Chagatai Khanate - The Chagatai Khanate After Chagatai

The Chagatai Khanate After Chagatai

Chagatai died in 1242, shortly after his brother Ögedei. For nearly twenty years after this the Chagatai Khanate was little more than a dependency of the Mongol central government, which deposed and appointed khans as it pleased. The cities of Transoxiana, while located within the boundaries of the khanate, were administrated by officials who answered directly to the Great Khan.

This state of subservience to the central government was ended during the reign of Chagatai's grandson Alghu (1260–1266), who took advantage of the civil war between Khubilai and Ariq Boke by revolting against the latter, seizing new territories and gaining the allegiance of the Great Khan's authorities in Transoxiana. Most of the Chagatayids first supported Khubilai but in 1269 they joined forces with the House of Ogedei.

Alghu's eventual successor, Baraq (1266–1271), who expelled the Khubilai Khan's governor in Chinese Turkestan, soon came into conflict with the Ögedite Kaidu (Qaidu), who gained the support of the Golden Horde and attacked the Chagatayids.

Baraq was soon confined to Transoxiana and forced to become a vassal of Kaidu. At the same time, he was at odds with Abaqa, the Ilkhan, who ruled his Ilkhanate in Persia. Baraq attacked first, but was defeated by the Ilkhanate army and forced to return to Transoxiana, where he died not long after.

The next several Chagatayid khans were appointed by Kaidu, who maintained a hold upon the khanate until his death. He finally found a suitable khan in Baraq's son Duwa (1282–1307), who participated in Kaidu's wars with Khubilai khan and his successors of the Yuan Dynasty. The two rulers also were active against the Ilkhanate. After Kaidu's death in 1301, Duwa threw off his allegiance to his successor. He also made peace with the Yuan Dynasty and paid tributes to the Yuan court; by the time of his death the Chagatai Khanate was a virtually independent state.