The Kidnapping of Börte

Empress Guangxian Yisheng is the posthumous name given to the woman who had simply been known as Börte, the first wife of the great Genghis Khan—the man who united the many nomadic tribes of the Mongol steppe and became their universal sovereign.

Despite her eventual rise to prominence, very little is known about Börte’s early life. The limited information we have about her comes from The Secret History of the Mongols, the oldest surviving literary work in the Mongolian language. It tells us that she was born around 1161 to parents Dei-Sechen and Tacchotan. As the chieftain of the Olkhonud tribe Dei-Sechen strived to maintain a cordial relationship with the Borjigin, a tribe to which Börte’s future husband Temüjin (Genghis Khan’s birth name) belonged to. In those days, Mongol politics often relied on arranged marriages to solidify alliances between the different clans and to ensure the stability of Mongolia. Accordingly, Dei-Sechen entered into an agreement with Temüjin’s father, Yesügei Bagatur, betrothing the ten-year-old Börte to his nine-year-old son.

Following the engagement, Yesügei delivered Temüjin to the Olkhonud clan, where he was to live and serve Dei-Sechen. It was the custom for Mongolian men to pay a “bride fee” to their future father-in-law or offer labor as an alternative.

On his way back home Yesügei encountered an encampment of Tatars celebrating a wedding feast. The Tatars had long been Mongol enemies and Yesügei was known for having killed one of their own in a battle eight years earlier. Still, he decided to join the feast. One of the Tatars recognized him and offered him poisoned food under the pretense of hospitality. Although Yesügei became quite ill he managed to escape back to his family's camp, where he died three days later.

Upon learning of his father’s demise Temüjin returned home to claim his father's position as chieftain, but the tribe refused him and abandoned the family, leaving them without protection. For the next several years, the family lived in complete destitution. In 1177, Temüjin was captured by his father's former allies, the Tayichiud. He was enslaved and humiliated by being shackled in a cangue (a type of portable pillory used to punish petty criminals). Fortunately, with the help of a sympathetic guard he managed to escape his captives under the cover of night by hiding in a river crevice.

The following year Temüjin went in search of Börte. When Dei-Sechen learned that Temüjin had returned for his daughter, he was delighted and commenced with the wedding. The young couple were married against a backdrop of war and tense clan rivalries in Mongolia. Börte was merely seventeen at the time. With his father-in-law’s permission, Temüjin took Börte and her mother to live in his family's yurt, which was situated along the Senggür River. An exquisite black sable jacket served as the young bride’s dowry.

Soon after the wedding the Merkits, a confederation of three tribes inhabiting the basin of the Selenga and Orkhon Rivers, attacked the family camp. Temüjin, his family, and friends were able to escape on their horses, but Börte unable to find a horse and was left behind. She was taken captive by the Merkits and given to Chilger Bökh, a Merkit warrior and the brother of the Yehe Chiledu.

Temüjin's mother Hoelun, who like Börte was from the Olkhonud tribe, had been engaged to the Merkit chief Yehe Chiledu. She was abducted by Temüjin's father while being escorted home by her fiancé. It was evident that the raid and abduction of Börte were in retaliation for the abduction of Hoelun many years earlier.

Temüjin was deeply distressed by the abduction of his wife and vowed that he would bring her back. Eight months later with the aid of his allies Toghrul (also known as Wang Khan) and Jamukha (a Mongol military and political leader), he did what he said he would do.

Upon seeing Börte once again, Temüjin was surprised to learn that she was pregnant. She later gave birth to a son they named Jochi. Since Börte had been given to a Merkit warrior as a wife during her captivity, it left doubt as to who the real father of the child was. Börte ultimately gave birth to four sons and five daughters. Temüjin claimed Jochi as his own son, but his brothers would not accept him as ruler and Temüjin was forced to choose another son to succeed him. Jochi became leader of the Golden Horde instead. At its peak the vast territory of the Golden Horde extended from Siberia to parts of Eastern Europe.

As was common among powerful Mongol men, Temüjin had many wives and concubines. He gave several of his high-ranking wives their own camps to live in and manage, but Börte remained the most influential and important person in his life, along with his mother Hoelun. He made her the head of the first Court of Genghis Khan and the Grand Empress of his Empire.

In 2019, researchers uncovered genetic evidence supporting the claim that Jochi was Genghis Khan's first true-born son.