22 Facts About Duwa

Duwa, known as Du'a, was Khan of the Chagatai Khanate.

Duwa was the longest reigning monarch of the Chagatayid Khanate and accepted the nominal supremacy of the Yuan dynasty as Great Khan before his death.

Several years earlier, in 1275, Duwa destroyed a force in Uyghuria loyal to Kublai Khan, led by the Chaghataid Ajiki and Kublai's son Ayachi.

The strike given by Kaidu and Duwa was so hard that Uyghurs lost Dzungaria.

Duwa then laid siege to Kara Khoja for six months with his brother Buzma by 120,000 troops.

In 1278 Duwa was reported to have led a raid into Yuan territory.

Duwa attempted to convince the Kartids of Herat to defect to his side, but they refused.

Duwa attempted to plunder the cities of Kusui, which he failed to do; and Fushang, which he succeeded at, killing many of the inhabitants.

Stiffening resistance by the Yuan commanders forced Kaidu and Duwa to pull back several times in 1297.

In 1298, Duwa avenged these defeats when he attacked the Yuan garrisons during the winter.

Duwa tried to convince him to abandon the Yuan side, but was unsuccessful in doing so.

Duwa then withdrew, only to be defeated in battle by the garrison troops in what is today known as Kebuduo.

Duwa's brother-in-law was captured in the midst of the defeat.

In 1298 or 1299 Duwa appointed his son Kutluk Khoja as head of the Qara'unas, a Mongol group that controlled a large part of Khurasan.

Duwa ignored Kaidu's choice of successor, Orus, and instead picked Kaidu's firstborn son Chapar to take his father's place.

Duwa hoped to throw off the mastery of Kaidu's son; he therefore sought to improve relations with Temur Khan.

Duwa had the advantage of being a legitimate heir to Chagatai's realm, while Chapar did not.

Chapar refused to attend a meeting that Duwa arranged to celebrate the peace, and in 1305 or 1306 fighting broke out between the troops of both sides, probably due to Duwa's attempts to take control of parts of Chapar's lands granted to him by Temur Khan.

Duwa proposed a peace; Chapar, believing that it was sincere and accepted, withdrawing his brothers.

The northeast part of Duwa's realm was ceded to the Yuan dynasty, and Duwa afterwards received gifts from Temur Khan, signifying the restored relations between the Chagatai Khanate and the Yuan dynasty for the first time since the mid-thirteenth century.

That same year, Duwa died, to be succeeded by his son Konchek.

Duwa's actions went a long way toward freeing the Chagatai Khanate from its subservience to Kaidu and his sons, a situation that had lasted since 1271.