Ragibagh Khan: Eleventh Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

Yesun Temur's son Ragibagh, commonly known as the Tianshun Emperor of Yuan, was temporarily elevated to the throne of the Yuan dynasty in Shangdu in 1328. Although he should have succeeded his father Yesün Temür Khan, or Emperor Taiding, as the seventh monarch of the Yuan dynasty, he was dethroned by a competitor established by coup before Ragibagh's succession. Apart from becoming Emperor of China, he is known as the Mongol Empire's or Mongols' 11th Great Khan. However, this title was mainly nominal, owing to the empire's split. As a result, he was the Yuan Emperor who reigned for the shortest time.

Ragibagh was Yesun Temur's elder son. Babukhan Khatun's mother was from the Khunggirad clan, who had risen to prominence by marrying into the royal family. In 1324, he was made Crown Prince while still a child. When Yesun Temur died unexpectedly at Shangdu in August 1328, the strong Muslim commander Dawlat Shah placed him the next month. However, Yesun Temur's untimely death sparked an insurrection by an anti-mainstream party whom persons fed up with Yesun Temur's advisers, particularly Dawlat Shah, who had served him since he was stationed in Mongolia as Jinong, monopolizing authority. In the eighth month, El Temur, a Mongolized Qipchaq officer stationed in Dadu, staged a coup and demanded Khayishan's son's installation. In the same month that Ragibagh succeeded the king, Tugh Temur was welcomed into Dadu. Soon after, a civil conflict known as the War of the Two Capitals erupted. Ragibagh's army burst past the Great Wall many times and marched towards Dadu, but El Temur's forces routed them. However, most of Ragibagh's army was engaged on the Great Wall front, and the Shangdu court was forced to surrender the next day. After the capitulation, Dawlat Shah and most of the top loyalists were taken prisoner and eventually killed by the Dadu party; however, Ragibagh is reported to have vanished, presumably murdered.

Ragibagh's name has several variations due to the lack of historical records and its multilingualism. "Ra khyi phag," according to the Tibetan Red Annals (Hu ln deb ther). Later Mongolian chronicles, such as the Erdeni-yin and Altan tobchi, refer to him as Radziba or Raiba. He is referred to as A-su-ji-ba in Yuan History, although this is likely a typo of A-la-ji-ba. In Mongolian, the initial "a" prohibits the word from the beginning with "r." Ts. Mandir, a modern Mongolian painter, appears to have interpreted his name as "Asidkebe." Some historians believe his name came from the Sanskrit word "rja-pika," which means "king cuckoo." For the period name, he is also known as the Tianshun Emperor in Chinese.