Ahmad Fanakati

Ahmad Fanākatī or Banākatī (Persian: احمد فناکتی / احمد بناکتی‎; before 1242 — 10 April 1282) was a Mongol[1] Muslim from Qara Khitai who was finance minister of Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty. He became known as a chief minister under Kublai and is credited with successfully establishing the financial system of the Mongols. He was considered to be a "villainous minister" in dynastic histories because of his perceived corruption.[2]

Life and career

Ahmad Fanākatī came from Fanākat (or Banākat), a town on the upper Syr Darya in Central Asia, under the rule of the Qara Khitai until they were conquered by the Mongol Empire.[2][3][4]

Ahmad obtained employment under Kublai through Empress Jamui Khatun, who had known him before her marriage. To her court he was originally attached but we find him already in high financial office in 1264.[1]

Trusted by Chabi Khatun, Kublai's favorite wife, Ahmad was entrusted with state finances in 1262. He was successful in managing the financial affairs of Northern China and brought huge tax revenues to Kublai's new government.

In 1270, he assumed the full power of the new financial department known as the Department of State Affairs (Shangshu Sheng), which had equal status with the administrative department known as the Central Secretariat (Zhongshu Sheng).

After the conquest of the Song dynasty in 1276, he entered the financial matters of Southern China. He prepared a state monopoly in salt, which came to account for a large portion of state income. In his 20-year term of office, he created his strong faction with his clan and Muslims from Central Asia.

Ahmad's tax system gained a bad reputation from the Chinese because it was ruthlessly operated and considerably differed from traditional Chinese systems. Ahmad was reputed for his rapaciousness.[5] He abused his position to gather riches for himself.[6]

Marco Polo recorded his name as "Bailo Acmat (Achmac)".[7] He mentions that Ahmad had 25 sons and accumulated great wealth.[8]

In 1271, the Department of State Affairs was absorbed into the Central Secretariat. While holding the financial affairs, he started intervening in state administration. It heightened tension with the rival faction that included Crown Prince Zhenjin, Antong, the head of the Central Secretariat and other Mongol aristocrats, and Chinese bureaucrats. The death of his political patron Chabi Khatun in 1281 made the situation critical; Ahmad was assassinated by Wang Zhu and Gao Heshang (Kao Ho-chang[7]) in the next year and his faction fell from power.

Although Ahmad's assassins were executed, after Kublai Khan heard all the complaints about Ahmad's corruption from his enemies, Kublai then ordered Ahmad's body to be taken from his tomb and desecrated by being eaten by dogs, and then using chariot wheels to smash the bones to pieces.[9][10]

Kublai also ordered Ahmad's sons to be put to death.[11]

Influence

Ahmad is usually portrayed as an evil bureaucrat in traditional Chinese records: his corruption and tyranny are emphasized. In contrast, the Jami al-Tawarikh positively evaluates his assistance to Kublai's administration. The recent Mongolian studies also tend to make positive reference to his role in establishing the dynasty's unique financial system.

Ahmad Fanakati was fictionalized by Mahesh Jadu in the Netflix series Marco Polo and by Leonard Nimoy in the RAI mini-series Marco Polo during the 1980s. In the Netflix series Marco Polo, Ahmad declares that he is not Persian but rather that he hails from Upper Asia. Specifically, he mentions a village near Bukhara that was destroyed as he was taken into the Mongol court. However the influence from Jami al-Tawarikh, Ahmad is positive character in series Marco Polo.

References
  1. Sir Henry Yule (1903). The book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian: Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East. vol. 1. London. p. 421.
    Ahmad obtained employment under Kublai through Empress Jamui Khatun, who had known him before her marriage. To her court he was originally attached but we find him already in high financial office in 1264. He was finally destroyed by a combination against him while the Khan was absent with Crown Prince Chen Chin, on a visit to Shang Tu. Rev W.S. Ament (Marco Polo in Cambaluc, p 105) writes: No name is more execrated than that of Ah-ha-ma (called Achmath by Polo), a Persian, who was chosen to manage the finance of the Empire.
  2. Rossabi, Morris, ed. (2013). Eurasian Influences on Yuan China. Volume 15 of Nalanda-Sriwijaya series. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 20. ISBN 9814459720. Retrieved 24 April 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. Lane, George (2013). "CHAPTER 1 Whose Secret Intent?". In Rossabi, Morris (ed.). Eurasian Influences on Yuan China. Volume 15 of Nalanda-Sriwijaya series. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 20. ISBN 9814459720. Retrieved 24 April 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Alt URL
  4. Avery, Martha (2003). The Tea Road: China and Russia Meet Across the Steppe. 五洲传播出版社. p. 29. ISBN 7508503805. Retrieved 24 April 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  5. Horesh, Niv (2013). Chinese Money in Global Context: Historic Junctures Between 600 BCE and 2012. Stanford University Press. p. 58. ISBN 0-8047-8854-5. Retrieved 24 April 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  6. Liu, Xinru (2001). The Silk Road in World History. Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN 019979880X. Retrieved 24 April 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  7. Rashīd al-Dīn (1971). The Successors of Genghis Khan (PDF). Translated by John Andrew Boyle. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 12. ISBN 0-231-03351-6. Retrieved 24 April 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  8. Lipman, Jonathan Neaman (1997). Familiar strangers: a history of Muslims in Northwest China. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97644-6.
  9. Avery, Martha (2003). The Tea Road: China and Russia Meet Across the Steppe. 五洲传播出版社. p. 30. ISBN 7508503805. Retrieved 24 April 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  10. Lipman, Jonathan Neaman (1998). Familiar strangers: a history of Muslims in Northwest China. University of Washington Press. p. 32. ISBN 0-295-80055-0. Retrieved 24 April 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  11. Atwood, Christopher P. (2004). "Ahmad Fanakati". Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. Ancient and Medieval History Online. New York: Facts On File. Retrieved July 29, 2014.

Further reading
  • Rossabi, Morris (1988). Khubilai Khan : His Life and Times. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 179–184, 190–195, 205, 212. ISBN 0-520-05913-1.
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