genghis.txt

Genghis Khan
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This article is about the Mongolian emperor. For other uses, see Genghis Khan (disambiguation).
"Temujin" redirects here. For the video game, see Temüjin (video game).
Genghis Khan
1st Khagan of the Mongol Empire
(Supreme Khan of the Mongols)
King of Kings
YuanEmperorAlbumGenghisPortrait.jpg
Genghis Khan as portrayed in a 14th-century Yuan era album, the original version was in black and white. Original size is 47 cm wide and 59.4 cm high. Paint and ink on silk. Now located in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.
1st Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
Reign 	Spring 1206 – August 18, 1227
Coronation 	Spring 1206 in a kurultai at the Onon River, Mongolia
Successor 	Ögedei Khan
Born 	Temüjin[note 1]
likely 1162[2]
Khentii Mountains, Mongolia
Died 	August 18, 1227[3] (aged c. 65)
Spouse 	Börte Üjin Khatun
Yisui
Kunju Khatun
Khulan Khatun
Yesugen Khatun
Yesulun Khatun
Isukhan Khatun
Gunju Khatun
Abika Khatun
Gurbasu Khatun
Chaga Khatun
Moge Khatun
Issue 	Jochi
Chagatai
Ögedei
Tolui
Others
Full name

Genghis Khan
Mongol: Чингис хаан
Chinggis Khaan
Mongol script (right):
Chinggis Khagan[note 2]
House 	Borjigin
Father 	Yesügei
Mother 	Hoelun

Genghis Khan[note 3] (c. 1162 – August 18, 1227), born Temüjin, was the Great Khan and founder 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 launched 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 large-scale 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 Ögedei Khan as his successor. Later his grandsons split his empire into khanates.[5] He died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia.[6] 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 Eastern Europe 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.[7]

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, and unified the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. Present-day Mongolians regard him as the founding father of Mongolia.[8]

Although known for the brutality of his campaigns[9] 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. His name is pronounced /ˈdʒɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/ or usually /ˈɡɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/;[10][11] Mongolian: Чингис хаан, Çingis hán; Mongolian pronunciation: [t͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋ] (About this sound listen).

Contents

    1 Early life
        1.1 Lineage
        1.2 Birth
        1.3 Early life and family
            1.3.1 Wives and children
    2 Uniting the Mongol confederations
        2.1 Early attempts at power
        2.2 Rift with Jamukha and defeat at Dalan Balzhut
        2.3 Return to power
        2.4 Rift with Toghrul
        2.5 Sole ruler of the Mongol plains (1206)
    3 Religion
    4 Military campaigns
        4.1 Western Xia Dynasty
        4.2 Jin dynasty
        4.3 Qara Khitai
        4.4 Khwarazmian Empire
        4.5 Georgia, Crimea, Kievan Rus and Volga Bulgaria
        4.6 Western Xia and Jin Dynasty
    5 Succession
        5.1 Ögedei
        5.2 Jochi
    6 Death and burial
    7 Mongol Empire
        7.1 Politics and economics
        7.2 Military
        7.3 Khanates
        7.4 After Genghis Khan
    8 Perceptions
        8.1 Positive
            8.1.1 In Mongolia
            8.1.2 In Japan
        8.2 Mixed
            8.2.1 In China
        8.3 Negative
    9 Descent
    10 Physical appearance
    11 Depictions in modern culture
        11.1 Films
        11.2 Television series
        11.3 Poetry
        11.4 Novels
        11.5 Short stories
        11.6 Music
        11.7 Video games
    12 Name and title
        12.1 Name and spelling variations
    13 Timeline
    14 See also
    15 Notes
    16 References
        16.1 Notes
        16.2 Sources
    17 Further reading
        17.1 Primary sources
    18 External links

Early life
Lineage
Main article: Family tree of Genghis Khan

Temüjin was related on his father's side to Khabul Khan, Ambaghai, and Hotula Khan, who had headed the Khamag Mongol confederation and were descendants of Bodonchar Munkhag (c. 900). When the Jurchen Jin dynasty switched support from the Mongols to the Tatars in 1161, they destroyed Khabul Khan.[12][not in citation given]

Temüjin's father, Yesügei (leader of the Borjigin clan and nephew to Ambaghai and Hotula Khan), emerged as the head of the ruling Mongol clan. This position was contested by the rival Tayichi'ud clan, who descended directly from Ambaghai. When the Tatars grew too powerful after 1161, the Jin switched their support from the Tatars to the Keraites.
Birth
Autumn at the Onon River, Mongolia, the region where Temüjin was born and grew up.

Little is known about Temüjin's early life, due to the lack of contemporary written records. The few sources that give insight into this period often contradict.

Temüjin's name was derived from the Mongol word temür meaning "of iron", while jin denotes agency[13] thus temüjin means "blacksmith".[14]

Temüjin was probably born in 1162[2] in Delüün 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 Temüjin 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 Yesügei who was a Kiyad chief prominent in the Khamag Mongol confederation and an ally of Toghrul of the Keraite tribe.[15] Temüjin was the first son of his mother Hoelun. According to the Secret History, Temüjin was named after the Tatar chief Temüjin-üge whom his father had just captured.

