Bolad was a member of the Mongolian-speaking Dörben tribe. In the latter half of the twelfth century, when Temüjin, the future Chinggis Qan, began his rise to power, they were numbered among the many nomadic tribes of eastern Mongolia. According to Mongolian tradition, the Dörben were descended from the four sons of Duua Soqor, a semi-legendary figure in the Secret History. While a Dörben was present in 1187 (or 1189) when Temüjin first announced his political intentions, most of this tribal grouping was in the opposition camp. In fact, the Dörben with great consistency allied themselves with all of Chinggis Qan's principal rivals: the Tayichi'ud in 1200; Jamugha, the erstwhile anda (sworn brother) of Temüjin, in 1201; the Tatar in 1202; and the Naiman, the most powerful tribal confederation in western Mongolia, in 1204. Only after the defeat of the latter, which broke nomadic resistance in the eastern steppe, did the Dörben as a whole finally submit to Chinggis Qan.

Bolad's father, according to Rashīd al-Dīn's account,was Yurkī (Mongolian Jürki), who was a ba'urchi, cook or steward, attached to the camp (orda) of Chinggis Qan's senior wife, Börte Üjin. Concurrently, he was a commander of a unit of one hundred in the Personal Thousand (Hazārah-i khaṣṣ) of Chinggis Qan. To modern ears the title of cook, one which Bolad himself later held, sounds quite menial.