The Secret History of the Mongol Queens

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The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire
MongolQueensbyJackBookJacket.jpg
Front cover of the book depicting the Mongol queen, Mandukhai the Wise, at war.
Author Jack Weatherford
IllustratorN. Bat-Erdene
Cover artistYuji Kikutake
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectAsian history
GenreHistory
PublisherCrown
Publication date
2010
Pages318
ISBN 978-0-307-40715-3
Preceded by Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World  

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire is a 2010 book by Jack Weatherford, about the impact and legacy of Genghis Khan's daughters and Mongol queens such as Mandukhai the Wise and Khutulun. [1] The book references Mongolian, Central Asian, Persian, European and Chinese sources such as Altan Tobchi , Erdeni Tobchi , Erdenyin Tunamal Sudar, Tarikh-i-Rashidi , Tarikh-i Jahangushay-i Juvaini , and Ming shi in addition to various secondary sources in English, Mongolian, and German.

Contents

Weatherford also analyzes the role of Mongol women in the Mongol Empire and how they influenced the Mongol nation, modern Mongolia, and most of the modern world.

The book was translated into Mongolian, Chinese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai and Russian.

Chinese-American actress Joan Chen mentioned that she had read the book to prepare for her role as Chabi in the TV series Marco Polo. [2]

Contents

Introduction: The missing chapter

Weatherford suggests in the introduction that the unknown censor who deliberately cut away part of The Secret History of the Mongols did so in order to obscure Mongol women who became too powerful. Only a small part of the text written by Genghis Khan in 1206 when he was proclaimed Qaghan of the Mongols, remains: "Let us reward our female offspring". However, external sources yielded impressions of these women and their accomplishments.

The Persian chronicler Rashid al-Din wrote that "there are many stories about these daughters", and promised that "if the reader pays attention everything will be understood." Weatherford further suggests that traces of the Mongol queens have indirectly appeared in the diplomatic reports of the Chinese court, letters to the Vatican, Muslim histories, royal Armenian chronicles, the memoirs of merchants such as Marco Polo, texts carved into the stones of Taoist temples, [3] and in the rhymes of Chaucer and the arias of Puccini.

Part 1: Tiger Queens of the Silk Route 1206–1241

During his reign, Genghis Khan raised the status of women in positions of prominence, particularly his daughters and consorts. These women included his daughter Altani, who was awarded the title of "Ba'atur"("Hero"), when she saved the life of his youngest son Tolui. This title was given to successful military and political figures in the Mongol Empire.

His daughters played crucial roles in Khan's diplomacy and warfare. They married the leaders of the powerful tribes and nations surrounding the Mongols such as the Ongud, Uyghurs and Oirats, becoming diplomatic shields in all directions, cementing his alliances. The daughters of Genghis Khan came to control the Silk Route and assisted his campaigns in China and Persia. The Mongol women proved adept at administrating their territory and fighting alongside men on foreign conquests.

After the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his successors quickly neglected Khan's legacy. His son, Ögedei, purged his female relatives in order to consolidate his power over the Borjigin clan, including using a mass rape of four thousand Oirat girls in 1237 to cow Oirat into submission and take their lands after Ögedei's sister Checheyigen had died, and allegedly arranging the assassination of Genghis Khan's favorite daughter, Altalun, who was ruler of the Uyghur territory. [4]

Part 2: The Shattered Jade Realm 1242–1470

The cover of The Secret History of the Mongol Great Khatuns in Mongolian 2009. IhhattadnombyJack.jpg
The cover of The Secret History of the Mongol Great Khatuns in Mongolian 2009.

Following Ögedei's death, khatuns (queens) briefly ruled the Mongol Empire. Most of these women were not Genghis Khan's daughters, but his daughters- or granddaughters-in-law. Their ability to control the empire made them the most powerful women during this period. Succession struggles with male kinsmen, including their sons and brothers-in-law, meant the khatun were quickly diminished.

Khutulun, daughter of Kaidu and granddaughter of Ögedei, was the last of the Mongol women who held real power and resisted their male lines. Noted for her beauty, she also mastered the three main sports of Mongolia – Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery – and was famed for defeating men in both the battlefield and the wrestling match. When she died in 1306, the Borjigin men gained control of the whole Mongol Empire without any resistance from their female relatives. Only Mongol princesses who married Goryeo kings in Korea continued the queens' traditions in a small scale. A story from Khutulun's life is featured in Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's Turandot.

