The Borjigin or Borjigids are a Mongols tribal clan founded in the early 10th century or, around 900 AD. by Bodonchar Munkhag. The senior line of Borjigids provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia until the 20th century.[Humphrey & Sneath, p. 27.] The clan formed the ruling class among the Mongols and other peoples of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Today, the Borjigids are found in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Buryatia, and Xinjiang,
Origin and name
According to the
Secret History of the Mongols, the first Mongol was born from the union of a blue-grey wolf and a fallow doe. Their 11th-generation descendant,
Alan Gua, was impregnated by a ray of light
[ The Secret History of the Mongols, chapter 1, §§ 17, 21.] and begat five sons, the youngest being Bodonchar Munkhag, progenitor of the Borjigids.
[Franke, Twitchett & Fairbank, p. 330.][Kahn, p. 10.] According to Rashid al-Din Hamadani, many of the older Mongolian tribes were founded by members of the Borjigin clan, including the
Barlas, Urud,
Manghud,
Taichiud,
Chonos tribe, and Kiyat. Bodonchar's descendant
Khabul Khan founded the
Khamag Mongol confederation around 1131. His great-grandson Temüjin ruled the
Khamag Mongol and unified the other Mongol tribes under him. He was declared
Genghis Khan in 1206, thus establishing the
Mongol Empire. His descendants are the
Chinggisids.
The etymology of the word Borjigin is uncertain.
History
Members of the Borjigin clan ruled over the
Mongol Empire,
[Atwood, p. 45.] dominating large lands stretching from
Java to
Iran and from Mainland Southeast Asia to
Veliky Novgorod. Many of the ruling dynasties that took power following the disintegration of the Mongol Empire were of Chinggisid, and thus Borjigid, ancestry. These included the
Chobanids, the Jalayirid Sultanate, the
Barlas, the
Manghud, the
Khongirad, and the
Oirats.
In 1368, the Borjigid Yuan dynasty of China was overthrown by the Ming dynasty. Members of this family continued to rule over north China and the Mongolian Plateau into the 17th century as the Northern Yuan. Descendants of Genghis Khan's brothers Qasar and Belgutei surrendered to the Ming in the 1380s. By 1470, the Borjigids' power had been severely weakened, and the Mongolian Plateau was on the verge of chaos.
Post-Mongol Empire
The term "
Chinggisids" derives from the name of Genghis (
Chinggis) Khan (c. 1162–1227 CE). Genghis and his successors created a vast empire stretching from the Sea of Japan to the
Black Sea, which, beginning in 1259, divided into separate empires.
After the breakup of the Golden Horde, the Khiyad Borjigids continued to rule in Crimean Peninsula and Kazan until they were annexed by the Russian Empire in the late 18th century. In Mongolia, the Kublaids continued to reign as khagans of the Mongols, with brief interruptions by the descendants of Ögedei and Ariq Böke.
Under Dayan Khan (1480–1517), a broad Borjigid revival reestablished Borjigid supremacy among the Mongols in Mongolia proper. His descendants proliferated and became a new ruling class. The Borjigin clan was the strongest of the 49 Banners of Inner Mongolia from which the Bontoi clan proper supported and fought for their Khan and for their honor. The eastern Khorchin Mongols were under the Qasarids, and the Ongnigud and Abaqids were under the Belguteids and Temüge Odchigenids. A fragment of the Qasarids deported to western Mongolia became the Khoshut.
The Qing dynasty respected the Borjigids and the early emperors married Khorchin Qasarids. Even among the pro-Qing Mongols, traces of the alternative tradition survived. Aci Lomi, a banner general, wrote his History of the Borjigid Clan in 1732–35.[Perdue, p. 487.] The 18th century and 19th century, Qing nobility was adorned by the descendants of the early Mongol adherents including the Borjigin.[Crossley, p. 213.]
Asian dynasties descended from Genghis Khan included the Yuan dynasty in China, the Ilkhanate in Persia, the Jochids of the Golden Horde, the Shaybanids in Siberia and Central Asia, and the Astrakhan Khanate in Central Asia. Chinggisid descent played a crucial role in Tatars politics. For instance, Mamai had to exercise his authority through a succession of puppet khans but could not assume the title of khan himself because he lacked Chinggisid lineage.
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The Chinggisid principle,
[Halperin, chapter VIII.] or golden lineage, was the rule of inheritance laid down in the (Yassa), the legal code attributed to Genghis Khan.
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A Chinggisid prince was one who could trace direct descent from Genghis Khan in the male line, and who could therefore claim high respect among Mongol and Turkic peoples and in Asia.
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The Chinggisid states were the successor states or after the Mongol empire broke up following the death of Genghis Khan's sons and their successors.
