Ögedei Khan

Ögedei Khan was the third son of Genghis Khan and succeeded him as great khan in 1229. During his reign Mongol armies completed the conquest of the Jin dynasty, invaded Korea, expanded in the Middle East and swept through Rus’ and central Europe. Ögedei developed Karakorum as an imperial centre and supported postal and administrative systems, but heavy drinking damaged his health. His death in 1241 halted the European campaign and opened a prolonged regency.

Ögedei is a major character in Conn Iggulden’s Conqueror series, especially Empire of Silver. Fiction often contrasts his geniality and administrative skill with alcoholism and the burden of succeeding an extraordinary father. His reign demonstrates that Mongol expansion depended on a broad command system rather than the presence of Genghis Khan alone.

In Neal Stephenson’s The Mongoliad: Book 1, their answer is a journey across the steppe to kill Ögedei Khan at the centre of his empire. Cecelia Holland’s Until the Sun Falls places Ögedei Khan within a narrative shaped by military command and battlefield decision-making, political ambition and government, and family, marriage and personal loyalty. Other novels featuring Ögedei Khan include Conn Iggulden’s Bones of the Hills, Conn Iggulden’s Lords of the Bow, Neal Stephenson’s The Mongoliad: Book 2, Neal Stephenson’s Katabasis, and Neal Stephenson’s The Mongoliad: Book 3.

In non-fiction, Ögedei Khan is discussed in John Man’s The Mongol Empire. John Man’s The Mongol Empire approaches the subject through empire, conquest and resistance, military command and battlefield decision-making, and family, marriage and personal loyalty.