Taghachar (d. 1221)

Taghachar (died 1221), also known as Toqučar or Toquchar, was a Mongol military commander, involved in the Mongol campaigns in Central Asia. A son-in-law of Genghis Khan, he most notably took part in the invasion of the Khwarezmian Empire in 1219.

Background

Chroniclers Juvayni and al-Nasawi, both writing in the 13th century, state that Taghachar had been Genghis Khan's son-in-law. Historian Anne Broadbridge identifies his wife as having been a junior princess, rejecting an earlier hypothesis by John Andrew Boyle that she had been Tümelün, daughter of Genghis Khan's chief empress Börte.

Taghachar's own background is vague in Mongol works, with no contemporary source mentioning the name of his father. The 15th-century Timurid chronicler Yazdi writes that Taghachar belonged to the Barlas tribe and had been the son of Suqu Sechen and the younger brother of Qarachar Noyan, the ancestors of Timur. However, historian İlker Evrim Binbaş suggests that this relationship was invented due to the marital link Taghachar provides for the Timurid dynasty with Genghis Khan. Writing later still, the 19th century historian Shir Muhammad Munis states that Taghachar was the son of the Khongirad chief Dei Sechen, and therefore the brother of the empress Börte. Both Anne Broadbridge and John Andrew Boyle also identify Taghachar as a Khongirad, though Broadbridge specifies that he was of a junior line to Börte.

Military career

During the campaign against the Jin, Taghachar remained in Mongolia with 20,000 soldiers, guarding the western border while the main army was absent.