2 Life on the Steppe

Chapter 1 Life on the Steppe Temujin's mother, Hoelun, came from the eastern steppe. At sixteen, she married a Merkid tribesman named Chiledu. The man traveled a long way to seek her hand in marriage. On their way back to Chiledu's homeland, someone was watching. Yesugei was hunting with his falcon when he spotted the couple from atop a cliff. He thought Hoelun was beautiful. Yesugei already had a wife, but he decided he wanted another. He rode back to camp, returned with his brothers, and chased after the

newlyweds. Hoelun knew they could not outrun the men. She told Chiledu to run. If he was captured, she said, he would be killed. So Chiledu fled, and Yesugei took Hoelun to his clan. This was life on the steppe: brutal, unforgiving, dramatic. It had been this way for centuries. Hoelun's new life with Yesugei was different from her childhood. She grew up on the open grassland. Her people raised cows, goats, sheep,

and horses for meat and milk. But Yesugei lived where the grassland met the wooded mountains. They had little livestock, and hunted in the forest for food: rodents, birds, fish—whatever they could get. In the spring of 1162, about a year after being kidnapped, Hoelun gave birth. Temujin, the boy who would one day be called Genghis Khan, was born on a hill overlooking the Onon River, near the modern-day border of Mongolia and Siberia. Yesugei had just returned from fighting the Tatar tribe in the east. He named his son after a warrior he had killed: Temujin. Temujin grew up playing along the Onon River with his younger brothers and sister. He also had two half brothers—Begter and Belgutei. Like all children on the steppe, Temujin grew up hunting and riding horses. By four, he could ride alone—and soon after, while standing up! Once his legs were long enough to reach the

stirrups, he shot arrows and threw lassos while riding. When Temujin was eight or nine, his father decided to find him a wife. Together they journeyed east. Yesugei met with a man who had a daughter named Borte. She was a year older than Temujin. The fathers decided their children should marry. Temujin was to stay and work for Borte's father until it was time to marry her. On his way back home, Yesugei saw a group of feasting Tatars. Tired and hungry, he stopped to join the party. Eight years had passed since Yesugei killed the Tatar warrior who was also named Temujin. But he was recognized, and his food was poisoned. As Yesugei rode home after the feast, he fell ill. He sent a messenger to his son. He was dying. Temujin needed to come home. When Temujin returned, his father was dead.

Yesugei's two widows were unimportant now. They had come from other clans. They were outsiders. Their children were too young to contribute. When the clan packed up to move to their summer home, the leader ordered his people to abandon Yesugei's family. One person, an old man, objected. The clan leader responded by driving a spear through the old man's body. Temujin rushed to help him as everyone rode off. As the old man lay dying, Temujin sobbed. What would become of his family now?

THE MONGOLIAN STEPPE THE HIGH, TREELESS PLAINS OF MONGOLIA ARE KNOWN AS THE STEPPE. THIS ROLLING GRASSLAND COVERS AN AREA LARGER THAN TEXAS. IT IS BORDERED TO THE NORTH AND EAST BY THE FORESTS OF SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. TO ITS WEST RISE THE SNOW-COVERED ALTAI MOUNTAINS, AND THE ARID GOBI DESERT FORMS ITS SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. IT IS A LAND OF EXTREME WEATHER. TEMPERATURES CAN RISE TO NINETY DEGREES IN THE SUMMER, AND FALL TO FIFTY BELOW ZERO IN THE WINTER. RAINFALL IS SCARCE AND UNPREDICTABLE, SO FARMING IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. BUT MELTING WINTER SNOW AND AN ABUNDANCE OF LAKES AND RIVERS MAKE IT THE PERFECT PLACE FOR RAISING LIVESTOCK.