Khutulun didn't want to get married
- Empire of the Mongols, second half of the thirteenth century. The empire founded by Gengis Khan was divided into four parts, of which two remained at war for 30 years: The Great Khan Empire, presided over by Kublai Khan, which included the newly conquered China, and the Khanerria Txagatai, which depended on Kaidu.
Kaidu's main army leader was Khutulu (1260-1306), a brave soldier, a magnificent strategist and a single daughter among Kaidu's 15 children. Marco Polo described in Khutulu: “It was very beautiful, but it was also strong and courageous, and throughout his father’s kingdom there were no men in force to impose themselves on the feats.” Like all the Mongols, man and woman, he was a magnificent rider, very skilled also with the bow, but not in that he was the only woman, as the great-grandfather Gengis Khan put into effect the order to train all the women in the bow during his tenure.
But gender equality was limited to that, and from a very young age, Khutulu was pushed to get married. Khutulun did not want to marry and established a strict condition for surrender: he would marry the man who won in the traditional Mongol battle called bökh. The candidates had to donate 100 horses if they lost the battle to the daughter of the Chana and the legend says she got 10,000 horses.
He eventually married a man named Khutulun Ghaza Khan, for convenience, to silence the rumors opened by enemies about his sexuality, gender, or unknowingly relationship with his father. When his father died, being a woman, he did not have the opportunity to take his place, and he advocated for one of his brothers when conflicts for power arose. He died or was killed at age 46, because the causes of his death have never been revealed.
In Europe, Khutulu inspired the character of Turandot, which was especially popularized through the Puccini Homonymous Opera. In the West, therefore, the story of Khutulun or Turandot has a clear lesson: the strong woman renounces power for the love of a man.
In Mongolia Khutulun still has an influence, in particular on the clothing used today in the bökh fighting. The fighters act with their bare chest to ensure that they have not returned from the dead in Khutulu. In other words, they prevent women from participating in bökh competitions and the possibility of dominating men like Khutulun.
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