An <i>ulus</i> within an <i>ulus</i>: the afterlife of Ariq Böke's appanage in the Mongol Empire (1252–1336)

Abstract In 1206 Chinggis Khan replaced the warring factions of Mongolia with a single polity, the Great Mongol Realm ( Yeke Mongqol Ulus ). The ulus was ruled by a khan, who allocated pastures, households and revenues to his relatives as shares ( qubi ). Chinggis granted the first allocation to his brothers and senior sons in 1207 but many more redistributions took place in the coming decades. Many of these appanages grew so large that their holders challenged the khan's dominance and even broke free of his control to form their own polities ( ulus es). This article will explore the fluidity of the Mongol appanage system by taking the qubi of Chinggis Khan's grandson Ariq Böke (d. 1266) as a case study. The Ariq Bökids established their own secondary ulus in Inner Asia, before fragmenting and lending their support to neighbouring khans in the fourteenth century.