In the early 1200s, Temujin became one of the strongest khans of Mongolia and already dared to challenge to battle those from whom he had previously fled. Thus, in 1201 (or 1204) his army met with the Taijiuts. Those resisted stubbornly, and during the battle in the future Genghis Khan even got an arrow. His old friend Jelme helped him, and his master’s health was not threatened.
After the victory, he asked the captured enemy soldiers who was the archer who managed to catch his favorite horse with an arrow — the Khan wanted to hide the fact that he himself was wounded. And then a man named Jirgoadai came forward, who specified that he had shot (and hit) the khan himself. And promised to serve Temujin if his life was preserved.
The sovereign, who conquered half of Eurasia, knew how to act not as emotions dictated, but as necessary. The warrior was pardoned and even received the post of half-tenant — the lowest command post. But by the time of the proclamation of the Mongol Empire, i.e., either in five years or two years our hero was already among the thousands.
For his controversial «feat» he received the nickname Dzhebe, which means «arrow», under which he became known in history. He came from a simple family of the unknown tribe of Yisut, but was in the service of the chief of Taijiut, one of the strongest clans of Mongolia. It is assumed that Jirgoadai was a vigilante — a nuker.
His place and year of birth are unknown, but there is an opinion that he was about equal to Genghis Khan or a little younger in age. Consequently, he was born in the 1160s — i.e., by the time his new master became the ruler of all Mongols, he was a worn-out and seen-it-all man.
In light of this, his outstanding and rapid military career does not look so incredible. Just an experienced man finally got an opportunity to realize himself. This was impossible under the traditional nomadic clan system, but became a given under the meritocracy established by Genghis Khan.
Dzhebe showed himself well in battles against the last tribes that did not want to recognize the power of the Mongol emperor. And during the war with the Tanguts, which was the first campaign outside the Mongol steppes, he already commanded a tumen. As time showed, he was one of Genghis Khan’s most fierce and courageous generals, who achieved his goals by pressure or fear.
He began to enjoy his master’s special trust, and in the late 1210s he was even entrusted with the command of the whole campaign. When the Naimans and their leader Kuchluk decided to migrate westward, they captured the Karakitai Khanate, which blocked the way to Central Asia. Dzhebe gained the support of the local Muslim population, which rebelled against their rulers — Buddhists and Nestorians. Therefore with small forces the commander conquered the whole country.
As a reward for this Genghis Khan entrusted one of his best generals to be the first to attack the powerful Khorezmshahs. In the winter of 1219, Dzhebe’s corps crossed the Tien Shan into the Fergana Valley, where he either defeated or did not allow himself to be defeated by a several times larger enemy army. He subsequently fought in Khorasan, ruling out the possibility of the Khorezmians sending military aid from there to Maverannahr.
Genghis Khan decided to give his commander the opportunity to deal with the Shah of Khorezm himself. Ten thousand troops of Tohuchar and Subudai joined the tumen of Dzhebe. The latter was an old acquaintance of our today’s hero, in a way his pupil and a contender for the title of Genghis Khan’s best general — later he will still surpass his mentor.
In the meantime, Djebe became the leader of the campaign during which the Mongols conquered northwestern Iran and made sure that Khorezmshah Ala ad-Din Mohammed II passed away. It is said that before the latter passed away from illness, he had dreams of his head being cut off by the saber of a Mongol commander. The nomads then traveled through the Caucasus, defeated the Alans and Kipchaks, as well as the southern princes of Kievan Rus.
It is not known what happened to Dzhebe next, but soon after the battle of Kalka he is no longer mentioned in written sources. Perhaps he fell from the Russian sword — we remember that at the first stage of the battle there was a successful attack of Galician-Volhynian heavy cavalry. Perhaps, all the fault of ordinary old age — at that time he was already an old man.
But the most interesting version that Dzhebe was sent to the sky in the Mongol-Bulgarian battle, which is also called Mutton battle. Not accidentally Subudai then very eager to become a participant of the Western campaign, during which the horde treated the Volga Bulgaria much more harshly than with the Russians.