
{| cellpadding=3px cellspacing=0px bgcolor=#f7f8ff style="float:right; border:2px solid; margin:5px" |+ Genghis Khan |colspan=2 align=center style="border-top:2px solid"| |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Birth name:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Borjigin Temüjin |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Family name:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Borjigin |- |align=right style="border-top:1px solid"|Title:||style="border-top:1px solid"|''Great Khan'' of Mongol Empire
|- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Birth:||style="border-top:1px solid"|1155/1162/1167 |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Place of birth:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Hentiy_aymag, Mongolia |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Death:||style="border-top:1px solid"|August 18, 1227 |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Dates of reign:||style="border-top:1px solid"|1206 –August 18, 1227 |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Succeeded by:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Ogedei Khan |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Marriage:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Borte |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Children:||style="border-top:1px solid"| *Borjigin Jochi, son
*Borjigin Chagatai Genghis Khan, son
*Borjigin Ogedei, son
*Borjigin Tolui, son
|} :''For the Germany Pop music band, see Dschinghis Khan'' Genghis Khan (1155/1162/1167–August 18, 1227) (Cyrillic: ''Чингис Хаан''), (also spelled as ''Chingis Khan'', ''Jenghis Khan'', etc.), (pronounced ), born as Temüjin (''Тэмүүжин''), was a Mongol Khan (Emperor) as well as a brilliant and sometimes brutal military leader who founded the Mongol Empire (1206–1368). He is considered a national hero in modern Mongolia for his historical role in giving a common identity to Mongols after their centuries of internal feud. ==Overview== Genghis Khan was arguably the most successful military leader in world history. Born in modern day Mongolia, he united the Mongol tribes of Central Asia, forging a powerful army that he used to create one of the world's largest Mongol Empire. Though often outnumbered, he used superior military intelligence and the mobility of his mounted warriors to defeat opponents, rapidly conquering more territory than any other single ruler. His invasions, and strategy of slaughtering the entire populations of resisting cities such as Herat, led to many millions of deaths, and, in the longer term, resulted in massive depopulation of much of Asia [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm#Mongol]. The exact number of people killed during and after his reign is not, and likely will not ever be, conclusively known. The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors ruled most of Eurasia, including Central Asia Asia, North Asia, Eastern Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe Europe, and Central Europe almost as far as Vienna, Austria. Genghis Khan's successors continued to rule the Mongol Empire he founded after his death, and, even after the unified empire dissolved a century and a half later, separate Khanates existed for centuries afterwards. Genghis Khan's descendants included Kublai Khan, Babur, and, allegedly, Timur, although it is unlikely that the Tartar conquerer was actually related. His family ruled the Mongols until the 17th century, when the last Khan of his house was conquered by the Manchu. Many of his rules and customs continued to be followed by his descendents, and he is regarded as the founder of Mongolia and an important figure in history of the Mongols. ==Early life== ===Birth=== Genghis Khan is believed to have been born with the name Temüjin between 1155 and 1167 in Hentiy aymag, Mongolia. If this is true, his birthplace is most likely the mountainous area of Burhan Haldun. He was the second son of Yesugay Ba'atur, a tribal chief of the Kiyad. Yesükhei's clan was called Borjigin (''Боржигин''). His mother was named Hoelun and was of the Olkunut tribe. Temüjin was named after one of the more powerful chiefs of a rival tribe. His early life was difficult: His father delivered him to his future wife's family when he was only nine. He lived there until he reached the Arranged marriage age of 14. Shortly thereafter, his father was murdered by the neighboring Tatars while returning home. This made Temüjin the clan's chief, though his clan refused to be led by a boy and soon abandoned him and his family. For the next few years, he and his family lived the life of impoverished nomads, surviving primarily on marmots and other small game. In one incident, Temüjin reportedly slew his half-brother over a dispute about sharing hunting spoils. In another, he was captured in a raid by his former tribe and held captive with a wooden collar around his neck. He escaped with help from a sympathetic captor. His mother, Hoelun, taught him many lessons on survival in the harsh political climate of Mongolia, especially the need for alliances with others, a lesson which would shape his understanding in his later years. Around the age of 16, Temüjin married Börte of the Konkirat tribe. Later she was kidnapped in a raid by the Merkit tribe, and Temüjin called on his friend and later rival, Jamuka, and his protector, Wang Khan of the Kerait tribe, for aid. Börte's first child, Jochi, was born suspiciously soon after she was freed from the Merkit, leading to questions regarding the child's paternity. ===Uniting the tribes and early Mongol Empire=== Genghis Khan began his slow ascent to power by allying himself with his father's ''anda'' (sworn brother or blood brother). Genghis's ally was Toghril, khan of the Kerait and better known by the Chinese title Wang Khan which the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) granted him in 1197. Temüjin was adopted as Wang Khan's heir after successful campaigns against the Tatars (1202). This led to jealousy on the part of Senggum, Wang's former heir, who planned to assassinate Temüjin. Temüjin learnt of Senggum's intentions, eventually defeated him and his loyalists and succeeded to the title of Wang Khan. His borders were threatened to the the south by the Jin who then ruled North China and to the west by the Western Xia. Genghis Khan organized his people to prepare for possible conflicts, especially with the Jin. The Chinese had grown uncomfortable with the newly unified Mongols. Many trade routes ran through Mongol territory, and they feared that the Mongols would eventually restrict the supply of goods. Genghis Khan managed to unite the tribes under a single system by 1206 using his personal charisma and strong will. It was a monumental feat for the Mongols, who had a long history of internecine dispute and economic hardship. At a Kurultai (a council of Mongol chiefs) he was acknowledged as the first and only "Genghis Khan" or Khagan, the ''ruler of rulers'' or ''emperor''. He was further titled "Genghis Khan" (alternate spellings exist; see above) or ''Rightful Ruler'' (also "Ruler of all between the oceans") at around the age of 40. The name "Genghis" (written "Chinggis" by the Uighur scribes who first recorded it) is based on the Chinese language word "zhèng", meaning "true" or "just"#fn_1. Genghis Khan eventually created a written code of laws for the Mongols called Yassa and demanded that it be followed very strictly in order to strengthen his organization and power among his people. He was looked on as a "man of the people," sharing his wealth and resources with his followers. He remained true to his shamanistic and nomadic traditions throughout his life, despite the spread of various other religions among the Mongol populace. ''See also: Mongols before Chinggis Khan ==Mongol Empire== ''Main article: Mongol Empire'' Genghis Khan is one of the central figures in world history, undoubtly in the history of the Mongols and Central Asia. He unified the disbanded Central Asian tribes, mostly of the Mongol heritage under one unified system and was regarded as their undisputed leader who founded the Mongol Empire thereafter. For centuries before Mongol Empire, various dynasties and empires (Western Xia, Jin Empire, etc.) in modern day China were established causing constant warfare and conquests that made lives of many Central Asian tribes harder, plus feud amongst each other. ===Politics and economics=== ''Main article: Organization of state under Genghis Khan'' The Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan was tolerant of the people it had conquered, provided that they did not resist, and often let conquered nations keep local rulers. The Mongols ruled themselves under the code of Yasa, a chivalric code of honor. Generally, the Mongol Empire was also friendly to outside trade along the Silk Road, although the Mongol's conquests led to a collapse of many of the ancient trading cities of Central Asia. Taxes were also heavy, and conquered people were used as forced labor. Temujim was illiterate when he was young but learned to read Taoism sermons later in his life. He brought tutors with him to teach his children and himself to read and write. Genghis Khan promoted and used anything he found of technological advantage, even if he did not fully understand it, including the sciences of linguistics, astronomy, and mathematics. ===Military=== ''Main article: Military advances of Genghis Khan'' [[Image:H_01.jpg|thumb|right|370px|Re-enactment of 12th and 13th century Mongol soldiers in Naadam.]] Genghis Khan made advances in military disciplines, such as mobility, psychological warfare, intelligence, military autonomy, and military tactics. Genghis Khan's armies were generally able to best their enemies in the 12th century and 13th century because of their superior military strategy, mobility, and military intelligence. Genghis developed a well organized and trained army. He refused to divide his troops into different ethnic enclaves, creating a sense of unity, while he punished even small infractions against discipline severely. He also divided his armies into a number smaller groups, taking advantage of the superb mobility of his well-trained mounted archers to attack their enemies on several fronts at once. Ghengis Khan preferred to offer opponents the chance to submit to his rule without a fight, but was merciless if he encountered any resistance. Genghis Khan's conquests were characterized by wholesale destruction on unprecedented scale and radically changed the demographic situation in Asia. According to the works of Iranian historian Rashid al-Din, Mongols killed over 70,000 people in Merv and more than a million in Nishapur. China suffered a drastic decline in population. Before the Mongol invasion, China had about 100 million inhabitants; after the complete conquest in 1279, the census in 1300 showed it to have roughly 60 million people. How many of these deaths were attributable directly to Ghengis and his forces is unclear. ===Campaigns=== ====China==== At the time of the 1206 Khuriltai, Genghis was involved in a dispute with the Tangut Empire of Western Xia, which was demanding tribute from the Mongols. Genghis Khan led the Mongols against Xia, and conquered the empire despite initial difficulties in defeating its well-defended cities. By 1209, the Tangut emperor acknowledged Genghis Khan as overlord. In 1211, the Mongol Khan set about bringing the Jurchen (the founders of the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234)) completely under his dominion, in order to prevent them from challenging the Mongols for territory and resources. The Mongol army crossed the Great Wall of China in 1213, and in 1215 Genghis besieged, captured, and sacked the Jin capital of Yanjing (later known as Beijing. This forced the Jin Emperor Emperor Xuan Zong of Jin to move his capital south to Kaifeng. Genghis Khan's successor, Ogedei Khan, finally destroyed the Jin Dynasty in 1234. ====Central Asia==== Meanwhile, Kuchlug, the deposed Khan of the Naiman tribe, had fled west and had usurped the Khanate of Kara-Khitan Khanate (also known as Kara Kitay), the western allies that had decided to side with Genghis Khan. By this time the Mongol army was exhausted from ten years of continuous campaigning in China against the Tangut and the Rurzhen. Therefore, Genghis sent only two tumen (roughly 20,000 soldiers) under a brilliant young general, Jebe (known as "The Arrow"), against Kuchlug. An internal revolt was incited by Mongol agents against Kuchlug, leaving the Naiman forces open for Jebe to overrun the country. Kuchlug's forces were defeated west of Kashgar; he was captured and executed and Kara-Khitan was annexed by Genghis Khan. By 1218, the Mongol Empire extended as far west as Lake Balkhash and adjoined Khwarizm, a Islam state that reached to the Caspian Sea in the west and to the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea in the south. ====Middle East==== In 1218, Genghis sent emissary to an eastern province of Khwarizm with the intention of discussing possible trade with the Khwarezmia. The governor of the province had the emissaries executed, and the Genghis Khan retaliated with an invasion force of 20 tumen (200,000 troops). The Mongol army quickly seized the town, relying on superior strategy and tactics. Once he had conquered the city, he killed many of the inhabitants and executed the governor by pouring molten silver into his ears and eyes as retribution for the insult. At this point (1219), Genghis decided to extend Mongol control into the Islam world. The Mongol army methodically marched through and sacked Khwarizm's main cities (Bukhara, Samarkand, and Balkh), and the shah, Muhammad, prepared to battle with them. However, he was outmaneuvered by the much swifter Mongol army and driven into extended retreat. In the end, the shah killed himself rather than surrender when he was cornered and by 1220, the Khwarizmian Empire was eradicated. The Mongol armies then split into two component forces. Genghis Khan led a division on a raid through Afghanistan and northern India, while another contingent, led by his general Subedei, marched through the Caucasus and Russia. Neither campaign added territory to the empire, but they pillaged settlements and defeated any armies they met that did not acknowledge Genghis Khan as the rightful leader of the world. In 1225 both divisions returned to Mongolia. These invasions added Transoxiana and Iran to an already formidable empire and began to establish Genghis Khan's reputation as a bloodthirsty warrior. ====Europe and Caucasus==== While he was gathering his forces in Iran and Armenia, a detached force of 40,000 troops commanded by Batu Khan pushed deep into Armenia and Azerbaijan Batu destroyed Georgia (country) crusaders, sacked the Republic of Genoa trade-fortress of Kaffa in Crimea, and stayed the winter near the Black Sea. While he was heading home, Batu met Prince Mstislav III of Kiev of Kievan Rus with his 80,000 troops. This encounter is thought to be the Battle of Kalka River in 1223, which resulted in the destruction of both Prince Mstislav and his army. ==The final years== The vassal emperor of the Tanguts (Western Xia) had refused to take part in the war against the Khwarizm. While Genghis Khan was busy with the campaign in Persia, Tangut and Jin had formed