Buqa

Buqa (or Bugha) (died January 16, 1289) was a Mongol lord and chancellor who was instrumental in sweeping Arghun to power as the fourth Il-Khan of Iran in 1284 and became his chief minister (vizier) and advisor, succeeding Shams ad-Din Juvayni whom Arghun had executed in October 1284. Buqa too was executed on Arghun's order in January 1289.

Life

Childhood Buqa was an orphan from the Jalayir tribe. His father was Ugulay Qurchi who accompanied Hulagu Khan as his scout. He was given to Abaqa's court alongside his brother Aruq as an orphan kid and became his follower.

Life under Abaqa and Tekuder He served Abaqa as his trusted counselor, keeper of treasury, keeper of pelts and keeper of seal; meanwhile befriending his son Arghun. After Abaqa's death in 1282, he supported Arghun for the throne in opposition to Tekuder, however, still served him as keeper of seal after his election and became his trusted commander. During Arghun's insurrection against Tekuder in 1284, ilkhan entrusted him to collect Prince Gaykhatu as hostage from Arghun. Arghun agreed to terms and sent his brother accompanied by two amirs, including Nawruz to custody of Buqa, then most senior of Tekuder's commanders on 13 or 28 June. Buqa in turn handed over him to Ahmad who put Gaykhatu in Tödai Khatun's encampment. Despite this, Tekuder continued hostilities and kept advancing on Arghun. This made Buqa to harbor resentment towards Tekuder and grow more sympathetic to Arghun. On the other hand, he lost Tekuder's favor who started to invest his trust in Aq Buqa, another Jalair general and his cousin.

Starting to plan his coup, he broke into Arghun's captor and Tekuder's son-in-law Alinaq's camp and set Arghun free, while killing Alinaq. Tekuder fled west and looted Buqa's encampment near Sultaniya in revenge. He continued on to his own pasturelands near Takht-i Suleyman on 17 July planning to escape to Golden Horde via Derbent. However, Qaraunas sent by Buqa soon caught up with him and arrested Tekuder. He was turned over to Arghun on 26 July on Ab-i Shur pasturelands, near Maragha. The Great Khan Kublai Khan rewarded Buqa the title of chingsang for his loyalty to the Ilkhan Arghun in 1286. To strengthen his position, he appointed his brother Aruq as governor of Baghdad (while Jumghur's son Prince Jushkab was practically his puppet) and his follower Imad ud-Din Alavi as governor-general of Fars.