Genghis Khan: The Secret History of the Mongols (2025) s01e01 Episode Script

1
NARRATOR: The Mongolian empire,
swept across continents,
unmatched in power, changing
the course of history forever.
PROF SNEATH: It was a dynasty
that conquered much of Eurasia
NARRATOR: At its heart was
a man once known as Genghis,
but now honored with his true
historical name, Chinggis Khan.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: His name
was translated in many
different ways in many
different countries,
but Mongolians call
him Chinggis Khan.
NARRATOR: He was a warrior,
a strategist, a visionary.
He united the rival houses
on the vast Mongolian steppe
into one great and
powerful nation.
DR MAY: The world
changed with his actions.
It could not go back to the way
it was before Chinggis Khan.
NARRATOR: He crushed every
empire that dared stand
in his path.
DR MAY: He conquered more
territory than any other
single ruler in history.
NARRATOR: Historians once
painted him as a savage
barbarian, but a new
translation of an ancient
text unveils the real story
of Chinggis Khan's life
and legacy.
PROF SNEATH: We know Chinggis
Khan was of a royal house,
a general who is worshiped
something crossed between
Napoleon and Jesus.
NARRATOR: But it was
under the rule of his son,
Ogodei Khan that the empire
expanded further sweeping
from the shores of the Pacific
to the deserts of Persia.
This is the story of
the powerful rulers
who built the
Mongolian empire.
The vast and desolate
Mongolian plains
are home to nomadic rulers,
whose people thrive
in these barren lands,
moving over distant pastures
to sustain their
families and herds.
These people are
skilled horse riders,
expert archers and masters
of this unique landscape
known as the steppes.
PROF SNEATH: So, the steppe
lands is an enormous belt
of grassland that runs all
the way from the Manchurian
forests right across
the Eurasian continent,
as far as the Hungarian
plains in the West.
The steppe lands of what is
now Mongolia were divided
between different dynasties.
In the central part, there was
the Kingdom of the Kerait.
To the west, there's another
well-established dynasty,
the Naiman. And these
two kingdoms,
they'd been around
for generations.
And then in the south and the
east, was the Jin Dynasty,
part of northern
China and Manchuria.
And in this eastern
Mongolian area,
there were a lot of different
warlords and smaller petty
dynasties and
smaller petty rulers.
So this was a kind of
borderland between
great powers and
for 1000s of years,
steppe empires have emerged
in this environment.
The lifestyle of these
aristocrats at the time
would have been different from
their equivalents in Europe
or China, but recognizably
elite, they would have lived
in these large,
mobile structures,
almost like small palaces,
and that's where the
noble class lived.
All around them, their
subjects would be in smaller,
much more humble dwellings,
herding livestock.
DR MAY: In nomadic society
life was difficult,
and as you're traveling
across the steppe,
you will have to spread out.
Nomads do not just
simply wander around.
They know where
they're going.
They have seasonal
migrations to pastures.
In the summer, they might
go into the highlands,
where it's going to be cooler,
or they'll go to different
pastures depending
on the environment
and the conditions.
PROF SNEATH: They
hunted a lot.
That was a leisure activity,
but also it could be used
to actually produce a
large amount of meat.
And the subjects would be
delivering all sorts of
produce to the nobles,
including a lot
of milk products.
DR MAY: Animals are not
only your livelihood;
they're also your wealth.
PROF SNEATH: And although it
looked exotic and different
to visitors, it was actually
a very sophisticated system
of movement, which allowed
the rulers of the steppes
quite a lot of options.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Nomadic
families followed one leader
at one time. Tribes don't
have to be one ethnic group.
It can be several families,
several ethnic groups,
but they would
follow one leader.
NARRATOR: Generations earlier,
the great Mongolian ruler
Kabhul Khan briefly united the
most powerful nomadic factions
under his leadership.
PROF SNEATH: Kabhul Khan ruled
the earlier Mongolian kingdom
called Khamag Mongol.
