Jochi

Jochi Khan (Mongolian:ᠵᠦᠴᠢ Mongolian: Зүчи, Züchi; Chinese: 朮赤; pinyin: Zhú chì; Crimean Tatar: Cuçi, Джучи, جوچى; also spelled Juchi; Djochi,^[2] and Jöchi; c. 1182 – February 1227)^[3] was a Mongol army commander who was the eldest son of Temüjin (aka Genghis Khan), and presumably one of the four sons by his principal wife Börte, though issues concerning his paternity followed him throughout his life. An accomplished military leader, he participated in his father's conquest of Central Asia, along with his brothers and uncles.

Early life

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There is some question as to Jochi's true paternity.

Wars of conquest

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In 1207, Jochi conquered several of the forest peoples in Siberia, extending the northern border of the Mongol Empire for the first time. On behalf of his father, Jochi led two campaigns against the Kyrgyz, in 1210 and in 1218.^[5] Jochi played a major role in the

The differences in tactics between Jochi and Chagatai in early 1221 added to their personal quarrel about the succession. To settle the matter, Genghis Khan called for a "kurultai", a political and military council - a formal meeting used both in familial matters and in matters of state. Genghis Khan had won election/appointment as Khan of his tribe during a kurultai, and he called them often during his early campaigns to garner public support for his wars – such meetings were key to Genghis Khan's legitimacy. Tribal tradition was also critical. As Genghis Khan's first-born son, Jochi was favored^{[by whom?]} to rule the clan and the empire after his father died. At the familial kurultai called in 1222, Chagatai raised the issue of Jochi's legitimacy. At that meeting, Genghis Khan made it clear that Jochi was his legitimate first-born son. However, he worried that the quarrelsome nature of the two would split the empire. By early 1223 Genghis Khan had selected Ögedei, his third son, as his successor. For the sake of preserving the Empire, both Jochi and Chagatai agreed, but the rift between them never healed. Their rift would later politically divide the European part of the Mongol Empire from its Asian part permanently.

Succession controversy

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During the autumn of 1223 Genghis Khan started for Mongolia after completing the Khwarezm campaign. Ögedei, Chagatai and Tolui went with him but Jochi withdrew to his territories north of Aral and Caspian Seas. There he remained until his death and would not see his father again in his lifetime. ^{[citation needed]}

Genghis Khan had divided his empire into

Genghis Khan had made Jochi responsible for the supervision and conduct of the community hunt. Hunting was essentially a large scale military exercise designed specifically for the training of the army. It frequently encompassed thousands of square kilometers of area, required the participation of several tumens and lasted anywhere between one and three months. Rules and procedure of the conduct of the military exercise were encoded in the Yassa.

Certain incidents hint towards the fact that Jochi was of a kinder disposition than Genghis Khan, though the adjective “kind” must be interpreted by the standards of his times and milieu because Jochi also engaged in massacres of civilians. On one occasion Jochi pleaded with his father to spare the life of a son of an enemy chief who had been taken captive and who happened to be a great archer. Jochi argued that such a great archer could be an asset to the Mongol army. Genghis Khan brushed aside this argument and had the captive executed.

Genetic paternity evidence

In 2019, researchers uncovered genetic evidence supporting the claim that Jochi was Genghis Khan's first true-born son. Scientists found that the Lu clan of Northwestern China, which claimed descent from the sixth son of Genghis Khan

Jochi's son

The first mention about his mausoleum is found in 16th century Sharaf-name-yi shahi, describing the 1582 the campaign of the Abdullah Khan II:^[7]

On Saturday, 6th month, (khan) stopped near (Navaqi) Sarai in front of the

mazar

of Jochi khan.

Wives, concubines, and children

Like his father, Jochi had a large number of wives and concubines, however the exact details of these women are scarce.^[8][9]

Jochi had at least 14 sons^[10] and two daughters:

• Orda (c. 1206–1251)
• Batu (c. 1207–1255)
• Berke, Khan of the Golden Horde from 1257–1267^[11]
• Berkhechir
• Shiban
• Tangad
• Teval (Buval). He was the grandfather of Nogai Khan.
• Chilagun
• Sinqur
• Chimbay
• Muhammed
• Udur
• Tuqa-Timur, the ancestor of late khans of the Great Horde.^[12]
• Shingum
• Qoluyiqan.^[13] She married Törelchi, eldest son of Quduqa-beki of the Oirats.
• Daughter who married the Qarluq chief of Almaliq.
• Begtütmish, sister of Sorghaghtani and Ibaqa

Ancestry

See also

• Wings of the Golden Horde

References