The SHM became the basis for the idea that Jochi was not the son of Chinggis Khan. Paul Pelliot already noted that the story of the campaign of Temüjin, Jamukha, and Wang Khan against the Merkits gives the impression that two different campaigns were combined into one story.

In this episode, the author of the SHM only suggests that Börte was raped while she was in captivity. But he states this directly in the story of the conflict at the family council before the war against Khwarazm. As a result of the conflict with Chagatai, Jochi lost his chance to inherit the throne, and Ögedei became the heir.

There was also an alternative, pro-Jochid version of the story of Börte’s abduction and the birth of Jochi. It is found in Mirza Ulugh Beg’s Ulus-i Arba-yi Chingizi. Although this work was written in the first half of the 15th century, this account is important. Mirza Ulugh Beg had access to some Jochid historical work.

The story in his work is generally similar to the account given by Rashid al-Din. The main difference is that Ulugh Beg directly states that Börte was in captivity for less than four months and gave birth on her way back to Temüjin. Clearly, this detail was necessary to prove that Jochi was Chinggis Khan’s legitimate son.

But even more important is how Mirza Ulugh Beg understood the meaning of these stories. According to him, Chagataid historians supported the version that questioned Jochi’s parentage, while some “truthful chroniclers,” probably Jochid historians, rejected it.

The author was very familiar with the internal politics of the Chinggisid states. He understood that the question of who Jochi’s father was had a political meaning. One answer could weaken the legitimacy of the Jochids, while another could strengthen it. In either case, historical accuracy was not the main issue.

Leadership in the Western Campaign

Peter Jackson and Christopher Atwood have shown that the question of which Chinggisid family played the leading role in the Mongol conquests was very important in the historiography of the Mongol Empire. This was especially important for the history of the conquest of the western territories.

The SHM is perhaps the only imperial source that does not mention Jochi’s participation in the early stage of the Mongol expansion to the west. I am referring to the campaigns of 1217–1219, when the Yenisei tribes were finally conquered and the Naimans and Merkits were defeated in the battles on the Chem River and between the Qayali and Qaimich rivers.

Al-Nasawi, Juvayni, and Rashid al-Din all state that the army sent west in 1217 was led by Jochi. There are also some indications of this in individual biographies in the Yuan Shi. Even the Shengwu Qinzheng Lu, although it names Subedei as the commander, reports that Jochi suppressed the revolts of the Yenisei tribes in the winter of 1217–1218.

The author of the SHM artificially moves Jochi’s actions on the Yenisei back to 1207, during the first Mongol conquest of the Kirghiz and Tumats. The SHM account is similar to the accounts of Rashid al-Din and the Shengwu Qinzheng Lu, which go back to the Veritable Record of Chinggis Khan. However, in their descriptions of the events of 1206, when the Kirghiz and Tumats voluntarily submitted to the Mongols, Jochi is not mentioned.

At the same time, the SHM places two other events in 1207, close to the story of Jochi’s conquest of the Yenisei tribes: Subedei’s battle against the Merkits on the Chem River and Jebe’s campaign against Kuchlug. In reality, both events took place in 1217–1218.

These changes in chronology were necessary to hide the fact that Jochi not only took part in the conquest of the Eastern Desht-i Qipchaq, but was also the leader of this campaign.

The Capture of Urgench

According to the SHM, Chinggis Khan sent Jochi, Chagatai, and Ögedei to capture Urgench and appointed Ögedei as the commander. After the capture of the city, the three princes divided the conquered lands and booty among themselves without giving a share to Chinggis Khan.