Arigkbugha Khan

Depiction of Arigkbughas in the Daschami 'at-tawarich

Arigkbugha Khan or Ariq Böke Chan ( Mongolian ᠠᠷᠢᠴᠪᠥᠺᠠ Arigböch , other spelling including Erik Böge ; * after 1219; † 1266 ) was Genghis Khan's grandson and Kublai Khan's younger brother, a Mongolian heir to the throne who represented the traditionally set tribal princes in Mongolia .

He was elected Great Khan in 1260 after Kublai, contrary to tradition, had proclaimed himself Great Khan of the Mongols in 1259. Arigkbugha had only part of the nobility behind him (above all Berke Khan and Ugedai Khan's grandson Qaidu Khan ). The subsequent fratricidal war was still undecided at the end of 1261, when Algui , the khan of the Chagatai khanate , defected from Arigkbugha's party over tribute issues. A campaign of revenge against Algui had no lasting success. So weakened, Arigkbugha finally had to capitulate in 1263. He was accused and acquitted in an imperial assembly, but afterwards he remained Kublai's prisoner and died in 1266 under mysterious circumstances, which led to speculation of his poisoning.

His defeat in the civil war brought about a breakthrough in a more civilized policy based on the culture of the Chinese Empire in the east and on Islam in the west . It also meant the medium-term breakup of the Mongol Empire, the center of which was now shifting to northern China.