an alliance against the Mongols. In retaliation, the Mongol emperor prepared for war against their alliance. By this time, his advancing age had led Genghis to make preparations for his death and to assure an orderly succession among his descendants; he selected his third son Ögedei Khan as his successor and established the method of selection of subsequent Genghis Khans, specifying that they should come from his direct descendants. Meanwhile, he studied intelligence reports from Western Xia and Jin and readied a force of 180,000 troops for a new campaign. [[Image:Mongol_Empire_after_Genghis.jpg|thumb|right|370px|Khanates of Mongolian Empire: Il-Khanate, Chagatai Khanate, Empire of the Great Khan (Yuan Dynasty), Golden Horde]] In 1226, Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts on the pretext that the Tanguts had received the Mongols' and they were seeking retribution for this betrayal. In February, he took Heisui, Ganzhou and Suzhou and in the autumn, he took Xiliang-fu. One of Western Xia's generals challenged the Mongols for a battle near Helanshan (''Helan'' means "great horse" in the northern dialect, ''shan'' means "mountain"). The Western Xia armies were soundly defeated. In November, the Genghis Khan laid siege to the Tangut city of Lingzhou and then crossed the Yellow River and defeated the Tangut relief army. Genghis reportedly saw five stars arranged in a line in the sky, which he took to be an omen of his victory. In 1227, the Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts' capital, and continued to advance, seizing Lintiao-fu in February, Xining province and Xindu-fu in March, and Deshun province in April. At Deshun, the Tangut general Ma Jianlong put up a fierce resistance for several days and personally led charges against the invaders outside of the city gate. Ma Jianlong later died from wounds received from arrows in battle. Genghis Khan, after conquering Deshun, went to Liupanshan (Qingshui County, Gansu Province) for shelter from the severe summer. The new Tangut emperor quickly surrendered to the Mongols. The Tanguts officially surrendered in 1227, after having ruled for 189 years, starting in 1038. In the end, Genghis Khan had the Tangut emperor and his family executed for their betrayal. ===Death and burial=== [[Image:Mongol_Empire_at_1227.jpg|thumb|right|370px|Mongolian Empire in 1227 at Genghis Khan's death.]] At his death, Genghis Khan divided his empire amongst his four surviving sons. The the most distant lands conquered by the Mongols, then southern Ruthenia, were divided among his sons Batu, leader of the Blue Horde, and Orda, leader of the White Horde. Chagatai Khan was the next-eldest son of Genghis, but he was considered a hothead, and so was given Central Asia and northern Iran. Ogedei, third oldest, was made Great Khan and given China. Tolui, the youngest, was given the Mongol homeland as per Mongol custom. On his deathbed in 1227, Genghis Khan outlined to his youngest son, Tolui, the plans that later would be used by his successors to complete the destruction of the Jin Empire. In his last campaign leading the Mongol fight against the Tangut Empire, Genghis Khan died on August 18, 1227. The reason for his death is uncertain. Many assume he fell off his horse, due to old age and physical wearing down; some contemporary observers even cited prophecies from his opponents. The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle alleges he was killed by the Tanguts, but as of today the truth is unclear. It is alleged that Genghis Khan asked to be buried without markings. After he died, his body was returned to Mongolia and presumably to his birthplace in Hentiy aymag, where many assume he is buried somewhere close to the Onon river. The funeral escort killed anyone and anything that strayed across their path to his burial, so as not to reveal where he was finally laid to rest. The Genghis Khan Mausoleum is his memorial, but not his burial site. As of October 6, 2004, there has been an alleged discovery of "Genghis Khan's palace" that makes a discovery of his burial site more likely. In folklore it is said that a river was diverted over his grave to make it impossible to find and/or his grave was stamped over by many horses. ===The Mongol Empire after Genghis=== ''Main article: Mongol Empire'' Genghis Khan's successors expanded the empire even further, into south China, Russia, Iraq, Korea, and Tibet. The Mongols eventually conquered Poland and Hungary under Batu Khan's rule, and (with varying degrees of success) Syria, Japan, and Vietnam. The European expansion came to a halt when a number high-ranking leaders had to return to Mongolia to participate in the khuriltai for the election of the next Great Khan. The Mongols might have been ready to conquer all of Europe, having conquered Poland and Hungary in a month. The Mongol Empire reached its height under Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai Khan, but broke apart into separate and less powerful khanates shortly after. At its height, the Mongolian Empire stretched from Southeast Asia to Europe, covering 35 million square kilometers (13.8 million square miles), little less than the British Empire with its 14.1 million square miles, or 36 million square kilometers. According to some sources, the empire encompassed almost 50% of the world population and included the most advanced and populous nations of that time; China and many of the main contemporary states of the Islamic world in Iraq, Persia, and Asia Minor. It holds the record for the longest continuous landmass controlled by any empire in history. Timur based much of his early legitimacy on claiming descent from Genghis Khan. ==Family and personality== ===Character of Genghis Khan=== It is not entirely clear what Genghis Khan was truly like, but his personality and character were doubtless molded by the many hardships he faced when he was young and during the time that it took to unify the Mongol nation. Genghis Khan appeared to fully embrace the Mongol people's nomadic way of life and did not act to change their customs or beliefs. As he aged, he seemed to become increasingly aware of the consequences of numerous victories and expansion of the Mongol Empire, including the possibility that succeeding generations might choose to live a sedentary lifestyle. According to quotations attributed to him in his later years, he urged future leaders to follow the ''Yasa'' teachings, and refrain from surrounding themselves with wealth and pleasure. He valued honesty and loyalty highly, even an enemy soldier's loyalty to his leader. His military strategies showed a deep interest in gathering good intelligence and understanding the motivations of his rivals. He seemed to be a quick study, adopting new technologies and ideas that he encountered, although he never learned a foreign language or showed much interest in the cultures of other people. He certainly appears to have believed that he was the rightful ruler of the World, in terms of bringing the Mongol tribes and other states that he attempted to unify. ===Family and heirs=== ''Main article: Family tree of Genghis Khan'' Genghis Khan was related through his father to Qabul Khan, Ambaghai and Qutula Khan who had headed the Mongol confederation under Jin patronage until the Jin switched their support to the Tatars in 1161 and destroyed Qutula Khan. The successor as head of the ruling clan of the Mongols was Genghis Khan's father, Yesugei, khan of the Borjigin, a nephew of Ambaghai and Qutula Khan. although that position was contested by the rival Tayichi’ud clan, who descended directly from Ambaghai. When the Tatars, in turn, grew too powerful after 1161 the Jin moved their support from the Tatars to the Kerait. Genghis Khan's empress was Borte, his childhood friend that his father left ''Temujin'' with her and her family when he was 9. Borte gave birth to the following four sons of Genghis Khan: * Jochi (1185–1227) * Chagatai * Ogedei (—1241) * Tolui (1190–1232) Jochi is not completely certain to be a biological child of Genghis Khan, because he was born soon after Borte was freed from her captors. All four children of Genghis Khan held the title of ''Khan'' by controlling the Khanates after Genghis Khan's death as it was Genghis Khan's wish. All four children took part in the Genghis Khan's campaign in one way or another. Ogedei was proclaimed ''Great Khan'' by directly succeeding the Genghis Khan. ==The legacy of Genghis Khan== ===Historical legacy=== Near-contemporary middle-eastern accounts by Juvayni and Rashid al-Din have survived, along with the anonymous Uighur / Chinese document known as The Secret History of the Mongols, which presents Genghis Khan from the Mongol point of view. However, Genghis Khan's legacy is perceived very differently in Mongolia from the rest of the world. In the West and the Middle East, the perception of Genghis Khan is strongly negative due to the destruction his forces caused, though there have been recent efforts by Western historians to explore the positive aspects of Genghis Khan's conquest. Views toward Genghis Khan in the modern day People's Republic of China are more ambivalent. While Chinese historians acknowledge the vast amount of damage and death that Genghis Khan caused, his reputation is somewhat redeemed by the fact that he would set into motion events which would later end the non-Han dynasties of the north and the southern divisions of China that had begun during the Song Dynasty. Particularly in Central and East Asia, and certainly in Mongolia where Genghis Khan is a national hero, there is much concern about the negative bias in historical records about Genghis Khan which emphasize his assaults, barbarism, and butchery. There is a feeling that his military and administrative genius is undervalued, as is his undisputed status as the conqueror of one of the largest empires in history. ===Influence in Mongolia=== In recent times, Genghis Khan has become a symbol for Mongolia's attempts to regain its identity after many long years of Communism under Russia. Genghis Khan's face appears on Mongolian bank notes and vodka labels. Later Mongol Khans encouraged the people to even worship Genghis Khan as a religious entity throughout the empire. Without Genghis Khan, there would seem to be no Mongolia, as the Mongolian Empire consistently shrank from what was built by Genghis Khan when he was titled in 1206. A recent genetic survey (Zerjal ''et al''. 2003, [http://www.ceacb.ucl.ac.uk/cultureclub/files/CC2005-02-03-Zerjal%20et%20al._2003_Genetic%20Legacy%20of%20the%20Mongols.pdf pdf of paper]) found a cluster of Y chromosome variants in 1/12 of the men in the area of the Mongolian Empire, and 1/200 of men worldwide. The age of the cluster, estimated from the mutation rate, places its origin around the time of Genghis Khan, and it is especially common among the Hazara people, who claim to be descended from Genghis Khan (a claim traditionally rejected by most scientists because it was assumed to be local folklore). From this genetic evidence it is popularly reasoned that over 0.5% of the world's population (as the study was only able to cover direct male descendants) is descended from Genghis Khan, although there is no direct evidence to support this claim and modern science doesn't favor this assumption. He is remembered for his destruction, strong willpower, persuasiveness, and power, but in Eastern Asia also for his achievements as a unifying, even cosmopolitan ruler, who nonetheless valued his Mongol identity. ==See also== * Babur * History of Mongolia * House of Taimur * Hulegu * Khwarezmid Empire * Kublai Khan * Mongka Khan * Timur ==External links== *[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0609610627/002-0991999-9524804?v=glance Amazon.com: Books: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World] *[http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h11mon.htm Genghis Khan and the Mongols] *[http://www.ub-mongolia.mn/genghis-Genghis Khan.html Genghis Khan Movie] *[http://www.coldsiberia.org/ Welcome to The Realm of the Mongols] *[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/mntoc.html Parts of this biography were taken from the Area Handbook series at the Library of Congress] *[http://koreanhistoryproject.org/Ket/Idx/KETIndex0504.htm Coverage of Temujin's Earlier Years] *[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm#Mongol Estimates of Mongol warfare casualties] *[http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/genghis/ Genghis Khan on the Web (directory of some 250 resources)] *[http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/Mongols/empsub2.html Mongol Arms] *[http://www.leader-values.com/Content/detail.asp?ContentDetailID=799 LeaderValues] *[http://nobsnews.blogspot.com/1994/01/inspirations-of-historians.html#rashid-ad-din-juwayni ‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Ata Malik Juvayni (A History of the World-Conqueror Ghengis Genghis Khan)] *[http://www.iexplore.com/travel/result/47079 iExplore.com: The search for the missing tomb of Genghis Khan] ==References== * Lister, R. P. ''Genghis Khan''. Cooper Square Press, 1969. ISBN 0-8154-1052-2. * * * Weatherford, Jack. ''Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World'', 2004. * Zerjal, Tatiana, Yali Xue, Giorgio Bertorelle, R. Spencer Wells, Weidong Bao, Suling Zhu, Raheel Qamar, Qasim Ayub, Aisha Mohyuddin, Songbin Fu, Pu Li, Nadira Yuldasheva, Ruslan Ruzibakiev, Jiujin Xu, Qunfang Shu, Ruofu Du, Huanming Yang, Matthew E. Hurles, Elizabeth Robinson, Tudevdagva GerelsaiGenghis Khan, Bumbein Dashnyam, S. Qasim Mehdi, and Chris Tyler-Smith. 2003. The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols. ''The American Journal of Human Genetics'' 72:718-721 * Man, John. ''Genghis Khan -- Life, Death and Resurrection''. Bantam Press, 2004. ISBN 0-553-81498-2. *[http://ideas.union.edu/articles/files/22_Stevens_Heirs_to_Discord.pdf Heirs to Discord: The Supratribal Aspirations of Jamuqa, Toghrul, and Temüjin] ==Further reading== * Cable, Mildred and French, Francesca. 1943. ''The Gobi Desert''. London. Landsborough Publications. * Man, John. 1997. ''Gobi : Tracking the Desert''. Weidenfield & Nicolson. Paperback by Phoenix, Orion Books. London. 1998. *Stewart, Stanley. 2001. ''In the Empire of Genghis Khan: A Journey among Nomads''. HarperCollins''Publishers'', London. ISBN 0-00-653027-3. ==Notes== #fn_1_back There are many theories for the origins of Genghis Khan's title. One theory places the etymology as stemming from a palatalised version of the Turkish language word ''tenggiz'', meaning "oceanic" or "wide-spreading". Lake Baikal was referred to as ''tenggiz'' by the Mongols, however it seems like that if they had meant to call Genghis Khan ''tenggiz'' they could very well have said (and written) "Tenggiz Khan", which they did not. Zhèng (Chinese: 正, pron. "jung" in English) meaning "right", "just", or "true", would have received the Mongolian adjectival modifier -s, creating "Jenggis", which was then modified by later scribes in India or Iran to read as "Genghis". Likely, contemporary Mongols would have pronounced the word more like "Chinggis". Chingis Khan is the [http://www.mongolianembassy.us/eng_about_mongolia/history.php?PHPSESSID=41ae870976b9d979216d7279900bcab5 spelling] used by the modern Republic of Mongolia. See R.P. Lister, referenced above, for further reading.
