The History of China - #161 - Mongol 3: The Anda, The Arrow, & The Airag

Episode Date: March 9, 2019

Temujin will enlist the aid of his recently-sworn father, To'oril AKA Ong Khan of the Kereyid to rescue his stolen wife, Börte. But his successful rescue of his beloved will only mark the beginning of his remarkable journey from isolated herder, to powerful khan of the steppes. Unfortunately, one of the sacrifices he'll be forced to make along the path to power will be that most-sacred: his sworn brotherhood with Jamukha, who will transform from Anda to Nemesis for Temujin. Time Period Covered: ca. 1178-1201 CE Major Historical Figures: Borjigin: Temujin, Khan of the Borjigin Börte, wife of Temujin Ho'elun, mother of Temujin Khasar, Brother of Temujin Belgutei, Half-Brother of Temujin Jelme, Companion of Temujin Bo'orchu, Companion of Temujin Jochi, Temujin's first-born son(?) Kereyid: To'oril, Khan of the Kereyid (Ong Khan) Jadaran: Jamukha (Gurkhan) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. The French Revolution set Europe ablaze. It was an age of enlightenment and progress, but also of tyranny and oppression. It was an age of glory and an age of tragedy. One man stood above it all. This was the Age of Napoleon. I'm Everett Rummage, host of the Age of Napoleon podcast. Join me as I examine the life and times of one of the most fascinating and enigmatic

characters in modern history. Look for the Age of Napoleon wherever you find your podcasts. Hello and welcome to the History of China. Episode 161. The Honda, the Arrow, and the IROG. World, with this arrow, I thee wed. From The Fourth Hour of the Night by Frank Bedard. Hort was gone, taken by Merkhead raiders, and her newlywed husband, Temujin, had been able to do nothing to stop it. Instead, he did what all stepmen knew that they must, he ran away. For days he had outridden his pursuers until they had at last given up the chase. And only then had

Temujin felt safe enough to ascend Berkhan Khaldun, the beating heart of the earth, and pray to almighty heaven for a solution to his wife's kidnapping. He knew that he could not simply outwit his way to victory this time, and so he faced a difficult choice. The three main rivers that flowed away from the mighty mountain in their different directions summed this choice up. Flowing southeast, down to the rich steppe land, was the Kherlun, offering him the possibility of simply moving on with his life and continuing as a simple herder.

Along that path was the potential for prosperity, wealth even, given the herds that he could accumulate, a new bride, perhaps even many. Yet as a herder of the tiny Borjigin line, he would forever run the risk of falling victim yet again to the Merkits, or the Taichiyud, or any other group powerful enough to steal away yet again what he had earned. His second choice, flowing northeast, was the Onun, the river along which his own life had begun. That way it laid the protection of the Khenti and the Taiga, a retreat to the forest, to the life of the huntsman, a lean existence, but one he was very much used to. Safety, but without the possibility of prosperity, and certainly existence, but one he was very much used to. Safety, but without the

possibility of prosperity, and certainly never to see Bort again. The third river, flowing southwest and to the Khara forests, was the Tula, back to Ong Khan and his cariots, and his newly reaffirmed offer of protection and aid. This third choice was the only one that offered Temujin any real chance of saving his wife. In the end, it was no choice at all. It would be the course of the Tula that Temujin would now follow. He had declined Ong's offer of a position within his court a year prior, settling instead for the quiet life among his family along the Onon. Yet now, there was little else that he could do.

Riding with his brother to Ong Khan's camp, Tamajin entreated the lord of the Karyids, stating, quote, Ong Khan responded, quote, Did I not say as much last year? When you brought me that sable jacket, you said that in your father's time he and I were sworn brothers, and therefore I am a father to you? I swore to you that I would bring your people and unite them under you. I swore from my bowels and my backbone, and I will honor that promise now. I will crush the Merkits and rescue your lady Bort for you. I will destroy them and return This was, of course, largely pretext. As Weatherford points out,

had the Khan not wanted to fight the Murkids, he could have sympathetically deferred and instead offered a new wife from among his own clan to Temujin as a replacement for Bort. Instead, Ong opted to use Temujin's grievance as an excuse to raid and pillage and, of course, enact a measure of his own clan to Temujin as a replacement for Bort. Instead, Ong opted to use Temujin's grievance as an excuse to raid and pillage and, of course, enact a measure of his own vengeance for the old slights against him by the Merkid people. Such was, after all, the endless cycle of the steppe. Ong instructed Temujin to send a message and reach out to his one and only anda, Jamukha, himself sworn to the service of the Khan, to take up his banner and

