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.

即位

1229年9月13日（农历八月二十四日），窝阔台在库里尔台大会中被察合台、拖雷、铁木哥斡赤斤等宗王和大臣推举为大蒙古国大汗，管理整个蒙古帝国，有史料载诸宗王和百官为窝阔台上尊号曰木亦坚合罕（合罕为大汗的别译）。

他继承父亲的遗志扩张领土，主要是继续西征和南下中原。他在位期间成功完全征服中亚和华北。内政方面，以契丹人耶律楚材为相管理华北和中原地区，在这些地区稍微改变了战后屠城作风，保存不少金朝遗民和政治制度；同时又依耶律楚材建议，提拔汉人为官，整顿内治，安定了蒙古在华北地区的统治，使华北地区经济在战后得到一定程度的恢复性发展，为日后忽必烈称帝灭南宋打下基础。

灭金取中原

1229年登基的时候，大蒙古国在东亚部分的东南部大体以黄河为界，金朝领土基本上只剩下黄河以南的河南、陕西等地（当时的黄河取道江苏北部的淮河入海）。

1231年，窝阔台与其四弟拖雷分道进攻金朝，1232年初，拖雷率蒙古军在河南三峰山战胜金军，尽歼金军精锐。其后，拖雷与自白坡渡河南下的窝阔台军会合，一同北返蒙古草原，1232年农历九月，拖雷于北返途中病死之后，托雷四子忽必烈继承了他在华北地区的势力。

1232年春，蒙古军队继续南下，抵达金朝首都燕京（今北京市）附近，因此周围州县难民纷纷逃入汴京（今河南开封市），城中人口激增，而入夏后瘟疫流行，死者达九十馀万人。1232年秋，蒙古派使者入城要求金朝投降，被金朝将士所杀，蒙古军于是不再议和，击溃金朝援军，围困汴京城。

1233年2月6日（农历十二月二十六日），金哀宗和后妃们分别离开汴京，一路向南。1233年2月26日（农历正月十六日），金哀宗抵达归德（今河南商丘市），随后又出走；8月3日（农历六月二十六日），金哀宗逃到蔡州（今河南汝南县），在此地稳定下来。

1233年3月5日（农历正月二十三日），金朝汴京西面元帅崔立率军队杀死汴京的留守将领完颜奴申和完颜习捏阿不，控制全城，派使者向蒙古军统帅速不台投降。

1233年3月10日（农历正月二十八日），速不台向汴京进兵。速不台得知崔立同意投降后，因为之前进攻汴京时金人抗拒持久导致军队死伤甚多，便向窝阔台奏报建议军队入城后屠城泄愤。中书令耶律楚材坚决反对，他认为将士辛苦奋战为的就是土地和人民，屠城会导致得地无民，而且「奇巧之工，厚藏之家」都集中在汴京，屠城会导致一无所获，没有人民就没有人向朝廷交纳赋税，军队会白辛苦一场，最后窝阔台采纳了耶律楚材的意见，只关押了金朝宗室，其他人一概赦免。当时在汴京城中躲避兵祸的147万名居民因为耶律楚材的建议得以免于兵祸。

1233年5月29日（农历四月十九日），崔立将汴京城中的金朝宗室梁王完颜从恪、荆王完颜守纯以及其他宗室男女五百馀人送到速不台军队驻地青城，速不台将他们送到漠北草原窝阔台的行銮驻跸之处，窝阔台为报祖先之仇（金熙宗当年曾将蒙古俺巴孩汗钉死在木驴上），将他们全部处死。同一天，崔立面见速不台，正式归降大蒙古国，速不台率军进入汴京，维护城中秩序，并将城中的金朝后妃和宗庙宝器也送到漠北草原窝阔台的行銮驻跸之处。

1234年2月9日（农历正月十日），大蒙古国军队与南宋军队联合攻入蔡州（今河南汝南县），金哀宗自杀，金末帝死于乱军之中，金朝灭亡。整个北方中原地区并入大蒙古国版图。

