Genghis Khan didn't want you to read this. Seriously. When the Great Khan died in 1227, he was buried in a spot so secret that the funeral escort allegedly killed anyone they met on the road to keep the location hidden. Then, they were killed too. That level of intense, paranoid secrecy extended to the written word. For centuries, the only primary source written from the perspective of the Mongols themselves—the aptly named The Secret History of the Mongols—was effectively a ghost. It was a private family dossier for the Borjigin clan, hidden away, transcribed into Chinese characters that sounded like Mongolian (a linguistic nightmare), and lost to the Western world until the late 19th century.
It’s messy. It’s violent. It’s strangely poetic.
Unlike the Persian or Chinese accounts of the Mongol conquests, which tend to paint Genghis (Temujin) as either a literal demon or a divinely appointed celestial emperor, The Secret History is uncomfortably human. It tells us about the time Temujin cried because he was scared of dogs. It details how he murdered his half-brother, Bekter, over a fishing dispute. You don't get that kind of raw, unflattering honesty in a typical state-sponsored biography.
The Mystery of the "Secret" Text
So, why was it secret?
Basically, it wasn't meant for us. Written shortly after Genghis Khan's death (likely around 1240 AD, though scholars like Igor de Rachewiltz have debated the exact dating for decades), the text was intended as a guide for the Mongol royal family. It was a "how-to" and a "who-we-are" rolled into one. It contains the genealogy of the Mongols, starting with a "blue-gray wolf" and a "fallow doe," and tracks the rise of Temujin from a starving outcast eating sour cherries on the steppe to the ruler of the largest contiguous empire in history.
For hundreds of years, the world only knew the Mongols through the eyes of the conquered. We had the accounts of Juvayni and Rashid al-Din, who were Persian officials working for the Mongols. We had the terrified reports of European monks like Giovanni da Pian del Carpine. But the Mongol voice? Silent. It wasn't until a Russian scholar named Palladius Kafarov discovered a copy in the archives of Beijing in 1866 that the world started to realize the Mongols had been keeping their own receipts.
The text is a linguistic puzzle. Because the original Uighur-script Mongolian version was lost, we had to rely on the Yuan Chao Bi Shi, where Chinese characters were used phonetically to represent Mongolian sounds. Imagine writing "Bonjour" as "Bone-jure" using English phonetics, and then trying to reconstruct French 500 years later. That’s what scholars had to deal with.
What Most People Get Wrong About Temujin’s Early Life
We often imagine Genghis Khan as a man who was born powerful. Nope. The Secret History of the Mongols makes it very clear that his childhood was a total disaster.
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His father, Yesugei, was poisoned by Tatars when Temujin was just a kid. Following the murder, his own clan, the Tayichi’ud, abandoned Temujin’s mother, Hoelun, and her children. They left them to starve on the steppe. This is the part of the history that feels most "human." The text describes them digging for roots and catching small fish just to stay alive. There’s no glory here.
Then things got darker.
Temujin and his brother Qasar grew resentful of their older half-brother, Bekter, who was asserting dominance as the eldest male. In a scene that feels like something out of a gritty HBO drama, Temujin and Qasar crept up on Bekter while he was sitting on a hill. Bekter knew he was about to die. He didn't beg for his life; he just asked them not to kill his family's hearth. They shot him full of arrows and walked away.
When they got home, Hoelun lost it. The Secret History records her screaming at them, calling them "destroyers" and comparing them to panthers attacking rocks. It’s a rare look at the internal fractures of a family that would eventually rule the world. Honestly, it’s these moments of domestic violence and maternal rage that make the text feel authentic. A fake history would have made him a saint from birth.
The Bromance and the Betrayal: Jamuqa
If you want to understand the Mongol Empire, you have to understand Jamuqa. He was Temujin’s anda, or blood brother. They swore eternal loyalty to each other multiple times, exchanging gifts and sleeping under the same blanket.
But the steppe wasn't big enough for two Khans.
The rivalry between Temujin and Jamuqa is the emotional core of the Secret History. It represents the clash between two different philosophies. Jamuqa was an aristocrat; he believed in the old ways of lineage and "white bone" nobility. Temujin, having been abandoned by the nobility, believed in meritocracy. He promoted people based on loyalty and skill, not who their father was.
