of Leang, remained faithful to the Mongols. After they had been driven beyond the Great Wall, he continued to send them embassies which evaded the Ming troops, but after the submission of Suchuan, and after the capture of Su wi one of these envoys, the Ming Emperor thought it a good opportunity to send an embassy to him. He accordingly sent Wang-y, who was well received by the Prince of Leang. At this time there happened to be a messenger of the ex-Emperor’s in Yunnan, who had gone there to raise a contribution. His name was Tho tho. He was enraged at the reception Wang-y received, and was very insolent to him, wishing him to prostrate himself. The Ming envoy replied with some spirit: “Heaven has put an end to the Yuen dynasty. And is it seemly that the expiring sparks of a torch should dispute the brightness of the sun and moon. It is you who ought thus to salute me.” It would seem that the Prince of Leang was intimidated by Tho tho, for we are told that Wang-y committed the happy despatch. De Mailla says he was put to death with his suite.

At the beginning of the fifth year of his reign the Ming Emperor presented each of his faithful generals, Suta, Li wen chong, and Fong ching, with fifty bows of Kiao chi and a hundred red bows, which princes alone had the right to use.

Meanwhile Biliktu and Kuku Timur collected a formidable force in Mongolia, with which to invade China, and the Ming Emperor determined to forestal them, and in 1372 despatched 400,000 men in three divisions, over which Suta was generalissimo. He marched by way of Yen men, and straight for Holin or Karakorum, with one division; a second division went to the east, under Li wen chong, by way of Ku yong koan; while a third entered Kansu, under Fong ching. The first of these armies advanced to the Tula; there it encountered the Mongols under Kuku Timur, in alliance with another body under Hotsongchi. The Chinese were badly beaten, and lost more than 10,000 men, and were only saved annihilation by the strength of the intrenchments behind which they were posted. They seem to have retreated safely, but we are not told how. The army under Fong ching was more lucky. Beyond Si leang its advance guard encountered a body of Mongols, commanded by Chetsikan, and drove them towards Yong chang. A few days after it encountered another body at Ulakan, under Turchipa, and captured many camels and oxen. Having been joined by the main army, they again advanced against another Mongol force, under Buka, but it fled, and Buka was killed by an arrow. Four hundred Mongols shared his fate. Another body, consisting of 840 families, under Sonarkia and Koan chu, surrendered. Advancing to Yetsinai, Puyen Timur and his people submitted. Thence towards Pie kiac han, where an Imperial prince named Torchipang was encamped. The latter fled, and the Chinese captured one of his officers and more than 100,000 head of horses, camels, and sheep. Thence he turned back towards China, capturing on the way 20,000 more cattle.

The third army, which went by the east towards the Tula, attacked the Mongols under Halachan, but was defeated, and lost severely. The Chinese history rhetorically covers the retreat with some minor advantages, but it is very clear that the Imperial forces were anything but successful.

We are told that in their retreat they found the roads across the desert obliterated by the rolling sand, and that many men and horses died from thirst. At San korma the horses trampled in the sand and discovered a spring, which saved the army. They now divided their army into two bodies. One under Kuchi encountered a Mongol force, and although the men were much emaciated by their recent hardships, they showed such a bold front that the Mongols fled and abandoned their cattle and horses, which proved a very seasonable supply. The other body, under Li wen chong himself, marched through a better country further cast, beat several bodies of Mongols, and captured 1,840 of their leaders with their families. These were sent on to the court.

This campaign, indecisive as it was, probably did much to disintegrate the Mongols, and to weaken the central authority at Karakorum. The following year some of the Mongols made a raid as far as the gate of Leang chau, but were defeated and pursued to the district of Yetsinai. Their chief Yesur, with many of his followers, were killed. Another leader called Ubatu surrendered.

The attacks on the frontier continued, and in 1374 fresh armies were sent under Suta and Li wen chong; they advanced to Peteng, where they captured Polo Timur and his suite. Many smaller detachments were also captured along the frontier. The Emperor ordered them to be set at liberty, and encouraged them to settle on the frontier by offers of land. Some time after, Todochely, a Mongol prince caught plundering in Kao chau, was beheaded. Several other chiefs were also captured there, inter alia the Prince of Lu, they were put to death. During the same year the Ming Emperor called together his council and addressed them: “Plants and trees grow in spring and die in autumn, other things are subject to the same vicissitudes, and man himself is not exempt from them. Maitilipala, grandson of the last Emperor of the Yuen, has now been here five years; he is no longer a child; his father and mother seem to have abandoned him; we had better send him back to them with the presents I am despatching.” The young prince, we are told, was by no means wishful to go, but he was sent, notwithstanding, under the charge of two eunuchs, who were bidden to take especial care of him.

In 1375 there came news to the Ming court that Kuku Timur, the great Mongol general, was dead. He had retired to the King ghan mountains, to his palace at Halanahai, and there died. His wife, Maochi, would not survive him and went and hanged herself. The Ming Emperor having assembled his generals, asked them to name an extraordinary hero, they all replied Chang yu choen. “He was no doubt a hero,” said the Emperor, “but if you would name an extraordinary one, it was the Prince Pao pao, i.e., Kuku Timur. In the latter part of this year, Nahachu threatened the frontiers of Liau tung with a considerable army. The Chinese commanders Ma yun and Ye wang marched against him. His point of attack was the city of Kiai chau. The Chinese commanders, we are told, cut slabs of ice with which they built a wall, upon which they poured water until it was all frozen hard. This wall formed a fortification some distance from the town, and close to the river Tsu ho. A short distance from this again they placed a number of fascines on the river and covered them with earth, so as to make it appear it was solid ground instead of a mere floating mass. Having planted his people in ambuscade about the town, they so frightened the Mongols by their hidden voices that they fancied a large army was there, and retreated. They mistook the ice walls for a strong fort, which they allowed to divert their march, and lastly, in their hurry, they trusted themselves on the floating fascines, through which their horses sank, and the Chinese massacred a large number of them. Nahachu escaped with a few followers northwards. In 1376 Peyen Timur made a raid upon the district of Yen ngan, in Shensi, but the Chinese cut off his retreat, captured nearly all his men and also a large quantity of cattle, and constrained him to surrender. These continual disasters could not, however, entirely eradicate that peculiar loyalty which is such a beautiful trait in the character of the better Chinese. Thus we are told that Tse yu, who had been trusted with several employments by the Mongols, had retired to Lan chau after the great defeat of Kuku Timur, in the previous reign. The Ming Emperor sent messengers to bring him to the capital; he escaped, and was recaptured. As he passed by Lo yang, in Honan, its commander wished him to prostrate himself, but he remained immoveable, even when they burnt his beard, nor would he see his wife who came to him. On his arrival at the court he was offered a place, but refused it in these terms: “Your Majesty, honouring my mediocrity instead of putting me to death as I expected, has increased my shame by giving me a uniform and a banquet, and would now promote me to further dignity. Your Majesty's greatness of soul is as wide as the heaven and the earth. I cannot sufficiently avow it. It is not that I am unwilling to perform the meanest office, but I am bound by sacred oaths. I cannot change my old affection so rapidly. Although a simple ‘bourgeois’ of but small parts, I was permitted by my late master to ride on horse­back, and to receive a public salary for fifteen years. I blush to have done nothing worthy of so much honour. Although its servant, I have been witness of the fall of the Imperial family. If I added to this, infidelity, how could I meet the gaze of the functionaries of the empire. Since my arrest I have not ceased to wish that I had died long ago. It is true I want to gain no meretricious fame by my death, yet if you would regard my simplicity and my inextinguishable affections, and put me to death, the day will be the chiefest day of my life.”

The Emperor was much touched with this address, and ordered the magistrates to conduct him beyond the Great Wall, so that he might go and join his old master at Karakorum. Biliktu Khan died in 1378. In this both Ssanang Setzen and the Chinese authorities agree. His reign added a painful chapter to the later Mongol annals. The list of their disasters was much lengthened; they were excluded from Liau tung, and wherever they tried to force a way into the borders of the Empire, they were beaten back. They were once more confined to the great desert, whence they originally sprang.

 

USSAKHAL KHAN.

 

Biliktu Khan was succeeded by his brother Ussakhal. He is called Yuthokusthiemor in the Ming annals, and Tukus Timur by De Mailla. The last named author says he was the son of the late Khan, and that he was preferred to Maitilipala, without it causing any trouble. Ssanang Setzen is no doubt right. In Mongol history the uncle is generally preferred to the nephew. In fact, when the nephew was young this was the recognised succession, and the words of the Chinese writer favour this conclusion. Ussakhal Khakan was born in 1342, and mounted the throne in 1379. He was recognised without opposition, and the Ming Emperor sent him an envoy to congratulate him on his accession, and he also composed a memoir in honour of the deceased Khan. In 1380 the Mongol general Hotochi or Thohotchi, who was encamped at Itsilailu, was making preparations to attack the Chinese borders. The Emperor sent his general Mu in against them. He advanced within fifty li of the enemy secretly, and then invested the army of Hotochi on all four sides at once. Baffled by this manoeuvre the latter ordered his people to lay down their arms, and submitted. Thus the Chinese general won a considerable triumph without striking a blow.

The next year Arbuka or Nairbuka, a Mongol officer, threatened the country by the Yellow River. The Chinese troops advanced to meet him. He retired, but was hotly pursued and overtaken near the mountain Si hoei khan, where an engagement followed, in which Pieli buka and Wen tong, with a large quantity of baggage, were captured.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Leang still ruled in Yunnan on behalf of the Mongols, and the Ming Emperor appointed Fu yeou te, who had commanded in the expedition against Arbuka at the head of 300,000 troops, to march into that remote province. Having assembled his forces in Hu kuang, he marched by two routes, one entered Yunnan by way of Su chuan, the other by the province of Kuei chau. The main army speedily captured Pu ting and Pu ngan, and received the submission of the mountain chiefs, who only wore very loosely the yoke of the Prince of Leang. The latter sent an army of 100,000, under his general Talima, to guard the defiles of Kio tsing. The Imperial army crossed the river Long kiang at night, and attacked the troops of Yunnan, which then as in our own day were obstinately brave. At length, after great efforts, they defeated them. Talima and 20,000 of his soldiers were captured. The Prince of Leang, on hearing of this defeat, abandoned his capital, fled to the mountain Lo tso khan, and ended by drowning himself and his family in the lake Tienchi.

The Chinese now marched upon the capital of the province, which was surrendered by its Mongol governor Koan in pao, and the following day Yesien Timur, an officer of the late Prince of Leang, gave up his official seal. The thorough subjugation of the country still cost a good deal of blood and trouble, the mountain tribes being very impatient of restraint. The details of the campaign are given by De Mailla. At length the work was done, and the more important prisoners were sent on to the court. Among these were Pepe, son. of the Mongol prince Chun wang; Koan in pao; Chelibuka; 318 members of the family of the Prince of Leang; and 160 others. They were provided with houses, and generously treated by the Emperor. The conquest of Yunnan deprived the Mongols of their last foothold in China. Let us now turn to the north.

There they were by no means completely cowed. Nahachu or Narachu had again collected a large force in the Kin shan mountains, and made raids upon Liau tung. The Chinese Emperor determined to punish him, and sent a formidable army under the command of Fong chin. A body of Mongols encamped at King chau was attacked by a Chinese general named Lan yu, under cove of a heavy snow storm, and dispersed. Kolai, its commander, was killed, and his son Pulanghi captured. Meanwhile, a Mongol general named Lailau, who had been captured by the Chinese and well treated, was sent on to Nahachu to bring him to terms. He in return sent the Ming general a present of some horses, and offered to submit. He even asked for an interview. At this he presented the Chinese commander with a cup full of wine. The latter, not to be outdone in politeness, took off his dress and asked Nahachu to put it on. A rivalry ensued as to who should take the offer of civility first, and as the Chinese commander would not give way, Nahachu lost his temper, muttered something between his teeth, and hastened away. The Chinese tried to stop him, and in the melée that ensued, he was wounded in the shoulder. When the news of this reached, the Mongol camp it caused confusion there. Most of the Mongols dispersed. Out of 100,000, 40,000 at once submitted. Their herds were so numerous that they occupied 100 lis of country. Two nephews of Nahachu, who attempted to collect the debris of their uncle’s clans, were persuaded also to submit. The officer who offered them terms breaking his bow in their presence as a token of his sincerity. This had a great effect on their followers, many of whom marched towards the south and acknowledged the Ming, and we are told that at the seventh month of 1387 the whole horde of Nahachu, called by De Mailla, Inuanchelapatu, entirely submitted. This horde of Nahachu, which seems to have had an independent and substantive position of its own, probably comprised the various tribes which had been assigned as their heritage to his brothers Juji Kassar and Utsuken, by Genghis, and which had obeyed Nayan, the celebrated rebel in the reign of Khubilai.

