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Curruccrs KHeru AND THE Rrsu
oF THE MowcoLS
The sudden rise o{ the Mongols under the leadership of Chinggis Khan, the greatest of
the nomad leaders to come galloping out of the grasslands of Central Asia, has long
excited the imagination of historians. When he was born around 1 165 (and given the
nameTemujin), the Mongolian plateau was in its usual state of political fragmentation.
The Mongols were one of a half-dozen or so major tribes managing their herds of horses
and sheep on the plains north of China.
Temujin's early Iife, so far as we can tell, was little different from that of his contemporaries. His father was a minor Mongol leader who was murdered by members of a rival
tribe when Temujin was about ten years old. The death of his father led to hard times for
the boy, his mother Hogelun Ujin, and her other children. The family seems to have been
abandoned by the other members of their clan and experienced much difficulty.
Somehow, Temujin overcame these obstacles. He displayed an early inclination to violence (murdering a half-brother) and a talent for forming close ties outside of his family.
Perhaps his extraordinary "political" skills even outweighed his abilities as a military commander, about which there is little direct evidence. Around 1 185, some of the Mongol elders
chose him as their khan (chief). Two decades later, following his leadership in conquering
much of the Mongol region, a great khuriltai (assembly) of the Mongols (which he had
arranged) named him Chinggis Khan (Universal Ruler). He spent the rest of his life enlarging
the boundaries of his conquests-westward toward Persia and southward into China.
Much of Chinggis Khan's life will always be a mystery. Surprisingly, however, one of
his decisions has been a big help to scholars. Following the khuriltai of 1206, he oversaw
the establishment of a system of writing for the Mongols, known as the Uighur-Mongolian
script, which is still in use today. One of the first works to be recorded in the new script
was a biography of Chinggis, the book known as The Secret History of the Mongols.The
author of the Secret History is unknown, but the book is obviously the work of someone
who was close to Chinggis, perhaps even a member of his household. Written to glorify
From Paul Kahn, l'he Secret History of the Mongok: The Origin of Chin$s Khan: An Adaptatbn of the
Yuan Ch'ao Pi Shih, Based Pimanly on the Englkh T-ranslation b1 Francis Woctdman Cleaaes.Expanded edition
(Boston: Cheng andTsui, 1998),3, 18,40-41, 44-45,96-97.
306
Chapter 47
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Chinggis Khan and the Rise of the
Mongols
Chinggis and having some of the characteristics of a Homeric epic poem, the Secret Hrstory must be used carefully. Despite its limitations for historians, it is the best entry point
into the world of Chinggis Khan.
How does the Secref History help us to understand the Mongols and the rise of
Chinggis Khan? How do the Mongols resemble earlier pastoral nomads, such as the
Scythians and the Xiongnu?
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS
I. LEGENDARY ORiGINS: THE MONGOL CREATiON
STORY
There came into the world a blue-gray wolf
whose destiny was Heaven's will.
His wife was a fallow deer.
They travelled together across the inland sea
and when they were camped near the source of the Onan River
in sight of Mount Burkhan Khaldun
their first son was born, named Batachikhan. . . .
II. CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
After the Tayichigud brothers had abandoned the old camp,
leaving only Hogelun Ujin,
her sons and her little ones,
after the Tayichigud had taken all of the people away,
leaving only the mothers and sons,
Hogelun Ujin, a woman born with great power,
took care ofher
sorrs.
Proudly she put on her headdress and gathered the folds of her skirt.
She went up and down the banks of the Onan
and gathered pears and wild fruit.
Day and night she found food for their mouths,
Mother Hogelun, a woman born with great courage,
took care ofher sons.
Taking ajuniper stick in her hands
she fed them by digging up roots.
These boys who were nourished on the wild onion and pear,
who were fed by Ujin, the Mother,
became the great Lords of all men.
These boys who lived on the roots that she dug for them,
who were cared for with pride by Mother Ujin,
became the wise men who gave us our laws.
These boys who were nourished on the wild onion and pear,
who were fed by the beautiful Ujin,
grew up to be fine, daring men.
Once they'd grown into men,
they pledged to themselves: "Now we'll feed our mother."
3O7
308
sectionTtree /
The Postclassical Period,500-l 500 c.e.: Expansions and contacts
They sat on the banks of the Mother Onan
and bent needles they'd found into fishhooks.
With these hooks they caught a few misshapen fish.
They made nets to sweep through the river
and they caught tiny fish.
With these in their turn they helped feed their mother' . . .
III. ANDA
estabished. behoeut, Tunujin and Jamugha dacribed here nentually broke doam, a
among thc fractiaus nomads of the Mongolian steppe. Nonethekss, it is clcar
occilrrence
frequent
'from
many passages in r/zesecret History that the Mongok attached great im,portanu to anda.l
[The bond
Temujin andJamugha pitched their tents in the Khorkonagh Valley'
With their people united in one great camp,
the two leaders decided they should renew their friendship,
their pledge of anda.
They remembered when they'd first made that pledge,
and said, 'We should love one another again."
That first time they'd met Temujin was eleven years old.
In those
days
when he and his family had been abandoned by the Tayichigud,
he'd first metJamugha,
a young noble of theJadaran clan,
and they'd played at games of knucklebone dice on the banks of the Onan,
casting bones on the frozen waters of the Onan.
roebuck
Jamugha had given Temujin the knucklebone of a
and in return Temujin gaveJamugha a knucklebone of brass'
With that exchange the two boys had pledged themselves anda forever'
Then later that spring
when the two were off in the forest together shooting arrows,
Jamugha took two pieces of calf-horn'
He bored holes in them,
glued them together to fashion a whistling arrowhead,
and he gave this arrow as a present to Temujin.
