THE MONGOLS
A HISTORY
BY
JEREMIAH CURTIN
AUTHOR OF “MYTHS AND FOLK-LORE OF IRELAND,” “HERO-TALES OF IRELAND,”
“MYTH AND FOLK-TALES OF THE RUSSIANS, WESTERN SLAVS, AND MAGYARS,”
“CREATION MYTHS OF PRIMITIVE AMERICA,” ETC.
With a Foreword by
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1908
Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, I
dedicate to you the present volume entitled “The Mongols, a History.” I
do this because on September 5th, 1901, in the city of Burlington where
you addressed Vermont veterans, I asked permission to make the
dedication and you gave it. You were Vice-President at that time.
I made this request because I have great respect and admiration for you
as a man, as a leader of men, and a scholar; and because of the way in
which I came first to know you.
In 1891 you, as Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, were in
Washington. I had just returned to that city from a work of two years
among Pacific Coast Indians. Of these, two tribes in California had
asked me to intercede for them with the President, who in those days
was Benjamin Harrison. These Indians were among the truly wretched and
suffering. One tribe of them had been almost exterminated through a
massacre inflicted by white men. The other reduced to a feeble remnant
through various man-killing processes. Still they were worthy of
earnest attention. Their myths have a beauty and a value which should
preserve them till literature perishes. These two tribes were the Wintu
and the Yana whose account of the world and its origin I published
later on in “Creation Myths of Primitive America.”
On reaching Washington I went to Frederick T. Greenhalge, my classmate,
who then represented a part of Massachusetts in Congress, but afterward
was one of that Commonwealth’s renowned governors. Greenhalge tried to
induce a strong man or two from the Senate or House to assist us to act
on the President, but, though promises were made, no man came with
support, and we went alone to the White House. The case had been stated
clearly on two pages which I held ready for delivery. When I had given
the reason of my coming the President answered: “I see no way to help
you. What can I do in this matter?” “You can give,” replied I, “the
executive impulse. Send this statement to the Secretary of the
Interior, and direct him to act on it.” “That will suffice,” added
Greenhalge. “I will do it,” said the President, after thinking a
moment. He took my paper, jotted down the directions I had suggested,
and sent them to the Secretary.
We came away greatly satisfied, and halted some moments at the head of
the staircase. The President’s chamber was on the second story. All at
once in the large room below us I saw a young man, alert in his bearing
and perfectly confident. He gazed at the ceiling and walls of the room,
and was thoroughly occupied. There was no one else in the apartment. I
asked Greenhalge to look at him. “That man,” said I, “looks precisely
as if he had examined this building, and finding it suitable has made
up his mind to inhabit it.” “He is a living picture of that purpose,”
replied Greenhalge. “But do you not know him? That is Theodore
Roosevelt, Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, I must make you
acquainted. But first listen to a prophecy: That man down there who
wants this house will get it. He will live here as President.”
On reaching the foot of the staircase Greenhalge met you and made us
acquainted. We conversed for some moments, and then you were called to
the President. You and I did not meet for some years after that day at
the White House. You were toiling at problems of government and
service, looking ahead always, looking to things over which you are
brooding and toiling this moment. Some of the problems have been
solved, others still demand solution.
My work led me to various parts of the earth, and around it. But at
home or abroad I watched your activity with care and deep interest. Not
very long after that prophecy I read for the first time this statement
concerning you: “We need just such a man to be President.” These words,
uttered casually at that juncture, were like the still small voice,
their might was in their quality.
When a few years of service, unique in many ways, had brought you to
the Navy you accomplished your task in that place and went farther
immediately. By this time your name and the office of President were
associated in the minds of many people. Next came the Cuban war with
experience and triumph. And then you were governor at Albany. While
still in that office you were named for Vice-President, and elected.
Later you were President. But only when elected by the people could you
act as seemed best to you and not as antecedents commanded.
I have watched and studied your career with deeper interest than that
of any man who has ever been President of the United States. There is
no case in our history of such concordance between the judgment of a
people and the acts of a man. “Thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many.”
Jeremiah Curtin.
St. Hyacinthe, P. Q., September 6, 1906.
FOREWORD
The death of Jeremiah Curtin robbed America of one of her two or three
foremost scholars. Mr. Curtin, who was by birth a native of Wisconsin,
at one time was in the diplomatic service of the Government; but his
chief work was in literature. The extraordinary facility with which he
learned any language, his gift of style in his own language, his
industry, his restless activity and desire to see strange nations and
out of the way peoples, and his great gift of imagination which enabled
him to appreciate the epic sweep of vital historical events, all
combined to render his work of peculiar value. His extraordinary
translations of the Polish novels of Sienkiewicz, especially of those
dealing with medieval Poland and her struggles with the Tartar, the
Swede and the German, would in themselves have been enough to establish
a first class reputation for any man. In addition he did remarkable
work in connection with Indian, Celtic and other folk tales. But
nothing that he did was more important than his studies of the rise of
the mighty Mongol Empire and its decadence. In this particular field no
other American or English scholar has ever approached him.
Indeed, it is extraordinary to see how ignorant even the best scholars
of America and England are of the tremendous importance in world
history of the nation-shattering Mongol invasions. A noted Englishman
of letters not many years ago wrote a charming essay on the Thirteenth
Century—an essay showing his wide learning, his grasp of historical
events, and the length of time that he had devoted to the study of the
century. Yet the essayist not only never mentioned but was evidently
ignorant of the most stupendous fact of the century—the rise of Genghis
Khan and the spread of the Mongol power from the Yellow Sea to the
Adriatic and the Persian Gulf. Ignorance like this is partly due to the
natural tendency among men whose culture is that of Western Europe to
think of history as only European history and of European history as
only the history of Latin and Teutonic Europe. But this does not
entirely excuse ignorance of such an event as the Mongol-Tartar
invasion, which affected half of Europe far more profoundly than the
Crusades. It is this ignorance, of course accentuated among those who
are not scholars, which accounts for the possibility of such comically
absurd remarks as the one not infrequently made at the time of the
Japanese-Russian war, that for the first time since Salamis Asia had
conquered Europe. As a matter of fact the recent military supremacy of
the white or European races is a matter of only some three centuries.
For the four preceding centuries, that is, from the beginning of the
thirteenth to the seventeenth, the Mongol and Turkish armies generally
had the upper hand in any contest with European foes, appearing in
Europe always as invaders and often as conquerors; while no ruler of
Europe of their days had to his credit such mighty feats of arms, such
wide conquests, as Genghis Khan, as Timour the Limper, as Bajazet,
Selim and Amurath, as Baber and Akbar.
The rise of the Mongol power under Genghis Khan was unheralded and
unforeseen, and it took the world as completely by surprise as the rise
of the Arab power six centuries before. When the thirteenth century
opened Genghis Khan was merely one among a number of other obscure
Mongol chiefs and neither he nor his tribe had any reputation whatever
outside of the barren plains of Central Asia, where they and their
fellow-barbarians lived on horseback among their flocks and herds.
Neither in civilized nor semi-civilized Europe, nor in civilized nor
semi-civilized Asia, was he known or feared, any more, for instance,
than the civilized world of to-day knows or fears the Senoussi, or any
obscure black mahdi in the region south of the Sahara. At the moment,
Europe had lost fear of aggression from either Asia or Africa. In Spain
the power of the Moors had just been reduced to insignificance. The
crusading spirit, it is true, had been thoroughly discredited by the
wicked Fourth Crusade, when the Franks and Venetians took
Constantinople and destroyed the old bulwark of Europe against the
Infidel. But in the crusade in which he himself lost his life the
Emperor Barbarossa had completely broken the power of the Seljouk Turks
in Asia Minor, and tho Jerusalem had been lost it was about to be
regained by that strange and brilliant man, the Emperor Frederick II,
“the wonder of the world.” The Slavs of Russia were organized into a
kind of loose confederacy, and were slowly extending themselves
eastward, making settlements like Moscow in the midst of various
Finnish peoples. Hungary and Poland were great warrior kingdoms, tho a
couple of centuries were to pass before Poland would come to her full
power. The Caliphs still ruled at Bagdad. In India Mohammedan warred
with Rajput; and the Chinese Empire was probably superior in
civilization and in military strength to any nation of Europe.
Into this world burst the Mongol. All his early years Genghis Khan
spent in obtaining first the control of his own tribe, and then in
establishing the absolute supremacy of this tribe over all its
neighbors. In the first decade of the thirteenth century this work was
accomplished. His supremacy over the wild mounted herdsmen was absolute
and unquestioned. Every formidable competitor, every man who would not
bow with unquestioning obedience to his will, had been ruthlessly
slain, and he had developed a number of able men who were willing to be
his devoted slaves, and to carry out his every command with
unhesitating obedience and dreadful prowess. Out of the Mongol
horse-bowmen and horse-swordsmen he speedily made the most formidable
troops then in existence. East, west and south he sent his armies, and
under him and his immediate successors the area of conquest widened by
leaps and bounds; while two generations went by before any troops were
found in Asia or Europe who on any stricken field could hold their own
with the terrible Mongol horsemen, and their subject-allies and remote
kinsmen, the Turko-Tartars who served with and under them. Few
conquests have ever been so hideous and on the whole so noxious to
mankind. The Mongols were savages as cruel as they were brave and
hardy. There were Nestorian Christians among them, as in most parts of
Asia at that time, but the great bulk of them were Shamanists; that is,
their creed and ethical culture were about on a par with those of the
Comanches and Apaches of the nineteenth century. They differed from
Comanche and Apache in that capacity for military organization which
gave them such terrible efficiency; but otherwise they were not much
more advanced, and the civilized peoples who fell under their sway
experienced a fate as dreadful as would be the case if nowadays a
civilized people were suddenly conquered by a great horde of Apaches.
