Dayir Usun

Who he is

Name

Dayir Usun

Title

Chief (beki) of the Uwas (Qo'as) Merkit

Since

Not known

Born

Not known

Family

Daughter Qulan (Qulan Khatun), named in the later story of his submission (see the likely course); other kin not named.

Confidence

medium for the name and the division; low for the winter camp

One of the three Merkit chiefs in the Secret History's raid for Borte; on the English Wikipedia article on the Irtysh battle the leader of the faction that surrendered to Temujin.

Overlord

None; acts with Toqto'a Beki and Qa'atai-darmala in war.

What it holds

• The Tar steppe (Uwas Merkit) between the Orkhon and the Selenga, with its herds and hunters

Allies and rivals

Fellow chiefs Toqto'a and Qa'atai-darmala; enemies Toghrul and Temujin.

How things stand that morning

On his own camp on the Tar steppe or with Toqto'a; not pinned.

Wealth

Herds and furs; no figures.

Military

Raiders; no numbers.

Threats

• A Kereyit and Mongol raid on the Orkhon-Selenga march

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.

1. About 1204 to 1205Dayir Usun yields to Temujin and gives his daughter Qulan, who becomes one of Temujin's wives (one line; after the opening date).Depends on: The Merkit defeats. Stopped by: A Merkit settlement or a Naiman victory.

Places of note

• Dayir Usun's camp (approximate): Camp on the Tar steppe; approximate.

Where the sources disagree

• The English Wikipedia article spells the division 'Uvas'; Rashid and the Secret History give Uwas or Qo'as.

Evidence: Named; position inferred from the division's ground.

On the map: Drawn from the placing in the English Wikipedia article; the boundary with the Uduyit is a guess.

Primary sources for Merkit

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Record of the Personal Campaigns of the Holy Warrior (Chinggis Khan) (presented to Khubilai in 1288, finished in Mongolian in 1290; the surviving Chinese version dates from 1369). A year-by-year Chinese account of Temujin's wars, drawn from the lost Altan Debter (the same source behind the Yuan shi's first chapter and Rashid al-Din). Read online
• The Secret History of the Mongols (1228 or 1240 (the colophon's Year of the Rat is disputed), with later additions; the surviving Chinese transcription and gloss were made under the Ming in the 1380s). The only Mongol account of Temujin's rise, written within living memory. Read online
• Compendium of Chronicles, Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah Hamadani (1300 to 1311, at Tabriz). The official Ilkhanid history, compiled from Mongol oral tradition and the lost Altan Debter. Read online
• Compendium of Chronicles: the Turkic and Mongol tribes and the life of Chinggis Khan, Rashid al-Din Hamadani (about 1300 to 1311, in the Ilkhanate). The fullest description of who held what on the steppe around 1200, written a century later from Mongol court records (the Altan Debter) and from informants such as Bolad Chingsang. Read online
• History of the Yuan, Song Lian (宋濂) and the Ming history office (1369 to 1370). Juan 1, the annals of Taizu (Chinggis Khan), gives a dated outline of Temujin's early wars drawn from the same lost Altan Debter as the Shengwu qinzheng lu: the Tatar war with the Jin in 1196, the Merkit and Naiman campaigns, the Tayichi'ut war, Jamuqa's coalition of 1201 and the Tatar and Kereyit wars of 1202 and 1203. Read online