Fong chin, the Chinese commander, was now accused of malpractices, and was recalled, and Lan yu, one of his subordinates, was appointed generalissimo of the armies of the north. He proposed that they should attack the Mongols in their head quarters at Karakorum, and thoroughly scatter them. Permission was granted him, and with more thaft 100,000 men he advanced towards the north.

Ussakhal was encamped near the lake Buyur, so full of reminiscences of the glorious days of Genghis. The Chinese advanced stealthily, lighting no fires and marching in the night, the last stage of their journey being covered by a cloud of sand. They seem to have completely surprised the enemy, who raised their camp and fled after a short resistance.

Ussakhal and his son and heir Tien pao nu, with Honkilai and Chehemen, fled. Ti pao nu, his second son, sixty-four persons of his suite, Pilito, the wife of the prince royal, many princesses, and fifty-nine of their cortege were captured. Besides these, Torchi, the Prince of U; Talima, Prince of Tai; Palan, one of the best Mongol generals; 2,994 officers, and 77,000 soldiers were made prisoners. One hundred and fifty thousand head of cattle, the Imperial seal, and an immense booty of gold, silver, and valuables fell into the hands of the conqueror. Ti pao nu was taken to the court, and shortly afterwards exiled to the island of Luchu.

After dividing their country into several departments, the Emperor, appointed Mongol officers over them, and allowed them to administer according to their own customs. This terrible catastrophe, which is not mentioned by Ssanang Setzen, is told in detail by the Chinese authors, relied upon by De Mailla, Timskowski, and D’Ohsson. It effectually destroyed the power of the Eastern Mongols for a long time, and allowed the Western Mongols or Kalmuks to become supreme in Mongolia.

After his defeat the Mongol Khan fled, intending to take refuge with his minister Gniaochu at Karakorum, and had gone as far as the Tula, when he was suddenly attacked by one of his relatives called Esutiel, his troops were dispersed, and he was left with only sixteen horsemen and Gniaochu, who had reached him; as he fled he was overtaken by a snow-storm. The soldiers of Esutiel now came up and killed him, together with his son Tienpaonu.t Both Ssanang Setzen and the Ming annals agree in placing his death in 1388, although the former says nothing about his violent end, and in fact barely gives us the dates of his birth, accession, and death.

 

ENGKE SORIKTU KHAN.

 

According to Ssanang Setzen, Ussakhal left three sons, the eldest of whom, named Engke Soriktu, the Ayke of Petis de la Croix, succeeded him. It would seem that Esutiel or Yessutier is the Chinese corruption of this name, and that Engke is to be identified with the assassin of Ussakhal, and it is very probable that he was not the son, but either the nephew or grand-nephew of Ussakhal, being the son or grandson of Toghon Timur. We are acquainted with two of Ussakhal’s sons in the Chinese narrative. One of them was captured by the Chinese, the other was killed with his father; and while it is highly improbable that a Mongol Khan would be murdered and supplanted by his son, it is very probable that the descendants of Toghon Timur would covet their father’s throne; and I am disposed to make Engke a son of the Maitiripala, already named, who was set aside by Ussakhal.

The usurpation of Engke or Esutiel was not at all grateful to the Chinese court, which had hoped that the Mongols would have submitted on the death of Ussakhal. An army was accordingly sent northwards, under the orders of Fu yeou ti. He divided it into two sections; one of these marched by way of Ku pe keou towards Todu, where the Mongol general Nairbuka was encamped. When its commander drew near he sent Koan tong, an old friend of Nairbuka’s, to persuade him to submit. On meeting one another they embraced, and the Mongol general was persuaded to go-to the Chinese camp. There he was well received and entertained. Orders were' given not to molest his camp, and Nairbuka was left in command of it. He was much touched by this generosity, and declared that the Emperor had no more faithful subject.

The other division of Fu yeou ti’s army advanced as far as the north of the Shamo desert, but returned without having seen a Mongol or done anything. There can be no doubt that the whole nation was disintegrated and scattered. Whatever authority Engke had was very local, and other chiefs in other neighbourhoods seem to have set up an independent authority of their own, their main bond of union being the plundering of the Chinese frontier. Thus we read that in the beginning of 1391 one of these local chiefs, who belonged to the Imperial family and was named Hotachacheli, marched to attack the Mongols who had submitted to the Ming. The Imperial troops marched against him as far as the river Tor, near the mountain Helinia, but failed to find him.t He is probably the Unorchiri mentioned by Timkowski, who tells us that he fixed his camp at a place called Khe Emil (? Khamil), to the west of Karakorum.

In the latter part of 1391 the Mongols had captured Khamil, to the west Kansu. The Chinese stormed the place, put to death all who resisted, and took prisoner Pielieki, who had taken the title of King, and Sanlicheko, both of them of the Mongol Imperial family; with Yochan, minister of State, and 300 soldiers. The northern frontier was well protected, and it was chiefly in these western parts of the empire that these disturbances occurred. In 1392 another invasion took place there, in which the Mongol Prince Yuelu Timur was the chief actor. He fortified several strongholds in Han tong, but they were recaptured, and after several defeats he was forced to surrender. His followers were set free, but he and his son were sent on to the court, where they were beheaded as rebels who had once submitted and then broken faith.

According to Ssanang Setzen, Engke Soriktu mounted his somewhat shadowy throne in 1389, and died in 1392. He was succeeded by his brother Elbek Khan.

 

ELBEK KHAN.

 

ELBEK, we are told, was born in 1361. His full name, as given by Setzen, is Elbek Nigulessukshi Khakan. He mounted the throne in 1392, and was killed in 1399. During this period I find only one reference to Mongol affairs in the Chinese annals. This is in 1396, where we are told the Emperor sent the Prince of Yen to inspect the frontier. That he went beyond the boundary as far as the mountain Checher, where he had a fierce struggle with the Mongols, and captured their general Sofin Timur. He then marched towards Nielanhatu, where he met and defeated another body of them commanded by Niela and Nichai. Ssanang Setzen has a very quaint Saga referring to this Khan. He says that he was one day out hunting and killed some hares. As their blood trickled out on the snow he exclaimed: “Give me a wife with a face as white as this snow and cheeks as crimson as this blood.” Upon which Chuchai Dadshu, a Uirat, replied, “Khakan, the beauty of Uldsheitu Chung Goa Beidshi, the wife of thy brother, surpasses this by far.” Then spoke the Khakan, “My Chuchai Dadshu, if thou wilt accomplish my wish and contrive that I shall see her, I will raise thee to the dignity of Ching sang, and will give thee authority over the Durben Uirat.” Chuchai waited until the husband was absent on the chase, when he hastened to the wife and told her the fame of her beauty had spread widely, and that the Khakan wished to see her. She replied in scorn and anger: “Was ever such a custom known that heaven and earth should meet together, and that exalted princes should see their sisters-in-law. Does the Khakan wish the death of his younger brother, or has he become a raving dog?” When this was reported to the Khan he was furious, had his brother murdered, and made his sister-in-law his wife. Soon after Chuchai Dadshu repaired in State to the Khan while he was hawking, to demand the dignity of Ching sang, which had been promised him. When Chung Goa Beidshi heard that he was waiting outside for the arrival of the Khakan, she sent the servant of her former husband to summon him in, as she wished to show him every courtesy and distinction. She offered him fermented butter in a silver bowl, and thus addressed him: “To thee I owe it that I have been raised from a lowly to an exalted position, that my title of Beidshi has been changed to that of Begi Taigho. While formerly I was only the Beidshi of an insignificant Taidshi, I am now the Khatun of the lofty Khakan. I am not unmindful of thy deserts; the higher recompense I must leave to the Khakan, thy master, but as an acknowledgment I present thee with this bowl.” Hereupon she presented him with the bowl, which he accepted without suspicion. The draught made him unconscious. Leaving him lying on her bed, she then dishevelled her hair, scratched herself in many places, and by her cries summoned a crowd of people. She despatched a servant to summon the Khakan, and on his arrival she sobbed and cried. He asked why she wept. She told him how she had given Chuchai Dadshu the bowl and what she had said to him, and then she said “he got drunk with the drink I offered him, began to speak in an unseemly manner, pulled me about, and when I resisted reduced me to this plight”. Chuchai Dadshu, when he heard this, rushed out, took to his horse, and sought to escape. Then said the Khakan, “The flight of this Chuchai proves his guilt,” gave chase, and overtook him. They fought; he shot at the Khakan and wounded his little finger, but was notwithstanding overpowered and killed. He was then flayed and his skin was taken home by the Khakan to show his wife. She was not satisfied with the sight only. “Let us try,” she said, “how human hide tastes.” Thereupon she licked the fat from the dripping skin, and she sucked the blood from the Khan’s bruised finger, and said, “Now I have licked the blood of the cruel Khakan and the fat of his instigator Chuchai. I have long wished to avenge the death of my partner. If I myself now die I shall be free again. Let me, Khakan, return speedily to my home.” The Khan, infatuated with the beauty of Chung Beidshi, was not even angry with her. But he spoke to Batula, the son of Chuchai: “I have killed thy father wrongfully.” He then gave him his daughter Samur Gundshi to wife, gave him the title of Ching sang, and conferred upon him the headship of the Durben Uirat.

This narrative is very interesting. Its details are probably fabulous, but they illustrate very remarkably the point of view of Mongol morality and the kind of heroism which they patronise. Cruel and stern and Draconic, and yet not without its lessons for our decrepit times. It is interesting also because its chief characters are undoubtedly historical persons, and it clears up somewhat a very hazy period of Asiatic history. Chuchai Dadshu is named by Pallas among the ancestors of the Royal house of the Sungars. Pallas is a very independent authority, as he had never seen the narrative of Ssanang Setzen, and collected his information from the European Kalmuks. He gives only a bare list of names, and for some time Ssanang Setzen’s narrative is invaluable. We now proceed: “When Ugetshi Khaskhagha, of the Kergud (the Keraits), heard of all this he was very angry, and said the reign of this Khakan is most unrighteous. First he kills his brother and makes his widow his own wife; then, at her instigation, he puts his minister Chuchai to death without right or justice; and at last, ashamed of his injustice to him, he gives the lordship over the Durben Uirat to Batula, my subject, while I, the prince, am still living.” When the Khakan heard of the hatred and rancour of Ugetshi Khaskhagha, he suggested to his son-in-law Batula Chingssang that he should be killed. Warned of his danger by the Khakan’s chief wife, Ugetshi, without loss of time marched against him, and killed him; took his wife Uldshei Chung Beidshi to his own tent; and subjected the greater part of the Mongol people.” This revolution was of considerable importance in Mongol history. The chief of the Keraits became, as he was before the supremacy of Genghis, the over lord of the Mongol race. I shall refer to him again in treating of the history of the Keraits, in a later chapter. Although he became supreme, the line of Khakans of the Mongols proper was still preserved.

 

GUN TIMUR KHAN.

 

Ssanang Setzen tells us that the violent deposition of Elbek caused much confusion, but at length Gun Timur, the eldest son of Elbek, who was born in 1377, mounted the throne in 1400, and died in 1402, without children. He is also mentioned in the Ming annals, which say that after Tokus Timur (Ussakhal Khan), there were five reigns until that of Xuen Timur. The names of these kings they say were not known, but they were all assassinated. I know nothing recorded of his reign, which was probably a merely nominal one, Ugetshi having all the real power.

