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Töregene Khatun

Type Figure Region Mongolian Plateau Time c. 1188–1246 Also known as Empress Töregene、Naiman clan

Principal wife of Ögedei Khan of the Mongol Empire; regent for nearly five years after his death in 1241, effectively ruling Karakorum until Güyük's …

Timeline

  1. c. 1200–1228Mongolian Plateau · Mongolian PlateauOf Naiman origin, she married Genghis Khan's third son Ögedei, moving with the ordu during Genghis Khan's western and southern campaigns, and gradually rose to principal wife among Ögedei's consorts.
  2. 1221–1230Mongol Empire heartland · Mongolian PlateauBetween 1221 and 1230 Ögedei campaigned against Jin and Western Xia and managed western logistics; she ran the ordu affairs at home. After Genghis Khan's death in 1227 the princes chose Ögedei, who took the khaganate in 1229, and she became the empire's first empress.
  3. 1229–1241Karakorum · Mongolian PlateauDuring Ögedei's reign (1229–1241) she participated in inner-court decision-making, promoting favorites such as Ögödei's attendants Woto and Maruqu, and exercised real influence over Karakorum's administration and relations with the princes.
  4. 1241–1246Karakorum · Mongolian PlateauAfter Ögedei's death in 1241 she ruled as empress dowager, delaying the kurultai and monopolizing government; she was ordered to die after Güyük's accession in 1246. Her regency is regarded as a landmark phase of female political power in the Mongol Empire.

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