Buluqhan Khatun (p=; Mongolian: , lit. 'Sable'), also Bulughan, Bulukhan, Bolgana, Bulugan, Zibeline or Bolghara
Life
belonged to the Mongol tribe of the
Bayaut (also Baya'ud, Chinese: 伯牙吾). She was married to
Abaqa Khan as his ninth wife. As a
khatun, she was very influential in the Ilkhanid court. She once saved a vizier's life, in September 1282 . She was wed to
Arghun in a levirate marriage after Abaqa's death in 1282. Her influence even reached
Tekuder's court, who treated her with due respect.
Family
She had Malika Khatun with
Abaqa Khan, who was married to Tohjam Buqa, son of Nogai Yarghuchi. Though sonless herself, she raised her step-grandsons (by
Abaqa Khan's son
Arghun)
Ghazan and Öljeitü, both of whom later succeeded
Arghun, and eventually converted to Islam.
Arghun had Öljeitü baptized at birth, and gave him the name "Nicholas" after Pope Nicholas IV.
["Arghun had one of his sons baptized, Khordabandah, the future Oljaitu, and in the Pope's honour, went as far as giving him the name Nicholas", Histoire de l'Empire Mongol, Jean-Paul Roux, p.408]
Death and aftermath
She died on 20 April 1286 by the
Kor River. After her death, Arghun asked
Kublai Khan to send him one of Bulughan's relatives as a new bride. The choice fell to Kökötchin ("Blue, or Celestial, Dame"), who was escorted by
Marco Polo on her journey from
Kaan-baligh (Beijing). The party traveled by sea, departing from the southern port city of
Quanzhou and sailing to
Sumatra, and then to
Persia, via
Sri Lanka and India. They arrived in 1293; however, Arghun had been killed before her arrival by conspirators, so Kökötchin married Arghun's son Ghazan, becoming his principal wife.
[ The Travels of Marco Polo]
There were other Buluqhan Khatun who was married to Arghun after her death.
Notes
