The Undefeated Warrior Princess - Khutulun Khan.

One of the greatest and feared warriors of the mongol empire was Khutulun Khan. 

Khutulun or Aiyurug (which means ‘Moonlight’ or ’shining mood’) A Warrior Princess, was the only daughter of Kaidu and great-great-grand daughter of Genghis Khan. She was known for being fearless and the best among her 14 brothers, hence making her Kaidu’s favorite child.

Khutulun was born in 1260 and from an early age, she was taught how to survive. She learnt archery, wrestling and horse riding. No man could beat her in a wrestling match. She was taught well of the military and her father would often seek advice from her.

Marco Polo described her as “so well-made in all her limbs, and so tall and strongly built, that she might almost be taken for a giantess” and that she was “so strong, that there was no young man in the whole kingdom who could overcome her, but she vanquished them all."  Rashid-al-Din wrote; “[Khutulun] often went on military campaigns, where she performed valiant deeds with her father.” She was beautiful and she would look at the opponent with a fierce in her gaze. She was known for her physical prowess. 

Khutulun’s “wrestling challenge” is what intrigued me the most, why? Because she never lost. Never. Her Parents wanted her to get married but she refused and instead set fourth a challenge saying she would marry any man who could defeat her, but if he lost, he had to give her 100 horses. She won over 10,000 horses. 

According to Marco Polo, her parents wanted her to settle down and lose against a young decent prince who was so confident that he was going to win he challenged her for 1,000 horses instead of 100, either he was an over-confident man or he underestimated Khutulun because that day Khutulun had won a 1,000 more horses. Some records suggest that she did eventually get married but some say otherwise.

Kaidu wanted to name her his successor and the next khan but due to the pressure from the males, he named her brother the next khan. Khutulun agreed on withdrawing her political power if she was made the commander of the military. Which was granted to her. She passed away in 1306. 

Her story has inspired many artworks and operas in the Europe. François Pétis de la Croix wrote about khutulun and called her Turandot, meaning; “Turkish Daughter." However, The frenchman altered the real story and in it, Turandot challenged suitors with riddles instead of wrestles and if they failed, they were executed. Many others wrote her story but each time it differed from the real Khutulun’s story. In the Netflix series “Marco Polo”,  Khutulun is portrayed by Claudia Kim.

The undefeated, fearless and beautiful warrior princess is still remembered in  Mongolia during the Mongolian wrestling, Mongolian Derby (horse racing) and archery.