That means all of the Mongols,
a whole bunch of disparate
noble families united just
as a single category,
which was almost certainly
in the area of what is now
eastern Mongolia.
NARRATOR: Years later,
his grandson Yesugei,
leads one of the noble
families thriving
on the eastern edge of
the Mongolian steppes.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Yesugei
Ba-atur was a good warrior,
led about maybe hundreds
of some families.
PROF SNEATH: He is described
himself as a Khan.
That means as a king.
NARRATOR: Although Yesugei
commands the loyalty
of many of his
grandfather's subjects,
he knows that to continue his
legacy and secure his dynasty,
he requires an heir.
1162, Yesugei's wife
Hö'elün, gives birth
to their first child and
heir to the kingdom.
The boy will be called
Temujin, a name taken
from a rival leader captured
in a recent battle.
BULAG: He was stealing the
enemy's name for his son.
To commemorate this event,
this is not unique
to Mongolia.
Stealing somebody's name for
yourself is a widespread
sort of practice.
That name was indicative
of his conquest.
He was celebrating his
achievement through that.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: The
name means pursuer,
somebody who has
vision and goal.
And when he was born, he
was holding a blood clot
in his right fist.
BULAG: The clot of blood in
his hand when he was born
was an indication of
brutality killing.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Sometimes it
would symbolize he was such
a strong person and
he was God given,
and he had different power.
NARRATOR: In years
to come, this child,
Temujin will be known
as Chinggis Khan.
His extraordinary life is
documented in a mysterious
text written in the
decades after his death.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Chinggis
Khan is described
from the beginning till his
end of his life in this book,
the Secret History
of the Mongols.
JOHN: The Secret History of
the Mongols is the only
document in Mongolian
that tells the rise
of Chinggis Khan to supreme
authority in Mongolia.
The Secret History was
lost for a long time.
It was lost in Mongolian,
but preserved in Chinese.
Chinese scholars,
Mongolian scholars,
and then English scholars
have worked extremely hard
reconstructing the
original middle Mongolian.
This translation makes
it literate in a way
that it had not been before.
It makes readable what is
actually extremely difficult,
a collection of
stories that were,
common in Mongolia at the
time in the mid-13th century.
It tells incidents that are
crucial to understanding
Chinggis background
and his psychology.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: One story is
about Chinggis Khan himself
and his family, and the
other half is how Chinggis
built Mongolia as a country.
It's a very poetic
book to read.
Secret History is now
considered not only
literature, but also
Mongolia's first ever
historic documentation of
the founding of the country.
NARRATOR: Historians once
painted Chinggis Khan
as a savage barbarian,
ruthless in his quest
to conquer the world, but
in The Secret History
of the Mongols, he is revealed
to be an exiled Prince,
a sophisticated leader
and a military tactician,
unveiling how a nomadic boy
born on the Mongolian steppes
becomes one of the
greatest rulers
the world has ever known.
Temujin is nine years old, and
his father sets out with him
to find a bride, a wife from
a powerful noble house
will strengthen
their dynasty.
Temüjin's mother was from
a prestigious family
who had long provided wives
for Mongol rulers.
They ride towards her homeland
in search of the perfect match.
Before they reach
their destination,
they are stopped by a senior
Noble who tells them
of a premonition he
had the night before.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: The man says,
I saw a magic dream last night.
The white Falcon came on to me
holding sun in the one hand
and the moon in the other hand,
and that was sitting on me,
your son has fire
in his eyes.
I have a girl, and she
had also fire in her eyes.
Maybe it might work.
NARRATOR: They accept the
leader's offer and go
to meet his daughter.
This girl will one day
stand by Temujin's side
as his powerful wife.
Her name is Börte.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: That moment
changes Temujin's life totally.
PROF SNEATH: His father ends
up making this betrothal
as a sort of
alliance in waiting.
