即位

1229年9月13日（農曆八月二十四日），窩闊台在庫里爾台大會中被察合台、拖雷、鐵木哥斡赤斤等宗王和大臣推舉為大蒙古國大汗，管理整個蒙古帝國，有史料載諸宗王和百官為窩闊台上尊號曰木亦堅合罕（合罕為大汗的別譯）。

他繼承父親的遺志擴張領土，主要是繼續西征和南下中原。他在位期間成功完全征服中亞和華北。內政方面，以契丹人耶律楚材為相管理華北和中原地區，在這些地區稍微改變了戰後屠城作風，保存不少金朝遺民和政治制度；同時又依耶律楚材建議，提拔漢人為官，整頓內治，安定了蒙古在華北地區的統治，使華北地區經濟在戰後得到一定程度的恢復性發展，為日後忽必烈稱帝滅南宋打下基礎。

滅金取中原

1229年登基的時候，大蒙古國在東亞部分的東南部大體以黃河為界，金朝領土基本上只剩下黃河以南的河南、陝西等地（當時的黃河取道江蘇北部的淮河入海）。

1231年，窩闊台與其四弟拖雷分道進攻金朝，1232年初，拖雷率蒙古軍在河南三峰山戰勝金軍，盡殲金軍精銳。其後，拖雷與自白坡渡河南下的窩闊台軍會合，一同北返蒙古草原，1232年農曆九月，拖雷於北返途中病死之後，托雷四子忽必烈繼承了他在華北地區的勢力。

1232年春，蒙古軍隊繼續南下，抵達金朝首都燕京（今北京市）附近，因此周圍州縣難民紛紛逃入汴京（今河南開封市），城中人口激增，而入夏後瘟疫流行，死者達九十餘萬人。1232年秋，蒙古派使者入城要求金朝投降，被金朝將士所殺，蒙古軍于是不再議和，擊潰金朝援軍，圍困汴京城。

1233年2月6日（農曆十二月二十六日），金哀宗和后妃們分別離開汴京，一路向南。1233年2月26日（農曆正月十六日），金哀宗抵達歸德（今河南商丘市），隨後又出走；8月3日（農曆六月二十六日），金哀宗逃到蔡州（今河南汝南縣），在此地穩定下來。

1233年3月5日（農曆正月二十三日），金朝汴京西面元帥崔立率軍隊殺死汴京的留守將領完顏奴申和完顏習捏阿不，控制全城，派使者向蒙古軍統帥速不台投降。

1233年3月10日（農曆正月二十八日），速不台向汴京進兵。速不台得知崔立同意投降後，因為之前進攻汴京時金人抗拒持久導致軍隊死傷甚多，便向窩闊台奏報建議軍隊入城後屠城洩憤。中書令耶律楚材堅決反對，他認為將士辛苦奮戰為的就是土地和人民，屠城會導致得地無民，而且「奇巧之工，厚藏之家」都集中在汴京，屠城會導致一無所獲，沒有人民就沒有人向朝廷交納賦稅，軍隊會白辛苦一場，最後窩闊台採納了耶律楚材的意見，只關押了金朝宗室，其他人一概赦免。當時在汴京城中躲避兵禍的147萬名居民因為耶律楚材的建議得以免于兵禍。

1233年5月29日（農曆四月十九日），崔立將汴京城中的金朝宗室梁王完顏從恪、荊王完顏守純以及其他宗室男女五百餘人送到速不台軍隊駐地青城，速不台將他們送到漠北草原窩闊台的行鑾駐蹕之處，窩闊台為報祖先之仇（金熙宗當年曾將蒙古俺巴孩汗釘死在木驢上），將他們全部處死。同一天，崔立面見速不台，正式歸降大蒙古國，速不台率軍進入汴京，維護城中秩序，並將城中的金朝后妃和宗廟寶器也送到漠北草原窩闊台的行鑾駐蹕之處。

1234年2月9日（農曆正月十日），大蒙古國軍隊與南宋軍隊聯合攻入蔡州（今河南汝南縣），金哀宗自殺，金末帝死于亂軍之中，金朝滅亡。整個北方中原地區併入大蒙古國版圖。

自1234年窩闊台汗滅金朝，到1368年烏哈噶圖汗（元惠宗）逃離大都回到草原，由蒙古族建立的蒙古汗國、元帝國兩政權，總共統治北方中原黃河流域長達134年。

端平入洛與蒙宋開戰

1233年5月29日蒙古軍隊取得汴京（今河南開封市）後，繼續進攻蔡州（金哀宗所在地），由于金朝軍隊抵抗頑強，為了減少損失，窩闊台決定聯合南宋政權攻克蔡州滅亡金朝。

按照蒙宋雙方協議，蒙宋聯軍攻克蔡州後，南宋可以取得蔡州未破前尚在金朝控制的河南土地，也就是唐、鄧、蔡、潁、宿、泗、徐、邳等州（均位于河南南部）。這些州位于金朝和南宋的交界地帶，屬于金朝領土最南端的州。

在1234年2月9日蒙宋聯軍攻克蔡州滅亡金朝後，因為河南一帶久經戰火，田地荒蕪，缺乏糧食，當時又正值冬季，天氣嚴寒，于是把當地大部分居民暫時遷往河北一帶，準備等天氣轉暖後將居民再陸續遷回河南，並恢復農業生產。同時軍隊久經戰事，也需要休整，大部分軍隊撤到黃河以北。

