Source #1
GENGHIS KHANn
Mongol leader Genghis Khan (1162­1227) rose from humble beginnings to establish the largest land empire in history. After uniting the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian plateau, he conquered huge chunks of central Asia and China. His descendents expanded the empire even further, advancing to such far­off places as Poland, Vietnam, Syria and Korea. At their peak, the Mongols controlled between 11 and 12 million contiguous square miles, an area about the size of Africa. Many people were slaughtered in the course of Genghis Khan’s invasions, but he also granted religious freedom to his subjects, abolished torture, encouraged trade and created the first international postal system. Genghis Khan died in 1227 during a military campaign against the Chinese kingdom of Xi Xia. His final resting place remains unknown. GENGHIS KHAN: THE EARLY YEARS
Temujin, later Genghis Khan, was born around 1162 near the border between modern Mongolia and Siberia. Legend holds that he came into the world clutching a blood clot in his right hand. His mother had been kidnapped by his father and forced into marriage. At that time, dozens of nomadic tribes on the central Asian steppe were constantly fighting and stealing from each other, and life for Temujin was violent and unpredictable. Before he turned 10, his father was poisoned to death by an enemy clan. Temujin’s own clan then deserted him, his mother and his six siblings in order to avoid having to feed them. DID YOU KNOW? Mongol leader Genghis Khan never allowed anyone to paint his portrait,
sculpt his image or engrave his likeness on a coin. The first images of him appeared after his
death. Shortly thereafter, Temujin killed his older half-brother and took over as head of the
poverty-stricken household. At one point, he was captured and enslaved by the clan that had
abandoned him, but he was eventually able to escape. In 1178 Temujin married Borte, with whom
he would have four sons and an unknown number of daughters. He launched a daring rescue of
Borte after she too was kidnapped, and he soon began making alliances, building a reputation as a
warrior and attracting a growing number of followers. Most of what we know about Genghis
Khan’s childhood comes from “The Secret History of the Mongols,” the oldest known work of
Mongolian history and literature, which was written soon after his death.
GENGHIS KHAN UNITES THE MONGOLS
Going against custom, Temujin put competent allies rather than relatives in key positions and executed the leaders of enemy tribes while incorporating the remaining members into his clan. He ordered that all looting wait until after a complete victory had been won, and he organized his warriors into units of 10 without regard to kin. Though Temujin was an animist, his followers included Christians, Muslims and Buddhists. By 1205 he had vanquished all rivals, including his former best friend Jamuka. The following year, he called a meeting of representatives from every part of the territory and established a nation similar in size to modern Mongolia. He was also proclaimed Chinggis Khan, which roughly translates to “Universal Ruler,” a name that became known in the West as Genghis Khan. GENGHIS KHAN ESTABLISHES AN EMPIRE
Having united the steppe tribes, Genghis Khan ruled over some 1 million people. In order to suppress the traditional causes of tribal warfare, he abolished inherited aristocratic titles. He also forbade the selling and kidnapping of women, banned the enslavement of any Mongol and made livestock theft punishable by death. Moreover, Genghis Khan ordered the adoption of a writing system, conducted a regular census, granted diplomatic immunity to foreign ambassadors and allowed freedom of religion well before that idea caught on elsewhere. Genghis Khan’s first campaign outside of Mongolia took place against the Xi Xia kingdom of northwestern China. After a series of raids, the Mongols launched a major initiative in 1209 that brought them to the doorstep of Yinchuan, the Xi Xia capital. Unlike other armies, the Mongols traveled with no supply train other than a large reserve of horses. The army consisted almost entirely of cavalrymen, who were expert riders and deadly with a bow and arrows. At Yinchuan, the Mongols deployed a false withdrawal—one of their signature tactics—and then initiated a siege. Though their attempt to flood the city failed, the Xi Xia ruler submitted and presented tribute. The Mongols next attacked the Jin Dynasty of northern China, whose ruler had made the mistake of demanding Genghis Khan’s submission. From 1211 to 1214, the outnumbered Mongols ravaged the countryside and sent refugees pouring into the cities. Food shortages became a problem, and the Jin army ended up killing tens of thousands of its own peasants. In 1214 the Mongols besieged the capital of Zhongdu (now Beijing), and the Jin ruler agreed to hand over large amounts of silk, silver, gold and horses. When the Jin ruler subsequently moved his court south to the city of Kaifeng, Genghis Khan took this as a breach of their agreement and, with the help of Jin deserters, sacked