lead a force of 20,000 men as the Karyid's left flank, and to meet him at a time and place of his own choosing. Temüjin convened his two brothers, Khasar and Belgate, asking that they convey the message to Jamukha personally. He said, quote, The three Merkids made my bed empty. Are we not one family? My sworn brother, He said, And he also made sure that they should repeat the words of Ong Khan and his pledge of support and call to action. In due course, Jamukha replied, again through Temujin's two brothers, quote, Temujin, my Anda, my heart aches knowing what has been done to you. I will, of course, help you gain your just vengeance by destroying the Merkits. Let us rescue our Lady Bort, end quote. Jamukha went on to say that he knew the location of Tohtoa and his band of Merkits on a

small island between the Orhan and the Silunga rivers. He concluded his reply, as ever, spoken in a carefully constructed rhyming verse for ease of memorization by the messenger, and then repeated verbatim to the recipient. For the stanza, quote, For my part, I have made offerings to the spear-tipped banner. I have beaten the rumbling drum made from the black bull's hide. I have mounted my swift black horse. I have donned my Thus it was that with Ong Khan leading his Karyid tribe on the right, Jamaka, his Jadaran clan on the left, and Temujin, his tiny band of Borjigin in the center, they would assault the Murkids that had stolen Bort. Amazingly, though in his short life he had already experienced many hardships,

hunger, murder, treachery, injury, and slavery, just to name a few, this would be the first actual large-scale combat or raid in which Temujin had taken part. It would prove to be a rather foregone conclusion, more of a rout than an actual battle, as, in the way of the steppe, Merkit outriders and hunters had spotted the war party's approach and warned their band ahead of time, giving most of the men the opportunity to flee, with all the possessions and women that they could take with them. This included Bort, who, now the forcible wife of an aged Merkit warrior, was packed away into a cart and set off with a train of goods and chattel. This she was willing to do, since she

could not know who might be attacking their camp, and certainly did not wish to be kidnapped again by yet another unknown group. It was into this panicked flight that Temujin galloped, shouting into the melee of frightened women and children his wife's name. Recognizing her husband's voice, Bort leapt from the cart that she'd been stowed within and ran to him, snatching the reins from his hand. In the darkness, panic, and confusion of the raid, Temujin momentarily did not recognize who had done this and made to attack, yet in the light of the moon saw his beloved wife's face, whereupon they threw themselves upon each other and embraced. Though the main host under Toktoa, the Mercid, were able to flee north

to the far-flung reaches of Siberia, the raid organized by Temujin was deemed a decisive victory. Many Merkids were captured and killed, and much loot was seized, and of course, with the return of Bort. In its aftermath, and especially given the breakup of the Merkid Confederation, Temujin's own ranks began to swell with men eager to follow a man who could lead such a successful attack. Obviously, thanks were very much in order for the two men in his life who had allowed for this glorious outcome, Aung Kahn and Jamukha. To both, Tamajin gave great gifts and praise, but to Jamukha specifically, his sworn brother, his Anda, with whom he shared one blood and one life, Tamajin heaped on the

honors. A gold sash that had been pillaged, and Toktoa's own prized yellow gelding. It seemed that the two might make a formidable pair, capable of uniting the scattered Mongol tribes into a powerful confederation. And indeed, for a time, a full year and a half, that was exactly their plan. To remain together and continue their military partnership. However, it was not to be. From Alson, quote, competition for retainers and latent rivalry over the right to reunify the scattered Mongolian lineages caused tension between the two, end quote. In the interim, Bort had been returned to Temujin, but carrying something of a surprise. She was something like eight months pregnant, and yet may have been taken longer than eight months prior. It was a situation that would trouble Temujin throughout the rest of his life

when this child, a boy, was born less than a month after Bort's rescue, as evidenced by the fact that the secret history only references the incident once and in an extremely abbreviated form. It writes that Temujin simply noted that his wife is pregnant when begging for On-Kan's help, and nothing else was said. As can sometimes be the case, historical silence on an issue, especially one that would normally be celebrated like the birth of a Khan's first son, can say as much as any writing. The boy's name can also be interpreted as suggestive,

