8 Historical Figures That Deserve To Be Remembered

Khutulun was a Mongolian princess born in the thirteenth century.

Her father, Kaidu, was the great-grandson of Genghis Khan. Unlike many of the other Mongols of the time, Khutulun enjoyed the more traditional life of a nomad. By 1280, her father was known as one of the most powerful rulers of the Mongol Empire, serving under his cousin, the Great Khan, Kublai.

Khutulun had 14 older brothers, and they were all trained in horse-riding, wrestling, and archery. As they grew together, Khutulun excelled, and Kaidu came to trust her advice in military matters more than anyone.

Marco Polo, who met Khutulun in his travels, wrote that she was "so tall and strongly built that she might almost be taken for a giantess".

She was feared not only for her size and strength, but also for her tactics. Her preferred method of combat was to rush into the fray, seize an enemy horseman, and physically drag them back to her own people.

When Khutulun came of age, Kaidu decided that she should be married off. She disagreed, and a compromise was reached: she would only marry the man who could beat her at wrestling.

She had it proclaimed that any man could challenge her, and that if he was to win, she would become his wife. If he was to lose, however, he had to give her 100 horses.

She amassed over 10,000 horses before the message was made clear.

She eventually did marry, however. She found one of her father's prisoners of war particularly good looking, and married him.

She died in 1306, after emasculating a thousand men in one of the most fearsome empires in history, all because she refused to let others dictate her destiny.