The ruthless cruelty of the Mongol was practised on a scale greater
than ever before or since. The Moslems feared them as much as the
Christians. They put to death the Caliph, and sacked Bagdad, just as
they sacked the cities of Russia and Hungary. They destroyed the
Turkish tribes which ventured to resist them with the merciless
thoroughness which they showed in dealing with any resistance in
Europe. They were inconceivably formidable in battle, tireless in
campaign and on the march, utterly indifferent to fatigue and hardship,
of extraordinary prowess with bow and sword. To the Europeans who
cowered in horror before them, the squat, slit-eyed, brawny horsemen,
“with faces like the snouts of dogs,” seemed as hideous and fearsome as
demons, and as irresistible by ordinary mortals. They conquered China
and set on the throne a Mongol dynasty. India also their descendants
conquered, and there likewise erected a great Mongol empire. Persia in
the same way fell into their hands. Their armies, every soldier on
horseback, marched incredible distances and overthrew whatever opposed
them. They struck down the Russians at a blow and trampled the land
into bloody mire beneath their horses’ feet. They crushed the Magyars
in a single battle and drew a broad red furrow straight across Hungary,
driving the Hungarian King in panic flight from his realm. They overran
Poland and destroyed the banded knighthood of North Germany in Silesia.
Western Europe could have made no adequate defense; but fortunately by
this time the Mongol attack had spent itself, simply because the
distance from the central point had become so great. It was no
Christian or European military power which first by force set bounds to
the Mongol conquests; but the Turkish Mamelukes of Egypt in the West,
and in the East, some two score years later, the armies of Japan.
In a couple of generations the Mongols as a whole became Buddhists in
the East and Moslems in the West; and in the West the true Mongols
gradually disappeared, being lost among the Turkish tribes whom they
had conquered and led to victory. It was these Turkish tribes, known as
Tartars, who for over two centuries kept Russia in a servitude so
terrible, so bloody, so abject, as to leave deep permanent marks on the
national character. The Russians did not finally throw off this squalid
yoke until thirty years after the conquest of Constantinople by the
Ottoman Turks, the power of the Tartars waning as that of the Ottomans
approached its zenith. Poland was now rising high. Its vast territory
extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea. It was far more important
than Muscovy. In the “Itinerary” of that widely travelled Elizabethan,
Fynes Morrison, we learn that the Turks dreaded the Polish armies more
than those of Germany, or of any other nation; this was after the
Hungarians had been conquered.
The scourge of the Mongol conquests was terrible beyond belief, so that
even where a land was flooded but for a moment, the memory long
remained. It is not long since in certain churches in Eastern Europe
the litany still contained the prayer, “From the fury of the Mongols,
good Lord deliver us.” The Mongol armies developed a certain ant-like
or bee-like power of joint action which enabled them to win without
much regard to the personality of the leader; a French writer has well
contrasted the great “anonymous victories” of the Mongols with the
purely personal triumphs of that grim Turkish conqueror whom we know
best as Timour the Tartar, or Tamerlane. The civil administration the
Mongols established in a conquered country was borrowed from China, and
where they settled as conquerors the conduct of the Chinese bureaucracy
maddened the subject peoples almost as much as the wild and lawless
brutality of the Mongol soldiers themselves. Gradually their empire,
after splitting up, passed away and left little direct influence in any
country; but it was at the time so prodigious a phenomenon, fraught
with such vast and dire possibilities, that a full knowledge of the
history of the Mongol people is imperatively necessary to all who would
understand the development of Asia and of Eastern Europe. No other
writer of English was so well fitted to tell this history as Jeremiah
Curtin.
Theodore Roosevelt.
Sagamore Hill, September 1, 1907.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I PAGE
Geographical spread of the word Mongol.—Beginning of the Mongol
career.—Mythical account of Temudjin’s origin.—Kaidu, ancestor of
the great historical Mongols.—Origin of the Urudai and Manhudai
tribes.—Family of Kaidu.—Origin of the Taidjuts.—Bartan,
grandfather of Temudjin.—Yessugai, father of Temudjin.—Kabul’s
visit to China.—Capture and escape of Kabul.—Shaman killed for the
death of a patient.—Death of Ambagai.—Death of Okin Barka.—March of
Kutula against China.—Kaidan, Tuda and Yessugai hold a
council.—Attack of the Durbans.—Bartan, the father of Yessugai,
dies.—Triumph of Yessugai 1
CHAPTER II
Rivalry between descendants of Kabul and Ambagai.—Kidnapping of
Hoelun by Yessugai.—Birth and naming of Temudjin.—Yessugai finds a
wife for Temudjin.—Death of Yessugai, 1175.—Neglect of
Hoelun.—Targutai draws away Yessugai’s people.—Temudjin begins his
career by the murder of his half-brother.—Capture of Temudjin by
the Taidjuts.—Temudjin’s escape from captivity.—Assistance rendered
by Sorgan Shira.—Marriage of Temudjin to Bortai.—Friendship of
Temudjin and Boörchu.—Alliance of Togrul and Temudjin.—Chelmai, son
of Charchiutai.—Capture of Bortai by the Merkits.—Pursuit of
Temudjin.—Origin of the worship of Mount Burham.—Assistance of
Togrul in recovering Bortai.—Ancestors of Jamuka.—Temudjin made
Khan.—Appointment of officers.—Temudjin’s first victory in
battle.—Temudjin’s brutal punishment of prisoners.—Juriats join
Temudjin’s forces.—Marriage of Temudjin’s sister to Podu.—Marriage
of Temudjin’s mother to Munlik.—Barins withdraw from
alliance.—Efforts of Temudjin to win the friendship of Jamuka 16
CHAPTER III
Attack of Temudjin and Togrul upon the Lake Buyur Tartars.—Togrul
is given the title of Wang Khan.—Attack of Temudjin upon the
Churkis.—Origin of the Churkis.—Death of Buri Buga.—Adopted sons of
Hoelun, mother of Temudjin.—Temudjin and Wang Khan attack the
Merkits, 1197.—Desertion of Wang Khan.—Wang Khan’s men routed by
Naimans.—Rescue of Wang Khan by Temudjin.—Second defeat of the
Naimans.—Temudjin and Wang Khan become as father and son to each
other.—Wang Khan and Temudjin march against the Taidjuts,
1200.—Taidjuts are joined by several neighboring tribes.—Offering
made by Taidjuts and their allies when taking oath.—Defeat of
Taidjuts and Merkits by Temudjin.—Jamuka is made Khan.—Effort of
Jamuka to surprise and kill Temudjin, 1201.—Shamans cause wind and
rain to strike Temudjin.—Defeat of Jamuka.—Punishment of Temudjin’s
brother, Belgutai, for exposing plans.—Temudjin marches against the
Tartars.—Marriage of Temudjin to Aisugan.—Defeat of Tukta Bijhi, a
Merkit chief.—Temudjin asks for Wang Khan’s granddaughter for
Juchi.—Efforts of Jamuka to rouse the jealousy of Sengun, son of
Wang Khan.—Sengun tries to break the alliance between his father
and Temudjin.—Discovery of a plot to kill Temudjin.—Attack of Wang
Khan and Sengun upon Temudjin.—Victory of Temudjin.—Death of
Huildar.—Message of Temudjin to Wang Khan.—Message of Temudjin to
Sengun.—Message of Temudjin to Jamuka.—Attack of Temudjin upon Wang
Khan.—Defeat of Wang Khan and Sengun.—Temudjin rewards his
warriors.—Temudjin takes as wife the daughter of Jaganbo, Wang
Khan’s brother.—Death of Wang Khan and Sengun, 1203 37
CHAPTER IV
Attack upon Temudjin by Baibuga, his father-in-law.—Council held by
Temudjin, 1204.—Battle with the Naimans, autumn of 1204.—Capture of
Kurbassu, the wife of Baibuga.—Surrender to Temudjin of tribes
allied to Jamuka.—Subjection of the Merkits.—Marriage of Temudjin
to the daughter of Dair Usun.—Revolt and pursuit of the
Merkits.—Death of Tohtoa.—Defeat and capture of Jamuka.—Death of
Jamuka.—Temudjin is made Grand Khan, takes the title
Jinghis.—Temudjin rewards his officers.—Temudjin gives his wife to
Churchadai.—Temudjin distrusts his brother, Kassar.—Defence of
Kassar by his mother, Hoelun.—Death of Hoelun.—Temudjin alarmed at
the power of Taibtengeri, a Shaman.—Murder of Taibtengeri.—Jinghis
Khan’s (Temudjin) campaign against Tanguts.—Jinghis Khan’s position
secured in Northeastern Asia.—Kara Kitai, geographically.—The
