Nayan (Mongol Prince)
| Nayan | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Kwang-ning | |
| Born | c. 1257 |
| Died | July 1287 |
| House | Borjigin |
| Father | Ajul? |
Nayan was a prince of the Borjigin royal family of the Mongol Empire. He raised a noteworthy and serious rebellion against the Mongolian Khagan, Kublai Khan. He was a Nestorian Christian. Much of what is known of Nayan was recorded by the Venetian traveller Marco Polo.
Nayan was a member of a collateral branch of the Mongol royal dynasty, being a descendant of one of the brothers of Genghis Khan. He was either a great-great grandson of Temüge, Genghis Khan's youngest full brother, or of Belgutai his half-brother. More than one prince named Nayan existed and their identity is confused; the historian Pelliot was of the opinion that the Christian prince Nayan was not a descendant of Belgutai. He gives Nayan's father as Ajul, son of Tacar, son of Jibügan, son of Temüge. The close male relatives of Genghis Khan were given control of large appanage domains located in Mongolia and neighbouring lands such as Manchuria. Marco Polo describes Nayan as ruling four great provinces: 'Ciorcia' (possibly meaning Jurchen), 'Cauli' (Korea, probably only a part of Northern Korea), 'Barscol' and 'Sichintingiu'. Located in his domains was a town called Kwang-ning, and because of this Nayan was termed 'Prince of Kwang-ning'. In addition, Nayan was also the foremost leader of the Eastern uluses (tribal groupings and districts ruled by Mongol appanage princes) dominated by the descendants of the brothers of Genghis Khan. Whatever the precise extent of Nayan's appanage, he certainly held sufficient lands within and around Manchuria to give him a power-base from which to launch a rebellion against his kinsman Kublai Khan.
Nayan is represented as embodying a traditional Mongol reaction against the increasing sinicisation shown by Kublai Khan and his administration. Nayan adhered to the ancestral nomadic values of the Mongols and was dismayed at Kublai's estrangement from these ideals. More prosaically Kublai Khan was, possibly on the model of Chinese principles of governance, consolidating power in his own hands and the semi-independent appanage princes were beginning to feel threatened. Nayan conspired with two other descendants of brothers of Genghis Khan, Shiktur and Qada'an, who also held appanages in Eastern Mongolia and Manchuria. He was also in contact with Kublai Khan's nephew and inveterate enemy Kaidu, who ruled much of Central Asia.
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