The Secret History of the Mongols

A new translation of a great historical epic, recounting the turbulent life and times of Chinggis Khan

'Bear the sword and
Hew asunder high and haughty necks
Slash apart all strong and self-willed shoulders'

Born poor into a world of dangers and hardships, Chinggis (or Genghis) Khan would grow up to unify Mongolia and conquer a vast empire stretching from modern-day Beijing to Baghdad. The Secret History of the Mongols, written after Chinggis's death in the thirteenth century, is a great historical saga recounting not only his turbulent life and times, but that of his loved ones, ancestors and heirs. This remarkable new translation of the earliest surviving work written in Mongolian gives insight into a world of warlords, kinship, horses, yurts, shamans and vast landscapes, where bloody battles and violent family conflicts are impelled by Heaven's destiny.

Translated with an introduction by Christopher P. Atwood

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The Influence of the Secret History and its Preservation
2. The World of the Secret History 
3. Date and Authorship
4. Title, Genre, Composition
5. Mongolian Terms and their Translation
Note on Spellings and Pronunciation
Note on Chapter, Sub-chapter and Section Divisions
Figures
Maps
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS
1: The Origin of Chinggis Khan
2: The Youth of Chinggis Khan
3: The Early Battles of Chinggis Khan
4: Chinggis Khan and Ong Khan
5: Completing the Unification of Mongolia
6: The New Regime
7: The Foreign Conquests
8: The Reign of Ökodei Khann
Colophon
Afterword: The Transmission and Translation ofthe Secret History
Appendix A: Alternative Mouse Year Theories and the Question of the Secret History’s Unity
Appendix B: Socio-political Organization of the Pre-Chinggisid Mongols
Appendix C: The New Aristocracy under Chinggis Khan
Appendix D: Chronologies of the Foreign Conquests
Bibliography
Notes
Glossary of Names