The Secret History of the Mongol Queens (2009) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Chinggis Khan: aka Genghis Khan - 13th century founder of the Mongol Empire,elevated the status of women in society and placed his daughters in ruling positions over conquered tribes and territories.
• Manduhai Khatun: aka Queen Manduhai the Wise - 15th century widow of a puppet khan who, after his death, reunited the Mongol people as a nation and restored the descendants of Chinggis Khan as proper sovereigns.
• Borte Khatun: Principle wife of Chinggis Khan
• Yesugen: Wife of Chinggis Khan. Khatun of the Khangai Mountains region
• Yesui: Wife of Chinggis Khan. Khatun of the Tuul River region
• Khulan: Wife of Chinggis Khan. Khatun of the Khentii Mountains region
• Khojin: Daughter of Chinggis Khan.
• Alaqai: Daughter of Chinggis Khan. Khatun of the Onggud tribe
• Al-Altun: Daughter of Chinggis Khan. Khatun of the Uighur tribe
• Checheyigen: Daughter of Chinggis Khan. Khatun of the Oirat tribe
• Tumelun: Daughter of Chinggis Khan.
• Tolai: Daughter of Chinggis Khan. Khatun of the Karluk
• Toregene Yeke Khatun: Wife of Ogedei Khan, then Empress of the Mongol Empire 1241-1246
• Sorkhokhtani Beki: Wife of Tolui, mother of 3 Great Khans: Mongke, Arik Boke, and Khubilai
• Khutulun: Daughter of Qaidu Khan and rival for Khubilai Khan over control of the Mongols outside of China. Undefeated at wrestling, to this very day Mongol men wrestle with a special open chested vest for fear of being defeated by women at such a manly sport.
• Esen Taishi: Temporarily reunited the Mongols, captured and released the Ming Emperor, and later tried to massacre the entirety of the descendants of Chinggis Khan
• Genghis Khan: see Chinggis Khan
• Dayan Khan: Add a description of this character.
• Bayan Mongke
• Qaidu Khan
• Ogodei: Son of Chinggis Khan and successor as Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
• Khubilai Khan: Grandson of Chinggis Khan and founder of the Yuan dynasty in China
• Temujin: Original name of Chinggis Khan before his coronation as Great Khan
• Wang Yue
• Manduul Khan
• Elbeg Khan
• Tolui
• Guyuk
• Ong Khan
• Batu Mongke
• Samur
• Mongke Khan
• Fatima
• Marco Polo: A European trader/traveler who stayed in the court of the Khan in China. He wrote a book about his travels.
• Altani
• Togochi Sigusi
• Oghul Ghaimish
• Dayuu
• Arik Boke
• Ulus Bo
• Terge Emel
• Koten
• Arslan
• Borijin: The clan of Genghes Khan.
• Borogchin
• Hassan

Quotes edit see section history

• “Religious clerics, political ideologues, and government bureaucrats do not have the right to change history.”

  Jack Weatherford

• “Let us reward our female offspring.”

  Genghis Khan

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• In the Mongol perspective, challenges choose us, but we choose how to respond. Destiny brings the opportunities and the misfortunes, and the merit of our lives derives from those unplanned moments.

  Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers

• The tears of a mother, however, contained dangerous power; no matter how great the pain the mother felt, she could not shed them in the presence of the child for fear of causing future harm.

  Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers

• The Sky inspired; the Earth sanctioned. Any person might have inspiration from the Sky and be filled with longing, desire, and ambition, but only the devoted and sustained actions of the Earth could transform those desires and that inspiration into reality.

  Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers

• Unlike societies that employed baroque procedures for distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate children, the Mongols accepted all children as equal. No child could be born without the consent of the Eternal Blue Sky. No earthly law or custom could presume to declare the child illegitimate.

  Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers

• “Whoever can keep a house in order,” he said, “can keep a territory in order.”

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• Mongols viewed mountains as males connected to the Eternal Blue Sky; waters were female, the sacred blood of Mother Earth.

  Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers

• In the ger, the wife ruled even if her husband happened to be a khan.

  Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers

• As the totemic emblem of his clan, Genghis Khan used the image of the hunting falcon that had been the constant companion of one of his ancestors and had saved his life by capturing prey for him after his brothers abandoned him. The hunting falcons were always female. The female falcon attains a body weight and size 30 percent greater than the male, thus permitting her to capture larger prey and making her a more efficient mother or, in the case of captive falcons, a more valued hunter.

  Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers

• He stressed the importance of constant learning as the key to being a successful ruler. He told her to be “prudent, steadfast, and courageous.” In perhaps his most important words, he said, “You have to remember life is short, but fame is everlasting!”

  Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers

• Khatun is one of the most authoritative and magnificent words in the Mongolian language. It conveys regality, stateliness, and great strength. If something resists breaking no matter how much pressure is applied, it is described as khatun. The word can form part of a boy’s or girl’s name, signifying power and firmness combined with beauty and grace. Because of the admired qualities of khatun, men have often borne names such as Khatun Temur, literally “Queen Iron,” and Khatun Baatar, “Queen Hero.”

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Mongolia: The origin of the Mongol people, the seat of power during the Mongol Empire, and the tribes later reunited under the descendants of Chinggis Khaan are all located in the eastern Asian steppe on the plateau covered by the territory of modern Mongolia and its immediately neighboring territories such as Buryatia, Inner Mongolia, and Kazakhstan.
• Gobi Desert: Crossing this natural barrier between the Mongol steppe on the north side, and the trade routes and sedentary societies on the south side made for a constant concern for almost all the characters in the book.
• The Silk Road: Under the Mongol Empire and the leadership of Genghis Khan and his daughters, this series of trade routes explode in importance with the level of trade reaching new heights, financing the empire and sparking a series of events leading to the Age of Exploration and Globalization. After the Empire gets fragmented, this becomes a constant source of conflict between free Mongols, Muslim warlords, and dynasties ruling China, especially the Gansu corridor connecting eastern and central Asia.
• China
• Central Asia
• Korea
• Beijing
• Karakorum
• Russia
• Oirat
• Yellow River
• Siberia
• Europe
• Tangut
• Persia
• Onggud
• Islam
• Gansu Corridor
• Tibet
• Forbidden City
• Idiqut
• Hami
• Manchuria
• Turfan
• Nishapur
• Boroghul
• Kherlen River
• Kereyid
• India
• Hoelun
• Chaghatai
• Altai Mountains
• Great Loop
• Afghanistan
• Une-bolod

Glossary edit see section history

• Khatun: (Khatan in modern Mongolian) Queen, female equivalent of title Khan

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Jack Weatherford (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Jack McIver Weatherford (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 950.20922

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › History › World › Medieval
• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Specific Groups › Women
• Books › History › Asia › Mongolia
• Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Historical

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Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history