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Ahmad Fanakati

Type Figure Region Central Asia Time c. 1240–1282 Also known as Ahema、Ahamate

Kublai Khan's Central Asian finance minister (c. 1240–1282) who ran salt, iron, and paper-money revenues; assassinated in Dadu in 1282.

Timeline

  1. 1264–1281Dadu · North ChinaAhmad long managed revenues from the circuits and the salt, tea, and wine taxes, implementing household registration, tax increases, and paper-money conversions to fill the treasury. His concentration of power, appointment of semu favorites, and feud with Han Confucian officials and Crown Prince Zhenjin's faction led later histories to label him a "treacherous minister".
  2. 1281–1282Dadu · North ChinaAfter Chabi's death Ahmad lost his most important patron at court; the failed 1281 invasion of Japan added fiscal pressure, and the resentment of Han officials and generals erupted. Crown Prince Zhenjin's faction became more hostile, and an assassination plot took shape while Kublai Khan was at the summer capital Shangdu.
  3. 1282Dadu imperial palace · North ChinaWang Zhu, a chiliarch of Yidu, and the monk Gao Heshang lured Ahmad into the palace on the pretext that Crown Prince Zhenjin had returned, and killed him in a dark chamber. Kublai Khan returned from Shangdu, initially gave him a lavish burial, but after his embezzlement was verified ordered the coffin opened, the corpse dismembered, and his son executed.

Sources