Life

Chaghan Temur's family originated from Central Asia. His great grandfather immigrated to China following the Mongols' invasion. He himself was from Shenqiu. When he was young, Chaghan Temur passed the imperial exam and obtained the degree of Juren.

In the year of 1351, there was an outburst of bandit raids in Chaghan Temur's hometown. Counties nearby were attacked and sacked. Out of self defense, Chaghan Temur organized local militia in Shenqiu to fight off the bandits. The news of a Juren improving public security was heard in the court. In 1352, Chaghan Temur became the darughachi of Runing Fu. He was able to gather as many as 10,000 people under his command at the time.

In 1355, he marched northward. After a series of successful battles, he managed to pacify the chaos of Hebei. The imperial court rewarded him with a civil position. In 1356, he was appointed the Bingbu Shangshu (Minister of war).

The rest of his life was spent on battlefield. The Yuan dynasty was in utter turbulence. Han Chinese farmers were oppressed under Yuan rule. Riot leader such as Han Shantong and Liu Futong caused the dynasty to strive for survival. Chaghan Temur managed to defeat Liu's force in Henan and consequently rescued Khanbaliq from the starvation resulted by the disruption of transportation of essential food supplies from South to North.Eventually Chaghan Temur was assassinated by Wang Shichen, a surrendered leader of farmer riots, in the year of 1362.

Posthumously, he was granted the title "Prince of Yingchuan" (潁川王) and a posthumous name "Zhongxiang" (忠襄), according to Confucian traditions.

His nephew and step-son Köke Temür was also a general who fought for the falling Yuan dynasty.

Sources

簡介

祖籍北庭（今新疆吉木薩爾北）。梁王阿魯溫之子，祖乃蠻台，曾祖闊闊台隨蒙古帝國大軍進入中國，後世代定居於穎州沈丘（今安徽臨泉縣）。

元惠宗至正十二年（1352年），察罕帖木兒起兵對抗劉福通所領導的紅巾軍，並和李思齊一起攻破農民起義軍佔領的羅山，從此受到元政府的重視。隨著察罕帖木兒不斷挫敗紅巾軍，其官職和地位逐漸上升，由汝寧府達魯花赤升至兵部尚書，後歷任陝西行省平章政事、河南行省平章政事兼河南行樞密院事，中書省平章政事、知河南山東行樞密院事。

1356年到1357年察罕帖木兒領兵在河南、山西和陝西擊敗李武、崔德；1358年擊敗毛貴率領的紅巾軍北伐軍於山西；

至正十八年五月五日（1358年6月11日），元帝國汴梁守將竹貞棄城逃走，紅巾軍將領劉福通攻克汴梁，把汴梁定為紅巾軍宋政權都城；至正十九年八月十八日（1359年9月10日），察罕帖木兒攻破紅巾軍宋政權都城汴梁；劉福通和韓林兒等人率數百騎兵逃往安豐。察罕帖木兒攻克汴梁後，軍紀嚴明，城中居民生活不受影響，不久河南全境平定。因為軍功朝廷拜為河南行省平章政事，兼知河南行樞密院事、陝西行台御史中丞，仍便宜行事。

遇刺

1361年察罕帖木兒攻打山東紅巾起義軍，佔領濟南，包圍益都；至正二十二年六月十五日（1362年7月6日）被降將田豐、王士誠刺殺。

察罕帖木兒在北方和紅巾軍作戰期間，由於勢力強大，至正二十一年八月初一（1361年8月31日），佔據應天的朱元璋遣使者至汴梁，主動要求與之通好。察罕帖木兒遂派使者前往招降。朱元璋扣下使者，拒不回應。1362年7月6日，察罕帖木兒被降將田豐、王士誠刺殺，朱元璋立即將使者殺死。

子女

• 擴廓帖木兒（王保保）：察罕帖木兒的外甥、養子。在其死後，拜太尉、中書省平章政事、知樞密院事、銀青榮祿大夫，繼承其軍隊。至正二十二年十一月初四日（1362年11月20日），擴廓帖木兒率軍攻克益都，殺死田豐、王士誠，為察罕帖木兒複仇。至正二十八年八月二日（1368年9月14日），明軍攻克元大都，大元帝國對中國的統治結束，退回本部蒙古草原，繼續和明朝對抗，史稱北元，擴廓帖木兒成為北元朝廷的支柱，在塞北和新興的明朝長期對抗。朱元璋在北伐期間，曾前往河南坐鎮指揮，並祭祀察罕帖木兒的墳墓，以感化並招降王保保，但沒有效果。

• 脫因帖木兒

• 耐驢

• 觀音奴，被明軍俘獲，嫁給秦王朱樉，1395年被迫殉葬。

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