Sorghaghtani Beki (Mongolian: Сорхагтани Бэхи/ ᠰᠤᠷᠬᠠᠭᠲᠠᠨᠢ ᠪᠡᠬᠢ; Chinese: 唆魯禾帖尼) or Bekhi (Bek(h)i is a title), also written Sorkaktani, Sorkhokhtani, Sorkhogtani, Siyurkuktiti (c. 1190 – 1 March 1252[1][2]), posthumous name Empress Xianyi Zhuangsheng (Chinese: 顯懿莊聖皇后; pinyin: Xiǎnyì Zhuāngshèng Huánghòu and Persian: سرقویتی بیگی, Sorghoiti Bigi), was a Keraite princess and daughter-in-law of Genghis Khan.
Genghis married the elder of the daughters, Ibaqa Beki (later handed over to the general Jürchedei), and gave young Sorghaghtani, who was still a teenager, to his son Tolui.
Sorghaghtani's husband Tolui, whose appanages included eastern Mongolia, parts of Iran and northern China, died at the age of 41 in 1232.
Ögedei appointed her in charge of the Empire's administration, which meant she played a pivotal role in securing the lands won under Genghis Khan.
[11] When Sorghaghtani asked for part of Hebei as her appanage in 1236 after the end of the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty, Ögedei hesitated, but not for long.
After Ögedei Khan died in 1241, his wife Töregene Khatun ruled as regent until 1246, when she managed to get her son Güyük elected as Khagan at a large kurultai.
Meanwhile, the ambitious Sorghaghtani had secretly teamed up with Güyük's cousin Batu Khan, the senior male in the Borjigin and ruler of the Golden Horde (north of the Caspian Sea to Bulgaria).
Sorghaghtani fell ill and died in February or March 1252 around Tsagaan Sar, the Lunar New Year festival in the Mongolian calendar, a few months after Möngke's accession ceremony.
There is no doubt that it was through her intelligence and ability that she raised the station of her sons above that of their cousins and caused them to attain to the rank of qa'ans and emperors.The bringing of the Khanate to the house of Tolui Khan and the placing of the right in its due place were due to the competence and shrewdness of Sorqoqtani Beki and the help and assistance of Batu, because of their friendship for one another...Sorqoqtani Beki, and his sons after his [Tolui's] death until the time when they became qa'ans and rulers through the efforts and endeavors of their mother and
as the result of her ability and intelligence.Now in the management and education of all her sons, in the administration of affairs of state, in the maintenance of dignity and prestige and in the execution of business, [Sorghaghtani] Beki, by the nicety of her judgment and discrimination, constructed such a basis and for the strengthening of these edifices laid such a foundation that no turban-wearer would have been capable of the like or could have dealt with these matters with the like brilliance.
In any business which [Ogedei] Qa'an undertook, whether with regard to the weal of the Empire or the disposal of the army, he used first to consult and confer with her and would suffer no change or alteration of whatever she recommended... For the report of her wisdom and prudence and the fame of her counsel and sagacity had spread to all parts, and none would gainsay her word.