The Last Letter of Empress Sorghaghtani
By M.A. — Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
"History remembers conquerors, yet it is in the trembling hands of the wives and mothers where empires are made or broken. This is the story of Sorghaghtani Beki, the Mongol empress who bent khans to her will and whose final letter, written in the shadow of death, changed the fate of a dynasty."
In the annals of the Mongol Empire — a realm forged by sabres and soot-stained parchments — few women wielded power as deftly as Sorghaghtani Beki. A Nestorian Christian princess of the Kerait tribe, and wife to Tolui, son of Genghis Khan, Sorghaghtani occupied a singular position in one of history's most ferocious patriarchies.
When Tolui’s death left her a widow at court, she did not retreat into mourning. Instead, she orchestrated one of the most formidable power plays in Mongol history, securing the future of her sons: Möngke, Kublai, Hulagu, and Ariq Böke — each destined for conquest and crown.
According to Persian chronicler Ata-Malik Juvayni and later corroborated by Rashid al-Din’s Jami' al-Tawarikh, Sorghaghtani mastered the delicate art of factional diplomacy, building alliances through marriage pacts and secret missives sent by trusted riders across the empire’s vast steppes.
But it was in 1241, when the empire teetered in the wake of Ögedei Khan’s death, that Sorghaghtani’s influence reached its apogee. In what later accounts described as her final letter, sent to Batu Khan of the western Ulus, she urged unity and cautioned against the ambitions of Güyük, Ögedei’s son. The letter, said to be written in her own hand, carried not only familial warnings but an implicit threat — reminding Batu of the loyalty Tolui's house had shown during Genghis Khan’s campaigns.
The original text of the letter has been lost to history, yet its consequences were irrevocable. Within two years, Güyük lay dead, possibly poisoned during a journey to confront Batu. Möngke, Sorghaghtani’s eldest, was elected Great Khan in 1251, a victory attributed to his mother’s shrewd diplomacy and whispered alliances.
Sorghaghtani died shortly after Möngke’s enthronement. The Persian historian Juvayni remarked that “if the kingdom of the world had been hers by right, it would have been no marvel.” Her grave in Mongolia remains unmarked, her letter lost to the winds, but the empire she secured for her sons reshaped Asia and Europe alike.
In the hush between wars, it was a widow’s ink-stained plea that decided an empire.
Sources
- Juvayni, Ata-Malik. The History of the World-Conqueror. Translated by John Andrew Boyle. Harvard University Press, 1958.
- Rashid al-Din. The Successors of Genghis Khan. Translated by John Andrew Boyle. Columbia University Press, 1971.
- Atwood, Christopher P. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. Facts On File, 2004.
- Man, John. Kublai Khan: The Mongol King Who Remade China. Bantam Press, 2006.