自1234年窝阔台汗灭金朝，到1368年乌哈噶图汗（元惠宗）逃离大都回到草原，由蒙古族建立的蒙古汗国、元帝国两政权，总共统治北方中原黄河流域长达134年。

端平入洛与蒙宋开战

1233年5月29日蒙古军队取得汴京（今河南开封市）后，继续进攻蔡州（金哀宗所在地），由于金朝军队抵抗顽强，为了减少损失，窝阔台决定联合南宋政权攻克蔡州灭亡金朝。

按照蒙宋双方协议，蒙宋联军攻克蔡州后，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、邓、蔡、颍、宿、泗、徐、邳等州（均位于河南南部）。这些州位于金朝和南宋的交界地带，属于金朝领土最南端的州。

在1234年2月9日蒙宋联军攻克蔡州灭亡金朝后，因为河南一带久经战火，田地荒芜，缺乏粮食，当时又正值冬季，天气严寒，于是把当地大部分居民暂时迁往河北一带，准备等天气转暖后将居民再陆续迁回河南，并恢复农业生产。同时军队久经战事，也需要休整，大部分军队撤到黄河以北。

宋理宗在部分大臣的怂恿下违背当初的蒙宋协议，1234年六月，宋军分二路出兵北伐，准备收复当年被金朝攻取的三京：西京河南府（今河南洛阳市）、东京开封府（今河南开封市）、南京应天府（亦称之为归德，今河南商丘市），这三京均位于河南北部，在蒙宋协议之前就已经被蒙古军队攻取，自然不属于当初蒙宋协议中灭金后南宋可以得到的领土。

由于宋军北上攻取三京发生在宋理宗端平年间，史称「端平入洛」。端平入洛揭开了蒙古与南宋对峙，连续四十馀年不断战争的序幕，直到忽必烈渡过长江、灭亡南宋。

南宋违背蒙宋协议，大举进兵，但因为蒙古灭金后，大部分金朝军队和居民都已经撤到黄河以北，南宋军队最初进展顺利，一个月后顺利占领几乎是空城的三京。由于三京缺乏粮草，宋军携带粮草较少又缺乏后勤补给，蒙古军队又随后发起反击，宋军很快撤离三京，并撤回南宋境内。

蒙古军队随后追至原金朝和南宋的边界线一带，并向南宋边界的州县发起进攻，因为蒙古军队并不是很适合南方河流密布的地形作战，在取得一定战果后撤回中原。

自南宋违约进攻蒙古，端平入洛以后，南宋天灾人祸接连不断，国力逐渐衰弱直至灭亡。在军事上，收复三京失败，损兵折将，士气不振，将心不稳，成为南宋守边士兵面临的严重问题。

在中国北方实施「以儒治国」

1230年，有近臣别迭等人向窝阔台上奏，认为「汉人无补于国，可悉空其人以为牧地。」主张将汉人驱逐，把汉地的耕地变为牧场，耶律楚材则上奏请求均定中原地税、商税、盐、酒、铁冶、山泽之利，每年可得赋税白银50万两、帛8万匹、粟40馀万石，足以支持窝阔台南征金朝的军队所需，窝阔台同意由耶律楚材试行。

1230年农历十一月，耶律楚材奏请在大蒙古国统治的黄河以北的河北、山西、山东（当时金朝尚未灭亡，黄河取道江苏北部的淮河入海）、燕京等地设立十路徵收课税使，并选用有名的儒士作为课税官员，得到窝阔台批准。

1231年农历八月，窝阔台到达云中（今山西大同市），十路徵收课税使将当年徵收到的汉地赋税簿册和金帛陈于廷中，窝阔台大悦，当日设立中书省，改侍从官名，以耶律楚材为中书令，粘合重山为左丞相，镇海为右丞相。

1235年春，窝阔台决定在哈拉和林建都城，修建万安宫；并部署伐南宋、征高丽和再次西征；1236年正月，万安宫建成。窝阔台大宴群臣，同月，窝阔台下诏发行纸币交钞。

1234年正月灭金朝后，窝阔台下诏括编汉地户籍，他接受耶律楚材的建议，以按户为单位收取赋税。由中州断事官失吉忽秃忽主持。1236年八月，括户完成，括得汉地民户110馀万户。