as they called him douchi, meaning visitor or guest. In any event, Temujin seemed determined to claim the child as his own, and would brook no open question about it. The issue was decided, yet such unspoken and unanswered questions would haunt both the eventual Genghis Khan and his sons for the rest of their lives. In the end, it would prove a rather small incident that would send the two Anda on their separate paths, yet one that had been building for quite a while. Temujin had come to feel, through small slights and minor annoyances, that his special status as Anda with Jamukha had lessened with time, and that the brother he rode with had come to view him as an inferior, and even as a little brother, a station he'd proved years

ago unable to countenance for long. It was in May of 1181, mid-spring rising swiftly into summer, that would prove the final straw. At Jamukha's command, the group broke their winter camp to head for their richer summer pastures. Temujin rode alongside, as usual, but on this day, Jamukha turned to him and said, quote, Stunned, Tamajin made no reply, but instead hung back and began to look for his mother to share this troubling news. To his ears, and possibly how Jamukha had indeed intended it, Tamajin had just been dismissed as a lesser member of the clan, a mere shepherd boy rather than horseman. Moreover, he'd been ordered to part from Jamukha's side and make his camp elsewhere. It seems likely that Jamukha had come to resent Temujin's innate

charisma and ability to attract the loyalty of followers to his own side rather than that of Jamukha, and wished to be rid of him. Finding his mother, Hoelun, and Bort alongside, he repeated Jamaka's command and asked what he should do. It was his wife who spoke up first, saying, Anda Jamaka is said to tire easily of others. The time has come for him to tire of us, it seems. This is probably intended against us as a conspiracy. Thus, we should camp with him no more, but ride on through the night without delay.

End quote. Camagin agreed with his wife's wisdom, though it must have been with some reluctance, and the Borjigin secretly made plans to inform all who might wish to follow them that they would be sneaking off that night and putting as much distance between themselves and Jamukha as possible, and that any of them who so desired were invited to tag along. It must have been to Jamukha's horror the following morning that he arose to find the greater part of his mighty band had abandoned him and fled with Temujin. It was just as he'd feared. At daybreak, the Borjigin chieftain was to find that he had attracted the Hachiun,

the Harakhai, the Haraldai, the Jaliyers, the Tarkhut, and the Changyut and Bayaut clans. Most impressively, perhaps even now and certainly in Temujin's future, he had attracted a number of Baralas and their chieftain, the mighty warrior Khubilai, who would come to serve as one of the Mongol Great Khan's greatest generals in the wars to come. These and many others, individuals and entire family bands alike, had broken with Jamukha and joined the Borjigins. At the age of 19, the spring of 1181, Temüjin had become a leader of one of the more formidable forces on the steppes, but not yet the leader of the entire Mongol people, and certainly still no match for the Naimans, Karyids, or Tatars. Moreover, though greatly diminished in strength in numbers, and though he chose not to

pursue his erstwhile Andes' flight, Jamaka would neither forget nor forgive this betrayal. It would launch a bitter feud between the two that would last for more than a quarter century, and finally engulf the entire Mongol world in a civil war. But we'll get to that in time. For now, it was time for Temujin and his Borjigin host to finally make their move against their one-time tormentors and close kin of both Temujin and Jamaka, the Taiichi-Yud clan. Riding down upon them, the secret history tells of the men fleeing in terror, only to be cut down by Mongol warriors. Yet extermination was not their goal. Instead, capturing the greater bulk of the Taiichi-Yud clansmen, they were given the

option to swear themselves to Temujin and the Borjigin and to join them as clansmen, an offer at least some of them now readily accepted, a further insult to Jamukha, who had counted them among his own allies as well. Following this vast expansion of his power, in 1189, Temujin took his band to the upper Haralun River, to a valley at the foot of the heart-shaped mountain

and beside an azure body called Lake Koko. Here, Tamujin decided he would make a play for something greater than simply being an A-leader among the steps. He would make a call for the ceremony known as the Heraltai, a calling together of all kindred bands who would wish to attend, to convene and make one of their own, the man who had called them their formal chieftain, or khan. It was a highly ritualized affair, but the outcome was assured so long as a sufficient quorum of tribes opted to arrive. No complete tally survives of the groups that showed up, possibly indicating that the number of arrivals was lower than Temujin might have hoped, yet still it was deemed sufficient to begin the ceremony. Still, assurances and pledges must be given.