宋理宗在部分大臣的慫恿下違背當初的蒙宋協議，1234年六月，宋軍分二路出兵北伐，準備收複當年被金朝攻取的三京：西京河南府（今河南洛陽市）、東京開封府（今河南開封市）、南京應天府（亦稱之為歸德，今河南商丘市），這三京均位于河南北部，在蒙宋協議之前就已經被蒙古軍隊攻取，自然不屬于當初蒙宋協議中滅金後南宋可以得到的領土。

由于宋軍北上攻取三京發生在宋理宗端平年間，史稱「端平入洛」。端平入洛揭開了蒙古與南宋對峙，連續四十餘年不斷戰爭的序幕，直到忽必烈渡過長江、滅亡南宋。

南宋違背蒙宋協議，大舉進兵，但因為蒙古滅金後，大部分金朝軍隊和居民都已經撤到黃河以北，南宋軍隊最初進展順利，一個月後順利占領幾乎是空城的三京。由于三京缺乏糧草，宋軍攜帶糧草較少又缺乏後勤補給，蒙古軍隊又隨後發起反擊，宋軍很快撤離三京，並撤回南宋境內。

蒙古軍隊隨後追至原金朝和南宋的邊界線一帶，並向南宋邊界的州縣發起進攻，因為蒙古軍隊並不是很適合南方河流密布的地形作戰，在取得一定戰果後撤回中原。

自南宋違約進攻蒙古，端平入洛以後，南宋天災人禍接連不斷，國力逐漸衰弱直至滅亡。在軍事上，收複三京失敗，損兵折將，士氣不振，將心不穩，成為南宋守邊士兵面臨的嚴重問題。

在中國北方實施「以儒治國」

1230年，有近臣別迭等人向窩闊台上奏，認為「漢人無補于國，可悉空其人以為牧地。」主張將漢人驅逐，把漢地的耕地變為牧場，耶律楚材則上奏請求均定中原地稅、商稅、鹽、酒、鐵冶、山澤之利，每年可得賦稅白銀50萬兩、帛8萬匹、粟40餘萬石，足以支持窩闊台南征金朝的軍隊所需，窩闊台同意由耶律楚材試行。

1230年農曆十一月，耶律楚材奏請在大蒙古國統治的黃河以北的河北、山西、山東（當時金朝尚未滅亡，黃河取道江蘇北部的淮河入海）、燕京等地設立十路徵收課稅使，並選用有名的儒士作為課稅官員，得到窩闊台批准。

1231年農曆八月，窩闊台到達雲中（今山西大同市），十路徵收課稅使將當年徵收到的漢地賦稅簿冊和金帛陳于廷中，窩闊台大悅，當日設立中書省，改侍從官名，以耶律楚材為中書令，粘合重山為左丞相，鎮海為右丞相。

1235年春，窩闊台決定在哈拉和林建都城，修建萬安宮；並部署伐南宋、征高麗和再次西征；1236年正月，萬安宮建成。窩闊台大宴群臣，同月，窩闊台下詔發行紙幣交鈔。

1234年正月滅金朝後，窩闊台下詔括編漢地戶籍，他接受耶律楚材的建議，以按戶為單位收取賦稅。由中州斷事官失吉忽禿忽主持。1236年八月，括戶完成，括得漢地民戶110餘萬戶。

1236年括戶完成後，失吉忽禿忽主張按以往風俗在中原對諸王和有功之臣進行分封，窩闊台表示同意。耶律楚材力陳「裂土分民」的弊害，使窩闊台同意封地的官吏須朝廷任命，除常定賦役外，諸王勛臣不得擅自征斂，以限制諸王勛臣在封地的權力。

括戶完成後，耶律楚材制訂了中原賦稅制度：每兩戶出絲一斤，上交朝廷，以供中央政府使用，每五戶出絲一斤，以與所賜之家；先由中央政府徵收，然後賜予該受封貴族，除此之外貴族不得擅加征斂。上田每畝稅三升半，中田三升，下田二升，水田五升；商稅三十分之一；鹽每銀一兩四十斤。

這個賦稅的定額是比較輕的，有利于當時已遭破壞的中原地區休養生息。在遇到大的災情時，楚材還採取免徵的措施。如果部分地區出現逃亡浮客，他們的賦稅要由留下的主戶負擔，這些主戶負擔的賦稅會重一些。此外，民戶們也要負擔一些隨意性很大的雜泛差役。總的來說，民戶們的負擔還是相對比較輕的。

在耶律楚材的努力下，中原及北方的經濟得到了恢復和保存。

1230年耶律楚材制定課稅格，1231年收取的各種賦稅中，白銀為50萬兩，1234年滅金朝取得河南等地，賦稅收入一直在增加，到了1238年，朝廷在中原漢地收取的各種賦稅中，白銀為110萬兩。絲和米等賦稅也有顯著增加。

1233年，為了培養蒙漢雙語翻譯類人材，窩闊台下詔在燕京（今北京市）建國子學，派遣蒙古人子弟18人學習漢語；漢人子弟12人，學習蒙古語和弓箭，並選儒士為教讀。規定受業學生不僅要學習漢人文書，還要「兼諳匠藝，事及藥材所用、彩色所出、地理州郡所紀，下至酒醴麴蘗、水銀之造，飲食烹飪之制，皆欲周覽旁通」。當時，全真教在燕京勢力很大，儒家士大夫有很多託庇于全真教。燕京的學宮也是如此，學宮的主持者除楊惟中之外，葛志先、李志常均為當時有名的全真道士。

