James Baquet

In these times, many of us have become aware of how fragile life can be. But difficulty can lead to greatness.

Take the case of Temujin Borjigin. When he was born, his father Yesugei was a clan chief among his people. They say that he was born holding a blood clot, a sign that he would become a great leader. Nevertheless, his father’s position was contested by family members, and life was never easy.

He was his father’s second son, but his mother’s first. The family lived a nomadic lifestyle. At age 9, he was betrothed to a girl named Borte; Yesugei took him to work in her family’s household until he was 12 years old — marrying age.

On his way home, Yesugei encountered some Tatars. They offered him food — which was poisoned. Taking responsibility for his now-widowed mother, Temujin returned home to serve as chief in his father’s place. But the tribe rejected this claim, and abandoned Temujin with his mother and brothers. They lived in the mountains, eating wild berries, the carcasses of animals and small game killed by Temujin and his brothers.

His half-brother Begter came of age and claimed Hoelun, Temujin’s mother, as his bride. While this was permitted — she had been his father’s wife, but was not his mother — it caused Temujin’s resentment to boil over, and he and his (full) brother Khasar killed Begter.

Later, Temujin was captured and enslaved by his father’s former allies, but escaped, gaining him the respect of many. He began to develop a following, and set about to unite his people, largely through strategic marriages.

As he rose to power, Temujin went back to Borte’s father and honored the marriage bargain. Soon after they wed, she was kidnapped. Temujin’s daring rescue of her is considered one of the stepping-stones to his later greatness. When he found her, “they fell into each other’s arms,” according to “The Secret History of the Mongols.” She soon bore a child — almost certainly the son of one of her captors — whom Temujin honored as his own, and further declared that he would only consider the sons of Borte to be his heirs.

Which is important, because Temujin became Genghis Khan.

Vocabulary:

Which word or phrase above means:

1. challenged

2. having lost a husband

3. people who capture someone

4. displeasure; indignation

5. engaged

6. easily broken

7. dead bodies

8. mass of coagulated blood

9. moving from place to place

10. stages of progress