Palance's fairly Western features wouldn't be that out of place. The best evidence (admittedly not contemporary) says that Temujin was red-haired and light-eyed. We know his wife, Bourtai, had grey eyes. That was her well-known cognomen.
Check this link and scroll down:
www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-genghis-khanPresent evidence shows that Indo-Europeans were in Siberia and the Tarim Basin well before 1000BC. We know the
Tocharians had red hair and light eyes.
Some have tried to cast doubt upon the source, Rashid al-Din Hamadani:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid-al-Din_Hamadani#Historiographical_significanceHowever, as you can see, Rashid had access to the now-lost
Altan Debter. He also worked for Mahmud Ghazan,
the direct descendant of the Great Khan, and lord of the Persian Ilkhanate. Thus, I don't see any particular reason to doubt Rashid.
However, some get all kinds of butt-hurt about it. I present Sifu Qin, an "East Asian Advocate":
goldenhordes.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/debunking-a-white-myth-genghis-khan-had-red-hair/His facts are all kinds of sloppy. The "portrait" he talks about was painted by a Chinese artist
long after Temujin died. For somebody supposedly refuting "racists", he throws around all kinds of slurs. Since the Mongols killed about 10 million Chinese and destroyed plenty of priceless heritage while they were in China, I don't know why Sifu Qin really
wants GK to have been 100% "East Asian".
Takes all kinds.
Wow. Duece I'm impressed.
I'll try to show the sources whenever I can. Some books I've sold or lost over the years - some I've lost thanks to my love of whiskey, but that's another story.
I've been reading about good old Genghis for many a year now. It's an interesting claim that Genghis Khan had red hair and blue or green eyes.
If I remember correctly Harold Lamb's biography had something along those lines, as did the historian Rene Grousset, Paul Ratchnevsky amongst others.
There is a problem, that no contemporary sources give a physical description of Genghis. I'll try and go through the sources in chronoligical order saving Rashid-al-din for last.
The Altan Debter is lost. The Secret History of the Mongols was probably written in 1227, the year of Genghis' death and or probably updated in 1240.
Temüjin (Genghis Khan) and Börte in the 'Secret History of the Mongols' In part 61 of the Secret History, upon seeing the young Temüjin (Genghis) Dei-Sechen, father of Börte says,
'This boy of yours has fire in his eyes and light in his face.' This is seen as a sign of intelligence according to Urgunge Onon, a Mongolian translator of the Secret History.
In part 66, When Yesügei saw Dei-Sechen's daughter Börte, there was light in her face and fire in her eyes.
Scholars tend to disagree about the exact meaning of Börte. The mythological wolf ancestor of the Mongols was called Börte Chino.
Cleaves interprets Börte in Börte Chino as 'Bluish'
De Rachewititz as 'blue-grey'
Urgench Onon goes for a 'greyish white'
I think she could have been named after the ancestral wolf or maybe prominent members of her tribe the Onggirats, may have had Bluish or grey eyes?
The Shining/Glittering ManSifu Qin says,
'They pointed to Rashid Al-Din’s claim that the Borjigin tribe; which Genghis is a member of, originated when a female Mongolian met a “glittering” male red-haired, green-eyed White man and started an affair with him; spawning the tribe of Genghis.'
Again I'll go back to the earlier source the Secret history.
The Mongolian female is the beautiful Alan Qoa, she was married to Dobun Mergen. They had 2 sons, Dobun Mergen also adopted a boy from another tribe. After Dobun Mergen died she had 3 more sons. The 2 sons of Dobun Mergen accused their mother of sleeping with their adopted brother, she explained that,
'Every night, a shining yellow man came in to the yurt through the light of the smoke-hole and over the top of the door. He caressed my belly and his light sank into it. He slunk away sheepishly like a yellow dog by the light of the sun and the moon...Why do you talk unwisely?
Evidently it is a sign that they are sons of Heaven. Why do you compare them to the black-haired commoners?'
Part 21 secret historyCommoners wore no hats to cover their black hair. The same phrase is found in the Orkhon Inscriptions dating from the 8th century. Rashid also describes Ögedei Khan as a man of the karacı, the black haired common people.
Cats' Eyes of Genghis Khan
Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani, was a historian who served at the court of the Turkish Mamluk Sultanate in India. Juzjani described an older Genghis as
'a man of tall stature, of vigorous build, robust in body, the hair on his face scanty and turned white, with cats' eyes, possessed of dedicated energy, discernment, genius, and understanding,
awe-striking, a butcher, just, resolute, an over- thrower of enemies, intrepid, sanguinary, and cruel.' Juzjani completed his history 'The Tabaqat-i Nasiri' in 1260.
Ata-Malik JuvainiHe was a Persian historian and completed 'The History of the World Conqueror' in 1260. He stayed in Mongolia at least a couple of times and left the Mongol capital Karakorum in 1252/3. Juvaini accompanied the 1st Ilkhan of Persia Hülegü Khan (grandson of Genghis) when the Mongols destroyed the Assassin order of Alamut in 1256. Juvaini was also present at the fall of Baghdad in 1258.
As far as I remember he did not write about the appearance of Genghis Khan - he had plenty to say about the genius of Genghis Khan and his campaigns in Central Asia and Iran.
The work of Juvaini was an important source for Rashid-al-Din.
Rashid-al-DinThe only translation of Rashid-al-Din I know of in English is by John Boyle, ' The Successors of Genghis Khan.' Unfortunately most of it is about his successors.
But I think you'll like this deuce.
In Rashid's chapter on Khubilai Khan.
Ghengis Khan sees Khubilai for the first time, then says that his hair is too DARK! He has the hair of a commoner!! Not like his ancestors!!!
I can see how some of these stories can be expanded to give Temüjin and Börte red hair or Blue/green/grey eyes.
What do you think Deuce?
I'll be updating this post whenever possible.
Bibliography
Cleaves, Francis Woodman - The Secret History of the Mongols, Harvard University Press, 1982
De Rachewiltz, Igor - The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century, 2 volumes, EJ Brill, 2004
Juvaini, Ata-Malik - Genghis Khan: The History of the World-Conqueror, translated by John Andrew Boyle, University of Manchester Press, 1997
Onon, Urgunge - The Secret History of the Mongols : The Life and Times of Chinngis Khan, Taylor Francis Ltd, 2001
Rashid-al-Din - The Successors of Genghis Khan, translated by John Andrew Boyle, Columbia University Press, 1971