Once the Heraltai had been assembled on the shores of the Blue Lake, the chieftains and clan heads approached Temujin one after the next, asserting that heavenly signs and omens had foretold Temujin's rise and their willingness to obey the will of heaven by following Temujin. And yet, in the next breath, they demanded what he would provide to them, should they make him their Khan. Temujin lavished on the promises, saying, If the signs are true, and I am made Khan,

I will make each of you the commander of ten thousand households, give you thirty wives of the most beautiful women, and will always listen to your counsel and advice. After meeting amongst themselves and coming to agreement about his assurances, the leaders of the three great clans who had attended the Kuril's High approached Temujin and spoke together, according to the secret history in one of its most famous passages. We will make you Han. When you are Han, galloping in the vanguard after many enemies, we will bring for you girls and queens of good complexion, palace tents, foreign women and girls with rosy cheeks, gelding horses with fine rumps at the trot.

All of these we will give to you. We will hunt the wily beasts and round them up for you. We will squeeze the animals of the steppe for you until their bellies touch and you can shoot them at your leisure. On days of battle, should we disobey, then separate us from our precious family and our property, from our khatuns and wives, casting our black heads onto the ground? In days of peace, should we ignore your counsel, then exile us from our men and servants, from our wives and children, and cast us into the wilderness? End quote. Essentially, as long as Tamajin would lead them to victory and spoils, they would follow him unquestioningly. To each, in turn, he appointed positions and titles. Some would be his personal cooks,

some his herdsmen, some his masters of horse, and some his emissaries and ambassadors near and far. At last he turned to his two closest companions, or nokod, Jelm and Boarchu, appointing them his chief supervisors as a reward for their continued loyalty since the time that he had no friend but his own shadow. With his swearing-in as Khan of the Boerjugids complete, the secret history begins at this point referring to Temujin as Genghis Khan. But this appears to be anachronistic, as other sources indicate that he would not in fact take up such a title in truth until his final victory in uniting the Mongol world and his second Kurultai in 1206. Even so, word was sent out of Temüjin's ascension as Khan of the Burj Gid Ordu, or Horde, especially to his sworn father, Ong Khan of the Karyans.

Temüjin's messenger explained carefully that all the new Burj Gid clan was seeking to do was unite his Mongol people as they'd agreed, and meant it as no challenge to the Karyid ruler, and reaffirmed his own loyalty to the Khan. All received this news with pleasure, which Weatherford points out was likely because, by having the Mongols divided between Jamukha, who did not take news of the Kuril Thai well at all, and Temujin, they were thus pitted against one another, and could be played off one another in turn, effectively keeping both under the karyid's thumb. In this assessment, Ong Khan would soon be proven right. Jamaka viewed Temujin's self-declaration as Khan of the Mongols, as the height of insolence. As the scion of the elder white-bone line, this black-bone upstart needed

to be reminded of where he sat in the grand scheme of things, and decisively put back into his place. Thus, less than a year after Tamajin's claiming of khanhood, Jamukha used the first excuse available, in this case the killing of a kinsman during a Borjigin cattle raid, to declare all-out war on his erstwhile Anda-turned-bitter foe. Calling all of his forces, likely no more than a few hundred, but still considered a large force on the steppe. To mobilize and repay the blood spilled in kind, they rode against Temujin's Ordu camp, now located at Dalan Baljud, in the Keralun Basin, near the Sangha River. The Battle of Dalan Baljud would see Jamukha's forces sweep Temujin's from

the battlefield and to rout, with dozens of Borjigid captured. Though Temüjin and many of his warriors escaped, those taken captive by Jamukha would face a terrible fate indeed. From the secret history, quote, Returning, Jamukha boiled alive the young men of the Chinos in seventy cauldrons. He cut the head off of Chaka-Anua of the Neudes, tied it to the tail of his horse, and dragged it after him. End quote. The absolute insult of this horrific act, if it actually happened, was beyond anything someone of the steppe could have imagined. Weatherford explains that the method of execution for the 70 boiled boys would have been understood to have destroyed their souls entirely, while the cutting off of the chieftain's head, the most sacred part of the body, and tying it to the ass end of a horse would have defiled

his spirit and shamed his entire family. It would have been an utterly unforgivable offense. Of course, that is, if it happened the way the secret history says it did. It seems convenient that the number of reportedly executed happens to align so well with the Mongols' own unlucky number, seven. On the other hand, whatever the vengeful Jamukha may have enacted there at Dalan Baljud, it does seem to have been shocking and dismaying enough to drive even more of his followers away and thereafter pledge themselves to Tamajin's service. Jamukha had carried the day and enacted his revenge, but it would in time prove a Pyrrhic victory. At this point in his life, during or around the year 1190, the records go dark for almost a full decade of Temujin's life and exploits.

