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Shigi Qutuqu

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Shigi Qutuqu(Mongolian:ᠰᠢᠭᠢᠬᠤᠲᠤᠭ;c. 1178–1260)[1]was a high-ranking official during the early decades of theMongol Empire.The adopted son of the empire's founderTemüjin(later entitled Genghis Khan) and his wifeBörte,Shigi Qutuqu played an important role in the codification ofMongol law,serving with distinction as an administrator in North China. He may also have been a major source for theSecret History of the Mongols,which portrays him very favourably.

Although theSecret Historystates that Shigi Qutuqu was adopted byHö'elün,Temüjin's mother, chronological inconsistencies make this account improbable. The foundling was brought up in Temüjin's household and was one of the first Mongols to become literate. TheSecret Historyexaggerates his role in the years after the empire's foundation, but Shigi Qutuqu was nevertheless appointed to several high-ranking legal positions, in which he served during theMongol conquest of the Jin dynasty.He was the commander during the only Mongol defeat of thewestern campaign against Khwarazmia,being overcome byJalal al-Dinat the 1221Battle of Parwan.

Shigi Qutuqu continued his career as an official during the reign of his adopted brotherÖgedei Khan,Genghis's successor. He conducted a census of North China in 1235–1236 which allowed the Mongol administration to overhaul its fiscal policies. While some contemporaries found his decrees and judgements oppressive and biased, others praised his honesty and judicial integrity. Having survived power struggles during the reigns ofGüyükandMöngke,Shigi Qutuqu died at the age of 81 during theToluid Civil War.

Early life

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TheSecret History of the MongolsandRashid al-Din'sJami' al-tawarikhboth provide details[a]of the early life of Shigi Qutuqu, but the accounts differ greatly.[3]According to theSecret History,after theMongol[b]leaderTemüjin(later titled Genghis Khan) had led a raid against aTatar campnamed Naratu Šitü’en, his plundering troops found a boy abandoned in the camp. He was recognised to be of aristocratic descent as he was wearing anose ringmade of gold and a silkjerkinlined withsable.TheSecret Historyalso records thatHö'elün,Temüjin's mother, adopted the boy as her sixth child, naming him Shigi Qutuqu.[5]This account is however difficult to believe. The raid on Naratu Šitü’en can be dated fairly precisely to a campaign Temüjin fought in alliance with theKereitchieftainToghruland theChinese Jin dynastyin May–June 1196, but Shigi Qutuqu was already prominent in Mongol society by 1206, which is implausible if he were a small child a decade earlier. He would also have been decades younger than his adoptive siblings.[6]By depicting him as a noble at birth and later the adopted brother of Temüjin, this version may have intended to position Shigi Qutuqu as a more senior member of Mongol society.[7]

According to Rashid al-Din's account, Shigi Qutuqu's adoption took place more than a decade earlier. He records that when Temüjin and his wifeBörtewere still childless, they found a young boy and raised him as their son. If accurate, this incident would have occurred in the early 1180s as Börte's eldest sonJochiwas born in 1184 at the earliest. Rashid al-Din's explanation, which draws upon natural relationships, is considered more plausible by modern historians such as Paul Ratchnevsky andChristopher Atwood.[8]The comfort the adoption of Shigi Qutuqu brought Börte, who may have been depressed due to her difficulties conceiving, is sufficient to explain the honour and attention subsequently paid to him. It also clarifies a scene reported after Börte's death, in which Shigi Qutuqu beat his hands upon her grave, wailingO, sayin eke minu!(lit.Oh, my good mother!).[9]

Two incidents in Shigi Qutuqu's childhood were transmitted by Rashid al-Din. In one, he managed to subdue a herd ofgazellesin a winter blizzard; in the other, he had a role in savingTolui,Temüjin's youngest legitimate son, from aTayici'utbandit.[7]In around 1204, Temüjin appointed theUighurscribeTatar Tong'aas a tutor for his sons; Shigi Qutuqu took to this new avenue very adeptly, recording his adopted father's judgements and decrees in concert with his tutor.[10]

Under Genghis Khan

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During the greatkurultai(lit.assembly) of 1206, Temüjin, newly entitled Genghis Khan, appointed many of his leading commanders to high positions in the newMongol state.Among them,MuqaliandBo'orchuwere honoured above all others, receiving legal protection and command of wings of theMongol army.[11]Shigi Qutuqu took offence to this generosity, with theSecret Historyrecording his words as follows: "Have Bo'orchu and Muqali rendered greater service than others? Have they given more of their strength than others? When it comes to distributing rewards I appear to have rendered less service [than they]!"[12]

