Qonqurtai () was a Mongol prince and viceroy of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

for the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

khanate A khanate ( ) or khaganate refers to historic polity, polities ruled by a Khan (title), khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. Khanates were typically nomadic Mongol and Turkic peoples, Turkic or Tatars, Tatar societies located on the Eurasian Steppe, ...

Life

Qonqurtai was born to

Hulagu Khan Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu; ; ; ; ( 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Western Asia. As a son of Tolui and the Keraite princess Sorghaghtani Beki, he was a grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of ...

and Ajuja Aguchi, his Khitan

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

wife. Qonqurtai was Hulagu's ninth son and was the senior commander during the reign of his brother

Abaqa Abaqa Khan (27 February 1234 – 4 April 1282, , "paternal uncle", also transliterated Abaġa), was the second Mongol ruler ('' Ilkhan'') of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hulagu Khan and Lady Yesünčin and the grandson of Tolui, he reigned from 1265 ...

. He was twice appointed as viceroy of Anatolia, first during the reign of Abaqa and then under

Tekuder Ahmed Tekuder (; ; 10 August 1284), also known as Sultan Ahmad, was the sultan of the Ilkhanate from 1282 to 1284. He was a son of Hulegu and brother of Abaqa. He was eventually succeeded by his nephew Arghun Khan. Early life Tekuder was bor ...

. His winter quarters were in Kazova plains near

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

, while his viceroyalty itself has centred around

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

Rule in Anatolia

Qonqurtai was appointed as commander of Ilkhanid army in Anatolia with

Shams al-Din Juvayni Shams al-Din Juvayni (; also spelled Joveyni) was a Persian statesman and member of the Juvayni family. He was an influential figure in early Ilkhanate politics, serving as ''sahib-i divan'' (vizier and minister of finance) under four Mongol Ilkh ...

as his vizier after the

Battle of Elbistan On April 15, 1277, the Mamluk Sultan Baybars marched from Syria into the Mongol-dominated Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm and attacked the Mongol occupation force in the Battle of Elbistan (Abulustayn). Upon reaching Elbistan with at least 10,000 horsem ...

in 1277 to support the

Sultanate of Rum The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. ...

against revolting Turcomans. He pursued

Jimri Jimri ({{langx, tr, Cimri) was a pretender to the Sultanate of Rum, promoted by the Turkmen in the chaos after Baibars’ invasion of Mongol-dominated Anatolia in 1277. He was executed the following year. The pretender’s formal name, ‘Ala al- ...

, a claimant to Seljuk throne, and attacked his patrons - the

Karamanids The Karamanids ( or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman (), was a Turkish people, Turkish Anatolian beyliks, Anatolian beylik (principality) of Salur tribe origin, descended from Oghuz Turks, centered in South-Centra ...

. As a consequence,

Mehmet I of Karaman Shams al-Dīn Meḥmed I Beg (; died 20 June 1277 or 30 May 1279) was Beg of the Ḳarāmān from 1263 until his death. Ḳarāmān was a Turkish principality in Anatolia in the 13th century. His father was Karaman Bey. Early life Meḥmed was ...

was captured and executed together with his sons Mahmud and Karaman in October 1277. Qonqurtai further authorised

Sâhib Ata Fakhr al-Din Ali, better known as Sâhib Ata or Sâhip Ata, was a vizier of the Sultanate of Rum who held a number of high offices at the court of the Sultanate of Rum from the 1250s until his death in 1288. He was the dominant personality in Anato ...

to act on his behalf. He aided

Kaykhusraw III Kaykhusraw III (, ) or Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Qilij Arslān (; – 1284) was between two and six years old when in 1265 he was named Seljuq Sultan of Rûm. He was the son of Kilij Arslan IV, the weak representative of the Seljuq line w ...

's efforts to subdue Karamanids and

Eshrefids The Eshrefids or Ashrafids ( Modern Turkish: ''Eşrefoğulları'' or ''Eşrefoğulları Beyliği'' ) was a 13th-14th century Turkish Anatolian beylik. Capital Its capital was in Beyşehir. Foundation It was one of the frontier principalities e ...

in 1282. However, Qonqurtai had to cease his activities upon hearing the death of Abaqa. Upon the death of

, Qonqurtai supported

's succession in

Maragha Maragheh () is a city in the Central District of Maragheh County, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Maragheh is on the bank of the river Sufi Chay. It is from Tabriz, the largest city ...

, who in return gave him the hand of Toqiyatai Khatun, a

Keraite The Keraites (also ''Kerait, Kereit, Khereid'', Kazakh: керейт; Kyrgyz: керей; Mongolian: Хэрэйд; Nogai: Кереит; Uzbek: ''Kerait''; Chinese: 克烈) were one of the five dominant Turco-Mongol tribal confederations ...

concubine of Hulagu and niece of

Dokuz Khatun Doquz Khatun (also spelled Dokuz Khatun) (died 1265) was a princess of the Keraites who was married to Hulagu Khan, founder of the Ilkhanate and a grandson of Genghis Khan. Life Doquz Khatun was a granddaughter of the Keraite khan Toghrul, thr ...

on 12 July 1282. He was also re-appointed as viceroy of Anatolia the same day. However, later in Tekuder's reign, he shifted his alliance to

Arghun Arghun Khan ( Mongolian Cyrillic: Аргун; Traditional Mongolian: ; c. 1258 – 10 March 1291) was the fourth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division, from 1284 to 1291. He was the son of Abaqa Khan, and like his father, was a de ...

, which made the former suspicious. Qonqurtai was summoned to Karabakh, accused of conspiracy and was arrested by Tegüder's son-in-law,

Alinaq Alinaq Noyan (died 1289) was a commander of the Il-Khanate and a Commander of Georgia. He was the son-in-law of the Il-Khanid ruler Tekuder. He may have been a son of Tügür Bitigchi, a commander of Hulegu. Alinaq led a military campaign on h ...

- the viceroy of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

on 17 January 1284, and was executed next day by breaking his neck. Later, Arghun had put Tekuder on trial for Qonqurtai's death, who suffered the same penalty as him.

Personality

He was described as a wise ruler in '' Zafarnamah'' by Hamdullah Mustawfi,L. J. Ward, “The Ẓafar-nāmah of Ḥamd Allāh Mustaufi and the Il-Khān dynasty of Iran,” Ph.D. diss, p.204, University of Manchester, 1983. while

Qalawun (, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Turkic Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt; he ruled from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). After having risen in power in the Mamluk court and elite circles, Qalawun eventually hel ...

considered him as a not only dishonorable, but also a cruel man.

Family

He was married to Toqiyatai Khatun (d. 1292), a

concubine of Hulagu and niece of

on 12 July 1282, and only two of his children reached adulthood.: # Esen Timur Kharbanda (executed by

Ghazan Mahmud Ghazan (5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) (, Ghazan Khan, sometimes westernized as Casanus was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun, grandson of Abaqa K ...

in 1296{{Cite thesis, url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/133445, title=Mediating Sacred Kingship: Conversion and Sovereignty in Mongol Iran, website=deepblue.lib.umich.edu, year=2016 , hdl=2027.42/133445 , access-date=2020-04-06, type=Thesis , last1=Brack , first1=Jonathan Z. ) ## Pulad # Ildar (executed by

in 1296) ## Aq Timur # Karai (died in infancy) # Changtimur (died in infancy) # Tashtimur (died in infancy) # Ashightimur (died in infancy) # Akash m (died in infancy)

References

1284 deaths Ilkhanate Mongol Empire people