The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire

273 Pages·2010·1.65 MB·English

A
LSO BY
J W
ACK EATHERFORD
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
The History of Money
Savages and Civilization:
Who Will Survive?
Native Roots:
How the Indians Enriched America
Indian Givers:
How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World
Tribes on the Hill:
The United States Congress—Rituals and Realities

May the Golden Light of the Eternal Blue Sky
forever bless the mothers and the daughters
of the Great Mongol Nation
CONTENTS
Map of the Mongol Empire (1206–1368)
INTRODUCTION
The Missing Chapter
PART I
Tiger Queens of the Silk Route 1206–1241
1 It Takes a Hero
2 The Growling Dragon and the Dancing Peacock
3 Our Daughters Are Our Shields
4 Queens at War and Commerce
PART II
The Shattered Jade Realm 1242–1470
5 War Against Women
6 Granddaughters of Resistance
7 The Rabbit Demon’s Revenge
8 Daughter of the Yellow Dragon
9 The Falling Prince and the Rising Queen
PART III
Wolf Mother 1470–1509
10 The White Road of the Warrior Widow
11 Winning the War and Raising a Husband
12 Facing the Wall
13 Her Jade Realm Restored
EPILOGUE
The Secrets of History
S B
ELECTED IBLIOGRAPHY
A N T
OTE ON RANSLITERATION
N
OTES
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

I
NTRODUCTION
The Missing Chapter
O
, an unidentified hand clumsily cut away part
N AN UNKNOWN DAY LATE IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY
of the text from the most politically sensitive section of The Secret History
of the Mongols. The censored portion recorded words spoken by Genghis
Khan in the summer of 1206 at the moment he created the Mongol Empire
and gave shape to the government that would dominate the world for the
next 150 years. Through oversight or malice, the censor left a single short
sentence of the mutilated text that hinted at what had been removed: “Let us
reward our female offspring.”
In the preceding section of the text, Genghis Khan bestowed offices,
titles, territories, and vassals upon his sons, brothers, and other men
according to their ability and contribution to his rise to power. But at the
moment where the text reported that he turned to the assembly to announce
the achievements and rewards of his daughters, the unknown hand struck
his words from the record. The censor, or possibly a scribe copying the
newly altered text, wrote the same short final sentence twice. Perhaps the
copyist was careless in repeating it, or perhaps the censor deliberately
sought to emphasize what was missing or even to taunt future generations
with the mystery of what had been slashed away.
More than a mere history, the document known as The Secret History of
the Mongols recorded the words of Genghis Khan throughout his life as he
founded the Mongol nation, gave his people their basic laws, organized the
administration, and delegated powers. It served as the biography of a tribe
and its leader as well as the national charter or constitution of the nation
that grew into a world empire. Only the most important members of the
royal family had access to the manuscript, and therefore it acquired its
name.
The Secret History provides an up-close and personal view of the private
life of a ruling family that is unlike any other dynastic narrative. The text
records the details of conversations in bed between husband and wife; of
routine family problems as well as arguments over who had sex with
whom; and expressions of the deepest fears and desires of a family who
could not have known that they would become important actors in world