Nayan (Mongol Prince)

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Nayan
Prince of Kwang-ning
Bornc. 1257
DiedJuly 1287
House Borjigin
FatherAjul?
Religion Nestorianism

Nayan was a prince of the Borjigin royal family of the Mongol Empire. He raised a noteworthy and serious rebellion against the Mongolian Khagan, Kublai Khan. He was a Nestorian Christian. Much of what is known of Nayan was recorded by the Venetian traveller Marco Polo.

Borjigin Imperial clan of Genghis Khan and his successors

A Borjigin is a member of the sub-clan, which started with Yesugei, of the Kiyat clan. Yesugei's descendants were thus said to be Kiyat-Borjigin. The senior Borjigid provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia until the 20th century. The clan formed the ruling class among the Mongols and some other peoples of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Today, the Borjigid are found in most of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, although genetic research has shown that descent from Genghis Khan is common in Central Asia.

Mongol Empire former country in Asia and Europe

The Mongol Empire existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating from Mongolia, the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from Eastern Europe and parts of Central Europe to the Sea of Japan, extending northwards into Siberia, eastwards and southwards into the Indian subcontinent, Indochina and the Iranian Plateau; and westwards as far as the Levant and the Carpathian Mountains.

Khagan or Qaghan is a title of imperial rank in the Turkic, Mongolic and some other languages, equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a khaganate (empire). The female equivalent is Khatun.

Contents

Origins

Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, Italian book illustration 14th century Marco Polo at the Kublai Khan.JPG
Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, Italian book illustration 14th century

Nayan was a member of a collateral branch of the Mongol royal dynasty, being a descendant of one of the brothers of Genghis Khan. He was either a great-great grandson of Temüge, Genghis Khan's youngest full brother, or of Belgutai his half-brother. More than one prince named Nayan existed and their identity is confused; the historian Pelliot was of the opinion that the Christian prince Nayan was not a descendant of Belgutai. [1] He gives Nayan's father as Ajul, son of Tacar, son of Jibügan, son of Temüge. [2] The close male relatives of Genghis Khan were given control of large appanage domains located in Mongolia and neighbouring lands such as Manchuria. Marco Polo describes Nayan as ruling four great provinces: 'Ciorcia' (possibly meaning Jurchen), 'Cauli' (Korea, probably only a part of Northern Korea), 'Barscol' and 'Sichintingiu'. [3] Located in his domains was a town called Kwang-ning, and because of this Nayan was termed 'Prince of Kwang-ning'. [4] In addition, Nayan was also the foremost leader of the Eastern uluses (tribal groupings and districts ruled by Mongol appanage princes) dominated by the descendants of the brothers of Genghis Khan. [5] Whatever the precise extent of Nayan's appanage, he certainly held sufficient lands within and around Manchuria to give him a power-base from which to launch a rebellion against his kinsman Kublai Khan. [6]

Genghis Khan founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

Genghis Khan was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. After founding the Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he launched the Mongol invasions that conquered most of Eurasia. Campaigns initiated in his lifetime include those against the Qara Khitai, Caucasus, and Khwarazmian, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by large-scale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in the Khwarazmian and Western Xia controlled lands. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China.

Temüge was the youngest full-brother of Genghis Khan, fourth son of Yesugei and Oelun. The Secret History of the Mongols tells that "when Temujin was 9 years of age, Temuge was three years old." Being the youngest boy in the family, he received a prefix to the name "otchigin", who in the family is always a "guardian of the family and home"), and therefore is often referred to as Temuge-otchigin or simply Otchigin. In childhood and adolescence was somewhat spoiled by his mother and older brothers, inclined to luxury, but was "courageous, powerful and quick in battle" that was recognized even by the family's enemies. When the shaman Kokochu (Teb-Tengri) started dragging the power over the Mongols to his own family, Genghis khan sanctioned Temuge to kill Kokochu in a staged wrestling match.