The secret history, and therefore all others, simply do not record the goings-on, travails, and trials of Temujin Khan and his small band of Borjigin clansmen. Alsa notes that one of the few records of this period indicates that Ong Khan, Tamajin's ally and lord, temporarily fell from power and was forced to flee from Mongolia altogether to seek refuge with the Harakhetan. We come to understand that this happened thanks to Jurchenjin records. But owing to the typically Chinese imperial disdain for the specifics goings-on of the steppe nomads, apart from the broadest of strokes and how it affected their own interests, we know few specifics other than that he fled and roughly when. Not why, at the behest of what specific force or circumstance,

nor indeed its effects on the small band of Borjigin. Instead, we must flash forward something like 5-7 years, to 1195 or 96. At this point, Temujin was about 33 years old, and would stumble on an unexpected opportunity to greatly enhance his wealth and prestige, owing to the return of Ong Khan and his resumption of control over the Karyids. And he had, what else, vengeance on his mind. Hi everyone, this is Scott. If you want to learn about the world's oldest civilizations, find out how they were rediscovered,

follow the story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra's descendants over ten generations, or take a deep dive into the Iron Age or the Hellenistic era, then check out the Ancient World Podcast. Available on all podcasting platforms, or go to ancientworldpodcast.com. That's the Ancient World Podcast. The object of his revenge helps us to at least speculate which of the steppe forces had forced his flight, since he was singularly focused on the Tatar Khanate. Or at least Ong was made to think so. Weatherford notes, for instance, that it was at the Jin dynasty's instigation that Ong turned his attention and ire towards the Tatars. He writes, The civilized Jirted rulers of Cathay, to the south of the Gobi, frequently delved into steppe

politics as a way of keeping the tribes at war with one another and thus too weak to threaten their own power, end quote. As I mentioned in our first installment on the Mongols, episode 159, that ancient Chinese concept of yi yi zhi yi, or use the barbarians to deal with the barbarians. Continuing Weatherford, quote, although traditionally allies of the Tatars, the Jurch had feared the Tatars were growing too strong, and they instigated Ong Khan to raise an army and attack them. Ong Khan duly raised his banners and called his allies, among them, of course, Temujin and all his respectable, if small, band of Borjigin warriors. When the Carriade emissary arrived at the Borjig Ordo, he relayed the old Khan's call to arms. Quote, From days of old, the Tatar people have been our enemies.

They have destroyed our ancestors and fathers. Now we have a pretext to launch a joint attack on them. Come! End quote. Tamajin replied with a hearty affirmative, saying that he'd just recently sighted a Tatar band moving towards his own encampment along the Ulaja River, and urging the old Khan to make haste in coming to his side. Thus, in the winter of 1196, a combined force of Mongols, Karyids, and even several contingents of Jurchen swept down upon

the Tatar encampment, making quick and easy work of them. The sheer amount of loot and treasure seized from their large-scale raid on a significantly richer group like the Tatars dazzled Temujin, and the Secret Histories makes little effort to hide the step chieftain's astonishment at the sheer luxury of what they'd just seized. Quote, A cradle embossed with silver and covered by a silken blanket embroidered with golden threads and pearls. Even captured Tatar children wore satin clothes decorated with golden threads. In one case, a young boy wore a gold ring in his nose and one in each ear. End quote. Upon reporting their success to the Jurchenjin overseers, by their imperial decree, To'uril of the Karyids was at last given the title of Wang, or Prince,

and now became Ong Khan in truth. And as for Tamajin, he was granted the lesser but still esteemed title of Ja'ut Khuri, which Onon translates as meaning a commander of the Jin border armies. The Jin high official, a member of the ruling Durchen Wanyang clan, said to the two Khans, quote, By jointly attacking the Tatars and killing their leadership, you've done the Altan Khan,

literally the Golden Khan, referring to the Jin Emperor Zhang Zong, a great service. I will ride back to the central capital and inform the Altan Khan, and let him decide for himself if he wishes to bestow upon you the greater title of Commissioner of Pacification." End quote. In the aftermath of this successful raid against the Tatars, word of Temujin's battlefield successes, and of course his vastly expanded wealth, would drive many who had been fence riders to now join with him. Yet there was one group against whom Temujin immediately turned to mete out further vengeance. The Jirkids, who had pledged themselves to the Borjigin cause, but then not only grievously insulted Temujin by daring to draw the blood of his half-brother Belgate at a feast that turned into a brawl, but then went so far as to renege at the last minute in joining them against the Tatars. Tamajin had even gone so far as to wait an extra six days for the jerkheads to arrive at

