Baraq was a great-grandson of Chagatai Khan and spent his youth at the court of Kublai Khan. Having grown up beside the Great Khan gave him standing when he was later sent to Central Asia.
Dispatched there on Kublai's orders, Baraq won the trust of Mubarak Shah, the reigning khan, then seized the throne of the Chagatai Khanate in a coup in 1266. From that point he denied Kublai's authority and went his own way.
To secure that independence he drove out Yuan officials and clashed fiercely with Kaidu of the Ögedei Khanate. Neither man could afford an enemy at his back, so in 1269 they met at Talas and came to terms: the pastures and taxes of Transoxiana would be shared, and Baraq was to make up his short share in Khorasan to the west. The effect was to point Baraq's spear at the Ilkhanate.
In 1270 Baraq launched a full invasion of the Persian lands ruled by Abaqa of the Ilkhanate. At first he seemed to be winning, but the troops Kaidu had promised slipped away before the battle, and Abaqa drew him in with a feigned retreat and crushed him near Herat.
Beaten, Baraq fled back to Transoxiana. Having lost both his soldiers and his standing, he appealed to Kaidu for help — and died in 1271 on the very night Kaidu's army reached his camp, a sudden end that bred many rumours. After his death the Chagatai Khanate fell under Kaidu's influence, and in time Kaidu installed Baraq's own son Duwa as its khan.