Secret History of the Mongols
Also called: Mongqol-un niuca tobca'an · Topic: Nomadic Empires: The Mongols · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
The Secret History of the Mongols (Mongqol-un niuca tobca'an) is the earliest narrative of Genghis Khan's life. It is a rare source that tells the Mongol side of the story. It survives in a Mongolian version and a Chinese version, and the two differ quite a lot. This shows a wider problem: most Mongol history was written down by outsiders in many languages. So historians must also work as philologists, people who study old languages and texts closely.
Example
The scholar Igor de Rachewiltz is known for his work on the Secret History. The text tells of Temujin's early hardships, including his father's murder, his own capture and the kidnapping of his wife Borte.
Don't confuse with
- Marco Polo's travels: Marco Polo was a European traveller, so his account is an outsider's view. It survives in Italian and Latin versions that also differ from each other.