Belgutei (c.1,161-c.1,271) was the son of Yesugei and half-brother to Genghis Khan. He also became general to Genghis Khan. Belgutei was considered a wise counselor and skilled diplomat, and was often used as a messenger by Genghis Khan. With Genghis Khan's blessing, Belgutei killed the champion wrestler of the Mongols, Buri Boko, by breaking his neck during a wrestling match. This was revenge for an earlier incident when Buri Boko had fought with Belgutei and slashed him with a sword. According to legend, Belgutei lived to an unusually old age. Rashid ad-Din claims he died at the age of 110, while the Yuanshi reports that he was still alive when Mongke Khan took the throne in 1251, making him around 90, which would make him one of the oldest men on the earth, a fact made even more difficult due to the average life span of people during the time.

Rebellion

Nayan is represented as embodying a traditional Mongol reaction against the increasing sinicisation shown by Kublai Khan and his administration. Nayan adhered to the ancestral nomadic values of the Mongols and was dismayed at Kublai's estrangement from these ideals. [7] More prosaically Kublai Khan was, possibly on the model of Chinese principles of governance, consolidating power in his own hands and the semi-independent appanage princes were beginning to feel threatened. [8] Nayan conspired with two other descendants of brothers of Genghis Khan, Shiktur and Qada'an, who also held appanages in Eastern Mongolia and Manchuria. He was also in contact with Kublai Khan's nephew and inveterate enemy Kaidu, who ruled much of Central Asia. [9] [10]

Kaidu Mongol Khan

Kaidu (c.1235–1301) was the grandson of Mongol Khagan Ogedei Khan (1185-1241) and thus leader of the House of Ögedei and the de facto khan of the Chagatai Khanate, a division of the Mongol Empire. He ruled part of modern-day Xinjiang and Central Asia during the 13th century, and actively opposed his cousin, Kublai Khan, who established the Yuan dynasty in China, until Kaidu's death in 1301. Medieval chroniclers often mistranslated Kadan as Kaidu, mistakenly placing Kaidu at the Battle of Legnica. Kadan was the brother of Güyük, and Kaidu's uncle.

Central Asia core region of the Asian continent

Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. The region consists of the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It is also colloquially referred to as "the stans" as the countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix "-stan", meaning "land of".

Nayan broke into open rebellion between 14 May and 12 June, 1287, and the main battle against Kublai took place around 16 July. [11]

Mongol heavy cavalry Mongoltroops.jpg
Mongol heavy cavalry

Kublai Khan had suspicions, and justifiable fears, of co-operation between Nayan and Kaidu, and sent his leading general Bayan to investigate. One contemporary source relates that Nayan invited Bayan to a feast, but forewarned of a trap, Bayan escaped. Whatever the truth of this incident, Bayan was sent with an army to occupy Karakorum in order to block Kaidu from moving eastward and joining Nayan. [12] Kublai himself, despite his advanced age of 72 years, raised another army and rapidly moved against Nayan in Manchuria. The speed and scale of Kublai's response meant that the various rebels were given very limited opportunities to co-ordinate their movements and concentrate their forces, and left them open to being defeated individually. The imperial fleet moved great quantities of supplies to the mouth of the Liao River to support the campaign. Nayan was himself encamped on the banks of the same river further inland. Kublai directed his forces from a palanquin mounted on, or drawn by, four elephants. [13]

Bayan of the Baarin, or Boyan, was a Mongol general. He was known to Marco Polo as "Bayan Hundred Eyes". He commanded the army of Kublai Khan against the Song dynasty (960–1279) of China, ushering in the Song collapse and the conquest of South China by the Yuan dynasty.

Karakorum 13th century capital of the Mongol Empire

Karakorum was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260, and of the Northern Yuan in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in the northwestern corner of the Övörkhangai Province of Mongolia, near today's town of Kharkhorin, and adjacent to the Erdene Zuu Monastery. They are part of the upper part of the World Heritage site Orkhon Valley.