Uigurs.—Triumphs of Jinghis alarm China.—Mission of Jinghis’ envoys
to the Uigurs.—Indignation of the Uigurs.—Mongols invade Tangut,
1207.—Tangut King gives his daughter in marriage to Jinghis.—Return
of Jinghis.—Arslan Khan of the Karluks gives homage to
Jinghis.—Marriage of Arslan to Altun Bijhi, Jinghis’ daughter 62
CHAPTER V
China, 618 to 907, A.D.—Fall of Tang dynasty.—The Kitans.—Parin
proclaims himself Emperor, 916.—House of Sung unites nearly all
China, 960.—Tribute paid by the Sung Emperor to the Kitans,
1004.—Victory over the Kitans by Aguta in 1114.—Founding of a new
State, Kin kwe, by Aguta.—Death of Aguta.—Invasion of North China
by Kin Emperor, 1125.—Kin Emperor besieges Kai fong fu, 1126.—Sung
Emperor seized and sent to Manchuria.—Message of Jinghis Khan to
the sovereign of China.—Jinghis sets out to subdue the Chinese
Empire, 1211.—Sons of Jinghis.—Army equipment.—Advance of 1,200
miles to the Great Wall of China.—Friendship of the
Onguts.—Insurrection of the Kitans.—Chong tu invested.—Jinghis
sends Subotai against the Merkits.—Jinghis resumes activity in
China, 1213.—Attack of Tangut on China, 1213.—Mongols attack lands
bordering on the Hoang Ho, 1214.—Defence of Chong tu.—Mongols
attack Nan king.—Defeat of the Merkits.—Corea’s submission to
Jinghis, 1218.—Death of Boroul, 1217.—Origin of Mukuli, one of
Jinghis’ greatest generals.—Jinghis’ fourth attack on the Tanguts,
1218.—Origin of Kara Kitai.—Victory of Yeliu over Kashgar.—Invasion
of Kwaresm by Yeliu.—Treachery of Gutchluk.—Execution of Gutchluk
by Chepé.—Kara Kitai attacked by Shah Mohammed.—The World-Shaking
Limper (Tamerlane).—Attack of Kara Kitans by Mongols.—Death of the
Gurkhan of Kara Kitai, 1136 79
CHAPTER VI
Addition of Kara Kitai to Mongol domains.—End of Seljuk rule.—Kutb
ud din Mohammed made Kwaresmian Shah.—Mohammed seizes Balk and
Herat.—Invasion of the lands of the Gurkhan by Mohammed,
1208.—Defeat and capture of Shah Mohammed.—Mohammed and Osman make
an attack on the Gurkhan.—Success of the Kwaresmian Shah.—Mohammed
gives his daughter in marriage to Osman, ruler of
Samarkand.—Kwaresmians killed by Osman.—Storming of Samarkand by
Mohammed.—Death of Osman.—Seizure of a part of the Gur
Kingdom.—Assassination of Ali Shir by command of Mohammed, his
brother, 1213.—Winning of Ghazni by Mohammed, 1216.—Discovery of
letters from the Kalif warning the Gurs against Mohammed.—Efforts
of Nassir the Kalif to stop Kwaresmian growth.—Limited power of the
Kalif.—Envoy sent by Mohammed to the Kalif.—Ali ul Muluk is
recognized as Kalif.—Murder of Ogulmush by command of the
Kalif.—Annexation of Irak by Mohammed.—Mohammed advances on
Bagdad.—Retreat of Mohammed.—Mohammed alarmed by Mongol
movements.—Mohammed receives envoys from Jinghis Khan,
1216–17.—Sunnites and Shiites.—Determination of the Kalif to ask
Jinghis to defend the Sunnites.—Invitation to Jinghis branded on
the head of the envoy.—Message of Jinghis to Shah Mohammed.—Arrest
of Mongolian merchants.—Second message from Jinghis to
Mohammed.—Murder of Bajra, Jinghis Khan’s envoy.—Turkan Khatun, the
mother of Shah Mohammed.—Trouble caused by Turkan Khatun.—A Mongol
tempest.—Conspiracy of Bedr ud din.—Arrangement of the Mongol
army.—Investment of Otrar, November, 1218.—Capture of Otrar, April,
1219.—Slaughter of the Turk garrison at Benakit.—Escape of Melik
Timur.—Investment of Bokhara, June, 1219.—Surrender of
Bokhara.—Feeding of Mongol horses in the Grand Mosque.—Storming of
the fortress.—March of Jinghis on Samarkand.—Surrender of
Samarkand.—Pursuit of the Kwaresmian ruler 93
CHAPTER VII
Indecision of Shah Mohammed.—Escape of Mohammed to
Nishapur.—Submission of Balkh.—Proclamation of the Shah to
Nishapur.—Pursuit of Mohammed.—Withdrawal of Mohammed from
Nishapur.—Sack of Nishapur.—Flight of Mohammed to an island in the
Caspian.—Death of Shah Mohammed, January 10, 1221.—Escape of Turkan
Khatun to the mountains.—Succession of Jelal ud din.—Surrender of
Ilak and of Turkan Khatun.—Siege and capture of the Kwaresmian
capital.—Attack made on the Talekan district by Jinghis.—Siege of
Ghazni.—March of Tului against Khorassan, 1220.—Attack on
Nessa.—Attack and capture of Merv.—Revenge of Togachar’s
widow.—March of the Mongols against Herat.—Turkmans near Merv
escape and form the nucleus of the Ottoman Empire.—Jelal ud din at
Ghazni, 1221.—Death of a grandson of Jinghis.—Revenge of
Jinghis.—Retreat of Jelal from Ghazni.—Pursuit of Jelal by
Jinghis.—Battle at the Indus between Jelal and Jinghis.—Leap of
Jelal into the Indus.—Siege of Herat, 1222.—Mongol army marches on
Herat a second time 113
CHAPTER VIII
Jinghis passes the winter near the Indus, 1222–23.—Resolve of
Jinghis to return to Mongolia, 1223.—Myths regarding this
resolution.—Command of Jinghis to kill useless prisoners.—March of
Chepé Noyon to Tiflis.—Command of Jinghis to Chepé Noyon to
exterminate the Polovtsi.—March of Chepé to Tiflis.—Chepé’s
alliance with the Polovtsi.—Betrayal of the Polovtsi, their flight
to Russia.—Mystislav aids the Polovtsi against the Mongols.—Defeat
of the Russians on the Kalka, 1224.—Terror of Southern
Russia.—Jinghis at his home on the Kerulon, 1225.—Mukuli’s conquest
of lands belonging to the Kin dynasty, 1216.—Death of Mukuli,
1223.—Jinghis enters Tangut, 1226.—Siege of Ling chau.—Submission
of Ling chau.—Death of Jinghis Khan, 1227.—Burial of
Jinghis.—Jinghis Khan’s disposal of his Empire.—Kurultai of
election held on the Kerulon, 1229.—Accession of Ogotai. His plans
of expeditions.—Offerings made to the shade of Jinghis.—First work
of Ogotai 131
CHAPTER IX
Condition of Persian Irak at the time of Jinghis Khan’s
death.—Flight of Jelal ud din to Delhi.—Marriage of Jelal to the
daughter of Iletmish.—Effort of Jelal to take possession of his
inheritance.—Founding of the Kara Kitan dynasty of Kerman.—Marriage
of Jelal to the daughter of Borak.—Advance of Jelal into
Fars.—Marriage of Jelal to the daughter of the Atabeg of
Shiraz.—Effort of Jelal to overcome his brother, Ghiath.—Jelal
marches against Nassir, Kalif of Islam.—Capture of Dakuka by Jelal,
1225.—Possession of Tebriz by Jelal.—Expedition against Georgia,
1225.—Second march of Jelal to Tiflis, 1226.—Conquest of
Georgia.—Jelal attacks Kars.—Defeat of a Mongol division by
Jelal.—Attack of the Mongols on Jelal in Ispahan, 1227.—Murder of
Mohammed, a favorite of Jelal.—Ghiath ud din strangled by
Borak.—Jelal demands tribute from the Shirvan Shah.—Attack of Jelal
on the combined armies of Georgia and Armenia.—Second siege of
Khelat by Jelal.—Death of Nassir the Kalif, 1225.—Succession of
Zahir as Kalif and then of Mostansir.—Jelal invested with the title
of Shah in Shah.—Capture of Khelat by Jelal, 1230.—Defeat of Jelal
at Kharpert.—March of Jelal on Khelat.—March of Jelal on
Gandja.—Attack and defeat of Jelal by Mongols.—Death of Jelal,
1231.—End of Kwaresmian dynasty 145
CHAPTER X
Ravage of Amid and Mayafarkin by Mongols.—Devastation of
Azerbaidjan.—Capture of Erbil by Mongols.—Mongols in Arabian Irak,
1238.—Capture of Gandja by Mongols, 1235.—Capture of Tiflis by
Mongols, 1239.—Mongols advance to the Tigris.—Visit of Prince Avak
and his sister, Tamara, to Ogotai, 1240.—Mongols in Syria,
1244.—Capture of regions north of Lake Van.—Sheherzur sacked by
Mongols.—The Mongols driven off from Yakuba by Bagdad
troops.—Refusal of Queen Rusudan to leave Usaneth.—Death of
Rusudan.—Installation of Kuyuk, 1246.—Death of Kei Kosru,
1245.—Struggle of Rokn ud din for rule in Rūm.—Death of Alai ud
din.—Mangu Grand Khan of the Mongols, 1251.—Visit of Rokn ud din to
Sarai.—Entrance of Baidju into Rūm.—Great ruin effected by Mongols
in Asia Minor.—Appointment by Juchi of Chin Timur as Governor of
Kwaresm.—Ravaging by Kwaresmian bands in Khorassan.—Attack upon the
Kankalis by Chin Timur.—Visit of the Prince of Iran to
Ogotai.—Authority transferred from Chin Timur to Sari
Bahadur.—Reinstatement of Chin Timur.—Chin Timur’s choice of Kurguz
as chancellor.—Death of Chin Timur, 1235.—Visit of Kurguz to
Ogotai.—Kurguz appointed to collect taxes.—Residence of Kurguz at
Tus.—Command of Ogotai to raise up Khorassan, and repeople
Herat.—Struggle between Sherif and Kurguz.—Death of
Kurguz.—Succession of Sherif.—Sherif’s oppression of the people of
Tebriz.—Death of Sherif, 1244.—Visit of Argun to the Kurultai which
elected Kuyuk, 1251.—Election of Mangu, 1251.—Argun’s reception in
Merv.—Shems ud din’s reign in Herat.—Death of Rokn ud din.—Death of
Shems ud din, 1244.—Death of Kutb ud din, 1258.—Position of Persia