{| align=center border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4 style="background: #f9f9f9; text-align:center; border:1px solid #aaa;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:95%" |- |width="30%" align="center"|Preceded by:
None |width="40%" align="center"|Great Khan of Mongolian Empire
1206–1227 |width="30%" align="center"|Followed by:
Ogedei Khan |} Genghis Khan Mongol Khans 1227 deaths Mongol peoples bs:Džingis Kan fa:چنگیزخان jbo:Tcingis xan ms:Genghis Khan simple:Genghis Khan vi:Thành Cát Tư Hãn
Chingis Khan is the actual way it is written and pronounced in rest of the world. Genghis Khan is the polluted version of his name, commonly used in the West. "...names Genghis Khan and Mongols are almost synonymous with unstoppability..." Mongoloid: 2 of, relating to, or affected with Down syndrome Can people please help this article recover from a nasty attack of adjectives? I am sure you thing the guy was great, but saying it so many ways in the same sentence just makes it unreadable.User:Sandpiper 09:33, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Father's death (date)== The article for Yesugay Ba'atur shows his father's death to have occured in 1167, whereas this article says 1175. Which--if either--is correct? --User:Milkmandan 16:27, 2004 Sep 2 (UTC) :He died when Genghis was around 13 years old. So depending on which date of birth you think is correct (1155,1162 or 1165), you'd have different dates for Yesugei's death. ==Literacy (see also #(Il)Literacy below)== I've added the word 'likely' to the description of his illiteracy in light of possible new developments. See [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=569678§ion=news Reuters Article]. 23/Aug/04 ==Meaning of his name== To Menchi. The meaning of chinggis is not completely ascertained, but I've never heard that it means ocean.Don't you mixed it up with the Dalai Lama? (sorry) The leading theory is that chinggis derived from an archaic Turkish word that means valorous. The Mongols forgot its etymology, so various folk etymologies have made. --User:Nanshu, revised User:Nanshu 13:31, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)
: Thanks for the insights. --User:Menchi 02:27 14 Jun 2003 (UTC)
: Yes I agree. The word ''Genghis'' doesn't sound anything like Mongolian. Maybe I'm not sure. I don't really know whether it means "Oceanic Ruler" or "Universal Ruler." It definitaly shouldn't be interpreted in one way or another, before language specialist comes in here. So we just generalize and mean something I guess.
:posted by Special:Contributions/38.112.5.146
I have to correct my mistake. See:
:de Rachewiltz, Igor: ''The Title Činggis Qan/Qaɤan re-examined'', Gedanke und Wirkung: Festschrift zum 90. Geburtstag von Nikolaus Poppe, ed. Walther Heissig & Klaus Sagaster, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp.281-298, 1989.
I knew that relatively new Mongolian chonicles like ''Altan tobchi'' and ''Erdeni-yin tobchi'' contain an episode: before the enthronement a bird sang, "chinggis, chinggis." [http://www.asuult.net/ihtuuh/AT/chapter06.htm] It is obviously a folk etymology which was created by those who failed to understand what chinggis meant. And according to Okada Hidehiro, chinggis was a loan word from ancient Turkish that meant "fierce." But I didn't know other theories.
In that paper, Igor de Rachewiltz (incidentally, he is a descendant of Chinggis Khan in maternal line) dealt with various theories that had been proposed by predecessors and drew his own conclution:
:'Činggis Qan' would then no longer mean 'Universal Ruler', but rather 'The Fierce Ruler.'
Yes. There was/is "Universal Ruler" theory. Ramstedt and Pelliot claimed that ''činggis'' is, most probably, the palatalized Mongol form of Turkish ''teŋiz'' meaning 'sea, ocean', and by extension 'universal.' I feel ashamed of not knowing the big names' theory. As I said above, the author did not supprt this theory, and I don't know whether it is still widely supported or not.
He also examined the title of Khan/Khaghan. It is surely useful for expanding the article of Khan. --User:Nanshu 13:31, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)
==Languages and scripts==
We don't need Chinese characters here.
*Chinggis and other words are Mongolian, not Chinese.
*Chinese is only one of many source languages. Other than Mongolian and Chinese, Persian is indispensable in Mongolian history. Showing all these languages is cumbersome.
*If you want to know Chinese representations, go to Yuan Dynasty.
--User:Nanshu 04:23, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Genghis Khan's name came across as the "The Very Mighty King." This is shown by the article "Genghis Khan establishes an empire c.1225." The article can be found on discover online edition. The link is http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/src.
: I don't think this is correct. Your link is broken, and your edit to the death of Genghis Khan doesn't have outside reference. Do you have reference for the edit you made to the death section? I would be glad to see that, at least to verify that you didn't made that up. Thanks.
I think the meaning of Chinggis Khan is "Ruler of land and sea" or just "Oceanic Ruler"
==Uniting the Tribes; Extent/size of conquests/empire==
There is no information about uniting the tribes in this section.
:Genghis Khan...was a Mongolian khan and military leader who unified the Mongolian tribes and then founded the Mongol Empire by conquering most of Asia, including China, Russia, Persia, and the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.
Genghis Khan certainly ''did not'' conquer most of Asia (more than 50%): it was his sons and grandsons who did, not him. He did not conquer China -- at least the whole of it: his grandson Kublai Khan did. Neither did he take Eastern Europe: he merely sacked Caucasus and then left it alone. This section could do with some rewriting.
He certainly did take almost the entire Central Asia, parts of China and Afghanistan; but his legacy is in pointing the way rather than making the final kill. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/genghis/khanmap.html.
User:Mandel 16:03, 21 May 2004 (UTC)
==Trivia==
Some (barely consequential) trivia:
Genghis/Chinggis Khan, at the height of his rule, is said to have had over 500 wives and concubines.
He is said to have had red hair and green eyes.
(This from The Devil's Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe; James Chambers).
He died from internal injuries sustained from a fall from his horse.
Modern Mongols anticipate their great Khan's return, he is a figure to them much like King Arthur of Britain.
User:Andreia_Wilson
:: Genghis didn't have red hair and green eyes. How many people of Asian heritage has red hair? Have common-sense, Europeans have red hair and green eyes.
:::While this is new to me, it isn't totally out of the question - the Tocharian languages of what is not Xinjiang were red-haired, green-eyed Indo-European-speaking people - the description comes from contemporary Chinese sources, their own illustrations and mummies. There were also nomadic people to the north of them who were reported to be red haired and green eyed, although there is no physical evidence of the appearance of those people (as far as I can tell). The Tocharians (and their neighbours) were probably absorbed by the surrounding Mongol and Turkic people, although some apparently migrated to Bactria.
:::I am not expressing an opion was to whether the trivia above is true or not - all I am saying is that it is not as implausible as it might seem. User:Guettarda 21:52, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
His dying of inernal injuries from falling of horse is alleged. We don't really know how he died. Some people say he died because of age, caught spiritually poisened by the Chinese, etc. We don't know for sure.
==Military tactics==
Shouldn't there be a section here about Genghis Khan's military tactics? I mean, he is considered the greatest general of all time and everything.
:: I wrote the Military tactics section with high reliance on outside source. I could definitely be expanded with more facts. We need reliable sources.
Also, there seems to be an inordinate amount of detail in the sections dealing with Genghis's Chinese campaigns, especially the final one. I think this either needs to be balanced out (more detail in the other military campaigns) or shortened. User:Brutannica 20:23, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)
==(Il)Literacy==
Regarding Chinggis' (il)literacy, there have been reports in newspapers regarding the findings of an academician which confirmed a handwritten note as being written by Chinggis. The note was regarding a Taoist sermon by a famous monk, to which Chinggis wrote 'I will read it personally'. I will update the relevant section accordingly.
-TheSeez
:Nanshu brought this up already. User:Brutannica 23:47, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
== Values of Genghis Khan? ==
The piece on the "values" of Genghis seems to contradict other portions of the article. Also it has horrible grammar.
:I agree. Although I enjoy how it offers an opposing viewpoint to traditional Western images of Temujin being barbaric, it's a bit POV. I was considering editing it, but it might be deletable or at least moved to some other part of the article. Even better, someone knowledgeable could write about the "good/bad" views of Temujin -- see the Christopher Columbus article for an example. User:Brutannica 01:10, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)
:P.S.: Regarding the rodent post -- it came from ''The Cartoon History of the Universe III'', which I believe to be a more reliable source than it sounds.
