Yesü Möngke

Born: Unknown Died: c. 1252 Reigned: 1246-1252 Khanate: Chagatai Khanate Title: Khan of the Chagatai Khanate

Overview

Yesü Möngke was a son of Chagatai Khan who governed the Chagatai Khanate during the politically turbulent period between the death of Ögedei Khan and the election of Möngke Khan as Great Khan. His installation was engineered by Töregene Khatun, the regent of the empire, as part of her effort to build alliances for her son Güyük's election to the Great Khanship. His reign ended when Möngke Khan, having consolidated power, removed him and restored the previous line.

Rise to Power

Yesü Möngke came to power around 1246 when Töregene Khatun displaced Qara Hülegü from the Chagatai throne. His installation was a political transaction: by granting him the Chagatai Khanate, Töregene secured his family's support for Güyük's election as Great Khan at the Kurultai of 1246. He was a direct son of Chagatai, which gave him a stronger blood claim to the khanate than Qara Hülegü in some traditional interpretations.

Rule and Achievements

Yesü Möngke's reign coincided with the years of transition at the imperial level:

• He governed the Chagatai territories during the brief reign of Güyük Khan (1246-1248) and the subsequent regency period
• He maintained the administration of the Central Asian khanate during a period of imperial uncertainty
• He was associated with the Ögedeids and the opponents of the Toluids who eventually prevailed in the succession struggle
• When Möngke Khan came to power after 1251, he purged his political opponents and reversed the succession arrangements that had benefited the Ögedeid and Chagataid factions

Yesü Möngke was removed from the Chagatai throne as part of Möngke's political reorganization, and Qara Hülegü's line was restored.

Legacy

Yesü Möngke's reign illustrates the degree to which the succession of even individual khanate thrones was determined by the broader politics of the Mongol imperial family in the mid-thirteenth century. He was a political appointee whose position rose and fell with the fortunes of the faction that had placed him in power. His removal by Möngke Khan represented the Toluid line's assertion of control over the entire empire, including the disposition of the successor khanates. He left no lasting institutional legacy in the Chagatai Khanate.