For most history buffs, Yesugei is in the shadow of his formidable son, being only one line in his biography. We remember how this man was poisoned by his enemies from the Tatar tribe. His warriors scattered, distant relatives took all the cattle with them.
Temujin and his family had to wander for a long time, he starved, was captured. And when he grew up, he led the disgruntled, expelled from their clans, after which he rose to the heights of power for many years. Only after many years did he become strong enough to defeat the treacherous tribe, which was destroyed completely out of revenge for his father.
That’s probably all we know about Yesugei. As you can see, this is not so much his story as the story of Genghis Khan. So let’s eliminate the unfortunate misunderstanding and tell about this powerful man. But first let’s talk about who his ancestors were.
In the middle of the 10th century, the Mongols separated from the tribal confederation of Shiwei, the second branch of which were the Tatars. Led by the Borjigin clan, they fought for power with opposing tribes. As in Europe, the founders of the clan were called gods and children of gods. But the first representative whose existence is reliably known, was born about 1025 Haidu.
His clan was exsanguinated in a battle with the Jalayiras, who had nowhere to retreat, for they fled from their enemies. All the brothers were slaughtered, and only one boy managed to hide. When the boy grew up, he united his people, defeated the invaders, and his tribe became very strong. In the people’s memory he remained as the ruler of «all Mongols», although at that time this term was understood to mean only a certain group of Mongolian-speaking nomads.
Nevertheless, his sons were deprived of power, and only one of his grandsons named Khabul Khan managed to gather the Mongols again. Under his rule at that time were the Kiyats, Taijiuts, Jalayirs, Jurkhins, i.e. very few tribes. But this leader already fought on equal terms with the Jurchens, who founded the Jin Empire in the north of China. Being invited to the court, he even pulled the emperor’s beard, but he was not held responsible.
Despite the fact that he had many sons, he handed over power to his distant kin Ambagai. On the way to the wedding feast the latter, together with his daughter, was taken captive by the Tatars, who handed him over to the Jinzes. There he found his death, after which the union of tribes again disintegrated.
Khabul Khan’s grandson Esugei, whose name meant «like nine» — nine is a lucky number among Mongols, was able to unite it again. And it was time to tell about him. Our hero was born in about 1134. Already at the age of 13, the boy took part in his first battle: he caught his enemy with an arrow, killed him in close combat and for this he received the honorary title of bagatur.
While hunting with a falcon he met in the steppe merkit Eke-Chileda, the younger brother of the chief of the tribe. The latter was returning to his stake with his young wife, a girl named Oelun. Esugei was struck by her beauty and went after his brothers. Together they repulsed the beauty, and her frustrated husband fled. So the Mongols got one more enemy, and this problem only Genghis Khan solved finally.
Yesugei together with his kinsmen tried to take revenge on the Tatars for Ambagai and other treachery, and more than once organized raids on his enemies. But his relatives and cousins died in the wars, and their subjects preferred to obey him. At the peak of his power, his horde included about 25,000 nomads — about a tenth of the population of Eastern Mongolia at that time. In times of war, these people fielded 3,000 horsemen.
Somewhere around this time, Tooril, a young leader of the Kereite tribe, came to him for help. He had been quarreling with his kin for many years, had been banished with his supporters and asked his neighbor for support. Yesugei helped the fugitive to overpower his own uncle, and after the battle they became twins.
Later, in one of the battles, the leader of the Mongols personally cut down several noble Tatars. And when he returned to his bet, he learned that Oelun had given birth to a son. In honor of the defeated enemy warrior, he named his firstborn son Temujin. Later, his eldest wife gave birth to three more sons and one girl, and his second wife gave birth to two sons.
After nine years, Yesugei married a girl named Borte to his eldest son, and left Temujin with her parents so that he could get better acquainted with his future wife. Returning home, he came across Tatar warriors who were feasting in the steppe. The prince accepted the invitation to join them, though he feared that he would be recognized.
But they treated him in a friendly manner, and he decided that all was well. He felt ill on the way, but managed to return to his family. He managed to send a messenger for Temujin and asked the matchmakers to bring the boy home. But he died a few days later without waiting for an heir.