In return Temujin gave him a beautiful arrow with a clpress wood tip.
With that exchange of arrows
they declared themselves anda a second time.
So Temujin andJamugha said to each other:
"We've heard the elders say,
'\Arhen two men become anda their lives become one'
One will never desert the other and will always defend him''
This is the way we'll act from now on.
We'll renew our old pledge and love each other forever"'
Temujin took the golden belt he'd received
in the spoils from Toghtoga's defeat
and placed it around AndaJamugha's waist'
Then he led out the Merkid chief's warhorse,
Chaptel.
47 /
Chinggis Khan and the Rise of the Mongols
a light yellow mare with black mane and tail,
and gave it to AndaJamugha to ride.
Jamugha took the golden belt he'd received
in the spoils from Dayir Usun's defeat
and placed it around the waist of Anda Temujin.
Then he led out the whitish-tan warhorse of Dayir Usun
and had Anda Temujin ride on it.
Before the cliffs of Khuldaghar
in the Khorkhonagh Valley,
beneath the Great Branching Tree of the Mongol,
they pledged their friendship and promised to love one another.
They held a feast on the spot
and there was great celebration.
Temujin andJamugha spent that night alone,
sharing one blanket to cover them both. . . .
IV. TEMUJIN BECOMES A MONGOL KHAN, 1185
Then they moved the whole camp
to the shores of Blue Lake in the Gurelgu Mountains.
Altan, Khuchar, and Sacha Beki conferred with each other there
and then said to Temujin:
'We want you to be Khan.
Temujin, if you'll be our Khan
we'II search through the spoils
for the beautiful women and virgins,
for the great palace tents,
for the young virgins and loveliest women,
for the finest geldings and mares.
We'll gather all these and bring them to you.
\A4ren we go off to hunt for wild game
we'll go out first to drive them together for you to kill.
We'll drive the wild animals of the steppe together
so that their bellies are touching.
We'll drive the wild game of the mountains together
so that they stand leg to leg.
If we disobey your command during battle
take away our possessions, our children, and wives.
Leave us behind in the dust,
cutting off our heads where we stand and letting them fall to the ground.
If we disobey your counsel in peacetime
take away our tents and our goods, our wives and our children.
Leave us behind when you move,
abandoned in the desert without a protector."
Having given ttreir word,
having taken this oath,
they proclaimed Temujin Khan of the Mongol. . . .
30!,
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SectionThree
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ThePostclassical Period,500-1500c.e.:ExpansionsandContacts
V. PREPARING FOR BATTLE, 1.204
[Tbmujin's uictor) oaff the riaal Naimans in 1204 paaed the way for his election as Chinggis
Khan at the great khuriltai in 1205.1
He divided the men into thousands to form troops of a thousand,
and appointed for each troop a captain of thousands,
captains of hundreds, and captains of tens.
He appointed six men to be stewards of the army,
giving them the title of Cherbi,
including Dodai and Ogele Cherbi among them.
Then having divided the army to form troops of a thousand,
having divided it further to form troops of a hundred,
having divided these further to form troops of ten,
he chose from among them his personal guard,
the eighty nightguards and seventy dayguards.
For this he inspected the sons and relations of all his captains,
and the sons and relations of all common soldiers,
and he selected those with the greatest ability,
those most fit and pleasant to look at.
He had Arkhai Khasar help him, saying:
"Let's pick the bravest men and form a troop of a thousand.
On the days of battle these will fight in front of me.
On the other days they will be my dayguard.
Ogele Cherbi will be their commander
and Khudus Khalkhan will advise him."
Then Chingis Khan established these regulations:
"Let the archers,
the solders of the dayguard,
the cooks,
the door keepers,
and ttre keepers of the geldings
each take his turn at their post during daylight.
Before sunset let the nightguards relieve them.
The men who've served me in daylight
will go spend the night with their horses.
Let the nightguard assign men to lie in the grass around my tent in the darkness,
and assign others to be the door sentries.
Then at daylight when I arise for my morning drink
let the archers and dayguards tell the nightguards they're here
and let the archers,
the soldiers who are dayguards,
the cooks, and door keepers
each go to their job.
Let them each be seated in his proper place.
They'll each finish their assigned tasks,
which will last three days and nights,
spending each of the nights the same way with their horses,
Chaprer 47
/
Chinggis Khan and the Rise of the
Mongols 3l
then they'll trade places with the men who've relieved them,
becoming the nightguards on the following night,
beginning as the men who lie in the grass around my tent."
So having divided his army to form troops of a thousand,
having appointed his stewards,
having chosen his eighty nightguards,
and seventy soldiers as dayguards,
having selected the bravest among them for Arkhai Khasar to lead,
having made his camp near Keltegi Cliffs on the Khalkha,
it being the sixteenth day of the summer's first moon,
the Red Circle day in the Year of the Rat,
having sprinkled libations of mare's milk on his standard of nine tails
as a signal to Heaven that he was going to wat
Chinggis Khan set out with his army against the Naiman. . . .
STUDY OUESTIONS
l.
What do you learn about Mongol daily life and beliefs from the Seuet Historl?
does this "in-house" history explain the rise of Chinggis Khan? In what
ways would a modern historian's explanation differ?
What evidence of the importance of oral tradition among the Mongols do you
see in the Secret Historl? How do you think ordinary Mongols learned the Seuet
2. How
3.
History?
4. To what
extent might t}:,e Secret History be thought of as the beginning of a
Mongol "national myth" (i.e., as a way of promoting unity among the various
clans and tribes)? How does the Secret Histor) cornpare to other national myths?
I