Early life

Ayushiridara was the eldest son of Toghon Temür (Emperor Shun of Yuan) and Lady Gi in 1338. He was given his earliest tuition in Chinese at the house of his father's minister, Toqto'a, at age ten. Toghon Temür's principal empress, Danashiri, bore only one son who died in infancy. The Mongol noyans mostly preferred another Borjigin (Mongol noble) heir, rather than Ayushiridara, as his mother was a former palace maid and tea server. Only after the purge of Danashiri's family and the death of Bayan, were he and his mother accepted at the Yuan court. Induced by his Korean empress, Lady Gi, the Yuan emperor Toghon Temür scheduled to elect his heir apparent in 1353. However, Toqto'a delayed the schedule for some unknown reason. This aroused the anger of the latter's political enemies. The chief minister and his former protégé, Hama of the "Qangli", and Ayushiridara, with the support of his mother, the Empress, Lady Gi, accused Toqto'a of corruption and violation of law while he was fighting the Red Turban Rebellion in 1354. This situation halted Toqto'a, who had been successful in defeating the rebellion, and he was stripped of his dignities and sent to Hoai-nan into exile.

Hama was made first minister and all power was then in his hands. Elated by this success, Hama decided to raise Ayushiridara to the throne. This plot was discovered, Hama was sentenced to exile and strangled by his enemies there in 1356, and Ayushiridara was pardoned. When he became crown prince in 1353, it caused internal strife between his supporters and opponents. Seven years later he and Lady Gi wished the first minister, Tai ping, to convince the Khagan to resign and leave Ayushiridara dominion. When Tai ping refused, they poisoned the minister's partisans and forced him to resign. Power passed to a eunuch, Papuhwa, and to Cho sekin, two weak men. An opposition leader, Bolad-Temür, occupied the capital in 1364. Ayushiridara was ordered back by his father to Dadu. Feeling himself not powerful enough to resist Bolad-Temür's large army, Ayushiridara fled to the Yuan general, Köke Temür. When Bolad-Temür learned that Ayushiridara was advancing with troops, he arrested Lady Gi and forced her to recall her son to the capital. However, Bolad-Temür's commanders deserted to Köke Temür. Toghon Temür secretly ordered Ho chang, son of the prince of Wei chun, to murder Bolad-Temür. After the latter's death, Köke Temür defeated Bolad-Temür's commander Tukiel in 1365. Ayushiridara forced Köke Temür to persuade the Emperor to resign in his favor. The Emperor was unwilling to abdicate, but he appointed his son lieutenant in the Yuan. Köke Temür tried to prevent it, but failed and was stripped of his dignities.

In 1368 the Yuan dynasty was overthrown by the Ming dynasty, and Toghon Temür Khan and his family fled north to Shangdu from Dadu. In 1370 Toghon Temür died in Yingchang. The Ming army captured the city and relatives and Maidarbal, a son of Ayushiridara who escaped safely to Karakorum where he was officially enthroned as Khagan of the Mongols with the Mongolian title of Biligtü (Intelligent).

Reign

Shortly after the succession, he fled to Karakorum and he changed the era name to Xuanguang (宣光, 1371–1378) there. Biligtü Khan made Köke Temür his commander in chief and chingsang of the right hand of the Central Government. The Yuan remnants in Mongolia homeland, known as the Northern Yuan dynasty, still remained overall a strong power during his reign. Its dominions covered the areas from Northeast China to Xinjiang.

Hongwu Emperor demanded Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara to give up his arms several times but failed. In 1372, the former dispatched the Ming army of 150,000 men to Mongolia. Biligtü Khan sent Köke Temür's army against the central division of the Ming army under Xu Da. Xu Da's troops reached Tuul River within 20 days. However, they were routed and their commander barely escaped with a few of his men. The eastern division of the Ming army advanced to Kherlen River, pillaging the Mongolian camps en route. They were suddenly defeated and forced to retreat to Orkhon where another bloody battle ensued. After that they fought the Mongol army under Halajchani and was finally defeated near Karakorum. The western division of the Ming army was forced to retreat due to other divisions' failures, though, they won a series of places.

Ayushiridara asked the assistance from the Yuan's former vassal King Gongmin of Goryeo to fight against the Ming dynasty of China. In his letter to Gongmin, Biligtü Khan says:

"...Oh wang, you are a descendant of Genghis Khan same as me. Therefore, we wish you to work with us to establish justice and truth under the heaven..."

On the contrary, King Gongmin refused to help and started an opposition policy against the Mongols, and retook their lands, which were annexed by the Yuan dynasty in the 1270s. The pro-Mongol faction under Yin Im-in killed Gongmin in 1374. They sent envoys to the Mongols in Liaoyang and Biligtü Khan quickly recognized the legitimacy of King U, puppet of Yin Im-in. Biligtü Khan asked Goryeo Korea to send troops for a joint attack against the Ming fortress. The Goryeo court cautiously refused to help again.