::I would vote for capturing both sides of the discussion. That would provide the complete picture, no?User:IFaqeer—User:IFaqeer | User talk:IFaqeer 19:12, Oct 26, 2004 (UTC)
:: About eating rodents, yes Mongols and presently Mongolians eat rodents sometime, but I don't think it's necessary to say they only ate rodents. There are many other things that Mongols ate like drink milk, eat yogurt, etc. It seems a little biased, and I'll try that change that. Also Mongols doesn't eat all rodents, just specific ones without any diseases of course.
: I wrote that article, and the reason why I did it is to try to eliminate the Western emotional POV that is so prevelant in the West. I try to be matter-of-factly as possible in writing Genghis Khan article, and somewhat be respectful the Mongolians who they respect Genghis very much. I'm a Mongolian so I know these kinds of things, and please, please don't introduce your emotional arguments into the article. Let's be respectful on both sides, because I will still continue to introduce "Eastern view" of Genghis Khan consistently. Read "Genghis Khan and the Mongols" - try google-ing it. We need balance in this article and it is filled with so much emotional gibbirish, and I try to edit-out that much as possible.
::I like that Columbus model.
::Also, I would advice not dismissing a contribution just because of the quality of the English. The way I see it, the whole idea behind the Wikipedia and the only justfication for my spending time here is to be able to collect and present a more complete picture than the mainstream encyclopedias have done—and that is only possible if we include and encourage voices from all perspectives and around the globe (Wikipedia:Wikipedians#Listing_by_planet) Including encouraging people not to keep off posting if they can't do it in flawless English. Once they have posted, others of us can help copy-edit, etc. And if one of us sees an entry that has grammar issues, please help edit and improve the language. Or Wikipedia:Pages needing attention. Please see Wikipedia:Why aren't these pages copy-edited for details. User:IFaqeer—User:IFaqeer User talk:IFaqeer 22:37, Nov 27, 2004 (UTC)
::: I like that suggestion. Columbus model is pretty good and we need it in this article than any other. I'll try to research it a bit and brainstorm it a bit.
== Rodents ==
That is probably marmot, isn't it? Marmot is actually considered a delicacy, and they are quite common in most parts of Mongolia.
Other common species are sqirrels and mice, but those are usually not eaten. 12:17, Feb. 28, 2005
== Regarding Genetic Survey ==
Interesting fact. However, does anyone have a link or at least some information on who conducted the survey, etc? It'd be good to have that in the article. User:Jsan 21:06, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)
:Done. User:Guettarda 23:02, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)
== Largest Contiguous Empire? ==
I find it curious that people see the need to say contiguous. The only non-contiguous empire that comes even close to rivalling the Mongol Empire is the British Empire and according to sources on this site it was less than thirty million square kilometres (considerably smaller than almost forty million for the Mongol Empire. The other empire that rivals this is Tsarist Russia/USSR but this is also contiguous and also smaller. I think it suffices to say "the largest empire" in history - this gives the full credit the Mongol Empire deserves.
I'm also curious as to why people feel the detail of the descriptions in the Chinese campaigns is a problem. Surely the more detail the better. Even if other campaigns aren't covered in as much detail we should be aiming to increase the detail on those campaigns, not decrease detail on the Chinese campaigns. Besides - China is by far the most populous, technologically advanced and all round most significant nation the Mongols invaded, so it makes sense to make the descriptions of the campaigns there more detailed. In the Napoleonic Wars article no one is suggesting we give the Carribean Campaigns equal detail to the German ones. The more important the area is the more people will wish to know about the campaigns there. This is common sense. 211.26.76.169
:Well said. We need more articulate and bold people around here.
:But then the problem could be that for such a large article, people don't notice such details when reading, or simply do not know enough details to add onto particular sections. Wiki is relatively new, and people who are actually THE experts in each respective field may not have yet come across wiki as they may be busy perfecting what they do. User:LegolasGreenleaf 13:05, Feb 25, 2005 (UTC)
== image copyrights ==
Some of these images - those not obviously 100 yrs old - may not in fact be PD or even fair use... particularly when they exist in high-res formats. Please double-check. Being 'from a museum' is not enough to guarantee they are PD. User:Sj+">User Talk:Sj 10:50, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)
== Error? ==
"In his funeral, as secrecy, it is said that 40 baby camels were buried in Genghis Khan's grave, so that their mothers could not even locate the location where the baby camels were buried"
This doesn't make sense at all, can the author of this clarify this?
:I believe the intent was so that the camels ''would'' remember the spot.User:IFaqeer—User:IFaqeer User talk:IFaqeer 19:47, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)
== Chinese ==
I will later make a case for putting Chinese characters in this article. User:Colipon+(User talk:Colipon) 03:54, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)
== Pronunciation ==
Can somebody add pronunciation to all those names? Any discussion? I've always heard "jeen-ghees-haan" in Polish and in English usually "jin-ghis-kan". Which is the Mongolian pronounciation?
**I think ''chi ng'g s han'' is the Mongolian pronunciation
:::Which is in the IPA (I believe), which I'm going to add to the article. I have a semi-related question, which is, why is his name not transliterated <''Chinggis Khaan''>, and his true name <''Temüüjin''>? --User:Whimemsz 18:28, May 30, 2005 (UTC)
::::''Chinggis Khaan'' is definitely the Mongol pronounciation, with strong "gg" and long "aa" It's definitely not starts with "geng", it's more like "chin". Yes "Temuujin" is the Mongol pronounciation with long "uu" with strong "j". I hope that helps. Khaan is not pronounced like "Kaan", its more like hard "h" like "haan".
:::::Unfortunately, terms like "hard", "soft", "long", "strong, "weak", and "short" don't help much outside of the context of the specific language (e.g., describing sounds in Mongolian as "hard" only makes sense to speakers of Mongolian). If you're familiar with IPA, would you mind explaining in those terms? User:Variable 00:50, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)
== ...due to the enormous amount of rape he committed ==
I have to put in a word for that—not my own suggestion. No, it's too blunt, too POV. But there must be some truth in it, cf. the famous quote--well famous to Conan the Barbarian fans anway, although from that Persian historian whose name slips my mind. User:Lectiodifficilior
There is definatly truth in it, its what he's well known for. For a actual source see the BBC documentary of last week. It was standard practice amongst even many of the nicer militaries of the time never mind the emperor of a horde rampaging around the place destroying all in its path. As it is without that it just says that there are some people with a chromosome from sometime around his life- so what? It needs to mention further into what this study actually ''means'' in relation to Genghis- that he got around in a bit in the women stakes.--User:Josquius 17:37, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
== Name in different languages ==
#af:Genghis Khan
#ar:جنكيز خان
#bs:Džingis Kan
#ca:Genguis Khan
#cs:Čingischán
#da:Djengis Khan
#de:Dschingis Khan
#es:Gengis Kan
#eo:Ĝingis-Ĥano
#fa:چنگیزخان
#fr:Gengis Khan
#fy:Genghis Khan
#ko:칭기즈 칸
#hr:Džingis kan
#id:Genghis Khan
#it:Gengis Khan
#he:ג'ינגיס חאן
#lb:Dschingis Khan
#lt:Čingis Chanas
#jbo:Tcingis xan
#hu:Dzsingisz kán
#ms:Genghis Khan
#nl:Genghis Khan
#ja:チンギス・ハーン
#pl:Czyngis-chan
#pt:Genghis Khan
#sl:Džingiskan
#simple:Genghis Khan
#fi:Tšingis-kaani
#sv:Djingis Khan
#tr:Cengiz Han
#tt:Çıñğız xan
#vi:Thành Cát Tư Hãn
#zh:成吉思汗
== Yuan Dynasty ==
I'd contest the statement: 'Many Chinese revere him as the founder of the Yuan Dynasty.'
(1) The Yuan dynasty dates from 1271 when Kublai Khan transferred his capital from Mongolia to Beijing and took a Chinese dynastic name.
(2) I do not think the Chinese revere Genghis Khan, if anything they have the same attitudes as other nations conquered by the Mongols.
User:Algri 12:42, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)
:While "revered" may not be the proper word, Genghis Khan is the founder of the Yuan dynasty, according to both Kublai Khan himself and Chinese historians. Our own article, Yuan dynasty says: ''Timüjin, later to be more prominently known as Ghengis Khan, was the first in the line of Yuan rulers.'' It's true that Genghis Khan never referred to his line as the "Yuan Dynasty", but this is actually common with the founders of Chinese dynasties (e.g. Cao Cao was only posthumously made emperor Wu of the Wei Dynasty). User:Variable 14:15, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)
::Cao Cao is a special case in that the Wei dynasty was a regional formation that did not achieve sole control. Far from being posthumous, most dynastic founders not only proclaimed their own dynasty but chose the dynastic name. At Genghis Khan's death he had gravely weakened the Jin in North China but the Southern Song remained in control of south China with a greater share of both population and wealth. Our own article on Genghis says that Ogodei finally destroyed the Jin in 1234. The standard academic histories do not list Genghis as a Chinese emperor or as the Yuan founder. I'll do some library research and post some citations in a day or so. User:Algri 00:22, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
== "De Facto" Chief? ==
Maybe someone who is familiar with this topic can answer this question: Upon his father's death, did Gengis become "de facto" chief, or "de jure"? Was he chief in fact--acting chief--or chief in law or custom--chief in name only? The sentence which follows makes it sound like he was chief in name only, so I have omitted the "de fact." If this was done in error, please do correct it .--User:Smallwhitelight 00:53, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
:I added "de facto" without thinking about the possibility of saying "de jure"; I just meant that he was technically chief upon his father's death, but was not recognized as such by the tribe. De jure is probably better. User:Variable 02:22, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
==Future==
This article has received a great deal of work recently; in recognition of this I removed the cleanup and copyedit templates from the main article. I think this article could be featured sometime in the future (hopefully near), but I think it would be good to put together a to do list first, and to do that we need to hear from more people than just me. In the humble opinions of my fillow editors:
* Has this article been sufficiently copyeditted?
* Has this article been sufficiently cleaned up?
* Does it now represent a more global view?
* Would a request for peer review be benificial?
* What parts need expansion the most?
* &c.
Please weigh in. User:Variable 02:34, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
**I'm willing to check over the editing portion, but the content issues will need to be addressed by another user. What I corrected earlier seemed to be errors of haste--typos, wording, etc--none of the non-native English errors I was expecting from previous discussion. Someone must have gotten to that. I'll look over the entire thing very soon. I had intended to do that tonight, but I decided that I was neglecting the details of my non-wiki life. Funny, here I am again, but now I'm off to read paper books.--User:Smallwhitelight 02:42, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I think it needs much more work.
(1) Genghis was not present at the 1223 raid on the Crimea or at the Battle of Kalkha River.
(2) The section Uniting the Tribes omits anything between Genghis' adoption by Wang Khan and his election as khagan. There is no mention of Jamuga or of the rebellion against Wang Khan. The section is also unclear that 'Wang Khan' is a title the Jin granted to Toghril of the Kerait.
(3) The section on the invasion of North China needs more detail.
(4) The reference to the conquest of South East Asia should be deleted or it should be clarified as the work of his successors. Ditto the conquest of Russia.
(5) A number of subordinates - Yeh-lü Ch'u-ts'ai, Jebe, Subedei and so forth - should be included.
