Yesugei/Bio & Battles

"I thought I would never feel the cold in my bones back then. I had an idea that I would be given nothing in my life, that everything I had would be taken by my wits and by my strength."

- Yesugei, from Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden

Yesugei Baghatur or Yesükhei was the head of the Kiyad sub-clan and a major chief in the Khamag Mongol as well as the father of Temüjin, later known as Genghis Khan.

He was married to Hoelun, mother of Genghis, who he captured from her tribe, the Olkhunut, whom he would later take Genghis to, in order to find him a bride. When traveling back to his own tribe Yesugei stopped for a feast with a group of men he met, but little did he know that they were Tartars, out to avenge Temüjin-üge who had been killed by Yesugi many years before.

While they harmlessly feasted together, the Tartars secretly poisoned Yesugei's food. He managed to make it back to the Kiyad before the poison took effect but would later succumb to his wounds, declaring Temüjin to be his successor. The tribesmen refused to accept him, however, due to his young age and he and his family were evicted from the tribe.