1233年農曆四月，蒙古軍隊進入汴京城（今河南開封市），中書令耶律楚材向窩闊台奏請遣人入城，求孔子家族後代，得五十一代孫元措，奏襲封衍聖公，付以孔林廟地。耶律楚材又派人入汴京，挑選了大量的人才。

1233年農曆六月，窩闊台下詔，以孔子五十一世孫孔元措襲封衍聖公。

1233年冬天，窩闊台敕修燕京孔子廟及渾天儀。

1236年農曆三月，複修孔子廟及司天台。

1236年農曆六月，耶律楚材奏請窩闊台同意後，在燕京（今北京市）建立編修所，在平陽（今山西臨汾市）建立經籍所，主持經史類書籍的編纂和刊行，召儒士梁陟充長官，以王萬慶、趙著副之。讓他們直釋九經，進講東宮。又率大臣子孫，執經解義，使他們知道聖人之道。

1237年，窩闊台下旨蠲免孔子、孟子、顏子等儒教聖人子孫的差發雜役。

1237年，耶律楚材奏請對儒士舉行科舉考試，這就是1238年舉行的戊戌選試，共錄取4030人，皆當時的名士。

1238年，耶律楚材又支持楊惟中和姚樞在燕京建立太極書院，請趙複等人為師教授儒家的經典。南宋名士趙複的講學，使程朱理學在北方中原地區傳播開來。

戊戌選試

1234年2月9日，蒙古帝國滅金朝，奪取中原地區後，急需人才治理國家。

元太宗九年農曆八月二十五日（1237年9月15日），根據中書令耶律楚材的建議，窩闊台下詔書命斷事官朮忽德和山西東路課稅所長官劉中，歷諸路考試，試諸路儒士，開科取士，並對考試內容和參加考試者的身份要求以及中選者的優厚待遇作了詳細說明。

北方中原地區的諸路考試，均于1238年（戊戌年）舉行，史稱「戊戌選試」。

1238年的這次考試共錄取東平楊奐等4030人，皆為一時名士，使得朝廷及時得到了加強統治所需要的各方面的人才。但後來「當世或以為非便，事複中止」。

直到元仁宗1313年下詔恢復科舉，此時距離元太宗1238年的「戊戌選試」已經有75年，天下讀書的士人至此再次獲得以科舉方式晉身做官的途徑。

西征歐洲

1234年2月9日金朝滅亡後，由於大蒙古國與南宋接壤，使雙方的衝突日漸加劇，也拉開了雙方往後45年不斷爭戰的序幕。在南方戰線殭持不下之時，蒙古大軍的鐵蹄轉往東方的高麗，並使之臣服，西線方面，以拔都為首的欽察汗國，完全控制了羅斯，並繼續西進，佔領了除諾夫哥羅德以外俄羅斯的領土，以及波蘭王國和匈牙利王國的一部。

1241年12月11日（農曆十一月八日），窩闊台因為酗酒而突然暴斃，使他的西征進程被逼中止。當時大軍正朝往神聖羅馬帝國的諸侯國奧地利大公國首都維也納推進，但為了趕返參加位於蒙古的庫里爾台大會而急忙撤軍，自此以後，蒙古大軍再也沒有踏足這片土地。

1241年年底，在窩闊台去世後不久，他的二哥察合台去世。

窩闊台去世後，1242年春天，皇后乃馬真后開始稱制，處理朝政，直到1246年8月24日窩闊台之子貴由繼任大汗為止。乃馬真後臨朝稱制期間，朝政比較混亂，中書令耶律楚材力爭而不能有效果，于1244年農曆五月憂憤而死。

家庭

妻妾

• 孛剌合真大皇后

• 昂灰二皇后（撫養拖雷長子蒙哥為己子）

• 乞里吉忽帖尼三皇后，原為成吉思汗的后妃，成吉思汗死後，乞里吉忽帖尼被窩闊台收繼

• 忽蘭，原為成吉思汗的后妃，成吉思汗死後，忽蘭被窩闊台收繼

• 木哥，原為成吉思汗的后妃，成吉思汗死後，木哥被窩闊台收繼

• 脫列哥那六皇后，又稱乃馬真後，1246年貴由登基數月後去世。1266年忽必烈自號「大蒙古國皇帝」，並為乃馬真後上謚號昭慈皇后。

• 業里吉納妃子

兒子

根據《新元史》卷118《太宗諸子傳》記載，元太宗窩闊台有七子：

• 貴由，生母脫列哥那皇后（乃馬真後），1246年繼任「蒙古大汗」，1266年被忽必烈追尊為元定宗

• 闊端太子，生母忽帖尼皇后，被封為西涼王，1247年和吐蕃諸部宗教界領袖薩班在涼州（今甘肅武威市）舉行涼州會盟，使得吐蕃歸附大蒙古國

• 闊出太子，生母不詳，闊出長子為失烈門

• 哈剌察兒大王，生母不詳

• 合失大王，生母孛剌合真皇后，生于1215年，嗜酒早卒，子海都，窩闊台汗國可汗，和元世祖忽必烈以及元成宗鐵穆耳交戰40多年，相互爭奪「蒙古大汗」稱號，1301年秋天和元軍交戰中負傷，不久去世

• 合丹大王，生母不詳

• 滅里大王，生母業里吉納妃子

女兒

• 魯國公主 唆兒哈罕，嫁納合

相關史料

• 《蒙古秘史》，又稱《元朝秘史》。

• 《史集》，蒙古帝國伊兒汗國史學家拉施特撰寫。

• 《世界征服者史》，蒙古帝國伊兒汗國史學家志費尼撰寫。

• 《大元聖政國朝典章》，簡稱《元典章》，元英宗在位後期（1322年—1323年）官修政書，收錄1234年—1322年元朝各地地方官吏會抄的有關政治、經濟、軍事、法律等方面的聖旨條畫、律令格例以及司法部門所判案例的匯編，分為前集和新集，史實多為《元史》所不載。

