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1 The Shaman
Monglik, Temujin's father's old lieutenant, had transferred his devotion to Temujin on his father's death. Both he and his son, Kokochu, who was twenty at the time of Yesugei's death, had remained by Temujin's side throughout the hard years and afterwards, Kokochu had gone on to become the powerful sha-man known as Teb Tengri.
Like any boy of ten, Kokochu longed for the life of a war-rior and entertained dreams of one day becoming a renowned commander. Over time, although he was neither slight of build nor lacking in courage, it became obvious that he lacked the speed and agility necessary to achieve any measure of success in the military arts. More and more, he found himself turning to the spirit world for solace and guidance. Recognizing the boy's inclination towards the mystical, Monglik suggested he apprentice himself to the tribe's shaman. Still harboring a boy's hopes for recognition and acclaim, Kokochu resisted the idea at first until his father reminded him that, oftentimes, the shaman wielded as much power over the spiritual lives of the people as the temporal leader did over their everyday lives. Still sensing some resistance, he reminded the boy that it was not uncom-mon for both spiritual and temporal power to reside in a single man who served both as chieftain and shaman. Among the Merkit and the Oirats, the term beki was appended to a chief-tain's name who served in this dual-capacity. A chieftain who failed to serve the gods or the people well could even be chal-lenged by the tribe's shaman. Convinced by his father's argu-ments, the boy finally abandoned his previous ambitions and threw himself into his new avocation.
Kokochu, twenty when Hoelun andTemujin were forced into exile in 1177, shared his father's outrage at the perfidy of Temujin's uncles and accompanied him into exile with them. As the years passed, Temujin's newly-formed tribe grew and, eventually, when the shaman died of old age, Kokochu was the natural choice to take his place. His day-to-day duties included the telling of fortunes, healing the sick, cleansing dwelling places after a death, presiding over ceremonies and begging the intercession of the gods to assure good weather and mili-tary successes. His devotion proved to be exceptional and over the hard years that followed his righteousness made an impres-sion on the people in general and on Temujin in particular. His reputation for holiness and his ability to commune with the gods became known far and wide. It was said that while fast-ing in the wilderness his spirit sometimes left his body and rode to Heaven on a white horse where the secrets of both the past and future were made known to him. During the winter of 1187, after receiving a prophetic revelation during one of these mystical transports, he had wandered throughout the cold vastness of the steppe wearing only a breechcloth and telling of a dream that bore out the bestowal of Heaven's blessing on Temujin and foretelling the young chieftain's eventual rule over all the peoples of the earth. This prediction and the awe it inspired in the people proved instrumental in Temujin's elec-tion as khan the following summer. Over the subsequent years, Temujin's faith in Kokochu's advice grew considerably. The people began calling him Teb Tengri-the Most Heavenly One-and in spiritual matters he came to wield, in his own way, nearly as much power as Temujin himself. Now that the emperor had appointed him to govern fifteen thousand fami-lies on behalf of several imperial family members, his power extended into the temporal realm for the first time and, after decades of the ascetic life, he found this taste of secular power intoxicating.
...
Winter 1206-1207 A.D.
In sheer opulence, the ger was rivaled only by that of the emperor himself. While the seven men gathered within bore a close family resemblance to each other, it would be obvious even to the casual observer which of them held the eminent position. Six were seated in an arc facing the seventh and when he spoke, they attended closely to his every word. This was the ger of Kokochu and those arrayed before him were his six brothers.
As his power and his influence over the emperor and con-sequently the people had grown, he had become increasingly convinced that the gods had more in mind for him than a mere advisory role. The more trust the emperor placed in him, the more certain he became that Temujin was simply the instru-ment-and an imperfect one at that-through which he him-self ruled the people. Interpreting the emperor's dependence on his spiritual advice as weakness, he had slowly, by steps, come to despise him. The gods spoke to him, not Temujin. He had stood by and watched as Temujin shattered the tribes in order to create his new order, knowing that in doing so, the khan had spawned a host of enemies. The shaman intended to harness those enemies to his own growing ambition but real-ized that in order to do so, he would require more than just words-material incentives would also be needed. Opportu-nity soon presented itself. The emperor appointed him to man-age fifteen thousand families he had bestowed on his mother, his brother Temuge, and his son Chagadai. Appointing his own brothers as tax collectors, the shaman kept a portion of the goods collected for himself, permitted his brothers to skim off a portion, while only the remainder went to the intended benefi-ciaries: Hoelun, Temuge and Chagadai.
As summer turned to fall and fall into winter, Kokochu actively solicited the allegiance of those disaffected with the organizational changes the emperor had imposed. The lavish lifestyle of this one-time confidant of the gods, a man once sat-isfied with no possessions of his own, now equaled or sur-passed that of the emperor himself.
For his part, Temujin's faith in this man who was not only a revered shaman but also a close confederate of many years standing, remained unshaken. Although his mother, Hoelun, and his first wife, Borte, had become intensely suspicious of his trusted and dangerously powerful advisor, he would hear no ill spoken of him.
Hoelun was well aware of the source of the shaman's new-found wealth and complained to Temujin, "You can not tell me that you do not see it, my son! He flaunts his power and influ-ence openly. He is no longer the simple servant of the gods he once was. He and his brothers have violated the trust you placed in them, openly stealing from me, your brother and your son." Pausing, she then broached another forbidden topic, "and I have watched and listened when he talks to you. He presumes too much. If anyone else spoke to you with such arrogance and disrespect, you would strike them dead where they stood."
Borte picked up where her mother-in-law had left off, "Mother Hoelun is right, my husband. He has been seduced by power and influence and is no longer the simple man of the gods we once knew and could trust. He is become corrupt and you are the only one who can stop him!"
Surging to his feet, his face livid, Temujin shouted, "Enough! It is you who presume too much!" he said pointing at the two of them. "He speaks for Heaven! Of what good is an emperor who cuts himself off from the gods?" Shaking with anger, he continued, "He has never betrayed me and I will hear no ill of him. And what you call stealing I call compensation for honest management. I will hear no more!" And with that, he stormed out leaving the two women in despair behind him.
...
As the winter wore on without any sign of censure from the emperor, the shaman became increasingly assured of his grow-ing power. Not surprisingly, the level of his depredations only grew more excessive. Finally one evening, as Kokochu and his richly-clad brothers relaxed after the evening meal, at least one member of the imperial family had had enough. Their conver-sation was brought to an abrupt end when the emperor's brother Khasar burst in and began loudly upbraiding the sha-man for his many transgressions. Momentarily taken aback, Kokochu quickly determined that Khasar appeared to be here on his own without the emperor's knowledge. Deciding on the spur of the moment to throw the dice, he suddenly interrupted Khasar's tirade when he ordered his six brothers to seize him. Although a big man known throughout the tribes for his strength and courage, the stunned Khasar quickly found him-self a helpless prisoner pinned beneath the weight of his cap-tors.
