Jaghatai Khan
From Warhammer 40k
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[edit] Overview
Jaghatai Khan is the missing Primarch of the White Scars. He went missing with the entire first brotherhood of the White Scars while chasing after a cabal of Dark Eldar.
[edit] Youth
It is said that Khan landed on a planet in the Segmentum Pacificus named by the Imperium, Mundus Planus, or as the native population called it, Chogoris. It is a fertile world with wide, open, green plains and tall White Mountains and blue seas. At the time of the Great Crusade, the people had developed to a black powder stage. The dominant empire was a well organized aristocracy which had conquered most of the planet with well equipped and highly disciplined armies, maintaining armored horsemen and tight blocks of infantry. Their leader was the Palatine, and he won all of his battles with his great army.
To the west of the Palatine's empire was the Empty Quarter, barren grassland with little resources, and as such was never invaded. It was home to wandering tribes of vicious horsemen who fought each other for their ancestral lands. The Palatine would sometimes lead forces in to capture slaves or merely to hunt the tribesmen for fun. Khan's legacy began here. He was found by Ong Khan, leader of a small tribe, who saw the Primarch as a gift from the gods. It is said he had a fire in his eyes, the sign of a great warrior. He was hated by the other tribes because of his ability to see beyond the constant warfare on the steppes.
It is said the most influential moment in his life was the slaying of his father by the rival Kurayed tribe. Khan, even as a young child, was the greatest warrior of the tribe and gathered troops to avenge the death of his father. They moved on the Kurayed tribe and razed it to the ground, killing every man, woman and child in a killing frenzy. Khan took the head of the enemy tribe leader and mounted it on his tent. This is what shaped him into a man of fierce honor, loyalty and ruthlessness. From then on he swore to end the fighting, unite all the people of the steppes and bring an end to brother fighting brother.
He fought hundreds of battles against other tribes and defeated hunting packs sent by Palatine. Each tribe they conquered was absorbed into the Talaskars and he made military service mandatory while splitting tribes up and merging them with others to remove tribal differences. His warriors were fiercely loyal to him and he promoted from the ranks based on merit and ability. Ten summers later as the tribe moved to their winter settlements, the Primarch was traveling on a mountainside with a group of his followers. A vast avalanche pushed him and his group back down the mountain, killing the normal men. Jaghatai survived, but could not get back up the mountain in time before the tribe moved on. Khan was caught by one of the Palatine's hunting band. All that returned of that band was one mutilated rider with the head of the son of Palatine (who had accompanied the hunting band) and a note saying that the people of the steppes were not his toys any more.
When the snows cleared, an enraged Palatine gathered a massive army and determined to march west to wipe the tribes from the face of the planet. He had however underestimated the power and ability of Khan and brought his usual highly disciplined army of heavily armored warriors. This proved to be his downfall as they could not catch the lightly armored tribesmen. The constant rain of arrows from the tribesmen took their toll on the tight ranks of warriors. Eventually the tribesmen defeated the army of Palatine, who escaped back to his capital with a select few bodyguards. The rest of the army was slaughtered, almost to the last man. After the battle, the tribal elders gathered and announced that Jaghatai Khan was now Great Khan of the whole land.
Khan now began the long process of conquering the rest of the planet. He gave cities two choices, surrender or be wiped out. Most surrendered, but many were destroyed, utterly wiped from the face of the planet. Eventually they came to the palace of Palatine, where he demanded the head of Palatine on a spike. His request was obliged and he adorned his tent with his greatest conquest. In twenty years he had conquered the largest empire in the world's history. He now had the problems of ruling the empire, not something he had originally wanted. His people had no wish to rule these new lands, only to carry on living in the old ways. The people dispersed back to a tribal existence and Khan ruled over them all with his generals by his side.
Six months later, the Emperor arrived and Khan knew at once that this man could fulfill his dream, to unite all of the stars above them in one mighty empire. In front of all of his generals, he dropped to one knee and pledged his service to the Emperor. He was given command of the fifth legion of Space Marines, the White Scars. Khan grew close to Lion El'Jonson, primarch of the Dark Angels, and his warriors would work in conunction with the Dark Angels on many occasions.
[edit] Horus Heresy
The forces of Khan were present on Terra during the siege of the Emperor's palace. They recaptured one of the major space ports from Chaos to have the reinforcements land on the planet. It is said that the Khan was leading his warriors from the top of a Razorback, a sight which became a tale that has been told in awe ever since.
[edit] Post Heresy
After the Heresy, Khan went on a crusade to rescue the warriors captured by the Dark Eldar. During one battle, it was reported that Khan was sucked into a warp portal to fight for all eternity. This may be true, but it is more likely that his ship was lost in the warp, as that region of space was known to be deadly.
