Borjigin

{{Short description|Member of Ghengis Khan's Mongol sub-clan}} {{more sources|date=February 2026}} {{Redirect|Borjigit|the empresses of this surname|Empress Borjigit (disambiguation){{!}}Empress Borjigit}} {{Redirect|Altan urag|the folk rock band|Altan Urag|the notion of having Genghis Khan as an ancestor|Descent from Genghis Khan}} {{Royal house | surname = Borjigin<br>{{MongolUnicode|ᠪᠣᠷᠵᠢᠭᠢᠨ}}<br>{{lang|mn-cyrl|Боржигин}} | other_names = Budunzars Clan<br />Kiyat Borjigin | coat_of_arms = File:Imperial Seal of the Mongols 1246.svg | coat_of_arms_size = | estate = Mongolia <br> Russia <br> Central Asia <br> Iran <br> China | coat_of_arms_caption = Seal | image = File:The Geneological Family Tree Charts of Imperial Mongol Borjigin Dynasties and showing its major and main Sub-Clans (According to Secret Histories of The Mongols Records).jpg | image_size = 150 | image_caption = {{Small|{{Small|The Geneological Family Tree Charts of Imperial Mongol Borjigin Dynasties and showing its major and main Sub-Clans (According to [[Secret History of the Mongols|Secret Histories Of The Mongols Records]])}}}}

| country = [[Mongol Empire]], [[List of Mongol states | Mongol states]], [[Central Asian countries]], Mongolia, China ([[Inner Mongolia]] and [[Xinjiang]]) | titles = [[Khagan]], [[Khan (title)|Khan]], [[Ilkhan]], [[Noyan]], [[List of Bulgarian monarchs|Tsar]], [[Jinong | Jonon]], [[Khong Tayiji | Khuntaij]], [[General]], [[Jasagh |Zasag]], [[Darugachi | Darga]], [[Prime Minister | Yeronkhii Said]], [[Baatar]] | founder = [[Bodonchar Munkhag]] | final ruler = * *[[Maqsud Shah]] <br> (in Asia) *[[Sayyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan|Alim Khan]] <ref>{{cite book |title=The Secret History of Iran|url= |author=Hamad Subani|date=2013 |publisher= |isbn=978-1-304-08289-3|edition= |series= |volume= |location= |chapter= |format= |chapter-url= |orig-year=|pages= 90}}</ref> <br> (in Central Asia) *[[Navaanneren|Navaanneren Setsen Khan]]<ref>{{cite web | title =Шолой Сэцэн хан |url = https://mongoltoli.mn/history/h/95 |website=Монголын түүх|language=mn}}</ref> <br> (in East Asia) * [[Şahin Giray]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Encyclopedia Britannica|publisher=William Benton|year=1973|page=726}}</ref> <br> (in Europe) | other_families = | founding year = {{circa|900 AD <br> {{small|(early 10th-Century)}}}} | deposition = 1930 | origin = [[Khamag Mongol]] | cadet branches = {{tree list}} *[[House of Ögedei]] *[[Golden Horde|Jochids]] **[[House of Siberia|Kuchumovs]] **[[Shaybanids]] **[[:ru: Мустафины|Mustafins]] **[[Girays]] **[[Janid dynasty|Ashtarkhanids]] **[[Töre (dynasty)|Töre]] *[[Toluids]] **[[Yuan dynasty|Yuan (Kublaids)]] ***[[Zasagt Khan]] ***[[Tüsheet Khan]] ***[[Sain Noyon Khan]] ***[[Sechen Khan]] ** [[Ilkhanate#House of Hulagu (1256–1335; Ilkhanate Mongol kings)|Hulaguids]] *[[Chagatai Khanate|House of Chagatai]] *[[Barlas]] **[[Timurid dynasty]] ***[[Mughal dynasty]] *[[Manghud]] **[[Nogai Horde|Nogai dynasty]] **[[:uz:Mangʻitlar sulolasi|Manghit dynasty (Uzbeks)]] *[[Khiyad]] *[[Taichiud|Tayichuds]] *[[Urad Mongols|Urud]] *[[Chonos tribe|Chonos]] {{tree list end}} }}

