- Aju
Aju or Achu (1227-1287) was a general of
Mongol Empire . He is from Jarchud clan ofMongol Uriankhai .His grandfather was
Subotai , the honored general and noyan ofChingis , and father was Uryankhadai.In 1253 he followed his father and subdued western Chinese people and defeated
Kingdom of Dali . Uryankhadai and Aju led 3,000 Mongols and more than 10,000 troops from Dali tribes to northernVietnam in 1255. They occupiedHanoi and madeTran Dynasty a vassal ofMongke Khan. The king of Tran Dynasty was a humility vassal until the reign ofKublai [Rene Grousset - Empire of Steppes, Encyclopedia of Mongolia and Mongol Empire:" see" - Aju] .He and his father supported Great Khan and Kublai's forces in 1258. Aju commanded a myriarch, 10,000 men in his earlier career. They conquered 13 cities within 2 years and destroyed 40,000 troops of
Song Dynasty . After the occupation of Chingzhoua and Yovajiyu, Uryankhadai met prince Kublai at Echjou.When Kublai enthroned in 1260, Aju stayed his palace and became a cherbi of
keshig s.Following year, he was ordered to lead Yuan troops in Lianshui (涟水). He crushed Song armies and navys from 1261-1275. He capturedFancheng (樊城) by using Khotan (Muslim) artillery during theBattle of Xiangyang in 1273 and its governor suicided. He was selected as the east hand chengxiang (丞相, "chancellor") of Central Governing Department (中書省) in 1275.In 1276, he was appointed to defend
Beshbalik fromKaidu . He died after the defeat of prince Sarban, who revolted against his master Kublai, in 1287. But some source mentions he died en route to Sarban in 1286.Reference
Christopher.P.E.Atwood - Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire
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