In 1206, the nobles of the Mongol tribes held a meeting at the source of the Hunan River (present-day Onnen River), and the people unanimously elected Boerjin Temujin as the Great Khan, with the honorific title of "Genghis Khan". This also marked the official entry of the Mongol Empire onto the stage of history. In the decades that followed, the Mongols swept across Eurasia and created the most vast empire in human history. So where did these Mongols, who rose to prominence in the thirteenth century, come from?
There are two theories about the origin of the Mongols. According to the explanations recorded in the Secret History of the Mongols, the ancestors of the Mongols were the heavenly born Boer Tichina (Mongolian Chinese for "wolf") and his wife Huo Email (Mongolian for "white deer"). The couple left an unknown area to reach Mount Buerhan Helden, which is now considered to be Mount Kent, located near the headwaters of the Onon and Krullen rivers. Here, their only son, Batachikhan, was born, the progenitor of all Mongol tribes.
Bata Chihan's eleventh grandson was named Dopon Khun Ergan, and he married a beautiful wife named Ah Lan Huo Ah, and the couple had two sons. However, Duo Ben Ling Ergan unfortunately died young, and Ah Huan Became a widow. One night, when she was sleeping in a tent, she dreamed that white light came in through the skylight and turned into a golden god and came to her bedside. Soon, Ah Yan found herself pregnant again, and she gave birth to three sons. His youngest son was named Bo Duancha'er, who was the tenth ancestor of Genghis Khan.
At that time, many clans, including the two sons of Ah Huan Ah, had doubts about this matter, and Ah Huan Ah told everyone that the three children she later gave birth to were her descendants with the Golden God Man, and were the heavenly sons given by the God Man. From then on, the descendants of these three sons were called Mongols of pure origin.
The five sons of Ah Yan Developed Two Great Groups. The descendants of the two sons she and Dobengongan gave birth to are known as the "Dielejen Mongols"; the descendants of her and the Golden Gods are known as the "Niluvan Mongols". The "Golden Family" we often hear refers to the "Niruvan Mongols" branch. It is worth mentioning that after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the "Golden Family" became the exclusive name of genghis Khan's direct descendants, and other Mongols were excluded from the category of "Golden Family".
The Mongols' explanation of the origin of their ancestors at that time was full of mysteries. It is safe to say that this interpretation is clearly a combination of a part of real history and a part of myth and legend. In our current scientific understanding, neither the Mongols nor the people elsewhere could have been blessed by gods. So, where did the Mongols come from? This brings us to the second theory about the origin of the Mongols.
The origins of the Mongols first appeared in the history books of the Tang Dynasty, when they were called "Mughal". The Mongols are one of the ancient northeastern ethnic groups, the Mongols, and are therefore also known as the Mongols. Their earliest homeland was in the southern region of the Amur River near the Little Hing'an Mountains, where they made a living from hunting, fishing, grazing and primitive agriculture. The Murwei clan was large, but because the entire tribal alliance had no centralized power, and all power was dispersed in the hands of countless small tribal chiefs, it did not pose any threat to the outside world. During the Tang Dynasty, the Murwei were subjects of the Turks.
At one point in the tenth century, the Mughals began to move westward away from the "extended family" of the Murvais. They began to establish new homes along the Hunan River (present-day Onnen River) and the Krullen River. With the change of living environment, the way of life of the Mughals has gradually changed from fishing and hunting peoples to grassland nomads.
By the twelfth century, the Mongols had spread across the upper reaches of the Onn, Krullen, and Tula rivers and east of the Kent Mountains, and had divided into many tribes.
At the end of the twelfth century, the Mongol Beggars, under the leadership of their leader Bo'er Zhijin Temujin, grew rapidly in strength and defeated many opponents. Eventually, Temujin succeeded in unifying the Mongol ministries and establishing the Great Mongol State, for which he was revered by the Mongols as "Genghis Khan".
References: The Secret History of Mongolia, The History of the Yuan