The Mongols conquered Funin and Suijin districts in Sinhe, Liaoning and Hebei provinces in 1373, cutting the Ming from Liaodong. In 1375, Naghachu, a Mongol official in Liaoyang province invaded the Liaodong Peninsula with aims of restoring the Mongols to power and succeeded with the support of the pro-Mongol Jurchens. The Ming ceased its raids into the Northern Yuan. Biligtü Khan's greatest general, Köke Temür, died in 1375. Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara died in 1378 and his half-brother, Tögüs Temür, succeeded to the throne.

Family

Grandparents

Grandfather— :Khutughtu Khan Kusala

Grandmother— Mailati of the Karluks

Grandfather— Gi Ja-oh

Parents

Father — Toghon Temür

Mother — Empress Ki

Consort and Issue (s)

•Empress Consort Gwon (29 April 1342— 22 May 1410)

1.Unnamed son (26 March 1363—16 May 1375

2.Unnamed daughter (14 September 1377—15 February 1423)

廟號

明代王世貞《北虜始末志》稱愛猷識理達臘為「昭宗」。清代乾隆朝《蒙古世系譜》則稱愛猷識理達臘為「哲宗」。「哲宗」一說未被後人接受。

生平

愛猷識理答臘生于元惠宗至元四年或五年的十二月二十四日。他的生母奇氏因為生育皇子，母憑子貴，至元六年（1340年）被元惠宗封為第二皇后，就是奇皇后。

至正十三年（1353年）六月，愛猷識理答臘被元惠宗（元順帝）封為太子，他做太子之後，元朝內部黨爭日益激烈。愛猷識理答臘試圖奪取帝位提前登基，造成了他和他父親的關繫緊張。至正二十四年（1364年），他的政敵將軍孛羅帖木兒帶兵闖入大都，愛猷識理答臘被迫流亡到王保保（擴廓帖木兒）的控制區太原，並以此為基地，召集各省軍閥準備反攻孛羅。與此同時，元惠宗也對孛羅的專權產生不滿，遂派人將其刺死，將人頭送到太原，召回了愛猷識理達臘並與其和解。

至正二十八年（明朝洪武元年）閏七月二十八日（1368年9月10日），明朝軍隊逼近大都，元惠宗率太子愛猷識理達臘、后妃、臣僚等北走，前往上都，至正二十八年八月二日（1368年9月14日），明太祖的將軍徐達攻克大都。此後邁入北元時期。

至正二十八年八月四日（1368年9月16日），元惠宗和太子愛猷識理答臘等人到達上都。至正二十九年六月十三日（1369年7月16日），明軍逼近上都，元惠宗和太子等人離開上都，當天到達應昌（今內蒙古克什克騰旗達里諾爾西南古城）。至正二十九年六月十七日（1369年7月20日），明軍將領常遇春攻克上都。

至正三十年農曆五月二日（1370年5月27日），元惠宗因痢疾去世于應昌，皇太子愛猷識理答臘在應昌繼承了皇位，並次年改元宣光。至正三十年農曆五月十六日（1370年6月10日），明軍將領李文忠攻克應昌，昭宗逃往和林，身邊僅有一小股隨從陪同，他的眾多妃子以及兒子買的里八剌被明軍俘虜，還有五萬餘元軍投降明軍。

宣光二年六月初三（1372年7月3日），明軍將領馮勝大敗元軍，明朝從北元手中取得甘肅地區。

北元在當時仍保持一定的勢力；在宣光二年（1372年）的戰事中，在王保保指揮下，北元對於明朝贏得了一個局部勝利。

元昭宗於宣光八年（1378年5月10日）農曆四月十三日逝世，在位8年，享年40歲。

元昭宗死後由弟北元後主脫古思帖木兒繼位，脫古思帖木兒年號為天元，又稱為天元帝。

家庭

• 妻妾

　• 第一皇后：權皇后，高麗人，權謙之女。1370年冊立為皇后。生一女，嫁也速迭兒。

　• 第二皇后：金皇后，高麗人，金允藏之女。生一子買的里八剌。

• 子女：

　• 女：權皇后所生，嫁卓里克圖。

　• 子：買的里八剌，生于1362年，1370年農曆五月在應昌被明軍俘虜，買的里八剌被俘五年，明廷封為崇禮侯，賜給宅第。1374年農曆九月明太祖將在應昌俘獲的元昭宗之子買的里八剌送還元廷，招諭修好。

評價

民國官定正史《新元史》柯劭忞的評價是：「昭宗以下，文獻無徵。惟宣光八年之事，間存一二，故附載于本紀云。」