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The term Chinggisid people was used to describe the people of Genghis Khan's armies who came in contact with Europeans. It applied primarily to the Golden Horde, led by Batu Khan, a grandson of Genghis. Members of the Horde were predominantly Kipchak-speaking peoples. Although the aristocracy was largely Mongol, Mongols were never more than a small minority in the armies and the lands they conquered.) Europeans often (incorrectly) referred to the people of the Golden Horde as "Tartars".
Babur and Humayun, founders of the Mughal Empire in India, asserted their authority as Chinggisids, claiming descent through their maternal lineage.
The Chinggisid also include such dynasties and houses as Giray dynasty, Töre, House of Siberia, Ar begs, Yaushev family
The last ruling Chinggisid was Maqsud Shah, Kumul Khanate from 1908 to 1930.
Modern relevance
The Borjigin held power over Mongolia for many centuries (even during Qing period) and only lost power when
Communists took control in the 20th century. Aristocratic descent was something to be forgotten in the
socialist period.
[Humphrey & Sneath, p. 28.] Joseph Stalin's associates executed some 30,000 Mongols including Borjigin nobles in a series of campaigns against their culture and religion.
[Weatherford, p. xv.] Clan association has lost its practical relevance in the 20th century, but is still considered a matter of honour and pride by many
Mongols. In 1920s the communist regime banned the use of clan names. When the ban was lifted again in 1997, and people were told they had to have surnames, most families had lost knowledge about their clan association. Because of that, a disproportionate number of families registered the most prestigious clan name Borjigin, many of them without historic justification.
["In Search of Sacred Names".][Magnier.] The label Borjigin is used as a measure of cultural supremacy.
[Pegg, p. 22.]
In Inner Mongolia, the Borjigid or Kiyad name became the basis for many Chinese surnames adopted by ethnic Inner Mongols.["The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols", pp. 717-721.] The Qiyat clan name is still found among the Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Nogais Karakalpaks.
Yuan dynasty family tree
Genghis Khan founded the
Mongol Empire in 1206. His grandson,
Kublai Khan, after defeating his younger brother and rival claimant to the throne Ariq Böke, renamed the state name as
Yuan dynasty in 1271, also known as Yuan Dynasty. The dynasty was overthrown by the
Ming dynasty during the reign of Toghon Temür in 1368, but it survived in the Mongolian Plateau, known as the Northern Yuan dynasty. Although the throne was usurped by
Esen Taishi of the
Oirat Mongols in 1453 and he declared himself "Tengri Mandate the Great Khan of Great Yuan Dynasty", he was overthrown in the next year. A recovery of the khaganate was achieved by
Dayan Khan, but the territory was segmented by his descendants. The last khan
Ligden Khan died in 1634 and his son
Ejei Khan submitted himself to
Hong Taiji the next year, ending the Northern Yuan regime.
[Heirman & Bumbacher, p. 395.] However, the Borjigin nobles continued to rule their subjects until the 20th century under the Khalkha Khanates,
Qing dynasty,
Bogd Khanate and Mongolian People's Republic.
[Sneath, p. 21.]
Or in a different version (years of reign over the Northern Yuan dynasty up are given in brackets). In terms of existing, Great Yuan Dynasty as official name continued until 1634 the death of Ligden Khan
See also
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History of Mongolia
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Mongolian names
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List of medieval Mongol tribes and clans
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Turco-Mongol tradition
Notes
Citations
Sources
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Atwood, C. P. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire.
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Crossley, Pamela Kyle. A Translucent Mirror.
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Franke, Herbert; Twitchett, Denis; Fairbank, John King. The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368.
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"The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols". American Journal of Human Genetics, 72.
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Halperin, Charles J. (1985). Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History. Indiana University Press. . .
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Heirman, Ann; Bumbacher, Stephan Peter. The Spread of Buddhism.
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Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan (in French). E. J. Brill.
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Humphrey, Caroline; Sneath, David. The End of Nomadism?.
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.
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Kahn, Paul. The Secret History of the Mongols.
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Li, Gertraude Roth. Manchu: A Textbook for Reading Documents.
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Pegg, Carole. Mongolian Music, Dance & Oral Narrative.
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Perdue, Peter C. China Marches West.
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Sneath, David. Changing Inner Mongolia: Pastoral Mongolian Society and the Chinese State.
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Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Three Rivers Press.
Further reading
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Wada Sei 和田清. Tōashi Kenkyū (Mōko Hen) 東亜史研究 (蒙古編). Tokyo, 1959.
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Honda Minobu 本田實信. On the genealogy of the early Northern Yüan, Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher, XXX-314, 1958.
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Okada Hidehiro 岡田英弘. Dayan Hagan no nendai ダヤン・ハガンの年代. Tōyō Gakuhō, Vol. 48, No. 3 pp. 1–26 and No. 4 pp. 40–61, 1965.
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Okada Hidehiro 岡田英弘. Dayan Hagan no sensei ダヤン・ハガンの先世. Shigaku Zasshi. Vol. 75, No. 5, pp. 1–38, 1966.