The '''Borjigin''' or '''Borjigids'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɔːr|dʒ|ɪ|ɡ|ɪ|n}}; {{langx|mn|Боржигин|Borzhigin}}, {{MongolUnicode|ᠪᠣᠷᠵᠢᠭᠢᠨ|mn}} {{IPA|mn|ˈpɔrt͡ɕɘkɘŋ|pron}}; {{zh|s=孛儿只斤|t=孛兒只斤|p=Bó'érjìjǐn}}; {{langx|ru|Борджигин|Bordžigin}}; English plural: '''Borjigins''' or '''Borjigid''' (from [[Middle Mongolian]]);<ref name="Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan, p. 119">''Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan'', p. 119.</ref>{{efn|A Middle Mongolian plural-suffix ''-t'' has been written about by Éva Csáki in ''Middle Mongolian Loan Words in Volga Kipchak Languages''.}} [[Manchu language|Manchu]] plural{{sup|?}}: [[File:Borjigit 1.png|24px]]<ref>Li, p. 97.</ref>}} are a [[Mongols|Mongol]] tribal clan founded in the early 10th century or, around 900 AD. by [[Bodonchar Munkhag]].{{efn|The ''[[The Secret History of the Mongols|Secret History of the Mongols]]'' traces it back to Yesugei's ancestor [[Bodonchar Munkhag|Bodonchar]]<ref name="Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan, p. 118">''Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan'', p. 118.</ref>}} The senior line of Borjigids provided ruling princes for [[Mongolia]] and [[Inner Mongolia]] until the 20th century.<ref name="Humphrey, p. 27">Humphrey & Sneath, p. 27.</ref> The clan formed the [[ruling class]] among the [[Mongols]] and other peoples of [[Central Asia]] and [[Eastern Europe]]. Today, the Borjigids are found in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Buryatia, and [[Xinjiang]],<ref name="Humphrey, p. 27"/> and genetic research shows that [[descent from Genghis Khan]] and [[Timur]] is common throughout Central and East Asia.{{According to whom|date=August 2024}}

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== Origin and name == {{See also|Chinggisids}} According to the ''[[Secret History of the Mongols]]'', the first Mongol was born from the union of a blue-grey wolf and a fallow doe. Their 11th-generation descendant, [[Alan Gua]], was impregnated by a ray of light<ref>''The Secret History of the Mongols'', chapter 1, §§ 17, 21.</ref> and begat five sons, the youngest being [[Bodonchar Munkhag]], progenitor of the Borjigids.<ref>Franke, Twitchett & Fairbank, p. 330.</ref><ref>Kahn, p. 10.</ref> According to [[Rashid al-Din Hamadani]], many of the older Mongolian tribes were founded by members of the Borjigin clan, including the [[Barlas]], Urud, [[Manghud]], [[Taichiud]], [[Chonos tribe|Chonos]], and Kiyat. Bodonchar's descendant [[Khabul Khan]] founded the [[Khamag Mongol]] confederation around 1131. His great-grandson Temüjin ruled the [[Khamag Mongol]] and unified the other Mongol tribes under him. He was declared [[Genghis Khan]] in 1206, thus establishing the [[Mongol Empire]]. His descendants are the [[Chinggisids]].

The etymology of the word ''Borjigin'' is uncertain.

== History == {{further|Chinggisids}} [[File:Mongol dominions1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Mongol Empire]] and its vassals, ca. 1300. The gray area is the later [[Timurid Empire]].]] Members of the Borjigin clan ruled over the [[Mongol Empire]],<ref name="Atwood, p. 45">Atwood, p. 45.</ref> dominating large lands stretching from [[Java]] to [[Iran]] and from [[Mainland Southeast Asia]] to [[Veliky Novgorod]]. Many of the ruling dynasties that took power following the disintegration of the Mongol Empire were of Chinggisid, and thus Borjigid, ancestry. These included the [[Chobanids]], the [[Jalayirid Sultanate]], the [[Barlas]], the [[Manghud]], the [[Khongirad]], and the [[Oirats]].

In 1368, the Borjigin-ruled [[Yuan dynasty]] was expelled from [[China]] following the advance of rebel forces that established the [[Ming dynasty]]. The last Yuan emperor, [[Toghon Temür]], withdrew north of the [[Great Wall]], where the court and its institutions continued to function in the [[Mongolian Plateau]] under what is conventionally known as the [[Northern Yuan]].

The retreat of the Yuan court did not represent a sudden collapse but rather a strategic relocation, after which the Borjigin rulers maintained political authority over Mongolia and sought to reassert influence over China in subsequent decades.

