Conn Iggulden - Conqueror (2011)

When I began this series, I intended to write all of Kublai Khan’s life. The most famous events - meeting Marco Polo, both attacks on Japan - seemed like vital parts of the story. Yet it is a truth of historical fiction that all the characters are long dead; all the lives and stories have ended, and usually not well. Very few lives finish in glory and I have already written the deaths of Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan. For once, I thought I might finish a series with a character still alive and with all his dreams and hopes still to come. I might know that Kublai’s wife and son died before him, leaving him a broken man given to drinking and eating far too much, but at this point in his life, he does not - and that is how I wanted to leave him.

There will always be loose ends with such a decision. Kublai defeated the Sung at last and established the Yuan dynasty of a united China, a name still used for the currency today. His descendants ruled for almost a hundred years before fading into history, though the bloodline of Genghis ruled other khanates for far longer.

This story began with a single, starving family, hunted and alone on the plains of Mongolia - and ends with Kublai Khan ruling an empire larger than that of Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar. Over just three generations, that is the simply the greatest rags-to-riches tale in human history.

Conn Iggulden

London, 2011

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Airag/Black airag

Clear alcohol, distilled from mare’s milk.

Arban

Small, raiding group, usually ten men.

Bondsmen

Warriors sworn to personal service, guards to a khan.

Chuh!

Phonetic representation of the Mongol horse command for speed.

Deel

Lightly padded full-length robe with wide sleeves, tied at the waist.

Earth Mother

Earth spirit, partner to the Sky Father.

Gers

Circular homes of felt and wicker lattice, sometimes mistakenly called yurts.

Guest rights

The offer of temporary protection or truce while in a man’s home.

Gur-khan/Great Khan

Khan of khans, leader of the nation.

Jagun

Military unit of a hundred men.

Khan

Tribal leader. No ‘k’ sound in Mongolian, so pronounced: ‘Haan’.

Minghaan

Military unit of a thousand.

Nokhoi Khor!

Pronounced: ‘Ner-hoy, Hor.’ Literally: ‘Hold the Dog!’ - a greeting when approaching strangers.

Orlok

Overall commander of a Mongol army.

Quiriltai

A gathering of princes for the purpose of electing a new khan.

Shaman

Medicine man in a tribe, both a healer and one who communes with spirits.

Sky Father

Sometimes called Tengri. Mongol deity, partner to the Earth Mother.

Tuman

Unit of ten thousand.

Yam stations

Stops for fast scouts to change horses, twenty-five miles apart.

INDEX OF CHARACTERS

Ala-ud-Din Mohammed

Shah of Khwarezm. Died exhausted on an island in the Caspian Sea.

Alkhun

Senior officer of the khan’s guards in Karakorum.

Arslan

Master swordsmith who was once armourer to the Naiman tribe. Father to Jelme. Died of disease in Samarkand.

Baabgai

The bear. A Chin recruit who becomes a successful wrestler.

Baidur

Son of Chagatai. Rules his father’s khanate around modern day Afghanistan.

Barchuk

Khan of the Uighurs.

Basan

Wolf tribe. Bondsman of Yesugei in Wolf of the Plains .

Batu

Son to Jochi and grandson to Genghis Khan. Leads a tuman with Tsubodai and becomes a lord with vast lands in Russia.

Bayar

General to Kublai.

Bekter

Oldest son of Yesugei and Hoelun. Murdered by his brothers.

Bela IV

King of Hungary at the time Tsubodai’s tumans attacked.

Borte

Olkhun’ut tribe. Daughter to Sholoi and Shria. Becomes wife to Temujin/Genghis and has four sons: Jochi, Chagatai, Ogedai and Tolui.

Chagatai

Old storyteller in Wolf tribe.

Chagatai

Same name as storyteller. Second son of Genghis and Borte. Father to Baidur.

Chakahai

Daughter to Rai Chiang of the Xi Xia. A princess given as tribute. Second wife to Genghis.

Chen Yi

Criminal gang leader in Chin city of Baotou.

Chulgetei

General of a tuman under Tsubodai.

Conrad Von Thuringen

Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.

Eeluk

Bondsman to Yesugei Khan. Becomes khan of the Wolves on Yesugei’s death.

Enq

Olkhun’ut tribe. Father to Koke. Brother to Hoelun. Uncle to Temujin/Genghis and his siblings.

Genghis Khan(see also Temujin)

First khan of the Mongol nation. Husband to Borte. Father to Jochi, Chagatai, Ogedai and Tolui. Dies in Bones of the Hills.

Guyuk

Son of Ogedai Khan and Torogene.

Hasan

Brutalised servant in assassin fortress of Alamut.

Ho Sa

Officer of the Xi Xia. Becomes envoy and officer under Genghis. Dies in Bones of the Hills .

Hoelun

Wife of Yesugei. Mother to Bekter, Temujin, Kachiun, Khasar, Temuge and Temulun.

Hulegu

Third son of Sorhatani and Tolui. Grandson of Genghis Khan.

Ilugei

General of a tuman under Tsubodai.

Inalchuk

Governor of the city of Otrar. Dies when Genghis pours molten silver into his mouth.

Jebe(originally Zurgadai)

Chosen successor to Arslan. Becomes one of Genghis’ most trusted and able generals. Leader of ‘Bearskin’ tuman. Friend to Jochi, Genghis’ son.

Jelaudin

Son and heir to Shah Ala-ud-Din Mohammed.

Jelme

Son of Arslan. Later becomes one of Genghis’ most trusted generals.

Jochi

First son of Genghis and Borte. Some doubt over paternity. Becomes general to ‘Iron Wolf’ tuman. Only general ever to rebel against Genghis. Killed in Bones of the Hills .

Josef Landau

Master of the Livonian Brothers, an order of European knights.

Kachiun

Fourth son of Yesugei and Hoelun. Becomes a general under Genghis.

Khalifa Al-Nayan

Leader of elite Arab cavalry for Shah Mohammed.

Khasar

Third son of Yesugei and Hoelun. Becomes a general under Genghis.

Kokchu

Shaman to the Naiman Khan and later to Genghis. Killed in Bones of the Hills .

Koke

Olkhun’ut tribe. Nephew of Hoelun. Cousin to Temujin and his siblings.

Koten

Leader of the Cumans, a refugee people who fled into Hungary and converted to Christianity.

Kublai

Second son of Sorhatani and Tolui. Grandson of Genghis Khan.

Lian