Öljei Temür Khan

Öljei Temür Khan, born Bunyashiri in 1379, was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty who reigned from 1408 to 1412. He was a son of Elbeg Nigülesügchi Khan and a descendant of the house of Kublai Khan, and he spent his youth away from the steppe, reaching Central Asia after 1399 and staying at the court of Timur in Samarkand, where he converted to Islam. After the usurper Örüg Temür Khan abandoned the Great Yuan title and alienated many Mongol clans, Bunyashiri declared himself khan at Beshbalik in 1403 and most clans rallied to him. His reign was defined by conflict with the Ming dynasty: his side crushed a Ming expedition led by Qiu Fu in 1409, but the Yongle Emperor answered with a very large army and defeated him on 15 June 1410. He was killed in 1412 by the Oirat leader Mahamud, which opened a long period of rivalry among Mongol clans.