=== Post-Mongol Empire === {{See also|Chinggisid|Genetic descent from Genghis Khan}}

The term "[[Chinggisids|Chinggisid]]" derives from the name of Genghis (''Chinggis'') Khan (c. 1162–1227 CE). Genghis and his successors created a vast empire stretching from the [[Sea of Japan]] to the [[Black Sea]], which, beginning in 1259, [[division of the Mongol Empire|divided into separate empires]].

[[File:Mongolia 1500 AD.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The [[Tumen (unit)|Tumen]]s of Mongolia proper and vassal states of the Mongol Empire by 1400]] After the breakup of the [[Golden Horde]], the Khiyad Borjigids continued to rule in [[Crimean Peninsula]] and [[Kazan]] until they were annexed by the [[Russian Empire]] in the late 18th century. In Mongolia, the Kublaids continued to reign as khagans of the Mongols, with brief interruptions by the descendants of [[Ögedei]] and [[Ariq Böke]].

Under [[Dayan Khan]] (1480–1517), a broad Borjigid revival reestablished Borjigid supremacy among the Mongols in Mongolia proper. The Borjigin lineage constituted the ruling house of the Mongols, with authority distributed among various branches of the imperial family rather than concentrated in a single unified structure. During the period following the decline of centralized power, the descendants of [[Dayan Khan]] governed their respective appanages in a decentralized and semi-autonomous system, maintaining allegiance to the Chinggisid khan while exercising independent control over their own territories.

The eastern [[Khorchin Mongols]] were under the Qasarids, and the Ongnigud and Abaqids were under the Belguteids and [[Temüge Odchigen]]ids. A fragment of the Qasarids later migrated to western Mongolia, where they became known as the [[Khoshut]].

The [[Qing dynasty]] respected the Borjigids and the early emperors married Khorchin Qasarids. Even among the pro-Qing Mongols, traces of the alternative tradition survived. Aci Lomi, a banner general, wrote his ''History of the Borjigid Clan'' in 1732–35.<ref>Perdue, p. 487.</ref> The 18th century and 19th century, Qing nobility was adorned by the descendants of the early Mongol adherents including the Borjigin.<ref>Crossley, p. 213.</ref>

Asian dynasties descended from Genghis Khan included the [[Yuan dynasty]] in China, the [[Ilkhanate]] in [[Persia]], the [[Jochids]] of the [[Golden Horde]], the [[Shaybanids]] in [[Siberia]] and Central Asia, and the [[Astrakhan Khanate]] in Central Asia. Chinggisid descent played a crucial role in [[Tatars|Tatar]] politics. For instance, [[Mamai]] had to exercise his authority through a succession of puppet khans but could not assume the title of [[khan (title)|khan]] himself because he lacked Chinggisid lineage.

* The ''Chinggisid principle'',<ref>Halperin, chapter VIII.</ref> or golden lineage, was the rule of inheritance laid down in the ([[Yassa]]), the legal code attributed to Genghis Khan. * A ''Chinggisid prince'' was one who could trace direct descent from Genghis Khan in the male line, and who could therefore claim high respect among Mongol and [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] and in [[Asia]]. * The ''Chinggisid states'' were the successor states or [[khanate]]s after the Mongol empire broke up following the death of Genghis Khan's sons and their [[List of Mongol Khans|successors]]. * The term ''Chinggisid people'' was used{{by whom|date=August 2016}} to describe the people of Genghis Khan's armies who came in contact with Europeans. It applied primarily to the Golden Horde, led by [[Batu Khan]], a grandson of Genghis. Members of the Horde were predominantly [[Kipchak languages|Kipchak-speaking]] peoples. Although the aristocracy was largely Mongol, Mongols were never more than a small minority in the armies and the lands they conquered.) Europeans often (incorrectly) referred to the people of the Golden Horde as "Tartars".

[[Babur]] and [[Humayun]], founders of the [[Mughal Empire]] in India, asserted their authority as Chinggisids, claiming descent through their maternal lineage.

The Chinggisid also include such dynasties and houses as [[Giray dynasty|Giray]], [[Töre (dynasty)|Töre]], [[House of Siberia]], [[Ar begs]], [[Yaushev family]]<ref>{{Cite journal |author = Сабитов Ж. М. |editor = |format = |url = https://www.proza.ru/2012/03/20/1073 |title = Башкирские ханы Бачман и Тура |type = |orig-year = | agency = |edition = Сибирский сборник. Выпуск 1. Казань |location = |year = 2011 |publisher = |volume = |issue = |number = |pages = 63–69 |series = |isbn = |issn = |doi = |bibcode = |arxiv = |pmid = |language = ru |quote = }}</ref> and other. The one of last ruling Chinggisids was [[Maqsud Shah]], [[Kumul Khanate|Khan of Kumul]] from 1908 to 1930.

