Borjigin (plural Borjigid; Mongolian: Боржигин, Borjigin; Russian: Борджигин, Bordžigin; simplified Chinese: 博尔济吉特; traditional Chinese: 博爾濟吉特; pinyin: Bó'ěrjìjítè), also known as the Altan urug (Mongolian: Алтан ураг, Altan urag, Golden kin), were the imperial clan of Genghis Khan and his successors.

The Mongolian Borjigin clan is the most renowned family in Inner Asia. The senior Borjigids provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia until the 20th century.^[1] The clan formed the ruling class among the Mongols, Kazakhs, and other peoples of Inner Asia. Today, the Borjigid are found in most of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.^[1] Also there are many living in Kazakhstan as Tore, "AkSuyek", or "White Bone".

Origin[link]

The patrilineage began with Blu-grey Wolf (Borte Chino) and Fallow Doe (Gua Maral). As in the Secret History of the Mongols, their 11th generation descendant Dobu Mergen's widow Alan Gua the Fair was impregnated by a ray of light.^[2] Her youngest son became the ancestor of the later Borjigid.^[3] He was Bodonchar Munkhag (the Simple), who along with his brothers sired the entire Mongol nation.^[4] According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, many of Mongolian old clans were founded by Borjigin members - Barulas, Urud, Manghud, Taichiut, Chonos, Kiyat etc. The first Khan of the Mongol was Bodonchar Munkhag's great-great-grandson Khaidu Khan. Khaidu's grandsons Khabul Khan and Ambaghai Khan (founder of the Taichiut clan) succeeded him. Thereafter, Qabul's sons, Hotula Khan and Yesugei, and great-grandson Temujin (Genghis Khan) ruled the Khamag Mongol. By the unification of the Mongols in 1206, virtually all of Temujin's uncles and first cousins died, and from then on only the descendants of Yesugei Baghatur formed the Borjigid.

Mongol Empire[link]

The Mongol Empire, ca. 1300. The gray area is the later Timurid empire.

The Borjigin family ruled over the Mongol Empire from the 13th to 14th century. The rise of Genghis (Chingis) narrowed the scope of the Borjigid-Kiyad clans sharply.^[5] This separation was emphasized by the intermarriage of Genghis's descendants with the Barlas, Baarin, Manghud and other branches of the original Borjigid. In the western regions of the Empire, the Jurkin and perhaps other lineages near to Genghis's lineage used the clan name Kiyad but did not share in the privileges of the Genghisids. The Borjigit clan had once dominated large lands stretching from Korea to Turkey and from Indo China to Novgorod. In 1335, with the disintegration of the Ilkhanate in Iran, the first of numerous non-Borjigid-Kiyad dynasties appeared. Established by marriage partners of Genghisids, these included the Suldus Chupanids, Jalayirids in the Middle East, the Barulas dynasties in Chagatai Khanate and India, the Manghud and Onggirat dynasties in the Golden Horde and Central Asia, and the Oirats in western Mongolia.

In 1368, under Toghun Temür, the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown by the Ming Dynasty in China but members of the family continued to rule over Mongolia into the 17th century, known as the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Descendants of Genghis Khan's brothers, Hasar and Belgutei, surrendered to the Ming in 1380's. By 1470 the Borjigin lines were severely weakened, and Mongolia was in almost chaos.

Post-Mongol Empire[link]

The Tumens of Mongolia Proper and vassal states of the Mongol Empire by 1400

After the breakup of the Golden Horde, the Khiyat continued to rule the Crimea and Kazan until the late 18th century. Another lineage of the Borjigin-Khiyat family ruled Kazakh Khanate and Moghulistan until 18th century. They were annexed by the Russian Empire and the Chinese. The Kazakh aristocracy traced back their lineage to Tuqa-Timur, a son of Jochi. In Mongolia, the Kublaids reigned as Khagan of the Mongols, however, descendants of Ogedei and Arikboke usurped the throne briefly.

