HOME



picture info

Temüjin
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongol tribes, he launched a series of military campaigns, conquering large parts of China and Central Asia. Born between 1155 and 1167 and given the name Temüjin, he was the eldest child of Yesugei, a Mongol chieftain of the Borjigin clan, and his wife Hö'elün. When Temüjin was eight, his father died and his family was abandoned by its tribe. Reduced to near-poverty, Temüjin killed his older half-brother to secure his familial position. His charismatic personality helped to attract his first followers and to form alliances with two prominent steppe leaders named Jamukha and Toghrul; they worked together to retrieve Temüjin's newlywed wife Börte, who had been kidnapped by raiders. As his reputation grew, his relationship with Jamukha deteriorated into open warfare. Temüjin was badly defeated i ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Toghrul
Toghrul ( ''Tooril han''; ), also known as Wang Khan or Ong Khan ( ''Wan han''; ; died 1203), was a Khan (title), khan of the Keraites. He was the blood brother (anda (Mongol), anda) of the Mongol chief Yesugei and served as an important early patron and ally to Yesugei's son Temüjin, later known as Genghis Khan. The main source on his life is the ''Secret History of the Mongols''. Name "Wang Khan" was the name given to Toghrul by the Jurchen people, Jurchen-led Jin dynasty (1115–1234), Jin dynasty of China; ''Chinese nobility, Wang'' means king or prince. During the 13th century, Toghrul was one of several Asian leaders who was identified with the legend of Prester John, but also King David, a brother to John. Although the Keraites converted to Nestorianism, a sect of Christianity, early in the 11th century there is no credible proof that Toghrul was himself Christian as Mongolian sources say nothing about his religion. Early life He was born around 1130, to Nestorianis ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Wives Of Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan had many wives and concubines. Wives and concubines were frequently acquired from conquered territory, and, in the case of Genghis Khan, sometimes whole empires, and the women enrolled as either his wives or concubines were often princesses or queens that were either taken captive or gifted to him. Genghis Khan gave several of his high-status wives their own ''ordos'' or camps to live in and manage. Each camp also contained junior wives, concubines, and even children. It was the job of the Kheshig (Mongol imperial guard) to protect the yurts of Genghis Khan's wives. The guards had to pay particular attention to the individual yurt and camp in which Genghis Khan slept, which could change every night as he visited different wives. When Genghis Khan set out on his military conquests, he usually took one wife with him and left the rest of his wives (and concubines) to manage the empire in his absence. List of primary wives Börte The marriage between Börte and Genghis ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Börte
Börte Üjin (; Mongolian: ), better known as Börte (), was the first wife of Temüjin, who became Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire. Börte became the head of the first Court of Genghis Khan, and Grand Empress of his Empire. She was betrothed to Genghis at a young age, married at seventeen, and then kidnapped by a rival tribe. Her husband's rescue of her is considered one of the key events that started him on his path to becoming a conqueror. She gave birth to four sons and five daughters, who, along with their own descendants, were the primary bloodline in the expansion of the Mongol Empire. Early life Few historical facts are known about her early life, though she is a subject of a number of Mongolian legends. What little is known is generally from ''The Secret History of the Mongols'', the oldest surviving literary work in the Mongolian language, written for the Mongol royal family some time after the death of Genghis Khan in 1227. Börte was born into t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hö'elün
Hö'elün ( Mongolian: , , ; ) was a noblewoman of the Mongol Empire and the mother of Temüjin, better known as Genghis Khan. She played a major role in his rise to power, as described in the '' Secret History of the Mongols''. Born into the Olkhonud clan of the Onggirat tribe, Hö'elün was originally married to Chiledu, a Merkit aristocrat; she was captured shortly after her wedding by Yesügei, an important member of the Mongols, who abducted her to be his primary wife. She and Yesügei had four sons and one daughter: Temüjin, Qasar, Hachiun, Temüge, and Temülen. After Yesügei was fatally poisoned and the Mongols abandoned her family, Hö'elün shepherded all her children through poverty to adulthood—her resilience and organisational skills have been remarked upon by historians. She continued to play an important role after Temüjin's marriage to Börte—together, the two women managed his camp and provided him with advice. Hö'elün married Münglig, an o ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Jamukha
Jamukha (), a military and political leader of the Jadaran tribe who was proclaimed Gurkhan, ''Gur Khan'' ('Universal Ruler') in 1201 by opposing factions, was a principal rival to Genghis Khan, Temüjin (proclaimed Genghis Khan in 1206) during the struggle for supremacy over the diverse tribes of the Mongolian steppe, a conflict that ultimately led to their unification under Temüjin. Biography Jamukha was born into the Jadaran tribe, a sub-tribe within the Khamag Mongol confederation. He was also an ''anda'', a sworn brother, to Temüjin. According to ''The Secret History of the Mongols'', when Börte, wife of Temüjin, and Sochigel, his step-mother, were abducted by the Merkit, Three Merkits, Wang Khan, Jamukha, and Temüjin combined forces against the Merkits to recover both women. In 1201, the leaders of thirteen tribes hostile to Temüjin (including the Merkits, Tatars, Naimans, Jamukha's own Jadaran tribe, the Taichiud, Taichuud, and others not allied with Temüjin) asse ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Jochi
