The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued his Empire is slow going, but, my goodness, is it ever worth it. This non-fiction book illuminates a part of history that I was completely ignorant about. It’s sometimes horrifying and sometimes inspiring, but always fascinating.

Author Jack Weatherford uses a variety of sources to uncover the history of the women who led or co-led the Mongolian Empire from 1206 – 1509. Weatherford believes that the accomplishments of Mongol women were deliberately erased from the document “The Secret History of the Mongols“, a biography of Genghis Khan that was written for the Mongol royal family. Part of the document has clearly been deliberately cut out, leaving only one quote from Genghis Khan: “Let us reward our female offspring.”

Weatherford uses a variety of sources to discover the roles and the fates of the female descendants of Genghis Kahn. For example, he talks about Alaqai, daughter of Genghis Khan, who governed the Onggud people after they were conquered by Genghis Khan. She won the loyalty of the Onggud after her husband was assassinated. When Genghis Khan appeared to seek retribution, Alaqai begged for mercy for them. This cemented her in Onggud eyes as a legitimate queen, not just an occupier. Alaqai “fashioned a powerful form of Mongol internationalism. As the first member of her family and nation to rule a sedentary civilization, she invented the cultural and organizational model that grew into the Mongol Empire.”

The book is organized more or less generationally. Part I, “Tiger Queens of the Silk Route,” covers the years 1206 – 1241. This was the period in which Genghis Khan chose many women to be leaders of territory he conquered. This section of the book covers Genghis Khan’s early life and rise to power, and the roles women played in Mongol society. Fun fact: women were expected to handle all financial affairs in the family and were expected to be the initiators of sex (Mongol men were said to be shy with regard to sex). Genghis Khan considered husbands and wives to be “two shafts of one cart,” and expected the men to rule on the battlefield and the women to rule at home.

Part II, “The Shattered Jade Realm: 1242-1470,” addresses the backlash against powerful women that happened after the death of Genghis Khan. This section opens by describing a horrible atrocity, and many more atrocities are committed shortly thereafter. I cannot over-emphasize the gruesome violence contained within these pages. Trigger warnings for child abuse, rape, torture, and murder. Women fought back, with the granddaughters and great-granddaughters of Genghis Khan taking power, mostly as the wives of the Goryeo Kings of Korea.

The third section, “Wolf Mother: 1470-1509,” tells the story of Mandukhai, a descendant of Genghis Khan who was married to a leader who died young. Faced with the option of marrying one of her husband’s rivals or becoming a concubine of the Chinese Emperor and thus placing her people under Chinese rule, Mandukhai took a third option and revealed a young boy who was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan and thus the rightful heir (he had been in hiding since birth). Since he was only six years old, this made her the de facto ruler. Mandukhai raised the boy, Dayan Kahn, to rule and two of them united the then-scattered Mongol kingdom.

The reason this book is slow going is that there are so many people and groups and events to keep track of. The language is not overly academic, but the relationships are important and complex. There are some genealogy charts, but I felt like I missed a lot on the charts – I’d look for names and not find them. I would have also liked more maps and time lines. There’s plenty of excitement in the book so it’s never boring. It’s just easy to get lost.

For an example of excitement, here’s a moment in which a baby boy, hidden by Samur Gurj (a woman who never took power directly but worked tirelessly to unite Mongolia behind the scenes) is being whisked to safety:

For whoever captured him, the infant heir constituted a valuable trophy for which many factions would pay dearly. Esen’s men surmised precisely what had happened, and they began scouring the area for the hidden child. Realizing that the pursuers were closing in on the hiding place, one of Samur’s men raced his horse directly at the spot. Esen’s men saw him and also headed in the same direction. They were too close for the rescuer to dismount and pick up the infant. He had only one chance to swoop by the hiding place, bend down without stooping, and hook the child with the end of his bow. The bow caught on the cradle and with one powerful lunge of his arm, he tossed the cradle high into the air, above and out in front of the horse. As the cradle fell back toward the earth, the man caught it perfectly and securely. Without breaking speed, he managed to outrun Esen’s men.

 

I found this book to be incredibly interesting despite, or possibly because of, my lack of any previous knowledge regarding the Mongolian Empire. In fact, I really wasn’t all that interested in the Mongolian Empire – I was just sucked in by the idea of a secret history of women. The history is detailed enough that I think it would inform anyone who does have in interest in that part of history, and it’s accessible enough for a newcomer like myself. I loved hearing about the contributions of women so much that I felt cheated for not having heard of them before. The more I read about unsung women in history, the more outraged I am at the skewed way in which history is typically presented to students. Women like Alaqai and Mandukhai were remarkable, but not because of their gender. History is full of secret queens and I was thrilled to learn about these.