 

ULDSHEI TIMUR KHAN.

 

SSANANG Setzen tells us that Gun Timur was succeeded by his younger brother Uldshei Timur, who was born in 1397, and became Khan in 1403. Schmidt unhesitatingly identifies him with the Gultsi of Timkowski and the Kulichi of De Mailla. I believe this to be entirely wrong. The Kulichi of De Mailla and Kuilichi of the Ming annals was an usurper who violently possessed himself of the throne, and who would not take the title of Khan of the Mongols, but only that of Khan of the Tartars, for fear of arousing against him the members of the Imperial family of Yuen. That is to say, he was not a member of that family, but an interloper, and his whole history shows that he was no other than the Ugetshi of Ssanang Setzen, of which name Gultsi and Kulichi are corruptions. On the other hand I believe that Uldshei Timur is to be identified with the Eltshy Timur Khan mentioned by Petis de la Croix, and also with the Peniacheli of De Mailla and the Ming annals, the Buniachiri of Timkowski. It would appear that for a short time after the death of Gun Timur there was an interregnum in the Khanate, and that Ugetshi the usurper had the supreme authority, and we find accordingly, that in 1404 the Chinese Emperor sent him an official seal and presents. Meanwhile Batula Ching sang, who I believe was the Mahamu of the Chinese writer, reigned over the Kalmuks or Durben Uirat. When the Emperor sent presents to Ugetshi, he also sent others to Marhapa, Yesuntai, and Halutai, three chieftains who were impatient of obeying one who did not belong to the legitimate Imperial Stock. Of these Halutai was the chief. He is called the minister of Kuilichi in the Ming annals, which name his companions Fahul and Chahantaluha.

In concert with Mahamu, Halutai and his companions attacked the usurper and drove him away. They then sent their homage to the Chinese court.  Schmidt is disposed to identify the Halutai of the Chinese authors with the Aroktai of Ssanang Setzen. We are told by the Chinese authors that Halutai having dispossessed Kulichi or Ugetshi, nominated Penyacheli, who was sprung from the Imperial family, as Khan. This took place at Piechipali. We are further told that he had been abandoned during the times of trouble, and deprived of the means of supporting his dignity. This agrees with the account Petis de la Croix gives of Eltshy Timur, of the Khan Uldshei. He tells us that he had gone to the court of the celebrated Timurlenk, where he stayed till that conqueror’s death. He then returned home again, and mounted the throne in 1405, which is very nearly the same date as that given by Ssanang Setzen. This passage from Petis de la Croix is very interesting. It recalls to us the fact that while the Mongol power in the East had crumbled away: in the West the heir of the Mongol authority and traditions, the great Timurlenk, raised up a mighty empire, which rivalled the splendour, if not the renown and wide authority of that of Genghis Khan himself.

In 1409, the Chinese Emperor sent Liau Timur buka into Tartary with despatches addressed to the Mongol Khan, with these he also sent seals and patents of promotion. These symbols of subjection, which the Chinese authors call favours, were neglected by Peniacheli, Uldshei, who contrived to detach Patu Timur, his son Talan, Lunturhoei, and his son Pieliko, from the allegiance they had promised the Chinese many years before.

Two months later Kintaputai and Koki were also sent into the north with presents for Halutai, Marhapa, Tohorchi, Hachi Timur, and many others. These were also rejected : Koki was killed, and Kintaputai was sent home again. These chieftains then went and joined Peniacheli. The Emperor, who was much irritated, determined apparently to support their rivals, and named Mahamu (Batula Ching sang) Prince of Chun ning. Thai pin was made Prince of Hien-y, and Pathu pula Prince of Ganlo. An army was also sent north to punish the contumacious princes. Its command was given to Kiau fu. When he had passed the Great Wall he detached a body of 1,000 to 1,200 cavalry, which defeated a small body of Mongols to the south of the river Lokuho, and captured its commander. From him they learnt that Peniacheli had retreated further north. Kiau fu determined to pursue him, although only a portion of his army was with him, and in fact when he had only 10,000 men. The Mongols, who heard of this, planted an ambuscade, into which the Chinese fell. Kiau fu, with the greater number of his officers, perished. The Emperor sent emissaries into Mongolia to examine the conduct of the generals, and the guilty were punished with extreme severity, t He determined to march himself against the Mongols. His army was 500,000 strong,§ and he set out early in 1411. He traversed 10,000 If of country without meeting the enemy, and advanced as far as the sea of Ko loan hai (the Baikal), which is more than 20,000 li in circumference, and into which flow the rivers Hannan (the Onon), Luku, and five others. When he arrived at the Luku, Ke found that Peniacheli had fled towards the west, and Halutai towards the east. The former had reached the river Niekurtcha and then the Onon. The Chinese pursued him with a flying column. He was overtaken on the banks of the Onon, where Genghis Khan had taken the title of Emperor. A panic seized the Mongol army, which began to disperse. Peniacheli then abandoned his baggage, and fled with only seven companions.

Halutai having rallied the debris of the army of Peniacheli and incorporated it with his own, had the temerity to encounter the Imperial forces. He, too, was beaten, and, after being unhorsed and losing 200 of his best officers, fled, and the Chinese Emperor returned in triumph to Peking. The unfortunate Mongol Khan was shortly after murdered by Mahamu, the chief of the Uirats. This is dated by the Chinese in 1412. Ssanang Setzen places the death of Uldshei in 1410. The former authorities are no doubt right.

 

DELBEK KHAN.

 

Ssanang Setzen tells us that Uldshei was succeeded by his son Delbek. Schmidt says he could not find him mentioned elsewhere, but we certainly find, him named both in the Ming annals and by De Mailla, where we are told that Mahamu having assassinated Peniacheli, of his own authority made Talipa Khakan. Talipa is certainly the Chinese corruption of Delbek, and this coincidence increases the certainty that Uldshei and Peniacheli were the same person. Ssanang Setzen tells us Delbek was born in 1395 and mounted the throne in 1411. This is only a difference of a year from the Chinese account, which dates Talipa’s accession in 1412.

Ssanang Setzen makes Delbek a son of Uldshei, but here again it seems hardly probable that Mahamu would murder the father, who was the protect of Halutai, and put the son as his own protégé on the throne. Whoever he was it is clear he was a mere puppet in the hands of his patron, who held the reins of power. De Mailla says the Chinese Emperor was pleased with Mahamu for his conduct in the supplanting of Uldshei. Mahamu seems shortly after to have defeated Halutai, and compelled him with the débris of his horde and his family to find refuge on the Chinese frontier, and appeal to the Emperor for succour. The latter appointed him Prince of Honing (i.e., of Karakorum), and assigned him a camping ground north of the desert of Shamo. This was in 1414. Mahamu was naturally enraged at this, and withheld his tribute. The Ming Emperor determined to march in person into Tartary to see how matters stood. He was accompanied by a large army and by his grandson, whom he had nominated as his heir. When they arrived at Salihor they heard that the Mongols were only 100 lis distant, and shortly after they came upon them under Talipa (i.e., Delbek), Mahamu Taiping, and Polo, at the head of 30,000 men. The Ming annals state that the advance guard of the Imperial army, under Liau king, first encountered the enemy at Khanghalihai, and killed several of them, after which the Emperor hastened on by forced marches until he reached Hulanhuchauen. He goes on to say the Mongols were utterly routed, that ten sons of princes and several thousand soldiers were killed. The Chinese went in pursuit, broke through the mountain Yukao, and penetrated as far as the river Tula. Mahamu had fled; the Emperor wished to pursue him, but was persuaded to return by his followers. A good deal of this seems to be mere courtly rhetoric, for in the more sober narrative of De Mailla we are told that the Emperor having determined to crush the enemy by a decisive coup, attacked him, that it cost him more dearly than he expected, for the Mongols fought bravely all day, the number of killed was about the same on both sides, and that although the Mongols were inferior in number, they only retired from the battlefield at night, when they crossed the Tula and went northwards. Halutai sent to the Emperor to excuse himself for not having come to his assistance, on the ground that he was ill. The Emperor feigned to believe him, and sent him 100 measures of rice, 100 mules, and 100 sheep, and also sent 1,000 measures of grain to be distributed among his followers. He then retired homewards. It would appear probable that Delbek perished in this battle, which was fought in 1415, for we do not again hear of him in the Chinese annals, while Ssanang Setzen tells us he died in 1415r.

 

ADAI KHAN.

 

We now enter upon a period during which the Mongols passed under the yoke of the Uirats, a yoke which pressed upon them very heavily for nearly fifty years. Mahamu was the chief of these Uirats.

It would seem from the Chinese accounts that he was not entirely supreme, however, for we find constant references to Halutai as the leader of at least a portion of the Mongols proper. It becomes an interesting thing to discover who this Halutai was. Schmidt is disposed to identify him with the Aroktai of Ssanang Setzen, but this is very improbable. Aroktai was a slave during a large part of the period when the Chinese annals show that Halutai was an active party leader. Aroktai never rises above a subordinate position, while we are expressly told that Halutai usurped the office of Khan. Again, Aroktai is a mere nickname, and is hardly likely to have been adopted in the Chinese annals. A close reading of Ssanang Setzen’s narrative will, however, enable us to identify Halutai with a person mentioned by that chronicler, and to reconcile the two narratives completely. Ssanang Setzen, after describing the way in which the Mongols became in great part subject to the Uirats, says, “At that time Adai Taidshi, of the Khortshins, a descendant of Utsuken, ruled over the rest of the Mongols.” I am convinced that this Adai was no other than the Halutai of the Chinese authors. We have seen several times in the course of this history that the tribes assigned to Utsuken in Eastern Mongolia, filled a particular r61e of their own, and on the several occasions in which they occur, it is as a semi-independent portion of the Mongol community, both powerful and aggressive. It would seem that while the greater portion of the Mongol community fell under the authority of the Uirats, these eastern tribes remained independent under their leader Adai, a worthy successor of Nayan and Narachu.

According to Ssanang Setzen, Batula Chingsang (that is, Mahamu) was murdered by Ugetshi, his old rival, and this may be so, for in the Chinese accounts we only read of the defeat and flight of Kuilichi in 1404, and not of his death. It may be therefore that he continued to rule over the Keraits, and that he did murder Mahamu. Ssanang Setzen dates this in 1415, but the Chinese authorities, who are probably right, fix Mahamu’s death in 1418.

According to Ssanang Setzen, he had in 1399 taken prisoner a man named Ugudeleku, who belonged to the tribe of Assod. He made a slave of him, fastened a basket on his back, and made him collect dry dung, whence he got his name of Aroktai (Arok being the basket used by the Mongols for collecting dung for fuel). Aroktai was still in his service when he was murdered by Ugetshi. Soon after this we are told the Durben Uirat held a great assembly, on the termination of which, three of its members returning home met Aroktai going to his usual employment of collecting dung. When they approached him he demanded what business had been transacted at the meeting. “Who would have thought,” said one of them, “that this creature dragging about his dung­basket would have been troubled about affairs of State; why,” he said contemptuously, “it is determined to rebuild the city of Chorum khan” (Karakorum, which had probably been destroyed by the Chinese); “to raise Adsai Taidshit to the dignity of Khakan, and that fellow Aroktai to that of Taishi.” Throwing away his basket, Aroktai arose and shouted, “These are not your words. It is a command of the gods. For me a humble subject it is a small matter, but as for Adsai, he is a son of the gods. Thou Almighty Father hast done this.” With these words he bowed himself adoringly before the gods.

When Ugetshi murdered his rival, Aroktai also fell into his hands. It will be remembered that the widow and posthumous son of the Khan Elbek were both under his control.

On the death of Ugetshi, which followed closely upon that of his victim, he was succeeded by his son Esseku. The latter married Samur Gundshi, the widow of Batula. He reigned until 1425. Meanwhile the three distinguished prisoners whom I have named continued to live at his court. On his death, his widow Samur Gundshi, who, it will be remembered, was a daughter of Elbek Khan, determined to set free the three prisoners and to send them home to their people the Mongols. It would seem she was anxious to revenge her former husband’s death, and she therefore sent them word that Esseku was dead, that his people were without a head, and that if the Mongols would march quickly against their oppressors they would succeed. The three prisoners were thereupon released and went home, and we are told that they joined Adai Taishi, who had not yet proclaimed himself Khan. Let us now turn once more to the Chinese narrative.