the appointed place, yet when they still did not arrive, he was forced to set off without them. For Tamajin, a foe opposing him straightforwardly might be worthy of respect, perhaps even reprieve and a chance at submission. But someone who had betrayed their word to him? Never. Even more than their refusal to fight, they had dared to raid the Borjigin camp in the absence of its strong fighting men, killing at least ten and making off with the clothing and possessions of everyone else. This could absolutely not be forgiven.

He launched his counter-assault on the faithless Jirkids the following year, in 1197, and defeated them easily, plundering their camps and riding down their leaders who had tried to escape on horseback, specifically the chieftains Sachibeki and Taichu. These two had been among those clan heads to personally take the oath that had elevated Temujin as their unquestioned Khan, and had promised death by beheading to any who dared disobey. Catching up to them and taking the two prisoners in a mountain pass, they then hauled them back for trial before the assembled clan heads. There, with all assembled, Temujin demanded of the traitorous leaders, What did we agree on in former days? Both seemed to know that they had been truly in the wrong, and what fate awaited them.

For they replied, And they stretched their necks out for the promised decapitating blow. Yet here the Khan drew back, spilling a fellow Mongol's noble blood, even a faithless one, and even with good cause, was a grievous insult to his soul and to the earth beside. Instead, to preserve the last insult to his soul and to the earth beside. Instead, to preserve the last shred of their dignity and honor, he ordered the pair executed in a different manner, what the secret history simply refers to as suffocation, but seems likelier to have been the more common form of execution for those of noble blood, being sewn up into a leather sack,

and then either trampled by horses or thrown into a river to drown. For the remainder of the Jerkins, a very different fate would await, and one that broke with all usual traditions of the steppe. Typically, when one tribe raided another, loot and captives were the primary objective, and though some might be slain, most would be left to their own devices at the end of an attack. This had been one of the primary drivers of the endless cycles of blood feuds and vengeance, that those left would inevitably reform and counterattack in time. This endless cycle Temüjin knew all too well, and coupled with his dawning realization that such practices were even

now being manipulated by the distant Altan Khan of the Jurchen to keep his people forever weak and divided, he had concocted, perhaps, a solution. Thus, following the execution of the Jerkin chieftains, he made a proclamation to the assembled lords. Of the remaining Jerkin chieftains, quote, Let them be the slaves at your threshold. Should they escape your threshold, slice the sinews of their heels. Let them be the slaves of your felt door. Should they depart from your felt door, cut out their livers and cast them out. End quote. For the rest of the families, they'd not be left to resume their lives as usual, but instead rolled into the greater Mongol tribe as Bo'ol Thralls,

and their lands redistributed to Temujin's sub-commanders. They'd be neither destroyed nor freed, but rather absorbed. This, the Khan symbolized by giving a toddler boy, apparently orphaned in the attack, to his own mother, Huilun, as an adoptive son, thereby making the boy his adoptive younger brother, and the Jurkin people his clan relatives. This he had likewise done with his previously defeated enemy clans, including the Tatars, Merkids, and Taichiud. In a final and brutal display of dominance, Temujin ordered a feast that night that all old and new members of his family were to attend,

so that all might witness. When the food had been prepared and all had arrived and seated, Temujin summoned the jerked wrestler, Buri, to step forth. It had been Buri who at the previous feast dared insult the Khan by drawing his sword and cutting his brother, Belgate. Now the Khan called forth Belgate and commanded the two to wrestle. Buri had never been defeated at wrestling, and the last time he and Belgate had held a match, Buri had defeated the other in short and humiliating fashion. This time, though terrified enough of invoking the Khan's wrath to avoid pinning Belgate, nor could Belgate throw Buri. He had instead climbed atoking the Khan's wrath to avoid pinning Belkate, nor could Belkate throw Buri.