• 《大元通制》，1323年元英宗頒布的元朝第二部法律，現存殘本收錄1234年—1316年元朝官方頒布的關于法律方面的聖旨條畫、律令格例以及司法部門所判案例的匯編，史實多為《元史》所不載。

• 《元史·太宗本紀》，明朝官修正史

• 《新元史·太宗本紀》，民國官修正史

• 《續資治通鑑》 ，清朝史學家畢沅撰寫。

• 《黑韃事略》，南宋使者彭大雅1232年隨奉使到大蒙古國，使者徐霆1235年—1236年隨奉使到大蒙古國，二人返回南宋後，彭大雅撰寫,並由徐霆作疏。

• 《元史類編》，清朝史學家邵遠平撰寫。

• 《元史新編》，清朝史學家魏源撰寫。

• 《元書》，清朝史學家曾廉撰寫。

• 《蒙兀兒史記》，清末民初史學家屠寄撰寫。

評價

• 元朝重臣郝經在中統元年（1260年）農曆八月給元世祖忽必烈的上書《立政議》中對元太宗窩闊台的評價是：「當太宗皇帝臨御之時，耶律楚材為相，定稅賦，立造作，榷宣課，分郡縣，籍戶口，理獄訟，別軍民，設科舉，推恩肆赦，方有志于天下，而一二不逞之人，投隙抵罅，相與排擯，百計攻訐，乘宮闈違豫之際，恣為矯誣，卒使楚材憤悒以死。」（說明：元太宗窩闊台在世之時，耶律楚材還是深受重用的，1241年元太宗去世，帝位空缺，皇后乃馬真後開始臨朝稱制，朝政比較混亂，中書令耶律楚材力爭而無效果，他于1244年憂憤而死）

• 明朝官修正史《元史》宋濂等的評價是：「帝有寬弘之量，忠恕之心，量時度力，舉無過事，華夏富庶，羊馬成群，旅不齎糧，時稱治平。」

• 清朝史學家邵遠平《元史類編》的評價是：「冊曰：嗣業恢基，纘緒立制；五載滅金，十路命使；定賦崇儒，用昌厥世；仁厚恭儉，時稱平治。」

• 清朝史學家畢沅《續資治通鑑》的評價是：「太宗性寬恕，量時度力，舉無過事。境內富庶，旅不齎糧，時稱治平。」

• 清朝史學家魏源《元史新編》的評價是：「帝有寬宏之量，淳樸之質，乘開國之運，師武臣力，繼志述事，席捲西域，奄有中原。惟知諸子不材，又知憲宗之克荷，而儲位不早定，致身後政擅宮闈，大業幾淪，有餘憾焉。」

• 清朝史學家曾廉《元書》的評價是：「論曰：太宗時金人已弱，然猶足阻河為固也。太宗遵遺令戡鳳翔，道興元，以達唐鄧，而汴梁墟，可謂聞斯行之矣。當是時，操持國政，耶律楚材鬱為時棟。然太宗之用楚材，以利也。太宗言利，楚材即以其利利天下，而紀綱粗立矣。用相違也，而相成也，豈非天哉！故開國之運，雲龍風虎，非雷同也。」

• 清末民初史學家屠寄《蒙兀兒史記》的評價是：「論曰：財者，一國所公有也。語曰：百姓足，君孰與不足？人君以國用睏乏，多取于民，然且不可。況可縱奸人異類，恣其侵奪乎？斡歌歹汗初得金，許奧都剌合蠻撲買中原銀課，舉國家財政大權授之賈胡之手，公利而私取之，上下交損焉。封建之制，始于自然，強並弱，眾暴寡。自天子以至食採之大夫，各私其土地人民。古聖王不得以而仍之。秦漢以降，此制漸廢，偶一行之，罔不召亂。自非至無識者，不輕議複也。汗括漢戶，分賜諸王貴戚，其視無辜之民與奴虜奚擇。彼固不知封建為何事，然斯制若行，弊且甚于封建。微耶律楚材言，縱虎豹而食人肉矣。前史稱汗有寬仁之量，忠恕之心，度時量力，動無過舉。跡其立站赤、選稅使、試儒士、釋俘囚，詔免旱蝗之租，代償羊羔之息，固非無志于民者，惜乎不達怡體，而左右之人將順其美者，又寡也。」

• 民國官修正史《新元史》柯劭忞的評價是：「太宗寬平仁恕，有人君之量。常謂即位之後，有四功、四過：滅金，立站赤，設諸路探馬赤，無水處使百姓鑿井，朕之四功；飲酒，括叔父斡赤斤部女子，築圍牆妨兄弟之射獵，以私撼殺功臣朵豁勒，朕之四過也。然信任奧都拉合蠻，始終不悟其奸，尤為帝知人之累雲。」

紀年

根據《元史·太宗本紀》整理。

影視形象

電視劇

• 2013年由中國中央電視台製作，同年播出中國電視劇《建元風雲》，巴森飾

Background

Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and Börte Ujin. He participated in the turbulent events of his father's rise. When Ögedei was 17 years old, Genghis Khan experienced the disastrous defeat of Khalakhaljid Sands against the army of Jamukha. Ögedei was heavily wounded and lost on the battlefield. His father's adopted brother and companion Borokhula rescued him. Although he was already married, in 1204 his father gave him Töregene, the wife of a defeated Merkit chief. The addition of such a wife was not uncommon in steppe culture.

