The Successors of Genghis Khan - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...

BEGINNING OF THE HISTORY OF
OGETEI' QA'AN,
THE SON OF CHINGIZ-KHAN2
History of Ogetei Qa'an, which is in Three Parts
Those stories which refer to him personally and concern his deeds and
actions and sayings in respect to kingship, justice, and bounty, apart
from what has been included in the histories of his father, brothers,
and kinsmen, will now be related so that the reader may at once be
apprised of them herefrom. And the reason for giving his history
precedence over that of his brothers Jochi and Chaghatai, who were
older than he,3 is that he was the heir-apparent of Chingiz-Khan and
the Qa'an of the time, and his reign followed that of Chingiz-Khan,
so that it is in the order of the Khanate.
«a PART i. An account of his lineage; a detailed account of his wives
and of the branches into which his descendants have divided down to
the present day; his portrait; and a genealogical table of his descendants.
*a PART it. The [general] history of and [particular] anecdotes
regarding his reign; a picture of his throne and wives and the princes
and emirs on the occasion of his ascending the throne of the Khanate;
an account of the battles he fought and the victories he gained.
«* PART in. His praiseworthy character and morals; the excellent
biligs,4 parables and pronouncements which he uttered and promulgated;
such events and happenings as occurred during his reign but
have not been included in the two previous parts, the information
having been acquired on separate occasions and at irregular intervals
from various books and persons.
1 Mo. Ogedei or Ogodei, the Occoday of Carpini. The Ogetei of the Muslim sources
is apparently due to a misreading of the Uighur script, in which d and t are not
distinguished. SeeDoerfer, I, No. 49 (pp. 167-69).
2 There is no certain etymology of the first element in the title (Anglicized as
Genghis Khan) bestowed upon the Mongol Temujin. For the various theories, see
Doerfer, I, No. 185 (pp. 312-15). The most widely accepted is that chingiz (chinggis)
is a palatalized form of T. tengiz, "sea," and that the title in consequence means
" Oceanic Khan," that is, "Universal Ruler."
3 The precise ages of Ogedei's older brothers are not known. Ogedei himself was
born in 1186. 4 See Glossary.