Checheyigen

Over the following decades, Checheyigen arranged a series of advantageous marriages for her seven children and, after she backed the successful side in the Toluid Revolution of the early 1250s, her Oirat family became one of the most powerful in the empire.

Checheyigen's mother, Börte, was born into the Onggirat tribe, who lived along the Greater Khingan mountain range south of the Ergüne river, in modern-day Inner Mongolia.

[4] In the two decades after her birth, Temüjin steadily increased his power and subjugated rival tribes, a process which culminated in him being acclaimed as Genghis Khan, ruler of a new Mongol Empire, in 1206.

[8] In 1207, Genghis dispatched his eldest son Jochi to subdue the Hoi-yin Irgen [ja], a collection of tribes who lived between Lake Baikal and the Urals.

Keen to build a more positive relationship with the Mongols, their leader Qutuqa Beki submitted quickly to Jochi and assisted him with subjugating those who would not surrender.

During the Toluid Revolution of the early 1250s, she and the Oirats supported the successful usurper Möngke Khan, the brother of Hulegu and Ariq Böke, with whom they seem to have had an alliance.

[18] Her political savvy, both in terms of supporting this coup and her ability to arrange excellent marriages for her many children, ensured that for a time the Oirats were one of the most powerful families in the empire.

[20] However, because of unexpected deaths and strong challenges from rival families, Chechiyegen's descendants never gained as much power as was expected, and ended up losing much of their influence.