After Genghis was proclaimed Emperor or Khagan in 1206, myangans (thousands) of the Jalayir, Besud, Suldus, and Khongqatan clans were given to him as his appanage. Ögedei's territory occupied the Emil and Hobok rivers. According to his father's wish, Ilugei, the commander of the Jalayir, became Ögedei's tutor.

Ögedei, along with his brothers, campaigned independently for the first time in November 1211 against the Jin dynasty . He was sent to ravage the land south through Hebei and then north through Shanxi in 1213. Ögedei's force drove the Jin garrison out of the Ordos, and he rode to the juncture of the Xi Xia, Jin, and Song domains.

During the Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia, Ögedei and Chagatai massacred the residents of Otrar after a five-month siege in 1219–20 and joined Jochi who was outside the walls of Urganch. Because Jochi and Chagatai were quarreling over the military strategy, Ögedei was appointed by Genghis Khan to oversee the siege of Urganch. They captured the city in 1221. When the rebellion broke out in southeast Persia and Afghanistan, Ögedei also pacified Ghazni.

Ascendancy to Supreme Khan

The Empress Yisui insisted that Genghis Khan designate an heir before the invasion of the Khwarezmid Empire in 1219. After the terrible brawl between two elder sons Jochi and Chagatai, they agreed that Ögedei was to be chosen as heir. Genghis confirmed their decision.

Genghis Khan died in 1227, and Jochi had died a year or two earlier. Ögedei's younger brother Tolui held the regency until 1229. Ögedei was elected supreme khan in 1229, according to the kurultai held at Kodoe Aral on the Kherlen River after Genghis' death, although this was never really in doubt as it was Genghis' clear wish that he be succeeded by Ögedei. After ritually declining three times, Ögedei was proclaimed Khagan of the Mongols on 13 September 1229. Chagatai continued to support his younger brother's claim.

Genghis Khan saw Ögedei as having a courteous and generous character. His charisma is partially credited for his success in keeping the Empire on his father's path. Thanks mostly to the organization left behind by Genghis Khan, and to the personality of Ögedei, the affairs of the Mongol Empire remained for the most part stable during his reign. Ögedei was a pragmatic man, though he made some mistakes during his reign. Ögedei had no delusions that he was his father's equal as a military commander or organizer and used the abilities of those he found most capable.

Notwithstanding reports of his charisma, Ögedei was criticized by Mongol and Persian chroniclers for a crime he committed in 1237, which according to Persian chroniclers consisted of ordering the rape of four thousand Oirat girls above the age of seven. These girls were then confiscated for Ögedei's harem or given to caravan hostels throughout the Mongol Empire for use as prostitutes. This move brought the Oirat and their lands under Ögedei's control following the death of Ögedei's sister Checheyigen, who previously controlled Oirat lands.

World conquests

Expansion in the Middle East

After destroying the Khwarazmian empire, Genghis Khan was free to move against Western Xia. In 1226, however, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the last of the Khwarizm monarchs, returned to Persia to revive the empire lost by his father, Muhammad 『Ala al-Din II. The Mongol forces sent against him in 1227 were defeated at Dameghan. Another army that marched against Jalal al-Din scored a pyrrhic victory in the vicinity of Isfahan but was unable to follow up that success.

With Ögedei's consent to launch a campaign, Chormaqan left Bukhara at the head of 30,000 to 50,000 Mongol soldiers. He occupied Persia and Khorasan, two long-standing bases of Khwarazmian support. Crossing the Amu Darya River in 1230 and entering Khorasan without encountering any opposition, Chormaqan passed through quickly. He left a sizable contingent behind under the command of Dayir Noyan, who had further instructions to invade western Afghanistan. Chormaqan and the majority of his army then entered Tabaristan (modern-day Mazandaran), a region between the Caspian Sea and Alborz mountains, in the autumn of 1230, thus avoiding the mountainous area to the south, which was controlled by the Nizari Ismailis (the Assassins).

Upon reaching the city of Rey, Chormaqan made his winter camp there and dispatched his armies to pacify the rest of northern Persia. In 1231, he led his army southward and quickly captured the cities of Qum and Hamadan. From there, he sent armies into the regions of Fars and Kirman, whose rulers quickly submitted, preferring to pay tribute to Mongol overlords rather than having their states ravaged. Meanwhile, further east, Dayir steadily achieved his goals in capturing Kabul, Ghazni, and Zawulistan. With the Mongols already in control of Persia, Jalal al-Din was isolated in Transcaucasia where he was banished. Thus all of Persia was added to the Mongol Empire.

The fall of the Jin dynasty

At the end of 1230, responding to the Jin's unexpected defeat of the Mongol general Doqulkhu, the Khagan went south to Shanxi province with Tolui, clearing the area of the Jin forces and taking the city of Fengxiang. After passing the summer in the north, they again campaigned against the Jin in Henan, cutting through territory of South China to assault the Jin's rear. By 1232 the Jin Emperor was besieged in his capital of Kaifeng. Ögedei soon departed, leaving the final conquest to his generals. After taking several cities, the Mongols, with the belated assistance of the Song dynasty, destroyed the Jin with the fall of Caizhou in February 1234. However, a viceroy of the Song murdered a Mongol ambassador, and the Song armies recaptured the former imperial capitals of Kaifeng, Luoyang, and Chang'an, which were now ruled by the Mongols.