According to the Ming annals, Halutai (Adai) had become very arrogant in consequence of his. increasing wealth and power. He had retained the Imperial envoys who had been sent to him, and had passed and repassed the Great Wall for the purpose of plunder. In 1422, he had penetrated as far as Hinho, and killed the major-general Khy. De Mailla’ says merely that being rid of his rival Mahamu, he had determined to make himself independent. Not to outrage the feelings of his subjects, he reappointed Peniacheli to the nominal post of Khan. This must be a mistake, for Peniacheli was killed by Mahamu long before. Perhaps a son of Peniacheli is meant. Seeing that this appointment displeased the Emperor, he determined to be before him, and to forestal punishment by invading the borders of China, and advanced as far as the gates of Ning hia. The Emperor thereupon determined once more to invade Mongolia, and left Peking at the festival of the new year. He divided his army into several bodies, which enclosed a large area of country, by detachments that could mutually support one another. Halutai was disconcerted by this movement, and retired towards the Kulun lake. The Emperor sent an army in pursuit which failed to overtake him, but his baggage and herds, which were left on the Nieleang lake, were captured. The army then returned to Peking. This was in 1422. Two years later Halutai determined to displace his protégé Peniacheli (?), who is described as an indolent and weak prince. He not only took away his rank, but shortly after had him killed, and caused himself to be recognised as Khan by the army.

The three State prisoners who were sent home, as I have said, by Samur Gundshi, were Uldsheitu Chung Beidshi the widow and Adsai the posthumous son of the Mongol Khan Elbek, and Aroktai. We are told by Ssanang Setzen that Adai married Chung Beidshi, and then had himself proclaimed Khan before the Ordus or eight white houses of Genghis Khan, in the very arcana of Mongol sovereignty. He at the same time appointed Aroktai to the rank of Taishi. Ssanang Setzen dates this in 1426, which is only two years later than the date when the Chinese authorities make Halutai mount the throne.

According to De Mailla, Halutai, when he took the title of Khan, marched towards the Chinese frontier as far as Suen fu. The Emperor once more advanced in person against him. At Cha ching (Delamarre says on the river Si yang), on his way, he received the submission of Hoche Timur and Ku Natai, of the Mongol Imperial family, and learnt from them that Halutai had been completely defeated by the Uirat chief.

Toghon Timur, the successor of Mahamu, and that he had been abandoned by many of his people. The Chinese army advanced as far as Wei chan kiau, where it received the submission of the Prince Yesien tukan, whom the Emperor created Prince of Chong yong, and changed his name to Kin-chong, and also honoured his relative Pokantai,’as well as Chapu and six other chiefs of his horde, with military ranks. He then returned with his army to Peking.

The Ming annals tell us that Kin chong was constantly urging upon the Emperor that he should overwhelm Halutai. He offered to lead a flying column and to bring him bound hand and foot to the Emperor. The Emperor hesitated, but at length consented when it was reported to him that the indefatigable chieftain had made a raid into the district of Tai tong and carried off a rich booty. He set out with a large army, giving command of the flying column to Ching miau and the Mongol prince Kin chong. On arriving at Sie ming, he heard that Halutai had hastily retired, that he had lost a large number of men and cattle in the snow, which was ten feet deep, and that he had reached the river Talan-namur, where he hoped to recruit. The Emperor, we are told, was weary of the war, and offered terms to those who would submit. The road was strewn with bones, the miserable monuments of former expeditions. He caused these to be buried, and himself composed an epitaph over them. On arriving at Talan-namur he sent detachments in various directions to search for the Mongols. For a month they traversed the vast steppes to and fro, but found nothing but ruts and footmarks in the sand, which seemed many days old. Afraid of being overtaken by the winter, he at length ordered his troops to retire, but before doing so he had a pyramid erected, with an inscription upon it telling posterity how far he had penetrated. He shortly after died. Timkowski says his death was caused by vexation at not having succeeded in revenging himself upon the refractory Halutai. This campaign was fought in 1424 or 1425.

Halutai had gained a practical victory, and for many years the Chinese did not disturb the Mongol dominions. But the strife between Mongols and Uirats still continued there, and we read that in 1426 news arrived at the Chinese court that Toghon, the chief of the Uirats, had raised Toto Timur to the dignity of Khan. I know nothing more of this personage, who was put up doubtless as a rival to Adai or Halutai.

Let us now turn once more to Ssanang Setzen, whose narrative at this point I cannot confirm by that of the Chinese authorities. He tells us that when Adai was joined by Adsai and Aroktai the three marched together against the Uirats, whom they defeated, capturing their chief, the son of Batula ching sang. When he was brought in, Adsai said, “Let us now imitate the generosity of my elder sister Gundshi, and allow this her son to depart freely.” Upon which Aroktai answered, “It is dangerous to let loose the brood of a savage beast. We ought not to cherish the son of our enemy. Heed not the imprudent counsel of this young man that we should let our prisoner go”. Adai approved the advice of Aroktai, and handed his prisoner over to him. “In former times thy father Batula Tching sang,” said the fortune-favoured dung collector, “fastened a basket on my back, called me Aroktai, treated me with contumely, and reduced me to slavery. Now that our fortunes are reversed, I will treat his son in a similar fashion to that he treated me.” Upon which he fastened a great iron kettle (called a Toghon) on his back, and called him Toghon. For some time he remained a slave in the service of Aroktai. After a while he escaped, and repaired to the chiefs of the Durben Uirat, told them that confusion reigned among the Mongols, whose allegiance was very much divided, and persuaded them to march against them. The Mongol Adai Khan was at the time hunting in company with two young Uirats, named Saimutshin and Salmutshin, to whom he had entrusted his bow case full of arrows, while he himself had gone on with only four great arrows in his quiver. When the young men deserted, the Khan, we are told, killed four pursuers with his four arrows and then escaped to the Imperial Ordu, where he hid himself; he was, however, discovered, captured, and put to death. Ssanang Setzen dates his death in 1438, when he was nine-and-forty. It is probable that Aroktai shared his fate. According to the Ming annals, Halutai was surprised and killed by Toghon at the mountain Una, in the seventh month of 1434. De Mailla adds, after mentioning the appointment of a successor by the victor, that the Halachan (the Khortshins, the special tribe of Adai) and other tribes submitted.  This is a very conclusive proof, if the many other facts were not sufficient, that I am right in identifying Adai Khan with the Halutai of the Chinese authors.

 

ADSAI KHAN.

 

The Ming annals tell us that after the death of Halutai his subjects elected Athai in his place. He is probably the Adsai of Ssanang Setzen’s narrative. He was clearly a very small person, the real Khan being the nominee of the Uirat chief Toghon. We are told he was persecuted by him, and took refuge beyond Itsilailu, under the name of Nakhuan, whence he made incursions towards the towns of Kan and Leang. He was defeated by Chen miao and driven towards the mountain Su u. This was in 1435. Two years later, we are told, he renewed his incursions in company with Torchepe, in the provinces of Kan chau and Leang chau. He was again attacked, and fifty of the Mongol chiefs were decapitated and their tribes were subjected. We are told Torchepe fled beyond He thsuen. As Athai is not again mentioned, it is probable he was killed in this fight, and it may well be that Ssanang Setzen has confused his reign with his predecessor’s, and made Taissong Khan mount the throne only on his death.

 

TAISSONG KHAN.

 

Ssanang Setzen tells us that Adsai Khan left three sons, of whom the eldest was Taissong, who was born in 1422, and mounted the throne in 1439. He is, as Schmidt has said, the Totobuka of the Chinese authors. De Mailla says he was put on the throne by Toghon, the Uirat chief, after he had killed Halutai in 1435. Toghon died in 1444, and was succeeded as chief of the Uirats and patron of the Mongols by his son Yesien. Yesien is the Essen of Ssanang Setzen. He was clearly the autocrat of the desert, and the Khan his protégé was probably of little more consequence than the later Merovingians in the hands of the two Pepins. I have described in a later chapter his war with China, in which he captured the Emperor himself. Here it will suffice to say that his invasion was made in conjunction with Totobuka, who, as the Ming annals say, although he was Khakan, had fewer soldiers than he.

According to the Ming annals, Totobuka’s wife was the eldest sister of Yesien or Essen, the latter wished that his sister’s son should succeed to the Khanate, and Totobuka having refused, Yesien assassinated him and sent his wife and son to the Chinese. This was in 1451. De Mailla dates the same event in 1454, but the former is doubtless right, and agrees very closely with Ssanang Setzen, who dates Taissong’s death in 1452. According to him the tyranny of Essen Khakan had caused great dissatisfaction among the Mongols, many of whom gathered round Taissong. At length, with his brother Akbardshi, whom he had appointed Ching sang, and a younger brother named Mandoghol, he marched at the head of his army against the Uirats. A fierce fight, which I have described later on, took place between the rival sections in the land of Turufanu Khara (of Turfan). Taissong was deserted by several of the leading Mongols, including his brother the Chin sang Akbardshi, who had apparently been seduced by the fair promises of Essen, and suffered a severe defeat. He fled on his swift grey horse towards the Kentei Khan mountains and the river Kerulon, but on the way he was arrested by a man named Tsabdan, of the Khorlad tribe. Taissong had married his daughter, but had afterwards divorced her and sent her home. When the flying Khakan came in sight, he shouted, “Our enemy is in a strait. Let us kill him but his daughter pressed him not to do so, saying the fault was on her side. ” “To lay hands on one of the Bordshigs would be an evil act”, she said. “If we kill him in his urgent distress it will surely go hard with us sometime.” Notwithstanding his daughter’s warning, he put him to death. As I have said, the Mongol chronicler dates this in 1452.

 

AKBARDSHI KHAN.

 

After Akbardshi had joined the Uirats and deserted his brother, he thus addressed their chief: “Yesterday my meddlesome son Kharghotsok Taishi remarked, it were better to drive away or to hack in pieces an alien than to put confidence in him and to appease his ill will. Annoyed at this, I ordered him to be quiet.” The Mongols and Uirats present smiled derisively at this ingenuous frankness of the Khan, and they agreed that he was “a donkey.”

The Uirat chief, who discussed the matter afterwards, remarked that although Akbardshi was as stupid as an ox, yet that his son Kharghotsok Taishi was a very different person, that he was evidently determined to keep alive the feeling of revenge which the Mongols naturally had for their oppressors the Uirats, that it was imprudent to nurse such a fox in one’s bosom, and that it would be well to put both father and son to death. Essen Taishi, who wished to save his son-in-law Kharghotsok, argued that although Akbardshi was a stupid person, yet he had deserted his own brother to join them, and that the son was a man of parts who might be useful to them. Abdulla Setzen argued on the contrary in this wise : “How can the father, who is his brother’s heir, who is a slanderer of his own son, and a despiser of his nearest kin, be a friend to us, who are strangers to him and his natural enemies. And as to the son, has he not disclosed what his intentions are? Has he not already used inimical phrases towards us? ” In this all were agreed, and a plot was formed to ruin the Jinong.

Accordingly, Abdulla Setzen went to him and said : “We all, the Mongols and the Uirats without exception, are thy subjects. Consent, O Jinong, our master, to occupy the throne of the Khakan, and to raise our Essen to the rank of Jinong.” He consented, but when Abdulla had gone Kharghotsok Taishi addressed his father, and said: “Above in the blue vault of heaven the sun and moon rule. Below on earth the Khakan and the Jinong do the same; but the titles of Taishi and Ching sang are reserved for the sons of the gods (for those of royal blood). How can you, therefore, surrender your title to another?” .This rebuke was not well received by his father, who sharply reprimanded him. Upon which he answered again : “I know it to be against law and custom for one to answer his prince or his father. What I said, however, I said for the best and for your own sake, but it would seem you are determined to ruin yourself and to bind the Mongols to their yoke.” He thereupon departed, and Akbardshi, who assembled the Forty and the Four (the Mongols and the Uirats), occupied the throne of the Khakan, and raised Essen to the rank of Jinong.