Genghis Khan's response, as recorded in theSecret History,was to instruct Shigi Qutuqu to "punish the thieves and put right the lies" by documenting all legal details, including those concerning rewards distribution, in aköke debter(lit.blue book). He entrusted Shigi Qutuqu with legal jurisdiction throughout the entire Mongol nation, making him the firstjarghuchi(lit.judge) alongside Genghis's own half-brotherBelgutei,who was appointed Minister of State.[13]Modern historians consider this account biased: Ratchnevsky suggests that theSecret History,seeking to demonstrate that Genghis Khan was influenced by those around him, "obviously exaggerates Shigi Qutuqu's authority", while Atwood believes that the chronicle conflated the events of the 1206kurultaiwith subsequent appointments, when Shigi Qutuqu may have replaced Belgutei.[14]Nevertheless, Shigi Qutuqu was at some point charged with maintaining the laws of the Mongols, possibly by establishing a kind ofcase law,as was later recorded by Rashid al-Din.[15]He probably did not compile these records personally, and instead supervisedscribesalso taught by Tatar Tong'a.[16]

Painting of cavalry, led by a man in green clothing atop a brown horse, walking into a city with high walls
Thecapture of Zhongdu,depicted in theJami al-tawarikh(Bibliothèque nationale de France,Paris)

Shigi Qutuqu participated in thefirst Mongol campaign against the Jin dynastyin North China. AfterEmperor Xuanzongfled south toKaifeng,the city ofZhongdufell to the Mongols aftera long siegeon 31 May 1215. Although the city was thoroughlyplundered,Genghis Khan personally dispatched Shigi Qutuqu to secure and confiscate the Jin dynasty's treasury.[17]For his honest accounting and recording of the plunder, he was praised highly by Genghis Khan—an event not only recorded in theSecret Historyand by Rashid al-Din but also in the late thirteenth-centuryShengwu qinzheng lu.[18]TheHistory of Yuan,composedc. 1370,notes that Shigi Qutuqu took administrative roles following the occupation of northern China, with his remit including the appointments of minor officials.[19]

Leading the imperialvanguardduring theMongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empirein Central Asia, Shigi Qutuqu was in command during theBattle of Parwan,the first defeat of the campaign for the Mongols.[20]This reverse was described in detail by Rashid al-Din and other Persian chroniclers such asal-NasawiandAta-Malik Juvayni,and more laconically by the Mongol chronicles: theSecret History,theShengwu qinzheng lu,and theHistory of Yuan.According to the Persian chroniclers, Shigi Qutuqu had sacked and burned the city ofGhazniwith around 10,000 soldiers and been involved in the capture ofNishapur,before helping tobesiege Merv.[21]He was subsequently dispatched with around 30,000 men to defeat the renegadeKhwarazmianprinceJalal al-Din Mangburniin early 1221 but was repulsed by his enemy after two days of hard fighting, narrowly escaping a painful death at the hands of Jalal al-Din's forces.[22]News of the Mongol defeat triggered an uprising in the city ofHerat,which had previously submitted and which was subsequently annihilated.[23]

Upon hearing of his adopted son's defeat, Genghis Khan masked his private distress with anger and set out to avenge the loss with his three elder sons—Jochi,Chagatai,andÖgedei.He criticised Shigi Qutuqu's choice of battlefield, and noted that he thought his adopted son had been spoiled by constant victories.[24]At theBattle of the Indus,during which Genghis comprehensively defeated Jalal al-Din, Shigi Qutuqu was appointed to guard the captured Khwarazmian soldiers.[25]

Under Ögedei Khan

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A portrait of a Mongol man wearing an orange robe and a pointed green cap; his mustache and beard are long and thin.
AYuan dynastyportrait ofÖgedei Khan

Upon Ögedei's accession to the Mongol throne after Genghis's death in 1227,[26]he honoured his adopted sibling by naming him "elder brother" and placing him after his sons in the Mongolorder of precedence.Shigi Qutuqu participated in the 1231 campaign against the Jin under the command of Tolui and was involved in action along theYellow River;he was assigned to the service ofSorghaghtani Bekiafter her husband Tolui's death and was present atthe fall of Kaifeng.[27]He also briefly participated in a 1235 campaign against theSouthern Song dynastyunder the command of Köchü, Ögedei's third son.[28]

As a leading Mongol scholar and official, Shigi Qutuqu was appointed in mid-1234 to the position of chiefjarghuchiin Northern China. Acting in concert with the Chinese officialYelü Chucai,he executed a general census of the captured territories fromYanjingin 1235–1236.[29]Medieval historians credit him with judicial integrity and administrative quality, and modern historians ascribe a good part of the success of Ögedei'sfiscal reformsto Shigi Qutuqu's actions and policies.[30]He was however known to favourBuddhist adherentssuch as the monk Haiyun, whom he consulted for advice on matters practical and personal; Haiyun took advantage of this connection to obtain concessions for the Buddhist population during Mongol rule.[31]Authors such asLiu Bingzhongblame him for highcorvée labourassignments and a generally repressive economic atmosphere, while the Song dynasty ambassador Xu Ting termed high household taxes and financial excesses "dreadful".[30]

