12. Borte Khan was a Mongol noble lady whose kidnapping may well have set her husband on the path to world domination
Genghis Khan wasn’t the type of man to let personal slights go unpunished. So, when his own wife, Borte, was kidnapped, he obviously had her rescued. The infamous warlord did, however, wait several months before launching his rescue operation, a delay that would have serious repercussions. Despite the delay, Borte was indeed freed from her kidnappers and, according to some historians, the event would have a profound effect on the young Genghis Khan and may even have been the trigger that set him off on a path of conquest and destruction.
Genghis Khan was still known as Temujin when he married Borte in around 1200. Both of them were still in their teens and their wedding took place against a backdrop of war and tense clan rivalries in Mongolia. Shortly after they wed, Borte was kidnapped a rival tribe. She was taken as a ‘wife’ by that tribe’s leader and held for eight months, until Temujin launched his rescue mission. Famously, she gave birth to a son just one month after she was rescued. Inevitably, there were questions over the child’s paternity and the boy would never be regarded as the rightful heir of what would become the Mogol Empire.
According to some historians, the kidnapping had a profound effect on world history. Timujin became determined to bring an end to conflicts between the different tribes. To this end, he worked to form alliances where possible and unite all the tribes of Central Asia. And the rest is history. Timujin would proclaim himself Genghis Khan and found the Mongol Empire, the biggest continuous empire the world had ever seen. Throughout his rise to power and world domination, Borte would remain by his side as one of his closest advisers and even ruled the homeland while her husband was away fighting.