The Mongolian empire is remembered for their
barbaric conquests, and the power of their great leaders that managed to spread the empire
across several continents. But one of the most fascinating people who
has been forgotten from the empire is the warrior princess Khutulun. She was the great-great granddaughter of Genghis
Khan, and she truly inherited his strength in battle. Unlike many other princesses and queens throughout
the history of the world, Khutulun was remembered for her own glory, rather than the achievements
of a husband or son. She just may have been the strongest Mongolian
warrior of all time. The Khan Family Tree
Before we get into the details about the life of Khutulun, it's important to go over some
of the details of the Mongolian Empire. For thousands of years, various tribes in
Mongolia went to war with one another, and they were never united under one government. Land and horses were taken as spoils of war. Women and children were seen as men’s property,
and they were used as trophies of conquest. Powerful men had more than one wife, and chieftains
typically had a harem. Genghis Khan became the first leader to unite
all of Mongolia. He achieved this by training his army to be
masterful warriors that were stronger than any other army in the world. They trained
falcons to send messages to communicate with one another, which helped him to spread his
army over vast territories. He pushed his men to train harder to become
a new breed of super-warriors. Genghis Khan once said, “A man's greatest
pleasure is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him, to take from them that which
they possessed, to see those whom they cherished in tears, to ride their horses, and to hold
their wives and daughters in his arms.” Genghis Khan’s army was so strong, they
were able to defeat the tribes one by one. After uniting Mongolia, he set his sights
much farther than his own country. He wanted to become the ruler of the entire
world. He took over parts of Asia, The Middle East,
and Europe. It became the largest empire in the history
of humanity. Even though their army was known for being
ruthless warriors, the Mongolian empire actually brought a lot of innovation to the world during
times of peace. They were tolerant of all religions, they
encouraged international trade, and diplomacy. Genghis Khan’s had several wives of his
own, and he had many children. His grandson Kublai Khan became the ruler
of Mongolia in the year 1260, and his brothers and cousins held positions of power all over
the empire. Unfortunately for Kublai Khan, he was not
as feared as his great-grandfather had once been, and Mongolia would eventually begin
to break off into civil wars. Kublai Khan would even go to war with his
own brother, Ariq Boke. A man named Kaidu was Kublai Khan’s cousin,
and the leader of The House of Ögedei. The two cousins disagreed with one another
on how to run the empire, and this would eventually cause them to go to war, as well. Kaidu had fourteen sons, but his favorite
child by far was his daughter, Khutulun. And Italian explorer named Marco Polo wrote
down the history of the Mongolian Empire while living amongst Kublai Khan’s royal court. Most of what is known about Khutlun's life
came from his books, as well as some comments made by a Persian statesman named Rashid al-Din. She was called by several names, including
Aigiarm, which translates to “shining moon.” While this is a beautiful name to give to
a baby girl, she would grow up to prove that she was far from being a dainty princess. The Wrestling Princess
Because of Genghis Khan’s legacy, future generations of Mongolian warriors were trained
to be some of the strongest people on the planet. If they wanted the Mongolian empire to stretch
across the globe, they needed to be prepared to take down any enemy. By the age of 2, boys were already learning
how to shoot bow and arrows and ride on horseback. They wrestled one another to learn hand-to-hand
combat. They practiced both the Chinese martial arts
of Kung Fu as well as ancient Mongolian fighting techniques. They weren’t just doing all of this training
on foot, either. All of their fighting techniques also needed
to be executed while riding at high speeds on horseback. This included both wrestling and archery. Because of this, their enemies would almost
never be able to knock a Mongolian off of his horse, no matter how hard they tried. In Mongolia, horses are a huge part of their
culture. The number of horses actually outnumber the
human population. People ate horse meat, and drank mare’s
milk. This milk is fermented into an alcoholic beverage
called “airag”, which is considered to be the national drink of Mongolia to this
day. There is a saying: “A Mongol without a horse
is like a bird without the wings”. While all of this training, fighting, and
partying was normal for boys, it was almost never taught to girls. Women were expected to be delicate and subservient
to men while they took care of the farming, child-rearing, and household tasks. Khutulun was a tomboy since she was young,
and she wanted to practice fighting with the boys far more than she was willing to dance
or play with dolls. In his records of his adventures, Marco Polo
describes Khutulun as looking statuesque. She was so tall, one might mistake her for
a giantess. Since the members of the royal family always
chose the most beautiful women in the country to take as their wives, she would have also
been very pretty- most likely looking like a modern-day supermodel. But unlike most princesses, Khutulun isn’t
remembered for her looks. She was known for her incredible wrestling