in 1254 172
CHAPTER XI
The Ismailian known in Europe as Assassins.—Death of Mohammed,
632.—Omar made Kalif, 634.—Murder of Aly, 661.—Election of Muavia
in Damascus.—Winning of Egypt by Muavia.—Yezid, son of Muavia,
named heir.—Death of Muavia. Succession of Yezid, 680.—Death of
Muslim.—Hussein camps on the plain of Kerbala.—Death of Hussein,
October, 680.—Babek, 816.—Seizure of Babek by Motassim,
835.—Execution of Babek.—Origin of Abdallah.—Spread of the peculiar
beliefs of Abdallah.—Amed, son of Abdallah.—Rise of Karmath.—Fights
in the East and West.—Obeidallah, first Fatimed Kalif, 909.—Winning
of Egypt and Southern Syria by descendants of Obeidallah,
967.—Addition of Aleppo to the Fatimed Empire, 991.—Founding of the
Eastern Ismailians, or Assassins, by Hassan Ben Sabah.—Omar Khayyam
and Nizam ul Mulk.—Death of Alp Arslan.—Seizure of the fortress of
Alamut by Hassan Sabah, 1090.—Rivalry of Hassan and Nizam ul
Mulk.—Death of Nizam ul Mulk and Melik Shah, 1092.—Peculiar belief
of Hassan Sabah.—Assassins in Syria.—Friendship of Risvan, Prince
of Aleppo, for the Order.—Assassination of the Prince of Mosul,
1113.—Death of Risvan.—Akhras attempts to exterminate the
Assassins.—Revenge of the Assassins.—Surrender of the fortress of
Sherif, 1120.—Death of Hassan Sabah, 1124.—Kia Busurgomid succeeds
Hassan Sabah.—Possession of Banias by Assassins.—Hugo De Payens,
Grand Master of the Templars in Jerusalem, 1129.—Death of
Togteghin.—Succession of his son, Tajulmuluk.—Efforts to murder
Tajulmuluk.—Execution of the Assassins 197
CHAPTER XII
Murder of Aksonkor Burshi, Prince of Mosul, 1126.—Murder of Busi,
Prince of Damascus.—Murder of Sindjar’s vizir by Assassins,
1127.—Vengeance of Assassins.—Death of a Fatimid Kalif by the
daggers of the Assassins, 1134.—Death of Kia Busurgomid,
1138.—Appointment of Mohammed to succeed his father.—Murder of
Mostershed.—Death of Rashid, his successor.—Assassin doctrine as
delivered to Sindjar.—Succession of Mohammed, 1138.—Nur ed din in
Syria.—Attack against Damascus, 1154.—Friendship of Nur ed din for
the Abbasids.—Triumph of Nur ed din in Haram.—Arrival of Shawer in
Damascus.—Shawer’s request for aid against the Crusaders.—Plot of
Shawer to destroy Shirkuh.—Death of Shirkuh, 1169.—Saladin’s
origin.—Saladin first vizir of the Kalif.—Exposure of the secrets
of the Assassins by Hassan II.—Efforts of Hassan to establish his
descent from Kalifs of Egypt.—Death of Hassan.—Death of Nur ed din,
1174.—Egypt governed by Saladin in the name of Salih.—Defeat of the
troops of Aleppo, by Saladin, 1175.—End of the Fatimid
Kalifat.—Saladin attacked by Assassins.—Attack of Massiat by
Saladin.—Compromise of Sinan.—Death of Mohammed II.—Succession of
Jelal ud din Hassan, son of Mohammed, 1213.—Jelal’s return to the
true faith.—Death of Jelal ud din, 1225.—Succession of his son,
Alai ed din.—Death of Alai ed din.—Succession of Rokn ud
din.—Attack of Hulagu upon the Assassins.—Surrender of Rokn ud
din.—Visit of Rokn ud din to the court of Mangu, 1257.—Death of
Rokn ud din 222
CHAPTER XIII
Message of Hulagu to Kalif of Bagdad, 1257.—Kalif rebukes
Hulagu.—Hulagu’s envoys insulted by the people.—Second message of
the Kalif to Hulagu to warn him against making war on the
Abbasids.—Attempted treason of Aké, commandant of
Daritang.—Possession of the Daritang road by Hulagu.—Prediction of
the astrologer.—Capture of Luristan by the Mongols.—Advance of Feth
ud din to meet the Mongol division.—Opening of canals from the
Tigris by the Mongols.—Triumph of Hulagu.—Submission of the Kalif
of Bagdad.—Bagdad sacked by the Mongols.—Death of Kalif of Bagdad,
1258.—Appointment of Ben Amran as prefect.—Alb Argun’s accession to
the throne of Luristan.—Summons of Hulagu to Bedr ud din, Prince of
Mosul.—Presents given by the Prince of Mosul to Hulagu.—Death of
Salih, 1249.—Death of Turan Shah, successor of Salih.—Accession of
Eibeg to the throne of Egypt.—Attempt of Nassir to drive Eibeg from
the throne.—Message of Hulagu to Nassir.—Advance of Hulagu’s army
into Syria.—Accusation of Hulagu against Kamil, the Eyubite
prince.—Summons sent by Hulagu to the Prince of Mardin.—Message of
Nassir to Mogith.—Succession of Mansur, son of Eibeg.—Kutuz becomes
Sultan.—Siege of El Biret.—Mongols camp near Aleppo.—Assault and
capture of Aleppo, January 25, 1260.—Damascus left defenceless by
Nassir 247
CHAPTER XIV
News of the death of Mangu, 1259.—Desire of Kutuz to take the field
against the Mongols.—Imprisonment of Hulagu’s envoy.—Meeting of the
two armies on the plain of Ain Jalut, 1260.—Defeat of the Mongols
by Kutuz.—Arrival of Kutuz in Damascus.—Pursuit of the Mongols by
Beibars.—Death of Kutuz, 1260.—Enthronement of Beibars.—Youth of
Beibars.—Yshmut, son of Hulagu, demands the surrender of
Mayafarkin.—Death of Kamil.—Attack of Yshmut on Mardin.—Kalif’s
investiture of Beibars with the sovereignty.—Departure from Cairo
of the Sultan and the Kalif, 1262.—Entrance of Mostansir into
Hitt.—Attack of Sanjar on the Mongols who were moving against
Mosul.—Death of Sanjar.—Siege of Mosul.—Slaughter of the
inhabitants of Mosul.—Death of Prince of Mosul.—Death of
Salih.—Visit of Salih, the Melik of Mosul, to Beibars in
Egypt.—Enthronement of Beibars.—Berkai’s criticism of
Hulagu.—Defeat of Hulagu by Nogai.—Return of Hulagu to
Tebriz.—Letter of Beibars to Berkai.—Detention of envoys by Michael
Palæologus.—Desire of Berkai for an alliance against Hulagu.—Attack
of Hayton, King of Cilicia, on Egyptian territory.—Death of Seif ud
din Bitikdji, 1263.—Troubles in Fars.—Reception of Seljuk Shah at
the Oxus, by Hulagu.—Death of Abu Bekr, 1260.—Accession of Mohammed
Shah to the throne of Fars, 1262.—Death of Seljuk Shah.—Uns Khatun
placed on the throne of Fars, 1264.—Sherif ud din claims to be the
Mahdi promised by the Shiites.—March of the Mongols against Sherif
ud din.—Siege of El Biret, 1264.—Death of Hulagu, 1265.—Death of
Hulagu’s wife Dokuz Khatun.—Berkai’s second campaign to the
Caucasus, 1264.—Death of Berkai, 1266.—Nogai’s army retreats on
Shirvan 267
CHAPTER XV
Kin Emperor sends offerings to the spirit of Jinghis Khan,
1229.—Mongols continue warfare in China.—Siege of Li ho chin by
Mongols, 1227.—King Yang attacked by Mongols, 1229.—Defeat of the
Mongols by Yra buka, 1230.—Advance of Ogotai and Tului on
China.—Ogotai anxious to seize Honan.—Surrender of Fong
tsiang.—Arrival of Yra buka, the Kin general at Teng chu,
1234.—Tului’s report to Ogotai of the situation in Honan.—Siege of
Yiu chin by Tului.—Capture and death of Yra buka.—Ogotai visits
Tului.—Ogotai asks the Kin Emperor to submit.—Advance of Mongols on
Shan chiu.—Fall of Honan.—Siege of Nan King.—Appearance of the
plague.—Flight of the Emperor from his capital.—Attack of the
capital by Subotai.—Defence of Pian king.—Surrender of Pian
king.—Execution of Baksan.—Appearance of Mongols near Tsai
chiu.—Attack of Tsai chiu by Tatchar, son of Boroul.—Nin kia su
yields the throne to Ching lin.—Death of Nin kia su.—Death of Ching
lin.—Death of Tului, October, 1232.—End of dominion of the Kins in
China, 1234 295
CHAPTER XVI
Kurultai summoned by Ogotai at Talantepe, 1234.—Kurultai summoned
by Ogotai at Kara Kurum, 1235.—Batu marches West.—An army sent to
Cashmir and India.—Expedition against China.—Assassination of Tsui
li.—Recall of Subotai.—Reoccupation of Ching tu by the Chinese,
1239.—Sack of Ching tu by Mongols.—Entrance into Hu kuang of
Kutchu, 1236.—Death of Kutchu.—Attack on Liu chiu by Chagan, a
Mongol general, 1238.—Withdrawal of Chagan.—Three victories of Meng
kong over Mongols, 1239.—Offers of peace by Wang tsie, a Mongol
envoy.—Death of Ogotai, 1241.—Influence of Abd ur Rahman over the
widow of Ogotai.—Delay of Batu in coming to the Kurultai.—Election
of Kuyuk as Emperor.—Death of Turakina, Ogotai’s widow.—Death of
Fatima, a favorite of Turakina.—Batu learns of the death of Kuyuk,
1248.—Kurultai called by Batu.—Mangu, son of Tului, saluted as
Emperor, 1251.—Refusal of Ogotai’s sons to recognize the legality
of the Kurultai which appointed Mangu.—Discovery of a plot to
assassinate Mangu.—Death of Siurkukteni, mother of Mangu,
1252.—Desire of Mangu to kill the partisans of Ogotai’s
sons.—Removal of all Uigurs favorable to Ogotai’s descendants by
Mangu.—Mangu gives Honan to Kubilai, 1252.—Tali the capital of Nan
chao under Mongol rule.—Return of Kubilai to Mongolia.—Journey of
Uriang Kadai to Mangu’s court to report on work done in the South,
beyond China.—Return of Uriang Kadai, 1254.—Summons of Uriang Kadai
