Genghis Khan (born Temüjin 1162 -1227) was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which after his death became the largest contiguous empire in history.
As a teenager, his village was raided and many were killed, he took revenge years later.
His Conquest
He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian steppe and proclaimed himself the universal ruler of the Mongols or Genghis Khan.
After bringing the tribes of northeast Asia largely under his control, he set in motion the Mongol invasions that eventually led to the conquest of much of Eurasia and raids by Mongol raiders as far south as Legnica in western Poland and as far south as Gaza.
In 25 years he conquered more land than the roman empire in 400 years.
Genghis Khan’s civil achievements included, in addition to his military successes, the introduction of Mongol law and the adoption of the Uighur script as the writing system in his vast territories.
He also practiced meritocracy and religious tolerance.
Today’s Mongolians consider him the founding father of Mongolia because he united the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia.
By bringing the Silk Road under a unified political umbrella, he also greatly facilitated communication and trade between Northeast Asia, Muslim Southwest Asia, and Christian Europe, boosting global commerce and expanding the cultural horizons of all Eurasian civilizations of the time.
In an attempt to unite the hostile tribes of Mongolia, Genghis Khan gave land to each tribe and established a legal system in which he established uniform punishments to create a common society.
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New technologies such as paper, gunpowder and the compass made their way to the West, igniting the Renaissance just a few generations later.
The Mongol Empire was one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse empires in history and under the military code of “Yassa”.
In his conquests, he gave the people in Mongolia the choice to follow or flee, in China, however, he practically only killed and looted.
The first time seeing Beijing, a highly developed city, he stood in front of 20m high walls for the first time. Without standing a chance in regular battle Genghis decided to destroy all supply chains so that the Chinese starved to death.
According to the official history of the Yuan, commissioned during the Chinese Ming Dynasty, Genghis Khan died eight days after his last campaign against the Western Xia on August 18, 1227.
The exact cause of his death remains a mystery and is explained in several ways: illness, death in battle or wounds received while hunting.
According to the Secret History of the Mongols, Genghis Khan fell from his horse while hunting and died as a result of the injury.
The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle claims that he was killed by the Western Xia in battle, while Marco Polo wrote that he died from the infection of an arrow wound received during his last campaign.
He took the most beautiful women as bounty from each conquest.
According to a recent study, one out of every 200 people alive today is directly descended from him.
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