Liao River river in the Peoples Republic of China

The Liao River is the principal river in southern Northeast China, and one of the seven main river systems in mainland China. The province of Liaoning and the Liaodong Peninsula derive their names from this river. The river is also popularly known as the "mother river" in Northeast China. Coursing 1,345 kilometres (836 mi) long, the Liao River system drains a catchment basin of over 232,000 square kilometres (90,000 sq mi), but its mean discharge is quite small at only about 500 cubic metres per second (18,000 cu ft/s), about one-twentieth that of the Pearl River. The Liao River has an exceedingly high sediment load because many parts of it flow through powdery loess.

Moving at a rapid pace, and carefully screening his army, Kublai Khan's forces surprised Nayan at his encampment. [14] The camp of Nayan was protected by a wagon laager, a field fortification commonly employed by steppe nomads. [15] The khagan's army was organised in three divisions: first the Mongols, second the Chinese, and third the Guard and Kipchaks, the latter combined under Kublai's direct command. Nayan's army was less disciplined than that of Kublai's, and it is alleged that it was momentarily panicked before the battle began by the discharge, by some of the khagan's troops, of an early variety of explosive device. [16] According to Marco Polo, as a Christian, Nayan's standard bore the insignia of the cross. [17] The armies faced each other with their great kettle drums beating and horns sounding. [18] The battle began with exchanges of arrows but then developed into one of close-combat with lance, sword and iron mace. The battle was hard-fought and lasted from early morning until mid-day, when Nayan's army began to break up. Nayan's soldiers started to flee the field, many were cut down, and Nayan himself was captured. [19]

Wagon four wheeled vehicle (mostly pulled by draught animals)

A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.

Kipchaks Turkic nomadic people

The Kipchaks were a Turkic nomadic people and confederation that existed in the Middle Ages, inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the 8th century as part of the Turkic Khaganate, they most likely inhabited the Altai region from where they expanded over the following centuries, first as part of the Kimek Khanate and later as part of a confederation with the Cumans. There were groups of Kipchaks in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Syr Darya and Siberia. The Cuman–Kipchak confederation was conquered by the Mongols in the early 13th century.

The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus, is the best-known symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix and to the more general family of cross symbols, the term cross itself being detached from the original specifically Christian meaning in modern English.

Aftermath of the rebellion

Kublai ordered Nayan to be executed immediately and in secret, in order that no petitions for mercy might arise. [20] Nayan was executed in a manner that avoided the spilling of his royal blood; he was rolled in a carpet and smothered or thrown up and down until dead. Though he was unable to effectively support Nayan's rebellion, Kaidu remained a potent threat for the remainder of Kublai Khan's life. Kublai chose not to regard Nayan's Nestorian Christian co-religionists as guilty by association, and refused to allow them to suffer any level of persecution within his lands. [21]

In the wake of the suppression of Nayan's rebellion, Kublai Khan was able to begin to fully incorporate the lands and peoples previously dominated by the appanage princes into his domain. [22]

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Mongolia under Yuan rule

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References

  1. ↑ Pelliot Vol. I, pp. 354-355
  2. ↑ Pelliot Vol II, p. 788
  3. ↑ Pelliot Vol. I, p. 386
  4. ↑ Also called Kuang-Ning, it is situated in Liaoning Province. Once an important settlement, it was captured by the Mongols under Muqali in 1215. Cordier Vol. I, p. 334
  5. ↑ Jackson, pp. 32-36
  6. ↑ Grousset, p. 293
  7. ↑ Rossabbi, p. 222
  8. ↑ Jackson, pp. 31-36
  9. ↑ Grousset, p. 293
  10. ↑ Kaidu is usually termed Kublai's nephew in the literature - in reality he was his first cousin, once removed.
  11. ↑ Pelliot Vol II, p. 789
  12. ↑ Man, p. 396
  13. ↑ Grousset, p. 293
  14. ↑ Cordier Vol. I, p. 336-337
  15. ↑ Grousset, p. 293
  16. ↑ Cordier Vol. I, p. 342
  17. ↑ Cordier Vol. I, p. 339
  18. ↑ Cordier Vol. I, p. 338
  19. ↑ Rossabbi, p. 223
  20. ↑ Cordier Vol. I, p. 343
  21. ↑ Rossabi, p. 224
  22. ↑ Jackson, pp. 32-36

Bibliography

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