Prince Manggala – The Forgotten Prince of Anxi

Abstract

AbstractManggala (忙哥剌 d. 1278）was the third son of Qubilai Qa’an (r. 1260–1294) and his chief wife, Chabi Qatun (察必 d. 1281). Although he was not the crown prince he ruled over a large and strategic territory between the frontiers of the Southern Song before it was fully conquered, and the northwestern frontier, where some of the Mongol princes still challenged Qubilai’s legitimacy as the Great Khan. In spite of this, Prince Manggala does not have a biography in theYuanshi, and is mainly remembered as the father of Prince Ananda, Qubilai’s grandson, famous for embracing Islam. However, juxtaposing sources from different parts of the Mongol empire to compile Prince Manggala’s biography shows that he appears to have been a governor and capable military commander, who established his own princely administrative system,Wangxiangfu(王相府), showed interest in both Islam and Buddhism and addressed the various peoples and religions in his heterogeneous domain differently, thereby enhancing his legitimation. Manggala’s annotated biography can expand our knowledge of the role and status of princes in the Yuan dynasty (元代 1271–1368), as well as shed light on both administration and cross-cultural contacts in northwest China during the early Yuan era.