User:Algri 06:11, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
== Death and Burial v. Tangut ==
The Tangut's are here referred to both at the Tangut's and by their Chinese name the 'Western Xia' and perhaps more problematic is that there are links for both. Tangut is the normal English term, which got it from Russian. The indigenous term is Minyag. --User:Nathan hill 11:43, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC) Never mind, I think I have fixed it now. --User:Nathan hill 11:57, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
*Some brave soul should really address the cluster of redirects to the Kara-Khitan Khanate and Liao Dynasty articles. User:Algri 01:33, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC)
==RV==
I reverted this paragraph from the article:
Mongol Khans
#REDIRECT Genghis Khan
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Genghis_Khan:
Genghis_Khan
Genghis_Khan
Genghis_Khan
Genghis_khan
Genghis_Khan_Mausoleum
Genghis Khan
{| cellpadding=3px cellspacing=0px bgcolor=#f7f8ff style="float:right; border:2px solid; margin:5px" |+ Genghis Khan |colspan=2 align=center style="border-top:2px solid"| |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Birth name:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Borjigin Temüjin |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Family name:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Borjigin |- |align=right style="border-top:1px solid"|Title:||style="border-top:1px solid"|''Great Khan'' of Mongol Empire
|- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Birth:||style="border-top:1px solid"|1155/1162/1167 |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Place of birth:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Hentiy_aymag, Mongolia |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Death:||style="border-top:1px solid"|August 18, 1227 |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Dates of reign:||style="border-top:1px solid"|1206 –August 18, 1227 |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Succeeded by:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Ogedei Khan |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Marriage:||style="border-top:1px solid"|Borte |- |align=left style="border-top:1px solid"|Children:||style="border-top:1px solid"| *Borjigin Jochi, son
*Borjigin Chagatai Genghis Khan, son
*Borjigin Ogedei, son
*Borjigin Tolui, son
|} :''For the Germany Pop music band, see Dschinghis Khan'' Genghis Khan (1155/1162/1167–August 18, 1227) (Cyrillic: ''Чингис Хаан''), (also spelled as ''Chingis Khan'', ''Jenghis Khan'', etc.), (pronounced ), born as Temüjin (''Тэмүүжин''), was a Mongol Khan (Emperor) as well as a brilliant and sometimes brutal military leader who founded the Mongol Empire (1206–1368). He is considered a national hero in modern Mongolia for his historical role in giving a common identity to Mongols after their centuries of internal feud. ==Overview== Genghis Khan was arguably the most successful military leader in world history. Born in modern day Mongolia, he united the Mongol tribes of Central Asia, forging a powerful army that he used to create one of the world's largest Mongol Empire. Though often outnumbered, he used superior military intelligence and the mobility of his mounted warriors to defeat opponents, rapidly conquering more territory than any other single ruler. His invasions, and strategy of slaughtering the entire populations of resisting cities such as Herat, led to many millions of deaths, and, in the longer term, resulted in massive depopulation of much of Asia [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm#Mongol]. The exact number of people killed during and after his reign is not, and likely will not ever be, conclusively known. The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors ruled most of Eurasia, including Central Asia Asia, North Asia, Eastern Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe Europe, and Central Europe almost as far as Vienna, Austria. Genghis Khan's successors continued to rule the Mongol Empire he founded after his death, and, even after the unified empire dissolved a century and a half later, separate Khanates existed for centuries afterwards. Genghis Khan's descendants included Kublai Khan, Babur, and, allegedly, Timur, although it is unlikely that the Tartar conquerer was actually related. His family ruled the Mongols until the 17th century, when the last Khan of his house was conquered by the Manchu. Many of his rules and customs continued to be followed by his descendents, and he is regarded as the founder of Mongolia and an important figure in history of the Mongols. ==Early life== ===Birth=== Genghis Khan is believed to have been born with the name Temüjin between 1155 and 1167 in Hentiy aymag, Mongolia. If this is true, his birthplace is most likely the mountainous area of Burhan Haldun. He was the second son of Yesugay Ba'atur, a tribal chief of the Kiyad. Yesükhei's clan was called Borjigin (''Боржигин''). His mother was named Hoelun and was of the Olkunut tribe. Temüjin was named after one of the more powerful chiefs of a rival tribe. His early life was difficult: His father delivered him to his future wife's family when he was only nine. He lived there until he reached the Arranged marriage age of 14. Shortly thereafter, his father was murdered by the neighboring Tatars while returning home. This made Temüjin the clan's chief, though his clan refused to be led by a boy and soon abandoned him and his family. For the next few years, he and his family lived the life of impoverished nomads, surviving primarily on marmots and other small game. In one incident, Temüjin reportedly slew his half-brother over a dispute about sharing hunting spoils. In another, he was captured in a raid by his former tribe and held captive with a wooden collar around his neck. He escaped with help from a sympathetic captor. His mother, Hoelun, taught him many lessons on survival in the harsh political climate of Mongolia, especially the need for alliances with others, a lesson which would shape his understanding in his later years. Around the age of 16, Temüjin married Börte of the Konkirat tribe. Later she was kidnapped in a raid by the Merkit tribe, and Temüjin called on his friend and later rival, Jamuka, and his protector, Wang Khan of the Kerait tribe, for aid. Börte's first child, Jochi, was born suspiciously soon after she was freed from the Merkit, leading to questions regarding the child's paternity. ===Uniting the tribes and early Mongol Empire=== Genghis Khan began his slow ascent to power by allying himself with his father's ''anda'' (sworn brother or blood brother). Genghis's ally was Toghril, khan of the Kerait and better known by the Chinese title Wang Khan which the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) granted him in 1197. Temüjin was adopted as Wang Khan's heir after successful campaigns against the Tatars (1202). This led to jealousy on the part of Senggum, Wang's former heir, who planned to assassinate Temüjin. Temüjin learnt of Senggum's intentions, eventually defeated him and his loyalists and succeeded to the title of Wang Khan. His borders were threatened to the the south by the Jin who then ruled North China and to the west by the Western Xia. Genghis Khan organized his people to prepare for possible conflicts, especially with the Jin. The Chinese had grown uncomfortable with the newly unified Mongols. Many trade routes ran through Mongol territory, and they feared that the Mongols would eventually restrict the supply of goods. Genghis Khan managed to unite the tribes under a single system by 1206 using his personal charisma and strong will. It was a monumental feat for the Mongols, who had a long history of internecine dispute and economic hardship. At a Kurultai (a council of Mongol chiefs) he was acknowledged as the first and only "Genghis Khan" or Khagan, the ''ruler of rulers'' or ''emperor''. He was further titled "Genghis Khan" (alternate spellings exist; see above) or ''Rightful Ruler'' (also "Ruler of all between the oceans") at around the age of 40. The name "Genghis" (written "Chinggis" by the Uighur scribes who first recorded it) is based on the Chinese language word "zhèng", meaning "true" or "just"#fn_1. Genghis Khan eventually created a written code of laws for the Mongols called Yassa and demanded that it be followed very strictly in order to strengthen his organization and power among his people. He was looked on as a "man of the people," sharing his wealth and resources with his followers. He remained true to his shamanistic and nomadic traditions throughout his life, despite the spread of various other religions among the Mongol populace. ''See also: Mongols before Chinggis Khan ==Mongol Empire== ''Main article: Mongol Empire'' Genghis Khan is one of the central figures in world history, undoubtly in the history of the Mongols and Central Asia. He unified the disbanded Central Asian tribes, mostly of the Mongol heritage under one unified system and was regarded as their undisputed leader who founded the Mongol Empire thereafter. For centuries before Mongol Empire, various dynasties and empires (Western Xia, Jin Empire, etc.) in modern day China were established causing constant warfare and conquests that made lives of many Central Asian tribes harder, plus feud amongst each other. ===Politics and economics=== ''Main article: Organization of state under Genghis Khan'' The Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan was tolerant of the people it had conquered, provided that they did not resist, and often let conquered nations keep local rulers. The Mongols ruled themselves under the code of Yasa, a chivalric code of honor. Generally, the Mongol Empire was also friendly to outside trade along the Silk Road, although the Mongol's conquests led to a collapse of many of the ancient trading cities of Central Asia. Taxes were also heavy, and conquered people were used as forced labor. Temujim was illiterate when he was young but learned to read Taoism sermons later in his life. He brought tutors with him to teach his children and himself to read and write. Genghis Khan promoted and used anything he found of technological advantage, even if he did not fully understand it, including the sciences of linguistics, astronomy, and mathematics. ===Military=== ''Main article: Military advances of Genghis Khan'' [[Image:H_01.jpg|thumb|right|370px|Re-enactment of 12th and 13th century Mongol soldiers in Naadam.]] Genghis Khan made advances in military disciplines, such as mobility, psychological warfare, intelligence, military autonomy, and military tactics. Genghis Khan's armies were generally able to best their enemies in the 12th century and 13th century because of their superior military strategy, mobility, and military intelligence. Genghis developed a well organized and trained army. He refused to divide his troops into different ethnic enclaves, creating a sense of unity, while he punished even small infractions against discipline severely. He also divided his armies into a number smaller groups, taking advantage of the superb mobility of his well-trained mounted archers to attack their enemies on several fronts at once. Ghengis Khan preferred to offer opponents the chance to submit to his rule without a fight, but was merciless if he encountered any resistance. Genghis Khan's conquests were characterized by wholesale destruction on unprecedented scale and radically changed the demographic situation in Asia. According to the works of Iranian historian Rashid al-Din, Mongols killed over 70,000 people in Merv and more than a million in Nishapur. China suffered a drastic decline in population. Before the Mongol invasion, China had about 100 million inhabitants; after the complete conquest in 1279, the census in 1300 showed it to have roughly 60 million people. How many of these deaths were attributable directly to Ghengis and his forces is unclear. ===Campaigns=== ====China==== At the time of the 1206 Khuriltai, Genghis was involved in a dispute with the Tangut Empire of Western Xia, which was demanding tribute from the Mongols. Genghis Khan led the Mongols against Xia, and conquered the empire despite initial difficulties in defeating its well-defended cities. By 1209, the Tangut emperor acknowledged Genghis Khan as overlord. In 1211, the Mongol Khan set about bringing the Jurchen (the founders of the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234)) completely under his dominion, in order to prevent them from challenging the Mongols for territory and resources. The Mongol army crossed the Great Wall of China in 1213, and in 1215 Genghis besieged, captured, and sacked the Jin capital of Yanjing (later known as Beijing. This forced the Jin Emperor Emperor Xuan Zong of Jin to move his capital south to Kaifeng. Genghis Khan's successor, Ogedei Khan, finally destroyed the Jin Dynasty in 1234. ====Central Asia==== Meanwhile, Kuchlug, the deposed Khan of the Naiman tribe, had fled west and had usurped the Khanate of Kara-Khitan Khanate (also known as Kara Kitay), the western allies that had decided to side with Genghis Khan. By this time the Mongol army was exhausted from ten years of continuous campaigning in China against the Tangut and the Rurzhen. Therefore, Genghis sent only two tumen (roughly 20,000 soldiers) under a brilliant young general, Jebe (known as "The Arrow"), against Kuchlug. An internal revolt was incited by Mongol agents against Kuchlug, leaving the Naiman forces open for Jebe to overrun the country. Kuchlug's forces were defeated west of Kashgar; he was captured and executed and Kara-Khitan was annexed by Genghis Khan. By 1218, the Mongol Empire extended as far west as Lake Balkhash and adjoined Khwarizm, a Islam state that reached to the Caspian Sea in the west and to the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea in the south. ====Middle East==== In 1218, Genghis sent emissary to an eastern province of Khwarizm with the intention of discussing possible trade with the Khwarezmia. The