Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World - Ann Shen (2016)

Khutulun

Great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan, Khutulun (1260-1306) became a legend among the nomadic Mongol people as an undefeated wrestler of suitors. Khutulun was also known for her impressive athleticism in horsemanship, archery, and wrestling. At the time, women in Mongolian culture were trained to participate in battles on the field; archery on horseback was their combat style of choice. As a princess, Khutulun challenged every suitor to a bet of one hundred horses on a wrestling match, promising to marry the man who could defeat her. No man ever did, and it’s rumored that she collected a coterie of ten thousand horses along the way. Because of her athletic talent and political savvy, her tribe believed that she was blessed by the heavens, so she rode into battle alongside her father, Khaidu, and they never lost. She finally married a follower of her father’s, a man of her choosing, and when Khaidu passed on, he named her as his successor over her fourteen older brothers.