Historical acts performed by outstanding personalities of past eras were perceived by many ancient and medieval peoples as the result of the intervention of a higher divine power, which was often expressed in attributing to these people an unusual, legendary origin. In the historical past, such ideas developed in this way were also common among many ancient and medieval peoples of Eurasia, including the Mongolian nomads, which is reflected in their traditions preserved in chronicles and folklore sources.

Keywords: legendary origin, historical traditions, founder of nomadic empire, Xianbians, Khitan, Mongols, Koreans.

Among the Mongol peoples of Central Asia, this idea is most fully and comprehensively reflected in the legend of the origin of the founder of the Mongol World Empire, Genghis Khan, and, consequently, the entire "Golden Family" of the Genghisids.

According to the legend set forth in the "Hidden Legend", the first legendary ancestor of Genghis Khan "was Borte-Chino, who was born by the permission of the Highest Heaven. His wife was Goa-Maral" [The hidden legend..., 1990, p. 12]. What exactly this "permission of the Highest Heaven" consisted of, except for the very fact of Borte Chino's birth, this legend does not say. Among his descendants, his ninth-generation descendant Duva-Sohor was distinguished by an unusual appearance. "Duva-Sohor had one single eye, in the middle of his forehead, with which he could see for as many as three nomads" [Innermost Legend..., 1990, p. 12].

However, Genghis Khan's genealogy was directly related not to him, but to his younger brother Dobun-Mergen, who married a" young woman "named Alan-Goa, a beautiful woman from a noble family who was the daughter of Khoriltai-Mergen," noyon of Hori-Tumat " [Innermost legend..., 1990, p. 12 - 13]. Rashid ad-Din's essay says that Alan-Goa's husband was Dobun Bayan, who came from the "indigenous Mongols", and she herself came from the" Kuralas tribe " (Rashid ad-Din, 1952, p.78). "After entering the house of Dobun-Mergen, Alan-Goa gave birth to two sons. They were Bugunotai and Belgunotai" [The Hidden legend..., 1990, p. 13]. In the life of Dobun-Mergen itself, no unusual phenomena were noted. However, " after the death of Dobun-Mergen, Alan-Goa, being unmarried, gave birth to three sons. They were: Bugu-Khadagi, Buhatu-Salzhi and Bodonchar-prostak" [The hidden legend..., 1990, p. 13].

The birth of these three sons caused doubts and gossip among their older brothers. They "began to talk quietly" about their mother Alan-Goa: "Our mother gave birth to three sons, and yet there are no paternal brothers, relatives or cousins, or a husband with her. The only male in the house is Maalih, a Bayaudian.

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It must be from him that these three sons are born" [The Hidden Legend..., 1990, p. 14]. When word of this rumor reached Alan-Goa, she "once cooked a whole dried ram in the spring," gathered all her five sons together, and "gave them one stick each to break." They broke a single twig of wood without much difficulty. "Then she again gave them, with a request to break, already about five pieces of twigs tied together. All five of them grabbed together and squeezed in their fists, but they still couldn't break it" [Innermost Legend..., 1990. p.14]. After that, Alan-Goa turned to her sons: "You, my two sons, Belgunotai and Bugunotai, condemned me and said among yourselves:' I gave birth to these three sons, and who are these children from?' Your suspicions are well founded" [Innermost legend..., 1990, p. 14].

According to the version of Alan-Goa: "But every night, sometimes through the smoke of the yurt, at one o'clock, the light inside (went out), a light-haired man used to come to me; he stroked my belly, and the light penetrated my belly. And it goes like this: at the hour when the sun and moon converge, scratching, it goes like a yellow dog. Why do you talk such nonsense? After all, if you understand all this, then it turns out that these sons are marked with the seal of heavenly origin. How could you talk about them as someone who would be a match for a mere mortal? When they become kings of kings, khans over all, then only will the common people understand all this!" After this explanation, Alan-Goa began to instruct her sons: "All five of you were born from my one womb, and you are like the five twigs of yesterday. If you act and act each for himself, you can easily be broken by everyone, like those twigs. If you agree and agree, like those twigs tied together, how can you become someone's easy prey?" [The hidden legend..., 1990, p. 14].