to Chen chi kung, sovereign of Tung king (Gan nan), to own himself
tributary to Mangu.—Surrender of Kiao chi, the Gan nan capital, to
Uriang Kadai.—Chen chi kung resigns in favor of his son,
1253.—Popularity of Kubilai in China.—Jealousy of Mangu.—Recall of
Kubilai, 1257.—March of Mangu to the Sung Empire.—March of Mangu
against Ku chu yai, a fortress west of Pao ning.—Mangu’s conquest
of Western Su chuan.—Death of Mangu, 1259.—Kubilai at Ju in Honan,
1259.—Effort of Arik Buga, master at Kara Kurum, to usurp
power.—Treaty of Kia se tao and Kubilai.—Encampment of Kubilai
outside the walls of Pekin.—Election and enthronement of
Kubilai.—Battle between Kubilai and Arik Buga.—Defeat of
Arik Buga 310
CHAPTER XVII
March of Arik Buga to Kara Kurum.—Attack of Arik Buga on Kubilai
northeast of Shang tu.—Defeat of Arik Buga.—Reverses of Arik
Buga.—Appeal of Arik Buga to the mercy of his brother, 1264.—Death
of Arik Buga, 1266.—Claim of Kaidu, grandson of Ogotai, to headship
of the Mongols.—Decision of Kubilai to conquer all China.—Revolt of
Litan, one of Kubilai’s generals.—Death of Litan.—Kubilai moves
against Southern China, 1267.—Kubilai’s command to At chu to
besiege Siang yang, 1268.—Attack of Mongols on Fan ching, 1273.—The
Emperor’s discovery of the siege of Siang yang by the
Mongols.—Control of Fan ching by the Mongols.—Surrender of Siang
yang by Liu wen hwan.—Death of Tu tsong, the Emperor, August,
1274.—Surrender of many cities to Bayan.—Surrender of Su chuan,
1278.—Bayan advises Kubilai to continue operations in
China.—Arrival of the Emperor and Empress at Kubilai’s court.—March
of Bayan against Lin ngan.—Election of Y wang as governor of the
Empire.—Command obtained from the Emperor, by Bayan, ordering Sung
subjects to submit to the Mongols.—Chinese defections follow Mongol
successes.—Effort of Alihaiya to bribe Ma ki to surrender Kwe lin
fu, the capital of Kiang se.—Defeat and capture of Ma ki.—Death of
Toan tsong, 1278.—Kuang Wang is made Emperor under the name Ti
ping.—Destruction of the army of the Sung Emperor.—Blocking of
Chinese vessels by Mongol barges.—Capture of more than 800 Chinese
vessels.—Death of Chang shi kie.—Kubilai finds himself master of
China, January 31, 1279 336
CHAPTER XVIII
Struggle of Kubilai with Kaidu lasting from the death of Arik Buga
to the death of Kubilai.—End of the Sung dynasty.—Departure of
troops for Corea.—Mongol fleet encounters a storm.—Return of the
fleet.—Attack and defeat of the King of Burma.—Death of Sutu, a
distinguished Mongol general.—Kubilai plans a second Japanese
expedition.—Victory of Kubilai’s forces over the Tung king men in
seventeen engagements.—Visit of Yang ting pie to the islands south
of China, 1285.—Arrival of the ships of ten kingdoms in Tsinan
chiu.—Desire of Tok Timur to put Shireki, son of Mangu, on the
throne, 1277.—Tok Timur attacked by Bayan.—Flight of Tok Timur.—Tok
Timur asks aid of Shireki; failing to get it he sets up
Sarban.—Forming of a new league against Kubilai by Kaidan with
Nayan as leader.—Capture and death of Nayan.—Gift of Kara Kurum to
Bayan, as headquarters.—Kubilai’s departure from Shang tu for the
West.—Recall of Bayan.—Kubilai sends a thousand ships to attack
Java.—Effort of Wang chu to free the Chinese Empire.—Death of
Ahmed, Kubilai’s Minister of Finance.—Execution of Wang
chu.—Execution of Sanga.—Death of Kubilai, February, 1294.—Election
of Timur.—Death of Bayan at the age of fifty-nine.—Treaty of Timur
with the King of Tung king.—Spread of revolt.—Death of Kaidu,
1301.—Daughter of Kaidu.—Homage rendered Chabar as Kaidu’s
successor.—Timur acknowledged as overlord.—War between Chabar and
Dua, 1306.—Death of Dua.—Gebek, son of Dua, proclaimed
successor.—Attack of Chabar on Gebek.—Defeat of Chabar 361
CHAPTER XIX
Accession of Ananda, grandson of Kubilai.—Removal of
Ananda.—Succession of Khaishan, under the name of Kuluk.—Death of
Khaishan, 1311.—Batra is proclaimed under the name Bayantu.—Cause
and beginning of the ruin of Mongol power in China.—Appointment of
Shudi Bala as successor of Bayantu.—Death of Bayantu in
1320.—Assassination of Shudi Bala. The first death by assassination
in the Imperial family.—Succession of Yissun Timur.—Appointment of
Asukeba as heir.—Death of Yissun Timur.—The widow of Yissun Timur
proclaims Asukeba.—Effort of Tob Timur to secure the throne for his
brother, Kushala.—Defeat of the partisans of Asukeba.—Exile of the
Empress.—Sudden death of Kushala while feasting, 1329.—Tob Timur is
made Emperor.—Death of Tob Timur.—Death of the young son of
Kushala.—Accession of Togan Timur, Kushala’s eldest son.—Revolt in
Honan, Su chuan and Kwang tung.—Removal of Tob Timur’s tablet from
the hall of Imperial ancestors, 1340.—Completion of the annals of
the Liao, the Kin, and the Sung dynasties.—Insurrection in South
China, 1341.—Fang kwe chin, a pirate, harries the coast of Che
kiang.—Declaration of Han chan tong of the appearance of Buddha to
free China from the Mongol yoke.—Death of Han chan tong.—Departure
of Mongols from the Yang tse region.—Capture of Han yang and Wu
chang in Hu kwang by Siu chiu hwei.—Recapture of Hang chiu by the
Mongol general, Tong pu.—Appearance of Chang se ching in Kiang
nan.—Siu chiu hwei proclaims himself Emperor.—Defeat of a Mongol
general by Ni wen tsiun.—Appearance of Chu yuan chang, the man
destined to destroy Mongol rule, and found the Ming
dynasty.—Capture of Nan king, Yang chiu and Chin kiang by
Chu.—Defeat of adherents of Ming wang, the pseudo Sung Emperor, by
Chagan Timur, a Mongol general.—Control of Hu kwang and Kiang si by
Siu chiu hwei.—Chin proclaims himself Emperor.—Plans of Chagan
Timur to capture Nan king.—Aiyuchelitala named as heir by Togan
Timur.—Invitation of Ali hwei to Togan Timur to yield what is left
of Mongol power.—Defeat of Tukien Timur.—Assassination of Chagan
Timur by Wang se ching.—Appearance of Ming yu chin as
Emperor.—March of Chu, the coming Emperor of China, against Chin
yiu liang.—Defeat of Chin yiu liang.—Surrender of cities to
Chu.—Effort of Polo Timur to capture Tsin ki.—Defeat of Polo Timur
by Ku ku Timur.—The heir of the Mongol throne acts against the
Grand Khan, his father.—Polo Timur made commander-in-chief by Togan
Timur.—News of the capture of Shang tu.—Death of Ming yu chin,
1366.—Disappearance of Han lin ulh.—Efforts of Chu to liberate
China.—Surrender of all cities to Chu’s generals.—Terror of Togan
Timur caused by conquests of Chu.—Chu proclaimed Emperor, the name
Ming is given to his dynasty.—Entrance of Chu into Ta tu,
1368.—Death of Togan Timur.—Capture of Togan Timur’s grandson by
Ming forces.—Advance of Su tu, the Ming general, to the
Kerulon.—Death of the Mongol heir. Succession of his son Tukus
Timur, 1378.—Defeat of Tukus Timur by Chu forces.—Assassination of
Tukus Timur.—Civil war roused by Yissudar.—Invitation of the
Emperor of China to Buin Shara to declare himself vassal.—Invasion
of Mongolia by a Chinese army.—Yung lo’s advance to the
Kerulon.—Defeat of the Mongols.—Death of Buin Shara, 1412.—The
Manchu dynasty.—End of Mongol power 384
THE MONGOLS
CHAPTER I
CLASSIFICATION, MYTH AND REALITY
From an obscure and uncertain beginning the word Mongol has gone on
increasing in significance and spreading geographically during more
than ten centuries until it has filled the whole earth with its
presence. From the time when men used it at first until our day this
word has been known in three senses especially. In the first sense it
refers to some small groups of hunters and herdsmen living north of the
great Gobi desert; in the second it denotes certain peoples in Asia and
Eastern Europe; in the third and most recent, a worldwide extension has
been given it. In this third and the broad sense the word Mongol has
been made to include in one category all yellow skinned nations, or
peoples, including those too with a reddish-brown, or dark tinge in the
yellow, having also straight hair, always black, and dark eyes of
various degrees of intensity. In this sense the word Mongol
co-ordinates vast numbers of people, immense groups of men who are like
one another in some traits, and widely dissimilar in others. It
embraces the Chinese, the Coreans, the Japanese, the Manchus, the
original Mongols with their near relatives the Tartar, or Turkish
tribes which hold Central Asia, or most of it. Moving westward from
China this term covers the Tibetans and with them all the non-Aryan
nations and tribes until we reach India and Persia.