In the late 14th century, the Mongol Qaghan Elbeg made a fatal mistake. He killed his blood brother in order to marry his wife, Oljei the Beauty, and ignored the Mongol tradition that a man is forbidden to forcefully take a woman in marriage. In 1399, Elbeg was killed by the Oirats after the marriage created tension between the Mongol tribes in Mongolia.

When the male descendants of Genghis Khan became prisoners or puppets of other nations such as Alans and Kipchaks, the Mongol queens tried to save them from captivity. Samur, khatun of the Four Oirats and daughter of Elbeg Khan, was the most prominent. Her grandson, Esen, defeated rival Mongol warlords and a threat from the Chinese. However, he was unable to consolidate his power and he quickly lost support from his allies including his grandmother, Samur. Esen turned against Samur's clan, nearly destroying every male of Genghis Khan's line. When Esen's daughter gave birth to a son, Bayan-Möngke, one of the last direct descendants of Khan, Samur and the child's mother successfully managed keep the child in hiding. Both Samur and Esen died soon afterward, leaving a void in power.

Part 3: Wolf Mother 1470–1509

With the death of Samur, the strong Mongol queens did not perish from history. Instead, a new Mongol princess, Mandukhai, was born in 1448. She was later married to Manduul Khan, who restored the empire in Mongolia. [5]

In order to keep an eye on the Mongolian Hagan Manduul, Turkic warlord Beg Arslan from Hami Oasis had him married to his daughter. When they did not produce a child, Manduul took Mandukhai as his wife. While Bayan-Möngke, who had been saved by Samur as an infant, quickly emerged as Manduul's preferred successor, Une-Bolad, an experienced and powerful warlord descended from Genghis Khan's brother Hasar, appeared as a contender of the throne. Driven from Manduul, Bayan-Möngke died in the Gobi desert.

When her husband died in 1478, Mandukhai had the choice of marrying Une-Bolad or taking the Mongols to Ming Dynasty to be vassals. Instead, Mandukhai elected to rule instead and recovered Batumöngke, the missing son of Bayan-Möngke, to ascend the throne at the royal shrine kept by the Chahar with the title Dayan Khan. Because Dayan Khan was a child at the time of his ascension, Mandukhai became the empire's de facto ruler while simultaneously raising Dayan Khan to become an effective ruler. Together, they united the entire Mongols, restoring order.

By the time Mandukhai died in 1509, the Mongol nation stretched from the Siberian tundra and Lake Baikal in the north, across the Gobi, beyond the Yellow River into the Ordos. The lands extended from the forests of Manchuria in the East past the Altai Mountains and out onto the steppes of Central Asia.

Epilogue: The Secret of History

Weatherford says the censors' cuts only hampered the ability to understand the Mongol queens' place in history, but did not erase it entirely. The Mongol queens, particularly Mandukhai, are honored by the Mongol nation alongside Genghis Khan.

Related Research Articles

Dayan Khan, born Batumöngke, (1472–1517) was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, reigning from 1480 to 1517. During his rule, he reunited the Mongols under Chinggisid supremacy. His reigning title, "Dayan", means "the whole" or "Long lasting" in Mongolian language as he was the longest reigning khaan of the unified Mongols.

Articles related to Mongolia include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Möngke Khan</span> Fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

Möngke Khan was the fourth khagan of the Mongol Empire, ruling from 1 July 1251, to 11 August 1259. He was the first Khagan from the Toluid line, and made significant reforms to improve the administration of the Empire during his reign. Under Möngke, the Mongols conquered Iraq and Syria as well as the kingdom of Dali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borjigin</span> Imperial clan of Genghis Khan and his successors

A Borjigin is a member of the Mongol sub-clan that started with Bodonchar Munkhag of the Kiyat clan. Yesugei's descendants were thus said to be Kiyat-Borjigin. The senior Borjigids provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia until the 20th century. The clan formed the ruling class among the Mongols and some other peoples of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Today, the Borjigid are found in most of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, and genetic research has shown that descent from Genghis Khan and Timur is common throughout Central Asia and other regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariq Böke</span> Descendant of Genghis Khan