Rashid al-Din wrote about this: "Alangoa, without a husband, became pregnant by the light; she gave birth to three sons, and those who come from the family and descendants of these three sons are called nirun, i.e. "loins". This is an allusion to pure loins, for they are conceived of light "(Rashid al-Din, 1952, p. 178).

This story from the "Hidden Legend"in the part where it is said about breaking twigs, very much resembles a very well-known and widely spread story about how an elderly king-father gives each of his sons an arrow and a bundle of arrows to break in this way. In the history of nomadic peoples, such examples of "visual agitation" in favor of the unity of the brothers-heirs were attributed to several rulers, including the Scythian king Atey and the Bulgarian King Kubrat Dul. Despite their clarity and evidence, in none of the cases noted, these examples did not save the heirs from dividing their father's inheritance and his possessions. The sons of Alan-Goa, despite all her efforts, also divided the inheritance among themselves, leaving, as they say, without anything, the youngest brother, Bodonchar, "considering him stupid and stupid." uncouth and not even recognizing him as a relative" [Innermost legend..., 1990, p. 14]. In the future, despite his uncouth appearance, it was he who "became the ancestor of the Borzhigin generation" [Hidden legend..., 1990, p. 17]. According to T. D. Skrynnikova, in this case, the "Hidden Legend" contains an error. Judging by the consonance of the names, the founder of the Borzhigin family should be considered Bodonchar's great-grandfather, the ninth descendant of Borte-Chino and Goa-Maral, Borzhigidai-Mergen (Skrynnikova, 1997, p. 17). Rashid al-Din's essay says that the name of the family is "kiyat-borjigin, which means blue - eyed; their branch originated from Genghis Khan's father and has [therefore] a kinship relationship [to the Genghis Khan and his father's family]" [Rashid al-Din, 1952, p. 79].

Among the descendants of Bodonchar were Yesugai-Bagatur and his eldest son Temujin, who went down in history under the name of Genghis Khan, their heirs and descendants, who formed the" Golden Family " of the Genghisids. Rashid al-Din's essay states that " Genghis Khan, his ancestors and brothers belong, according to the aforementioned authority, to

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However, the name of the children of Yesugai Bahadur, who was the father of Genghis Khan, became Kiyat-Burjigin; they are both Kiyats and Burjigins. Burjigin in Turkic [means] a person whose eyes are blue" [Rashid ad-Din, 1952, p. 155].

According to T. D. Skrynnikova:"In the ideological justification of supreme power, the connection between Heaven and the ruler is of particular importance, which is primarily expressed in its heavenly origin." As an example, she mentioned Bodonchar, who was born among the Alangoi with the participation of the heavenly light [Skrynnikova, 1997, p. 64]. However, in this case, it remains unclear why the heavenly light took part in the birth of Bodanchar and his two brothers, who were not distinguished by any outstanding abilities and deeds during their lifetime, while the Eternal Sky gave its patronage to his descendant, several generations later, Temujin.

According to S. G. Klyashtorny and T. I. Sultanov, initially the claims to supreme power among the Mongol nomads were justified by the followers of Temujin after his election to the throne at the Kurultai of all the Mongol nobility in 1206 and assigning him the title of Genghis Khan by the fact that his father Yesugai-bagatur was the nephew of the last Mongol ruler Khutul-Kagan [Klyashtorny and Sultanov, 2004, p. 193]. And the legend of the celestial origin of Bodonchar appeared only when many countries and peoples were conquered and a new ideological justification was needed for the claim to domination over the whole world. According to the Mongol nomads, the time has come when "Heaven and Earth conspired" and determined him, Temujin, a descendant of Bodonchar "marked with the seal of heavenly origin", to be the only legitimate ruler of the world, the" king of kings " (Klyashtorny and Sultanov, 2004, p.194). True, in the life of Genghis Khan, the protection of the Eternal Sky was not limited to his origin. According to the Mongols, the Highest Heaven, and sometimes the Earth, preserved and helped their chosen one in many difficult trials throughout his life (Skrynnikova, 1997, p. 64-65).

