By: Robert Fidler

Early Life and Childhood

Genghis Khan was born under the name of Temujin, he was born into the clan known as the Mongols.  As was common of many nomadic tribes his early childhood was a challenging tribe.  He was second oldest child of his father and eldest of his mother, he was arranged to be married to a woman of another tribe.  He was sent to live with that tribe until the age of twelve.  On the return journey his father was poisoned by another rival tribe.  When he heard of this news he traveled back to his tribe to assume leadership. His tribe however didn’t want to be led by someone so young, they then abandoned him and his mother along with her children of Temujin, 3 brothers, and a single sister.  They then were forced to survive  on their own with the boys hunting for food.  After this he was then captured by a tribe by the name of the Tayichi’ud.  After being held prisoner he escaped with the help of a sympathetic guard.  After he escaped he married the woman from another tribe that his father arranged form him.  Soon after their marriage she was kidnapped by another tribe and sold as a wife.  Temujin then when in search of her after he found he took her back to his tribe and began his mission to unite all of Mongolia.

Uniting the Mongol Federation

Temujin's rose to power during the search for his wife where he enlisted the help of two Khans.  These two were Toghrul Khan of the Khereids and Jamukha Khan of the Jadarans.  Temujin formed the Mongol Federation around 1200 he then set his sites on the other tribes including the Naimans to the west, the Merkits to the north, the Tanguts to the south, and the Jin and Tatars to the east.  Eventually both Toghrul and Jamukha rose up against Temujin, these rebellions were quickly shut down the last one resulted in the death of Jamukha. after the death of the latter Temujin had finally created a stable Mongol Empire.  Once he had created this stable empire he started a number of political reforms such as, giving positions based on merit not family relations, incorporating captured soldiers into his army, and using an extensive spy network.  Each of these innovations allowed for his path of conquest to be met with little resistance.

Major Conquests

After these victories Temujin was granted by other chiefs the title of “Genghis Khan” which means universal ruler.  The local shaman then said that Genghis Khan was an earthly representation of Mongke Koko Tengri (the “Eternal Blue Sky”).  This was the supreme god of the mongols, with this declaration of divine status it was accepted that he had a right to rule.  He then wanted to expand his empire westward, bordering his empire in this direction were the Xi Xia.  Genghis Khan knew that the more powerful Jin Dynasty would not come to assist the Xi Xia.  When he declared war on them in 1207 the Xia asked the Jin for assistance but they refused.  It took some difficulty but after 2 year Genghis Khan brought the Xi Xia under his control.  Once these lands were firmly in his domain Genghis Khan then set his sites on the powerful Jin dynasty.  The Mongols wanted to wage war on the Jin not for their science of technological advances but for the seemingly endless rice fields they had.  In 1211 Genghis Khan declared war on the Jin.  The Jin Emperor made a huge tactical mistake when he didn’t attack the Mongols at the first opportunity.  Instead he sent a messenger Ming-Tan, he then defected and told the Mongol army that the Jin army was waiting on the other side of the pass.  At the next engagement the Mongol army massacred hundreds of Jin Troops.  Genghis Khan then laid siege the the Jin Kingdom and looting as they went.  In 1215 Genghis Khan laid siege to and captured the capital city of Zhongdu (present-day Beijing).  This forced the Emperor to retreat to another southern city of Kaifeng.  This move then surrendered the northern half of his kingdom to the Mongols.  Between 1232 and 1233  Kaifeng fell to the Mongols under the rule of Genghis’s third son Ogedei Khan.

The Death of Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan died in August of 1227 after the fall of the capital city of the western Xia, Yinchuan.  The cause of his death has remained a mystery to this day.  Some historians maintain that he fell off of his horse while hunting and died from wounds and exhaustion.  Others say that he died of a respiratory disease no one really knows the exact cause of death.  Shortly before he died he gave supreme leadership to his son Ogedei.  The rest of his empire was divided up between the rest of his sons.  Genghis Khan was then buried in an unmarked grave as was the custom of his tribe.  he was buried somewhere near the place of his birth.  Legend has it that the group the buried him and carried his body killed everyone and everything they encountered, to hide the location of his burial.  It then says a river was diverted over his grave so that no one could find it again.  His son Ogedei then took over the conquest of new territories and under his rulings became the largest empire on the planet.

5 Reasons Genghis Khan was a great ruler

1. Unifying the Mongol Tribes:  During the childhood of Genghis Khan the various tribes that inhabited the mongolian plain were not very cooperative.  Like the ancient city states of greece they commonly competed against each other.  Genghis Khan managed to put aside these differences and united them together in one empire.  This amazing since many of these tribes wanted to kill each other very badly.

2. The Quality of his Army:  One of the reasons that Genghis Khan conquered nearly all that opposed him, was because of the efficiency of his army.  He incorporated bowmen and cavalry to great effect.  This allowed for powerful ranged attacks and increased mobility.  The quality of his troops was also amazing, with superb training the quality of individual warriors surpassed that of most other empires.  With this superb training his archers could fire arrows while riding their horses.  They were also equipped with the latest technology increasing their strength and skill.

3. The Success of his Tactics:  Another reason his armies were virtually undefeated was the brilliant tactics he incorporated.  He used the terrain to great effect and gave no mercy to the enemy.  He had all of his generals to plan attacks and coordinated them to weaken the enemy for the final assault.

4. His Postal System:  To deliver messages to the far reaches of his empire he needed a highly skilled postal service.  He incorporated fast horses and light messengers to carry the letters.  This amazing postal system allowed for orders to be recieved quikly and be executed with precision.

5. His Religious Tolerance:  Unlike many rulers of that age Genghis Khan allowed for basic freedom of religion.  He did not want the people of his empire to follow one religion.  Instead he allowed his subjects to continue worshiping their current religion.  This policy allowed for captured people to remain happy.