When my father, Kaidu, first held me in his arms, he did not know I would one day ride by his side to the battlefield.
I, Khutulun, was destined for greatness.
I come from a lineage of mighty rulers and legendary warriors. My great-great-grandfather, Genghis Khan, founded the Mongol Empire. His wife, Börte, was a powerful woman who survived many hardships and had an intelligent mind and fire in her eyes. It is no surprise that the strength of my ancestors lives in my blood.
I was raised in a "moving" city of Gers: white, dome-shaped tents made of felt. From a distance, our homes looked like thousands of white pebbles scattered across the grassy steppes. As the seasons changed, our people would pack up their Gers and animals and move across the country. We never stayed in one place for too long.
Growing up with 14 brothers, there was never a dull day in my family's Ger. Although they liked to mess with me, my brothers never made me feel left out. They thickened my skin and made me tough. We rode horses, had wrestling matches, and experienced many adventures. As my brothers got older, they became warriors and had to train in combat and archery. At my camp, girls learned to ride horses and wield a bow as skillfully as the boys. I always thought of myself as a fighter.
I am someone who never backs down from a challenge.
When I grew into womanhood, many men sought to make me their wife. But I was not so quick to offer my hand. I decided that any man who wished to marry me had to defeat me in a game of wrestling. Crowds of people would circle around me and my opponent, whooping and cheering. I'd block out the noise and concentrate on taking them down as quickly as possible. To everyone's surprise, I always threw my opponents, leaving them flat on their backs. With each victory, there came a prize—ten horses at least from each man I vanquished. After beating hundreds of suitors, I had gained a fortune of 10,000 horses. Impressed by my skills, Father asked me to join him on the battlefield and capture our enemies.
Once, a foreign man named Marco Polo visited our lands. Upon meeting me, he said that he admired my fearlessness. Later, he would write about me in his travel journal:
Khutulun was so well-made in all her limbs, and so tall and strongly built, that she might also 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.
Sometimes she would quit her father's side and make a dash at the host of the enemy, and seize some man thereout, as deftly as a hawk pounces on a bird, and carry him to her father; and this she did many a time.
Eventually, jealous rumors began to spread about me refusing to marry. To save my family's reputation, I found a man worthy of my hand and settled down. But I always remembered that I never lost a wrestling match and had fought beside Father in battle.
I, Khutulun, the warrior princess, was destined for greatness.