Under Dayan Khan (1480–1517) a broad Borjigid revival reestablished Borjigid supremacy among the Mongols proper. His descendants proliferated to become a new ruling class. The Borjigin clan was the strongest of the 49 Mongol banners. The eastern Khorchins were under the Hasarids, and the Ongnigud, Abagha Mongols were under the Belguteids and Temuge Odchigenids. A fragment of the Hasarids deported to Western Mongolia became the Khoshuts.

The Qing Dynasty respected the Borjigin family and the early Emperors married the Hasarid Borjigids of the Khorchin. Even among the pro-Qing Mongols, traces of the alternative tradition survived. Aci Lomi, a banner general, wrote his History of the Borjigid Clan from 1732–35.^[6] The 18th century and 19th century Qing nobility was adorned by the descendants of the early Mongol adherents including the Borjigin.^[7]

Genghisids[link]

Shokan Valikhanov (left) and Fyodor Dostoyevsky (right). Valikhanov was a Genghisid of the Jochi lineage.

Descent from Genghis Khan is traceable primarily in Central Asia. His four sons and other immediate descendants are famous by names and by deeds. Later Asian potentates attempted to claim such descent even with flimsy grounds. In the 14th century, valid sources (heavily dependent on Rashid-al-Din Hamadani and other Persian or Arabic historians) all but dry up. With the recent popularity of genealogical DNA testing, a wider circle of people started to claim descent from the great conqueror.

Among the Asian dynasties descended from Genghis Khan were the Yuan Dynasty of China, the Ilkhanids of Persia, the Jochids of the Golden Horde, the Shaybanids of Siberia, and the Astrakhanids of Central Asia. As a rule, the Genghisid descent was crucial in Tatar politics. For instance, Mamai had to exercise his authority through a succession of puppet khans but could not assume the title of khan himself because he was not of the Genghisid lineage.

The word "Chingisid" derives from the name of the Mongol conqueror Genghis (Chingis) Khan (c. 1162–1227 CE). Genghis and his successors created a vast empire stretching from the Sea of Japan to the Black Sea.

• The Chingisid principle,^[8] or golden lineage, was the rule of inheritance laid down in the (Yassa), the legal code attributed to Genghis Khan.

• A Chingisid prince was one who could trace direct descent from Genghis Khan in the male line, and who could therefore claim high respect in the Mongol and Turkic world.

• The Chingisid states were the successor states or Khanates after the Mongol empire broke up following the death of the Genghis Khan's sons and their successors.

• The term Chingisid people was used to describe the people of Genghis Khan's armies who came in contact with Europeans, primarily the Golden Horde, led by Batu Khan, a grandson of Genghis. These were predominantly Oghuz — Turkic speaking people rather than Mongols. (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) called the people of the Golden Horde Tartars.

Babur and Humayun, founders of the Mughal Empire in India, asserted their authority as Chinggisids. Because they claimed it through their maternal lineage, they had never used the clan name - Borjigin.

The last ruling monarch, Mohammed Alim Khan (d.1944), of Genghisid ancestry was overthrown by Red Army in 1920.

Yuan Dynasty family tree[link]

Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire in 1206. His grandson, Kublai Khan, after defeating his younger brother Ariq Boke, founded the Yuan Dynasty in China in 1271. The dynasty was overthrown by the Ming Dynasty during the reign of Toghaghan-Temür in 1368, but it survived in Mongolia, known as the Northern Yuan. Although the kingship was usurped by Esen Tayisi of the Oirats in 1453, 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 khaan Ligden died in 1634 and his son Ejei Khongghor submitted himself to Hong Taiji the next year, ending the Northern Yuan regime.^[9] However, the Borjigin nobles continued to rule their subjects until the 20th century under the Qing.^[10][11]

Or in a different version (years of reign over the Northern Yuan Dynasty [up to 1388] are given in brackets).