JOHN: Marriage was always a
political objective and very
useful as a way of finding
loyalties in this world,
which was a feuding world.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Börte was
one year older than Temujin.
JOHN: And the two
were betrothed.
PROF SNEATH: They know that
later, when their children
grow up, this will form a
powerful marriage alliance
between their two houses.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Then Yesugei
decided to leave Temujin
at Börte place and
went back by himself.
DR MAY: For Yesugei he was
traveling back to his own camp.
He stopped at a Tartar camp.
The Tartars were enemies
of the Mongols,
and they recognized him.
PROF SNEATH: On the steppe,
for those of the aristocratic
class, they were always engaged
with hosting each other,
there was a good deal
of civility as well as
occasional hostility.
DR MAY: There are these customs
that exist to help normalize
society, even in times of
hostile relations to allow
societies to function on the
steppe and as you're traveling
across the steppe, if
you came to a camp,
hospitality was given.
If you violated
the hospitality,
then this could lead
to other issues.
PROF SNEATH: Yesugei Ba-atur
didn't realize the depths
of the animosity that these
particular Tartar noblemen
must have held for him.
JOHN: The relationship was
a combination of feuding
and friendship.
PROF SNEATH: They
seemed friendly.
And he is poisoned
by the Tartars.
DR MAY: He began
to feel ill.
PROF SNEATH: Getting sicker and
sicker on the way back home.
DR MAY: By the time he
reached his own camp,
he was extremely sick.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: He told one of
his followers, bring my son,
Temujin back, because Tartar
just poisoned me and I'm dying.
NARRATOR: Temujin races across
the steppe towards his home,
but he is too late.
His father, Yesugei has
succumbed to the Tartars
lethal poison.
His followers left without the
protection of a strong leader,
abandoned their kingdom
in search of a new ruler.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: As soon
as Temujin's father died,
the entire structure of
the tribe had to change.
Somebody should lead
immediately after him,
or his tribe was
about to dissolve.
Temujin was too young.
Those days, women didn't lead,
so Hö'elün couldn't lead
the tribe, so there was
nobody who would inherit
the leadership of the tribe.
When the followers left,
Hö'elün probably saw
the hard hard reality that
suddenly there is no sheep,
no horses, only
they were left.
NARRATOR: The young Temujin,
born a noble prince,
is now reduced to poverty.
His family must fight for
survival on the harsh
Mongolian steppe, but
rival leaders keep watch.
Temujin's very existence
is a threat to their power.
PROF SNEATH: On the
death of his father,
Temujin kingdom
seems to dissolve.
They lost probably
1000s of their subjects,
with all of their livestock,
hundreds of 1000s of animals,
but almost certainly, they
would have had some things.
They certainly had horses
with just a dozen servants,
or something very minimal, but
it would have been terribly
poor and harsh in comparison
to what the family
would have been used to.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Especially
during winter time,
it should be very isolated,
quite deprived, quite lonely.
It's nine months of
cold season, you know,
and there should be lots of
endurance needed to survive
in that land.
JOHN: They survived,
therefore, on their own,
it's a few tents, a very
small group of people
who were really under
the authority
of Temujin's his mother.
PROF SNEATH: This is
absolutely characteristic
of Temujin's mother.
She was clearly enormously
powerful, strong-willed.
Temujin's mother did gather
berries and fruits
and go fishing
and go hunting.
JOHN: His mother proved
extremely strong,
managed to hold the
family together.
PROF SNEATH: The whole
family wouldn't have
survived without her.
NARRATOR: The family
struggles for several years
in the unforgiving landscape.
As Temujin and his brothers
grow older and mature,
they learn to hunt and catch
fish to support their mother.
DR DASHDONDOG: Bringing a
child in a steppe environment
means he learns all these
survival instincts,
and they were trained from
the childhood archery
and being good warriors
on horseback.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: So, when
boys started growing up,
they started hunting and
they started bringing food
to the family.
