Borjigin


A Borjigin is a member of the sub-clan, which started with Yesugei, of the Kiyat clan. Yesugei's descendants were thus said to be Kiyat-Borjigin. The senior Borjigid provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia until the 20th century. The clan formed the ruling class among the Mongols and some other peoples of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Today, the Borjigid are found in most of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, although genetic research has shown that descent from Genghis Khan is common in Central Asia.

Origin

The patrilineage began with Blue-grey Wolf and Fallow Doe. According to The Secret History of the Mongols, their 11th generation descendant Dobu Mergen's widow Alan Gua the Fair was impregnated by a ray of light. Her youngest son became the ancestor of the later Borjigid. He was Bodonchar Munkhag, who along with his brothers sired the entire Mongol nation. According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, many of the older Mongolian clans were founded by members of the Borjigin — Barlas, Urud, Manghud, Taichiut, Chonos, Kiyat, etc. The first Khan of the Mongol was Bodonchar Munkhag's great-great-grandson Khaidu Khan. Khaidu's grandsons Khabul Khan and Ambaghai Khan succeeded him. Thereafter, Khabul's sons, Hotula Khan and Yesugei, and Khabuls grandson Temujin ruled the Khamag Mongol. By the unification of the Mongols in 1206, virtually all of Temujin's uncles and first cousins had died, and from then on only the descendants of Yesugei Baghatur, his brother Daritai, and nephew Onggur formed the Borjigid.

Name

According to Paul Pelliot and Louis Hambis, Rashid al-Din Hamadani once explained that "borčïqïn" designated in the Turkic languages a man with dark-blue eyes, and did so again without mentioning the said language, adding that Yesugei's children and the majority of their own children had had such eyes per coincidence, also recalling that the genie which had impregnated Alan Gua after her husband's death had had dark-blue eyes. Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur later paraphrased Hamadani by relating that Yesugei's eyes were dark-blue, that the Mongols called such eyes "borǰïɣïn", that his sons and most of their descendants had dark-blue eyes, and that one recognized thus in Yesugei's lineage the characteristic sign of the genie which had visited Alan Gua and had "borǰïɣïn" eyes, adding that the Arabs called "ašhal" a man whose iris was black, cornea white, and whose limbal ring was red.

Mongol Empire

The Borjigin family ruled over the Mongol Empire from the 13th to 14th century. The rise of Genghis narrowed the scope of the Borjigid-Kiyad clans sharply. This separation was emphasized by the intermarriage of Genghis's descendants with the Barlas, Baarin, Manghud and other branches of the original Borjigid. In the western regions of the Empire, the Jurkin and perhaps other lineages near to Genghis's lineage used the clan name Kiyad but did not share in the privileges of the Genghisids. The Borjigit clan had once dominated large lands stretching from Java to Iran and from Indo-China to Novgorod. In 1335, with the disintegration of the Ilkhanate in Iran, the first of numerous non-Borjigid-Kiyad dynasties appeared. Established by marriage partners of Genghisids, these included the Suldus Chupanids, Jalayirids in the Middle East, the Barulas dynasties in Chagatai Khanate and India, the Manghud and Onggirat dynasties in the Golden Horde and Central Asia, and the Oirats in western Mongolia.
In 1368, under Toghun Temür, the Yuan dynasty was overthrown by the Ming dynasty in China but members of the family continued to rule over Mongolia homeland into the 17th century, known as the Northern Yuan dynasty. Descendants of Genghis Khan's brothers, Hasar and Belgutei, surrendered to the Ming in the 1380s. By 1470 the Borjigin lines were severely weakened, and Mongolia was almost in chaos.

Post-Mongol Empire

After the breakup of the Golden Horde, the Khiyat continued to rule the Crimea and Kazan until the late 18th century. They were annexed by the Russian Empire and the Chinese. In Mongolia, the Kublaids reigned as Khagan of the Mongols, however, descendants of Ögedei and Ariq Böke usurped the throne briefly.
Under Dayan Khan a broad Borjigid revival reestablished Borjigid supremacy among the Mongols proper. His descendants proliferated to become a new ruling class. The Borjigin clan was the strongest of the 49 Mongol banners from which the Bontoi clan proper supported and fought for their Khan and for their honor. The eastern Khorchins were under the Hasarids, and the Ongnigud, Abagha Mongols were under the Belguteids and Temüge Odchigenids. A fragment of the Hasarids deported to Western Mongolia became the Khoshuts.
The Qing dynasty respected the Borjigin family and the early emperors married the Hasarid Borjigids of the Khorchin. 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. The 18th century and 19th century Qing nobility was adorned by the descendants of the early Mongol adherents including the Borjigin.