Yesukhei's clan was Borjigin (Боржигин), and Hoelun was from the Olkhunut sub-lineage of the Khongirad tribe.[16][17] Like other tribes, they were nomads. Temüjin's noble background made it easier for him to solicit help from and eventually consolidate the other Mongol tribes.[citation needed]
Early life and family

Temüjin had three brothers Hasar, Hachiun, and Temüge, one sister Temülen, and two half-brothers Begter and Belgutei. Like many of the nomads of Mongolia, Temüjin'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 Börte of the tribe Khongirad. Temüjin 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, Temüjin 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 Temüjin 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.[18] Temujin's resentment erupted during one hunting excursion when Temüjin and his brother Khasar killed Begter.[18]

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.[citation needed] The escape earned Temüjin 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. Temüjin 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. Temüjin's mother Hoelun taught him many lessons, especially the need for strong alliances to ensure stability in Mongolia.
Wives and children

As previously arranged by his father, Temüjin married Börte of the Onggirat tribe when he was around 16 in order to cement alliances between their two tribes. Soon after the marriage, Börte was kidnapped by the Merkits and reportedly given away as a wife. Temüjin rescued her with the help of his friend and future rival, Jamukha, and his protector, Toghrul of the Keraite tribe. She gave birth to a son, Jochi (1185–1226), nine months later, clouding the issue of his parentage. Despite speculation over Jochi, Börte would be Temüjin's only empress, though he did follow tradition by taking several morganatic wives.[19]

Börte had three more sons, Chagatai (1187–1241), Ögedei (1189–1241), and Tolui (1190–1232). Genghis later took about 500 secondary wives and "consorts", but Börte continued to be his life companion. He had many other children with those other wives, but they were excluded from succession, only Börte's sons being considered to be his heirs. However, a Tatar woman named Yisui, taken as a wife when her people were conquered by the Mongols, eventually came to be given almost as much prominence as Börte, despite originally being only one of his minor wives. [20][21] 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.[22]
Uniting the Mongol confederations
See also: Proto-Mongols and List of medieval Mongol tribes and clans
The locations of the Mongolian tribes during the Khitan Liao dynasty (907–1125)

In the early 13th century, the Central Asian plateau north of China was divided into several tribes of confederation, including Naimans, Merkits, Tatars, Khamag Mongols, and Keraites, that were all prominent and often unfriendly toward each other, as evidenced by random raids, revenge attacks, and plundering.
Early attempts at power

Temüjin began his ascent to power by offering himself as an ally (or, according to other sources, a vassal) to his father's anda (sworn brother or blood brother) Toghrul, who was Khan of the Keraites, and is better known by the Chinese title "Wang Khan", which the Jurchen Jin dynasty granted him in 1197. This relationship was first reinforced when Börte was captured by the Merkits. Temüjin turned to Toghrul for support, and Toghrul offered 20,000 of his Keraite warriors and suggested that Temüjin involve his childhood friend Jamukha, who had himself become Khan of his own tribe, the Jadaran.[23]

Although the campaign recaptured Börte and utterly defeated the Merkits, it also paved the way for the split between Temüjin and Jamukha. Before this, they were blood brothers (anda) vowing to remain eternally faithful.
Rift with Jamukha and defeat at Dalan Balzhut

As Jamukha and Temüjin drifted apart in their friendship, each began consolidating power, and they became rivals. Jamukha supported the traditional Mongolian aristocracy, while Temüjin followed a meritocratic method, and attracted a broader range and lower class of followers.[24] Following his earlier defeat of the Merkits, and a proclamation by the shaman Kokochu that the Eternal Blue Sky had set aside the world for Temüjin, Temüjin began rising to power.[25] In 1186, Temüjin was elected khan of the Mongols. Threatened by this rise, Jamukha attacked Temujin in 1187 with an army of 30,000 troops. Temüjin gathered his followers to defend against the attack, but was decisively beaten in the Battle of Dalan Balzhut.[25][26] However, Jamukha horrified and alienated potential followers by boiling 70 young male captives alive in cauldrons.[27] Toghrul, as Temüjin's patron, was exiled to the Qara Khitai.[28] The life of Temüjin for the next 10 years is unclear, as historical records are mostly silent on that period.[28]
Return to power

Around the year 1197, the Jin initiated an attack against their formal vassal, the Tatars, with help from the Keraites and Mongols. Temüjin commanded part of this attack, and after victory, he and Toghrul were restored by the Jin to positions of power.[28] The Jin bestowed Toghrul with the honorable title of Ong Khan, and Temüjin with a lesser title of j'aut quri.[29]

Around 1200, the main rivals of the Mongol confederation (traditionally the "Mongols") were the Naimans to the west, the Merkits to the north, the Tanguts to the south, and the Jin to the east.
Jurchen inscription (1196) in Mongolia relating to Genghis Khan's alliance with the Jin against the Tatars.

In his rule and his conquest of rival tribes, Temüjin broke with Mongol tradition in a few crucial ways. He delegated authority based on merit and loyalty, rather than family ties.[30] As an incentive for absolute obedience and the Yassa code of law, Temüjin promised civilians and soldiers wealth from future war spoils. When he defeated rival tribes, he did not drive away their soldiers and abandon their civilians. Instead, he took the conquered tribe under his protection and integrated its members into his own tribe. He would even have his mother adopt orphans from the conquered tribe, bringing them into his family. These political innovations inspired great loyalty among the conquered people, making Temüjin stronger with each victory.