So who brings fish?
Who brings birds, etc?
That's how they
probably were ranked.
NARRATOR: After years of
abandonment and isolation,
tensions grow between
Temujin and his older,
half-brother Bekter.
PROF SNEATH: Temujin and
his brother Qasar quarrel
with the half-brothers, the
sons of a secondary wife
of their dead father.
The two sets of boys quarrel
over, apparently a fish.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Bekter
and Temüjin were probably
fighting for power.
JOHN: Young Temujin and his
brother went to his mother
and complained.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA:
But she ignored it.
PROF SNEATH: The reaction of
Temujin is really striking.
They get their bows.
Qasar, one of Temjin's
brothers, comes up
from the front and
approaches Bekter
who's on the top
of a hill.
Temujin, meanwhile, is
sneaking up from behind,
and when he sees him coming,
he realizes what
they're going to do.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: And
Bekter told them,
if you want to kill,
just kill me.
Don't kill my brother,
Belgutei.
Leave descendants
from my family.
JOHN: And that's precisely
what happened.
He was shot in a
most cowardly way,
PROF SNEATH: Surrounding
this poor half-brother
and shooting him in the
back as well as the front.
JOHN: And died.
BULAG: His elder
brother was domineering.
He was very powerful, and
therefore he was a challenge
to his authority, so
had to be killed.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: The fact
that Temujin shot from
the back shows that he
was quite manipulative.
That was a tragic and
dark family secret,
that was the secret of the
Secret History, I think.
PROF SNEATH: The shadowy
side of Temujin is woven
into the fabric of
the Secret History,
and that's one of the
fascinating features
of the work. It's included
lots of incidents
that got edited out
of some of the other
historical materials,
all sorts of really
rather shameful events,
particularly in the early
part of his career.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: This is
written to tell the lessons
of the past mistakes
and past achievements
to the next generations,
containing the life lesson,
containing the family lesson
to the next generation,
in order not to be
repeated or not to forget.
JOHN: To show that
this is precisely
how you do not behave.
If you're trying
to create loyalty,
you don't kill your
own brother.
NARRATOR: When Temujin's
mother Hö'elün learns
of Bekter's death,
she is distraught.
She confronts Temujin,
questioning how he could
turn against his own brother.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Hö'elün
said, always be united
and always be peaceful
among each other,
because there is no one
but us in this world.
We don't have any friends
except our shadows.
When you don't have any
friends except our shadows,
you should be friends
with each other.
NARRATOR: Temujin's hunger
for power has ended
his brother's life.
News of the murder
reaches a rival nobleman
who was once part of
his father's kingdom.
He believes Temujin growing
ambition must be stopped.
PROF SNEATH: The nobleman
realizes these kids
are now growing up.
So, when he hears news of the
killing, he decides to act.
The nobleman arrives
with his day guards.
Now the day guards were sort
of like the personal bodyguard
or police force, if you
like, of the time
the nobleman's guards shout
they just want Temujin.
And Temujin flees away.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Temujin
hid for nine days.
PROF SNEATH: Time passes,
he's got nothing to eat.
He eventually decides,
better than starving.
I just go out.
And that's when they
finally arrest him
and take him away
to punish him.
NARRATOR: Temujin is held
captive, watched over
by his rivals,
the Tayichiud.
PROF SNEATH: They
don't kill him.
He's still of royal rank.
Even a senior nobleman doesn't
just kill somebody outright
when they're descended from
one of the most famous Khans
of the region.
Instead, he's punished by
being forced to wear a Cangue,
wooden yoke or collar.
It's really unpleasant.
You can't feed yourself.
You can't lie down properly
when you're wearing this thing.
The Tayichiud that is the ruling
house who've captured him,
took the opportunity
to humiliate him.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: So,
when he was arrested,
Tayichiud was hoping that
from this humiliation
he will not come out
as leader in future.
Everybody saw his
humiliation.
