Youth and Early Career
Esen was born to his father, Toghon, the Choros taishi (grand preceptor, from 太師) who had expanded Oirat territory substantially, with more Mongol tribes acknowledging his supremacy.
His early campaigns were against the Chaghatayid khans of Moghulistan. Esen three times defeated and twice captured the Moghuli ruler Uvais (Ways Khan) (1418–1432). Esen released him respecting his Chinggisid blood in both cases. The second time Uvais granted Esen his sister Makhtum Khanim who bore his two sons. Esen had to nominally convert to Islam in order to marry the Muslim princess, but remained effectively a shamanist.
After his father died in 1438, Esen inherited his position, taishi, for the reigning khan Togtoo-Bukha (r.1433-52). Under Esen taishi's leadership, the western Mongols and other Mongol tribes who support Togtoo-Bukha conquered the rest of Mongolia, and received the submission of the Jurchens and the Tuvans (Uriankhais) in Manchuria and Eastern Siberia. It is unarguably true that the Oirat warriors played a crucial role in this conquest. In the 1430s Esen also took over control of the Mongol kingdom called Qara Del in Hami oasis on the Silk Road between the Gobi and the Takla Makan deserts; after 1443-45 his conquest reached the northern border of Korea.
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