Yesugei
Mongol warlord and father of Genghis Khan
Yesugei or Yesükhei Baghatur (c. 1134–1171) was a major chief of the Khamag Mongol confederation and the father of Temüjin, who later became known as Genghis Khan. Yesügei was from the Borjigin family, and his name means "like nine", meaning he had the auspicious qualities of the number nine, a lucky number to the Mongols.
Life
Yesügei was the son of Bartan Baghatur, who was the second son of Khabul Khan. Khabul was recognized as a khagan by the Jin Dynasty. Khabul Khan was, in turn, the great-grandson of the Mongol chief Khaidu, the first to try to unite the Mongols. Yesügei abducted his chief wife, Hö'elün, a daughter of the Olkhunut forest people, with the help of his elder brother Negün Taishi and younger brother Daritai Otchigin, from her newlywed husband Chiledu of Merkits. Yesügei abducted Hoelun because of her beauty and indications of fertility.
After the Khamag Mongol confederation khan Hotula died, the confederation had no elected king, but de facto Yesügei ruled the confederation. Yesügei had a bloodbrother, or anda, Toghrul Khan (later known as Wang Khan and Ong Khan).
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q573157. VIAF identifies the subject as 31678997. The Library of Congress control number is no2003021331. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1134 and 1171.
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This entry incorporates text from “Yesugei” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.