In India, whose most striking history in modern ages is Mongol, nearly
all populations save Aryans and Semites are classified with Mongols. In
Persia where the dynasty is Mongol that race is preponderant in places
and important throughout the whole kingdom, though in a minority. In
Asia Minor the Mongol is master, for the Turk is still sovereign, and
will be till a great rearrangement is effected.
Five groups of Mongols have made themselves famous in Europe: the Huns
with their mighty chief Attila, the Bulgars, the Magyars, the Turks or
Osmanli, and the Mongol invaders of Russia. All these five will have
their due places later on in this history.
In Africa there have been and are still Mongol people. The Mamelukes
and their forces at Cairo were in their time remarkable, and Turkish
dominion exists till the present, at least theoretically, in Egypt, and
west of it.
Not restricted to the Eastern hemisphere the word Mongol is still
further used to include aboriginal man in America.
Thus this great aggregation of people is found in each part of both
hemispheres, and we cannot consider the Mongols historically in a wide
sense unless we consider all mankind.
In the first, that is the original and narrowest sense of the word it
applies to those Mongols alone who during twelve centuries or longer
have inhabited the country just south of Lake Baikal, and north of the
great Gobi desert. It is from these Mongols proper that the name has at
last been extended to the whole yellow race in both hemispheres.
The word Mongol began, it is said, with the Chinese, but this is not
certain. It is certain, however, that the Chinese made it known to the
great world outside, and thus opened the way to that immense
application now given it. The Tang dynasty lasted from 618 to 907 and
left its own history. In that history the term Mongol appears as
Mong-ku, and in the annals of the Kitan dynasty which followed the Tang
Mong-ku-li is the form which is given us. The Kitans were succeeded by
the Golden Khans, or Kin Emperors, and in the annals of their line the
Mong-ku are mentioned very often.
The Mongols began their career somewhat south of Lake Baikal where six
rivers rise in a very remarkable mountain land. The Onon, the Ingoda
and the Kerulon are the main western sources of that immense stream the
Amoor, which enters the Sea of Okhotsk and thus finds the Pacific. The
second three rivers: the Tula, Orhon, and Selinga flow into Lake
Baikal, and thence, through the Lower Angara and Yenissei, are merged
in Arctic waters directly in front of Nova Zembla.
These two water systems begin in the Kentei Khan mountains which have
as their chief elevation Mount Burhan. The six rivers while flowing
toward the Amoor and Lake Baikal water the whole stretch of country
where the Mongols began their activity as known to us. There they moved
about with their large and small cattle, fought, robbed, and hunted,
ate and drank and slew one another during ages without reckoning. In
that region of forest and grass land, of mountains and valleys, of
great and small rivers the air is wholesome though piercingly cold
during winter, and exceedingly hot in the summer months. There was
subsistence enough for a primitive life in that country, but men had to
fight for it savagely. Flocks and herds when grown numerous need
immense spaces to feed in, and those spaces of land caused unending
struggle and bloodshed. The flocks and herds were also objects of
struggle, not flocks and herds only, but women. The desirable woman was
snatched away, kidnapped; the good herd of cattle was stolen, and
afterward fought for; the grass covered mountain or valley, or the
forest with grass or good branches, or shrubbery for browsing was
seized and then kept by the men who were able to hold it.
This stealing of cattle, this grabbing of pasture and forest, this
fighting, this killing, this capture of women continued for ages with
no apparent results except those which were personal, local, and
transient till Temudjin the great Mongol appeared in that harsh
mountain country. This man summed up in himself, and intensified to the
utmost the ideas, strength, temper and spirit of his race as presented
in action and life up to his day. He placed the Mongols on the stage of
the world with a skill and a power that were simply colossal and
all-conquering. The results which he won were immediate and terrifying.
No man born of woman has had thus far in history a success so peculiar,
so thorough and perfect, so completely acknowledged by mankind as the
success won by Temudjin. There is in his career an unconquerable
sequence, a finish, a oneness of character that sets it apart among all
the careers of those mighty ones in history who worked for this life
and no other, and strove for no object save that which is tangible,
material and present; success of such kind and success so enormous that
a common intelligence might yearn for it, but have no more chance of
winning than of reaching the stars, or of seeing the sun during night
hours.
The career of this Mongol is unique in the world, unapproachable, since
its object was unmixed and immediate and his success in attaining it
was so great that it seems, we might say, super-human.
The account which is given us of Temudjin’s origin is a myth tale,
excepting a few generations directly preceding him. Genealogy in the
form of a myth tale is no exception in the case of any people,—no
wonder. It is the rule and inevitable, the one method used by each
primitive folk to explain its own origin. All early men in their own
accounts are descended from gods who are either divine mythic animals,
or elements, or forces, or phenomena which become later on the
progenitors of nations, or their totems.
The first mythic parents or founders of Temudjin’s family were a blue
wolf and a gray doe. These two swam across a lake, reached the river
Onon near its sources and settled down permanently at the foot of Mount
Burhan, where a son called Batachi was born to them. Ninth in descent
from Batachi were Duva Sohor, and Doben. The former had only one eye
which was fixed in the middle of his forehead, but with that eye he saw
beyond three mountain ranges. Once these two brothers climbed up Mount
Burhan, and were gazing at the world from the top of it when Duva Sohor
beheld many people moving down the Tungeli. “There is the wife for my
brother, unless she is married,” thought Duva. “Go and see her,” said
he then to Doben. Doben went to the new people straightway and learned
that the woman was single and that her name was Alan Goa. The moving
people were dependents of one Horilartai.
In time before that Bargudai, who owned Bargudjin on Lake Baikal, had a
daughter whom he gave to Horilartai of Horntumadun. From this marriage
came Alan Goa, born at Alih Usun. They had left their old place since
the hunting of ermine and squirrels had been stopped there. Horilartai
removed to Mount Burhan, where game was abundant. He joined Shinchi
Boyan, the master of Mount Burhan, and began the clan Horilar. Thus
Doben found Alan Goa, who bore him two sons, Bugundai and Bailgun Etai.
Duva the one-eyed had four sons. The two brothers and their six sons
lived in one company till Duva’s death; after that Duva’s four sons
deserted their uncle, and founded the clan known as Dorbian.
One day while Doben was hunting he found in the forest a man roasting
venison and straightway asked meat of him. The man kept one flank and
the lungs, and gave the remainder to Doben who tied what he got to his
saddle, and started off homeward. He met on the road a poor man and a
small boy. “Who art thou?” inquired Doben. “I am of the Malish
Boyandai,” said the poor man, “I am in need, give me venison, I pray
thee, I will give thee my son in return for it.” Doben gave the man a
deer leg, took the boy home, and made him his attendant.
Some years passed, the boy grew, and Doben died. The boy, now a man,
served the widow. While a widow Alan Goa bore three sons; the eldest
was Buga Hatagi, the second Tusalchi, the third Boduanchar. The two
sons born of Doben said once to each other: “Our mother has no husband,
no brother of our father has ever been in this yurta, still she has
three sons. There is only one man in the house, he has lived with us
always; is he not their father?”
Alan Goa learned that the two elder brothers were curious concerning
the other three, so one day she called in her five sons and seating
them together gave each one an arrow and told him to break it. Each
broke his arrow. She then bound five arrows firmly together and
commanded to break them—not one of the brothers could break the five
arrows when tied in a bundle.
“Ye are in doubt,” said she then to her eldest and second son, “as to
who is the father of my third, fourth and fifth sons. Ye wonder, and
with reason, for ye know not that a golden hued man makes his way to
this yurta. He enters through the door by which light comes, he enters
in through the smoke hole like sunshine. The brightness which comes
from him fills me when I look at him. Going off on the rays of the sun
or the moon he runs like a swift yellow dog till he vanishes. Cease
talking idly. Your three youngest brothers are children of Heaven, and
no one may liken them to common men. When they are khans ye will know
this.”
Alan Goa instructed her sons then, and said to them: “Ye all are my
children, ye are all sons of mine. If ye stand apart like those five
broken arrows it will be very easy to break you, but if ye keep one
mind and one spirit no man on earth will be able to injure you, ye will
be like those five arrows in the bundle.”
Alan Goa died soon after this talk with her children. Four of the
brothers took what belonged to all five of them, counting the youngest
a weakling and simple they gave him no property whatever. He, seeing
that they would not treat him with justice, said in his own mind: “I
will go from this place, I will leave them.” Then mounting a sorry roan
horse with galled back and mangy tail he left his four brothers and
rode away up the Onon to live at some new spot in freedom. When he
reached Baljunala he built a small yurta, or hut at the place which
seemed best to him and lived in it. One day he saw a falcon swoop down
on a woodcock and seize it there near his yurta; he plucked hairs from
the mangy tail of his horse, made a snare, caught the falcon, and
trained it. When the wolves drove wild beasts toward the yurta in
hunting he killed them with arrows, or took for himself and the falcon
what the wolves left uneaten. Thus he lived the first winter. When
spring came the falcon caught ducks and geese in great numbers.