The three [[Khalkha]] [[khanates]] included those ruled by [[Sechen Khan]], [[Zasagt Khan]], and [[Tüsheet Khan]], who continued to regard themselves as the legitimate [[Khagans]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Mongolia|last=Sanders|first=Alan A. K.|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0810874527|pages=380}}</ref> and successors of the [[Northern Yuan]] until [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] annexion 1691.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions|last=Rawski|first=Evelyn|publisher=University of California Press|year=1998|isbn=052092679X|pages=69}}</ref> Although much of their independent political authority declined during [[Mongolia under Qing rule|Qing rule]], Borjigin nobles proclaimed Mongolia’s independence in 1911 and established the [[Bogd Khanate]].<ref>{{cite book |first=William Elliott |last=Butler |title=The Mongolian legal system: contemporary legislation and documentation |page=255}}</ref> The three Khalkha khanates, along with their aristocratic ranks and titles, continued to exist within the [[Mongolian People’s Republic]] until around 1930.<ref>{{cite web | title =Сэцэн хан аймаг |url = https://mongoltoli.mn/history/h/121 |website=Монголын түүх|language=mn}}</ref> The last ruling Chinggisid and Borjigin aristocrat holding princely and monarchical status, [[Navaanneren|Navaanneren Setsen Khan]], was executed in 1937.<ref name="Сэцэн хан">{{cite web | title =Сэцэн хан аймаг |url = https://mongoltoli.mn/history/h/97 |website=Монголын түүх|language=mn}}</ref>

=== Modern relevance === The Borjigin held power over Mongolia for many centuries (even during [[Mongolia during Qing rule|Qing period]]) and only lost power when [[Communists]] took control in the 20th century. Aristocratic descent was something to be forgotten in the [[socialist]] period.<ref>Humphrey & Sneath, p. 28.</ref> [[Joseph Stalin]]'s associates executed some 30,000 Mongols including Borjigin nobles in a series of campaigns against their culture and religion.<ref>Weatherford, p. xv.</ref> Clan association has lost its practical relevance in the 20th century, but is still considered a matter of honour and pride by many [[Mongols|Mongolians]]. In 1920s, the [[Mongolian People's Republic|communist regime]] banned the use of clan names. When the ban was lifted again in 1997, and people were told they had to have surnames, some families had lost knowledge about their clan association. Around 700,000 people are registered under the family name Borjigin in [[Mongolia]].<ref>"In Search of Sacred Names".</ref><ref>Magnier.</ref> The label Borjigin is used as a measure of cultural supremacy.<ref>Pegg, p. 22.</ref>

In [[Inner Mongolia]], the Borjigid or Kiyad name became the basis for many Chinese surnames adopted by [[Mongols in China|ethnic Inner Mongols]].<ref name="Atwood, p. 45"/> The Inner Mongolian Borjigin Taijis took the surname [[Bao (surname)|Bao]] ({{lang|zh|鲍}}, from Borjigid) and in [[Ordos Loop|Ordos]] [[Qi (surname)|Qi]] ({{lang|zh|奇}}, Qiyat). A [[genetic research]] has proposed that as many as 16 million men from populations as far apart as [[Hazaras]] in the West and [[Hezhe people]] to the east may have Borjigid-Kiyad ancestry.<ref>"The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols", pp. 717-721.</ref> The Qiyat clan name is still found among the [[Kazakhs]], [[Uzbeks]] and [[Nogais|Nogai]] [[Karakalpaks]].