Zhongdu to the ground. In 1219 Genghis Khan went to war against the Khwarezm Empire in present­day Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran. The sultan there had agreed to a trade treaty, but when the first caravan arrived its goods were stolen and its merchants were killed. The sultan then murdered some of Genghis Khan’s ambassadors. Despite once again being outnumbered, the Mongol horde swept through one Khwarezm city after another, including Bukhara, Samarkand and Urgench. Skilled workers such as carpenters and jewelers were usually saved, while aristocrats and resisting soldiers were killed. Unskilled workers, meanwhile, were often used as human shields during the next assault. No one knows with any certainty how many people died during Genghis Khan’s wars, in part because the Mongols propagated their vicious image as a way of spreading terror. GENGHIS KHAN’S DEATH AND THE CONTINUATION OF THE EMPIRE
When Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia in 1225, he controlled a huge swath of territory from the Sea of Japan to the Caspian Sea. Nevertheless, he didn’t rest for long before turning his attention back to the Xi Xia kingdom, which had refused to contribute troops to the Khwarezm invasion. In early 1227 a horse threw Genghis Khan to the ground, causing internal injuries. He pressed on with the campaign, but his health never recovered. He died on August 18, 1227, just before the Xi Xia were crushed. Genghis Khan conquered more than twice as much land as any other person in history, bringing Eastern and Western civilizations into contact in the process. His descendants, including Ogodei and Khubilai, were also prolific conquerors, taking control of Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the rest of China, among other places. The Mongols even invaded Japan and Java before their empire broke apart in the 14th century. Genghis Khan’s last ruling descendant was finally deposed in 1920. Article Details: Genghis Khan
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● 2009 Source #2 University of California, Berkeley Office of Resources for International and Area Studies Legacies What are Chingis Khan's legacies? First of all, before Temuchin was proclaimed Chingis Khan, there was no central leadership of the Mongol people. They lived in clan­based units and did 39​
not have a unified Mongol identity.​
They became the Mongol nation under the leadership of Chingis Khan, and this formed the basis for the modern nation of Mongolia. Though formal logic tells us that denying the antecedent is fallacious reasoning, we could say that without Chingis Khan there might not have been a Mongol empire. Chingis Khan's military conquests literally changed the landscape of Central Asia. George Vernadsky reports that the Mongols destroyed the main dam on the Amu­Daria River during the 40​
siege of Urjenj, the capital of the Khorezm Empire.​
Their irrigation system was seriously damaged, and that, in turn, destroyed their agricultural system. Robert Marshall reports that the destruction of the population caused the neglect of the Persian irrigation system. Without irrigation, the land became arid and could no longer support large cities, and the effects of this devastation "lasted for 41​
centuries."​
A thriving landscape built up over time by great cultures quickly returned to dust. Writing was an important tool for Chingis Khan's empire. The Mongols were illiterate until Chingis Khan's reign, when he commanded a Naiman captive to explain their written language to him. A Mongol script (from the Naiman script that was 42​
based on the Uighur)​
was established. With a newly established writing system, the Mongols were able to record a set of laws, the ​
Yasa​
, that Chingis Khan had declared. The Yasa recorded the Mongol's cultural beliefs, rules of conduct, and a system of punishment, laying the foundation for Chingis Khan's empire. A court was then established to enforce the Yasa fairly. Prior to their literacy, Mongol history had been undocumented and therefore unknown, but an anonymous person wrote 43​
The Secret History of the Mongols​
shortly after Chingis Khan's death.​
​
The Secret History​
was written by someone within the culture, giving us first­hand knowledge of the Mongols. Chingis Khan also established a messenger system, the ​
yam​
. Outposts were established where horses waited to relay messages through the empire, greatly speeding up communications. Ogodei Khan, Chingis Khan's son and successor, further developed the system, complete with post 44​
stations, post horses, and a small settlement of employees at each station.​
Traders could follow these postal roads in safety. The Silk Roads—that off and on for centuries linked Europe, Africa, 45​
and the Far East in trade and cultural exchange​
—had been under the control of various local powers, became unsafe during times of conflict, and, therefore, fell in and out of use. Under Mongol protection, the Silk Roads flourished, and during the ​
Pax Mongolica46​
​ under Chingis Khan's successors, people commonly traveled the full length of the Silk Roads, greatly increasing cultural 47​