The Uirat chiefs meanwhile continued their plot. They invited Akbardshi to a grand feast, which was prepared in two adjoining tents, one being built over a deep pit covered with felt; and it was arranged that the Khan and his dependants should enter the tent according to their rank, each one escorted by two men, and that under cover of shouts of greeting, when they took their cups, they should be seized. The invitation was accepted. As soon as the Khan and his followers entered the tent a song was sung, which was followed by a loud shout. They were seized and put to death, and then buried in the deep hole already prepared in the adjoining tent.

Meanwhile Kharghotsok Taidshi had stayed in his yurt, but his servant Inak Gere had gone secretly to spy out what was being done. He returned with the news that none of the guests were to be seen, but that blood was flowing from the lower part of the other tent. Kharghotsok upon this remarked that there was nothing for it now but a speedy flight or death, and he set off with his servant Inak Gere. He was pursued by a body of Uirats, but at length reached the craggy mountains of Ongghon Khaya, where he hid himself; but Tsalbin Baghatur, Turin, and a third Uirat clambered up the rocks. The first had a double suit of armour on. As they drew near Inak Gere shot him through and through, and when he fell he knocked the other two into the crevasse. After this Chalak Turgen, of the Torguts, essayed to clamber up. He had protected himself with threefold armour, and also carried a javelin. Inak shouted out that he could not hurt him where he was, and bade the Taidshi shoot. The latter thereupon made a desperate effort, and shot him through and through, so that the arrow went through his back and killed him. The rest of the pursuers then turned and fled. The Taidshi and his henchman being relieved from their anxiety, waited until nightfall, when the latter furtively returned and stole Essen Khakan’s black horse called Bughura Khabsan, and his light coloured mare called Ermek Shirkhatshin, with which he returned in safety. The Taidshi mounted the horse and his servant the mare. They set out intending to take refuge with the Khan of Togmak, who was a descendant of Juji. On their way they put up at the house of a rich man of Togmak, called Ak Mongke, with whom the Taidshi formed a friendship.

There he stayed for some time, and sent the faithful Inak Gere back to Mongolia to inquire whether Essen Taishi still lived, and how it fared with the Forty and the Four, and told him to return with his wife, if he found it feasible, and if she were still free. About this time Ak Mongke arranged a hunt, in the course of which ten steppe antelopes were started, of which the Taidshi killed nine, and only missed one. This aroused the envy of Yakshi Mongke, the younger brother of Ak Mongke, who killed the Taidshi, and then gave it out that his death had happened by accident from the glancing of an arrow. When Inak Gere returned, he inquired about his master from the horse herdsman of Ak Mongke, and when he heard of his fate he killed the herdsman, drove off a portion of the herd, and returned to Essen Khakan, to whom he reported his master’s fate.

Kharghotsok Taidshi had married Setsek Beidshi, the daughter of Essen Khakan. Her father meanwhile wished her to marry another husband, but she replied she would not do so until she learnt of the death of Khar­ghotsok, and she told him further that she was enceinte, and had been so for seven months. The Khakan, her father, gave orders that if her child should prove to be a son he was to be put to death, but if a daughter she was to be spared. The child proved to be a son, and was born in 1452. The mother succeeded in deceiving those deputed to examine the matter by substituting the little daughter of Odoi Emegen, of the Khulabad clan of the Chakhar tribe, and sending her boy to its great-great-grandmother Samur Gundshi. It will be remembered that she was the daughter of Elbek Khan, and had been married to Batula Ching sang, and was therefore Essen’s grandmother. She received him kindly, named him Bayan Mongke, and gave him Kharatshin Taibutshin, the wife of Sangkhaldur, of the Solongos, for a nurse.

Essen Khakan, when he heard of this, wrote to his grandmother, asking her to put the boy to death. This she refused, saying: “Do you already begin to fear that the boy when he has grown up will take vengeance on you? Is he not the son (the descendant) of my brother as well as of your son-in-law? If my son Toghon were alive, he might well say why did you permit your grandson Essen to live?”

Essen was disconcerted by his grandmother’s decision. He said nothing at the time, but afterwards confessed to his friends that he had made up his mind to eradicate the family of the Bordshigs, and that as his grandmother objected, they must waylay the boy secretly. Inak Gere overheard this, and reported it to Gundshi, who replied that she would send the boy to the Mongols if she could only find a trusty man to take charge of him. Inak said that he knew of a discontented Uirat named Ugetai Daibo, who had told him his grievance, and had complained that although he had commanded a Khoskhigo (a banner) when he was only thirteen years old, and had employed all his powers in the service of Essen, yet he had not received the slightest reward from him. Inak said that he would prove him, and then try to induce him to enter into their plan. Upon which he sought Ugetai and told him that Essen had determined to waylay the three-year-old son of Setsek Beidshi. “If you would gain some honour for yourself,” he said, “you may do so by undertaking a commission for Gundshi, and escorting the boy safely to the Mongols. Not only will you gain honour for yourself, but you will also secure ample remuneration and glory for your family.” Ugetai Daibo willingly accepted the proposal, and the young treasure was accordingly sent away to the Mongols. Besides Ugetai, who belonged to the Gol Minghan of the Uirats, there also went with him Bulai Taishi, of the Kharatshin Mongols; Bayantai Mergen, of the Sartaghol; and Esselei Daibo, of the Kunkurats.

This Saga, which I have taken almost verbatim from Ssanang Setzen, shows how thoroughly the Mongols were at this time subject to the yoke of the Uirats. There is nothing to confirm the story (which is, however, no doubt perfectly reliable in its main facts) in the Chinese annals.

 

UKEKTU KHAN.

 

During his usurpation, Essen seems to have appointed two chiefs to superintend the two divisions of the Eastern Mongols; Alak Ching­sang over the Baraghon Gar or left division, and Timur Chingsang over the Segon Gar or right division. The former is the Ala of the Ming annals, and the Hala of Mailla. He is mentioned as sending tribute to the Chinese court in 1451. The same year the Chinese Emperor sent envoys into Mongolia, bearing two seals of office and patents of rank, conferring the title of Khan upon both Hala and Essen, thus treating the two on an equality. Timur may be the Peyen Timur so often mentioned in the history of Essen. I cannot trace the origin of either Alak or Timur. According to Ssanang Setzen, the two one day went to the court of Essen, and demanded that as he was Khakan of both the Four and the Forty, of the Uirats and the Mongols, he should grant the title of Taidshi to Alak. Essen replied he had already granted it to his son. His visitors reproached him bitterly, and told him that he fancied it was his own prowess which had raised him to his present position, while it was really the skill of his dependants, and left in a rage. They soon after returned with an army. Essen was forced to fly; his wife, children, cattle, and riches fell a prey to the Mongols. In his flight he was overtaken by one named Bagho, whose father he had killed; he seized him and put him to death, and hung his body on a tree in the mountain Kugei Khan. Setzen puts his death in 1452. The Ming annals date it in 1454.

Ssanang Setzen tells us that soon after Essen’s death, the young widow of Taissong Khan took his son Mergus Khas in a box on horseback, and marched off with a considerable force, some riding on horseback, some on the backs of bullocks, and others on foot, and fell upon the Uirats in the mountains Khangghai Dsabkhan. There a great booty was captured. On her return, Mergus Khas was placed on the throne with the title of Ukektu Khan. He was not obeyed, however, by the greater part of the Mongols, and was murdered by Dogholang Taidshi, of the seven Tumeds, when he was only eight years old, and after a reign of scarcely a year.

 

MOLON KHAN.

 

Taissong Khan was murdered, as I have said, by his father-in-law Tsabdan, because after marrying his daughter he had sent her home again. This daughter, when she returned to her hither, took her son Molon Taidshi, who was then three years old, with her. He remained with his grandfather till he was sixteen. Tsabdan was then ( in 1453) murdered by Khubtshir, of the Khorlad tribe, who carried off Molon and made a slave of him. Upon this there came ill luck upon the tribe. When the sorcerers and other wise men were consulted about it, they gave it as their opinion that it was due to their neglecting the Bordshigs, the sacred Imperial family. This opinion was generally endorsed, and they sent off the young Taidshi with an escort to Molikhai Ong, of the Ukligud tribe. On his arrival he was received with acclamation, and they cried out, “Through thee will the people once more be reduced to order. Mount the throne of the Khakan.” Upon which they mounted him on a dappled grey horse, put a golden sceptre in his hand, took him before the god, and placed him on the throne. This was in 1453.

Molon Khan is, no doubt, the Maeulh of the Ming annals. They tell us that after Alak Ching sang had killed Essen, he was in his turn put to death by Puilai, who then sought out Maeulh, the son of Totobuka (of Tailsong), and put him on the throne with the title of Little King. Thenceforward, they say, Puilai and his officers Maolihai, became influential chieftains among the Tartars. I have not found any one mentioned by Ssanang Setzen who answers to Puilai, but Maolihai is clearly the Molikhai of that author.

Molon Khan had not a very long lease of power. Khodobagha, who belonged to the Solonghos tribe, hinted to the young Khan that Molikhai was intriguing with his wife, and was also marching with an army against him. The Khan was loth to believe this, and said that it was hardly possible that his benefactor should do it, but he sent out a messenger to see. Molikhai then happened to be hunting. The messenger seeing the dust raised by the hunt did not wait for further evidence, but returned with his report. The Khakan thought he had better forestal Molikhai, and marched against him. Khodobagha now repaired to the latter, and told him the Khan was marching against him to overwhelm him. He also was credulous, saying he could hardly be marching against him who had only been his benefactor and never had any evil designs against him. “If you think that I lie, send out messengers to inquire,” said the crafty Khodobagha. Molichai said he would go and see for himself, and went with his people to a hill, whence he saw the advancing army. He then girt on his armour, sprinkled an offering before the gods, and thus addressed them : “Sublime and everlasting Tegri, (supreme gods), ye are witness ; Lord Bogda, you are witness also, that I have been faithful to the son of your race, but he has repaid me with evil. Judge ye between the offspring of your golden race, Molon Khakan, and me, Molikhai Ong, who am his subject. Your favourable or unfavourable sentence shall decide between us.” Molikhai then advanced against the Khan at the head of his men, and killed him. He was only eighteen years old. This was in 1454. When Monggutsar, the chief wife of Molon, heard the news, she broke out into wailing and sobbing, and said, “O Khodobagha, it is thou who hast befouled the good name of my husband, and hast wrought a divorce between him, my lord and Khakan, and me. O Khodobagha, it is thou who hast disturbed the resettled condition of the State, hast parted the subjects from their Khakan, and hast sown discord between him and Molikhai Ong.” When Molikhai Ong heard this wail, he repented of what he had done, had the tongue of the treacherous Khodobagha torn out, and then had him put to death.

 

MANDAGHOL KHAN.

 

After the death of Molon Khan, there seems to have been an interregnum. Ssanang Setzen does not name any Khan between the death of the former in 1454, and the accession of Mandaghol Khan in 1463. It is very probable that the Mongols continued to be more or less subject to the Uirats, and that any Khan they had was purely a nominal one. During this interval, namely, in the year 1460, I find it stated in the Ming annals that Puilai, Maolihai (Molikhai), and others made raids upon the Chinese frontier. This Puilai, I believe, to have been the chief of the Uirats, for he is mentioned several times prominently in the Chinese history, while he does not appear in Ssanang Setzen, who confuses himself very much to the history of his own people, the Eastern Mongols.

Molon Khan left no sons, and according to Ssanang Setzen was succeeded in 1463 by his great-uncle Mandaghol, the youngest son of Adsai. His mother was a Uirat. To revenge the death of Ukektu Khan, he marched against Dogholang Taidshi, a descendant of Khadshikin, killed him, and subjected the seven Tumeds to his authority. Like the other Mongol Khans of this period, Mandaghol no doubt bore the title of Siao vang tsu or Little King.

