Börte

Börte was the principal wife of Temüjin, later Genghis Khan, and a central woman in the formation of the Mongol ruling family. Soon after their marriage she was abducted by the Merkit and rescued in a campaign that strengthened Temüjin’s alliances. She became the mother of Jochi, Chagatai, Ögedei and Tolui, although Jochi’s paternity was questioned by rivals.

As chief wife she managed households, property and political relationships during her husband’s long absences. Pamela Sargent’s Ruler of the Sky also gives substantial attention to the women around Genghis Khan.

In Jeanne Blanchet’s Forger of Empire, after his father’s death leaves the family abandoned by its followers, he learns that survival depends on discipline, political judgement and an ability to inspire loyalty. His marriage to Börte, her abduction and rescue, and his shifting brotherhood with Jamukha draw him into the rivalries that will determine control of the tribes. In Conn Iggulden’s Wolf of the Plains, after his father is murdered, the young Temujin and his family are expelled from their tribe and abandoned on the Mongolian steppe. Survival hardens him, while captivity, blood feuds and the kidnapping of Börte teach him how vulnerable any family remains without allies. Temujin begins drawing outcasts and warriors to his side, but his growing power sets him against his former blood brother Jamukha and points towards the unification of the Mongol tribes. Börte is treated fictionally in Conn Iggulden’s Lords of the Bow.