The Borjigins were an influential clan of the Nirun-Mongols, one of the medieval branches of this large and branched ethnos, which according to legend came from the union of a gray wolf and a beautiful doe. At the beginning of the High Middle Ages, they separated from the larger Kyat clan and began to claim power over the whole of Mongolia.
The closest to this was Khabul Khan, the great-grandfather of Genghis Khan, who lived in the early 12th century. But since at that time the nomads had not yet established the idea of transferring power from father to son, his descendants had to start from scratch. Each time it caused a new series of internecine wars.
In the centuries preceding the birth of the most famous representative of this family, many tribes broke away from the Borjigins. Among them we can mention the Mangits, Taijiuts, Chonos, Barlas — Tamerlane himself belonged to the representatives of the latter. However, other groups joined them at different times, which became the Borjigin in the broad sense, or rather, their loyal subjects.
By the time of the kurultai of 1206 most (if not all) relatives of the great khan were in the other world. As a result, only Genghis Khan himself, as well as his younger brothers — Khachuun, Temuge and Juchi-Khasar — continued the family. Their descendants on the territory of the former Mongol Empire were called “golden seed”.
Belonging to this group was very honorable, however, the other Borjigins did not have the privileges granted to khans. They were considered subjects, although they were royal relatives. On the contrary, the numerous offspring of the head of the tribe had the right to claim political power.
In the 13th-14th centuries, the Borzhigins were at the peak of power in Eurasia. At that time, their detailed genealogies were compiled in different ulus of the empire, claiming that the legendary ancestor of the tribe, Alan-goa, conceived a son from the heavenly light. Portraits of the ruling representatives of his family were painted at the court of Hulagu Khan — it is assumed that Genghis Khan’s appearance is reflected faithfully from the words of those people who knew him personally.
It was mentioned that typical features of the men of this clan were red hair and blue eyes. This was thought to be a reference to their common self-name — according to popular belief, Borjigin means “man with blue eyes”. Exactly what the shade was, however, remains a mystery. In ancient Mongolian blue, blue and gray colors were not separated. However, no less popular version claims that the first part of the word means “wolf”, and the second — an honorific prefix indicating nobility.
In the post-Mongol states Borzhigin almost everywhere were removed from power. Chobanids and Jalairids began to rule the Middle East, in Central Asia — the Barlas and Oirat taisha, even after the collapse of the ulus Dzhuchi the strongest state on its fragments became the Nogai horde, not the khanates headed by Chingizids.
In Mongolia itself, many representatives of the clan laid down their heads in internecine struggles or fell when repelling Chinese invasions. Only in the middle of the 16th century they managed to consolidate Dayan-khan — a descendant of the founder of the empire on the line of his younger son Tolui. He ruled the eastern Mongols with a firm hand and most of the modern Borjigin of the Mongol Republic and Inner Mongolia are his descendants.
Even when the region became dominated by the Manchu Qing dynasty that reigned in China, the clan retained much of its feudal authority and commanded some respect. At least the first Manchu emperors considered it an honor to be related to him and ruled not only by right of conquerors, but also as relatives of Genghis Khan. In his time, Tamerlane in Central Asia did the same. Reasoning.
When MNR was created and Soviet power was established, the Borjigins were repressed as most of them were large feudal lords. To unite the divided people, the communists banned any mention of clan affiliation. As a result, it was largely forgotten.
When this ban was lifted after the victory of democracy, most Mongols did not remember their tribal ties. Therefore, many took the surname Borjigin, which was considered the most prestigious. Now generic names of this type are used by more than 20% of the country’s inhabitants, and not always with historical reasons.