skills. You could say that she was the world’s first
celebrity female wrestler long before the age of GLOW and the WWE. She was so far ahead of her time, it would
take hundreds of years after her death before female wrestling would even be an acceptable
sport around the world. Mongolian-style wrestling is very different
than what you see on TV, or even what you saw in your High School. There was no separation of weight class. Just two people lock arms, and they both try
to push one another over any way they can. Imagine arm wrestling, only using your entire
body to push the other person down to the ground. Once the opponent is knocked to the floor,
the person who remains standing is the winner. Because of this, the person’s physical strength
usually determines who the victor will be. Khutulun practiced wrestling and continued
to get stronger every day. She was soon better than any man she had ever
gone up against, and she had the goal of becoming the strongest wrestler in the world. When she was old enough to get married, several
suitors began to show their interest in making her their wife. Her father, King Kaidu, began to prepare some
eligible suitors for her. Khutulun was not afraid to speak her mind
to her father, and rebelliously announced that she could never marry a man unless he
was able to defeat her in a wrestling match. At that time, even princes were not usually
able to choose who their wife would be. Politics trumped falling in love, and marriages
were usually meant to keep peaceful ties across the empire. But since she showed so much strength, Kaidu,
gave his daughter his word that she would be free to marry any man of her choosing. An official proclamation was written and spread
across the empire, announcing that his daughter was looking for a husband, as long as he defeats
her in wrestling. The entry fee was 100 horses. If they lost the wrestling match, they would
have to forfeit their horses to The House of Ögedei, which only increased the wealth
and power of their army. Despite the fact that horses are such a huge
part of Mongolian culture, people usually only had one or two per household, if they
were lucky. Owning a hundred horses was no simple task. A man would have had to already come from
some kind of nobility to even collect the entry fee. We know that at least one hundred men showed
up at The House of Ögedei to challenge Khutulun to a match, because she collected a fleet
of over 10,000 horses. It’s safe to assume that many of these men
who came to win the match were probably feeling overly confident before they arrived. They probably thought that defeating a princess
would be a piece of cake, but they left feeling totally humiliated. It probably took a few matches before the
word spread that this was no ordinary princess, and that men would need to train before they
could even think about challenging her. These wrestling matches were talked about
throughout Mongolia, and many people, like Marco Polo, traveled to see the fights. Khutulun would show up wearing a garment called
a cendal. This was usually worn by men when they practiced
the martial arts, but she would show up wearing a version that was made with expensive fabrics. Her suitors usually showed up wearing a similar
style. Even though they were fighting, they still
showed up looking their best in front of the crowd. In the year 1280, when Khutulun was 20 years
old, the son of King Pamar arrived to try his luck in winning a match against the princess. The prince offered to wager 1,000 horses instead
of the typical 100. Marco Polo described him as being young and
incredibly good-looking, and he was surrounded by an entourage of servants. When he showed up in town and announced that
he wanted to battle Khutulun for her hand in marriage, men, women, and children all
showed up to witness this wrestling match, and it drew the biggest crowd by far. Her parents were very impressed. They thought that he was a perfect match for
her, and encouraged Khutulun to lose on purpose, so she could marry him. She replied that she would never lose on purpose
for any fortune in the world. The man who was truly worthy of her hand in
marriage would win without her throwing the match. To his credit, this prince lasted the longest
out of any other wrestler to ever lock arms with Khutulun. After she slammed the prince onto the palace
floor, the cheering stopped, and the room went silent. For the first time ever, the audience was
actually disappointed that she won. Since he lasted the longest in the wrestling
match out of any other man, maybe Khutulun was truly considering if she should throw
the match. However, this man was exactly the sort of
husband her father would have arranged for her. If you think about it, that kind of defeats
the purpose of her being able to choose her husband in the first place. Forever Alone? After years of kicking ass and taking names,
people began to wonder why Khutulun wanted to be a single virgin for the rest of her
life so badly. Rumors began to spread about her. In modern times, one might assume that she
was a lesbian, asexual, or even transgender. Despite Mongolia being one of the most progressive
countries in the world at that time, they were still not accepting of homosexuality. So it’s very possible that Khutulun had
a strong sense of self, and she wasn’t going to allow her father to force her into a marriage
that would make her miserable. At the time, the idea of being a lesbian wasn’t
even an option in the minds of the public. Rumors spread that Kaidu may even have had
