AN ANALYSIS OF JOČIS DEBATED PATERNITY AND HIS ROLE IN THE ALTAN URUĠ ROYAL LINEAGE OF ČINGGIS KHAN
АНАЛИЗ СОМНИТЕЛЬНОГО ПРОИСХОЖДЕНИЯ ДЖУЧИ И ЕГО РОЛЬ В ДИНАСТИИ АЛТАН УРУГ ЧИНГИЗ-ХАНА
Agatay O.
2021Shigabutdin Marjani Institute of History of Academy of Sciences
Zolotoordynskoe Obozrenie
2021#9Issue 4684 - 714 pp.
Research objectives: This article discusses Jočis military-political role and status in the Mongol Empire (Yeke Mongol Ulus), beginning in the early thirteenth century and within the intra-dynastic relations of Činggis Khans chief sons. In particular, the article seeks to answer questions about Jočis birth. Discrepancies between the Secret History of the Mongols and other written sources cast doubt on whether Joči was even a legitimate son of Činggis Khan, let alone his eldest one. In addition, this article includes an analysis of Jočis place within the family and the traditional legal system of the medieval Mongols based on the principles of majorat succession outlined in the Mongol Empire. It establishes evidence of his legitimacy within the Činggisid dynastys imperial lineage (altan uruġ) - a point of view supported by his military-political career, his pivotal role in the western campaigns, his leadership at the siege of Khwārazm, and the process of division of the ulus of Činggis Khan. Research materials: This article makes use of Russian, English, and Turkic (Kazakh, Tatar, etc.) translations of key primary sources including the Secret History of the Mongols and works of authors from the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries, including Al-Nasawī, Shіhāb al-Dīn al-Nuwayrī, Alā al-DīnAtā-Malik Juvāynī, Minhāj al-Dīn Jūzjānī, Zhao Hong, Peng Daya, John of Plano Carpini, William of Rubruck, Jamāl al-Qarshī, Rashīd al-Dīn, Ibn Fadl Allāh al-Umarī, Uluġbeg, Ötämiš Hājī, Lubsan Danzan, Abul-Ghāzī, and Saγang Sečen. New secondary works regarding Joči published by modern Kazakh, Russian, Tatar, American, French, Chinese, Korean and other scholars were also consulted. Results and novelty of the research: Taking into consideration certain economic and legal traits of the medieval Mongols, their traditional practices, military-political events, and longterm developments in the Mongol Empires history, descriptions of Joči being no more than a “Merkit bastard” are clearly not consistent. The persisting claims can be traced to doubts about Jočis birth included in the Secret History of the Mongols, the first extensive written record of the medieval Mongols which had a great impact on the work of later historians, including modern scholars. Some researchers suspect this allegation may have been an indirect result of Möngke Khan inserting it into the Secret History. This article argues that the main motivation was Batus high military-political position and prestige in the Yeke Mongol Ulus. After Ögödei Khans death, sons and grandsons of Ögödei and Čaadai made various attempts to Erode Batus significant position in the altan uruġ by raising questions regarding his genealogical origin. This explains why doubts about Jočis status in the imperial lineage appeared so widely following his death in an intra-dynastic propaganda struggle waged between the houses of Joči and Тolui and the opposing houses of Čaadai and Ögödeis sons. This conflict over the narrative was engendered by the struggle for supreme power in the Mongol Empire and the distribution of conquered lands and property.
Altan uruġ , Intra-dynastic conflict , Joči , Činggis Khan , Мongol empire
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The Department of Archaeology and Ethnology, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, 2, Satpayev Str., Nur-Sultan, 010010, Kazakhstan
The Department of Archaeology and Ethnology
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