Chagatai Khan

Chagatai (c. 1183–1242), second son of Genghis Khan and Börte, founded the Chagatai Khanate and was famed for his knowledge of Mongol law and his harsh temper. He never accepted his elder brother Jochi as legitimate.

At Gurganj he quarrelled with Jochi and was reprimanded; when Genghis told him his favourite son Mutukan had died at Bamiyan and forbade him to mourn, Chagatai wept only when alone. He applied the Yasa strictly—a code Genghis is said to have entrusted to him—and was excluded from the succession as too inflexible.

After Genghis died in 1227 he held to his will and in 1229 helped crown Ögedei; he made Ögedei limit his drinking, and the khan found a very large cup. After Ögedei died his backing gave Töregene the regency. He died in 1242, and his descendants converted to Islam more slowly than the other Mongol khanates.