Mandukhai Khatun

Mandukhai Khatun (Mongolian: Мандухай хатан, Chinese: 满都海哈屯; pinyin: Mǎndūhǎi Hātún), also known as Mandukhai Sechen Khatun (Mongolian: Мандухай сэцэн хатан, or Queen Manduhai the Wise), (c. 1449 – 1510) was the Khatun of the Northern Yuan Dynasty or Post-Imperial Mongolia. She reunited the warring Mongols with her husband Batmunkh Dayan Khan.

Early life

Mandukhai was the only daughter of Chorosbai, chingsang (grand councillor) of the Ongud Mongols in eastern Mongolia. Her family were aristocrats. At the age of 18, Mandukhai was married to Manduul Khan, who ruled the Mongol Empire from 1473–1479, to whom she bore a daughter. Mandukhai then took precedence over Yekhe Khabartu Yungin, the childless first wife.

After the death of Manduul Khan in 1467 at the hands of his own advisor Eslem, a spy and an agent of Ming China, the throne was left without an heir. Mandukhai brought from hiding and adopted the seven year old orphan Batmunkh, son of the late Bayan Mongkhe Jonon, a direct descendant of Genghis Khan and part of the Altan Urug, who had also been killed by Eslem. As Batumunkh was the last living descendant of Genghis Khan, Mandukhai had him proclaimed Dayan Khan, and she rejected the marriage offer by General Unubold. However, Unubold, himself a descendant of Hasar, younger brother of Genghis Khan, remained loyal to Mandukhai and the child Khan.

Khatun of Mongolia

With command over the Mongols, Mandukhai made war with the Oirats, and defeated them. After oppressing the Western Mongols who consistently waged civil wars, Mandukhai and Dayan Khan punished them by demanding that they follow five codes.

The codes included:

• Crests of helmets must not exceed two fingers long
• Eat meat without a knife
• Do not call your Ger an Ordon (Palace)
• Do not refer to airag as tsegee
• Sit upon your knees before khans

The Oirats accepted everything except for the second one. Her stunning victory over the Oirats brought back great reputation of the Chinggisids.

When Batmonkh turned nineteen, she married him and retained her control over the Mongols. The Oirats again rebelled and raided the Eastern Mongols. Mandukhai lead the great army against them. She was pregnant, but still fought and delivered twin boys during a long battle. The Western Mongols were subdued once again.

From 1480, Dayan Khan and Mandukhai increased the pressure on the Ming territory because they closed the border trade and killed a Mongol envoy. To contain her, the Ming Chinese rapidly expanded the Great Wall and now used the new artillery of gunpowder to defeat her troops. Mandukhai married Dayan Khan but continued to rule Mongolia.[1] She reoccupied Ordos area and stationed soldiers there to keep watch on China. She reenthroned Dayan Khan at the Eight White Yurts in Ordos but they had to flee a Chinese attack. Mandukhai with Dayan Khan went to Kherlen River in 1501 though her husband continued Mongol raids on Ming China.

Mandukhai died by 1510. According to the most credible sources, Mandukhai died of natural causes, although there are legends that would have been a double agent murdered by Ming or by one of her husband's concubines. However, none of these stories consists of credible sources. As with Genghis Khan, it seems that her grave was never found.

Legacy

Mandukhai managed to keep Dayan Khan in power as a descendant of Genghis Khan, and she defeated the Oirats. Both feats have contributed to the legends which formed about her life.

She left seven sons and three daughters. The later khans and nobles of Mongolia are her descendants.

Queen Mandukhai the Wise (Mongolian: Мандухай сэцэн хатан) is a Mongolian film based on a novel of the same title by Ts. Natsagdorj; both recount her life.

References

• Davis-Kimball, Jeannine (2002). Warrior Women, An archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines. Warner Books, Inc. pp. 226–22. ISBN 0-446-52546-4. 
• Weatherford, Jack (2010). The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire. Crown. ISBN 978-0-307-40716-0.