Genghis Khan he was a Mongolian warrior and politician who expanded his territory from Asia to Europe.
Legend has made the sovereign synonymous with the bloodthirsty despot, a merciless assassin, but who must also be remembered for his feat of unifying the Mongols.
His name can be engraved either as Genghis Khan or Genghis Khan.
Biography
Genghis Khan was born in Mongolia in the year 1162. Son of Iasugai, chief of the kiyata-borjigin tribe, his real name was Temujin. He was orphaned at the age of thirteen and found himself abandoned by the tribes who obeyed his father.
In 1179, Temujin marries Borte, to whom he had been engaged since the age of nine. Around 1189, the tribe of the Merkites sacked the camp of the clan of the Borjigins and took the wife of its illustrious member.
The outraged husband decided to take revenge, made an alliance with another tribe, launched the fight and won. He took back his wife, gained prestige and was named chief of the tribe.
It also changed its name from Temujin to Genghis, which means in Mongolian language, perfect warrior.
In 1192, Genghis attacked and defeated the Tatars. He won the sympathy of the Chin dynasty that reigned in Northern China, that is, south of the Mongolian lands and which was also threatened by the Tatars.
Gradually dominated all the Mongol tribes, Genghis decided to legalize their power. In 1206 he gathered a great kurultai - general assembly of the noble families of these tribes - who proclaimed it chieftain, Khan.
Genghis Khan felt like the executor of a divine mission "A single sun in the sky, a single sovereign on earth", used to say about himself.
It transformed the military strength of the Mongols into a true national army. It brought together the codes of laws of the different tribes in a single constitution, the jasak. And he thought it was time for expansion.
Military Achievements
The first goal, said Genghis Khan, was to "spit south," that is, to attack China. The Great Wall barred their way.
Fighting began in 1211, the Mongols ravaging the countryside of China, the Chinese resisting inside the fortified cities.
The soldiers were divided into three armies, which attacked at different points, breaking the Chinese defense lines.
Killing and looting, they conquered northern China, after two years, carrying the imperial treasures. Beijing stayed out of the conquest, but for a short time.
In 1215, he launched a new expedition against Peking, the Chinese Emperor himself fled and destroyed the city, leaving six trusted generals there.
In 1218, he conquered Tajikistan, and the following year, Persia. Between one victory and another Genghis Khan founded the city of Karakorum, which would become the capital of his immense possessions.
Until then Genghis Khan had limited his ambitions to East Asia. In 1219 he began his crossing of the great mountain ranges that isolated the peoples of Central and East Asia from the civilizations of West Asia.
Kwarizam (which now corresponds to Iran and Afghanistan) was taken by surprise. Then it went to other Muslim centers such as Otrar, Bocara, Samarkand, Merv, Nichapur and Herat.
Heritage
Genghis Khan was the greatest ruler of his time and controlled a territory where different ethnicities and religions coexisted. He became the sole lord of an empire that stretched from China to the Persian Gulf, from the icy deserts of Siberia to the Indian forests.
However, during his military campaigns he killed millions of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.
In 1221, Genghis Khan returns to Mongolia. On August 18, 1227, after a battle in South Asia, Genghis Khan dies aged 66 at the height of his power. It is still unknown today whether he was wounded during the war, became ill, or even poisoned by some palace intrigue.
In an undetermined place, next to the sacred mountains of the Borjigin, the Oceanic Emperor was buried.
His titles were: supreme ruler of the Mongols, Great Slayer, Perfect Warrior, Lord of Thrones and Crowns, Emperor of All Men – and of course, Genghis Khan.
The expansion of the Mongol Empire continued during the reign of his son, Ögedei. The territory remained intact until the accession of his grandson, Kublai Khan, who was the first non-Chinese emperor to reign in China.
However, internal disagreements ended up dividing and weakening the Empire founded by Genghis Khan.
Curiosities
- It is likely that Genghis Khan has had few baths in his life. The Mongols believed that washing in rivers would irritate dragons with dirt. That's why they didn't wash themselves, nor did they do it with their clothes.
- Genghis Khan is estimated to be the biological father of 5% of the Asian population.
- Undeterred with his enemies, Genghis Khan invaded and arrested the governor of a city that had robbed and killed his emissaries. When he reached the city, he ordered him to be killed by throwing molten silver into his eyes and mouth. This method was recovered in one of the episodes of the series Game of Thrones.
- In 2008 Gengis Khan won a tribute to the height of his achievements: an equestrian statue 40 meters high and 250 tons in weight made of stainless steel.
Sentences
- I am a punishment from God. And if you didn't commit great sins, God wouldn't have sent a punishment like me.
- If you're afraid don't do it, if you're doing it don't be afraid!
- Without the vision of a goal a man cannot manage his own life, let alone the lives of others.
- Man's pleasure and joy consist in crushing the rebel and conquering the enemy, in uprooting him and taking from him all that he belongs to.
Films
- The Genghis Khan Warrior, Sergei Brodov. 2007.
- Genghis Khan, Andrei Borissov. 2009.
- Genghis Khan – The Emperor of Fear, Shinichiro Sawai. 2007
- Genghis Khan, Ken Annakin.1992.
- Genghis Khan. Henry Levin. 1965.
Read more:
- Asia
- Middle Ages
- Middle East
- barbarian peoples
- Islam