In the light of various interpretations of this story, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that indications of the unusual origin of the founder and ruler of a nomadic state from the intervention of heavenly forces as a justification for his claims to supreme power among the Mongol nomads appeared long before the accession of Genghis Khan and his successors.

A similar story about the origin of the founder of the Xianbian state, Tanshi Huai, is contained in Chinese sources describing the events of the second century AD: "In the reign of Xuan-di, 147 - 167, Tanshi Huai appeared among the Xianbians. His father Tuluheu had previously served three years in the Hun army. At this time, his wife at home gave birth to a son. Tuluheu, on his return, was astonished and wanted to kill him. His wife told him that one afternoon, as she was walking along the road, she heard a thunderclap; she looked up at the sky, and in that interval a hailstone fell into her mouth. She swallowed a hailstone and soon felt pregnant, and in the tenth month gave birth to a son. We should expect something extraordinary, and it is better to let it grow up. Tuloheu did not listen to her and left her; but his wife secretly ordered the family to bring up this child, and gave him the name Tanshihai " (Bichurin, 1950, p. 154).

Another translation of this legend states that Tanshi Huai was born during the reign of Emperor Huan Di. According to the source, Touluhou, who had returned from three years of service, "was told by his wife that one afternoon, as she was walking along the road, she heard a thunderclap. When she raised her head to look at the sky, a hailstone fell into her mouth, which she swallowed, then became pregnant and gave birth to a son ten months later. This child, [said the wife], undoubtedly has an extraordinary [future], so it should be raised and seen what awaits it. Touluhou didn't listen to his wife and threw the baby away. Then the wife secretly asked the family to pick up and raise a child, which she gave the nickname Tanshihuai "[Taskin, 1984, p. 75]. In the updated translation given in the work of E. I. Kychanov, concerning the birth of the founder of the Xianbian state, it is said that "when Toulohou returned, he considered him a great hero."

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(child. - E. K.) for a werewolf and wanted to kill him" [Kychanov, 1997, p. 54-55]. Despite his wife's pleas about the extraordinary future of a child conceived in such an unusual way, " Tolohou did not listen and threw it away." Only thanks to the efforts of the mother, the child named Tanshihuai was "picked up and raised" by the family, probably servants or relatives of Touluhou [Kychanov, 1997, p. 55].

Even at a young age, Tanshi Huai was distinguished by "bravery, physical strength and intelligence", which surprised the elders of his clan and tribe. And after his fellow tribesmen elected him as an elder, Tanshi Huai subdued all the nomadic tribes of Central Asia and created a powerful Xianbian state [Bichurin, 1950, p. 154].

A similar, though not identical, tradition is recorded regarding the unearthly origin of the founder of the Khitan Empire, Yelu Abaoji. In the dynastic history of the Liao Empire, it says:: "Moreover, [his] mother, nee Xiao, saw in a dream that the Sun had entered [her] womb, and became pregnant. In the 13th year of the [era of rule] called Hsien-Tung (872) - the year of the [era of rule established by] Han I-Tsung of the Tang Dynasty - [she]gave birth Abaoji" [History of the Iron Empire, 2007, p. 43]. In this case, Yelu Abaoji's mother only dreamed that she became pregnant from the Sun. The history of the Liao Dynasty does not claim that this event actually happened. However, the birth of the founder of the Khitan Empire was not without extraordinary phenomena. According to this story, "during the birth, the house had a magical light and an extraordinary fragrance. He was born the size of a three-year-old child and immediately began to crawl" [History of the Iron Empire, 2007, p. 43].

