CHAPTER XIX
EXPULSION OF THE MONGOLS FROM CHINA
The late Emperor was childless. His widow, Bulagan, who toward the end of her husband’s reign had great influence, wished to put on the throne Ananda, a son of Mangkala and grandson of Kubilai. He was living at that time in Tangut as its viceroy. Tangut in those days included Shen si, with Tibet and Su chuan also in some part. While Timur lay on his death-bed Bulagan warned Ananda in secret to hasten to the capital. She wished to keep the throne from Khaishan and Ayurbali Batra, the two sons of Chingkin’s son Tarmabala; she had had the mother of these two princes sent to Corea as an exile. Khaishan was on the northwestern border at that time, commanding an army of observation, and had won high repute through discretion and bravery in the struggle with Kaidu. Batra was with his mother in exile.
Bulagan, now the regent, was sustained in supporting Ananda by Agutai, the first minister, and by others. She disposed troops along the roads of Mongolia to hinder Khaishan in reaching Ta tu. There was, however, a party which favored the sons of Tarmabala. Karakhass, who was chief of this party, sent secretly to hurry Khaishan on his journey and mentioned the route by which he should travel to avoid meeting enemies. He urged Batra also to be in Ta tu, and Batra did not fail to come promptly with his mother. Meanwhile Ananda’s adherents had settled the day on which to install him.
Khaishan’s party saw that there was no time for loitering. They could not wait for their candidate; he was too far from the capital. So Prince Tulu brought in a large army corps which he was commanding, and acted. Melik Timur, a son of Arik Buga, was one of Ananda’s chief partisans. He had served in the army of Chabar, had revolted, and then fled to China; this Melik Timur [[385]]was put in chains, conveyed to Shang tu, and immured there securely. Agutai and other partisans of Ananda were arrested and condemned to die for endeavoring to dispose of the throne arbitrarily, but the execution was deferred till Khaishan’s arrival. Bulagan and Ananda were guarded in the palace. The princes of the blood asked Batra to proclaim himself Emperor, but he refused, saying that the throne belonged to his elder brother. Batra now sent the seal of the Empire to that brother, and took the title of regent till Khaishan’s arrival, holding down meanwhile the partisans of the Empress.
Khaishan hurried to Kara Kurum, where he took counsel with princes and generals. The army, in which he was a great favorite, desired to proclaim him in the homeland. Khaishan refused and started for Shang tu with a picked force thirty thousand in number. He sent a message to his mother and brother inviting them to assist at his installation. Batra set out at once for Shang tu, where Khaishan was saluted as sovereign by the princes and generals assembled in a Kurultai. He took the name Kuluk Khan, raised his mother to be Empress and gave his dead father the title of Emperor. He acknowledged at the same time the services of his brother by making him heir, though he had heirs in his own sons.
Khaishan’s first act was to give homage to his ancestors in the temple devoted to their service. Next he carried out the judgment passed by Batra against the adherents of Ananda. Ananda himself, with Melik Timur, his close intimate, and Bulagan, the Empress had to die according to sentence. They had broken the laws of the Yassa by their efforts to dispose of the throne without winning consent from Jinghis Khan’s family.
Khaishan’s acts as a ruler were not merely paltry, they were harmful, except this, that he had one work of Confucius translated into Mongol, and also many sacred texts of the Buddhists. He angered the Chinese by favoring Lamas beyond measure. A law was passed that whosoever struck a Lama his hand should be cut off, and whoso spoke against a Lama should have his tongue cut out. Given to women and wine, Khaishan died at the age of thirty-one, in the year 1311. His brother Batra was then proclaimed Emperor, but with the condition that a son of Khaishan should be his heir. The feast of installation lasted for a week. At [[386]]an hour designated by astrologers he ascended the throne and was saluted under the name Bayantu. The first act of this sovereign was to punish those ministers who, taking advantage of Khaishan’s incompetence, had acquired wealth for themselves through injustice; he put to death some of these, and sent others to exile.
Notwithstanding an ordinance made by Kubilai, examinations of scholars had not been reëstablished. Bayantu brought them now into use, thus winning good will from the learned. He prohibited the employment of eunuchs in every office, though he infringed his own law the year following (1315), by making a eunuch Grand Mandarin. Bayantu was himself a scholar and encouraged learned men. Among many who are mentioned as being guests at his court is Chahan, one of the most celebrated scholars of his time.