Genghisids

Asian dynasties descended from Genghis Khan included the Yuan dynasty of China, the Ilkhanids of Persia, the Jochids of the Golden Horde, the Shaybanids of Siberia, and the Astrakhanids of Central Asia. As a rule, the Genghisid descent played a crucial role in Tatar 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 Genghisid lineage.
The word "Chingisid" derives from the name of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan. Genghis and his successors created a vast empire stretching from the Sea of Japan to the Black Sea.
Babur and Humayun, founders of the Mughal Empire in India, asserted their authority as Chinggisids. Because they claimed descent through their maternal lineage, they had never used the clan name Borjigin.
The last ruling monarch of Genghisid ancestry, Maqsud Shah, Khan of Kumul from 1908 to 1930.

Yuan dynasty family tree

founded the Mongol Empire in 1206. His grandson, Kublai Khan, after defeating his younger brother Ariq Böke, founded the Yuan dynasty in China in 1271. The dynasty was overthrown by the Ming dynasty during the reign of Toghaghan-Temür in 1368, but it survived in Mongolia homeland, known as the Northern Yuan dynasty. Although the kingship was usurped by Esen Taishi of the Oirats in 1453, 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 died in 1634 and his son Ejei Khongor submitted himself to Hong Taiji the next year, ending the Northern Yuan regime. However, the Borjigin nobles continued to rule their subjects until the 20th century under the Qing.
Or in a different version.

Modern relevance and descent from Genghis Khan

The Borjigin held power over Mongolia for many centuries and only lost power when Communists took control in the 20th century. Aristocratic descent was something to be forgotten in the socialist period. Joseph Stalin's associates executed some 30,000 Mongols including Borjigin nobles in a series of campaigns against their culture and religion. Clan association has lost its practical relevance in the 20th century, but is still considered a matter of honour and pride by many Mongolians. 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. The label Borjigin is used as a measure of cultural supremacy.
In Inner Mongolia, the Borjigid or Kiyad name became the basis for many Chinese surnames adopted by ethnic Inner Mongols. The Inner Mongolian Borjigin Taijis took the surname Bao and in Ordos Qi. A genetic research has proposed that as many as 16 million men from populations as far apart as Hazaras in the West and Hezhe people to the east may have Borjigid-Kiyad ancestry, but the professionalism of that study is being criticised. The Qiyat clan name is still found among the Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Karakalpaks.

List of Kiyad-Borjigin dynasties

Rulers of the [Khamag Mongol] (11th century – 1206)

[Yuan dynasty]
Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1622Babai Šurhaci's tenth daughter by secondary consort
1648Hashang Hong Taiji's ninth daughter by secondary consort
1651Bandi Hong Taiji's 12th daughter by mistress
1756Banzhu'er Yunbi's fourth daughter by secondary consort
1756Gunqilaxi Yuntao's fifth daughter by mistress

Imperial Consort
Imperial ConsortEmperorSonsDaughters
Consort Yu Qianlong Emperor

Princess Consort
Princess ConsortPrinceSonsDaughters
Primary consortPrince Degelei1. Dekexike
Primary consortPrince Degelei
Primary consortŠose, Prince Chengzeyu
Primary consortYongzhang, Prince Xun
Primary consortPrince Yongji

[Abaga Mongols]

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1647 or 1648Garma Sodnam Princess Duanshun, Hong Taiji's 11th daughter by Noble Consort Yijing

Imperial Consort
Imperial ConsortEmperorSonsDaughters
Noble Consort Yijing Hong Taiji11. Prince Bomubogor 11. Princess Duanshun
Consort Kanghuishu Hong Taiji
Consort Duanshun Shunzhi Emperor

Abahai (阿巴亥) Mongols

Princess Consort
Princess ConsortPrinceSonsDaughters
Primary consortDuke Yun'e5. Hongxuan

Alxa (阿拉善) Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1780Wangqinbanba'er Yongqi's first daughter by mistress
1785Wangqinbanba'er Yongcheng's second daughter by secondary consort
1925Darijaya Zaitao's second daughter by wife