In addition to the war with the Jin dynasty, Ögedei crushed the Eastern Xia founded by Puxian Wannu in 1233, pacifying southern Manchuria. Ögedei subdued the Water Tatars in the northern part of the region and suppressed their rebellion in 1237.

Conquest of Georgia and Armenia

The Mongols under Chormaqan returned to the Caucasus in 1232. The walls of Ganjak were breached by catapult and battering ram in 1235. The Mongols eventually withdrew after the citizens of Irbil agreed to send a yearly tribute to the court of the khagan. Chormaqan waited until 1238, when the force of Möngke Khan was also active in the north Caucasus. After subduing Armenia, Chormaqan took Tiflis. In 1238, the Mongols captured Lorhe whose ruler, Shahanshah, fled with his family before the Mongols arrived, leaving the rich city to its fate. After putting up a spirited defense at Hohanaberd, the city's ruler, Hasan Jalal, submitted to the Mongols. Another column then advanced against Gaian, ruled by Prince Avak. The Mongol commander Tokhta ruled out a direct assault and had his men construct a wall around the city, and Avak soon surrendered. By 1240, Chormaqan had completed the conquest of Transcaucasia, forcing the Georgian nobles to surrender.

Invasion of Korea

In 1224, a Mongol envoy was killed in obscure circumstances and Korea stopped paying tribute. Ögedei dispatched Saritai to subdue Korea and avenge the dead envoy in 1231. Thus, Mongol armies began to invade Korea in order to subdue the kingdom. The Goryeo King temporarily submitted and agreed to accept Mongol overseers. When they withdrew for the summer, however, Choe U moved the capital from Kaesong to Ganghwa Island. Saritai was hit with a stray arrow and died as he campaigned against them.

Ögedei announced plans for the conquest of the Koreans, the Southern Song, the Kipchaks and their European allies, all of whom killed Mongol envoys, at the kurultai in Mongolia in 1234. Ögedei appointed Danqu commander of the Mongol army and made Bog Wong, a defected Korean general, governor of 40 cities with their subjects. When the court of Goryeo sued for peace in 1238, Ögedei demanded that the king of Goryeo appear before him in person. The Goryeo king finally sent his relative Yeong Nong-gun Sung with ten noble boys to Mongolia as hostages, temporarily ending the war in 1241.

Europe

The Mongol Empire expanded westward under the command of Batu Khan to subdue the western steppes and drive into Europe. Their western conquests included Volga Bulgaria, almost all of Alania, Cumania, and Rus', along with a brief occupation of Hungary. They also invaded Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Latin Empire, and Austria. During the siege of Kolomna, the Khagan's half brother Khulgen was killed by an arrow.

Amid the conquest, Ögedei's son Güyük and Chagatai's grandson Büri ridiculed Batu, and the Mongol camp suffered dissension. The Khagan harshly criticized Güyük: "You broke the spirit of every man in your army...Do you think that the Russians surrendered because of how mean you were to your own men?". He then sent Güyük back to continue the conquest of Europe. Güyük and another of Ögedei's sons, Kadan, attacked Transylvania and Poland, respectively.

Although Ögedei Khan had granted permission to invade the remainder of Europe, all the way to the "Great Sea", the Atlantic Ocean, the Mongol advance stalled in East Europe early in 1242, the year after his death. Mongol propaganda would later attribute the drive's failure to his untimely demise necessitating Batu's withdrawal to personally participate in the election of Ögedei's successor. But Batu never in fact returned to Mongolia for such an election and a successor wouldn't be named until 1246. A likely reason the advance stalled and never regained momentum is that European fortifications posed a strategic problem that Mongol commanders were unable to surmount with the resources they had available.

Conflict with Song China

In a series of razzias from 1235 to 1245, the Mongols commanded by Ögedei's sons penetrated deep into the Song Dynasty and reached Chengdu, Xiangyang and Yangtze River. But they could not succeed in completing their conquest due to climate and the number of Song troops, and Ögedei's son Khochu died in the process. In 1240, Ögedei's other son Khuden dispatched a subsidiary expedition to Tibet. The situation between the two nations worsened when Song officers murdered Ögedei's envoys headed by Selmus.

The Mongol expansion throughout the Asian continent under the leadership of Ögedei helped bring political stability and re-establish the Silk Road, the primary trading route between East and West.

India

Ögedei appointed Dayir commander of Ghazni and Menggetu commander in Qonduz. In winter 1241 the Mongol force invaded the Indus valley and besieged Lahore, which was controlled by the Delhi Sultanate. However, Dayir died storming the town, on 30 December 1241, and the Mongols butchered the town before withdrawing from the Delhi Sultanate.

Some time after 1235 another Mongol force invaded Kashmir, stationing a darughachi there for several years. Soon Kashmir became a Mongolian dependency. Around the same time, a Kashmiri Buddhist master, Otochi, and his brother Namo arrived at the court of Ögedei.

Administration

Ögedei began the bureaucratization of Mongol administration. Three divisions constituted his administration:

• the Christian eastern Turks, represented by Chinqai, the Uyghur scribe, and the Keraites.

• the Islamic cycle, represented by two Khorazmians, Mahumud Yalavach, and Masud Beg.

• the North Chinese Confucian circle, represented by Yelu Chucai, a Khitan, and Nianhe Zhong-shan, a Jurchen.

