Sorqan-shira, a Suldus dependent of the Tayichi'ut, hid the young Temujin when he escaped from Tarqutai Kiriltuq (our memory of the Secret History; not in the excerpt we could read).
The excerpt does list the Suldus among the camp circles that followed Temujin from Jamuqa at the parting, so the clan was already partly his; by our memory Sorqan-shira's own household stays with the Tayichi'ut; when it changes side is in the likely course. Chila'un, his son, is a famous companion of Temujin's later years; English Wikipedia (Rise of Genghis Khan) already has him among the four captains Temujin sends to rescue Toghrul in the Altai campaign it dates 1199, so on that account he is with Temujin before 1 January 1200 (the date of his joining is not pinned).
Who he is
- Name
- Sorqan-shira
- Title
- Head of a Suldus household among the Tayichi'ut
- Born
- not known
- Family
- Sons Chimbai and Chila'un (Chila'un later one of the four steeds).
- Confidence
- medium
Overlord
The Tayichi'ut.
What it holds
- A small Suldus household
How things stand that morning
With the Tayichi'ut.
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.
- 1200The Suldus come over to Temujin after the Tayichi'ut defeat.Depends on: Victory over the Tayichi'ut. Stopped by: Defeat.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The date of the Suldus joining is not pinned; the Wikipedia Taichiud page says the Suldus were a Tayichi'ut sub-clan, while the Kahn/Cleaves excerpt has Suldus following Temujin at the parting.
Primary sources for The Tayichi'ut
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
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)
- Taichiud (Wikipedia)
- Rise of Genghis Khan (Wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.