48​
exchange.​
In this atmosphere Europeans such as Marco Polo​
traveled to the East and returned with tales of the Mongol empire. Unfortunately, the Silk Roads also allowed diseases to spread. The bubonic plague traveled from Yunnan and Burma eastward to China and westward to Europe along the roads of the Mongol 49​
empire.​
Cities were ideal hosts for rats, and outbreaks of the plague occurred from time to time. However, the massive outbreak of the bubonic plague in Europe was indirectly caused by the deliberate actions of a Mongol military maneuver. Under Janibeg Khan, the last Khan of the Golden Horde, the Mongols were fighting against the city of Caffa, located on the Black Sea in Crimea, when they witnessed an outbreak of the plague. Just before fleeing the disease, the Mongol commander catapulted plague­ridden corpses over the walls of the city. The disease was carried to European ports by boat and eventually became the Black Death that decimated medieval Europe. When Chingis Khan died in 1227, his body was brought back to Mongolia and buried in a 50​
secret location.​
His long line of successors were responsible for many of the Mongol contributions 51​
to history. He divided his empire among his sons, with Ogodei in the highest ranking of Khan,​
and many generations of Mongol leaders descended from his sons. Chingis Khan's grandson, Kubilai Khan became the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty (in modern­day China). Kubilai Khan received Marco Polo at his court in 1290, and an entire chapter of ​
The Travels of Marco Polo​
is dedicated to this Great Khan. Samuel Taylor Coleridge would later immortalize his mythic city of Xanadu in the poem "Kubla Khan." The western branch of the Mongol empire, the Golden Horde, invaded Russia (it was called Rus' at the time), Poland, and Hungary. The Mongol invasions caused wide­spread terror in Europe and led to papal envoys to the "Tartars." Finally, the Great Wall of China was created to keep out nomadic invaders, including the Mongols. Much of Chingis Khan's memory is rooted in symbolism more than actual facts. He is seen as a great leader, a military genius, and the founder of Mongol identity. Chingis is a popular name in modern Central Asian cultures who regard Chingis Khan as a cultural figure. In Soviet­controlled Mongolia, Chingis Khan was vilified, but in post­communist Mongolia, he has become a cult figure. Chingis Khan is now a popular brand name for many products, including Chinggis Beer. Source #4 Mongolia sees Genghis Khan's good side By Jehangir S. Pocha New York Times ● ULAN BATOR — "Genghis Khan wasn't really a bad guy," Elbegdorj Tsahkia, the Mongolian prime minister, said with a grin. "He just had bad press." He was only half joking. Ever since Mongolia emerged from the Soviet Union's shadow in the early 1990s, the lore and myth surrounding the khan, the original bad boy of history, have captured the imagination of the country. A popular and official movement to reassess Genghis Khan's marauding image is being marshaled by admirers who say he was a truly great, if irascible, ruler. "He is like a god to us," said Bat­Erdene Batbayar, who also goes by the name Baabar, a historian and adviser to Elbegdorj. "He is the founder of our state, the root of our history. The communists very brutally cut us off from our traditions and history and got us to adopt the ways and views of Western civilization ­ with a red color of course, but still Western. Now we are becoming Mongols again." This veneration of Genghis Khan is partly traditional in Mongolia, where most revere their ancestors and where he is considered the father of the nation. But it is also a backlash. During the seven decades the Soviet Union ran Mongolia, Moscow feared the deification of Genghis Khan would incite Mongolian nationalism, so even mentioning his name was forbidden. People were banned from visiting his home province of Khentii in the northeast; a Soviet tank base sat on the sole road connecting Khentii to the rest of the country. Now, as Mongolia is reinventing itself as a free­market democracy, it is also searching its past for the means to define itself. And no one looms larger in its history than Temujin, who took the title Genghis Khan, or Universal Ruler, after forging the world's largest land empire in the early 1200s. "Understanding how Mongolians view Genghis Khan throws light on how Mongolians view their own heritage and, to a certain extent, themselves," Ts. Tsetsenbileg, a scholar at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with the Harvard Asia Pacific Review. "Within this rapidly changing world, Genghis Khan, if we acknowledge him without bias, can serve as a moral anchor. He can be Mongolia's root, its source of certainty at a time when many things are uncertain." Evidence of a renewed romance with Genghis Khan is everywhere. Children, streets, hotels, vodka, cigarettes, banks, candy bars, beer, products and businesses of almost every type all carry his name; his face is on Mongolian money, stamps and official buildings, and is spray­painted on street corners. Genghis Khan's comeback 778 years after