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

THE SUCCESSORS OF GENGHIS KHAN
find their way into the foundations of the kingdom. It was therefore
advisable to make haste in the matter of the accession to the Khanate.
And on this delicate business they dispatched ambassadors to one
another from every side and busied themselves with preparing a
quriltai. When the violence of the cold had abated and the first days of
spring had come round, all the princes and emirs set out from every
side and direction for the ancientyurt and great ordo. From Qiipchaq83
[came] the sons of Jochi: Orda, Batu, Shiban, Tangqut, Berke,
Berkecher, and Toqa-Temiir; from Qayaliiq84 [came] Chaghatai
Khan with all his sons and grandsons; from the Emil and the Qpbaq,
Ogetei Qa'an with his sons and descendants; from the East, their
uncles Otchigin and Bilgiitei Noyan and their cousin Elchidei Noyan,
the son of Qachi'un; and from all sides [came] the emirs and great
men of the army. All of these now presented themselves at Keliiren.
Tolui Khan, whose title is Yeke-Noyan or Ulugh-Noyan,8^ the lord of
his father's house and original yurt, was already there. The aforesaid
company for 3 days and nights concerned themselves with pleasure,
conviviality, and merrymaking, after which they spoke about the
affairs of the empire and the kingship, and in accordance with the will
of Chingiz-Khan they settled the Khanate upon Ogetei Qa'an. First
all the sons and princes in one voice said to Ogetei Qa'an: "By the
command of Chingiz-Khan it behoves thee with divine assistance to
set thy [foot] upon the land of kingship in order that the haughty
leaders may gird the loins of their lives with the girdle of servitude
and that far and near, whether Turk or Tazik, [they] may be obedient
and submissive to thy command." Ogetei Qa'an replied: "Although
Chingiz-Khan's command was to this effect, yet there are my elder
brother and uncles, and in particular my younger brother Tolui
Khan is more worthy to undertake and accomplish this task, for in
accordance with Mongol usage and custom the youngest son from the
eldest house succeeds the father and administers his house and yurt,
83 That is, the Qiipchaq Steppe, the territory of the Golden Horde, in what is now
South Russia.
84 The Cailac of Rubruck, a little to the west of the present-day Kopal, in the
Taldy-Kurgan Region in southern Kazakhstan.
8* Literally, "the great nqyan," a title perhaps conferred posthumously on Tolui
to avoid the mention of his real name. See Boyle 1956, pp. 146—48.