It will be remembered that Akbardshi Khan left a grandson named Bayan Mongke, who was protected by the aged Samur Gundshi from the jealous spite of Essen. He was now produced and taken to the court of his great-uncle Mandaghol Khan. The latter was greatly rejoiced, he expressed a wish that he might prove a fruitful branch of the Bordshigs, and he changed his name from Bayan Mongke to Bolkho Jinong. Mandaghol seems to be the Tui mentioned by De Mailla. He says that in the sixth year of Ing tsong, in 1462, Maolihai (Molikhai) invaded the districts of Ku yuen, Leang chau, and King chau, having been assisted by Holochu and Monko, who were enemies of Pohai (? Puilai). He attacked the latter and killed him, and caused Tui, the brother of Siao wang tse, to be nominated as Khan, This description and the date make it pretty certain that Tui is no other than Mandaghol. The three confederates, finding the country fertile, settled there and sent their submission to the Imperial court. Their country was more than 100 lis from cast to west, from Pien tiau koan in Shensi as far as Ninghia; on the south it bordered on the Great Wall; and on the north was watered by the Yellow River for a space of 800 li.

We are told by Ssanang Setzen that to revenge the death of Molon Khan, Mandaghol marched against Molikhai and killed him. We are told further, that at this time he lived on good terms with Bolkho Jinong, and reigned with strictness and authority over the six Tumens.

We now hear of another piece of treacherous intrigue which nearly caused a fresh revolution among the Mongols. A dependant of Bolkho Jinong told the Khan the latter had evil designs against him, and meant to rob him of his wife. The Khan refused to believe him, and told his nephew what he had said, and when he found it was all a slander, he ordered his nose and lips to be cut off, and then had him put to death. A second Mongol named Issama Taishi shortly after took up the same scandal, and at the same time he poisoned the mind of Bolkho Jinong against his uncle. The repetition of the story aroused the Khan’s suspicions, and after a somewhat ill-tempered exchange of messages, he ordered an army to march against Bolkho Jinong, who fled, and his people and cattle were harried. Mandaghol Khan died in 1467 and left two daughters, but no son. His nephew Bolkho Jinong was murdered three years later by five conspirators of the tribe Jungshiyabo.

 

DAYAN KHAN.

 

Bolkho JINONG left an infant son named Batu Mongke. His widow married Issama, the slanderer, who had caused the quarrel with his uncle. The young prince remained however with his nurse Bakhai. From her he was taken by force by a Mongol named Timur Khadak. But the boy had received such rough treatment that he had grown up humpbacked. Ssanang Setzen tells us that the wife of Timur Khadak tried to straighten it by rubbing it with a silver bowl. He then goes on to tell a quaint story of how Mandughai Ssetzen Khatun, the young widow of Mandaghol, was wooed by Unebolod Ong of the Khortshins. She said that if there had not been a descendant of the Imperial house in existence she would have listened to him, but that such an one did exist in the person of Batu Mongke. She also consulted two of her friends as to what she should do. One of them said it would be better for the people if she married Unebolod at once, and did not wait until the boy grew to maturity. Her other friend, named Saghan Agha, argued differently. She told her that if she married the descendant of Khassar she would darken her path, divorce herself from the people, and lose the title of Khatun; while if she protected the boy, she would in turn be cherished by the gods; she would rule over the whole people, and would retain with honour her title of Khatun. This last argument commended itself to Mandughai Ssetzen, and she punished her former adviser by hitting her on the head with a bowl full of tea.

Thereupon she took the then five-year-old Batu Mongke by the hand, and led him before the great Goddess-mother of the Royal House. Having made an offering, she said, “I have wandered unconsciously into a place where one cannot distinguish black from white. The family of the Bordshigs is nearly extinct. Unebolod, the descendant of Khassar, has wooed me. For this reason I now appear before thee, mother of princes. My distracted vision can hardly recognise a piebald horse. When the descendant of Khassar suggested that the boy was too young and insignificant, I began to be nervous about him, and fearing for his life, I came here. If I should be guilty of despising thy noble gates, or of contemning thy sublime threshold; or if I should accept Unebolod as my husband, then, mother of princes, punish me, thy daughter-in-law and slave. If, on the contrary, I sincerely fulfil my promises, and protect thy little descendant Batu Mongke, and in due time become his housewife, then be thou compassionate towards us, and grant that from our union there may be born seven sons and only one daughter. If thou wilt grant my wish, I will name my seven sons the seven Bolods (seven men of steel), and will fan the flames on thine altar.” When Mandughai returned home, Unebolod heard of what had taken place, reconciled himself gracefully to circumstances, and ceased his wooing.

Mandughai Ssetzen Khatun, who was then twenty-three years old, was thereupon married to the five-year-old Batu Mongke. This was in 1470. Having seated him before the goddess on a throne, she gave him the name of Dayan Khakan, and expressed a hope that he would rule the united people.

Upon which the wise Mandughai Ssetzen Khatun loosened her hair and collected it in a bunch on the crown of her head (? the distinguishing mark of a married woman), and putting Dayan Khakan in a waggon, she marched with him at the head of the army against the Durben Uirat, from whom they captured much booty.

It is very clear that at this time the Mongol Khan had but a titular authority, and that other chiefs held sway elsewhere. Thus we read in the Ming annals, under the year 1473, that Mantlu, Puilohu, and Kiao-kiaslan made a raid into China. These raids had been very frequent of late years, and from 1470 there had been three or four each year. The result being that several millions of men and cattle had been carried off. The frontier commanders had not opposed them, or had merely attacked their rear guard in retiring, and killed some of the old and helpless people. Their great aim was to be able to report a sufficient number of heads decapitated, upon which there was an ad valorem system of recompense. If they were beaten, the only punishment they suffered was a degradation in rank.

The three chiefs already named made a raid in 1473, in which they penetrated as far as Thsin chau and Gan tin. Wang yue, governor of the military division of Yen sui, having collected a large force, marched against them, and hearing that the enemy had placed their old people, wives, and children near the Red Salt lake, he planted ten ambuscades. Mean­while, with the main army he attacked their camp, burnt their yurts and huts, and destroyed the old people and children, the cattle and baggage. This terrible harrying, that reads so like a Scotch raid on the borders, had its effect. When the Mongols returned and discovered the fate of their families, they wept bitterly. They retired towards the north, and deserted the country enclosed by the elbow of the Yellow River, and known as the country of the Ordus. For many years they were content merely to plunder the remote frontier, and even sent several embassies with their submission. In 1475, Mantlu and Kiaokiaslan sent such an embassy with offers of homage. This Mantlu is doubtless Mandulai Agholkho, a chief of the Ordus, mentioned by Ssanang Setzen.

The notices of the Mongols in the Chinese annals now become very scattered. We read that in 1483 the Siau wang tsi or “Little Prince” made an incursion into Tathong at the head of 30,000 men, and captured a great booty. They burnt the town of Pie pao.

Under the year 1488, I find it stated in De Mailla that news arrived at the court of the death of Patu Khan, of the Mongols, and of the election of Peyen in his stead. This is clearly a mistake, which has probably arisen from the confusion between the name Batu and the title Dayan. Ssanang Setzen’s narrative, which at this time is very circumstantial, is entirely at issue with any such occurrence, nor is De Mailla’s statement confirmed by anything in the Ming annals. Returning to the native chronicler, we find that in 1482, her husband being then seventeen years old, Mandughai Ssetzen Khatun gave birth to Toro Bolod and Ulus Bolod, who were twins. In 1484 she had a daughter called Toroltu Gundshi, and a son Barsa Bolod, who were also twins ; while in 1490 she had a son Arsu Bolod, and afterwards again two twins, Altshu Bolod and Watshir Bolod. While she was pregnant with the latter two, the Four Uirats made a raid. She put herself at the head of the army, but fell off her horse. Upon this, four chiefs planted themselves around her, remounted her on a horse called Sain Khongkhor, belonging to one Sai-khan, of the Bayaghod tribe, and brought her out of the melée in safety. This mention of the horse’s name, which occurs so frequently in the Mongol Sagas, is surely a very characteristic trait of a race of nomads whose perpetual life on horseback entitles them almost to the character of centaurs. After her adventure, the Khatun bore the twins already named, and shortly after had another son named Ara Bolod. Thus was Mandughai’s prayer answered, to the great joy of the people. Besides these seven sons, Dayan Khan had four others by two other wives, namely, Gere Bolod Taidshi, Gere Sanda Taidshi, Ubshighun Ching Taidshi, and Geretu Taidshi.

The Ming annals tell us that in 1497 “the Little Prince” (Dayan Khan) invaded Chao ho chuan, and that Liau chen was killed in opposing him. Two years later, another chief named Hochai invaded Ta thong with 7,000 men. They completely defeated the Chinese border commanders, and killed one of them named Hong and 800 of his people. In 1500, Hochai made a fresh raid into the same district. Troops were sent against him, but apparently without any result, as none is recorded. In 1501, Hochai with the Little Prince again made an incursion. The whole Chinese frontier from Liau tung to the borders of Thibet seems to have been more or less attacked. The Ming annals sardonically note that one Chinese commander actually succeeded in killing three of the enemy, and reported this at court as a victory. Meanwhile the Little Prince and Hochai, dividing their army of 100,000 men into several bodies, pillaged on all sides the country of Ku yuen and Nin hia. The conduct of the border commanders caused great dissatisfaction at court. The expenses of the war, in which no fruits seemed to be gathered, were immense. A bitter complaint was lodged against the generals by Khu chen, who said that the campaign had cost 1,600,000 taels, and the result was the death of three enemies only, that is, 500,000 taels for each head, while the officers and soldiers who had been reported as worthy of reward were 10,000 in number. In 1504 Hochai made another incursion into Ta thong, while in 1505 “the Little Prince” again crossed the border. Unfortunately this year is the last in which we can rely upon the Ming annals, which have not been translated further, nor, I am told, is there much prospect of their being so. Reverting once more therefore to Ssanang Setzen, it would seem that Issama Taishi, who had married his mother as I have already described, conspired against Dayan Khan, who thereupon sent Toghodshi Shigushi, of the Khorlats, at the head of some troops. Issama having been killed by Toghodshi, the latter ordered his wife Shiker Taigho, who was Dayan’s mother, to mount on horseback and follow him. She was in great grief at her husband’s fete and refused, upon which Toghodshi addressed her in a rage and said, “Was the noble Jinong (Bolkho Jinong) your lawful husband too base for you? Is your son Dayan Khan too insignificant for you? Do you despise your people the Chakhar Tumen? Do you regard the traitor Issama as better than these? Saying this, he put his hand on his sword, upon which Shiker Taigho was afraid, and set out on her journey; nevertheless her conduct had gained her the ill-will and scorn of everybody.” Toghodshi married Khulutai, Issama’s daughter, and escorted Shiker Taigho to the Khan, her son.

Meanwhile three of the Mongol chiefs, of the Baraghon Tumen or left division of the Mongols, approached the Khan with the following prayer. “You sit on the throne as our legitimate ruler. You have vanquished and subdued your enemies and those who envy you. By your wife, and in answer to her prayer you have had seven sons, the seven Bolods. Thus have you lighted a bright glowing lamp and created a sweet smelling incense in the eight white houses of the Lord Bogda. It is only now requisite that you should collect dues equally from all the great race of the Jirgughan. We have come therefore to beg that you will appoint one of your sons to the dignity of Jinong, and let him go with us.” The request was acceded to by the Khan and his wife, and those who were present, and Ulus Bolod was appointed Jinong over the three Baraghon Tumens, and was duly installed in the presence of the gods.

This appointment was not pleasing to some of the other chiefs, who had doubtless long been practically independent, and especially to Ibiri Taishi, of the Jungshiyabo, and Mandulai Agholkho, of the Ordus tribe. “Why should we have a ruler over us,” they said, “we can rule our states without assistance, we must waylay this Abaghai.” They drew a Mongol named Boldshumar into the plot, and instructed him that on a certain day when the people came to prostrate themselves, he was, under pretence that it belonged to him, to seize the horse of the Jinong, and to raise an altercation, when the rest would come to his rescue. The following day, accordingly, Boldshumar approached the Jinong and seized his horse by the bridle; the latter bade him leave loose, and when he did not do so, hit him over the head with a strap. Upon this Ibiri and Mandulai raised an outcry. A fierce struggle ensued, during which the conspirators pressed round, and although Ibiri was wounded in the breast, and Abaghai succeeded in cutting down one of his followers, he was himself shot from behind and killed.

