Jack Weatherford: belief

Transcript context

…Nevertheless, to me, just reading your work and understanding this history, this relationship seems like a really, really important relationship that defines the nature of loyalty for Chinggis. I would say in both negative and positive ways, it was the most important relationship of his adulthood aside from Börte. But that relationship really did not seem to have many negative aspects. They sometimes disagreed on things, but small things. So, she was by him and she was positive in every regard so far as we know forever. Although she was not submissive but she was always on his side. And Jamakha, he was just a little too hot-headed for me. I mean, in my evaluation of him. That these things like, “Oh, we’re going to drop down on the Merkit and we’re going to come through the smoke hole, kill everybody,” and all. And he had a flair for the dramatic, even in a way of giving the gold belt to Temüjin. But Jamakha also explained himself at the end of life, and he said, “We both lost our father, but I also lost my mother. And you had a strong mother to raise you, I did not.” And he said, “You had Börte, you have a very strong wife to help you. And my wife, just used a word like prattler, like she just sort of complains and prattles along, and we did not have a relationship.” So, I think something about that rings true, that there were some elements of that that were true. But Jamakha certainly didn’t have the intelligence and the real genius for dealing with people, dealing with soldiers, especially in warfare that Temüjin had. Yeah, in that relationship, there’s a contrast because Chinggis Khan did not accumulate riches or accumulate power in a way that was for the sake of the riches or for the sake of the power. He was always very practical in what is the way to maximize the success of this operation.…

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