Bolad

Bolad (Mongolian: , , , d.1313), was an ethnic Mongol minister of the Yuan dynasty of China, and later served in the Ilkhanate as the representative of the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and cultural adviser to the Ilkhans. He also provided valuable information to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani to write about the Mongols. Mongolists consider him a cultural bridge between East and West. He was ennobled by Emperor Renzong of Yuan as Duke of Ze (澤國公) in 1311 and Prince of Yongfeng (永豐郡王) in 1313, posthumously.

==Background== Bolad was born in the Dörben (or Dörbet) tribe and his father, Jurghi (Yurki), who was a ''ba'urchi'', attached to the palace of Genghis Khan's wife Börte. Since his father's title was prestige of honor, and he was explicitly trusted by Genghis Khan, Jurghi commanded a personal thousand of the guards of the Khagan. In 1248, the prince Kublai ordered the Han scholar Zhang Dehui () to tutor Dorji (), his eldest son, and Bolad, who was probably a child of seven or eight years. So Bolad became fluent in Chinese in addition to his native Mongolian language.