1236年括户完成后，失吉忽秃忽主张按以往风俗在中原对诸王和有功之臣进行分封，窝阔台表示同意。耶律楚材力陈「裂土分民」的弊害，使窝阔台同意封地的官吏须朝廷任命，除常定赋役外，诸王勋臣不得擅自征敛，以限制诸王勋臣在封地的权力。

括户完成后，耶律楚材制订了中原赋税制度：每两户出丝一斤，上交朝廷，以供中央政府使用，每五户出丝一斤，以与所赐之家；先由中央政府徵收，然后赐予该受封贵族，除此之外贵族不得擅加征敛。上田每亩税三升半，中田三升，下田二升，水田五升；商税三十分之一；盐每银一两四十斤。

这个赋税的定额是比较轻的，有利于当时已遭破坏的中原地区休养生息。在遇到大的灾情时，楚材还采取免徵的措施。如果部分地区出现逃亡浮客，他们的赋税要由留下的主户负担，这些主户负担的赋税会重一些。此外，民户们也要负担一些随意性很大的杂泛差役。总的来说，民户们的负担还是相对比较轻的。

在耶律楚材的努力下，中原及北方的经济得到了恢复和保存。

1230年耶律楚材制定课税格，1231年收取的各种赋税中，白银为50万两，1234年灭金朝取得河南等地，赋税收入一直在增加，到了1238年，朝廷在中原汉地收取的各种赋税中，白银为110万两。丝和米等赋税也有显著增加。

1233年，为了培养蒙汉双语翻译类人材，窝阔台下诏在燕京（今北京市）建国子学，派遣蒙古人子弟18人学习汉语；汉人子弟12人，学习蒙古语和弓箭，并选儒士为教读。规定受业学生不仅要学习汉人文书，还要「兼谙匠艺，事及药材所用、彩色所出、地理州郡所纪，下至酒醴麴蘖、水银之造，饮食烹饪之制，皆欲周览旁通」。当时，全真教在燕京势力很大，儒家士大夫有很多托庇于全真教。燕京的学宫也是如此，学宫的主持者除杨惟中之外，葛志先、李志常均为当时有名的全真道士。

1233年农历四月，蒙古军队进入汴京城（今河南开封市），中书令耶律楚材向窝阔台奏请遣人入城，求孔子家族后代，得五十一代孙元措，奏袭封衍圣公，付以孔林庙地。耶律楚材又派人入汴京，挑选了大量的人才。

1233年农历六月，窝阔台下诏，以孔子五十一世孙孔元措袭封衍圣公。

1233年冬天，窝阔台敕修燕京孔子庙及浑天仪。

1236年农历三月，复修孔子庙及司天台。

1236年农历六月，耶律楚材奏请窝阔台同意后，在燕京（今北京市）建立编修所，在平阳（今山西临汾市）建立经籍所，主持经史类书籍的编纂和刊行，召儒士梁陟充长官，以王万庆、赵著副之。让他们直释九经，进讲东宫。又率大臣子孙，执经解义，使他们知道圣人之道。

1237年，窝阔台下旨蠲免孔子、孟子、颜子等儒教圣人子孙的差发杂役。

1237年，耶律楚材奏请对儒士举行科举考试，这就是1238年举行的戊戌选试，共录取4030人，皆当时的名士。

1238年，耶律楚材又支持杨惟中和姚枢在燕京建立太极书院，请赵复等人为师教授儒家的经典。南宋名士赵复的讲学，使程朱理学在北方中原地区传播开来。

戊戌选试

1234年2月9日，蒙古帝国灭金朝，夺取中原地区后，急需人才治理国家。

元太宗九年农历八月二十五日（1237年9月15日），根据中书令耶律楚材的建议，窝阔台下诏书命断事官术忽德和山西东路课税所长官刘中，历诸路考试，试诸路儒士，开科取士，并对考试内容和参加考试者的身份要求以及中选者的优厚待遇作了详细说明。