governor of the province had the emissaries executed, and the Genghis Khan retaliated with an invasion force of 20 tumen (200,000 troops). The Mongol army quickly seized the town, relying on superior strategy and tactics. Once he had conquered the city, he killed many of the inhabitants and executed the governor by pouring molten silver into his ears and eyes as retribution for the insult. At this point (1219), Genghis decided to extend Mongol control into the Islam world. The Mongol army methodically marched through and sacked Khwarizm's main cities (Bukhara, Samarkand, and Balkh), and the shah, Muhammad, prepared to battle with them. However, he was outmaneuvered by the much swifter Mongol army and driven into extended retreat. In the end, the shah killed himself rather than surrender when he was cornered and by 1220, the Khwarizmian Empire was eradicated. The Mongol armies then split into two component forces. Genghis Khan led a division on a raid through Afghanistan and northern India, while another contingent, led by his general Subedei, marched through the Caucasus and Russia. Neither campaign added territory to the empire, but they pillaged settlements and defeated any armies they met that did not acknowledge Genghis Khan as the rightful leader of the world. In 1225 both divisions returned to Mongolia. These invasions added Transoxiana and Iran to an already formidable empire and began to establish Genghis Khan's reputation as a bloodthirsty warrior. ====Europe and Caucasus==== While he was gathering his forces in Iran and Armenia, a detached force of 40,000 troops commanded by Batu Khan pushed deep into Armenia and Azerbaijan Batu destroyed Georgia (country) crusaders, sacked the Republic of Genoa trade-fortress of Kaffa in Crimea, and stayed the winter near the Black Sea. While he was heading home, Batu met Prince Mstislav III of Kiev of Kievan Rus with his 80,000 troops. This encounter is thought to be the Battle of Kalka River in 1223, which resulted in the destruction of both Prince Mstislav and his army. ==The final years== The vassal emperor of the Tanguts (Western Xia) had refused to take part in the war against the Khwarizm. While Genghis Khan was busy with the campaign in Persia, Tangut and Jin had formed an alliance against the Mongols. In retaliation, the Mongol emperor prepared for war against their alliance. By this time, his advancing age had led Genghis to make preparations for his death and to assure an orderly succession among his descendants; he selected his third son Ögedei Khan as his successor and established the method of selection of subsequent Genghis Khans, specifying that they should come from his direct descendants. Meanwhile, he studied intelligence reports from Western Xia and Jin and readied a force of 180,000 troops for a new campaign. [[Image:Mongol_Empire_after_Genghis.jpg|thumb|right|370px|Khanates of Mongolian Empire: Il-Khanate, Chagatai Khanate, Empire of the Great Khan (Yuan Dynasty), Golden Horde]] In 1226, Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts on the pretext that the Tanguts had received the Mongols' and they were seeking retribution for this betrayal. In February, he took Heisui, Ganzhou and Suzhou and in the autumn, he took Xiliang-fu. One of Western Xia's generals challenged the Mongols for a battle near Helanshan (''Helan'' means "great horse" in the northern dialect, ''shan'' means "mountain"). The Western Xia armies were soundly defeated. In November, the Genghis Khan laid siege to the Tangut city of Lingzhou and then crossed the Yellow River and defeated the Tangut relief army. Genghis reportedly saw five stars arranged in a line in the sky, which he took to be an omen of his victory. In 1227, the Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts' capital, and continued to advance, seizing Lintiao-fu in February, Xining province and Xindu-fu in March, and Deshun province in April. At Deshun, the Tangut general Ma Jianlong put up a fierce resistance for several days and personally led charges against the invaders outside of the city gate. Ma Jianlong later died from wounds received from arrows in battle. Genghis Khan, after conquering Deshun, went to Liupanshan (Qingshui County, Gansu Province) for shelter from the severe summer. The new Tangut emperor quickly surrendered to the Mongols. The Tanguts officially surrendered in 1227, after having ruled for 189 years, starting in 1038. In the end, Genghis Khan had the Tangut emperor and his family executed for their betrayal. ===Death and burial=== [[Image:Mongol_Empire_at_1227.jpg|thumb|right|370px|Mongolian Empire in 1227 at Genghis Khan's death.]] At his death, Genghis Khan divided his empire amongst his four surviving sons. The the most distant lands conquered by the Mongols, then southern Ruthenia, were divided among his sons Batu, leader of the Blue Horde, and Orda, leader of the White Horde. Chagatai Khan was the next-eldest son of Genghis, but he was considered a hothead, and so was given Central Asia and northern Iran. Ogedei, third oldest, was made Great Khan and given China. Tolui, the youngest, was given the Mongol homeland as per Mongol custom. On his deathbed in 1227, Genghis Khan outlined to his youngest son, Tolui, the plans that later would be used by his successors to complete the destruction of the Jin Empire. In his last campaign leading the Mongol fight against the Tangut Empire, Genghis Khan died on August 18, 1227. The reason for his death is uncertain. Many assume he fell off his horse, due to old age and physical wearing down; some contemporary observers even cited prophecies from his opponents. The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle alleges he was killed by the Tanguts, but as of today the truth is unclear. It is alleged that Genghis Khan asked to be buried without markings. After he died, his body was returned to Mongolia and presumably to his birthplace in Hentiy aymag, where many assume he is buried somewhere close to the Onon river. The funeral escort killed anyone and anything that strayed across their path to his burial, so as not to reveal where he was finally laid to rest. The Genghis Khan Mausoleum is his memorial, but not his burial site. As of October 6, 2004, there has been an alleged discovery of "Genghis Khan's palace" that makes a discovery of his burial site more likely. In folklore it is said that a river was diverted over his grave to make it impossible to find and/or his grave was stamped over by many horses. ===The Mongol Empire after Genghis=== ''Main article: Mongol Empire'' Genghis Khan's successors expanded the empire even further, into south China, Russia, Iraq, Korea, and Tibet. The Mongols eventually conquered Poland and Hungary under Batu Khan's rule, and (with varying degrees of success) Syria, Japan, and Vietnam. The European expansion came to a halt when a number high-ranking leaders had to return to Mongolia to participate in the khuriltai for the election of the next Great Khan. The Mongols might have been ready to conquer all of Europe, having conquered Poland and Hungary in a month. The Mongol Empire reached its height under Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai Khan, but broke apart into separate and less powerful khanates shortly after. At its height, the Mongolian Empire stretched from Southeast Asia to Europe, covering 35 million square kilometers (13.8 million square miles), little less than the British Empire with its 14.1 million square miles, or 36 million square kilometers. According to some sources, the empire encompassed almost 50% of the world population and included the most advanced and populous nations of that time; China and many of the main contemporary states of the Islamic world in Iraq, Persia, and Asia Minor. It holds the record for the longest continuous landmass controlled by any empire in history. Timur based much of his early legitimacy on claiming descent from Genghis Khan. ==Family and personality== ===Character of Genghis Khan=== It is not entirely clear what Genghis Khan was truly like, but his personality and character were doubtless molded by the many hardships he faced when he was young and during the time that it took to unify the Mongol nation. Genghis Khan appeared to fully embrace the Mongol people's nomadic way of life and did not act to change their customs or beliefs. As he aged, he seemed to become increasingly aware of the consequences of numerous victories and expansion of the Mongol Empire, including the possibility that succeeding generations might choose to live a sedentary lifestyle. According to quotations attributed to him in his later years, he urged future leaders to follow the ''Yasa'' teachings, and refrain from surrounding themselves with wealth and pleasure. He valued honesty and loyalty highly, even an enemy soldier's loyalty to his leader. His military strategies showed a deep interest in gathering good intelligence and understanding the motivations of his rivals. He seemed to be a quick study, adopting new technologies and ideas that he encountered, although he never learned a foreign language or showed much interest in the cultures of other people. He certainly appears to have believed that he was the rightful ruler of the World, in terms of bringing the Mongol tribes and other states that he attempted to unify. ===Family and heirs=== ''Main article: Family tree of Genghis Khan'' Genghis Khan was related through his father to Qabul Khan, Ambaghai and Qutula Khan who had headed the Mongol confederation under Jin patronage until the Jin switched their support to the Tatars in 1161 and destroyed Qutula Khan. The successor as head of the ruling clan of the Mongols was Genghis Khan's father, Yesugei, khan of the Borjigin, a nephew of Ambaghai and Qutula Khan. although that position was contested by the rival Tayichi’ud clan, who descended directly from Ambaghai. When the Tatars, in turn, grew too powerful after 1161 the Jin moved their support from the Tatars to the Kerait. Genghis Khan's empress was Borte, his childhood friend that his father left ''Temujin'' with her and her family when he was 9. Borte gave birth to the following four sons of Genghis Khan: * Jochi (1185–1227) * Chagatai * Ogedei (—1241) * Tolui (1190–1232) Jochi is not completely certain to be a biological child of Genghis Khan, because he was born soon after Borte was freed from her captors. All four children of Genghis Khan held the title of ''Khan'' by controlling the Khanates after Genghis Khan's death as it was Genghis Khan's wish. All four children took part in the Genghis Khan's campaign in one way or another. Ogedei was proclaimed ''Great Khan'' by directly succeeding the Genghis Khan. ==The legacy of Genghis Khan== ===Historical legacy=== Near-contemporary middle-eastern accounts by Juvayni and Rashid al-Din have survived, along with the anonymous Uighur / Chinese document known as The Secret History of the Mongols, which presents Genghis Khan from the Mongol point of view. However, Genghis Khan's legacy is perceived very differently in Mongolia from the rest of the world. In the West and the Middle East, the perception of Genghis Khan is strongly negative due to the destruction his forces caused, though there have been recent efforts by Western historians to explore the positive aspects of Genghis Khan's conquest. Views toward Genghis Khan in the modern day People's Republic of China are more ambivalent. While Chinese historians acknowledge the vast amount of damage and death that Genghis Khan caused, his reputation is somewhat redeemed by the fact that he would set into motion events which would later end the non-Han dynasties of the north and the southern divisions of China that had begun during the Song Dynasty. Particularly in Central and East Asia, and certainly in Mongolia where Genghis Khan is a national hero, there is much concern about the negative bias in historical records about Genghis Khan which emphasize his assaults, barbarism, and butchery. There is a feeling that his military and administrative genius is undervalued, as is his undisputed status as the conqueror of one of the largest empires in history. ===Influence in Mongolia=== In recent times, Genghis Khan has become a symbol for Mongolia's attempts to regain its identity after many long years of Communism under Russia. Genghis Khan's face appears on Mongolian bank notes and vodka labels. Later Mongol Khans encouraged the people to even worship Genghis Khan as a religious entity throughout the empire. Without Genghis Khan, there would seem to be no Mongolia, as the Mongolian Empire consistently shrank from what was built by Genghis Khan when he was titled in 1206. A recent genetic survey (Zerjal ''et al''. 