Image Courtesy of Malevus
1180: Hoelun
Mother of Genghis Khan
Born: c.1142, Mongolian Empire (Present-day Mongolia)
Died: c. 1221, Mongolian Empire (Present-day Mongolia)
Besides being known as the mother of one of history’s greatest warlords, Hoelun is also celebrated today for being a bada** single mom. She raised seven kids under the age of ten by herself for long periods of time.
Hoelun was a member of the Khongirad Clan. She was forcibly married to Genghis’s father after he abducted her on the way to visit relatives in another clan, the Merkits (evidently abducting women from each other’s tribes was relatively common at the time—as horrible as that sounds). At the time, Hoelun was either already married to, or at least engaged to, a member of the Merkit Clan. This led to bad blood between the Merkits and the Borjigin Clan (which Hoelun’s husband belonged to) that would last for many years to come.
Together, Hoelun and her husband would eventually have five children. She was between sixteen and nineteen years old at the time of her kidnapping, and was named her husband’s principal wife.
When Genghis was eight or nine years old, his father was poisoned by a rival clan (not the Merkits! He was actually killed by another clan, the Tartars). Genghis’s father had two wives at the time: Hoelun and another woman named Sochigel, who were left with seven children between them.
Mongolian tradition at the time dictated that another man in the clan should have married Hoelun and taken on her children as his own, but unfortunately for her she simply had too many mouths to feed, and no man was willing to step up and take that place.
To make matters worse, the clan went a step further and abandoned the little family completely in the dead of night, reportedly taking all of the family animals as well, AND winter was coming on. This should have been a death sentence for Hoelun, her fellow widow, and their seven children.
Hoelun decided she didn’t want to die, however, and took it upon herself to save them all. She dug roots with a stick, foraged for nuts and berries, and watched with pride as her son (the future Genghis Khan), began hunting with sharpened bone tipped arrows.
While they were living on the edge of a forest, Genghis (who had a different name as a child but for the sake of simplicity here I’ll simply refer to him as Genghis) got together with another of his brothers in order to murder their older half-brother because he had stolen from them. Genghis was only fourteen at the time and Hoelun reprimanded him for the murder.
The older brother Genghis had killed came from Sochigel, the second wife. Apparently Sochigel and her remaining son decided their best chance was to remain with Hoelun and her children, however, because they all stayed together despite this dramatic turn of events.
After Hoelun’s son united the Mongols (and became Genghis Khan), Hoelun became the Queen Mother and was given the title Khatun Ana. She was one of her son’s most trusted advisors and her official role was caring for children who had been orphaned in battle.
In 1206, Genghis Khan created the Great Mongolian State, and named his mother the head of the Mongol household. Clearly he respected his mother greatly.
Hoelun had several adopted children alongside her five biological. Three of her adopted sons became commanders in the Mongolian armed forces, while a fourth adopted child became the chief justice. Later in life, Hoelun was married to a member of the Honhotan tribe. Genghis gave his mother three thousand warriors to command, if she ever needed them.
Hoelun lived to be around eighty or eighty-one years old, which was ancient for her time period.
In October 1266, Kublai Khan, Hoelun’s great-grandson, built her a lavish tomb. Hoelun was said to have practiced Tengriism, which is one of the oldest monotheistic religions practiced by the Mongolian people. She was so revered after her death, that her title was increased to that of Empress Dowager.
Today, a statue of Hoelun stands just several yards away from that of her son Genghis in their native Mongolia. A photo of the statue is provided in this article.
Most of the information about Hoelun’s life stems from The Secret History of the Mongols, the oldest-surviving written text in the Mongol language. The work was created sometime after Genghis Khan died in 1227 and today the author is unknown. This means what information we do have about Hoelun cannot be verified for complete accuracy, and so everything should be taken with a pinch of salt to say the least, but no matter what the true details are, it is known that Hoelun was an extraordinarily strong woman and excellent mother.
Sources:
https://esme.com/single-moms/solo-mom-in-the-spotlight/hoelun-12th-century-badass
http://www.jamathews.com/women-and-adversity-hoelun-mother-of-genghis-khan/