Muqali
Muqali | |
---|---|
Native name | Мухулай |
Other name(s) | Mukhali Mukhulai |
Born | 1170 |
Died | 1223 (aged 52–53) |
Allegiance | Mongol Empire |
Years of service | Pre-1206 – 1223 |
Battles/wars | Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty |
Muqali | |
---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | Mùhuálí |
Muqali (
During the invasion of Jin China, Muqali acted as Genghis Khan's second-in-command, was promoted to Viceroy of China,[1] and was entrusted with a great degree of autonomy once Genghis Khan departed to conquer Central Asia. Unlike many Mongol leaders who were willing to massacre to gain any advantage, Muqali usually attempted to convert foes into friends by more conciliatory means.[2]
By the time of
Life
Muqali, third son of Gü'ün U'a, was born into the 'White' clan of the
During the coronation of Genghis Khan in 1206, the latter recalled Muqali's support, and he was rewarded with the command of the third tumen and control over the eastern mingghans.[1] He played a prominent role in the following campaign against Jin,[1] including in the 1211 Battle of Yehuling, the decisive battle in the first stage of the Mongol conquest of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in northern China.
After Genghis Khan decided to go to war with the Khwarazmian Empire, he left Muqali in control of Northern China as viceroy, and gave him the title of gui ong or kuo-wang,[6] a title not given to any other in Genghis Khan's army,[1][6][7] and the title of taishi, a Chinese title also used by the Mongols.[8] Despite Genghis Khan having most of the main Mongol forces taken away and sent to the West, Muqali was able to subdue most of northern China with his small force of around 20,000 Mongols,[8] although some historians give figures of between 40,000 and 70,000[9] men to account for his foreign auxiliaries.
In 1217, Muqali attacked modern-day Hebei Province, northern Shandong Province, and northern Shaanxi Province,[9] controlled by the Jin dynasty. This was an important agricultural area, which Muqali had largely subdued by 1219. In 1220, Muqali turned his attention to the rest of Shandong Province, conquering part of it;[10] four towns were captured, but the hard-pressed Jin forces managed to hold on elsewhere in the province. After suffering a number of devastating defeats by Muqali in the field, the Jin learned that they could only hope to resist him by holding their cities and outlasting Muqali's staying power.[citation needed]
Final campaign and death
Muqali's last campaign was in the 1220s. He crossed the Ordos in mid-1221, spending the rest of the year conquering major cities in northern and central Shaanxi.[11] He crossed the Yellow River into Shaanxi, first conquering, in November 1221, the strategic Jiazhou.[4] Then, in the following months, he conquered the major Jin strongholds in northern and western Shaanxi.[4] Crossing again the Yellow river on ice[9] from the operational area near the Luo River in the Spring of 1222,[4] he recaptured many towns in Shanxi, including Xizhou and Daizhou.[4] He then left Mönggü Buqa (Bukha)[11][4] in charge in Shaanxi and Gansu,[11] and moved with the main army to Yuzhou, from thence to Jizhou, conquering all the Jin strongholds in the valley of the Fen River. He then took the strategic Hezhong at the end of 1222,[4] conquering the major cities along the river.[11] However, the cities of Jingzhao and Fengxiang resisted.[4] As he was consolidating his position on both sides of the Yellow River, he became seriously ill and died in the Spring on 1223, at 53 years of age.[4] On his deathbed, Muqali declared with pride that he had never been defeated. By the time of Ogedei's ascension in 1229, however, the Mongol detachments in China had suffered numerous setbacks, which led to a mini-revival of Jin fortunes until Subutai and Tolui were dispatched with the main Mongol army in 1232.[citation needed]
Appearance and family
He was described by Chao Hang as a very tall man with a dark complexion and wavy whiskers, who was "generous and fond of conviviality, and amusing episodes about him have been preserved in the Sung envoy's account".[4]
His chief wife's name was Lai-am (Naiman/Buqalun). He had eight other wives, four Mongols and four Jurchen. After his death, Genghis Khan gave command to Muqali's son, Bo’ol , who had seven sons: Taš of Jalair , Süγunčaq , Ba’atul noyan , Bai Inal, Emegen, Ebügen, and Arkis. Tas (also called Čalawun) was Muqali's favorite grandson, and the title of gui ong passed to him.[4]
Legacy
He received many posthumous honours, since as early as the 1320s.
Muqali is considered a superb leader, and one of the "very few men who could exert a real influence on Genghis Khan's decisions".[4] In seven years of campaigning in northern China, he had reduced the Jin dynasty's territories to only Henan Province. A statue of Muqali, together with Bo'orchu, flanks the statue of Genghis Khan in Sükhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar.[13]
References
- ^ ISBN 9780191081071.
- ^ Frank McLynn, Genghis Khan (2015), 231.
- ^ Christopher P. Atwood, Pu'a's Boast and Doqolqu's Death: Historiography of a Hidden Scandal in the Mongol Conquest of the Jin.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n de Rachewiltz, Igor; Wang, May (1993). In the Service of the Khan Eminent Personalities of the Early Mongol-Yüan Period (1200-1300). Harrassowitz. p. 7.
- ^ de Rachewiltz, I. (ed.) (1993) In the Service of the Khan, Harrassowitz Verlag, Weisbaden
- ^ ISBN 9781108636629.
- Britannica. Archived from the originalon 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9781610693400.
- ^ ISBN 9781446449295.
- ISBN 9781135936747.
- ^ ISBN 9780521243315.
- ^ Louis Hambis (1954). Le chapitre CVIII du Yuan che : les fiefs attribués aux membres de la famille impériale et aux ministres de la cour mongole d'après l'histoire chinoise officielle de la dynastie mongole. Monographies du Tʿoung pao, v. 3. Tableau5,généalogie de muqali
- ISBN 978-0-3133-3983-7.