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Historical person

Khutulun

c. 1260–c. 1306

Khutulun lived within the Central Asian branch of the Mongol imperial world and accompanied her father Kaidu during his long conflict with Kublai Khan. Marco Polo and Rashid al-Din both preserved accounts of her physical strength, horsemanship and participation in warfare.

Khutulun became one of the best-attested female warriors of the Mongol world and an enduring figure in accounts of Central Asian politics and martial culture. Khutulun was born in Chagatai Khanate.

Colin Falconer’s Silk Road gives Khutulun an active fictional role as the warrior daughter of Kaidu and guide to a Christian embassy travelling across Mongol Central Asia. Her competence and independence repeatedly challenge the assumptions of the Templar Josseran Sarrazini, while her family’s hostility to Kublai Khan turns their growing attachment into a political danger. The novel therefore uses Khutulun not as decorative background but as a representative of the rivalries, mobility and female authority possible within the Mongol world.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Khutulun (1 series)

Epic Historical Adventure in Order

by Colin Falconer 14 books 4.3(129,144)

Epic Historical Adventure is Colin Falconer's publisher-defined collection of stand-alone historical thrillers rather than a continuous narrative sequence. The novels range from Alexander the Great, Cleopatra and the Mongol Empire to the Ottoman court, the conquest of Mexico, colonial India, shipwreck and twentieth-century Palestine. Most volumes can be…

All books in this series