Beyond the ridge of Mount Duilyan, which was there near his yurta,
flowed the Tungeli, and at the river lived a new people. Boduanchar,
who went to hunt daily with his falcon, discovered this people and
drank in their yurtas, mare’s milk which they gave him. They knew not
whence he had come, and he asked not who they were, though they met
every day with good feeling.
At last Boduanchar’s eldest brother, Hatagi, set out to find him if
possible and reached the Tungeli, where he saw the new people with whom
Boduanchar was in friendship.
“Have ye seen a young man with a mangy tailed horse?” asked he. “On the
horse’s back are white spots which are marks of old gall sores.” “We
have seen the young man with that horse—he has also a falcon. He comes
here each day to drink mare’s milk, but we know not the place of his
yurta. Whenever wind blows from the northwest it drives hither as many
duck and goose feathers as there are flakes in a snowstorm. He must
live with his falcon northwest of us. But wait here a while and thou
wilt see him.” Soon they saw the young man coming. Boduanchar became
reconciled and went home with Hatagi.
“A man is complete who has a head on his body,” said Boduanchar to
himself. And aloud he said as they traveled, “A coat is complete when a
collar is sewed to it.” The brother said nothing on hearing these words
for the first time; Boduanchar repeated the saying. “What dost thou
mean?” asked Hatagi. “Those men on the river,” said Boduanchar, “have
no head in their company; great and small are all one to them. We might
take their ulus [1] very easily.” “Well,” replied Hatagi, “when we
reach home we will talk of this; if we agree we will take the place.”
The five brothers talked over the plan and were willing. Boduanchar led
them back to the village. The first person seized by him was a woman.
“Of what stock art thou?” asked Boduanchar. “I am of the Charchiuts,”
answered the woman. The five brothers led all the people to their own
place; after that they had cattle; they had also attendants to wait on
them, when eating. Boduanchar took his first captive as wife and she
bore him a son from whom the Balin clan was descended. Boduanchar took
another wife and by her begat Habichi, who in time had a son Mainyan
Todan who took as wife Monalun, from whom seven sons were born to him;
the eldest of these was Katchi Kyuluk, and the youngest, Nachin.
Monalun loved command; she was harsh in her household and severe to all
people. With her Mainyan Todan gained great wealth of all kinds, and
lived at Nush Argi. Though there was no forest land near his yurta he
had so many cattle when the herds were driven home, that not five ells
of ground within eyesight could be found with no beast on it.
Mainyan Todan departed from life while his seventh son was an infant.
At this time the Jelairs, that is, some descendants of Doben and Alan
Goa, who had settled on the Kerulon near the Golden Khan’s border,
warred with his people very often. On a time the Golden Khan sent his
forces against them; the Jelairs thinking the river impassable sneered
at the enemy, and taking their caps off fell to mocking and shouting:
“Would ye not like to come over and take all our horses and families?”
Roused by this ridicule and banter the enemy made rafts under cover,
and crossed the Kerulon quickly. They rushed forward and defeated the
Jelairs. They slew all whom they met or could find, not sparing even
children. Most of the Jelairs were slain, except some who had camped in
a place where the enemy did not reach them. These survivors found
refuge at Monalun’s settlement, where they fell to digging roots for
subsistence, and spoiled a large space used in training young horses.
The widow was enraged at this trespass. She was riding in a cart when
she saw it. Rushing in with attendants she trampled down some of the
people, and dispersed them. Soon after this those same Jelairs stole
from the sons of the widow a large herd of horses. When they heard of
this robbery those sons hurried off to recover the animals. In their
great haste they forgot to take armor. Monalun sent their wives on in
carts with the armor, and she herself followed. Her sons were lying
dead when their wives brought the armor. The Jelairs then slew the
women, and when she came up they killed Monalun also.
The descendants of Katchi Kyuluk were all dead now except the youngest
son, who was living apart from the others at Bargudjin on the eastern
shore of Lake Baikal, and Kaidu his eldest son’s only offspring, a
small boy who was saved by his nurse, who hid with the child under
firewood.
When news came to Nachin that his family had been slaughtered he
hurried on to Nush Argi and found there some wretched old women with
the little boy Kaidu, and the nurse who had saved him. Nachin was
anxious to examine the Jelair country, recover some part of his
brothers’ lost property, and take a stern vengeance on the Jelairs, but
he had no horse to ride on this journey. Just then a sorrel stallion
from the herd that had been stolen by the Jelairs wandered back to Nush
Argi. Nachin took this beast and set out alone to reconnoitre. The
first men to meet him were two hunters on horseback, a son and his
father, who were riding apart from each other. Each had a hawk on his
wrist, and Nachin saw that both birds had belonged to his brothers.
“Hast thou seen a brown stallion, with mares, going eastward?” asked he
of the younger man. “I have not,” said the stranger, “but hast thou
seen ducks or geese on thy journey?” “I have seen many;” replied
Nachin; “come, I will show them to thee.” The man followed Nachin, who
at his own time well selected turned on this Jelair and killed him. He
fettered the horse, tied the hawk to the saddle, turned and rode toward
the second man; upon reaching him he asked if he had seen a brown
stallion, and mares going eastward. “No,” said the man, “but hast thou
seen my son who is hawking here near us?” “I have seen him,” said
Nachin. “He is bleeding from the nose and that delays him.” Nachin then
killed the second man and rode along farther, taking with him the hawks
and the horses. He came at last to a valley where many horses were
grazing; some boys were herding the beasts, and throwing stones for
amusement. Nachin from a high place examined the country and since
there was no one in sight he went into the valley, killed the boys and
urged on the herd to Nush Argi, leading the two hunters’ horses and
bringing the hawks with him. Nachin then took his nephew, and the old
women with the nurse, and drove all the horses to Bargudjin. There he
lived for some years, and reared and trained his young nephew, who when
old enough was made chief over two groups of Mongols; later on other
groups were connected with these two. The Jelairs were crushed and
enslaved by Kaidu and Nachin, who returned at the right time to Nush
Argi. In that chief place of his family he acquired many cattle, and
laid the foundation of Mongol dominion.
Nachin, as Mongol story depicts him, is one of the few men in history
who were not self-seeking. He saved the small remnant of his family
which escaped from the Jelairs, and was for some time the real guardian
of the Mongols. He saved the boy Kaidu, and, seeking no power for
himself, turned every effort to strengthening his nephew.
From that nephew, Kaidu, are descended the greatest historical men of
his people, men without whom the name Mongol might not have risen from
obscurity to be known and renowned as it now is.
Nachin had two sons, Urudai and Manhudai, from whom are descended the
Uruts and Manhuts, two tribes which under Kuildar and Churchadai saved
the fortune of Temudjin in his most desperate battle at Kalanchin.
Kaidu had three sons; the eldest was Boshin Kordokshin, the second
Charaha Lingu, the third Chao Jinortaidji. Kaidu’s eldest son had one
son named Tumbinai, and died soon after the birth of that single
descendant. Kaidu’s second son had a son named Sengun Bilghe, who had a
son Ambagai, and from this strong son, Ambagai, were descended the
Taidjuts.
Kaidu’s second son took his eldest brother’s widow, and from her had a
son, Baisutai, from whom came the Baisuts. Kaidu’s third son had six
sons, who were the founders of six clans among Mongols. Tumbinai, son
of Boshin, Kaidu’s eldest son, had two sons, Kabul and Sinsaichilai.
Kabul had seven sons; the second of these, Bartan, had four sons; the
third of these four sons was Yessugai.
Kabul was made khan, and though he had seven sons he did not wish to
give rule to any one of them. So he gave it to Sengun Bilghe, the
father of Ambagai. Kabul the Khan, son of Tumbinai, was renouned for
great courage. His fame reached the Emperor of China, who had such
regard for this chief that he sent envoys inviting him to the court as
an evidence of friendship, and with the concealed hope of making a
treaty through which the Mongols might act with North China. Kabul made
the journey. The Emperor received him with honor, and entertained him
with the best food and drink in the country. But, since the Chinese
were given to deceit very greatly, as Kabul thought, and attacked each
opponent from an ambush, he feared wiles and most of all poison; hence
he avoided food and drink and withdrew from a feast under pretexts, but
returned later on when relieved of suspicion, and fell to eating and
drinking with very great relish. The Chinese were astounded at sight of
his thirst and his hunger. “High Heaven must have made him to rule,”
exclaimed they, “else how could he drink and eat so enormously, and
still have an appetite and be sober.” But after a time he seemed tipsy,
clapped his hands, reeled toward the Emperor, seized his beard and
stroked his ear, to the horror of ministers, who cried out at once, and
were ready to rush at the Mongol.
The Khan turned then to the Emperor and smiled very coolly. “If the
Golden Khan holds me guilty,” said he, “let him know that the will of
my hand is to blame, not my own will. My hand has done that which
displeases my own will and I condemn my hand’s action.”
The Emperor was calm and deliberate; at that time he wished above all
things to wheedle his visitor, so he reasoned in his mind as follows:
“If I punish this man his adherents, who are many, may rise and begin a
long war with me.” Hence he kept down his anger, and commanded to bring
from his treasure house silken robes, embroidered in gold, of right
size for the Mongol. A crown and a gold girdle were brought with them.
He put these on Kabul, and showing marks of high honor dismissed him
with friendship when the time came for parting.
