[1] While the Secret History was preserved in part as the basis for a number of chronicles such as the Jami' al-tawarikh, Shengwu qinzheng lu, and Altan Tobchi, the full Mongolian body only survived from a version made around the 1400s at the start of the Ming dynasty, where the pronunciation was transcribed into Chinese characters as a tool to help interpreters[1] under the title The Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty (Chinese: 元朝秘史; pinyin: Yuáncháo Mìshǐ).

Eleven generations after Batachiqan, a widow named Alan Gua was abandoned by her in-laws and left with her two boys Bügünütei and Belgünütei.

It then covers Temüjin's early life following his birth around 1160; the difficult times after the murder of his father; and the many conflicts against him, wars, and plots before he gains the title of Genghis Khan in 1206.

Scholars of Mongolian history consider the text hugely important for the wealth of information it contains on the ethnography, language, literature and varied aspects of the Mongol culture.

It is especially valued for its vivid and realistic depictions of daily tribal life and organization of Mongol civilization in the 12th and 13th centuries, complementing other primary sources available in the Persian and Chinese languages.

[9] The Secret History ends with a colophon stating its original date of completion at Khodoe Aral: The writing of this book was completed at the time when the Great Assembly convened and when, in the Year of the Rat, in the month of the Roebuck, the Palaces were established at Dolo’an Boldaq of Köde'e Aral on the Kelüren River, between Šilginček and [...]The original text corresponding to this date has not survived to the present day.

This title was altered to Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty (元朝秘史; Yuáncháo bìshǐ) when it was included as part of the Yongle Encyclopedia.

A version based on the 1805 text was published in 1908 by Ye Dehui, with subsequent scholarship collating this and other partial copies of the Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty to high accuracy.

Starting in the late 16th century, Tibetan Buddhism gained a foothold amongst the Mongols, and an increase in literacy resulted in a new Altan Tobchi being created by an unknown author in the 1620s.

In 1651, the monk Lubsang-Danzin expanded this narrative (now usually called the Lu Altan Tobchi after the author) and included a full two-thirds of the Secret History.

[1] This was discovered in 1926 by Duke Jamiyan [mn] from Dornod, as part of the academic and cultural revival in the Mongolian People's Republic.

[11] Duke Tsengde [mn; zh] (1875–1932) was the first native Mongolian scholar to attempt a reconstruction of The Secret History, in 1915–17, though it was only published posthumously in 1996.

[12] The Inner Mongolian authors Altan-Ochir and Bokekeshig independently published reconstructions of the text in Kailu in 1941 as part of the national revival in Mengjiang.