Story 63. Temujin's father Yesugei Baatar

 

Story 63. Temujin's father Yesugei Baatar

 When Genghis Khan's grandfather Bartan Baatar's older brother Okin Barkak and his cousin Ambagai Khan were killed, Bartan Baatar had four sons.

The eldest son's name was Mongedu Qiyan, the second was Nekun Taishi (聶昆大司, 太師大氏). The third son was Yesugei Bahadur, the father of Genghis Khan, and Qiyat Bo'rjiqin (乞夫餘氏幸, 乞夫餘氏汗, 乞氏弓氏汗= 乞氏高氏汗).        The fourth son was Daritai Utchigin (答里眞). During the time of Genghis Khan's grandfather Vartan Baatar and his father Yesugei Baatar, "Kamak Mongol", or "All Mongolia", was ruled by Genghis Khan's great-grandfather Kabul Khan. Then, when was Genghis Khan's father Yesugei Baatar a person?

 Genghis Khan was born in 1162, and if his father Yesugei Baatar gave birth to Genghis Khan when he was 20 years old, then Yesugei Baatar was born in 1142. However, if we assume that he actually gave birth to Genghis Khan when he was 30 years old, then he was born around 1132. This was three years before 1135, the last year of the reign of Gogorigai (烏乞買, 오걸매), the second emperor of the Jin Dynasty who attempted to kill Kabul Khan. He seems to have been born around this time, or at the latest in the early years of the reign of Emperor Xizong of the Jin Dynasty (1135-1149).

 Episode 1. The meeting of Yesugei Batar and Eelun Ujin just before the revenge war against the Tatars

When Okin Barkak and Ambagai Khan were captured and killed by the Jin Dynasty's Hailingyang King, Arslan Khan of Kongrat invaded and plundered the Jin Dynasty's Beijing. At the same time, Genghis Khan's Mongols immediately held a kurultai and, according to Ambagai Khan's will, installed Kotala, Genghis Khan's great-grandfather, as the new khan. Then they decided to wage a war of revenge against the Tatars. Soon after, they waged a war of revenge against the Tatars 13 times. It is certain that Genghis Khan's grandfather Vartan Baatar also participated in this revenge battle, and in particular, his son Yesugei Baatar certainly participated, judging from the description in <the Secret History of the Mongols>.

 This was right after the revenge battle with the Tatars was decided at the Kurultai. The event that heralded the birth of Genghis Khan, the world conqueror who would completely change the world map and bring about a great transformation that would bring about the birth of the modern world, occurred like a whirlwind in the quiet steppe.

 Yesugei Baatar, the father of the future Genghis Khan, went falconry one day to warm up for the upcoming battle. On the way, he encountered "Eelun Ujin," the mother of the person who would change the fate of the world.

That day, Yeke Chiledu of the Mergid tribe was returning from the Olhonoud village with his wife. Yesugei, who had gone out for falconry, met this group in the field and approached them. In the cart he handed over, there was a woman riding. She was so pretty. Her name was Aelun Ujin. Yesugei fell in love with her at first sight.

Suppressing his pounding heart, Yesugei immediately rode his horse back home. Then he quickly called his older brother Negun Taiji and younger brother Daridai Zhongchigins and turned his horse around again. He went in search of the Yeke Chiledu group he had met in the field earlier and chased them.

 『When Aelun Ujin saw Yesugei and his group chasing him, he hurriedly said to her husband, Yeke Chiledu, “Honey, do you know why those three people are chasing you? And you? Their faces are suspicious. It will harm your life. If you survive, it won’t be hard to find a wife. There are girls in each cart. [You will get a pretty wife like me.] If you think of me, call the wife you have again by my name. For now, save your life. ‘Smell my scent and leave.’』

 After finishing her heartbreaking wish for her husband’s safety, Eelun Ujin took off her tsamtz (upper garment) and threw it away, then ran away in a hurry to save her beloved husband’s life. When Eke Chiledu started to run away, Yesugei and his party chased after him over several hills and then returned to where Eelun Ujin was and brought her home.

 <Secret History of Mongolia>, verses 54-56, vividly and in detail, describes this scene and concludes, “This is how Yesugei Baatar obtained Eelun Ujin.” However, <Tarikh-e Monghul, 集史 History of Mongolia> does not record anything about the fateful moment. <Tarikh-e Monghul, 集史 History of Mongolia>, the author of “Il Khan”, is reluctant to reveal that he was  Mergid tribe’s former husband, Yeke Chiledu.

