Mahamu (Махаму, Mahamud, ? – 9 April 1416), also known as Mahamud (Махмуд), Batula (Батула), Bahatur, or Bahamu (Бахаму), was a chieftain of the Oirat tribe of the Mongols who ruled the Four Oirat Tribes. He devoted himself to competition with the Eastern Mongols for supremacy over the Mongolian steppe. His names Mahamu and Mahamud derive from the name Mahmud of the Arabs of Islam. In Chinese sources such as the Veritable Records of the Ming and the Ming History, he is written as 馬哈木, 巴图拉, 馬兒哈咱, and others.
When Arughtai of the Eastern Mongols enthroned Bunyashiri Ulzii Temür Khan and waged war against the Ming dynasty, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty conferred princely titles on Mahamu and the other Oirat chieftains to keep them in check. He was killed in battle against Arughtai of the Eastern Mongols. The title he received from the Yongle Emperor was Prince Shunning (順寧王).
Life
Early life
He was born the son of Gohai Taiyi of the Oirats. No blood relations are known with other Oirat leaders of the time, such as Ugechi Kasha. His younger brother was Padopara. According to the Golden History of the Mongols, his name was Batula (巴圖拉), and he was said to be from the Choros tribe (綽羅斯), who held the post of commander of a thousand households of Čalar (札哈千戶).
In documents he appears as Mahamu (Махаму) or Mahamud (Махмуд), and in some documents as Batula (Батула). Chingshang was not his name but the Mongolian pronunciation of the title of chancellor (承相). According to one theory, Taiping, another Oirat leader who was enfeoffed as Prince Xianyi, was his younger brother. According to another theory, Prince Xianyi Taiping was not his younger brother but a son of Ugechi Kasha. For some reason unknown, his names Mahamu and Mahamud derive from the name Mahmud of the Arabs of Islam.
Around 1398–1399, after his father Gohai Taiwei was killed by Elbeg Nigulsegchi Khan, the Mongol khan Elbeg married him to his own daughter Samur Gunj and appointed him chieftain of the Four Oirat Tribes.
However, not long after, in 1399, Mahamu raised an army together with Ugechi Kasha, chieftain of the Torguud or Kerguud tribe, to avenge his father, attacked Elbeg Nigulsegchi Khan, and killed him. Gülüch Ulughtemür Khan severed ties with him and later led an army to attack the Oirats. After the rule of Ugechi Kasha, he received the title of Chingshang (Chancellor) and governed the Four Oirat Tribes until 1416.
Leader of the Oirat
From 1408, the Ming dynasty demanded tribute and suzerainty from the Great Khan of the Northern Yuan, Bunyashiri Ulzii Temür Khan, but Bunyashiri and Arughtai refused. In April 1409, when the Yongle Emperor of the Ming sent Guo Ji (郭驥), a Supervisor of Scriptorial Affairs (給事中), as an envoy demanding tribute and suzerainty, Bunyashiri killed Guo Ji. Mahamu, Taiping, and Padopara sent tribute to the Ming court and acknowledged its suzerainty. The Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty invested Mahamu as Prince Shunning (順寧王), and since he judged him to be the most powerful of the Four Oirat Tribes, he additionally granted him the office of Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with Gold and Purple (金紫光祿大夫). He gave Taiping the title of Prince Xianyi (賢義王) and Padopara the title of Prince Anle (安樂王), along with gifts.
In 1411, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty personally led an army against the Mongols, and Bunyashiri Ulzii Temür Khan and Arughtai were defeated by the Ming army and fled west. In 1411, Mahamu enthroned Delbeg as the new khan. According to one theory, he enthroned Delbeg as the new khan after killing Bunyashiri; according to another, in 1412 he enthroned Delbeg together with the other Oirat leaders Taiping and Pharapadog. He submitted to the Ming as a vassal (稱臣) and appointed himself Grand Preceptor (太師) of the Mongols.
On 2 May or 15 June 1412, he attacked near the Kherlen River the army of Bunyashiri Ulzii Temür Khan, which was on its way to request reinforcements from the Chagatai Khanate, and killed Bunyashiri. At that time, he seized the imperial seal of the Yuan dynasty from Bunyashiri and presented it to the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He soon requested from the Ming the dispatch of an army to subjugate Arughtai, and demanded the return of Toghtoa Buqa. In 1413, he went to the Kherlen River and defeated and annihilated the army of Arughtai.
During the Yongle Emperor's second Mongol campaign
Although he had assisted the Yongle Emperor's first campaign against the Mongols, the emperor did not recognize the Oirat tribe's contribution in helping to subjugate Bunyashiri and Arughtai, and the Oirat leaders were greatly angered by the Ming's disregard. He imprisoned envoys sent by the Ming, and the Yongle Emperor sent other envoys demanding the release of the earlier ones. Feeling threatened by mounting tensions, he cooperated with the other Oirat leaders and moved an army of 30,000 men to the Kherlen River, which eventually led to a full-scale war with the Ming.
On 6 April 1414, the Yongle Emperor left Beijing and personally marched out against the Oirats. The Ming army moved to the upper reaches of the Tuul River, and fierce fighting broke out between the Tuul and Kherlen rivers. However, the Oirat cavalry was frightened by the Ming heavy infantry and cannons and collapsed, retreating after suffering heavy losses. Mahamu and Khan Delbeg were badly defeated, and Mahamu retreated to the end of the Tuul River. The Yongle Emperor returned to Beijing in August 1414.
Later life
After the Ming army withdrew, in 1415 Mahamu again sent envoys to the Ming and sent horses as tribute. In 1416, Arughtai of the Ashud tribe again attacked the Oirats, assaulting Great Khan Delbeg Khan and Grand Preceptor Mahamu. On 9 April 1416, he was killed by Grand Preceptor Arughtai of the Eastern Mongol Ashud tribe. The Ming Yongle Emperor suspected both the Oirats and the Mongols and sent spies to constantly scout the situation of the Four Oirat Tribes, the central Mongols, and the eastern Mongols.
According to one theory, Mahamu fled but died of illness. His son Tögön enthroned Oiradai as the new khan. Tögön, who succeeded to the leadership of the Oirat tribe, sent an envoy to the Ming in 1418 to request succession (承襲), and was invested by the Yongle Emperor with the office of Prince Shunning.
Aftermath
After his death, his son Tögön seized actual power in the Oirat tribe and enthroned Toghtoa Buqa, a descendant of Kublai Khan, as Great Khan of the Mongols. Afterwards, Tögön and his grandson Esen Taishi gained control of the Oirat supremacy and came to hold actual power over the Mongols.
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