Sorghaghtani Beki

Surqaghtani Beki (or simply Bekhi; c. 1190 – 1 March 1252), posthumously Empress Xianyi Zhuangsheng, was a Keraite princess and daughter-in-law of Genghis Khan. Married to Tolui, Genghis' youngest son, Sorghaghtani became one of the most powerful and competent people in the Mongol Empire. She made policy decisions at a pivotal moment that led to the transition of the Mongol Empire towards a more cosmopolitan and sophisticated style of administration. She raised her sons to be leaders and maneuvered the family politics so that all four of her sons, Möngke Khan, Hulagu Khan, Ariq Böke, and Kublai Khan, went on to inherit the legacy of their grandfather.

Given her considerable influence at a critical juncture in the history of the Mongol Empire, Sorghaghtani Beki is widely regarded as one of the most influential and powerful women of the medieval era Sorghaghtani was a Christian and a member of the Church of the East, a denomination often, though imprecisely, referred to in Western scholarship as “Nestorianism” As a leading political figure within the imperial establishment, she played a significant role in shaping policies that facilitated the expansion of trade networks and the promotion of intellectual and cultural exchange across Mongol territories, which together formed the largest contiguous land empire in world history.