 Episode 2. Mergid of “Yekhe Chiledu”, the former husband of Aelun Ujin, or “Great Childu”, or the Malgal tribe

 Let’s examine what kind of village this “Mergid” and “Olkonoud Village” are. First, Marie-Dominique Even and Rodica Pop of France said, “Merkid is the plural of ‘mergen (von viseur, avise’, sage).” Many other scholars also gave the same interpretation. That is, the Mongolian “mergen” is interpreted today as “an excellent hunter” or “a sharpshooter.” The “Merkid” tribe was a “great hunter” tribe. However, contrary to these scholars’ views, the Mongolian “mergen” actually came from the “merkid” tribe name. In other words, the “Merkid” tribe was an “excellent hunter” and “sharpshooter,” so this word was later introduced into Mongolian and used with that meaning.

 During the Jin Dynasty, this word It was used as “Paegun (孛菫)” in the word “Village Chief (部落族長).”

The important point is that the “Merkid (merkid)” tribe, which is the origin of the Mongolian word “mergen”, is the ancient Idu-style spelling of the tribe names “Mulgil (勿吉)” and “Malgal (靺鞨).” Mulgil (勿吉) and Malgal (靺鞨) are both phonetic spellings of the Goguryeo-Malgal word “Mol Goeul (勿吉),” or “Mal Goeul (馬郡),” which refers to the people living in “Mal Gol (馬郡).” They were good at riding horses, “excellent hunters,” and also excellent “sharp shooters” like Jumong (朱蒙).

 Another piece of evidence is that when a historical book records a specific person as a “Goguryeo person” or “Malgal person,” he was usually the head of the dynasty. It says that he was a royal family. However, “Yeke Chiledu” is the Mongolian name and sound of “大(Yeke) Childoo.” Since he is a “Merkid,” he is a “Malgal,” that is, a “royal family” of the Balhae Dynasty, and in particular, his surname is “Yeke=Dae.” Then, it means that he was a descendant of Dae In-seon (大諲譔, reigned 906~926), the last 15th king of Balhae.

Yeke Chiledu, a descendant of the Balhae royal family, was going home with a daughter from the Olkonout tribe, a distant relative, as we will see. On the way, he was attacked by Yesugei’s party and his wife was stolen by fate decreed by heaven.

 Episode 3. “Olkonoud Village,” the hometown of “Eelun Ujin,” the mother of Genghis Khan

 What kind of village is “Olkonoud Village,” the hometown of “Eelun Ujin,” the mother of Genghis Khan? No Mongolian scholar has yet been able to determine from whom this tribe's roots in the Eastern History came.

 However, it is quite easy for scholars who know the genealogy of Chinggis Khan's ancestors. This tribe came from "Kubaisire", the second son of "Golden Jar" Kumhaeng (今幸), the grandson of "Kyan", the legendary ancestor of Chinggis Khan, and also from Hambo (函普) of <Jing Dynasty History>. Hambo was the older brother of "Tusbudau", the fourth direct ancestor of "Alan Gowa" of the Korras lineage, a branch of Yesugei Baatar. "Kubaisire" Hambo (函普) had two sons, "Koro (烏魯, Oro)" and "Horo (斡魯, Alo)". They became the progenitors of the “Yekires (烏魯, Oro)” and “Olkunut (斡魯, Alo)” tribes respectively.

The second son, “Horo (斡魯)”, was the progenitor of the “Olkonoud tribe” of Genghis Khan’s mother, Aelun Ujin.

 

< Olkonod Clan Genealogy >

[Geumhaeng, Golden Jar]

↙                       ↓           ↘

[ Agore ]           [Hambo, Kubaisire]        [Bohwali, Tusbudau]                                                        ↓                         ↙ ↘                                  ↓

[ Konggra ]     [ Oro (烏魯) ]   [ Alo (斡魯) ]     [ Kongli ]

↓                             ↓                    ↓                                ↓

[ Konggrat Clan]      [ Yekiras Clan] [ Olkonod Clan]       [ Korlar Clan]

↓                             ↓                    ↓                                  ↓

↓                   [ Agolta ]         ↓                           ↓

↓                                                      ↓                                  ↓   

↓                              [ Eelun Ujin ] ∙∙∙∙∙[ Yesugei Baatar ]

↓                                                                     ↓

[ Burte Ujin ]                                [ Chinggis Khan ]

 In short, the “Olkonut(Olkon-Ot) tribes” of the<Tarikh-e Monghul, History Collection of the Mongols> is the “Olkonoud villages” of Mongolia of <Secret History of the Mongols>, and the “Olkonut tribe” of <Secret History of the Mongols> is the “descendant clan of Alo Khan (斡魯)”, the second son of Hambo. If so, Yesugei Baatar of the Korras lineage is his own

This is the story of how, among the three sons of the 16th ancestor, “Golden Jar” and “Geumhaeng,” the second son, Hambo, married a woman from a tribe that branched off from his second son, Alo.