Toqto’a (; Cyrillic: Тогтох; ; 1314－1356), courtesy name Dayong (), also known as "The Great Historian Tuotuo", was a high-ranking minister and an official historian of the Yuan dynasty of China. He was the author of three of the Twenty-Four Histories, writing the History of Liao, the History of Jin, and the History of Song (the three predecessor Chinese states to the Yuan dynasty). Later in life, he was falsely accused, banished, and murdered. Losing him, the Yuan court might have lost its last chance to defeat the Red Turban Rebellion, which started in the early 1350s against their rule. He was Bayan's nephew and Bayan Khutugh's brother. Biography Toqto’a was born to the Merkid aristocrat Majarday (also rendered as Chuan) in 1314. His uncle was Bayan of the Merkid (d. 1340), who had been raised to the rank of grand councillor during the reign of Toghon Temur (r. 1333–1370), the last Yuan emperor. Toqto’a was given a Confucian education. Fearing that his uncle's ambitious character would harm their family's prestige, Toqto’a and his father, allied with the Khagan, organized a plot to dismiss Bayan. In March 1340, they closed the gates of the palace walls while Bayan was hunting in the nearby countryside. They refused to let him in and soon afterwards arrested him. Bayan was sent into exile and Toqto’a toppled him. In November Toqto’a replaced Bayan as grand councillor. In 1343 Toqto’a led a team of officials to quickly compile dynastic histories of the Liao, Jin, and Song dynasties. The immense work was done within a relatively short period (a few years), which caused a lack of proofreading and textual criticism. The three works produced were: The History of Liao, or Liao Shi (; "Dynastic History of the Liao Dynasty"), finalized in 1343. The History of Jin, or Jin Shi (; "Dynastic History of the Jin Dynasty") The History of Song, or Song Shi (; "Dynastic History of the Song Dynasty") At the time some Chinese scholars argued that as the Khitans were former nomadic barbarians, their Liao dynasty did not deserve a compiled standard official history. Due to the dispute over whether the Liao dynasty should be considered a legitimate dynasty, the Liao Shi was not officially compiled until 1342–1343, when Toqto’a finally decided to treat the Liao, Jin, and Song dynasties all as legitimate dynasties in Chinese history. The compilation of the Liao Shi was