He had instead climbed atop the other's back by the shoulders and placed his knees on the other's rump. Glancing over, he caught Temujin's gaze, and the elder brother bit his lower lip, a predetermined signal. Placing his knee at the small of Buri's back, Belkate crossed his arms around his opponents, his enemies, collarbones, and with all his might pulled back. The sickening crack of backbone resounded across the courtyard, and Buri fell, paralyzed. His broken form was then dragged off into the steppe and cast out to die. The message was as horrifying as it was clear to all assembled, thus ever to betrayers. For the next four years, from his new home base near Burkhan Khaldun and the Herlun River that would one day be known as his capital,

Avarga, but as of yet was little more than a remote camp on a barren plain, Tamajin Khan raided, warred, and brought yet more clans to his cause through either attraction or subjugation. Yet there were some, especially those of the old white-bone aristocratic lines, who did not appreciate Temujin's disruption of their ancient ways and customs. For them, Jamukha had become something of a lightning rod of resistance, and many rallied to his cause. It would be in 1201 that Jamukha at last felt he held enough support to make his own play. He held his own Kuril Thai along the Argun River, and with the support of twelve tribes including the Naiman,

Jadaran, Merked, Oirad, and the remnants of the Tai Chiud, was proclaimed Gerhan, the universal ruler. This proclamation was then sanctified by the ritual slaughter of a stallion and a mare. His twelve tribes in tow, the Gur Khan Jamaka, mounted an immediate offensive against his one-time Andhra, but now mortal foe, Tamajin Khan. The title Gur Khan, while a powerful statement of his intention in itself, held an even deeper meaning than it suggests on the surface. Quote,

The last Khan to bear the title had been Ong Khan's uncle, who had ruled the Karyid people until Ong Khan had revolted against him and killed him and his brothers. It was during this revolt that Tamajin's father, Yesugei, had become the ally of Ong Khan. By choosing this title, Jamukha was publicly challenging the power of Ong Khan, as well as that of his subordinate, Tamajin. End quote. If Jamukha could overcome these two, he would reign unchallenged over the central steppes. They rode out. Word arrived of Jamaka's elevation and war plan as quickly as a horse could bring it to the Borjgin Ordu at Vavaga. Rallying both his forces and those of Ong, Tamajin decided to ride out and meet his foe

on the field of battle. In the days leading up to Ong, Tamajin decided to ride out and meet his foe on the field of battle. In the days leading up to the battle, Tamajin summoned shamans and pyromancers to try to read the wills of the spirits and consult the fires and bones for answers from the blue sky, and interpret his own and their dreams about what the battle would yield. Across the hilltops, drums sounded out from both sides, attempting to frighten the other side into defecting or fleeing before the battle began in earnest. Tamajin himself was in high spirits, as the bones and dreams had foretold his victory, and so too did the heavens seem to respond by sending down a driving, blinding rainstorm at Tamajin's back and into the eyes of his foes.

The true deciding factor, however, was timing, and that not all of Jamukha's forces, including the Gurkhan himself for that matter, had yet arrived at the battlefield. From Elsin, Temüjin, quote, launched a determined and timely spoiling attack that thoroughly disorganized the opponent's advance guard commanded by the Naiman-Buriyug Khan. By the time Jamukha arrived at the field with his troops, the issue had been decided in Temüjin's favor, end quote. Seeing that the battle had been lost before it had even begun, Jamukha did the only thing he now could,

turn his horse and flee along with the rest of his routed warriors. Ong and his carriots would attempt to pursue Jamukha himself, while Temujin would take up after those remaining Taiichi-yud clansmen who yet resisted his power as they fled back toward the Onon River. He had a score to settle with them, though when he did at last catch up with his rebellious brethren, it would prove more difficult than he expected to exact his revenge. In fact, the attempt would very nearly cost him his life. The Taijude, knowing that they were being closely pursued, pulled up on the far side of the Onun and deployed a line of archers behind hastily constructed log barricades, a formidable defensive position. From this distance, for the steppe people were loath to engage in close-quarter combat for fear

the enemy's blood might spatter on them, they exchanged volley after volley. From the secret history, quote, Temujin Khan arrived and did battle with the Taichudes. They seesawed back and forth until evening. They then passed the night propped up against each other at the very spot where they had fought. The people who had fled earlier in panic also returned. Setting up camp with the soldiers, they spent the night together with them. End quote. As night fell, both sides set up camp almost neighboring to one another,