Aohan Mongols">Aohans">Aohan Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1627Sodnom Dügüreng Nurhaci's third daughter by primary consort
1633Bandi Princess Aohan, Hong Taiji's first daughter by primary consort
1731Pengsukelashi Yunreng's eighth daughter by secondary consort
1733Wangzha'er Yunzhi's tenth daughter by mistress
1734Laxi Yunzhi's seventh daughter by mistress
1743 or 1744Luobocangxilapu Yunyi's first daughter by secondary consort
1747Gengdouzha'er Yunhu's third daughter by mistress
1787Deweiduo'erji Yongxing's second daughter by secondary consort

Barin Mongols">Baarins">Barin Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1648Sabdan Princess Shuhui, Hong Taiji's fifth daughter by Empress Xiaozhuangwen
1691Örgen Princess Rongxian, the Kangxi Emperor's third daughter by Consort Rong
1719Kanbu Yuntang's second daughter by mistress
1751Deleke Princess Hewan, Hongzhou's first daughter by primary consort
1791Gongsaishang'a Yongxuan's first daughter by secondary consort

Chahar Mongols">Chahars">Chahar Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1636Ejei Princess Wenzhuang, Hong Taiji's second daughter by Empress Xiaoduanwen
1645Abunai Princess Wenzhuang, Hong Taiji's second daughter by Empress Xiaoduanwen

Dinghao (鼎浩) Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1742Dunduobuduo'erji Yunxu's fourth daughter by secondary consort

Dun'erluosi (敦爾羅斯) Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1738Sumadi Yunqi's sixth daughter by mistress

Hotsit (浩齊特) Mongols

Imperial Consort
Imperial ConsortEmperorSonsDaughters
Consort Gongjing Shunzhi Emperor

Jarud Mongols">Jaruud">Jarud Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1645Lamasi Princess Shuzhe, Hong Taiji's seventh daughter by Empress Xiaozhuangwen

Imperial Consort
Imperial ConsortEmperorSonsDaughters
Secondary consortHong Taiji6. Princess
9.

[Khalkha Mongols]

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1617Enggeder Šurhaci's fourth daughter by secondary consort
1625Gürbüshi Nurhaci's eighth daughter by secondary consort
1643Suo'erha Princess Shuhui, Hong Taiji's fifth daughter by Empress Xiaozhuangwen
1697 or 1698Dondob Dorji Princess Kejing, the Kangxi Emperor's sixth daughter by Noble Lady
1706Ts'ering Princess Chunque, the Kangxi Emperor's tenth daughter by Concubine Tong
1717Genzhapuduo'erji Yunzhi's second daughter by primary consort
1729Dorji Septeng Princess Hehui, Yinxiang's fourth daughter by primary consort
1745Jaisang Dorji Yunxi's third daughter by primary consort
1770Lhawang Dorji Princess Hejing, the Qianlong Emperor's seventh daughter by Empress Xiaoyichun

[Khorchin Mongols]

