Chagatai Khan

Chagatai Khan
Statue of Chagatai Khan in Mongolia
Khan of the Chagatai Khanate
Reign	1227 – 1242
Successor	Qara Hülëgü
Born	c. 1184
Died	1242
Consort	Yesülün Tögen others
Issue	Mutukan Baidar Yesü Möngke others
House	Borjigin
Father	Genghis Khan
Mother	Börte

Chagatai Khan (Mongolian: ᠴᠠᠭᠠᠲᠠᠶ;^[a] c. 1184 – 1242) was a son of Genghis Khan and a prominent figure in the early Mongol Empire. The second son of Genghis's wife Börte, Chagatai was renowned for his masterful knowledge of Mongol traditions, his strict fidelity to Mongol custom and law, and his harsh temperament. Because Genghis felt that he was too inflexible in character, most notably never accepting the legitimacy of his elder brother Jochi, whose paternity was disputed, he excluded Chagatai from succession to the Mongol throne. He was nevertheless a key figure in ensuring the stability of the empire after Genghis's death and during the reign of his younger brother Ögedei Khan.

Chagatai held military commands alongside his brothers during the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty in 1211 and the invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire in 1219. During the latter, he was appointed to a key role in organising logistics in addition to battlefield responsibilities, but was censured after feuding with Jochi during the Siege of Gurganj. After the campaign, Chagatai was granted large tracts of conquered land in Central Asia, which he ruled until his death. He quarrelled with civil officials such as Mahmud Yalavach over matters of jurisdiction and advised Ögedei on questions of rulership. Chagatai died shortly after Ögedei in 1242; his descendants would rule his territories as the eponymous Chagatai Khanate.

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