Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan

Struggle for succession

Ayurbarwada was the second son of Darmabala and Dagi (Targi) of the Khunggirat, and a great-grandson of Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294). He had been tutored by the Confucian scholar Li Meng, who strongly affected his future political attitudes from his early teens.

In 1305 Bulugan Khatun removed Ayurbarwada from the court and sent him to Honan as the prince of Huai-ning. However, his uncle Temür Khan died without an heir on February 2, 1307, because his son Deshou had died a year earlier before him.

Temür's widow Bulugan of the Bayaud tribe had kept away the Khunggirad-mothered brothers of Khayishan and Ayurbarwada and attempted to set up her favorite, the Muslim Ananda, their uncle and the governor of Ningxia. The Darkhan Harghasun, the right chancellor (Chinese: 右丞相) of the government who became aware of Bulugan's plan, recalled Ayurbarwada and Li Meng from Huaizhou (Chinese: 懷州) to the capital Dadu. They successfully developed a strategy to imprison both Ananda and Bulugan. Afterwards, Ayurbarwada welcomed his older brother Khayishan, who was still far away from Dadu, to succeed to the throne. After the latter's coronation, Ayurbarwada was appointed the Crown Prince in June 1307. The brothers promised each other that their descendants would rule in succession.

Early career under Külüg Khan and enthronement

Ayurbarwada was made head of the top central administrative organs known as the Zhongshu Sheng under his brother and predecessor Khayishan Külüg Khan. He had surrounded himself with the Chinese scholars Chen Hao, Wang I, Wang Yueh, Zhao Mengfu, Wang Chieh, Chan Yaoho, Shang-ye, Yao sui, and Hsia ku; the artists Shang cheng and Wang Cheng-peng; Chagaan, a scholar from Balkh and Haiya, the Uyghur lyricist.

He was able to read and write Chinese and appreciate Chinese paintings and calligraphy in addition to his deep knowledge of Confucianism and Chinese history. Strongly influenced by Confucian political ethics, he was naturally opposed to his brother's exploitative policies. Khayishan's partisans had accused Li Meng of having advised Ayurbarwada to keep the throne for himself; Li Meng left the court immediately after Khayishan's accession. Ayurbarwada spoke out in Li Meng's defence but accomplished nothing much in the end. His disagreement with his brother's high officials remained concealed until his own enthronement.

Khayishan died in January 1311. Unlike the succession struggle over Yuan throne in 1307, Ayurbarwada's succession to his elder brother Khayishan's throne in April 1311 was a peaceful and smooth transition of the Yuan imperial history. This was made possible by the fact that he was designated by Khayishan as the heir apparent in June 1307, in accordance with their earlier agreement, and had subsequently appointed him as the titular head of the Zhongshu Sheng, similar to Kublai Khan had done when grooming Zhenjin to be his successor. He was saluted under the title of Buyantu in his accession kurultai.

Reformation

While one might expect a general continuity in policy and personnel between the two reigns in view of the fraternal love between Khaishan and Ayurbarwada and the peaceful way in which one succeeded the other, what was to happen early in Ayurbarwada's reign was actually the opposite: a political purge of Khaishan's chief ministers and a reversal of most of his policies. These reversals of policies can be traced to Ayurbarwada's cultural and ideological orientation and his uneasy political relationship with his late brother. Strongly influenced by Confucian political ethics as he was, he was naturally opposed to the exploitative policies carried out by the Department of State Affairs under Khaishan.

Ayurbarwada was highlighted for his reform efforts based on Confucianism principle for the Yuan government, though these reforms were made at the displeasure of some Mongol nobility. As soon as he ascended to the throne, he disbanded of the Department of State Affairs set up during Khayishan's reign, which resulted in the execution of 5 high-ranking officials. He also abolished the Zhida paper notes and coins issued by the court of Khayishan; and restored the Zhongtong and Zhiyuan notes as the only official currency. The bureaucracy was trimmed to the 1293 level and new high offices were reduced to the original status they had had in Kublai's reign. The various public building projects of Khayisan were halted. He made Li Meng and Zhang Kui grand councillors in addition to appointing others including Mongols and Semuren (a caste of assorted peoples from Central Asia and the west). The Office of Market Taxes, which was set up to supervise merchants, was abolished with the attempt at abolition by the Semuren. Although he abolished most of Khayishan's policies, converting official salaries into Zhiyuan notes was kept. Aside from that, the court also restored the "salary rice" policy decreed by Temür Khan in 1320. Ayurbarwada decreed that 30 percent of all court officials' salaries were to be paid with rice.

The most prominent reform he made was the reintroduction of the imperial examination system for public officials similar to the one in previous dynasties of China. The imperial examination system, though had repeated been debated during Kublai's reign, had not put into effect until this time. It was now based entirely on Neo-Confucianism, which was thus established as the state philosophy of China for many centuries ever since. A race-based quotas were set for these examinations, allowing a certain number of both Mongol and Han Chinese to enter the government as civil officials. For example, starting in 1313 examinations were introduced for prospective officials – testing their knowledge on significant historical works – in 1315 300 appointments went to the court, with an extra quarter of the positions being given to non-Han Chinese people.

Aftermath

Ayurbarwada died on March 1, 1320. After Khayishan died, Ayurbarwada reneged his promise later in his reign by making his own son Shidibala the new Crown Prince in 1316. Therefore, his son succeeded him instead of one of Khayisan's sons.

His death created two decades of political turmoil. The Khunggirat faction under Temuder and Dagi became even more powerful at the court. After the assassination of Shidibala in 1323, none of his descendants ruled the Empire.

Family

He had three consorts, only two gave him sons:

Radnashiri Khatun, of the Hongjila clan (弘吉剌氏, d. 1322) from Khongirad

Shidibala, Crown Prince (碩德八剌太子, 22 February 1302 – 4 September 1323), 1st son

Dharmashiri Khatun, of the Korean Kim clan (答里麻失里)

Udüs Büqa, Prince of Shunyang (順阳王, d.1321), 2nd son

Bayan Qutugh Khatun, of the Kaesong Wang clan (伯顔忽篤皇后), granddaughter of Wonjong of Goryeo

Unknown

Kökelün, Grand Princess of Lü State (闊闊倫 魯國公主), 1st daughter

Married Duoluben Küregen, one of the descendants of Dai Setsen

Second daughter