Genghis Khan
A Biography
Zofia Stone
Alpha Editions
Copyright 2017
ISBN : 9789386367112
Design and Setting By
Alpha Editions
email - alphaedis@gmail.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The views and characters expressed in the book are of the author and his/her imagination and do not represent the views of the Publisher.
Contents
Early Life
Uniting the Mongol confederations
Mongol Invasions and Conquests
Death and Burial
Mongol military tactics and organization
Descent from Genghis Khan
Reference
About the Author
Introduction
Genghis Khan, born as Temjin, was the founder and Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death.
He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. After founding the Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he started the Mongol invasions that conquered most of Eurasia. Campaigns initiated in his lifetime include those against the Qara Khitai, Caucasus, and Khwarazmian, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by wholesale massacres of the civilian populations especially in the Khwarazmian and Western Xia controlled lands. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China.
Before Genghis Khan died, he assigned gedei Khan as his successor and split his empire into khanates among his sons and grandsons. He died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia. His descendants extended the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering or creating vassal states in all of modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe, Russia, and Southwest Asia. Many of these invasions repeated the earlier large-scale slaughters of local populations. As a result, Genghis Khan and his empire have a fearsome reputation in local histories.
Beyond his military accomplishments, Genghis Khan also advanced the Mongol Empire in other ways. He decreed the adoption of the Uyghur script as the Mongol Empire's writing system. He also practiced meritocracy and encouraged religious tolerance in the Mongol Empire while unifying the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. Present-day Mongolians regard him as the founding father of Mongolia.
Although known for the brutality of his campaigns and considered by many to have been a genocidal ruler, Genghis Khan is also credited with bringing the Silk Road under one cohesive political environment. This brought communication and trade from Northeast Asia into Muslim Southwest Asia and Christian Europe, thus expanding the horizons of all three cultural areas.
In the further chapters you will read and learn all about his life right from his chi ldhood to his rise as the ruler of Mongolia till his death. A chapter in the book is also dedicated to the Mongol Military Tactics and Organization.
Early Life
Little is known about Temjin's early life, due to the lack of contemporary written records. The few sources that give insight into this period often contradict.
Temjin's name was derived from the Mongol word temr meaning "of iron", while jin denotes agency thus temjin means "blacksmith". Temjin was probably born in 1162 in Deln Boldog, near the mountain Burkhan Khaldun and the rivers Onon and Kherlen in modern-day northern Mongolia, close to the current capital Ulaanbaatar. The Secret History of the Mongols reports that Temjin was born grasping a blood clot in his fist, a traditional sign that he was destined to become a great leader. He was the second son of his father Yesgei who was a Kiyad chief prominent in the Khamag Mongol confederation and an ally of Toghrul Khan of the Keraite tribe. Temjin was the first son of his mother Hoelun. According to the Secret History, Temjin was named after the Tatar chief Temjin-ge whom his father had just captured.
Yesukhei's clan was Borjigin, and Hoelun was from the Olkhunut sub-lineage of the Khongirad tribe. Like other tribes, they were nomads. Temjin's noble background made it easier for him to solicit help from and eventually consolidate the other Mongol tribes.
Temjin had three brothers Hasar, Hachiun, and Temge, one sister Temlen, and two half-brothers Begter and Belgutei. Like many of the nomads of Mongolia, Temjin's early life was difficult. His father arranged a marriage for him and delivered him at age nine to the family of his future wife Brte of the tribe Khongirad. Temjin was to live there serving the head of the household Dai Setsen until the marriageable age of 12.
While heading home, his father ran into the neighboring Tatars, who had long been Mongol enemies, and they offered him food that poisoned him. Upon learning this, Temjin returned home to claim his father's position as chief. But the tribe refused this and abandoned the family, leaving it without protection.
For the next several years, the family lived in poverty, surviving mostly on wild fruits, ox carcasses, marmots, and other small game killed by Temjin and his brothers. Temujin's older half-brother Begter began to exercise power as the eldest male in the family and would eventually have the right to claim Hoelun (who was not his own mother) as wife. Temujin's resentment erupted during one hunting excursion when Temjin and his brother Khasar killed Begter.
In a raid around 1177, Temujin was captured by his father's former allies, the Tayichi'ud, and enslaved, reportedly with a cangue (a sort of portable stocks). With the help of a sympathetic guard, he escaped from the ger (yurt) at night by hiding in a river crevice. The escape earned Temjin a reputation. Soon, Jelme and Bo'orchu joined forces with him. They and the guard's son Chilaun eventually became generals of Genghis Khan.
At this time, none of the tribal confederations of Mongolia were united politically, and arranged marriages were often used to solidify temporary alliances. Temjin grew up observing the tough political climate, which included tribal warfare, thievery, raids, corruption, and revenge between confederations, compounded by interference from abroad such as from China to the south. Temjin's mother Hoelun taught him many lessons, especially the need for strong alliances to ensure stability in Mongolia.
Marriage to Brte
As previously arranged by his father, Temjin married Brte of the Onggirat tribe when he was around 16 in order to cement alliances between their two tribes. Soon after the marriage, Brte was kidnapped by the Merkits and reportedly given away as a wife. Temjin rescued her with the help of his friend and future rival, Jamukha, and his protector, Toghrul Khan of the Keraite tribe. She gave birth to a son, Jochi (11851226), nine months later, clouding the issue of his parentage. Despite speculation over Jochi, Brte would be Temjin's only empress, though he did follow tradition by taking several morganatic wives.
Brte had three more sons, Chagatai (11871241), gedei (11891241), and Tolui (11901232). Genghis Khan also had many other children with his other wives, but they were excluded from succession. The names of at least six daughters are known, and while they played significant roles behind the scenes during his lifetime, no documents have survived that definitively provide the number or names of daughters born to the consorts of Genghis Khan.
Brte and Her Abduction