Mahamud Yalavach promoted a system in which the government would delegate tax collection to tax farmers who collect payments in silver. Yelu Chucai encouraged Ögedei to institute a traditional Chinese system of government, with taxation in the hands of government agents and payment in a government issued currency. The Muslim merchants, working with capital supplied by the Mongol aristocrats, loaned at higher interest the silver needed for tax payments. In particular, Ögedei actively invested in these ortoq enterprises. At the same time the Mongols began circulating paper currency backed by silver reserves.

Ögedei abolished the branch departments of state affairs and divided the areas of Mongol-ruled China into ten routes according to the suggestion of Yelü Chucai. He also divided the empire into Beshbalik and Yanjing administration, while the headquarters in Karakorum directly dealt with Manchuria, Mongolia and Siberia. Late in his reign, Amu Darya administration was established. Turkestan was administered by Mahamud Yalavach, while Yelu Chucai administered North China from 1229 to 1240. Ögedei appointed Shigi Khutugh chief judge in China. In Iran, Ögedei appointed first Chin-temur, a Kara-kitai, and then Korguz, an Uyghur who proved to be honest administrator. Later, some of Yelu Chucai's duties were transferred to Mahamud Yalavach and taxes were handed over to Abd-ur-Rahman, who promised to double the annual payments of silver. The Ortoq or partner merchants lent Ögedei's money at exorbitant rates of interest to the peasants, though Ögedei banned considerably higher rates. Despite it proving profitable, many people fled their homes to avoid the tax collectors and their strong-arm gangs.

Ögedei had imperial princes tutored by the Christian scribe Qadaq and the Taoist priest Li Zhichang and built schools and an academy. Ögedei Khan also decreed to issue paper currency backed by silk reserves and founded a Department responsible for destroying old notes. Yelu Chucai protested to Ögedei that his large-scale distribution of appanages in Iran, Western and North China, and Khorazm could lead to a disintegration of the Empire. Ögedei thus decreed that the Mongol nobles could appoint overseers in the appanages, but the court would appoint other officials and collect taxes.

The Khagan proclaimed the Great Yassa as an integral body of precedents, confirming the continuing validity of his father's commands and ordinances, while adding his own. Ögedei codified rules of dress and conduct during the kurultais. Throughout the Empire, in 1234, he created postroad stations (Yam) with a permanent staff who would supply post riders' needs. Relay stations were set up every 25 miles and the yam staff supplied remounts to the envoys and served specified rations. The attached households were exempt from other taxes, but they had to pay a qubchuri tax to supply the goods. Ögedei ordered Chagatai and Batu to control their yams separately. The Khagan prohibited the nobility from issuing paizas (tablets that gave the bearer authority to demand goods and services from civilian populations) and jarliqs. Ögedei decreed that within decimal units one out of every 100 sheep of the well-off should be levied for the poor of the unit, and that one sheep and one mare from every herd should be forwarded to form a herd for the imperial table.

Karakorum

From 1235–38 Ögedei constructed a series of palaces and pavilions at stopping places in his annual nomadic route through central Mongolia. The first palace Wanangong was constructed by North Chinese artisans. The Emperor urged his relatives build residences nearby and settled the deported craftsmen from China near the site. The construction of the city, Karakorum (Хархорум), was finished in 1235, assigning different quarters to Islamic and North Chinese craftsmen, who competed to win Ögedei's favor. Earthen walls with 4 gates surrounded the city. Attached were private apartments, while in front of stood a giant stone tortoise bearing an engraved pillar, like those that were commonly used in East Asia. There was a castle with doors like the gates of the garden and a series of lakes where many water fowl gathered. Ögedei erected several houses of worship for his Buddhist, Muslim, Taoist, and Christian followers. In the Chinese ward, there was a Confucian temple where Yelu Chucai used to create or regulate a calendar on the Chinese model.

Wives, concubines, and children

Like his father Genghis Khan, Ögedei had many wives and sixty concubines: Ögedei married first Boraqchin and then Töregene. Other wives included Möge Khatun (former concubine of Genghis Khan) and Jachin.

Principal wives:

• Boraqchin

• Töregene

• # Güyük — the 3rd Great Khan of the Mongols

• # Koden — the first Buddhist Mongol prince

• # Köchü (died 1237) — during the campaign in Song China

• ## Shiremün — appointed heir by Ögedei

• ## Boladchi

• ## Söse

• # Qarachar

• ## Totaq

• # Qashi — died during reign of Ögedei

• #* Kaidu (1235 - 1301)

• Möge Khatun

• Körügene

Concubines:

• Erkene

• # Kadan

• Unknown concubine

• # Melik — brought up by Danishmand Hajib.

Character

Ögedei was considered to be his father's favorite son, ever since his childhood. As an adult, he was known for his ability to sway doubters in any debate in which he was involved, simply by the force of his personality. He was a physically big, jovial, and charismatic man, who seemed mostly to be interested in enjoying good times. He was intelligent and steady in character. His charisma was partially credited for his success in keeping the Mongol Empire on the path that his father had set.

The sudden death of Tolui in 1232 seems to have affected Ögedei deeply. According to some sources, Tolui sacrificed his own life, accepting a poisoned drink in shamanist ritual in order to save Ögedei who was suffering from illness. Other sources say Ögedei orchestrated Tolui's death with the help of shamans who drugged the alcoholic Tolui.

Ögedei was well known for his alcoholism. Chagatai entrusted an official to watch his habit, but Ögedei managed to drink anyway. It is commonly told that Ögedei did so by vowing to reduce the number of cups he drank a day then having cups twice the size created for his personal use. When he died at dawn on 11 December 1241, after a late-night drinking bout with Abd-ur-Rahman, the people blamed the sister of Tolui's widow and Abd-ur-Rahman. The Mongol aristocrats recognized, however, that the Khagan's own lack of self-control had killed him.

