Khutulun aka Aiyaruk (1260 - 1306)
While Khubilai Khan ruled from the Chinese capital he founded at Beijing, his cousin Khaidu continued to fight against him from Central Asia and, true to the Mongol traditions, Khaidu’s daughter fought with him.
According to Marco Polo, who referred to her as Aiyaruk, she was both beautiful and powerful — and skilled as an archer and wrestler. She vowed only to marry the man who could defeat her at wrestling, and none did. Each man had to gamble 100 horses on his victory. In this way, she amassed 10,000 horses and never married. Her story, in part, inspired the 20th century opera Turandot by Puccini.
While Khubilai Khan ruled from the Chinese capital he founded at Beijing, his cousin Khaidu continued to fight against him from Central Asia and, true to the Mongol traditions, Khaidu’s daughter fought with him.
According to Marco Polo, who referred to her as Aiyaruk, she was both beautiful and powerful — and skilled as an archer and wrestler. She vowed only to marry the man who could defeat her at wrestling, and none did. Each man had to gamble 100 horses on his victory. In this way, she amassed 10,000 horses and never married. Her story, in part, inspired the 20th century opera Turandot by Puccini.