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Coded messages made Kublai emperor
A Brother's Death
Möngke Khan died on campaign in China. Kublai, sent by his brother to the Yangtze River, was having no success there and had never distinguished himself. Meanwhile their youngest brother, Ariq Böke, another hothead Mongol like their father, Tolui, had himself declared Great Khan in Mongolia.
Ariq Böke's Rage
Ariq Böke had once been asked to oversee a debate between Taoists and Buddhists. He got angry, picked up a statue of the Buddha, and beat the Taoist representative to death.
The Coded Message
Chabi told Kublai that southern China would always be there, that his brother was taking over the empire, and that he was the next son in line after Möngke. He came back. Kublai held northern China, with immense resources, and Mongolia depended on it for food. The Mongols of Central Asia backed Ariq Böke but would not give up their food. Ariq Böke was starved into submission in 1262, and he died in 1264 while a legal case was being brought against him.
How did Chabi shape Kublai's rule?
Chabi was a wife of Kublai Khan from the Khongirad people and was known for her sharp judgment. She urged him to employ Chinese scholars and officials as advisers. Accounts say she also pushed him to restrain his troops from killing civilians. Kublai took her advice often, and he mourned her deeply when she died in 1281.
How did Kublai become khan while Ariq Böke held the capital?
In 1260 Kublai's supporters proclaimed him Great Khan at Kaiping, in northern China. Ariq Böke was elected by a rival assembly at the Mongol capital, Karakorum. A civil war followed, and Kublai cut off grain shipments from northern China. Karakorum could not feed itself and came to rely on those supplies.
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