2003, [http://www.ceacb.ucl.ac.uk/cultureclub/files/CC2005-02-03-Zerjal%20et%20al._2003_Genetic%20Legacy%20of%20the%20Mongols.pdf pdf of paper]) found a cluster of Y chromosome variants in 1/12 of the men in the area of the Mongolian Empire, and 1/200 of men worldwide. The age of the cluster, estimated from the mutation rate, places its origin around the time of Genghis Khan, and it is especially common among the Hazara people, who claim to be descended from Genghis Khan (a claim traditionally rejected by most scientists because it was assumed to be local folklore). From this genetic evidence it is popularly reasoned that over 0.5% of the world's population (as the study was only able to cover direct male descendants) is descended from Genghis Khan, although there is no direct evidence to support this claim and modern science doesn't favor this assumption. He is remembered for his destruction, strong willpower, persuasiveness, and power, but in Eastern Asia also for his achievements as a unifying, even cosmopolitan ruler, who nonetheless valued his Mongol identity. ==See also== * Babur * History of Mongolia * House of Taimur * Hulegu * Khwarezmid Empire * Kublai Khan * Mongka Khan * Timur ==External links== *[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0609610627/002-0991999-9524804?v=glance Amazon.com: Books: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World] *[http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h11mon.htm Genghis Khan and the Mongols] *[http://www.ub-mongolia.mn/genghis-Genghis Khan.html Genghis Khan Movie] *[http://www.coldsiberia.org/ Welcome to The Realm of the Mongols] *[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/mntoc.html Parts of this biography were taken from the Area Handbook series at the Library of Congress] *[http://koreanhistoryproject.org/Ket/Idx/KETIndex0504.htm Coverage of Temujin's Earlier Years] *[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm#Mongol Estimates of Mongol warfare casualties] *[http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/genghis/ Genghis Khan on the Web (directory of some 250 resources)] *[http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/Mongols/empsub2.html Mongol Arms] *[http://www.leader-values.com/Content/detail.asp?ContentDetailID=799 LeaderValues] *[http://nobsnews.blogspot.com/1994/01/inspirations-of-historians.html#rashid-ad-din-juwayni ‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Ata Malik Juvayni (A History of the World-Conqueror Ghengis Genghis Khan)] *[http://www.iexplore.com/travel/result/47079 iExplore.com: The search for the missing tomb of Genghis Khan] ==References== * Lister, R. P. ''Genghis Khan''. Cooper Square Press, 1969. ISBN 0-8154-1052-2. * * * Weatherford, Jack. ''Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World'', 2004. * Zerjal, Tatiana, Yali Xue, Giorgio Bertorelle, R. Spencer Wells, Weidong Bao, Suling Zhu, Raheel Qamar, Qasim Ayub, Aisha Mohyuddin, Songbin Fu, Pu Li, Nadira Yuldasheva, Ruslan Ruzibakiev, Jiujin Xu, Qunfang Shu, Ruofu Du, Huanming Yang, Matthew E. Hurles, Elizabeth Robinson, Tudevdagva GerelsaiGenghis Khan, Bumbein Dashnyam, S. Qasim Mehdi, and Chris Tyler-Smith. 2003. The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols. ''The American Journal of Human Genetics'' 72:718-721 * Man, John. ''Genghis Khan -- Life, Death and Resurrection''. Bantam Press, 2004. ISBN 0-553-81498-2. *[http://ideas.union.edu/articles/files/22_Stevens_Heirs_to_Discord.pdf Heirs to Discord: The Supratribal Aspirations of Jamuqa, Toghrul, and Temüjin] ==Further reading== * Cable, Mildred and French, Francesca. 1943. ''The Gobi Desert''. London. Landsborough Publications. * Man, John. 1997. ''Gobi : Tracking the Desert''. Weidenfield & Nicolson. Paperback by Phoenix, Orion Books. London. 1998. *Stewart, Stanley. 2001. ''In the Empire of Genghis Khan: A Journey among Nomads''. HarperCollins''Publishers'', London. ISBN 0-00-653027-3. ==Notes== #fn_1_back There are many theories for the origins of Genghis Khan's title. One theory places the etymology as stemming from a palatalised version of the Turkish language word ''tenggiz'', meaning "oceanic" or "wide-spreading". Lake Baikal was referred to as ''tenggiz'' by the Mongols, however it seems like that if they had meant to call Genghis Khan ''tenggiz'' they could very well have said (and written) "Tenggiz Khan", which they did not. Zhèng (Chinese: 正, pron. "jung" in English) meaning "right", "just", or "true", would have received the Mongolian adjectival modifier -s, creating "Jenggis", which was then modified by later scribes in India or Iran to read as "Genghis". Likely, contemporary Mongols would have pronounced the word more like "Chinggis". Chingis Khan is the [http://www.mongolianembassy.us/eng_about_mongolia/history.php?PHPSESSID=41ae870976b9d979216d7279900bcab5 spelling] used by the modern Republic of Mongolia. See R.P. Lister, referenced above, for further reading.
{| align=center border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4 style="background: #f9f9f9; text-align:center; border:1px solid #aaa;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:95%" |- |width="30%" align="center"|Preceded by:
None |width="40%" align="center"|Great Khan of Mongolian Empire
1206–1227 |width="30%" align="center"|Followed by:
Ogedei Khan |} Genghis Khan Mongol Khans 1227 deaths Mongol peoples bs:Džingis Kan fa:چنگیزخان jbo:Tcingis xan ms:Genghis Khan simple:Genghis Khan vi:Thành Cát Tư Hãn
Genghis Khan
Chingis Khan is the actual way it is written and pronounced in rest of the world. Genghis Khan is the polluted version of his name, commonly used in the West. "...names Genghis Khan and Mongols are almost synonymous with unstoppability..." Mongoloid: 2 of, relating to, or affected with Down syndrome Can people please help this article recover from a nasty attack of adjectives? I am sure you thing the guy was great, but saying it so many ways in the same sentence just makes it unreadable.User:Sandpiper 09:33, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Father's death (date)== The article for Yesugay Ba'atur shows his father's death to have occured in 1167, whereas this article says 1175. Which--if either--is correct? --User:Milkmandan 16:27, 2004 Sep 2 (UTC) :He died when Genghis was around 13 years old. So depending on which date of birth you think is correct (1155,1162 or 1165), you'd have different dates for Yesugei's death. ==Literacy (see also #(Il)Literacy below)== I've added the word 'likely' to the description of his illiteracy in light of possible new developments. See [http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=569678§ion=news Reuters Article]. 23/Aug/04 ==Meaning of his name== To Menchi. The meaning of chinggis is not completely ascertained, but I've never heard that it means ocean.
However, the view that the (objective) slaughtering of masses of people cannot justify a purely positive evalution of a historical figure is a genuine occidental one, which has partially its roots in the tradition upholding of human rights, most notably the right to life. This might in parts help to explain the the different views that "the West" and "the East" have of Genghis Khan. It should also be noted that Adolf Hitler (who is almost always portrayed as negative in western historical tradition) has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Genghis Khan and his ability to and achievement of having wiped out entire tribes.If Hitler praised Genghis Khan, it would need a reference (and preferably a quote) to even be considered for inclusion (see reductio ad hitlerum). Also, claiming that upholding human rights is a purely occidental idea is rather a radical claim (presented here unsourced), and not necessarily relevant to the issue at hand. User:Variable 19:00, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC) I would have reverted it as well, not because it's Reductio ad Hitlerum (if anything the writer seems to think Hitler is an authority) but because it's factually inaccurate. The Mongols may have practised a brutal warfare, especially aganst cities, but that is not genocide and there is no record of the Mongols seeking to deliberately exterminate an ethnic group. User:Algri 01:36, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC) One comment on this: it appears that Genghis did in fact do commit the occasional deliberate genocide -- I think the campaign against the Tatars shortly after 1206 should be counted as such -- it's even in the Secret History, if I am not utterly mistaken. --User:Dietwald 17:02, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC) Reading bits of this article seems a LOT of it has come from Paul Paul Ratchnevsky's ''Genghis Khan: His Life ane Legacy'' I don't know how different it has to be for copyrights, but some of it is pretty close. ==Overview and other problems== This article is highly revisionist. The problems start in the overview, which begins: ''Genghis Khan was arguably the most powerful, influential and successful military leaderin world history. Born in Mongolia, he was the founder of the world's largest empire. His success in consolidating his conquests ended centuries of internal conflict. His unequivocal loyalty to Mongol tradition, religious tolerance, multiculturalism, trade and success have all made him a national hero.'' There are many problems with it -- he did not found the world's largest Empire, that goes to the British, by about 1.3 million more sq. km. The intro paragraph should mention the massive havok wrecked by the Mongols, like the millions killed in Herat and other cities. He ended "centuries of internal conflict" by depopulating nations and conquering them, not by any political means. He also led to many new internal conflicts in future centuries. Finally, I realize he is a "national hero" in Mongolia, but he is not most famous for religious tolerance and "success" in the rest of the world. The article covers Genghis Khan as more than a barbarian, which is good, but it whitewashes the fact that he was one of the destructive conquerers in history, which is bad. The second paragraph starts:''Many Chinese citizens revere him as the founder of their Yuan Dynasty. Others vilify him for his ruthless strategy of killing entire towns and cities if they resisted invasion. His Mongol armies invaded and killed millions in regions such as China, the Middle East and Central and Eastern Europe. The exact number of people killed during and after his reign is not conclusively known but is often exaggerated.'' This begins with a very strong assertion, which begs the question about Chinese citizens revere him? Unless there is a source for this, it is just an assertion - the population of China declined by a 1/3 in a century, yet he is revered in China - please provide evidence. Only by the third sentence of this second paragraph are casualties mentioned, and then those numbers are immediately called exaggerated! Exact numbers may be unclear, but historians provide a range that includes many millions at a minimum - how does the reader know what is exaggerated unless numbers are supplied? For more, see [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/wikiwoo.htm#Khan Matthew White's criticsm]. I have made some changes, but this article needs to be a lot more balanced. --User:Goodoldpolonius2 14:41, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) :The sources you're quoting regarding the number of dead neither agree, nor justify the text in the article. The '15 million' figure, as found [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm#Mongol here] is apparently taken from Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, and it's quoted quite clearly that Weatherford does not put much stock in that figure at all. From the page linked (and indirectly from the book): "Later, more conservative scholars place the number of dead from Genghis Khan's invasion of central Asia at 15 million within five years [which] would require that each Mongol kill more than a hundred people." This seems unlikely, given that at least some people on the campaigns would have killed none, or few people ever. We need to be more careful quoting numbers from sources like these. User:Variable 19:15, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::But the rest of the quote goes on to say: "Actually, in my opinion, that's a weak refutation. Killing a hundred people in five years is quite doable." Backing this up, Saunders (1971) wrote of the Mongols that there is ''something indescribably revolting in the cold savagery with which the Mongols carried out their massacres. The inhabitants of a doomed town were obliged to assemble in a plain outside the walls, and each Mongol trooper, armed with battle-axe, was told to kill so many people, ten, twenty or fifty. As proof that orders had been properly obeyed, the killers were sometimes required to cut off an ear from each victim, collect the ears in sacks, and bring them to their officers to be counted. A few days after the massacre, troops were sent back into the ruined city to search for any poor wretches who might be hiding in holes or cellars; these were dragged out and slain.''[http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DBG.CHAP3.HTM] That doesn't make 100 people in five years seem unrealistic, does it? ::Further, the 15 million figure is just for the five year central Asian campaign, it doesn't include China. And even if you don't like 15 million exactly, there is little doubt that the Mongols under Genghis killed millions, Genghis is generally credited with being the only leader to carry out a super-genocide (over 10 million deaths) before the 20th century [http://econ161.berkeley.edu/TCEH/Slouch_power4.html], and Gibbons reported 4,347,000 dead in 3 cities alone. Besides, the article says "up to 15 million" and then warns that figures are uncertain. I don't think we are overestimating the deaths under Genghis, these seem well-grounded, what numbers are you using? --User:Goodoldpolonius2 20:21, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) :::The "rest of the quote" you're referring to is an addition from the maintainer of the website, as far as I can tell, given that it's not sourced, and unless it can be it's not relevant to this discussion. The point is that the author from whom you're quoting himself disparages the exaggerated figures. It's quite obvious that any real information on the numbers of people killed by the Mongols is not available, so the value of these estimates is inherently questionable. This is not to mention the reliance on census data from the 13th century, which is inherently unreliable (see the difficulties in taxation in Russia under the Mongols for a good example of how this can be vastly inaccurate). I'm not advocating the position that Genghis Khan was not responsible for a tremendous loss of life, but it does behoove us to show some restraint in this domain, as most of the parties involved in creating the history and image of Genghis Khan have had strong reason to exaggerate. I'm going to go ahead and try and reword the paragraph in question to reflect this a bit better. User:Variable 22:08, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::::The rest of the quote is Matthew White's commentary, he has compilled all of the various mass killing statistics. He also points out that the figure is not exclusive to Jack Weatherford, and the other statistics I gave provided backup. In any