Köke Temür

Köke Temür (simplified Chinese: 扩廓帖木尔; traditional Chinese: 擴廓帖木爾; Mongolian: ᠬᠥᠬᠡᠲᠡᠮᠦᠷ, Köketemür, Хөхтөмөр; died 1375), sinicized name Wang Baobao (Chinese: 王保保), was a prominent general of the Yuan dynasty of China.^[1]

History

He was born in

In 1364, Bolad Temür advanced from Datong on Dadu and seized the reins of the central government under the khan. Crown Prince Ayushiridara fled to Taiyuan to seek support from Köke Temür. The Crown Prince struck back with Köke Temür, and Bolad Temür was betrayed when Köke Temür attacked Dadu in 1365. He reinstated the Crown Prince, and was appointed as vice minister of the Secretariat and the king of Henan in return. However, this conflict helped Zhu Yuanzhang's rise to power in southern China.

Köke Temür commanded the Yuan army against anti-Yuan rebels, but faced betrayal by subordinates including ethnic Han officers who had followed him since the very early stage. What was worse was that he got alienated from Ayushiridara, who was given political and military controls by Toghon Temür. After two major defeats (he fled alone in both occasions), he lost Henan and Taiyuan to the rising Ming corps and fled to Gansu. The Yuan dynasty was forced to retreat from China proper in 1368.

In 1370 when Toghon Temür died and Ayushiridara succeeded to the throne,

Köke Temür's sister was married to prince Zhu Shuang, the second son of the Hongwu Emperor.

He advanced southward with the Yuan troops to take China proper back for the Yuan remnants (known as the Northern Yuan in historiography), and expanded his influence to Shanxi. However, he died in 1375^[4] and was followed by Ayushiridara in 1378. Their deaths radically weakened the Northern Yuan dynasty, extinguishing any hope of recapturing China proper.

In popular culture

He is featured in Jin Yong's wuxia novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and its television and movie adaptations as the older brother of one of the heroines, Zhao Min.

He is featured in some