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This led to a decades-long civil war. When Temujin finally defeated Jamuqa, the Secret History records a final, haunting conversation between them. Jamuqa, knowing he has to die for the empire to be stable, asks for a death without shedding blood (which was a mark of respect in Mongol culture, as they believed the soul resided in the blood). He supposedly said, "There is room for only one sun in the sky."
Temujin granted his wish. He had Jamuqa’s back broken, honoring him in the most brutal way possible.
Warfare, Women, and the Law
One of the most surprising things you’ll find in The Secret History of the Mongols is the agency of women. While the world was largely patriarchal, Mongol women like Hoelun and Temujin’s wife, Borte, were absolute powerhouses.
When Borte was kidnapped by the Merkits, it wasn't just a personal tragedy; it was the catalyst for Temujin’s first major war. The text doesn't shy away from the trauma of this. When she was eventually rescued, she was pregnant. The child, Jochi, had a disputed parentage his entire life, and the Secret History records the brutal arguments between the brothers over whether Jochi was a "true" Mongol. This dispute eventually helped fracture the empire generations later.
The Great Yassa (The Law)
The text also hints at the formation of the Yassa, the secretive code of laws Genghis Khan established. While no complete copy of the Yassa survives today, the Secret History shows its foundations:
- Zero tolerance for theft: You could leave a gold bag on the road and nobody would touch it.
- Religious freedom: Unlike the Crusaders or the Caliphates, Genghis didn't care who you prayed to, as long as you paid your taxes and didn't rebel.
- Strict loyalty: Betraying your Khan was an automatic death sentence, but so was betraying your own leader to join Genghis. He famously executed the guards who turned Jamuqa over to him, because he couldn't trust men who would betray their own master.
Why Scholars Still Argue Over It
Is the Secret History 100% factual?
Probably not. It’s a mix of epic poetry, oral tradition, and historical chronicle. Christopher Atwood, a leading scholar on Mongolian history, has pointed out how the text uses specific literary tropes to frame the narrative. It’s "truth-adjacent."
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There are gaps. Large ones. For example, the text is strangely brief about the actual conquest of Northern China and the Khwarazmian Empire. It focuses way more on the internal politics of the Mongol tribes than the external destruction of the rest of the world. It’s an "insider" book, obsessed with who sat where at the feast and who owed a debt of gratitude to whom.
There is also the "Taboo of the Name." In Mongol culture, speaking the name of the dead was often avoided. This might explain why some parts of the text feel coded or why certain details about Genghis Khan's death remain frustratingly vague.
How to Read the Secret History Today
If you're looking to dive into this yourself, don't just grab any copy. The translation by Igor de Rachewiltz is the gold standard for academics—it's massive, expensive, and filled with footnotes that explain every single obscure cultural reference.
For the average person, the Francis Woodman Cleaves translation or the more modern, accessible version by Urgunge Onon is the way to go. Onon was a native Mongol speaker, and his translation captures the rhythmic, "steppish" feel of the original prose.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you're researching the Mongols or just want to sound smarter at a dinner party, keep these nuances in mind:
- Avoid the "Barbarian" Trope: The Secret History proves the Mongols were sophisticated political actors with a complex legal system and a deep sense of psychological loyalty. They weren't just a "horde"; they were a corporation with a very violent HR department.
- Contextualize the Violence: When you read about Temujin killing his brother, look at it through the lens of steppe survival. In a world with zero resources, a brother who steals food is a death sentence for everyone else.
- Follow the Geography: If you really want to understand the text, look at maps of the Khentii Mountains and the Onon River in modern-day Mongolia. Most of the events in the Secret History take place in a surprisingly small geographic area.
- Watch for the Poetry: Notice the "alliterative verse." Much of the book was meant to be chanted or sung. It’s an oral history that was frozen in time by ink.
The Secret History of the Mongols remains our best window into the mind of a man who started with nothing and ended with everything. It’s a story of trauma, radical meritocracy, and the kind of loyalty that can only be forged in the brutal cold of the North. It’s not just a book; it’s the DNA of an empire that shaped the modern borders of Asia and Eastern Europe.
To truly understand the Mongol perspective, you have to look past the smoke of burning cities and read the words they wrote for themselves. Only then do you see the wolf, the doe, and the terrified boy who grew up to be a god.
For those looking to explore further, the next logical step is to examine the Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid al-Din. It acts as the "external" counterpart to the Secret History, providing the Persian view of the Mongol expansion and offering a necessary counter-balance to the pro-Borjigin bias found in the Mongol account. Comparing the two is the only way to get a full 360-degree view of the 13th century.