Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Chagatai on the other hand held no such qualms. When Genghis heard about this infighting, he ordered that Ögedei be promoted to command his brothers. [41] Atwood argues that this narrative was a later invention designed to buttress Ögedei's rule as khan of the empire and that Jochi in reality retained primacy throughout the siege. [42]
Jochi's mother was the same person as his three brothers': Genghis Khan's teen bride, and apparent lifelong love, Börte. Only her sons were counted as Genghis's "official" sons and successors, rather than those conceived by the Khan’s 500 or so other " wives and consorts ".
Genghis Khan [a] (born Temüjin; c. 1162 – August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, [b] was the founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongol tribes , he launched a series of military campaigns , conquering large parts of China and Central Asia .
In either late 1208 or early 1209, as part of the conquest of Siberia, a Mongol expedition commanded by Genghis Khan's oldest son, Jochi, met the Merkits and Naimans at a branch of the Irtysh. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] The Merkit commander Toqto'a was killed in action, and many of his soldiers drowned in the river attempting to flee.
Chagatai, Jochi's brother, often chided Jochi for these claims, which often led to quarrels between the two brothers. Temüjin reportedly wholeheartedly denied this accusation, calling them disrespectful and claiming Jochi as his son. As a result of this infighting, Genghis Khan opted for neither Jochi nor Chagatai to take over his legacy as Khan.
Jochi had taken all the towns along Syr Darya, including Sighnaq and Jend, by April 1220, then camped on the Kipchak steppes. [23] Genghis Khan sent a 30,000–40,000 man army led by Jebe and Subutai and his own son-in-law Toghachar to hunt down the Shah. [24] [25]
The Merkit had a longstanding rivalry with the Borjigin, the family of Genghis Khan, and together with the Naimans opposed Genghis Khan's rise to power. The Battle of Chakirmaut in 1204 shattered the forces of the Merkit-Naimans alliance and the survivors fled into southern Western Siberia .
Genghis Khan granted the duo permission to undertake their expedition, and after making their way through the Caucasus, they defeated a coalition of Caucasian tribes before defeating the Cumans. The Cuman Khan fled to the court of his son-in-law, Mstislav Mstislavich of Galicia, whom he convinced to help fight the Mongols.