The Secret History of the Mongols
Also known as: Secret History of the Mongols, Mongqol-un Niuča Tobčiyan, Mongol-un Niguča Tobčiyan, Yuan Chao Bi Shi
A 13th-century Mongolian prose chronicle narrating the ancestry, rise, and rule of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan and his successors, blending genealogy, campaign narratives, court politics, and steppe lore.
Description
The Secret History of the Mongols is the principal native Mongolian account of the origins and expansion of the Mongol empire. Framed by genealogies and origin traditions, it follows Temüjin’s struggles, his election as Chinggis Khan, and the consolidation of power across the steppe before turning to imperial campaigns and succession politics. Court speeches, oaths, counsel, and ritual scenes preserve nomadic values of loyalty, merit, and obligation under the protection of the Eternal Blue Sky (Tengri). Compiled soon after Chinggis Khan’s death, the text survives through Chinese-script transcriptions accompanied by glosses that preserved Middle Mongolian forms. It is both a foundational historical source and a literary monument of steppe political imagination.
Historiography
The work likely originated as a court compilation c. 1240 and circulated in Mongolian. The surviving redaction is a Ming-era copy of a Yuan transcription: Chinese characters record Mongolian sounds alongside glosses. Major modern editions rely on philological reconstruction of Middle Mongolian (e.g., de Rachewiltz), with earlier translations by Cleaves and Onon. It has been central to reconstructing Mongol genealogy, titulature, and the political vocabulary of the early empire.
Date Notes
Compiled shortly after Chinggis Khan’s death; preserved via a Yuan/Ming-era Chinese transcription of a Mongolian text with phonetic glosses.
Major Characters
- Temujin (Genghis Khan)
- Börte
- Hoelun
- Yesugei
- Jamukha
- Toghrul (Wang Khan)
- Jochi
- Chagatai
- Ögedei
- Tolui
Myths
- Dreams and Portents of Temüjin’s Destiny
- Temüjin’s Rise and Unification
- The Fall of Jamukha
- Instituting the Yassa
Facts
- Principal native Mongolian narrative source for the early empire and Temüjin’s rise.
- Survives as a Chinese-script transcription with glosses preserving Middle Mongolian forms.
- Likely compiled c. 1240, soon after Chinggis Khan’s death in 1227.
- Organized with genealogies, origin legends, counsel speeches, and campaign narratives.
- Records steppe political vocabulary, titles, and kinship structures crucial to Mongol studies.
- Key witnesses include Ming-era copies that transmit a Yuan-period redaction.
- Used to reconstruct phonology and morphology of 13th-century Mongolian.
- Provides early attestations of core figures: Jochi, Chagatai, Ögedei, Tolui, Subutai.
- Depicts the ideological role of Tengri (Eternal Blue Sky) in legitimation.
- Influenced Persian and Chinese chroniclers who incorporated Mongol material.