king. The highest-ranking European delegate was Alexander Nevsky's father, Grand Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Vladimir and Suzdal, who died suspiciously just after dining with Töregene Khatun. The Mongols practiced polygamy. Ögedei Khan's favorite son was Kochu, who was his through another wife, and he had nominated Kochu's son Siremun to succeed him after his father suddenly died in China in 1237. But some sources mention that Khoch was a son of Töregene and she did not want little Shiremun to succeed. Töregene opposed the choice in favor of Güyük, but despite the enormous influence she had on him, she was unable to persuade Ögedei to change his selection. She did, however, achieve her aims through cunning. When the lesser khans appointed her regent after her husband's death, she appointed her favorites to high positions in the imperial household and initiated what was to be a successful scheme to elevate her son Güyük. When Temüge Otchigen, the youngest brother of Genghis, gathered his men and tried to unsuccessfully seize the throne, Güyük quickly came to meet him. Töregene managed to keep a Kurultai from being held until it was sure her son Güyük was favored by the majority. Töregene passed power onto her son Güyük in 1246. She retired west to Ögedei's appanage on the Emil. Despite her role in ensuring Güyük's election as Khagan, the relationship between Töregene and her son eventually collapsed. Güyük's brother Koden accused Fatima of using witchcraft to damage his health; when Koden died a few months later, Güyük insisted that his mother hand Fatima over for execution. Töregene threatened her son Güyük that she would commit suicide to spite him. Güyük's men seized Fatima and put her to death by sewing up all of her orifices and dumping her into water; Töregene's supporters in the imperial household were simultaneously purged. Within 18 months of Fatima's death, Töregene herself died under still unexplained circumstances. She was posthumously renamed Empress Zhaoci () by Kublai in 1265-1266. In popular media She was portrayed by Cai Wenyan in The Legend of Kublai Khan (2013) References Citations Sources Jack Weatherford – The Women Who Ruled the Mongol Empire (dead link) Jack Weatherford. The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire (Crown; 2010). 1246 deaths Mongol khans Mongol empresses Year of birth missing 13th-century viceregal rulers 13th-century women rulers House of Ögedei 13th-century