When Tugh Temür died in 1332, Budashiri acted as regent, which was in accordance with tradition and because Tugh Temür had not named a successor. It is said that on his deathbed, Tugh Temür had expressed remorse for what he had done to his elder brother, and intended to pass the throne on to his nephew Toghon Temür, his brother's eldest son. As a result, Budashiri did not appoint her own son El Tegüs to the throne, but neither did she appoint Toghon Temür; it was Kusala's second son, the six-year-old
Rinchinbal, who was instead installed as emperor on 13 October 1332. This the empress did under pressure from the grand councilor,
El Temür, who resisted allowing Toghon Temür to accede to the throne since he was suspected of having poisoned his father. A month after she had appointed Rinchinbal, Budashiri was granted the rank of
empress dowager, and was tasked with assuming the regency. However, only two months (fifty-three days) later, the young emperor died. El Temür went on to insist that she install El Tegüs on the throne, but the empress refused, maintaining that she was still honouring the wishes of her late husband, and that El Tegüs was too young to rule. Instead, she brought back the thirteen-year-old Toghon Temür and installed him as emperor in 1333. In 1336, she was elevated to the rank of
grand empress dowager. Budashiri remained regent for over seven years, virtually ruling over the empire. However, in 1340, when the emperor grew confident that he could take control and decide matters, he began an investigation into the injustices suffered by his late father and stepmother. He also pointed out the various wrongs done to him by the grand empress dowager. As a result, in mid-1340 he ordered that Budashiri be stripped of all her titles and exiled to Dong'an Prefecture (the modern-day city of
Langfang in
Hebei Province), where she was swiftly put to death. In further retaliation for the difficulties he had faced while in exile, Toghon Temür also banished El Tegüs, who was killed shortly afterwards. Budashiri was about 33 years old when she died. == Family ==