V. S. Taskin describes this event somewhat differently with reference to the Liao Shi: "Abaoji was born in 872. Legend has it that before she became pregnant, his mother dreamed that the sun had fallen on her breast. During childbirth, a magical light and an unusual fragrance appeared. The baby that was born was as big as a three-year-old and could immediately crawl. Three months later, he started walking, and when he was one year old, he started talking" [Ye Lun-li, 1979, p. 346, note 5]. T. D. Skrynnikova drew attention to the similarity of these stories about the origin of Yelyu Abaoji from sunlight and the sons of Alan-Goa in her research:"...The story of Alan-Goa about the penetration of a ray from the sky through the smoke of the yurt at night, from which she became pregnant, which repeats the Khitan legend about the birth of the founder of the Abaoji dynasty in 872 after his mother saw in a dream that "the sun fell into her chest" (Skrynnikova, 1997, p. 64).

Ye Lun-li's essay also speaks about Yelu Abaoji's outstanding abilities, though without any indication of the intervention of the heavenly forces.: "From birth, the emperor was magnanimous, had a great mind, and was not like the others. Having reached adulthood, he was distinguished by a strong physique, courage, belligerence and quick wit. He was an excellent horseman and bowman, piercing iron as thick as one tsun with an arrow" (Ye Lun-li, 1979, p. 41). The listed advantages of the founder of the Khitan state are, in principle, hardly unusual. His life path was also not distinguished by events of a supernatural order. The only proof of his heavenly patronage is the mention in Ye Lun-li's essay about how "one night a light appeared over the place where the emperor was sleeping, which scared and surprised everyone around him" (Ye Lun-li, 1979, p. 41). It should be borne in mind that Yelu Abaoji did not belong to the ruling family of Dahe, from which there were previous Khitan rulers, so his coming to power can be interpreted as a coup, even if the other Khitan elders asked him to take the throne vacated after the death of the khagan Han Dejin. He "took the title himself and became Wang, completely taking over the Khitan state." During this event, the former Kagan clan "perished" (Kychanov, 1997, p.131-132).

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Although the seizure of power by military force in nomadic states was quite ordinary, it was a violation of established tradition and therefore required additional ideological justification. As a rule, in such cases, the winners in the struggle for supreme power appealed to the patronage of the divine forces.

For the first time, the founder of the Xiongnu state, Mode, resorted to the authority of the Supreme Deity of Heaven in support of his claims to the Shanyu throne, who overthrew his father Tuman and exterminated his relatives. After seizing power, he assumed the special title of "Heaven-enthroned great Shanyu Xiongnu" (Kychanov, 1997, p.7). His son and successor, Shanyu Laoshan, adopted an even more magnificent title - "the Great Xiongnu Shanyu born of Heaven and earth, set by the Sun and Moon" (Kychanov, 1997, pp. 7-8). It is quite possible that such a title was adopted at the instigation of his Chinese adviser Zhonghin Yue, in order to contrast it with the title of the Chinese emperor from the Han Dynasty, who bore the title "son of Heaven" (Khudyakov, 2003, p.64-65).

Similar in plot and character to the Khitan version of this legend, the legend also existed in the Korean kingdom of Silla, which, however, referred to much older events. According to the annals of this state, Prince "[Yure], who was born in 284, was the eldest son of Chobi. His mother was the daughter of Kalmunwan Naeima of the Pak family. Once, during a night trip, the reflection of a star entered her mouth, and from this she became pregnant, and on the evening when she gave birth, the house was filled with an unusual aroma " [Kim Busik, 2001, p. 103].

Judging by the information provided from various Chinese, Korean, and Mongolian sources, the similarity of stories about the heavenly origin of prominent historical figures, including the founders of large nomadic states, is not accidental. Most likely, among the ancient and medieval Mongol peoples (Xianbians, Khitans, and Mongols) during the periods of late antiquity and the early and developed Middle Ages, there was a historical tradition based on the idea that the founder of a major power could be a person of extraordinary origin, who was born as a result of the influence of higher heavenly forces.

