- Oghul Qaimish
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Oghul Qaimish was the principal wife of Güyük Khan and ruled as regent over the Mongol empire after the death of her husband in 1248. She was a descendant from the Mergid tribe. However, H.H.Howorth believed that she was an Oirat.[1]
Life
She was given as wife to Guyuk after Genghis Khan put down the rebellion of her clan in 1216-19. Oghul Qaimish bore Guyuk two sons, Khoja and Naqu. When her husband died in Qum-Sengir in Turkestan, she brought his ordo in the Ogedeids' appanage in Emil-Qobaq region in 1248. Guyuk's chief officials, Chinqai, Qadaq and Bala, helped Oghul to serve as regent. She spent her time with the Mongol shamans and lacked her mother-in-law, Toregene's political skills. While her sons, Naqu and Khoja, and Shiremun, the grandson of Ogedei, attempted to secure their claims on the throne, Chagatayid Khan Yesu Mongke primarily supported Oghul Qaimish.
Before or during the regency of Oghul, her husband's general Eljigidei sent the embassy to Louis IX of France to offer an alliance against the Muslims. Louis sent his men headed by André de Longjumeau in reply, but after she received them at her ordo on Emil, Oghul Qaimish sent them back with presents and letters announcing the Mongol demand for submission.[2]
In 1249, Batu arranged a kurultai where Möngke was chosen as Khagan at Ala Qamaq in the Ulus of Jochi. Oghul declined Batu's invitation and sent Bala to that assembly with a demand that Shiremun or one of the Ogedeids be elected khan.[3] When the Toluids and the Golden Horde organized a second kurultai on the Kherlen River in 1251, which officially proclaimed Mongke Khan, Oghul Qaimish refused, with her son Khoja, to come. Most of the Ogedeid and Chagataid princes supported her.
After her opponent, Möngke was elected in 1251, Oghul Qaimish's sons and Shiremun attempted to overthrow Mongke. When the plot was discovered, Khoja was exiled to the South China front and Shiremun was executed. Oghul Qaimish and Shiremun's mother Qadaqach were summoned to court and arrested. When Oghul Qaimish was stripped naked, she was angry with Sorghaghtani and other imperial females who questioned her in closed ger.[4] After torture she was executed by being wrapped in felt and flung into a river.[5]
References
- ^ René Grousset-The empire of the steppes, p.272
- ^ David Morgan-The Mongols, p.159
- ^ Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb, Wheeler McIntosh Thackston-Rashiduddin Fazlullah's Jamiʻuʼt-tawarikh, p.408
- ^ Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb, Wheeler McIntosh Thackston-Rashiduddin Fazlullah's Jamiʻuʼt-tawarikh, p.500
- ^ James D. Ryan, "Mongol Khatuns" Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: an Encyclopedia, ed. John Block Frieman and Kristen Mossler Figg (Garland, 2000), p. 407.
- Jack Weatherford - The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empireь Crown 2010
Oghul QaimishHouse of Merkit (1248-1251)Regnal titles Preceded by
Guyuk KhanRegent of the Mongol Empire
1248-1251Succeeded by
Mongke KhanKhagans of the Mongol Empire (1206–1370) Genghis Khan (1206–1227) • Tolui Khan (regent) (1227–1229) • Ögedei Khan (1229–1241) • Töregene Khatun (regent) (1241–1246) • Güyük Khan (1246–1248) • Oghul Qaimish (regent) (1248–1251) • Möngke Khan (1251–1259) • Kublai Khan (1260–1294)
The Kublaid Great Khans Temür Khan (1294–1307) • Külüg Khan (1307–1311) • Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan (1311–1320) • Gegeen Khan(1320–1323) • Yesün Temür Khan (1323–1328) • Ragibagh Khan (1328) • Jayaatu Khan (1328–1329) • Khutughtu Khan (1329) • Jayaatu Khan(1329–1332) • Rinchinbal Khan (1332) • Ukhaantu Khan (1333–1370) 
Categories:- Mongol khans
- Female regents
- People of the Mongol Empire
- Women in Medieval warfare
- Women in war in Asia
- 13th-century viceregal rulers
- 13th-century female rulers
- 1251 deaths
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