Ariq Böke

Timeline

1. 1251–1259Karakorum · Mongolian PlateauAfter Möngke became khan, he ordered Ariq Böke to remain at Karakorum, guarding the ordu and qubis (appanages) of Genghis Khan, Tolui, and other ancestors and maintaining traditional nomadic administration in the north. In the 1250s he represented the conservative Toluid faction, forming a north-south division with Kublai, who administered the Chinese lands.
2. 1259–1260Karakorum · Mongolian PlateauAfter Möngke's death in 1259, Ariq Böke summoned the princes to the northern steppe in the name of mourning. In 1260 Kublai had already proclaimed himself khan at Kaiping, and Ariq Böke was then elected great khan at Karakorum by Khaidu, Alghu, and others, adopting the Zhizheng era; the Mongol Empire now had two rival khans.
3. 1260–1264Mongolian Plateau · Mongolian PlateauBetween 1260 and 1264, Ariq Böke and Kublai clashed repeatedly in the southern steppe, the Hexi region, and Central Asia. Though Ariq Böke had support from Khaidu and other northwestern princes, Kublai's advantage in Chinese resources and grain gradually told. In 1264 Ariq Böke was abandoned by his followers and went to Kaiping to surrender.
4. 1264–1266Kaiping · Inner MongoliaIn 1264 Ariq Böke went to Kaiping to beg Kublai's forgiveness; Kublai outwardly pardoned him but confined him in Yanjing. Ariq Böke died in 1266, one account says by Kublai's order. His defeat marked the triumph of the Toluid new course based on Chinese resources over the northern steppe traditionalists.