If we compare the content of this tradition among different Mongol peoples, we can note that among the Xianbians it existed in a rather naive, probably primary, form. The main plot of the Xianbian version of this legend looks quite ordinary. During the three-year absence of her husband, who was serving in the army, the wife became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and when her husband returned, she ingenuously explained his appearance by saying that she got pregnant from a hailstone that fell into her mouth during a thunderstorm. Unsurprisingly, despite the child's" miraculous parentage", Touluhou was less than enthusiastic about this explanation, but rather skeptical. He preferred to get rid of an extraordinary offspring, whom he did not consider his son and heir. Tan Pihuai was able to show his rare military and organizational abilities at a fairly young, fifteen-year-old age, but still quite an adult, an established person. In this case, the whole story of the birth of the founder of the Xianbian state looks quite plausible, with the exception of pregnancy from a hailstone that got into the mouth, which does not so much justify the unusual origin of the hero of this legend, but puts him in a somewhat ambiguous position.

Probably, in order to avoid such an attitude to this legend, in its Korean version, instead of a hailstone, the light of a night star became the source of pregnancy, and the miraculous appearance of a royal child is accompanied by an "unusual fragrance". In this version, the connection between the unusual birth and his subsequent activities in the name of the foundation of a new state is lost, since the kingdom of Silla had already existed for several centuries at the time of this event. Therefore, you can

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consider that the Sillan version of the legend has a secondary origin. It could have been borrowed from the Xianbians during the period of their dominance in the political arena of East Asia and reinterpreted in the local environment. It can be assumed that since the third century AD, this tradition has acquired a regional character, going beyond the culture of a single nomadic people, Mongolian in terms of language.

In the Khitan version of the legend, the event itself is referred to as a dream, and the main celestial body, the Sun, is called the source of the birth of the future founder of the Khitan Empire. As evidence of the miraculous origin of Yelu Abaoji, the unusual growth and mobility of a newborn child, "magic light" and "unusual fragrance"are given. It is possible that these unconventional details for the nomad culture were taken from the Korean version of the legend and reinterpreted in such a way as not to question the patriarchal foundations of society.

The Mongolian version of the legend is the most difficult to analyze. Temujin's genealogy contains several indications of an unusual origin, or characteristic, of his ancestors, starting with the first ancestor Borte-Chino, who was born "by the permission of the Highest Heaven", and up to Bodonchar, who appeared as a result of "light entering the womb of Alan-Goa" [Hidden legend..., 2002, p. 6, 9]. At the same time, if we strictly follow the logic of tradition, Borte Chino cannot have a direct relationship to Bodonchar and his descendants, since his direct descendant Dobun Mergen died before the birth of the founder of the Borjigin family and, therefore, was not his ancestor. For the same reason, it is difficult to agree with the proposal to consider Borzhigidai-Mergen as the founder of the Borjigin family, despite the consonance of his name with the name of this genus (Skrynnikova, 1997, p. 17). In addition, neither Borte-Chino, nor Bodonchar and his two brothers, despite their birth as a result of the intervention of the "High Heaven", did anything unusual, especially anything outstanding for the Mongolian people and statehood. The older brothers of Bodonchar, despite the fact that they themselves were descended from Borte Chino, who was born by the heavenly permission, preferred to look for completely earthly, non-trivial reasons for the birth of their younger brothers. It is difficult to say whether they were satisfied with the explanation offered by their mother Alan-Goa, but in relation to the division of the inheritance with Bodonchar, they, like two of the three younger brothers born of the "light-haired man", were guided not by his higher destiny, but by an ordinary, quite ordinary feeling - greed, leaving him nothing from the common heritage of parents [The hidden legend..., 2002, p. 10].