北方中原地区的诸路考试，均于1238年（戊戌年）举行，史称「戊戌选试」。

1238年的这次考试共录取东平杨奂等4030人，皆为一时名士，使得朝廷及时得到了加强统治所需要的各方面的人才。但后来「当世或以为非便，事复中止」。

直到元仁宗1313年下诏恢复科举，此时距离元太宗1238年的「戊戌选试」已经有75年，天下读书的士人至此再次获得以科举方式晋身做官的途径。

西征欧洲

1234年2月9日金朝灭亡后，由于大蒙古国与南宋接壤，使双方的冲突日渐加剧，也拉开了双方往后45年不断争战的序幕。在南方战线僵持不下之时，蒙古大军的铁蹄转往东方的高丽，并使之臣服，西线方面，以拔都为首的钦察汗国，完全控制了罗斯，并继续西进，占领了除诺夫哥罗德以外俄罗斯的领土，以及波兰王国和匈牙利王国的一部。

1241年12月11日（农历十一月八日），窝阔台因为酗酒而突然暴毙，使他的西征进程被逼中止。当时大军正朝往神圣罗马帝国的诸侯国奥地利大公国首都维也纳推进，但为了赶返参加位于蒙古的库里尔台大会而急忙撤军，自此以后，蒙古大军再也没有踏足这片土地。

1241年年底，在窝阔台去世后不久，他的二哥察合台去世。

窝阔台去世后，1242年春天，皇后乃马真后开始称制，处理朝政，直到1246年8月24日窝阔台之子贵由继任大汗为止。乃马真后临朝称制期间，朝政比较混乱，中书令耶律楚材力争而不能有效果，于1244年农历五月忧愤而死。

家庭

妻妾

• 孛剌合真大皇后

• 昂灰二皇后（抚养拖雷长子蒙哥为己子）

• 乞里吉忽帖尼三皇后，原为成吉思汗的后妃，成吉思汗死后，乞里吉忽帖尼被窝阔台收继

• 忽兰，原为成吉思汗的后妃，成吉思汗死后，忽兰被窝阔台收继

• 木哥，原为成吉思汗的后妃，成吉思汗死后，木哥被窝阔台收继

• 脱列哥那六皇后，又称乃马真后，1246年贵由登基数月后去世。1266年忽必烈自号「大蒙古国皇帝」，并为乃马真后上谥号昭慈皇后。

• 业里吉纳妃子

儿子

根据《新元史》卷118《太宗诸子传》记载，元太宗窝阔台有七子：

• 贵由，生母脱列哥那皇后（乃马真后），1246年继任「蒙古大汗」，1266年被忽必烈追尊为元定宗

• 阔端太子，生母忽帖尼皇后，被封为西凉王，1247年和吐蕃诸部宗教界领袖萨班在凉州（今甘肃武威市）举行凉州会盟，使得吐蕃归附大蒙古国

• 阔出太子，生母不详，阔出长子为失烈门

• 哈剌察儿大王，生母不详

• 合失大王，生母孛剌合真皇后，生于1215年，嗜酒早卒，子海都，窝阔台汗国可汗，和元世祖忽必烈以及元成宗铁穆耳交战40多年，相互争夺「蒙古大汗」称号，1301年秋天和元军交战中负伤，不久去世

• 合丹大王，生母不详

• 灭里大王，生母业里吉纳妃子

女儿

• 鲁国公主 唆儿哈罕，嫁纳合

相关史料

• 《蒙古秘史》，又称《元朝秘史》。

• 《史集》，蒙古帝国伊儿汗国史学家拉施特撰写。

• 《世界征服者史》，蒙古帝国伊儿汗国史学家志费尼撰写。

• 《大元圣政国朝典章》，简称《元典章》，元英宗在位后期（1322年—1323年）官修政书，收录1234年—1322年元朝各地地方官吏会抄的有关政治、经济、军事、法律等方面的圣旨条画、律令格例以及司法部门所判案例的汇编，分为前集和新集，史实多为《元史》所不载。

• 《大元通制》，1323年元英宗颁布的元朝第二部法律，现存残本收录1234年—1316年元朝官方颁布的关于法律方面的圣旨条画、律令格例以及司法部门所判案例的汇编，史实多为《元史》所不载。

