Rinchinbal Khan

Rinchinbal (1326–1332), known by his temple name Ningzong, was a son of Kusala (Emperor Mingzong). He was placed on the Yuan throne in 1332 at the age of six, the youngest emperor of the dynasty, and died less than two months later. As Yuan emperor he was also, in name, Great Khan of the Mongols.

The Background of Rinchinbal Khan

Rinchinbal was Kusala's second son and a younger half-brother of Toghon Temür. His mother, Babusha, came from the Naiman and had met Kusala during his years of exile in Central Asia, in the lands of the Chagatai Khanate.

Kusala reigned for only a few months in 1329 before his sudden death, widely believed to have been a poisoning arranged by El Temür, the powerful minister who had first put Kusala's younger brother, Tugh Temür, on the throne. Tugh Temür now returned as emperor, and under him Rinchinbal was made Prince of Fu.

Tugh Temür wanted his own son, Aratnadara, to succeed him and named him heir, but the boy died shortly afterwards. Meanwhile Tugh Temür's empress, Budashiri, had Rinchinbal's mother, Babusha, killed, and Toghon Temür was sent into exile, first to an island off Korea and later to Guangxi in southern China.

Six Years Old on the Throne

On his deathbed in 1332, Tugh Temür is said to have expressed remorse for Kusala's death and asked that the throne pass back to Kusala's line rather than to his surviving son, El Tegüs. El Temür, by then the real power at court, wanted El Tegüs enthroned, but Budashiri insisted on honouring her husband's wishes.

The obvious candidate was Kusala's elder son, Toghon Temür, then about twelve. El Temür opposed him, fearing that an older boy would be harder to control and might hold him responsible for his father's death. The choice fell instead on the six-year-old Rinchinbal, who had stayed at court in Dadu and been treated with favour by Tugh Temür.

Rinchinbal was enthroned as Emperor Ningzong in October 1332 and died in December of the same year. His reign was too short for a new era name to be proclaimed.

After the Death of Rinchinbal Khan

El Temür again pressed Budashiri to enthrone El Tegüs, and again she refused. Toghon Temür was recalled from Guangxi, but El Temür delayed his enthronement for months. Only after El Temür's own death in 1333 was Toghon Temür installed as emperor.

Toghon Temür was the last Yuan emperor to rule China. His long reign saw the Red Turban rebellions, and in 1368 he fled Dadu as the armies of the new Ming dynasty, founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, approached. The Mongols kept their power on the Mongolian Plateau, and Toghon Temür is counted both as the last Yuan emperor in China and as the first ruler of the Northern Yuan.

These same decades saw the potters of Jingdezhen perfect Yuan blue and white porcelain, examples of which you can find in our Yuan dynasty porcelain collection.