case, I agree that the figures are likely inaccurate (though probably conservative -- they are just for those 5 years), but I have yet to find a source that does not consider Genghis to be the leader with the largest death toll until the 20th century, so we needn't suggest that just because some figures were exaggerated that Genghis did not cause a massive decline in population. McEvedy, McFarlane, Komarova and Korotaye, Rummel, and others all provide figures of deaths in the tens of millions - definitely a scholarly consensus. I'll await your changes to comment. --User:Goodoldpolonius2 22:20, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) :::::''so we needn't suggest that just because some figures were exaggerated that Genghis did not cause a massive decline in population'' :::::Requoting myself: "I'm not advocating the position that Genghis Khan was not responsible for a tremendous loss of life" User:Variable 22:28, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) ::::::Your changes were good, thanks. --User:Goodoldpolonius2 01:29, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) Possibly the opening paragraph has now swung the other way. When I first saw it, it was suffering from too many adulation. It now has a certain ring of damning with faint praise. Really really really good at killing people. Quite a bit of the over the top stuff seems a relatively recent addition. Yes it struck me as having the ring of being translated from something. The earlier version were much smoother.User:81.130.114.252User:Sandpiper 21:17, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) :Its not about praising, it is about history and NPOV descriptions of Genghis Khan's reign -- he was really, really, really good at killing people, he killed more people than any other leader from prehistory until Lenin. The earlier paragraph was full of factual errors, as you can see in my comments above. The most important historical facts about Ghengis Khan were (a) he united the Mongols and founded a giant empire in a short time and (b) he killed more people than any other leader until the 20th century, depopulating large sections of Asia. The article goes on to talk about positive and negative legacies, but securing the Silk Road for trade for a time, or providing a written language for Mongolia, are certainly not his major historical impacts. Besides, none of these statistics are over-the-top, if anything they are underestimates of casualties, please provide sources giving alternate figures if you dispute them. Also, I am not sure whether you are saying the current paragraph or the previous paragraph sounded translated, but the latest version was not copied or translated from anything. --User:Goodoldpolonius2 21:37, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) :Its not about praising, it is about history and NPOV descriptions of Genghis Khan's reign. The earlier paragraph was full of factual errors, as you can see in my comments above. The most important historical facts about Ghengis Khan were (a) he united the Mongols and founded a giant empire in a short time and (b) he killed more people than any other leader until the 20th century, depopulating large sections of Asia. None of these statistics are over-the-top, if anything they are underestimates of casualties, please provide sources if you dispute them. Also, I am not sure whether you are saying the current paragraph or the previous paragraph sounded translated, but the latest version was not copied or translated from anything. --User:Goodoldpolonius2 21:37, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC) Yes I understand you strive for NPOV. I am trying to say that the former version struck me as veering towards describing him as god, whereas the new one inclines more towards devil. I am not at all arguing the quantity of people he killed. The issue is whether the single first paragraph gives a neutral impression. I am myself rather sceptical about the initial claim for his brilliance. Having read the article it sounds like he was born into the right family, quite possibly at the right time. Adolf Hitler started out as a housepainter? Ghengis started out as heir presumptive. So it might be he was just lucky. But on the opposite hand I hesitate to load the first para with such a discussion of death. I suspect that abhorance at his total may have much to do with our own views on behaviour. Were all his adversaries advocates of peace and goodwill to all men, or did he live in a time when sudden death was quite the norm? If he had been biten by a snake age3 and died, would someone else have taken his place, would it have happened 20 years later? Was the whole thing revenge by the mongol nation in general for years of oppression? You argued about whether mongols or chinese revere him. You have a point about making the statement factually correct, but I quite liked the contrast of the way it was initially written. Some think him a great leader. Others think him a murderer. Which seems to be exactly the situation we have here amongst contributors. The NPOV would be that people hold extreme views? No, earlier version I saw first sounded translated. Horrible mess, If you think it was bad when you saw it, read how it was before.User:Sandpiper 09:48, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) :I think the goal is to express what appears to be the general historical consensus that he was a brilliant and often brutal conquerer, and that it is the aftermath and fallout of his conquests that had a massive impact rather than through a wise rule or an enduring empire (like Babur), or cultural diffusion (like Alexander the Great, or the spread of a new religion (like Caliph Omar), etc. The first paragraph mentions his achievements as a leader and unifier, and then talks about his wars of conquest. "Some think him a murderer and some think him a great leader" seems incorrect - nobody doubts that he killed millions, but some people and especially Mongolians point out his good achievements as well. This article does not hide his achievements, but saying that he policed the Silk Road and brought a written language to the Mongols may not seem to outweigh the destruction and liquidation of the inhabitants of Herat, Ning-hsia, Rayy, Sebzevar, Merv, Nessa, the genocide of the Tanguts etc. but those are the facts, we don't need to editorialize. :It is difficult to say whether someone else would have taken his place, it is the old Great Man argument in history. What can be said is that the distinguishing characteristic of his conquest was the scale and amount of slaughter. No other single ruler before him (or after him, until, no exaggeration, Hitler) launched a war of expansion that left such a path of destruction behind him. He was an amazing military leader, and even though his slaughter may have been exaggerated, I have yet to see any proof that the historical consensus is that some relatively even division of people in the world see him as a hero and others as a murderer, or that those who see him as a hero do not also recognize the destruction that was caused. I would be happy to discuss any evidence to the contrary. --User:Goodoldpolonius2 13:22, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC) I dont want to argue this too fiercly, but there is a difference between being a killer and a murderer. A man might kill ten miilion others in a just cause and not be considered a murderer. At least by the ones on his side. I notice that repeated praise is creeping into the opening paragraphs again. Please you guys, repeated adulation does not produce the effect of making someone sound better. It makes the reader wonder why you are using so many words for the same thing. I stand convinced he did not have the biggest empire ever, and remain to be convinced that he was a better leader than everyone else.User:Sandpiper 23:29, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC) :I never said he was a murderer -- the only reason that the word came up was in response your quote. He was cetainly a brutal conquerer, and "just cause" seems a little thin for his actions, but, in any case, the article feels strongly pro-Genghis, if anything -- we do not cover the larger atrocities of his rule, the methods of supressing cities, etc. That's okay, but I just wish people pushing the positive would source more of their insertions, as you request -- which historians say that he was the best attractor of generals? (Napolean's generals were great, (eventually) Roosevelt's generals, Jefferson Davis had some great ones, etc.). Similarly, I am doubtful about the army numbers: :::J. M. Smith, Jr., in "Mongol Manpower and Persian Population", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 18 (1975), pp. 271-299, estimates that the total population of Outer Mongolia in the year 1211 was approximately 675,000 nomads, rising by 1260 to approximately 850,000. The total population of the Inner Asian Steppe in 1251 was approximately 4,250,000 nomads. This total included approximately 850,000 nomads in Outer Mongolia, approximately 850,000 nomads in Inner Mongolia, a sedentary population of approximately 1,150,000, and approximately 850,000 nomads in Transoxiana, Semirecheiye and parts of Jungaria and the Tarim Basin (but excluding most of Kazakhstan), approximately 850,000 nomads in Central Asia and the North Caucasian and South Russian Steppe, and approximately 850,000 nomads in the Middle East.[http://www.simaqianstudio.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t2399.html] :Thanks in any case for your help in trying to keep this article from tilting too far one way or the other. --User:Goodoldpolonius2 23:45, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Empire Size== What is the evidence for the British empire being larger? User:Algri 02:21, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) Pardon me for making this a new section. The sizes of empires are given in the wonderful and well-researched [http://www.hostkingdom.net/earthrul.html To Rule the Earth]. Bruce Gordon lists the following as the top four (quoted from the site): #The British Empire and Commonwealth: The greatest extent of the British Empire was achieved between 1918 and 1922. The figures exclude the eastern seaboard of the United States, which became independent long before the British colonial expansion of the 19th century. 14,157,000 sq. miles (36,666,630 sq. km.) ##The British Empire figure is grossly inflated by including the dominions. By 1918 Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa had long been self-governing dominions. Subtracting Australia and Canada, even without New Zealand and South Africa, reduces the British total to 7,163,000. In the 1850s when Australia and Canada became dominions Britain's possessions outside Europe were restricted to India, South Africa, Hong Kong and some Caribbean possessions. If the Commonwealth of Nations is to be regardd as a state then you'd need a fairly artifical definition to exclude the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States. #The Soviet Empire. The Communist states were never entirely under a single ruler - Although Josef Stalin probably came closest 1948-53. The main division was between the Soviet Bloc, led by Russia, and the Eastern Bloc, led by China. The area given for the whole Communist world does not include later, semi-nonaligned states such as Angola, Tanzania, or Laos. The entire Communist world 13,800,000 sq. miles (35,742,000 sq. km.). The Soviet Bloc (incl. Cuba) 9,883,591 sq. miles (25,598,500 sq. km.) #The Mongol Empire. The greatest extent of the Mongol hegemony was reached in roughly 1238-68. 12,800,000 sq. miles (33,152,000 sq. km. #The Spanish Colonial Empire. At its largest reach, roughly 1740-1790 Spain controlled about half of South America, more than a third of North America, and had significant holdings in the Pacific basin. 07,500,000 sq. miles (19,425,000 sq. km.) It is also worth pointing out that much of Mongolian territory was unpopulated or only loosely-ruled from 1238-1268; it might be better considered conquered territory than formally-controlled empire, ala the British. --User:Goodoldpolonius2 02:47, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) It was pointed out here that the Mongol empire was the largest Contiguous Empire, which was not refuted by anyone. It might also have covered a larger proportion of the inhabited space? I see the national hero tag has come back.User:Sandpiper 08:02, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC) :It probably was the largest contiguous Empire, although the word contiguous is a bit weird, because it is not clear that the Mongol control over territory was as total as say, Stalin. Much of the ruled area was conquered, but not controlled on an ongoing basis. I don't think inhabited space would be right, by 1238 humans were basically living everywhere on the planet they live today. As for the national hero tag, that seems okay, he is, in Mongolia. As long as we don't cover up the other facts about Genghis. --User:Goodoldpolonius2 13:26, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC) Most of the facts I know about GK come from reading this, and I don't plan to start researching him. But now trying to decide which side the evidence here puts him, I start to wonder about the caliber of those he defeated. Entrenched empires have a habit of becoming lazy and complacent. The mongols were dispersed, but I suspect battle hardened by the nature of their existence. So it might be his one great achievement was to unite them. He was in the correct position by birth to do this. So paradoxically, his great ability might have been charisma or cunning to persuade the tribes to unite. Much of the stuff in the article suggests he was very inclusivist about outsiders and new ideas if they could help his cause. Perhaps, once he had them united they formed an unstoppable army virtually by default. User:Sandpiper 13:53, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)
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