Ariq Böke, the components of his name also spelled Arigh, Arik and Bukha, Buka, was the seventh and youngest son of Tolui and a grandson of Genghis Khan. After the death of his brother the Great Khan Möngke, Ariq Böke claimed the title of the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and briefly took power while his brothers Kublai and Hulagu were absent from the Mongolian Plateau. When Kublai returned for an election in 1260, rival factions could not agree, and elected both claimants, Kublai and Ariq Böke, to the throne, resulting in the Toluid Civil War that fragmented the Mongol Empire. Ariq Böke was supported by the traditionalists of the Mongol Empire, while his brother Kublai was supported by the senior princes of North China and Manchuria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sorghaghtani Beki</span> Leading stateswoman in the Mongol Empire

Sorghaghtani Beki or Bekhi, also written Sorkaktani, Sorkhokhtani, Sorkhogtani, Siyurkuktiti, posthumous name Empress Xianyi Zhuangsheng, was a Keraite princess and daughter-in-law of Genghis Khan. Married to Tolui, Genghis' youngest son, Sorghaghtani Beki became one of the most powerful and competent people in the Mongol Empire. She made policy decisions at a pivotal moment that led to the transition of the Mongol Empire towards a more cosmopolitan and sophisticated style of administration. She raised her sons to be leaders and maneuvered the family politics so that all four of her sons, Möngke Khan, Hulagu Khan, Ariq Böke, and Kublai Khan, went on to inherit the legacy of their grandfather.

Esen (1407–1454), was a powerful Oirat taishi and the de facto ruler of the Northern Yuan dynasty between 12 September 1453 and 1454. He is best known for capturing the Emperor Yingzong of Ming in 1449 in the Battle of Tumu Fortress and briefly reuniting the Mongol tribes. The Four Oirat reached the peak of their power under his rule.

Khatun is a title of the female counterpart to a khan or a kagan of the Turkic Khaganates and in the subsequent Mongol Empire.

Oghul Qaimish was the principal wife of Güyük Khan and ruled as regent over the Mongol Empire after the death of her husband in 1248. She was a descendant of the Mergid tribe. However, H. H. Howorth believed that she was an Oirat, mistaking her for Oghul Tutmish, wife of Möngke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandukhai</span> Khatun of the Mongols

Mandukhai Khatun, also known as Mandukhai Setsen Khatun was a Khatun (queen) of the Northern Yuan. With her second husband Batmunkh Dayan Khan, she helped reunite the warring Mongols.

Nigülesügchi Khan, born Elbeg, (1362–1399) was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, reigning from 1394 to 1399. Erdeniin Tobchi claimed that Elbeg was the younger brother of the Jorightu Khan, while other historians testify that he was a son of the Biligtü Khan. He ruled for seven years. His regnal title "Nigülesügchi Khagan" means "Merciful Emperor" in the Mongolian language. Border skirmishes with the Ming dynasty and Oirat rebellion plagued his reign.

Manduul, (1438–1479) was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, reigning from 1475 to 1479. He was the younger half-brother of Taisun Khan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Yuan</span> Former empire in East Asia

The Northern Yuan was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Jin dynasty in 1635. The Northern Yuan dynasty began with the retreat of the Yuan imperial court led by Toghon Temür to the Mongolian steppe. This period featured factional struggles and the often only nominal role of the Great Khan.

Orghana was an Oirat princess of the Mongol Empire and Empress of the Chagatai Khanate. She was a daughter of Torolchi, chief of the Oirats and Checheyikhen, daughter of Genghis Khan. She served as regent in the name of her infant son from 1252 to 1261.

The Four Oirat ; also Oirads and formerly Eleuths, alternatively known as the Alliance of the Four Oirat Tribes or the Oirat Confederation, was the confederation of the Oirat tribes which marked the rise of the Western Mongols in the history of the Mongolian Plateau.

Il-Alti or Il-Altun was a daughter of Genghis Khan by an unknown concubine of lowly status.

Checheikhen was a daughter of Genghis Khan and his first wife Börte.

Samur Gunj (1380s-c.1455) was a daughter of Elbeg Nigülesügchi Khan and his senior wife Kobeguntai. Throughout her life she struggled for the preservation of the Borjigin clan.

Alakhai Bekhi was the daughter of Genghis Khan and his first wife Börte. She acted as Regent of the territories in China proper conquered by her father after he withdrew to the Mongolian Plateau in 1215.

References

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