his death is especially popular with young people. One of the country's top bands, Black Rose, sings his praises in anthems that combine raspy rock vocals with traditional Mongolian throat singing. "I want people to feel pride in their past and remember the one Mongolian who left a mark on history," said Amraa Mandakh, the group's lead singer. "Earlier this was a society that had no national pride, and people asked me why I liked Genghis. Now they come and embrace me when I say his name." Historians in the West and in China, India, Iran and other nations that fell to Genghis Khan's horsemen in the early 1200s see the onslaught of the Mongol hordes as an apocalyptic event that threatened to end their ancient civilizations forever. But to the Mongolians, one of history's greatest tyrants has always been the greatest hero. "When we were young people, our parents used to tell us stories of Genghis, of how he was good and strong and kind," said Naramtsetseg Dolgormaa, 27, who teaches the Japanese language. "I'll never forget that." Differing assessments of conquerors can roil emotions in Asia, where passions over history run high. But since Genghis Khan's legacy is free of living memory, it is proving easier to revise. In fact, nations wanting to curry favor with resource­rich Mongolia are supporting its attempts to resurrect its past. Since Mongolians worship their dead and the location of Genghis Khan's grave remains unknown, both Beijing and Tokyo are trying to outdo each another in sanctifying his memory. China is spending about $20 million to renovate a mausoleum it built to Genghis Khan in 1954 at Ejin Horo Banner on the Ordos Highlands in its province of Inner Mongolia. In October a Japanese­financed research team searching for the tomb said it had found it at Avraga, about 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, east of this capital. Many people in this pristine, beautiful country see such global support for the rehabilitation of their god­king as fulfillment of a longtime quest for international dignity. "People should see Genghis Khan is great, not evil," said Uchral, 20, a painter who sells his watercolors of Mongolia's endless steppes, its exotic animals and, of course, its warrior­king, to tourists outside the gray Soviet­era Ulan Bator Hotel. "To us he is noble, strong. No one could touch us when he was there." Uchral reached into his rolls of paintings and pulled out a portrait of Genghis. It depicted him as an imposing but contemplative man, quite unlike the bloodthirsty marauder Persian texts tell us warned the ancient cities of Bukhara and Samarkand: "All who surrender will be spared; whoever does not surrender but opposes with struggle and dissension, shall be annihilated." Baabar said the savage image of Genghis Khan endures only because "his history was written by his enemies." The Mongols were not scribes, and the only comprehensive chronicle of his times, "The Secret History of the Mongols" (a 13th­century account of Genghis Khan's life), was lost for centuries. Even when it was rediscovered in the early 1800s by a Russian diplomat in China, its dissemination was tightly controlled, so most of the material on Genghis Khan comes from people he conquered. The historians present the picture of a brilliant but tempestuous and cruel man. He is said to have been so hot­tempered that he slew his half­brother in an argument. But a slow reconsideration of this fearsome figure has been taking place since 1982, when Francis Woodman Cleaves produced the first authoritative modern version of "The Secret History of the Mongols." Some newly found details, such as Genghis Khan's apparent fear of dogs, make him seem more human; historians are also reassessing the nature of Mongol society and rule. New books say his empire gave citizens religious freedom, banned the slave trade, expanded a global economy and introduced several important international concepts, such as diplomatic immunity. The extent of Genghis empire also led to greater contact between East and West, and these exchanges were carried further by his grandson, Kublai Khan. Though it is estimated that Genghis Khan killed about 40 million people across Asia and Europe, some researchers cite evidence that Genghis Khan might have exaggerated his massacres. Researchers at the Genghis Khan University in Ulan Bator even say that toward the end of this life he was trying to turn his empire into a civil state, based on a code of laws called the Great Yassa, which granted equal and defined legal rights for all citizens, including women. But Genghis Khan's most astounding effect remains on the world's demography. In February 2003, the study "The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols," published by the American Journal of Human Genetics, estimated that Genghis Khan has more than 17 million direct descendants living today: One in every 200 people is related to him. Source #5 Did Genghis Khan really kill 1,748,000 people in one hour? by ​
Josh Clark Browse the article ​
Did Genghis Khan really kill 1,748,000 people in one hour? Did Genghis Khan really kill 1,748,000 people in one hour?
