In human history, cases of cannibalism within the royal family for the imperial throne can abound. However, not all royal children want to be able to rule the world, after all, everyone has different goals in life. Today we are going to tell about a high-powered but active royal son, who is the grandson of Genghis Khan and the founder of the Golden Horde- Boer Jin Batu.
Readers who know the history of the Mongol Empire will surely know that batu is a "wolf" (three points more fierce than a fierce man, and it is also horizontal) to use the popular Internet language. Of course, Batu's "fierceness" is only used to describe its outstanding ability, not its fierce heart. In fact, among the Mongol kings, Batu was known for his leniency toward his subordinates, his ability to fight righteousness and wealth, and his popularity with his generals, who called him "Sain Khan" (Mongolian for "good Khan King").
Battu's father was Genghis Khan's eldest son, Shuchi, and the history books evaluate him as "sexually anxious, not murderous, and the captives Domon Quanyu" (impatient temperament, but not murderous, captured captives are generally forgiven). Batu also had an older brother named Orda, who died young, "Orda thought that he was inferior to his brother, but gave way to Battu." Therefore, Batu inherited his father's throne as the second son and commanded the Shuchi Ulusi (fiefdom). Judging from Battus' later words and deeds, the attitude of his father and brother towards the world had a great influence on him. He was quite lenient in dealing with his men and captives, and did not have too strong ambitions in the struggle for power and profit.
In 1235, Wokoutai (the third son of Genghis Khan and the second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire) ordered the eldest son of each clan to lead an expedition to Chincha (a Turkic tribe in the north of the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea), Horoz (Russia), Olier (Poland), Magyar (Hungary) and other countries, known in history as the "Western Expedition of the Eldest Son". Batu led the entire army as the head of the Emperor Zong.
This expedition to the west was a peak of life for Battus. During his seven-year campaign, he led the Mongol army through Eastern Europe, invincible and invincible. At that time, when the European countries heard that Batu was approaching with his army, they were all terrified.
In the winter of 1241, Wokoutai died of illness. After the news reached the front, Batu ordered the whole army to return to the dynasty, and the "Eldest Son's Western Expedition" was declared over. In the ensuing period, the Mongol Empire experienced an intricate power cycle, and eventually The eldest son of Wokoutai, Guiyu, ascended to the throne of the Great Khan of the Empire. However, Guiyu was not the designated khan heir of Wokoutai, so this also laid the hidden danger for another khanship dispute a few years later.
Although Battu and Guiyu are cousins, the two completely broke up due to personal conflicts during the "Eldest Son's Western Expedition". In the process of Guiyu's struggle for the Khan's position, Battus also tried to obstruct it. After Guiyu became khan, he was extremely dissatisfied with this cousin who was far away in the Golden Horde, and he did not want to get rid of it at any time.
In the autumn of 1247, Guiyu led an elite army into the Dzungar region under the guise of a western tour, intending to launch a surprise attack on Batu. However, the great war that nearly led to the division of the Mongol Empire was brought to an end by The Sudden Death of Guiyu.
After Guiyu's death, the position of Great Khan of the Empire was once again suspended. According to the Mongol succession system at that time, the descendants of Genghis Khan's concubines were theoretically eligible to become Great Khans, which brought opportunities to some ambitious Mongol emperors. At that time, Batu was the head of the Zong King, and he made countless contributions in the "Firstborn West Expedition". Its prestige is second to none among the Mongol kings. Therefore, it has been suggested that Battus should inherit the Khan's throne. However, Battus rejected the Khan's nomination for the Khanate on the grounds of his own incompetence, and unequivocally supported Möngke, the eldest son of Torre (Genghis Khan's fourth son), to succeed to the Khan's throne.
With the firm support of Battus, Möngke eventually defeated all his competitors and successfully ascended to the throne of the Great Khan. So the question is, why didn't Battus himself compete for the position of Great Khan? In fact, the reason why Batu made such a choice was mainly decided by several aspects.
The first is that Batu's father, Shu Chi, is of doubt. At the beginning of Genghis Khan's business, his wife BoErti was abducted by the enemy family's Contemptuous Beggars for nearly nine months, and soon after Heerti was rescued by Genghis Khan, he gave birth to their first son, Shuchi, so it has always been a mystery that Shuchi himself is the son of Genghis Khan or the son of the beggar next door. Shuchi's unsuccessful bid for the Khan position among Genghis Khan's four concubines was largely due to this reason. As the son of Shuchi, although Batu was revered among the Mongols, his identity was also unclear.
Secondly, in the four concubine families of Genghis Khan, the strength of the Shuchi clan was insufficient. In his later years, Genghis Khan distributed his "property" to four concubines, of which the fourth son, Torre, was given most of genghis Khan's Mongol army (an army of pure Mongols), which became Möngke's greatest capital in the struggle for the Khan's throne. In contrast, Batu's strength in this regard is much inferior. The battle for the Khan position has always been a contest between you and me, and if there is no strong enough army behind it to guarantee it, the outcome is often not very optimistic.
In addition, Battus' health has been unsatisfactory since he entered middle age, which also made him not have much interest in the Khan's position.
Therefore, instead of fighting with his cousins for the difficult Khan position, Batu should firmly support Möngke's ascension to the throne as Khan. What happened later proved that Battus had made the right choice.
Immediately after becoming Great Khan, Möngke launched a brutal and ruthless sweep of his rivals the Wokoutai and Chagatai families, and a large number of the kings of the two families and their supporters were executed. Battu gained special respect from Möngke for his decision-making, and the Golden Horde created by Battus not only had the most vast territory among the four mongol khanates, but also within the sphere of influence of the Golden Horde, Möngke gave Batu almost the same status as himself, and the suzerainties of the other khanates explicitly demanded unconditional obedience to the will of the Great Khan. It can be seen that in many cases, "taking a step back from the sea and the sky" is indeed a better choice.
References: History, Original History, And New History