The Onon below Dadal is where Temujin's ground ends and the Tayichi'ut's begins; the line is not pinned.
The two sides have been enemies since about 1170, when Tarqutai Kiriltuq and Todo'en Girte led the Tayichi'ut away from Yesugei's widow and sons and left them on the river. Tarqutai later captured the boy Temujin and kept him in a cangue until Sorqan-shira helped him escape. No raid between the two is recorded for the winter of 1199 to 1200 and none is dated between the escape and the war of 1200, so this is a front line of a feud, not a raiding belt in the strict sense.
It is drawn because a war on the Onon is likely in spring or summer 1200 (see the likely course), because the camps of both sides lie within a day's ride of one another, and because a stolen horse or a hunt over the line could open the war at any time. The GM may hide the belt if it is thought to claim too much.
Who holds it
- Name
- Temujin upstream, Tarqutai Kiriltuq downstream
- Title
- No holder; border pasture
- Confidence
- low
Allies and rivals
Temujin and Toghrul against the Tayichi'ut; the Tayichi'ut friendly to Jamuqa.
How things stand that morning
Tense: two camps within reach of one another. No fight since the cangue and the escape; Temujin has Toghrul's help to call on, the Tayichi'ut have Jamuqa's goodwill.
Military
Clan levies on both sides; no numbers.
Threats
- A horse raid or a hunting quarrel that starts the war early
- A winter dzud that sends herds over the line
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- Spring and summer 1200 (season not settled)Temujin and Toghrul attack the Tayichi'ut on the Onon; Tarqutai is beaten and flees; the Onon below Dadal changes hands.Depends on: Toghrul's help, and the Tayichi'ut not receiving Jamuqa's host first. Stopped by: A Tayichi'ut strike on Temujin's camps, or Toghrul refusing.
Where the sources disagree
- The regional brief asks who holds the Onon that winter; the sources do not say. The belt marks the stretch where the line probably runs.
Evidence: The feud is thick in the Secret History; the position of the line in winter 1199 to 1200 is inferred.
On the map: The outline marks where the two ranges meet; its edges are guesses.
Sources and studies
- The Secret History of the Mongols, transl. and commentary Igor de Rachewiltz (Brill 2004; shorter edition ed. J. C. Street, Western Washington University 2015)
- The Secret History of the Mongols, adapted by Paul Kahn from the Cleaves translation (names and place names of the early chapters)
- Christopher P. Atwood, Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire (2004)
- Taichiud (Wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.