Yesükhei () or Yesugei Baghatur (
Traditional Mongolian: ;
Modern Mongolian: Есүхэй баатар, ''Yesukhei baatar'', ) (b. 1134 – d. 1171) was a major chief of the
Khamag Mongol confederation and the father of Temüjin, who later became known as
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
. Yesügei was from the
Borjigin
A Borjigin is a member of the Mongol sub-clan that started with Bodonchar Munkhag of the Kiyat clan. Yesugei's descendants were thus said to be Kiyat-Borjigin. The senior Borjigids provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia u ...
family, and his name means "like nine", meaning he had the auspicious qualities of the number nine, a lucky number to the
Mongols
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
.
Life
Yesügei was the son of
Bartan Baghatur, who was the second son of
Khabul Khan. Khabul was recognized as a
khagan
Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...
by the
Jin Dynasty. Khabul Khan was, in turn, the great-grandson of the Mongol chief
Khaidu, the first to try to unite the Mongols. Yesügei abducted his chief wife,
Hö'elün, a daughter of the
Olkhunut forest people, with the help of his elder brother Negün Taishi and younger brother Daritai Otchigin, from her newlywed husband Chiledu of
Merkits. Yesügei
abducted Hoelun because of her beauty and indications of fertility.
After the Khamag Mongol confederation khan
Hotula died, the confederation had no elected king, but ''de facto'' Yesügei ruled the confederation. Yesügei had a bloodbrother, or ''
anda'',
Toghrul Khan (later known as Wang Khan and Ong Khan). Yesügei helped Toghrul to defeat his uncle Gurkhan. After Yesügei's death, Toghrul initially helped Temüjin in arranging his marriage to
Börte and uniting the tribes, but later defected to Genghis' ''anda'' and rival,
Jamukha
Jamukha (), a military and political leader of the Jadaran tribe who was proclaimed Gurkhan, ''Gur Khan'' ('Universal Ruler') in 1201 by opposing factions, was a principal rival to Genghis Khan, Temüjin (proclaimed Genghis Khan in 1206) during ...
.
In 1171 Yesügei died when his son Temüjin was nine years old. ''
The Secret History of the Mongols
The ''Secret History of the Mongols'' is the oldest surviving literary work in the Mongolic languages. Written for the Borjigin, Mongol royal family some time after the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, it recounts his life and conquests, and parti ...
'' records that he was poisoned by
Tatars
Tatars ( )[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...
while sharing a meal at a wedding
on the way home after leaving Temüjin at the home of Dai Setsen, a noble man of
Khongirad
The Khongirad (; ; ; ) was one of the major divisions of the Mongol tribes. Their homeland was located in the vicinity of Hulun Lake, Lake Hulun in Inner Mongolia and Khalkha River in Mongolia,M. Sanjdorj, History of the Mongolian People's Repub ...
tribe, when two fathers, Yesügei and Dai Setsen, agreed that their kids, Temüjin and Börte, would marry.
When Yesügei was on his way home after leaving Temüjin with Börte's family, he noticed an encampment where the Tatars were celebrating a feast. The ''Secret History'' explains that he wanted to join their feast, but he knew he could not reveal his identity since he was known among the Tatars as the person who killed their relative (called Temüjin Uge) in a battle eight years earlier.
Yesügei tried his luck but someone recognized him and offered him poisoned food under the guise of hospitality. Although ill, Yesügei managed to escape back to his family's camp.
Yesügei died three days later at home.
Legacy
During the reign of the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
, he was given the temple name of Liezu () and the posthumous name Shenyuan Huangdi ().
Family
Yesügei and
Hoelun had four sons
Temüjin, (later known as Genghis Khan),
Hasar,
Hachiun,
Temüge and a daughter,
Temülen. Yesugei had two sons by his second wife
Sochigel:
Behter and
Belgutei. The ''
Secret History of the Mongols'' records that in his youth Temüjin killed his brother Behter in a fight for food. His other half-brother, Belgutei, however was a good friend, and later became a general under Genghis.
See also
*
Bride kidnapping
*
Yesu – several people of that name
*
Yesü Möngke
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yesugei
1130s births
1171 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Yesugei
Family of Genghis Khan
Mongol Empire people
Tengrist monarchs