== Yuan dynasty family tree == {{See also|Chinese emperors family tree (late)#Yuan dynasty and Northern Yuan|l1=Yuan and Northern Yuan dynasties emperor's family tree}}

[[Genghis Khan]] founded the [[Mongol Empire]] in 1206. His grandson, [[Kublai Khan]], after defeating his younger brother and rival claimant to the throne [[Ariq Böke]], founded the [[Yuan dynasty]] in 1271, also known as {{lang|mn-Latn|Dai Ön qemeqü Yeqe Mongɣol Ulus}} in Mongolian. The dynasty was overthrown by the [[Ming dynasty]] during the reign of [[Toghon Temür]] in 1368, but it survived in the [[Mongolian Plateau]], known as the [[Northern Yuan dynasty]]. Although the throne was usurped by [[Esen Taishi]] of the [[Oirat Mongols]] in 1453 and he declared himself "Tengri Mandate the Great Khan of Great Yuan Dynasty", he was overthrown in the next year. A recovery of the khaganate was achieved by [[Dayan Khan]], but the territory was segmented by his descendants. The last [[khan (title)|khan]] [[Ligden Khan|Ligden]] died in 1634 and his son [[Ejei Khan|Ejei Khongor Khan]] submitted himself to [[Hong Taiji | Khuntaij]] the next year, ending the Northern Yuan regime.<ref>Heirman & Bumbacher, p. 395.</ref> However, the Borjigin nobles continued to rule their subjects until the 20th century under the Khalkha Khanates, [[Qing dynasty]], [[Bogd Khanate]] and [[Mongolian People's Republic]].<ref>Sneath, p. 21.</ref>{{efn|{{ill|Wada Sei|ja|和田清}} did pioneer work on this field, and [[Honda Minobu]] and [[Okada Hidehiro]] modified it, using newly discovered Persian (Timurid) records and Mongol chronicles.}}

[[File:Yuan genealogy.png|820px]]

Or in a different version (years of reign over the Northern Yuan dynasty [up to 1388] are given in brackets). In terms of existing, Great Yuan Dynasty as official name continued until 1634 the death of [[Ligden Khan]]

== See also == {{Commons category|Borjigin}} *[[History of Mongolia]] *[[Mongolian names]] *[[List of medieval Mongol tribes and clans]] *[[Turco-Mongol tradition]]

== Notes == {{Notelist}}

== References == === Citations === {{Reflist}}

=== Sources === {{Refbegin|35em}} * Atwood, C. P. ''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire''. * Crossley, Pamela Kyle. ''A Translucent Mirror''. * Franke, Herbert; Twitchett, Denis; Fairbank, John King. ''The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368''. * "The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols". ''American Journal of Human Genetics'', 72. * Halperin, Charles J. (1985). ''Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History''. Indiana University Press. {{ISBN|0-253-20445-3}}. {{ISBN|978-0-253-20445-5}}. * Heirman, Ann; Bumbacher, Stephan Peter. ''The Spread of Buddhism''. * [https://books.google.com/books?id=0ScVAAAAIAAJ ''Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan''] (in French). E. J. Brill. * Humphrey, Caroline; Sneath, David. ''The End of Nomadism?''. * {{Citation |title=In Search of Sacred Names |newspaper=Mongolia Today |url = http://www.mongoliatoday.com/issue/5/names.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070607003052/http://www.mongoliatoday.com/issue/5/names.html |archivedate=2007-06-07 }}. * Kahn, Paul. ''The Secret History of the Mongols''. * Li, Gertraude Roth. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1bArr1-E5mQC ''Manchu: A Textbook for Reading Documents'']. * {{cite news |url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-oct-23-fg-names23-story.html |title=Identity Issues in Mongolia |last=Magnier|first=Mark|work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 23, 2004 }} * Pegg, Carole. ''Mongolian Music, Dance & Oral Narrative''. * Perdue, Peter C. ''China Marches West''. * Sneath, David. ''Changing Inner Mongolia: Pastoral Mongolian Society and the Chinese State''. * Weatherford, Jack. ''Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World''. Three Rivers Press. {{Refend}}

== Further reading == *Wada Sei 和田清. ''Tōashi Kenkyū (Mōko Hen)'' 東亜史研究 (蒙古編). Tokyo, 1959. *Honda Minobu 本田實信. ''On the genealogy of the early Northern Yüan'', Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher, XXX-314, 1958. *Okada Hidehiro 岡田英弘. ''Dayan Hagan no nendai'' ダヤン・ハガンの年代. Tōyō Gakuhō, Vol. 48, No. 3 pp.&nbsp;1–26 and No. 4 pp.&nbsp;40–61, 1965. *Okada Hidehiro 岡田英弘. ''Dayan Hagan no sensei'' ダヤン・ハガンの先世. Shigaku Zasshi. Vol. 75, No. 5, pp.&nbsp;1–38, 1966.

{{Mongol Empire}} {{Yuan dynasty topics}} {{Mongolic ethnic groups}} {{Aristocratic family trees}} {{Authority control}}

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