Ögedei was also known to be a humble man, who did not believe himself to be a genius, and who was willing to listen to and use the great generals that his father left him, as well as those he himself found to be most capable. He was the Emperor (Khagan) but not a dictator. Like all Mongols at his time, he was raised and educated as a warrior from childhood, and as the son of Genghis Khan, he was a part of his father's plan to establish a world empire. His military experience was notable for his willingness to listen to his generals and adapt to circumstances. He was a pragmatic person, much like his father, and looked at the end rather than the means. His steadiness of character and dependability were the traits that his father most valued, and that gained him the role of successor to his father, despite his two older brothers.

However, Mongol and Persian chroniclers criticize Ögedei for a crime he committed in 1237 which violated the laws of his father, Genghis Khan, which forbade seizure, rape, kidnapping, bartering, or selling young girls, who were allowed to be married at a young age but could not engage in sexual activity until the age of sixteen. Mongol chronicles were vague about the nature of the crime, but Persian chroniclers indicated that after the Oirat did not send girls for Ögedei's harem, Ögedei had four thousand Oirat girls above the age of seven stripped naked and raped by his soldiers repeatedly in full sight of the girls' relatives. Two of these girls died from the ordeal, and the remaining non-raped were divided up by soldiers, with some being sent to the royal harem, and others assigned to caravan hostels for sexual servitude, and others not deemed suitable for this were left present for anyone to carry them away or use them for any purposes deemed fit. Ögedei seems not to have done this out of sexual depravity as such, but more to consolidate power over the Oirat.

The above account, including the assumption that Mongol sources criticized the crime (still questionable), was described in Jack Weatherford's 2011 book The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire. Weatherford calls it "the most horrendous crime of his twelve-year reign and one of the worst Mongol atrocities recorded". A more recent book in Mongol historiography "Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire" (2018) by Anne F. Broadbridge links the "infamous alleged mass rape of Oirat girls" to Ögedei's requisitioning of girls from his uncle Temüge Otchigin's territories without Temüge's approval. Broadbridge notes however that "with all the evidence suppressed, this can only be a surmise". The History of the Yuan or Yuanshi (YS 2, 35) and Secret History of the Mongols (SHM 281) speak of a forceful requisitioning of women by Ögedei from the "left wing" and "uncle Otchigin's domain" respectively but do not mention a rape (De Rachewiltz 2004). In the Secret History Ögedei expresses remorse for his act stating "as to my second fault, to listen to the word of a woman without principle, and to have the girls of my uncle Otchigin's domain brought to me was surely a mistake" but De Rachewiltz notes that the entire paragraph listing four good deeds and four mistakes may be a posthumous assessment (De Rachewiltz 2004).

The only account alleging a rape is in Chapter 32 of the Tarikh-i Jahangushay (History of the World Conqueror) written in 1252 by Juvayni (1226-1283). This entire chapter was later copied verbatim by Rashid Al-Din into his early 14th century Jami' Al-Tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) albeit in a slightly abridged version. In Chapter 32 Juvayni starts by praising Ögedei Khan then proceeds to give 50 highly detailed anecdotes to illustrate Ögedei's "clemency, forgiveness, justice and generosity" followed by one anecdote to illustrate his "violence, severity, fury and awesomeness" which was the rape incident. This anecdote closes the chapter. The name of the tribe is unclear in two manuscripts of Juvayni but Manuscript D and Rashid-Al-Din give it as Oirat. Broadbridge and De Rachewiltz questioned the factual accuracy of this identification with the Oirats. The anecdotes are written in the style of a Persian tale. Juvaini notes the source of Anecdote 46 by saying "one of my friends of pleasing speech told me the following story". The anecdotes praising Ögedei take a pronounced pro-Muslim, anti-Chinese stance. A number of anecdotes evince a tone of ridicule for Ögedei's lack of self-control. While the anecdotes may contain a kernel of truth some seem to be apocryphal legends originating from the community of Muslim merchants and should be approached with a degree of caution. Another Persian account was the mass sodomy against soldiers of the Jin Dynasty because "they jeered at the Mongols" and expressed "evil thoughts". This was quoted in Rashid-Al-Din and noted by Weatherford. Although this account could be exaggerated, it depicts the usage of rape as a weapon.

According to Weatherford, Ögedei violated every single law regarding the sexual intercourse, rape, kidnap, and selling of girls and women that Genghis Khan had created.

Death and aftermath

In the Tarikh-i Jahangushay Juvayni claims Ögedei died shortly after his lion-like hounds chased and tore to pieces a wolf he saved and released despite his having hoped God Almighty would spare his ill bowels if he released a living creature. This anecdote (Anecdote 47) contradicts the standard account of Ögedei's death from a late-night drinking bout with Abd-ur-Rahman.

Ögedei had nominated his grandson Shiremun as his heir, but Güyük eventually succeeded him after the five-year regency of his widow Töregene Khatun. However, Batu, the Khan of the Golden Horde (also known as the Kipchak Khanate or the Ulus of Jochi) only nominally accepted Güyük, who died on the way to confront Batu. It was not until 1255, well into the reign of Möngke Khan, that Batu felt secure enough to again prepare to invade Europe. He died before his plans could be implemented.

When Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in 1271, he had Ögedei Khan placed on the official record as Taizong.

Ancestry

Memorial

Mongolian Airlines named its Boeing 737-800 EI-CSG Ogoodei Khan.