When Kabul had set out for home the ministers insisted that it would
not be possible to leave the man’s conduct unnoticed. Roused at last by
these speeches the Emperor sent off an envoy requesting Kabul to return
to him. Kabul replied harshly, and kept on his journey. The Emperor was
enraged now in earnest and sent men a second time not to request but to
summon, and with them a good force of warriors to bring in the Mongol
by violence if need be. Kabul had gone far on his journey, and, since
the Golden Khan’s messengers took a new road by mere hazard, they
missed him. They went all the way to his yurta, and as he had not yet
returned his wives said on hearing the message: “He will follow the
Golden Khan’s wishes.” The messengers turned from the yurta and after a
while met Kabul hastening homeward; they seized him and led him off
quickly for delivery to their master. On the journey they halted at the
house of a Saljut, who was friendly to the captive.
“These men are taking thee to death O Kabul,” said the Saljut, “I must
save thee. I have a horse which outstrips every wind, and is swifter
than lightning. If thou sit on this beast thou canst save thyself—thou
wilt escape at the first chance.” Kabul mounted that horse, but his
foot was made fast to the chief envoy’s stirrup. In the night he
unbound it, however, and shot away in the darkness. They pursued and
hunted him with all speed, but only at Kabul’s own yurta were they able
to come up with him. There he received them with all hospitality, and
gave his enemies a splendid new tent which belonged to a wife whom he
had just taken; he gave also the best entertainment. Soon after, he
summoned his servants (his sons were not with him). “These people,”
said he, “wish to take me to the Golden Khan to be killed by him with
terrible torture. Ye must save me.”
The servants fell unawares on the Golden Khan’s messengers, and killed
every man of them. Kabul was saved that time, but soon after he fell
ill and died—very likely of poison—thus leaving the world to his seven
sons, who were very ambitious. These sons were so great through their
valor and courage that no combination of enemies could meet them
successfully. They were all of one mother, Kulku Goa, a Kunkurat woman,
whose younger brother, Saïn Tegin, was the cause of involving the
family in a terrible blood feud.
Saïn Tegin fell ill and they called in a shaman of the Taidjuts to cure
him. He died notwithstanding the art of this shaman, who was slain
either on his way home or soon after, by the relatives of the dead man.
This caused a great battle between the Taidjuts and Saïn Tegin’s
adherents and relatives, joined now by Kabul’s sons, who favored the
cause of their uncle. In this battle Kaidan met a Taidjut in single
encounter, split open his saddle, swept him down from his horse, and
wounded him dreadfully. The Taidjut, who recovered only after a twelve
month of suffering, began a new struggle as soon as strength came to
him. Kaidan brought horse and rider to the earth, each wounded
grievously; though ten mounted men rushed at the victor, he so used
spear and sword on them that he came out in triumph. Thus began the
great blood feud which later on Temudjin used with such deadly effect
on the Taidjuts and Tartars.
Between Lake Buyur and Lake Kulon is a river, on this river a large
group of Tartar tribes lived at that period. Ambagai, son of Sengun,
went to find a new wife at Lake Buyur but was seized by some Tartars
and sent to the Kin Emperor, who took his life very cruelly. Before his
captors had set out with Ambagai he sent home this message: “Tell
Kutula, fourth son of my cousin Kabul, who has seven sons, and Kaidan,
one of my ten sons, that I, who ruled men, am a prisoner and must die
in great suffering. And remember these words of mine, all of you:
Though ye were to wear every nail from the fingers of each hand, and
lose the ten fingers on both hands, ye must avenge me.”
The Golden Khan in return for offenses committed against him by
Ambagai’s relatives, had him nailed to a wooden ass, flayed alive, and
then chopped into small pieces slowly, beginning with his fingers and
toes, till his whole body was finished.
Okin Barka, Kabul’s eldest son and a brother of Kutula, had been
captured by the Tartars, sent to the Golden Khan, and put to death in
the same way as Ambagai. This was done because Kabul had killed the
Golden Khan’s messengers.
Before Ambagai was tortured he sent Bulgadji, his slave, to the Golden
Khan with this warning: “It is shameful to kill me. I was seized most
perfidiously, I am here without reason. If thou kill me all chiefs
among Mongols will rise and avenge the injustice.” The Golden Khan paid
no heed to the message, but after the hideous execution he sent
Bulgadji on courier horses to Mongolia with the command to tell all
there that Ambagai had been nailed to the wooden ass, his skin stripped
from him while living, and his body then chopped into pieces bit by
bit. On the way Bulgadji passed through the land of the Durbans, who
would not give horses, and no matter what he said they took no note of
him. When his horses were so weary that they could go no farther he
left them, went home on foot and told all to Kaidan, whose son, Tuda,
told the whole tale to Katula and Yessugai, his nephew. Kaidan, Tuda
and Yessugai held a council immediately and resolved with many Mongols
to avenge Okin Barka and Ambagai. Kutula was chosen khan then to lead
the expedition. They held a great feast when the election was over, and
all became grandly excited. They danced round a wide-spreading tree
with great energy, and stamped out a ditch of such depth that they were
hidden to their knees in it.
Kutula assembled all warriors who were willing to go, and marched
against China. The Golden Khan’s forces were defeated, and routed with
terrible slaughter. The Mongols took booty of unspeakable value, took
all that men could bear with them, or that horses could carry. They
came home filled with delight, bringing woven stuffs of all species,
every kind of rich furniture, weapons and implements, and driving
before them immense herds of horses, and large and small cattle.
While on the way home Kutula when passing through the land of the
Durbans went to hunt with a small force of followers. On seeing these
people the Durbans assembled a numerous party and attacked them; they
killed some, and scattered the others. Kutula left alone saved himself
by fleeing, and drove his swift horse through a swamp to the opposite
edge of the soft place. The beast stopped and stuck fast there; Kutula
stood on the saddle and sprang to firm ground from it. The Durbans
seeing him on foot, were well satisfied. “Oh let him go,” said they,
“of what use is a man when his horse is gone.” Then, while they stood
looking, he pulled his horse out of the quagmire, mounted and rode away
in their presence. The swamp extended so far on either hand that they
cared not to follow.
Kutula’s surviving attendants returned to the army, spread news of his
death, and declared that the Durbans had killed him. His warriors
reached home somewhat earlier than the Khan and since he had not
appeared on the road and his attendants said that he had been killed by
the Durbans Yessugai made a funeral feast for their leader and went to
Kutula’s wife to announce her husband’s death and with her drink the
cup to his memory. On appearing before her he began to lament, and weep
bitterly. “Why hast thou come?” asked she, “and why art thou weeping?”
He told the cause of his grief and his coming. “I believe not a word of
all thou hast told me,” said the woman. “Would Kutula let Durbans kill
him, Kutula whose voice is like thunder in the mountains, a voice which
reaches high heaven, would Kutula let common men kill him? He would
not, his delay has another cause. He is living. He has stopped for some
work of importance, he will come later on.”
But the warriors and Kutula’s attendants felt sure that the Khan had
been murdered.
When Kutula had pulled his horse out of the quagmire, and ridden away
safely, he was savagely angry. “How have those vile, wretched Durbans
brought me to such trouble,” raged he, “and driven off all my servants?
Must I go home empty-handed? No, I will not leave these places
unplundered.” Then he rode till he found a brown stallion, also a great
herd of mares and their colts with them. He mounted the stallion, let
out his own horse which ran forward, then drove the mares which
followed the saddle beast. Riding farther in the steppes he found nests
of wild geese; dismounting he took off his boots, filled the great legs
of them with goose eggs, remounted and rode away home on the stallion,
holding the boots and driving the mares and their colts to his yurta.
A vast crowd of people had assembled to lament and show honor to the
memory of Kutula, and now, astonished at his sudden arrival, they
rejoiced beyond measure, and turned all their sorrow and wailing into a
feast of triumph and gladness. “Ha!” said the wife then to Yessugai,
“did I not tell thee that no Durbans, or other men could bring down
Kutula?”
After his great success against China, Kutula moved on the Tartars and
punished them unsparingly for sending Okin Barka, his brother, to the
Golden Khan for destruction.
But now broke out afresh the great hatred of the ten sons of Ambagai
for Kutula and his brothers. Those ten Taidjut brothers fell on the six
surviving sons of Kabul and killed five of them, killed all except
Bartan, who burst his way out of the murderous encounter with three
serious wounds in his body, and fled with four attendants. His son
Yessugai, who had been hurled to the earth from his saddle, sprang up
quickly and, though only thirteen years of age, sent his spear through
the body of a Taidjut who was mounted, brought him down dying, sprang
to the empty saddle, rushed away and caught up with his father. Through
this wonderful promptness and skill he was able to save himself.
Bartan’s wife, Maral Kayak, fled on foot from her yurta with three
other sons, Mangutu, Naigun and Daritai, and reached her wounded
husband.
The Taidjut triumph was perfect for a season. Bartan’s power had
departed, he died soon and gave place to his son, a young hero. This
son was Yessugai, the name means number nine, his full name was
Yessugai Bahadur, the ninth hero. He was ninth too in descent from that
youngest son of Alan Goa, Boduanchar, who rode off alone from
injustice.
At this time the tendency had increased very greatly among chiefs of
Mongol clans to make other chiefs subordinates, or assistants. This was
true specially of men descended from Kabul and from Ambagai. If rival
or smaller chiefs would not accept the position a conflict resulted,
attacks were made by small parties or larger ones, or through war or
poison; the weaker men when ambitious were swept from existence. The
continual interference of China by intrigue or by arms, or by bribery
through titles or presents, through rewards to individuals, or dire
ghastly punishments where punishment seemed more effective, did
something also to strengthen and consolidate the loosely coherent
society of the Mongols, and thus helped unwittingly the work of strong
men seeking power north of China.
Yessugai, through activity and keenness succeeded in winning
co-operation sufficient to undo the great Taidjut triumph. Kabul’s sons
again got the primacy.