Descent from Genghis Khan

Descent from Genghis Khan (Mongolian: Алтан ураг Altan urag, meaning "Golden lineage"), generally called Genghisids, is traceable primarily in Central Asia; Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China, and Siberia. His four sons and other immediate descendants are famous by names and by deeds. Later Asian potentates attempted to claim descent from the Borjigin even on flimsy grounds, such as was considered Mongol matrilineal descent. In the 14th century, valid sources (heavily dependent on Rashid-al-Din Hamadani and other Muslim historians) all but dried up. With the recent popularity of genealogical DNA testing, a larger and broader circle of people started to claim descent from Genghis Khan.

Jochi, Genghis Khan's eldest son, had many more recorded progeny than his brothers Ögedei, Chagatai, and Tolui—but there is some doubt over his paternity. According to the The Secret History of the Mongols, the boy was sent to Genghis by Chilger, who had kidnapped his first wife Börte, keeping her in captivity for about a year. In one passage, Chagatai refers to Jochi as "bastard" (although the true meaning of the Mongol term is obscure). To this, Genghis Khan responds: "How dare you talk about Jochi like this? Is not he the eldest of my heirs? That I never heard such wicked words again!" (255). All in all, Genghis Khan pronounces the words "Jochi is my eldest son" thrice (210, 242, 254).

Modern historians speculate that Jochi's disputed paternity was the reason for his eventual estrangement from his father and for the fact that his descendants never succeeded to the imperial throne. On the other hand, Genghis always treated Jochi as his first son, while the failure of the Jochid succession may be explained by Jochi's premature death (which may have excluded his progeny from succession).

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