Northern Yuan

Northern Yuan
北元
ᠳᠠᠢ
ᠦᠨ

Dai Ön
大元
("Great Yuan")

ᠳᠥᠴᠢᠨ
ᠳᠥᠷᠪᠡᠨ
ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ
ᠤᠯᠤᠰ

döčin dörben mongγol ulus[1]
("Forty-four Mongol State")
1368–1635
The Northern Yuan in the 15th century
The Northern Yuan in the 15th century
Capital
  1. Shangdu (1368–1369)
  2. Yingchang (1369–1370)
  3. Karakorum (1371–1388)
Common languagesMongolian, Chinese, Jurchen[2]
Religion
Tengrism, Buddhism, Islam
GovernmentMonarchy
Khagan 
• 1368–1370
Ukhaghatu Khan Toghon Temür (first)
• 1370–1378
Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara
• 1378–1388
Uskhal Khan Tögüs Temür
• 1454–1455
Esen Taishi (only non-Borjigin)
• 1478–1517/1543
Dayan Khan (longest ruling)
• 1557–1592
Tümen Zasagt Khan
• 1603–1634
Ligdan Khan
• 1634–1635
Ejei Khan (last)
Legislature
Historical eraLate Middle Ages
• Fall of Dadu to Ming forces
September 1368
1388
• Dayan Khan reunites the Mongol nation
1483–1510
• Death of Ligdan Khan
1634
• Ejei Khan submits to the Later Jin
1635
Currencybarter, Dirham
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Yuan dynasty
Four Oirat
Later Jīn
Kara Del
Khalkas
Mongolia under Qing rule
Today part of

The Northern Yuan (Chinese: 北元; pinyin: Běi Yuán) was a Mongol dynastic regime ruled by the Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Jin dynasty in 1635. The Northern Yuan dynasty began with the retreat of the Yuan imperial court led by Toghon Temür (Emperor Huizong of Yuan) to the Mongolian steppe. This period featured factional struggles and the often only nominal role of the Great Khan.

Dayan Khan and Mandukhai Khatun reunited most Mongol tribes in the late 15th century.[4] However, the former's distribution of his empire among his sons and relatives as fiefs caused the decentralization of the imperial rule.[5] Despite this decentralization, a remarkable concord continued within the Dayan Khanid aristocracy, and intra-Chinggisid civil war remained unknown until the reign of Ligdan Khan (1604–1634),[6] who saw much of his power weakened in his quarrels with the Mongol tribes and was defeated by the Later Jin dynasty. The last sixty years of this period featured the intensive penetration of Tibetan Buddhism into Mongol society.

  1. ^ "ᠳᠥᠴᠢᠨ ᠳᠥᠷᠪᠡᠨ ᠬᠣᠶ᠋ᠠᠷ ᠤᠨ ᠮᠣᠩᠭ᠋ ᠣᠯ ᠤᠯᠤᠰ ᠤᠨ ᠦᠶ ᠡ ᠶᠢ" (PDF). Mongoltoli.
  2. ^ E. P. Bakaeva; K. V. Orlova (2003). "Монгольские этнонимы:вопросы происхождения и этнического состава Монгольских народов" [Mongolian ethnonyms: questions of the origin and ethnic composition of the Mongolian peoples] (PDF). Kalmyk Scientific Center. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  3. ^ William Elliott Butler. The Mongolian legal system, p. 3.
  4. ^ Jack Weatherford-The Secret History of the Mongol Queens
  5. ^ René Grousset-The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, p. 508
  6. ^ C.P.Atwood – Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, see: Batumöngke Dayan Qaghan