De Mailla has a reference to this event. He says, “Siao wang tsi (the Little Prince) had three sons, Horlun, Hotchu, and Mankoan­chin, of whom Ye pula was the guardian.” He elsewhere tells us Ye pula was the chief of the tribe Inchaopoa, that is, he was the Ibiri chief of the Jungshigabo of Ssanang Setzen. He says that Yepula, discontented with serving these princes, killed Horlun, and having passed the Yellow River he retired to the country of Sihai (the country of Kokonoor), where he began to grow in power. Ssanang Setzen says that to punish the murder of his son, Dayan Khakan set out against the Baraghon Tumen. On his way he came to a narrow pass called Ongghonu Sube. ‘As he was passing it a Mongol came up, driving a vast herd of cattle, and to announce his approach blew loudly on his horn. The echo of this, and the noise of the tramping herd was mistaken by some of the Mongols for an adverse army. A panic seized them and they fled. In the flight Dayan Khakan was thrown from his horse called Eber Khossa head foremost into the mud, from which he was released by his companions. Meanwhile night came on, the fugitives lost their way in the pass, the army was forced to pick its way over the rough mountain, and many slipped off their saddles and were lost, whence the place was called Jingkhortsagun Dabagha.

In reference to this incident Baghatur Negorekei composed a scornful song about the Khan. “Instead of staying at home,” he said, “the three Segon Tumens (the right-hand Tumens) marched hither. They determined to win by fair means or foul, but the gods have prevented them. Have caused the Khan to fall, and scattered his wives and families in all directions.” When Dayan Khan returned from this expedition, the three Baraghon Tumens (the three left-hand Tumens) with Ibiri and Mandulai at their head, marched against him. He had notice sent him by Khossai Tabunang, who happened to be in their camp, and the Khan had time to overtake the tribes Keshikten and Kendshigod, who had loitered on their march, and whom he overtook at a place called Gakhai Elessun, and to attack them. When he was told of the scornful song of Baghatur Negorekei, he was greatly excited, and prostrating himself before the gods, he said, “They have suddenly given expression to anger, and commenced hostilities. Ibiri and Mandulai have murdered the innocent. They aroused suspicions against Ulus Bolod, and have befooled Baghatur Negorekei into using such mettlesome phrases. Be you my witness, and judge great god, my father.” Having made an offering, he assembled the three right-hand Tumens, and their near allies, the Khortshins, and marched against the enemy. They did not refuse to meet him, and the two armies drew near one another at the mountain Dalan Terigun. Before the fight, the Khan thus addressed his men : “The Ordus, as the guardians of the eight white houses of Genghis Khan, are a fortunate people ; but you, Uriyangkhans, who were appointed guardians of the noble remains of Genghis, are also a very fortunate people. Join yourselves with the Khortshins—cousins with cousins. The twelve tribes of the Khalkas shall fight with the twelve Tumeds, and the eight tribes of the Chakhars with the Jungshiyabos.” From this address we may gather that the Ordus, Tumeds, and Jungshiyabos formed the three Baraghon Tumens; and the Chakhars, Khalkas, and Uriyangkhans the three Segon Tumens. The struggle was a very severe one, and at one time a general charge of the enemy's troops threatened to defeat the Khan’s forces. At this juncture, Barsa Bolod, the Khan’s son, who saw the danger, collected forty of his bravest followers and charged at their head, cut his way through the ranks of the Tumeds, and reached those of the Ordus. There he was recognised by the standard-bearer of the Ordus, who shouted to him, “Here is the Black Standard of the Khakan. I return it to his descendant”. Giving him the standard, the two stood close together, upon which the Ordus, who were pursuing the Uriyangkhans and were deceived by the manoeuvre, rallied back to their standard, where they were badly cut in pieces. A portion of the enemy now submitted. The rest were pursued by Dayan Khan as far as the Kokonoor lake, where he was acknowledged by all the three sections of the Baraghon Tumen. Mandulai Agholkho, the Ordus chief, was killed in the mountain Adshinu Tsai dam, which thence was renamed Agholkho Tsaidam. Ibiri Taishi, the other chief rebel, was deserted by his people, and fled to Khamil, where he was assassinated.

Hitherto Dayan had apparently not been properly installed, for we are told that having now restored order in the six Tumens, he solemnly took the title of Khakan before the eight white houses of Genghis, and as such did homage there. He then appointed his grandson Bodi, the son of Toro Bolod, who had died in 1523, to be his successor; and to reward Barsa Bolod for his brave conduct in the late war, he appointed him Jinong over the three Baraghon Tumens. He then rewarded the various people who had faithfully served him and his children. They are specifically mentioned by Ssanang Setzen. Some he appointed Dai Darchans. To others he gave salaries ; to others, golden tamghas or seals ; and to others, titles. His only daughter Toroltu Gundshi was married to Baghassun Darkhan Tabunang of the Saraghod tribe. Some time after a rebellion took place among the Uriyangkhans. This was suppressed. One of their tribes called Sorghol was nearly destroyed, and the rest made prisoners. The Uriyangkhans were then incorporated with the remaining five Tumens.

Ssanang Setzen dates the death of Dayan Khan in 1543. This seems hard to reconcile with the scattered notices of De Mailla, which show Anda and Kisiang, other Mongol chiefs, acting very independently long before this, and says further, that as early as 1528 they had become so powerful that they no longer obeyed “the Little Prince.” This can only be reconciled on the supposition that Dayan Khan lost his control over the Baraghon Tumens in his later days.

His reign was a memorable one in Mongol history. The long series of minorities of civil wars had disintegrated the nation very considerably. He once more united it According to Ssanang Setzen his successor in the rank of Over Khan was his grandson Bodi.

Barsa Bolod became Jinong over the greater part of the three Baraghon Tumens; Arsu Bolod Mergen Khungtaidshi, prince of the seven Tumeds; Altso Bolod of the middle five tribes of the Khalkas; Gere Sandsa over the seven further tribes of the Khalkas; Wadshir Bolod over the eight tribes of the Chakhars; Ara Bolod over the Khotshid of the Chakhars; Gere Bolod over the Aokhan Naiman of the Chakhars ; and Ubassandsa over the Assod and Jungshiyabo. This The tribes of Mongol proper were practically divided into two great sections, the Segon Gar section, to which the Imperial Ordus belonged ; and the Baraghon Gar or Eastern section, over which the Jinongs ruled. I shall here follow the main line.

 

BODI KHAN.

 

Dayan’s eldest son Torobolod died in his father’s lifetime, and Bodi Taidshi his son was, on the death of Dayan, raised to the position of Over Khan. His authority over the Baraghon Tumens was purely nominal. For many years the tribes forming that division had under the leadership of Anda and his brother raised the renown of the Mongol arms to a very high pitch. Bodi Khan succeeded his grandfather in 1544. He is probably the Puchi of De Mailla.

Soon after his accession Baghatur Molosai of the Khortshins tried to persuade him to march against the Baraghon Tumens to destroy their organisation, and to incorporate them with the Segon Tumens. This advice would have been carried out but for the eloquent counsel of his mother. She said : “You speak of breaking the union of the three Baraghon Tumens and of subjecting them. After the great battle at Dalan Teregun, Surtukhaya Ong of the Khortshins gave your noble grandfather the following advice: ‘If you leave these three Baraghons united, our posterity will be harassed and harried by them; but we shall have perpetual peace if you unite together the two main stems of the Chakhars and Bayars, the numerous Jungshiyabo with our 200,000 Khortshins, and the twelve clans of the Tumeds with the twelve clans of the Khalkas.’ To this advice your noble grandfather thus answered : ‘My intention was to pursue my son’s murderers, and to revenge myself upon them, and I have taught the people the consequence of the crime of Ibiri and Mandulai. What further advantage should I have gained if I had become the Lord and Khakan of the whole people, merely to divide still more the remaining 60,000 which were left out of the noble 400,000”. In this wise did your noble grandfather oppose such counsel. Will you now do contrary to his advice and presume to judge better than he? In your case there remains further reason against destroying the three Baraghons. How can it have ever entered your mind to wish to undo the noble bond of union established by your grandfather, by which peace has been assured to these great peoples. The middle son of Gun Belik, eldest son of Barsa Bolod, is Buyanggholai Toghar Daitshing. If this man sees an enemy he can’t restrain his desire to measure himself against him. He is a hero who unarmoured throws himself into a melée with men protected by armour. The son of Ilete Altai, who was the son of Barsa Bolod, is Senge Dugureng Timur, and he is so strong and active that he is accustomed to jump over a camel when armed cap-a-pie in complete steel. One of the sons of Gun Belik Mergen Jinong is Nom Tami Goa Taidshi. His son is called Khutuktai Setzen Taidshi; of him men report that he not only knows the past but also the future thoroughly. Another son of Mergen Jinong is Buyanggholai Toghar Daitshing. The son of this man, named Belgei Daibung Taidshi, is so strong that in stretching his bow he pulls until his shoulder blades overlap one another, so that he is obliged to put a cushion between them; he can cut off any joint of the tail from a running fox which any one may choose. His younger brother, called Borsai Khatan Baghatur, shoots, as one hears, with such force that his arrow passes through three wooden shovels when put together. If it happened that you should carry out your plan and bring them under your yoke, then it might be well; but if your plan miscarried, then you would have brought upon yourself and others irreparable injury.” Bodi Alak Khan agreed with his mother’s advice and desisted from his plan. He ruled the whole people in peace and quiet, and died after he had reigned for four years in 1547.

 

KUDANG KHAN.

 

Bodi Khan left three sons, Daraissun Taidshi, Kukjutai Taidshi, and Ongghon Toghar. Daraissun was born in 1520, and mounted the throne before the white houses in 1548, on which occasion he made a treaty of peace and friendship with the Baraghon Tumens. On his return home he was met by Altan Khan, a celebrated chieftain of that section, who thus addressed him, “Thou hast taken the title and dignity of Lord and Khakan, and thereby hast given stability to the State. The title of Sutu Khakan, which carries with it the duty of defending the State, was formerly granted to the subordinate princes. I pray that thou wilt invest me with this title, and I will promise thee to protect thy rights.” This petition was acceded to, and Altan received the title of Sutu Khakan. On his return home Daraissun adopted the title of Kudang Khan, by which he was universally known. He secured peace and prosperity to the State, and died in 1557, after a reign of ten years.

 

SASSAKTU KHAN.

 

Kudang Khan left three sons, namely, Tumen Taidshi, Darai Bagha Darkhan, and Daitshing Taidshi. The first of these, who was born in 1539, succeeded him. The history of the main line of the Mongol Royal house is at this time much overshadowed by the collateral branches who ruled in the Baraghon Gar or left wing, and especially by the great Altan Khan, who had been latterly converted to the Lamaist faith. It would seem that either the Mongols had, after their expulsion from China, entirely relapsed into their ancient practices of Shamanism, or that they were adherents of the Red sect merely, and that their conversion refers to their acceptance of the reformed doctrines of the Yellow sect. In 1576 Tumen Taidshi was himself converted by Ilduni Sanggiduktshi Garma Lama. On this occasion he assembled the six Tumens, and gave them a code of laws. He appointed Amutai Khungtaidshi of the Chakhars, and Oisang Subukhai of the Khalkas, both of the Segon Tumens, and Khutuktai Setzen Khungtaidshi of the Ordus, Nom Dara Khulatshi Noyan of the Assod, and Tsuruge Khungtaidshi of the Tumeds, to carry out these laws. Thenceforwards he was called Sassaktu Khakan, by which name he became widely celebrated. He ruled his people with authority and skill, and compelled the three tribes, Jurgid, Eligud, and Dagighur, “who spoke another language,” to pay tribute. Two of these tribes are assuredly the Jurji, Juji or Niuchi, and the Daurians of Manchuria; the Eligud are perhaps the Yehe or Yege, another Tungusian tribe which figures largely in the history of the founding of the Manchu dynasty. Sassaktu Khan died in 1592.

