Tolui

And the Song Dynasty is really the one of the most preeminent Chinese dynasties in all of Chinese history.

It's full.

It actually has maritime trade, which is kind of unique in chinese history because they're not big fans of boats a lot of you will know about the treasure fleet that they go and send off and kind of disappears and then they're like we're never doing this boat stuff again also because it's something that happens in kublai khan's reign um but yeah the song have this very very built-up bureaucracy the jinn in the north are sort of flipped instead of having confucian bureaucrats be in charge of everything, you have the sort of military aristocracy of a group of people called the Jurchen.

Now, Jurchen aren't Han, what the Chinese will claim is the native Chinese people, just a whole other debate.

But they're ruling in a more militaristic style, and they've sort of abandoned the civil service exam, which during the reigns of the Khans has been around for decades.

And if you score well enough relative to everyone else, you get to work in the government.

The Jurchen up north just don't do that.

They have very, very allegedly, according to the later stories, they don't take in a lot of confusions and allegedly this is what what the chinese will claim this is why they fall because they're too focused on the military stuff and not focused on bureaucracy which is what makes a state run and you know to the song's points to the chinese point it's kind of true because the song are very they have paper money they have a pretty good record keeping they actually have an understanding that the stars move which is fairly unique throughout the world even at this time they like i said they have the maritime trade and there are tons and tons of these classics that they're focused on uh which will become somewhat of an issue is what actually is a true chinese classic that'll come to fruition under kublai's reign so uh genghis khan uh upon nearing his death he divides the empire into roughly four parts between his son between his various sons so you have jochi you have uh ogadai you have talui and then you have uh the other guy who is currently not on my list that i see right here which by golly i'm gonna kill claude for messing up my notes again uh But basically, you have these four different sons of Genghis Khan.

Ogedei cometh.

In the Year of the Rat, Chagatai, Batu, and the other princes of the right hand, Ochagi Noyan, Yugu, Isunge, and the other princes of the left hand, and Tolui, and the other princes of the center, together with the princesses, the sons-in-law, and the commanders of the ten thousand households, assembled in their entirety at Kodeu Arau on the Karaloon River.

In accordance with the decree in which Genghis Kayan had named him, they raised up Ogade as Great Khan.

From the Secret History of the Mongols, as translated by Ergonga Bonon.

His second son, Chagatai, was stubborn, stupid, bullheaded, and guided more by his fists and his cock than his head or his heart.

Moreover, Jochi and Chagatai hated one another, there was no two ways around it, to the point that Genghis long ago understood that should either be chosen to rule, the other would surely rebel.

One possible choice particular to Mongolian culture, and dear to Genghis's own heart, was his ojgin, Tolui, his youngest son.

Tolui was most like his father in virtually every respect.

His fears thus allayed, Genghis began the next phase of his planned conquest of Khwarazmian, a two-pronged assault on both east and west, Afghanistan and Khorasan, two theaters that were more than six hundred miles apart, yet for the Mongols, easily reachable by arrow messenger in days should the need arise.

In the spring of 1221, the Mongol force commanded by Genghis' son, Tolui, swept down on the city of Balkh, an urban center that had already surrendered to Subutai, but was now massacred and burned regardless.

Merv faced the same fate, and then Nishapur, which would receive special attention.

Quote, "It was outside Nishapur that Toguchar, the son-in-law of the Khan, had been killed fighting as a common soldier after having been relieved of command.

The only true claim to the title of Khan came from the children of Temujin and Borte.

Jochi, Ogodi, Chagatai, and Tolui.

These were the only paths to claiming the title of Great Khan.

Genghis had thousands of descendants, and there were daughters of Borte too, all of whom had a place in the administration of the empire, but never having any right to claim authority over someone descended from a son of that golden family of Temujin and Borte.

The Ilkhanate was ruled by the dynasty from the youngest son of Temujin and Borte, Tolui, and his dynasty was the first to officially adopt Islam in 1295.

When Andronicus II was dealing with the rise of the Ottomans in Anatolia- The Golden Horde in Russia and Western Eurasian steppe was ruled by the Jochi dynasty, the firstborn son, and they had converted to Islam around the 1320s.

When Andronicus II was emperor in Constantinople and Orhan I became the ruler of the Ottomans.

Until then, the Mughals were practicing Tengriism.

Because in the Jamiat Tavarik, they'll say, you know, we have this episode is rewritten, so there's no chance of dishonor.

But then later on, they'll say, Tolui, was the only one of Jochi's brothers who didn't see him as illegitimate.

Well, that's a weird detail to include if there was no issues here.

Or we have some artwork from the 1330s from the Ilkhanites.

So we have a handful who claims we can trace it back to whoever, whoever, whoever.

The problem is none of these handfuls today are sharing this common handful group.

So either, okay, so we have some who trace themselves from Jochi, some trace themselves back to Tolui, another son of Chinggis.

So it might be there is actually some substantive evidence to, all right, if they do not share the common paternal DNA, that Jochi was not Chinggis Han's biological son.