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Ma Zhaertai
Yuan grandee, brother of the dictator Bayan and father of Toghto, who became chief councillor after Bayan's fall and died in banishment in Gansu
In a council hall, a long table holds an unrolled map scroll, a brass-cornered chest and a brush pot, with tall-backed chairs around it and a bronze lamp at the left; a figure stands with their back turned on the balcony at the right, with palace roofs beyond.
Also known as Mazha Ertai
- Roles
- Chief Ministers
Majartai, a Merkit, was the younger brother of the powerful minister Bayan and the father of the chief councillor Toghto. Appointed to the Shaanxi branch censorate in 1327, he rose to censor-in-chief and commanded guard units of Korean, Jurchen and Han troops. When the court proposed making him a prince in 1337 he declined, saying two brothers should not both be princes while Bayan already held the title of Qin, and he went instead to guard the northern frontier with a branch of the Bureau of Military Affairs. After Bayan was dismissed in 1340 he became grand preceptor and chief councillor of the right, but he soon insisted on resigning; his son Toghto succeeded him and he was made Prince Zhong. In 1347 Berke Buqa slandered him to the emperor, and he was banished to Gansu, where he died of illness. In 1352 Emperor Shundi raised him posthumously to Prince De and had Hanlin scholars compose an inscription for him.
Life and times
Dates 1285 CE–1347 CE