Temujin himself, the future Genghis Khan, "shaker of the universe" and founder of the great Mongol Empire, of all possible miracles at the time of birth, got only an unusual blood clot clutched in his right hand. "And when it was time for him to be born, he was born clutching a dried blood clot in his right hand" [The Hidden Legend..., 2002, p. 15]. This was recalled by his mother Hoelun-Wujin, when Temujin and Khasar, while still in childhood, mercilessly killed their brother Bekter because of a ridiculous quarrel: "It is not for nothing that this one was born violently from my womb, clutching a lump of dried blood in his hand" [Innermost legend..., 2002, p. 21]. Such an omen looks more ominous than promising in Hoelun's eyes.

Apparently, the pedigree of the future founder of the Mongol state was based on several legends of different Mongol tribes that were similar in plot. This can explain the observed inconsistencies in the plot about the celestial origin of Temujin. It is difficult to say whether the story of its origin was influenced in any way by familiarity with the Khitan version of the ancient Mongolian legend. However, one might think that the appearance of "magic light" and "unusual fragrance" in this version is due to the Sillan tradition. You can use the floor-

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It is possible that such an unusual assessment of the origin and deeds of Genghis Khan's ancestors and the events of his own life, which is unusual for processing an ancient legend, is explained by the fact that the "Hidden Legend" was created in the first half of the XIII century, in conditions when many of Temujin's associates were alive, who knew his life path well from the moment of his birth and throughout. The time has not yet come to mythologize its origin and its deeds in 1240, when the "Hidden Legend" was being created. Probably, Genghis Khan's genealogy included various historical traditions and instructive stories that did not fully correspond to the ideology of the divine justification of his power over the whole world.

In the following years, in the middle of the 13th century, the cult of Genghis Khan began to form in the Mongol Empire. In the process of deifying his personality, Genghis Khan was proclaimed the "son of God", who by right should rule the entire population of the Earth, just as God rules in Heaven (Skrynnikova, 1997, p.68). Rashid al-Din's essay states that "the supreme truth made Genghis Khan powerful and he defeated his enemies" (Rashid al-Din, 1952, p. 106). This cult continued to exist and change in the Mongolian environment over the next few centuries and retained its significance in Mongolia up to the present time (Kradin and Skrynnikova, 2007, pp. 15-24). Under these circumstances, information about the origin of the founder of the Mongol state faded into the background in comparison with the historical deeds he committed during his lifetime.

list of literature

Bichurin N. Ya. Sobranie informatsii o narodakh, obitavshikh v Srednoi Azii v drevnih vremeni [Collection of information about the peoples who lived in Central Asia in ancient times], Part 1, Moscow: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1950.

Ye Lun-li. History of the Khitan State (Qidan guo zhi), Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1979.

History of the Iron Empire. Novosibirsk: Publishing House of IAET SB RAS, 2007.

Kim Busik. Samguk Sagi. Annals of Silla, Vol. 1, Moscow, 2001.

Klyashtorny S. G., Sultanov T. I. Gosudarstva i narody evraziyskikh steppei [States and peoples of the Eurasian steppes]. Antiquity and the Middle Ages. 2nd edition. St. Petersburg: Petersburg Oriental Studies. 2004.

Kradin N. N., Skrynnikova T. D. Pod znamenami Genghiskhana [Under the banners of Genghis Khan]. Nauka iz pervykh ruk [Science from the first hands], 2007, No. 1.
Kychanov E. I. Nomadic states from Huns to Manchus, Moscow: Publishing Company "Vostochnaya literatura", 1997.

Rashid al-Din. Collection of chronicles. T. I. Kn. 1. Moscow-L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1952.

Skrynnikova T. D. Charisma and power in the era of Genghis Khan. Moscow: Publishing Company "Vostochnaya literatura", 1997.

The secret legend of the Mongols. Ulan-Ude: Bur. knizhn. Publishing house, 1990.

The Hidden Legend of the Mongols, Moscow: KMK Publishing House, 2002.
Taskin V. S. Materials on the history of ancient nomadic peoples of the Donghu group, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1984.

Khudyakov Yu. S. History of diplomacy of nomads of Central Asia. 2nd ed. Novosibirsk: Novosibirsk State University, 2003.

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