Alakhai Bekhi (Alagai Bäki; c. 1191 – after 1230) was a daughter of
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
and his first wife
Börte
Börte (simply Borte, also Börte Üjin; Mongolian: ; Cyrillic: Бөртэ үжин; c. 1161–1230) was the first wife of Temüjin, who became Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire. Börte became the head of the first Court of Genghis ...
. She played significant role behind the scenes during her father’s lifetime.
She acted as Regent of the territories in China proper conquered by her father after he withdrew back to the Mongolian Plateau in 1215.
Life
In 1206, the
Ongud
The Ongud (also spelled Ongut or Öngüt; Mongolian: Онгуд, Онход; Chinese: 汪古, ''Wanggu''; from Old Turkic ''öng'' "desolate, uninhabited; desert" plus ''güt'' "class marker") were a Turkic tribe that later became Mongolized ac ...
allies of Genghis Khan attended his great
Kurultai
Kurultai ( Mongolian: , Хуралдай, ''Khuraldai'') or ; Kazakh: Құрылтай, ''Qūryltai''; tt-Cyrl, Корылтай, ; ba, Ҡоролтай, ; az, Qurultay; tk, Gurultaý was a political and military council of ancient Mongol a ...
and brought gifts from their lands. In recognition of their loyalty, Alakhai was betrothed to a relative, perhaps the son, of
Alaqush of the Ongud. When she was about sixteen years old, she went south of the
Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world.
Geography
The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...
, where the Ongud lived a semi-nomad life. This gave Genghis Khan a foothold beyond the Gobi Desert, where many sedentary kingdoms of large populations were located. Alakhai Beki supplied the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
with horses and provisions, whenever they came south.
In 1211, the Ongud revolted against Alakhai and tried to kill her. She managed to escape, but her husband and other supporters were killed. She took two of her stepsons with her to the Mongol army. Genghis Khan then sent part of his army with her and the revolt was suppressed. Though Genghis planned on the widescale killing of male Onguds in retaliation, Alakhai persuaded him to only punish the murderers of her husband. After that Alakhai married her stepson Jingue and the Ongud remained loyal to her and Genghis Khan.
With Jingue she had a son named Negudei.
She was also left in charge of the territories in
China proper
China proper, Inner China, or the Eighteen Provinces is a term used by some Western writers in reference to the "core" regions of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. This term is used to express a distinction between the "core" regions popu ...
conquered by her father after he withdrew back to the
Mongolian Plateau
The Mongolian Plateau is the part of the Central Asian Plateau lying between 37°46′-53°08′N and 87°40′-122°15′E and having an area of approximately . It is bounded by the Greater Hinggan Mountains in the east, the Yin Mountains to th ...
in 1215. He gave her the title "Princess Who Runs the State".
She regularly dispatched troops to aid her father in campaigns.
In 1225, after Jingue's death, she married Boyaohe, another stepson.
Women in power
/ref> Her son Negudei died in battle in the 1230s. She then did work to promote the interests of Boyaohe's other children by arranging marriages for them to women of the Borjigin Clan.
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bekhi, Alakhai
Women of the Mongol Empire
12th-century births
13th-century women rulers
13th-century deaths
Year of birth unknown
Genghis Khan