Jochi (; ), also spelled Jüchi, was a prince of the early Mongol Empire. His life was marked by controversy over the circumstances of his birth and culminated in his estrangement from his family. He was nevertheless a prominent Military of the Mongol Empire, military commander and the progenitor of the family who ruled over the khanate of the Golden Horde. Jochi was the son of Börte, the first wife of the Mongols, Mongol leader Temüjin, now Genghis Khan. For many months before Jochi's birth, Börte had been a captive of the Merkit, Merkit tribe, one of whom forcibly married and raped her. Although there was thus considerable doubt over Jochi's parentage, Temüjin considered him his son and treated him accordingly. Many Mongols, most prominently Börte's next son Chagatai Khan, Chagatai, disagreed; these tensions eventually led to both Chagatai and Jochi being excluded from the line of succession to the Mongol throne. After Temüjin founded the Mongol Empire in 1206 and took ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Battle Of Dalan Balzhat
The Battle of Dalan Baljut was fought in 1187 between Temüjin (later known as ''Genghis Khan'') and his blood brother Jamukha. Although Temüjin and Jamukha were close friends for many years, they began to drift apart as time went on. Central to this split was the political system each of them supported—Jamukha held up the traditional Mongol aristocracy, whereas Temüjin believed that a meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than ... would be best. Temüjin was able to find several successes, most notably in attracting a broad range of followers (including lower classes), a successful campaign against the Merkits and the shaman Kokochu proclaiming "... that the Eternal Blue Sky had set aside the world for Temüjin". In , Temüjin was elected Khan of the Mongols, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Yesugei
Yesükhei () or Yesugei Baghatur ( Traditional Mongolian: ; Modern Mongolian: Есүхэй баатар, ''Yesukhei baatar'', ) (b. 1134 – d. 1171) was a major chief of the Khamag Mongol confederation and the father of Temüjin, who later became known as Genghis Khan. Yesügei was from the Borjigin family, and his name means "like nine", meaning he had the auspicious qualities of the number nine, a lucky number to the Mongols. Life Yesügei was the son of Bartan Baghatur, who was the second son of Khabul Khan. Khabul was recognized as a khagan by the Jin Dynasty. Khabul Khan was, in turn, the great-grandson of the Mongol chief Khaidu, the first to try to unite the Mongols. Yesügei abducted his chief wife, Hö'elün, a daughter of the Olkhunut forest people, with the help of his elder brother Negün Taishi and younger brother Daritai Otchigin, from her newlywed husband Chiledu of Merkits. Yesügei abducted Hoelun because of her beauty and indications of fertility. Af ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Battle Of Qalaqaljid Sands
The Battle of Khalakhaljid Sands was fought between Genghis Khan, then known as Temüjin, and the forces of Toghrul, khan of the Kereit. The Kereit elites, deeply suspicious of Temüjin's diplomatic overtures to Toghrul, had convinced their leader to turn on his vassal. Warned by two herdsmen, Temüjin had escaped a planned ambush, but was pursued by a larger force. His Mongol allies came to his aid at the Khalakhaljid Sands, but they were defeated. Following the battle, in which Temüjin's 17-year-old son Ögedei was severely wounded, Temüjin swore the Baljuna Covenant The Baljuna Covenant was an oath sworn in mid-1203 AD by Temüjin—the khan of the Mongol tribe and the future Genghis Khan—and a small group of companions, subsequently known as the ''Baljunatu''. Temüjin had risen in power in the s ... with his companions. References Battles involving the Mongol Empire Genghis Khan Conflicts in 1203 1200s in the Mongol Empire {{Mongol-battle-stub ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Western Xia
The Western Xia or the Xi Xia ( zh, c=, w=Hsi1 Hsia4, p=Xī Xià), officially the Great Xia ( zh, c=大夏, w=Ta4 Hsia4, p=Dà Xià, labels=no), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was a Tangut-led imperial dynasty of China that existed from 1038 to 1227. At its peak, the dynasty ruled over modern-day northwestern China, including parts of Ningxia, Gansu, eastern Qinghai, northern Shaanxi, northeastern Xinjiang, and southwest Inner Mongolia, and southernmost Outer Mongolia, measuring about . The capital of Western Xia was Xingqing (modern Yinchuan); another major Xia city and archaeological site is Khara-Khoto. Western Xia was annihilated by the Mongols in 1227. Most of its written records and architecture were destroyed, so the founders and history of the empire remained obscure until 20th-century research in China and the West. Today the Tangut language and its unique script are extinct, only ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Chagatai Khan
Chagatai Khan (; – 1242) was a son of Genghis Khan and a prominent figure in the early Mongol Empire. The second son of Genghis's wife Börte, Chagatai was renowned for his masterful knowledge of Mongol custom and law, which he scrupulously obeyed, and his harsh temperament. Because Genghis felt that he was too inflexible in character, most notably never accepting the legitimacy of his elder brother Jochi, he excluded Chagatai from succession to the Mongol throne. He was nevertheless a key figure in ensuring the stability of the empire after Genghis's death and during the reign of his younger brother Ögedei Khan. Chagatai held military commands alongside his brothers during the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty in 1211 and the invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire in 1219. During the latter, he was appointed to a key role in organising logistics in addition to battlefield responsibilities, but was censured after feuding with Jochi during the Siege of Gurganj. After the ca ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tolui
Tolui (born ; died 1232) was the youngest son of Genghis Khan and Börte. A prominent general during the early Mongol conquests, Tolui was a leading candidate to succeed his father after his death in 1227 and ultimately served as regent of the Mongol Empire until the accession of his brother Ögedei two years later. Tolui's wife was Sorghaghtani Beki; their sons included Möngke and Kublai, the fourth and fifth khans of the empire, and Hulagu, the founder of the Ilkhanate. Tolui was less active than his elder brothers Jochi, Chagatai, and Ögedei during their father's rise to power, but once he reached adulthood he was considered the finest warrior of the four. He commanded armies under his father during the first invasion of Jin China (1211–1215), and his distinguished service during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire secured his reputation. After the fall of the cities of Transoxiana in 1220, Genghis dispatched Tolui early the following year to subjugat ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]