During the initial building of the Qing dynasty, the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan had the tradition of diplomatic marriages with Mongols to earn their support. Qing rulers would make Mongol ladies empresses and major concubines. As the Khorchin were the strongest banner, the Manchus were anxious to make alliances from the Borjigit. These marriages produced two empresses and three dowager empresses of the Qing dynasty, from which Xiaozhuang subsequently became a notable grand empress dowager. Hence, it is not surprising to note that from Nurhaci to the Shunzhi Emperor, all the empresses and major concubines were Mongols.
Empress Xiaoduanwen was made empress in 1636, Empress of Emperor Hong Taiji. Daughter of Prince Manjusri. Known as a benevolent empress and the most virtuous of all. Made "Motherly Empress Dowager Empress" in 1643 after the death Of Emperor Hong Taiji. She died in 1649.
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was historically considered the mother of Qing dynasty. She was a concubine of Huang Taiji. Daughter of Prince Jaisang and niece of Empress Xiaoduan. Made the "Enlightened Mother Dowager Empress" in 1643 after the death of Emperor Hong Taiji. She died in 1688 having helped Shunzhi Emperor, her son, run the country till his death and Kangxi Emperor, her grandson, for 25 years of his reign. Xiaozhuang was an excellent politician who did not like to interfere in politics, unlike the notorious Empress Dowager Cixi. However, when the conditions required, she rendered her efforts.
Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
Chuo'erji Abatai's daughter
1639Kitad Princess Jingduan, Hong Taiji's third daughter by Empress Xiaoduanwen
1641Birtakhar Princess Yongmu, Hong Taiji's fourth daughter by Empress Xiaozhuangwen
1645Bayashulang Princess Yong'an, Hong Taiji's eighth daughter by Empress Xiaoduanwen
1663Eqi'er Dodo's eighth daughter by secondary consort
1690Bandi Princess Chunxi, Changning's first daughter by mistress
1709Dorji Princess Dunke, the Kangxi Emperor's 15th daughter by Imperial Noble Consort Jingmin
1713Luobocanggunbu Fuquan's fifth daughter by mistress
1721Da'ermadadou Yuntao's first daughter by mistress
1726 or 1727Janggimboo Princess Shushen, Yunreng's sixth daughter by secondary consort
1731Chimed Dorji Princess Duanrou, Yunlu's first daughter by primary consort
1731Sebotengduo'erji Yunyou's seventh daughter by mistress
1733Luobocangdunduobo Yunzhi's eighth daughter by primary consort
1734Lalida Yun'e's first daughter by mistress
1734Ji'erdi Yunzhi's ninth daughter by mistress
1735Junxibandi Yunqi's fourth daughter by mistress
1739Tsewang Norbu Yunlu's sixth daughter by secondary consort
1742 or 1743Gumu Yunxi's second daughter by secondary consort
1743Laxinamuzha'er Yunlu's fourth daughter by primary consort
1746Jilalida Yunzhi's 14th daughter by mistress
1747Septeng Baljur Princess Hejing, the Qianlong Emperor's third daughter by Empress Xiaoxianchun
1748Selengdanba Yunhu's fourth daughter by mistress
1801Sodnamdorji Princess Zhuangjing, the Jiaqing Emperor's third daughter by Imperial Noble Consort Heyu

Imperial Consort
Imperial ConsortEmperorSonsDaughters
Consort Shoukang Nurhaci
Empress Xiaoduanwen Hong Taiji2. Princess Wenzhuang
3. Princess Jingduan
8. Princess Yong'an
Empress Xiaozhuangwen Hong Taiji9. Shunzhi Emperor 4. Princess Yongmu
5. Princess Shuhui
7. Princess Shuzhe
Primary consort Minhui Hong Taiji
Consort Jing Shunzhi Emperor
Empress Xiaohuizhang Shunzhi Emperor
Consort Dao Shunzhi Emperor
Consort Shuhui Shunzhi Emperor
Consort Hui Kangxi Emperor
Consort Xuan Kangxi Emperor
Empress Xiaojingcheng Daoguang Emperor6. Yixin, Prince Gongzhong 6. Princess Shou'en

Princess Consort
Princess ConsortPrinceSonsDaughters
Primary consortAjige, Prince Ying2. Duke Fulehe
6. Prince Louqin
7. Mo'erxun
Primary consort Dorgon, Prince Ruizhong
Primary consortDorgon, Prince Ruizhong
Empress Jingxiaoyi Dorgon, Prince Ruizhong
Primary consortDorgon, Prince Ruizhong
Primary consortDodo, Prince Yutong1.
3. Princess
Primary consort Dodo, Prince Yutong2. Duoni, Prince Yuxuanhe
5. Duo'erbo, Prince Rui
Primary consort Hooge, Prince Suwu4. Fushou, Prince Xianque
Primary consortPrince Bomubogor

Naiman Mongols">Naimans">Naiman Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1714Tuizhong Yunyou's first daughter by secondary consort
1841Demchüghjab Princess Shou'an, the Daoguang Emperor's fourth daughter by Empress Xiaoquancheng

Onnigud Mongols">Onnigud">Onnigud Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1706Cangjin Princess Wenke, the Kangxi Emperor's 13th daughter by Imperial Noble Consort Jingmin
1716Cangjin Fuquan's sixth daughter by mistress

Tumed Mongols">Tumed">Tumed Mongols

Prince Consort
DatePrince ConsortPrincess
1802Manibadara Princess Zhuangjing, the Jiaqing Emperor's fourth daughter by Empress Xiaoshurui

Zha'ermang (扎爾莽) Mongols

Princess Consort
Princess ConsortPrinceSonsDaughters
Primary consortDorgon, Prince Ruizhong

Gallery

Citations