The remainder of Shigi Qutuqu's life is uncertain. As a senior member of the Mongol imperial family, he probably returned toKarakorumto participate in thekurultaifollowing the death ofGüyükin 1248;[c]he managed to avoid death in the subsequent power struggles, possibly due to his divided loyalties between the Ögedeid and Toluid branches of theBorjiginimperial family. Having survived the newkhaganMöngke(d. 1259),[33]Shigi Qutuqu died in 1260 during theToluid Civil War.It is unknown what side he took in the dispute, fought between Tolui's sonsAriq BökeandKublai.[34]

Legacy

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Shigi Qutuqu laid the foundations for legal procedures across the entire empire through his early judicial activities.[1]Under the name Siri Qutug, he was a central figure in the legends surrounding Genghis Khan until thelate Middle Ages.The daughter of his son San-la married a high-rankingmilitary engineerwho established a private academy inHonan;their son Mu-yen Temur became a renowned book collector.[35]

A significant number of scholars have connected Shigi Qutuqu with some role in the authorship of theSecret History of the Mongols.On the surface, the literate Shigi Qutuqu, who had grown up in Temüjin's household and had thus been personally involved in many important events, was one of the best-qualified Mongols to write such a history. The text itself is also very favourable to him—it discusses his successes very fully but dismisses his loss at Parwan in one sentence. TheSecret Historyalso completely ignores the career ofChinqai(c. 1169–1252), a leading Mongol official whose career rivalled Shigi Qutuqu's, and deprecates Muqali's career.[36]However, Atwood has noted significant irregularities in theSecret Historywhich Shigi Qutuqu would have been especially unlikely to make; he theorises that Shigi Qutuqu was instead one of the work's primary sources.[37]

In modern-day Mongolia,Shihihutug UniversityinUlaanbaataris named after Shigi Qutuqu; a statue of him, designed by the Mongolian sculptor Ochirbold, was erected in 2023 at the main campus.[38]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^TheSecret Historywas composed between 1228 and 1260, while Rashid al-Din was writing in the early fourteenth century.[2]
  2. ^At this point in time, the word "Mongols" only referred to the members of one tribe in northeast Mongolia; because this tribe played a central role in the formation of theMongol Empire,their name was later used for all the tribes.[4]
  3. ^Güyük was the son of Ögedei (d. 1241).[32]

Citations

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  1. ^abAtwood 2004,p. 464.
  2. ^Atwood 2004,pp. 465, 492–493.
  3. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,p. 75.
  4. ^Atwood 2004,pp. 389–391.
  5. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,p. 75;Secret History, trans. Atwood,§ 135.
  6. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,p. 76.
  7. ^abRatchnevsky 1993,p. 77.
  8. ^Atwood 2004,p. 464;Ratchnevsky 1993,p. 76.
  9. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,pp. 76–77.
  10. ^Atwood 2004,pp. 386, 464.
  11. ^Ratchnevsky 1991,p. 90;Atwood 2004,p. 393.
  12. ^Ratchnevsky 1991,p. 95.
  13. ^Ratchnevsky 1991,p. 95;Hodous 2022,pp. 331–332;Secret History, trans. Atwood,§ 203.
  14. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,p. 80;Atwood 2004,p. 464;Dunnell 2023,p. 30.
  15. ^May 2018,p. 77;Morgan 1986,pp. 165, 174–175.
  16. ^Dunnell 2023,p. 30.
  17. ^Atwood 2004,p. 620.
  18. ^Atwood 2004,pp. 464, 499;Ratchnevsky 1993,pp. 80–82;Dunnell 2023,p. 36.
  19. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,pp. 82–83;Atwood 2004,p. 612.
  20. ^Ratchnevsky 1991,p. 133;Ratchnevsky 1993,p. 83.
  21. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,pp. 83–85;Boyle 1963,p. 241.
  22. ^Atwood 2004,p. 436.
  23. ^Dunnell 2023,p. 46.
  24. ^Barthold 1992,p. 443;Ratchnevsky 1991,p. 133.
  25. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,p. 85.
  26. ^Atwood 2004,p. 100.
  27. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,p. 85;Atwood 2004,p. 464.
  28. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,pp. 88–89.
  29. ^Atwood 2004,pp. 78, 464;Ratchnevsky 1993,pp. 86–88.
  30. ^abRatchnevsky 1993,p. 88.
  31. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,p. 87.
  32. ^Atwood 2004,p. 418.
  33. ^Atwood 2004,p. 362.
  34. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,pp. 89–90.
  35. ^Ratchnevsky 1993,pp. 90, 93–94.
  36. ^Atwood 2004,p. 492;Ratchnevsky 1993,pp. 90–91, 93.
  37. ^Secret History, trans. Atwood,pp. lix–lxii.
  38. ^Shihihutug University introduction.

Sources

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