Chagatai Khan

Statue of Chagatai Khan in Mongolia

Chagatai Khan (Mongolian: Цагадай, Tsagadai) was the second son of Genghis Khan and first khan and origin of the names of the Chagatai Khanate, Chagatai language and Chagatai Turks.

He inherited most of what are now the five Central Asian states after the death of his father and ruled until his death in 1241. He was also appointed by Genghis Khan to oversee the execution of the Yassa, the written code of law created by Genghis Khan, though that lasted only until Genghis Khan was crowned Khan of the Mongol Empire. The Empire later came to be known as the Chagatai Khanate, a descendant empire of the Mongol Empire.

The true founder of the state was Chagatai's grandson Alghu. The state was much less influenced by Islam than the Ilkhanate to the southeast, but there were Muslims within the state and some did convert. However, they kept to old nomadic traits much longer. Some historians have said this was a major reason for the decline in urbanism and agriculture in this area which is known to have occurred. The first ruler who actually converted to Islam was Mubarak-Shah (note the Arab name). His conversion occurred in 1256, however this was very problematic because in less than 30 years other rulers would renounce Islam and return to older beliefs, however Tarmarshirin converted to Islam and tried to turn the dynasty back toward Islam. His conversion provoked a huge backlash from nomadic groups in the eastern part of the realm who eventually killed him in 1334. After his death the Chagatai state lost its status and disintegrated. Tamerlane would later marry into his family. By the early 1500 they had reasserted themselves in present day Uzbekistan and continued a realm there till the 1700s Shaybanid ruling house of the Uzbeks.

Personal

He was considered hot-headed and somewhat temperamental by his relatives, because of his attitude of absolute non-acceptance of Jochi as Great Khan. He was the most vocal about this issue among his relatives. Chagatai's son Mutugen was killed during the siege of Bamiyan in 1221.^[1]

Ancestry

Notes

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