That's what they're
calculating on, you know?
So The Ruler was sealing his
own leadership by belittling
Chinggis that way.
PROF SNEATH: And so Temujin
was then rotated between
the houses of the subjects
of the noblemen spending
a day in each one,
wearing his Kang.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Every family,
When he's spending a night,
he would observe the
family and see
who is supporting him.
JOHN: Young Temujin would have
known very well that the key
to survival was security.
The only way to build security
was to create loyalty and win
over the local Family Clans
and get them to work together.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: He found only
one supportive family among
the all those families
that he's been around
NARRATOR: It is a man called
Sorkan-Shira and his family
who take pity on Temüjin.
PROF SNEATH: They were
sympathetic when he visited.
They let him take the Cangue
off so he could get
a good night's rest.
After a few months,
Tayichiud have a big feast.
NARRATOR: The Secret History
recounts that the Tayichiud
hosts a banquet in celebration
of the first full moon
of the summer, Temujin is taken
to the feast by a young captor.
And ever alert, he
senses an opportunity.
PROF SNEATH: When the
Tayichiud were feasting,
Temujin manages to break
away from his captive,
knocking him on the
head with the Khan,
and then he runs
off and escapes.
NARRATOR: He takes refuge
in the Onon River,
evading his captors
who scour the banks.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Night time
in Mongolia's freezing,
freezing cold that actually
shows how desperate he was
and how tough he was.
NARRATOR: Among the
searchers is Sorkan-Shira,
who spots Temujin
hiding in the river.
PROF SNEATH: So Sorkan-Shira
sees him and lets him
stay hidden and makes some
excuse so that Temujin
is not discovered
by anyone but him.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: And then
Sorkan-Shira told him,
go to your mother,
go to your family.
Don't come back to Tayichiud.
NARRATOR: Instead of fleeing,
Temujin slips back into
the Tayichiud camp in
search of Sorkan-Shira.
He knows that to return home
safely, he will need help.
PROF SNEATH: Sorkan-Shira is not
very pleased, because he said,
didn't I tell you to just run.
Nevertheless, he takes him
in and helps him take off
the Cangue and they hide
him for several days.
NARRATOR: After three days
Temujin's captors are still
hunting for him,
growing desperate,
they begin to suspect that
he might be hiding among
their own ranks.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: He was almost
found when the Tayichiud
started looking for him
amongst each other.
Sorkan-Shira said, no
sense to look here.
And they left as soon as
Tayichiud search group left.
Sorkan-Shira told Temujin that
we can't hide you anymore.
PROF SNEATH: And they give
him provisions and a horse
so he can return to
his family.
NARRATOR: This daring escape
by the young Temujin displays
the cunning and courageous
spirit that will one day
help him realize his destiny
as a powerful leader
on the Mongolian steppe.
Temujin has escaped his captors
and begins the treacherous
journey back to his family,
riding for days and nights
he is eventually reunited
with his mother and
his brothers.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: After Temujin
came back to his camp,
The Secret History
describes it.
How big a relief for
Hö'elün, the mother,
because they were so afraid
that Temujin will not return,
but they happily reunited.
NARRATOR: Years pass, and
Temujin works tirelessly
to rebuild the kingdom that was
lost after his father's death.
Although young, he is
persuasive and charismatic.
He forms a loyal bond with a
boy from another noble family.
The boy's name is Jamuqa.
PROF SNEATH: So Jamuqa is one
of the most important
characters in The
Secret History,
and he was clearly of
central importance
to Temujin life and the
early part of his career.
JOHN: they were generally as
close as kids are at that age.
NARRATOR: Now 16, Temujin
must consider his future
and the prospect of marriage,
the time has come for him
to be reunited with Börte.
PROF SNEATH: That is the
bride he was betrothed to
from another influential
noble house nearby,
and this is a key moment
in Temujin's career.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Temujin
blindly goes to the east
of Mongolia to find out
whether she's still waiting
for him or if she's
already married.