to keep close eye on their foe and prevent a surprise nighttime raid, and then counted their dead and wounded. The day's fighting had seen the Borgians take the upper hand, though by no means decisively. But there was dire news indeed for the Khan's strike force, where it was found by his Nukur companion, Jom, that Tamajin had been struck in the neck by an arrow. Though not a deep wound, his attempts to staunch the bleeding had proven unsuccessful, and weakened by blood loss, he quickly lost consciousness as night fell. Delm, trusting no other to stand guard over his Khan, stayed at Temujin's side through the night, sucking at the wound to try to prevent infection and from it clotting shut. The blood that he sucked out he then swallowed as much of as he could to try to keep it from being contaminated by touching the earth. Weatherford points out that another reason for this was likely psychological,

in addition to the religious aspect, that by concealing the amount of blood their Khan had lost, Jom would have been able to make Tamajin's wound seem less severe than it was, and thus stave off potential panic. Around midnight, Tamajin regained consciousness and weakly intoned to Jelm, The bleeding has stopped, and I'm thirsty. Please, give me Irog. Irog was the traditional drink of the steppe herders, a mildly alcoholic beverage made of fermented mares' milk that the nomads were infamous for drinking to great excess. The Borjigin camp had nothing but water, but Jelm remembered seeing that several supply wagons ringed the neighboring Taichiud camp, likely stocked with Airog. Seeing no other option, Jelm stripped off his hat and clothes, and all but naked, slipped across the battlefield and into the enemy's camp. This seems a bizarre thing to do, but Weatherford explains, quote, carefully and recognized him, Jelm planned to claim that he had just been stripped and humiliated by his fellow Mongols and had escaped to the Taichiud. It would probably have believed him because of the unlikelihood that any proud Mongol warrior would intentionally allow himself to be captured naked.

It was a truly bold strategy, and it would work flawlessly. Jelm was able to penetrate the Taichiud camp without rousing them, and investigated the waiting supply wagons. Alas, there was no Irog to be found, but instead he had to settle for taking a bucket of fermenting mirror's milk back to his own camp and the waiting Tamajin. Mixing it with water, this he fed to the weakened Khan through the night. By daybreak, Tamajin had regained some of his strength and enough of his senses to look around and see the bizarre sight of his half-naked companion kneeling over him, surrounded by congealed blood. Puzzled and more than a bit disgusted and disquieted by the sight of all

this blood, taboo as it was, Tamajin asked Jelm, what happened? Could you have spit that, gesturing to the blood, a bit further away from me? Recovering further and listening to Jelm's tale of heroics and braving the enemy camp in his underwear to bring his Khan back a drink in his hour of need, a stunned Temujin replied at last, What can I say? Before, when we were thrice chased by the Mercads around the Burkhan Khaldun, you took my life out of danger. Last night you sucked at my wound to spare it from clotting and freed my life from obstruction. When I was delirious with thirst, you entered the enemy camp nude, without a moment's hesitation, at great risk to yourself, and filled my life up.

These three services will stay with me in my heart forever. End quote. Largely because of Jelm's efforts, word of Temujin's wound had been kept secret from the neighboring Taichiud camp, and as day broke, the Mongol force arose to discover that most of the enemy force, seeing that they had not fared well in the prior day's battle, had snuck off and fled under the cover of darkness. Temujin ordered many of his warriors to pursue them, though he was not yet recovered enough to do so himself. Many were captured, however, and as had become the policy by now, he ordered the execution of their leaders, but accepted the rest as subjugated members of his own tribe. Among them was the man who had

once freed him from Taichud bondage as a child, Sor Khan, and his family, who yet remained Bo'ol slaves. At last able to repay the old man's kindness from many years ago, Temujin freed the man from bondage and embraced him as a brother. Temujin has gone from a fugitive of the Tai Chiud, a lone herder among a tiny band of twelve, at the mercy of the winds of fate, into a mighty Khan of the steppes, master of the destiny of hundreds, potentially thousands, and a potent rival of any who might stand in his way. But his greatest test is yet to come, for while he had been able to capture and subjugate the Taichi-yud remnants, his nemesis, Jamaka, had managed to evade similar justice by Ong Khan, and would escape to find new allies and plot his revenge. And so next time, the final showdown

over who would be the master of the steppes and who would bear the title of Great Khan of the Mongols in truth rather than pretense will be decided. Thanks for listening. To be continued... these islands would become the centre of an empire which ruled a quarter of the globe and on which the sun never set. I'm Samuel Hume, a historian of the British Empire, and my podcast Pax Britannica follows the people and events that built that empire into a global superpower. Learn the history of the British Empire by listening to Pax Britannica everywhere you find your podcasts, or go to pod.link slash pax.