Шыңғыс қаған шежіресі: тарихи төл дереккөз мәселесіне

Abstract

The article is devoted to an analysis of issues related to the historical role and image of Chinggis Khan, based on scholarly literature and sources concerning his historical persona. It focuses on the conclusions regarding the composition and study of the medieval historical source conventionally known in scholarship as the “Secret History of the Mongols”. The study examines the process of the work’s integration into academic circulation, as well as the features of its translation into different languages at various stages, along with the scholarly value of different translation versions. The article also analyzes how, during the Soviet period, the works of scholars such as Boris Pankratov, Sergey Kozin, and Boris Vladimirtsov contributed to the formation of the Soviet school of Mongolian studies through a comprehensive examination of the linguistic, historical, and structural features of the text, as well as through the production of scholarly translations and commentaries. Within the Eurasian context, the everyday life and historical identity of Turkic–Mongolic tribal groups who led a nomadic lifestyle and engaged in livestock breeding and horse husbandry during the 13th–14th centuries are depicted through individual narrative fragments. In this steppe milieu, the historical source describing the birth, origins, life trajectory, and the political formation of the ruling Töre dynasty is regarded as an important material for reconstructing historical reality. The genealogy and generational continuity of the Chinggisid lineage are systematically analyzed, and kinship relations among its members are presented in a structured manner. The methodological section of the article examines data concerning the ancestors of Chinggis Khan described in the “Secret History of the Mongols” as “born from light.”Furthermore, the content of this work is compared with the historical writings of Rashid al-Din, Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh, and Abulgazi Bahadur Khan, Shajara-i Turk (The Genealogy of the Turks), in order to identify similarities and differences in shared narrative plots and historical motifs. These cultural and historical legacies, formed within the framework of Turkic genealogical traditions, play an important role in preserving collective historical memory and systematizing data related to individual historical figures. Historical narratives provide a basis for understanding the social relations, structures of power, and spiritual worldview of the Chinggisid era. The study scientifically addresses issues of intertextual relationships between sources, the specifics of representing historical reality, and authorial perspectives. The comparative analysis enables the authors to demonstrate the exceptional scholarly and cognitive significance of this source, positioning it as an important theoretical and methodological foundation for the analysis of historical data.