House of Ögedei

Tamgha of Kaidu, House of Ögedei.

The House of Ögedei, sometimes called the Ögedeids were an influential family of Mongol Borjigin (Imperial, or Golden Family) from the 12th to 14th centuries. They were descended from Ögedei Khan (1186-1241), a son of Genghis Khan who had become his father's successor, second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. Ögedei continued the expansion of the Mongol Empire. When, after the Toluid Möngke Khan's death, the Mongol Empire disintegrated into civil war, the members of the House of Ogedei were influential players in the politics of the region. Of Genghis Khan's sons — Ogedei, Jochi, Chagatai, and Tolui — the House of Ögedei tended to ally with the Chagataids (descendants of Chagatai) against the House of Jochi, while seeking control for themselves within the Chagatai Khanate at first. The Ogedeids also allied with the Golden Horde against the Yuan Khagan Kublai Khan (son of Tolui), who was allied with his brother Hulagu, leader of the Ilkhanate in Persia. The Ogedeids attempted to unite the Mongol Empire under their own rule, and Ogedeid princes continued to march against the Yuan Dynasty well into the 14th century.

In 1310, Kaidu's successor Chapar Khan surrendered to the Yuan emperor Ayurbarwada, ending the disunity among khanates that had lasted for a few decades, after he and his relatives failed to win the Chagatai Khanate. After that, members from this family often appeared as influential contenders or puppet rulers under powerful amirs and noyans in Mongolia and Transoxiana in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Notable members

See also

References