Now that the ​
Cold War​
is over, ​
Genghis Khan's​
role as the father of ​
Mongolia​
is once again being celebrated. Under ​
Soviet​
rule, Mongols couldn't even utter Khan's name aloud. Now, however, the Mongolian people can visit the ruler's recently discovered tomb. So many related products have appeared in recent years that the Mongolian ​
government​
is considering copyrighting "Genghis Khan" to protect the integrity of Khan's name. This resurgence in popularity has also made some people reconsider Genghis Khan. Was he a bloodthirsty heathen, or a fair and just statesman? Although his reign left behind no tangible artifacts ­­ like architecture or art ­­ does Khan's role as champion of diplomacy, religious tolerance and equal rights for ​
women​
serve as legacy enough? And what of the incredible bloody legends that surround Genghis Khan? Perhaps no other historical figure has as much death directly attributed to ​
him than Genghis Khan. A quick glance at the many lists of his supposed deeds yields a recurring and s​
tartling attribution: Genghis Khan is said to have once killed 1,748,000 people in a single hour. While Khan inarguably killed his fair share of people, it's impossible that he ­­ or anyone else ­­ personally ever took as many lives in such a short ​
time​
. For Khan to have killed that many people in an hour, he would have had to take 29,133 lives per minute. It's clear this isn't possible, but what's the story behind this amazing, although untrue, legend? And why such an oddly specific number? Find out in the next section. Genghis Khan (c.1167­1227), Mongol conqueror: He became leader of his tribe, defeated other clans and was proclaimed Genghis Khan (Universal Ruler) of Mongol chieftains in 1206. Archive Photos/​
Getty Images The Truth About Nishapur
The 1,748,000 refers to the estimated population in April 1221 of a ​
Persian​
city calledNishapur. This city, located in what is now ​
Iran​
, was a bustling cultural center during Khan's time. And during his campaign to the West, following his successful subduing of ​
China​
, Nishapur was one of the cities his troops sacked.​
Genghis Khan (whose adopted name means "Universal Ruler" in Altaic, his native tongue) was something of a populist conqueror. He generally followed a self­imposed rule that those who surrendered to him were allowed to live. Common folk were often spared​
, while their rulers usually were put to death. The same fate met anyone else who dared resist. In Nishapur, Khan's favorite son­in­law, Toquchar, was killed by an arrow shot by a Nishapuran. It's not entirely clear whether a revolt broke out after Khan's troops had already overtaken the city, or if the fateful event took place during an initial siege. Either way, this proved to be the death warrant for the inhabitants of the city. Khan's daughter was heartbroken at the news of her husband's death, and requested that every last person in Nishapur be killed. Khan's troops, led by his youngest son, Toluiundertook the gruesome task. Women, children, infants, and even ​
dogs​
and cats were all murdered. Worried that some of the inhabitants were wounded but still alive, Khan's daughter allegedly asked that each Nishapuran be beheaded, their skulls piled in pyramids. Ten days later, the pyramids were complete. Exactly how many died at Nishapur during the siege is questionable, but it does appear that a great many people were killed and beheaded. There is no evidence that​
Genghis Khan​
was at the city when the massacre took place, however. It's unclear why the legends say these events transpired in just one hour. And when the 1.75 million deaths became attributed directly to Khan is equally murky. Even more difficult to understand is how the idea made it on so many lists of amazing statistics. Regardless, a great many people died at the hands of Genghis Khan or his men. But in a strange, roundabout way, he put back more than he took. Thanks to his far­flung travels and his appetite for women, a 2003 study found that as many as 16 million people alive today ­­ or about 0.5 percent of the global ​
population​
­­ are descendants of Khan [source: ​
Zerjal, et al.​
]. ● Sources ● de Hartog, Leo. "Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World." Tauris Parke Paperbacks. 2004. http://books.google.com/books?id=a4p9C6J35XYC&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=nishapur+genghis+khan&source=
web&ots=Z­LRT78QDO&sig=pArFKqRj3UUeQU0HlR4bCxhZYyk#PPA112,M1 ● Pocha, Jehangir S. "Mongolia sees Genghis Khan's good side." International Herald Tribune. May 10, 2005.http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/09/news/mongol.php ● Pressley Montes, Sue Anne. "Genghis Khan Statue Sought." The Washington Post. October 6, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp­dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501534.html ● Williams, F. Leon. "The Savage Fury: The Life of Genghis Khan." Trafford Publishing. 2005. http://books.google.com/books?id=pciCKJNf­aAC&pg=PA515&lpg=PA515&dq=nishapur+genghis+khan&source=we
b&ots=842xwoRpYQ&sig=hGGv1hoM7JIeczWrh9_exCtIwQs#PPA526,M1 ● Zerjal, Tatiana, et al. "The genetic legacy of the Mongols." American Journal of Human Genetics. 2003.http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/367774 ● "Genghis Khan and the Mongols." Macro History.http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h11mon.htm