Zhuchi

Also known as Bo'erzhijin Zhuchi

Jochi was the eldest son of Genghis Khan and Borte, born soon after Borte was rescued from Merkit captivity, which is why, according to the *Secret History of the Mongols*, his brother Chagatai once openly questioned his paternity. In 1207 he led the right-wing army against the Oirats and other forest peoples and brought them to submit. In the campaign against Khwarazm from 1219 he took Jand and other towns on the lower Syr Darya, and in 1221 he besieged Urgench with Chagatai and Ogedei, until their quarrels stalled the siege and Genghis Khan gave Ogedei the command. His father assigned him the lands west of the Irtysh as far as Mongol hooves could reach, and he stayed mostly in that domain, rarely returning to Mongolia. He died before his father, in 1225 or 1227 by different accounts, and his son Batu inherited his lands and later founded the Golden Horde.