And Börte was there
waiting for Temujin.
NARRATOR: They are married,
the union provides Temujin with
Börte, wisdom and counsel.
But it is her dowry that
is immediately vital
for Temujin's ambition.
PROF SNEATH: And her mother
gives to Temujin's mother
a really fine gift, a
beautiful sable coat.
JOHN: Now, sables are
not big creatures.
Are like sort of weasels, and
they have a very beautiful,
silky black coat.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Sable coat
is a very valuable item
for a nomadic family
even today.
PROF SNEATH: Sable
fur was associated
with very senior status.
JOHN: This was going to
come in very useful.
PROF SNEATH: When Temüjin
returns with his new bride
and this very princely gift, he
and his brothers immediately
go to the neighboring kingdom,
the Khanate of the Kerait
and give this to the ruler
To'orul to sort of reforge
an alliance that had
been endured between
Temujin father and the
King of the Kerait
he probably swears
loyalty to him.
Now the Kerait is a big,
stable and large kingdom
in the central part of
what's now Mongolia.
He must have been one
of the most influential,
powerful rulers in the area.
To'orul Khan is someone who was
an ally of Temujin's father,
Yesugei Ba-atur were both Ander,
so sort of bond of loyalty
that should never be broken,
a blood brotherhood.
This link is something
that Temujin reactivates.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: To'orul had
some political influence.
He was leading the largest
tribe with the most expensive
pasture of that time.
So, Temüjin saw that
To'orul Khan's resources
will be very helpful for him.
PROF SNEATH: The
ruler of the Kerait,
makes this extraordinary
promise.
He says, in return
for this sable coat,
I will reunite your
scattered kingdom.
Temujin, the kind
of semi exiled,
reduced prince is now
being supported
by the most powerful local
ruler as the new ruler
of a large section of
the Mongolian steppe.
So, his fortunes were
transformed by the gift
of the sable cloak.
So, it's clear there must have
been something about Temujin
the secret of history mentions
how his contemporaries
praised him. Thought
he had personality,
fire in his eyes.
But the old narrative, it was
treated as a sort of puzzle
as to why a kind of simple
barbarian people would create
an amazingly
successful empire.
So, one way to try and explain
this apparent contradiction
was charisma,
he obviously did have a
commanding presence.
The king himself, To'orul,
seems to trust him enormously,
supports him. So, all
of these qualities,
I think were parts of
his amazing character,
but he is still only one
of many contenders
for these senior
royal positions.
I think at this
stage in his career,
Temujin really is concerned with
re-establishing what he's lost.
After all, his father had
ruled most of the kingdom
that had been established by
Temüjin's great grandfather,
and Temüjin has been deprived
of it and wants to get it back.
But perhaps even beyond
that, he's on the cusp
of something bigger.
He enters the courtly politics
of the Kerait Khanate
this kingdom, and is
doing very well at it.
It may be that the possibility
of something even bigger begins
to occur to him, that he
realizes he might go further,
and, in fact, perhaps even
reunite and reestablish
this much bigger kingdom.
NARRATOR: Temujin's influence
is growing stronger,
but as his power increases,
so do the dangers.
The Mongolian steppe is a
land of endless rivalry,
and an old enemy is preparing
to strike at the heart
of Temujin's family.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Temujin's
happiness with Börte
didn't last long.
PROF SNEATH: A serving
woman is sleeping.
She wakes up because she
hears the sound of hooves.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: It was
Merkit, the longtime rival
of Temujin's father.
JOHN: They came to
kidnap his wife, Börte.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: There
was so many Merkits
and if they fought back,
everybody would be killed.
JOHN: There was a general
scattering of the group.
PROF SNEATH: Hö'elün Temujin
mother immediately organizes
them. They jump on the
available horses.
JOHN: Amongst them,
Temujin himself,
who took a local
horse and fled.
