Khongirad

The Khongirad (; Mongolian: ᠬᠣᠩᠭᠢᠷᠠᠳ Хонгирад; Kazakh: Қоңырат, romanized: Qoñyrat; Chinese: 弘吉剌; pinyin: Hóngjílá) was one of the major divisions of the Mongol tribes. Their homeland was located in the vicinity of Lake Hulun in Inner Mongolia and Khalkha River in Mongolia, where they maintained close ties with the ruling dynasties of northern China. Because the various Khongirad clans never united under a single leader, the tribe never rose to great military glory. Their greatest fame comes from being the primary consort clan of the ruling house of Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire. Genghis Khan's mother (Hoelun), great grandmother, and first wife were all Khongirads, as were many subsequent Mongol empresses and princesses. During the Yuan dynasty they were given the title Lu Wang ("Prince of Lu"; Chinese: 鲁王), and a few Khongirads migrated west into the territory of modern Uzbekistan and Turkistan Region where they became governors of Khwarazm and were known as the Sufi dynasty. After a brief period as independent rulers, they were subjected by Timur.