 

SETZEN KHAN.

 

Sassaktu Khan had eleven sons, of whom the eldest was called Buyan Taidshi. He was born in 1555. He mounted the throne in 1593, and was afterwards known as Setzen Khan. He ruled the people in accord­ance with justice and religion, and died in 1603.

 

LINGDAN KHUTUKTU KHAN.

 

Setzen Khan left three sons, namely, Mangshuk Taidshi, Kebker Taidshi, and Magho Kitad Taidshi. The eldest of these, named Mang­shuk Taidshi, died in his father’s lifetime, leaving two sons, Lingdan Baghatur Taidshi and Sangghardshi Odshan Taidshi. The former of these, who was born in 1592, succeeded his grandfather in 1604, under the title of Khutuktu Khan, a name he owed to his zeal in promoting the spread of Lamaism. During his reign the bKa-a Giur or Gandshur, one of the encyclopaedic works on Buddhism often mentioned in Mr. Hodgson’s papers, was translated into Mongol; a fresh revision of this translation by Jangja Khutuktu appeared one hundred years later.

In 1617 he erected one of the great Buddhist statues called Ju Sakiamuni, and built many temples and monasteries, which were all completed in one summer. Meanwhile the various Mongol tribes had been gradually emancipating themselves from the control of the Senior family, whose authority, especially north of the desert, had become very nominal. Divided among the sons of Dayan Khan, as I have described, Mongolia was what Russia was in the thirteenth century, a disintegrated body of units, whose mutual jealousies were not diminished probably by their rulers being so near akin. It is hardly to be wondered at that Khutuktu, or Lingdan Khan as he is more generally called, should have desired and made some effort to reconquer the position filled by his ancestors as supreme Khan of Mongolia. His proceedings however were of an arrogant and brutal character, and their effect, was to throw the various tribes over whom he claimed to rule into the arms of the rising Manchu dynasty. Ssanang Setzen, who was a prince of the Ordus, and was hardly a fair judge therefore of his proceedings, reproaches him for having scattered the six Tumens, and emphasises his homily by quoting the old Mongol proverb. “A raging Khan (Khakan) disturbs the State, and a raging elephant (Saghan) overthrows his keepers.” In which the point consists mainly in the play upon the words Khakan and Saghan.

We first hear of Lingdan’s unruly conduct in 1415, when, we are told, he made some raids into Liau tung.  This was doubtless caused by his jealousy of the rising Manchu dynasty. The Mongol tribes on the frontiers of Manchuria, among whom the Khortshins were pre-eminent, had been a good deal mixed up in the revolutions of that country, and had marriage connections with its princes. This could not but be distasteful to Lingdan, and we accordingly read that in 1424, when the Khortshins definitely allied themselves with the Manchus, Lingdan marched against them and ravaged their lands. They thereupon turned for assistance to the Manchus, with whose aid the Chakhars were beaten. In 1626 the chiefs of the Naimans and Aokhans, who were vassals of the Chakhars, abandoned Lingdan and submitted to the Manchus. The Barins and Dsarods at the same time fled to the Khortshins, while the Usumutshins and Abaghas escaped beyond the desert to the Khalkas.

In 1627, the Ordus, Tumeds, Khortshins, Abaghas, and several clans of the Khalkas formed a league, and fought a severe battle against Lingdan and the Chakhars. The latter numbered 40,000 men, and the battle was fought at a place called Ju Tseng, in the country of the Tumeds. The Chakhars were defeated. On their return home, the confederates encountered another body of 3,000 Chakhars, who were on their way to ask for rewards and presents from the Ming Emperor. They were dispersed. In 1628, Lingdan defeated the tribe Kharatshin, and the Taidji Bain Bostu. More and more of the tribes fell away from him and submitted to the Manchus, and he now attacked Ta thung and Siuan hua fu, and at the same time required an annual tribute from the Chinese court. He seems to have been partially successful to have subdued the Tumeds, and to have compelled Ssanang Setzen Khungtaidsji, chief of the Ordus, to find shelter in the desert. But his days were numbered, the Manchus marched against him, and compelled him to fly. He fled towards Tangut, but died on the way in the steppe of Shira talas.  Ssanang Setzen dates his death in 1634.

 

ERKE KHONGKHOR KHAN.

 

ON the death of Lingdan Khutuktu Khan, his widow, named Shodai Taigho, who was of Royal Manchu descent, went with her son, Erke Khong­khor, into the country of the Ordus to a place named Toli. The Manchu Emperor seems to have received them kindly, he gave his daughter Erke Gurne Gundshu in marriage to the young khan, while the second wife of Lingdan joined his own harem, Erke Khongkhor and his brother Abaghai were treated as his own sons. It was after his successes in Mongolia, and also very largely by the assistance of the Mongols who had joined his banners, that the Manchu Emperor marched victoriously from one end of China to the other. I have now traced the history of the main line of the Imperial house of the Mongols from the times of its supremacy to a time when it became a mere vassal of the Manchu empire. Its further history is not known to me, nor would it be within my present province to detail it if it were. With the history of the Manchus, of which it forms a subordinate part, we have not at present to do. In the next chapter I have set out the history of the other tribes whose chiefs claim descent from Dayan Khan, and also described their boundaries and the topography of the districts they inhabit.

 

Note I.—A census of the population of China during the Mongol rule was several times taken, and it is interesting to note its rapid increase. I abstract the following facts from Pauthier, who has taken them from Chinese sources. In 1235 the population of Yen king and Chun tien (the two quarters of Peking), together with that of 36 lu or administrative circles, was found to be 873,781 families and 4,754,975 mouths.

In 1252 there was another census, when the number of families had increased by 200,000.

In 1270 a fresh census disclosed a further increase of 300,000 families.

In 1290, after the subjugation of the Sung empire, there were found to be 11,840,000 doors or families, this number was afterwards raised by the addition of many families in the north and south of the empire to 13,196,206 families, comprising 58,834,711 souls. This did not include the fugitives, &c., who had taken refuge in the mountains and retired districts.

In 1330 the number of families who paid taxes in money or kind was found to be 13,400,899.

It is interesting to compare these figures with those of the recent estimates of the Chinese population. We must remember, as Pauthier remarks, that the above enumeration was taken after 74 years of bloody carnage, which must have decimated the people terribly. If we are to credit one Chinese author, Khubilai Khan, alone, in gaining and maintaining his throne slaughtered more than 18,470,000 people.

 

Note 2.—In regard to the names of the Khans contained in the foregoing chapter, I have adopted their official titles as given by Ssanang Setzen, which are probably more reliable, and certainly, as native names, more appropriate than many of their Chinese titles and names as contained in the Chinese annals. I am aware that I have not been quite consistent in the other chapters. Kublai, for example, being referred to by Ssanang Setzen as Khubilai Ssetzen Khakan, and sometimes merely as Setzen Khakan, but the earlier Khans are so widely known by the names

I have adopted in the text that consistency must bend to common usage. It is most difficult to adopt an uniform practice in Eastern nomenclature. Colonel Yule reminds me that Huiagu, and not Khulagu, is the ordinary mode of spelling the founder of the dynasty of the Ilkhans, who occupies such a prominent place in chapter V, but Khulagu is the form used by Schmidt, and if we are to say Kublai and not Hupilai, as the Chinese say; we ought to say Khulagu instead of Huiagu, just as we say Khan and not Han, &c. I find that Pallas gives two lists of the Mongol Khans, which confirm the nomenclature of Ssanang Setzen by independent testimony, for his lists were collected among the European Kalmuks. The following abstract, he tells us, he copied from a Kalmuk work, giving a history of Buddhism. “From the time when Sakiamuni migrated from earth to heaven, to the birth of Genghis Khan, there were 3,250 years. Genghis’ son, Ogotai, ruled for six years. His son was Guba Khan (Kuyuk), who only reigned six months. Monko Khan, the grandson of Genghis by his son Otshon Toli, then ruled for nine years. His successor was Kublai Setzen Khan. Kublai mounted the throne in his 46th year, and died in his 82nd, when he had reigned thirty-six years. The son of Khubilai was Ulsohta Khan, who had the kingdom for thirteen years. He was succeeded by Buyantu Khan, who reigned nine years. Then Gegen Khan ruled for three years. Then Yessun Timur Khan for five years; Arasabuk Khan for forty days; Gushila Khan for a month; Sayatu Khan for fifteen years; Radua Shira Khan for a month; and Toghon Timur Khan for eight and twenty years, under whom the Mongol empire ended.” Another work from which Pallas quotes, entitled Gerelien Zotzo, also contains an account of Genghis and his descendants. It makes Jingis be succeeded by Ogotai, he by Khotton Khan, who is credited with the first conversion of the Mongols to the faith, and no doubt answers to the Godan of Ssanang Setzen. After reigning for nine months, he makes him be succeeded by his brother Kubos Khan (by Kuyuk Khan); he by Monkho Khan (Mangu); Monkho by his brother Kublai, entitled Zazan Khan; he by Timur Khan, the eldest son of Chingen, Timur by Ulsoh, styled Orrota Khan; he by Chingen’s younger son Dirma Kalla, whose son was Khaishan Khan; who was succeeded by Kulluk Khan, also styled Ogoota. This document does not carry the list of names any further.

 

Note 3.—I failed to mention in the account of Radshapika that Ssanang Setzen makes him the son of Kuluk Khan and not of Yissun Timur. I have preferred to follow the Chinese annals, which on such a point are of paramount authority. I have also followed the Chinese authorities in making Jiyaghatu Khan the son of Kuluk Khan, and not as Ssanang Setzen makes him the son of Buyantu. The Imperial registers during the Yuen dynasty were much too carefully kept to allow of there being a blunder on such a point in the Chinese account. In the account of Adsai Khan I have made him the son of Elbek Khan : in this I was mistaken. Elbek Khan having had his brother Kharghotsok assassinated, appropriated his widow Khung Beidshi. He was himself murdered four months later. Ssanang Setzen says that Khung Beidshi was enceinte at the latter date, and had been so for seven months, so that the child, who was no other than Adsai, was not the son of Elbek, but the son of his brother Kharghotsok, as I have made him in the following table.

 

Note 4.—The following is a genealogical table showing as nearly as we can the relationship of the various Khans mentioned in this chapter down to the reign of Dayan Khan, with the dates of their accession.

 

KUBLAI KHAN (1259): DORDJI, CHINGKIN, MANGHALA, NUMUKAN

CHINGKIN: KAMALA, DHARMABALA, UKSHEITU KHAN (1294)

DHARMABALA: KUKLUIK KHAN (1307) BUYANTU KHAN (1311)

BUYANTU KHAN : GEGEN KHAN (1320)

KAMALA: YHISSUN TIMUJR KHAN (1323) RADSHIPEKA KHAN (1328)

KULUK KHAN: KUSHALA KHAN (1329) JIYAGHATU KHAN (1329)

KUSHALA KHAN : TOGHON TIMUR KHAN (1332) RINTSHENPAL KHAN (1332) TOGHON

TIMUR KHAN : BILITKU JHAN (1370) USSATKHAL KHAN (1378)

USSATKHAL KHAN : ENGKE SORITSU KHAN (1388) ELBEK KHAN (1390) KARGOTSOK DUGURENG TAIDSHI

ELBEK KHAN : GUN TIMUR KHAN (1400) ULDSBEI TIMUR KHAN (1403)

ULSDBEI TIMUR KHAN : DELBEK KHAN (1411)

KARGOTSOK DUGURENG TAIDSHI : ADSAI KHAN (1434)

ADSAI KHAN : TAISSONG KHAN (1439) AKBARDAH KHAN (1452) MANDAGHOL KHAN (1463)

TAISSONG KHAN: UKUKTU KHAN (1453) MOLON KHAN (1453)

AKBARDAH KHAN : KHARGHOTSOK TAIDSHI , BOLKHO JINONG, DAYAN KHAN (1470)

 

CHAPTER VII

THE CHAKHARS AND THE FORTY-NINE BANNERS