PROF SNEATH: but there
is no horse for Börte,
poor Börte is left.
JOHN: And you might think
this was an act of cowardice,
but in fact, he knew that Börte
was going to be kidnapped,
whereas he himself
would have been killed.
PROF SNEATH: Börte
the bride is captured,
but Temüjin and his mother
and brothers and so on,
they've all escaped.
This is a really dramatic moment
in the young Temüjin career.
He seemed to be on
the cusp of so much,
but now he's lost his bride.
The problem is, at the
moment, he doesn't command
very much of anything.
So, if he's going to get his
bride, Börte back again,
he is going to need help.
Börte has been kidnapped
by the Merkit
and Temüjin needs to
get her back.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Merkit
was a really strong
and established tribe.
Temüjin didn't have
soldiers, didn't have army,
didn't have anyone to help
him bring Bush Börte back.
PROF SNEATH: So Temüjin
immediately enlists
the support of the ruler of
the neighboring kingdom,
probably now his overlord,
To'orul, Ong Khan,
the ruler of the Kerait.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: To'orul, Ong
says, for the sable coat
that you gave me last year,
I will bring your wife back.
PROF SNEATH: So To'orul
says that he will raise
two divisions. Just how
many 1000 people
is in each one, we
don't know,
but nominally it
means 10,000 troops.
So, he's going to raise
2-10,000 troop units
to support Temujin to
get his bride back.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: But it will
not be strong enough to beat
the Merkit immediately.
He said, you should go to Jamuqa
and ask for Jamuqa's help.
So, if Jamuqa can help
you, I can help you.
Jamuqa and Temujin
became Andas.
That means that they are
not just family friends.
They are battle friends.
PROF SNEATH: And this
is very important
for the young Temujin. Jamuqa
is going to raise another two
of these divisions.
Turns out one of these will
actually be placed under
the command of Temujin himself.
Temujin is put in charge
of a unit of 10,000 troops.
NARRATOR: This is an important
milestone for the young,
soon to be ruler Temujin.
He has endured
poverty for a decade,
and is slowly becoming a
fearsome leader and warrior.
This is his first true
test of leadership.
JOHN: Some months later, the
time came to rescue Börte.
When meeting up with
Jamuqa Temujin came late,
Jamuqa told him off a bit
of a strip for being late.
And the reason he did this is
because if you have an army
waiting to go into action,
they need feeding,
and they would have eaten
a lot of the pasture.
Temujin puts this in the
Secret History as a lesson
for everybody not to be late.
Said, Mongols
should not be late.
PROF SNEATH: This new army
start marching up north
towards the Merkit territory
to retrieve Börte,
because this is a
really big force.
There's really nothing that
the Merkit can put together
that's going to stop them.
And they move up.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: Temüjin
Jamuqa and To'orul soldiers
attacked Merkit.
PROF SNEATH: Overtaking
and eliminating
the Merkit resistance.
MRS TSEDEVDAMBA: They
conquer the Merkit.
They destroy the Merkit.
There are lots of
suffering happening
for the Merkit families.
NARRATOR: Temujin forces
sweep through the enemy camp,
laying waste to
everyone in their path.
The Merkits caught off
guard attempt to flee,
but many are cut
down in the chaos.
Temujin runs through
the ruin camp,
calling out for his
kidnapped bride.
PROF SNEATH: Temujin is running
around, calling her name,
and eventually he
discovers Börte
living in somebody
else's home.
It seems that Börte has been
assigned to a minor nobleman
to look after.
JOHN: The couple fined
each other and fall
into each other's arms and
becomes, once again,
part of Temujin household.
NARRATOR: Temujin has
emerged victorious,
rescued his bride
and shown his rivals
that despite his youth,
he is a force to
be reckoned with.
However, even though Temujin
has reclaimed what was lost
after his father's death, a new
ambition will now consume him
the battle to dominate all
of the Mongolian steppe.