an incestuous relationship with his daughter. However, this is probably unlikely. Unfortunately, it’s a rumor that was said
of a lot of women back then. It was just so out of the ordinary that a
daughter was held in such high regard by her father, and that he allowed her to remain
unmarried. The situation was so odd, people simply didn’t
know what to make of it. According to a Persian statesman named Rashid
al-Din, Khutulun was fighting so hard for freedom, because she was in love with a man
named Ghazan. He was the Mongolian leader of the Persian
territories, and a direct descendent of Genghis Khan, as well. This meant that they would have been cousins,
and maybe their union would have been forbidden, because they were too closely related. Whether the theory was true or not, Khutulun
never did marry Ghazan. He is remembered for converting to Islam,
and setting the new precedent for future rulers in modern-day Iran. He married another princess, named Kokochin,
who was nicknamed The Blue Princess and remembered for her stunning beauty. Marco Polo helped escort her across the desert
to meet her new husband. Khutulun would have been the polar opposite
of the dainty, frail princess Kokochin. It’s possible that her heart belonged to
a man she couldn’t have. We never do learn if Khutulun got married,
if she remained unmarried having affairs with men, or if she was secretly enjoying a harem
of her own Most historians believe that she was single for the rest of her life, because
a royal wedding surely would have been on record somewhere. What we do know, though, is that if she got
married, she would never be allowed to live out her one true passion in life, which was
to be a warrior. And she continued to do just that. Going to War
Just like the male Mongolian warriors of her day, Khutulun participated in many battles
alongside her father and his army. Since she was lighter than a male rider, she
was able to gallop in on her horse at faster speeds than her male counterparts, and she
was just as strong. Marco Polo describes her technique of galloping
up to an enemy soldier on the opposite side of the battlefield, picking him up with just
one hand, and lifting his body off the ground while on horseback and delivering the enemy
back to her side of the battle. She was like a hawk flying in on its prey,
and the enemy was understandably terrified of her. Kaidu Khan felt that Khutulun was the best
warrior in his army, and she would have been the most capable leader. She was even given a silver medallion called
a gergee to wear around her neck, that is like the modern-day equivalent to becoming
a decorated general. She is the only Mongolian woman to ever hold
that honor. Let’s just appreciate that statement for
a moment. For Kaidu to say that his daughter was the
strongest warrior in the entire army is a big deal. Even in modern times, it would be almost unheard
of to say that a woman is stronger than any entire army full of men, and the Mongolians
were born and bred to be war machines. Even though Kaidu Khan wanted to appoint Khutulun
as his successor, putting a woman in charge was against the rules. This was fine by Khutulun, though, because
she was much more at home on the battlefield than in a diplomatic position. Despite her hesitation to take over the throne
as a young woman, she still attended her father’s court and was present for all of the important
meetings, so she was well aware of the local politics. The matter was dropped, and her brothers all
expected that one of them would be declared the next Khan whenever their father passed
away. In the year 1301, King Kaidu was dying, and
his dying wish was for Khutulun to take over as Khan. Even though he had 14 sons, none of them could
possibly be as good of a military and political leader as his daughter. He attempted to break all Mongolian traditions
and appoint Khutulun as his true heir. At this point, Khutulun was 41 years old. She had years of experience behind her, and
she was respected and feared amongst the army. She was old enough now to feel that she was
ready to take on the role as leader, too. However, her brothers weren’t having it. A man named Duwa was given the position as
the new Khan of their territory. In 1306, Khutulun was killed, and there is
no record as to exactly how she died. Considering that she had a following of soldiers
who respected her, it’s possible that there was a power struggle, and that she was killed. Most of you may have never heard of Khutulun
until now, and that’s probably because there is very little information from people who
actually knew her. Marco Polo and Rashid al-Din are the only
two historians who were around in the 1200’s to write down the details of her life, and
each of them only devoted maybe one or two pages of their books to her story. Despite the fact that she was barely mentioned
in these texts of the Mongolian empire, the story of her strength was so fascinating,
it was still passed along by both Mongolian and Chinese people by word of mouth. Just like a childhood game of telephone, her
story was convoluted over the years. In the 1700’s, a French writer named François
Pétis de la Croix wrote stories from Asia for a western audience, and he included a
version of Khutulun’s story. Only, in his telling, she was a Chinese princess
named Turadot who refuses to marry a man unless he could solve three riddles. If they fail, they die. This story was eventually made into an Italian
opera. Khutulun also briefly appeared in the Netflix
series Marco Polo, but it barely scraped the surface of how truly awesome she actually
was. We hope that the true story of Khutulun, the
warrior princess, will live on.