• 《元史·太宗本纪》，明朝官修正史

• 《新元史·太宗本纪》，民国官修正史

• 《续资治通鉴》 ，清朝史学家毕沅撰写。

• 《黑鞑事略》，南宋使者彭大雅1232年随奉使到大蒙古国，使者徐霆1235年—1236年随奉使到大蒙古国，二人返回南宋后，彭大雅撰写,并由徐霆作疏。

• 《元史类编》，清朝史学家邵远平撰写。

• 《元史新编》，清朝史学家魏源撰写。

• 《元书》，清朝史学家曾廉撰写。

• 《蒙兀儿史记》，清末民初史学家屠寄撰写。

评价

• 元朝重臣郝经在中统元年（1260年）农历八月给元世祖忽必烈的上书《立政议》中对元太宗窝阔台的评价是：「当太宗皇帝临御之时，耶律楚材为相，定税赋，立造作，榷宣课，分郡县，籍户口，理狱讼，别军民，设科举，推恩肆赦，方有志于天下，而一二不逞之人，投隙抵罅，相与排摈，百计攻讦，乘宫闱违豫之际，恣为矫诬，卒使楚材愤悒以死。」（说明：元太宗窝阔台在世之时，耶律楚材还是深受重用的，1241年元太宗去世，帝位空缺，皇后乃马真后开始临朝称制，朝政比较混乱，中书令耶律楚材力争而无效果，他于1244年忧愤而死）

• 明朝官修正史《元史》宋濂等的评价是：「帝有宽弘之量，忠恕之心，量时度力，举无过事，华夏富庶，羊马成群，旅不赍粮，时称治平。」

• 清朝史学家邵远平《元史类编》的评价是：「册曰：嗣业恢基，缵绪立制；五载灭金，十路命使；定赋崇儒，用昌厥世；仁厚恭俭，时称平治。」

• 清朝史学家毕沅《续资治通鉴》的评价是：「太宗性宽恕，量时度力，举无过事。境内富庶，旅不赍粮，时称治平。」

• 清朝史学家魏源《元史新编》的评价是：「帝有宽宏之量，淳朴之质，乘开国之运，师武臣力，继志述事，席卷西域，奄有中原。惟知诸子不材，又知宪宗之克荷，而储位不早定，致身后政擅宫闱，大业几沦，有馀憾焉。」

• 清朝史学家曾廉《元书》的评价是：「论曰：太宗时金人已弱，然犹足阻河为固也。太宗遵遗令戡凤翔，道兴元，以达唐邓，而汴梁墟，可谓闻斯行之矣。当是时，操持国政，耶律楚材郁为时栋。然太宗之用楚材，以利也。太宗言利，楚材即以其利利天下，而纪纲粗立矣。用相违也，而相成也，岂非天哉！故开国之运，云龙风虎，非雷同也。」

• 清末民初史学家屠寄《蒙兀儿史记》的评价是：「论曰：财者，一国所公有也。语曰：百姓足，君孰与不足？人君以国用困乏，多取于民，然且不可。况可纵奸人异类，恣其侵夺乎？斡歌歹汗初得金，许奥都剌合蛮扑买中原银课，举国家财政大权授之贾胡之手，公利而私取之，上下交损焉。封建之制，始于自然，强并弱，众暴寡。自天子以至食采之大夫，各私其土地人民。古圣王不得以而仍之。秦汉以降，此制渐废，偶一行之，罔不召乱。自非至无识者，不轻议复也。汗括汉户，分赐诸王贵戚，其视无辜之民与奴虏奚择。彼固不知封建为何事，然斯制若行，弊且甚于封建。微耶律楚材言，纵虎豹而食人肉矣。前史称汗有宽仁之量，忠恕之心，度时量力，动无过举。迹其立站赤、选税使、试儒士、释俘囚，诏免旱蝗之租，代偿羊羔之息，固非无志于民者，惜乎不达怡体，而左右之人将顺其美者，又寡也。」

• 民国官修正史《新元史》柯劭忞的评价是：「太宗宽平仁恕，有人君之量。常谓即位之后，有四功、四过：灭金，立站赤，设诸路探马赤，无水处使百姓凿井，朕之四功；饮酒，括叔父斡赤斤部女子，筑围墙妨兄弟之射猎，以私撼杀功臣朵豁勒，朕之四过也。然信任奥都拉合蛮，始终不悟其奸，尤为帝知人之累云。」

纪年

根据《元史·太宗本纪》整理。

影视形象

电视剧

• 2013年由中国中央电视台制作，同年播出中国电视剧《建元风云》，巴森饰