101 Genghis Khan
Learning Objective
- Outline the major cultural contributions and complex role played by Genghis Khan in the development of the Mongol Empire
Key Points
- Genghis Khan was the first leader, or Khan, of the Mongol Empire, from 1206 CE–1227 CE.
- Genghis Khan generally advocated literacy, religious freedom, and trade, although many local customs were frowned upon or discarded once Mongol rule was implemented.
- In terms of social policy, he forbade selling of women, theft of property, and fighting.
- This ruler used groundbreaking siege warfare and spy techniques to understand his enemies and more successfully conquer and subsume them under his rule.
- Genghis Khan led merciless conquests of the Western Xia Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty in 1234, the Kara-Khitan Khanate, and the Khwarazmian Empire. Many local people across Asia considered Genghis Khan a dark historical figure.
Terms
Khan
The universal leader of the Mongol tribes.
Temujin
Ghengis Khan’s birth name.
Uyghur-Mongolian script
The first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language and the most successful until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946. This is a true alphabet with separate letters for consonants and vowels, alphabets based on this script are used in Inner Mongolia and other parts of China to this day.
The First Khan and the Mongol Empire
Before Genghis Khan became the leader of Mongolia, he was known as Temujin. He was born around 1162 in modern-day northern Mongolia into a nomadic tribe with noble ties and powerful alliances. These fortunate circumstances helped him unite dozens of tribes in his adulthood via alliances. In his early 20s he married his young wife Börte, a bride from another powerful tribe. Soon, bubbling tensions erupted and she was kidnapped by a rival tribe. During this era, and possibly spurred by the capture of his wife, Temujin united the nomadic, previously ever-rivaling Mongol tribes under his rule through political manipulation and military might, and also reclaimed his bride from the rebellious tribe.
As Temujin gained power, he forbade looting of his enemies without permission, and he implemented a policy of sharing spoils with his warriors and their families instead of giving it all to the aristocrats. His meritocratic policies tended to gain a broader range of followers, compared to his rival brother, Jamukha, who also hoped to rule over greater swaths of Mongolian territory. This split in policies created conflict with his uncles and brothers, who were also legitimate heirs to Mongol succession, as well as his generals.
War ensued, and Temujin prevailed, destroying all the remaining rival tribes from 1203–1205 and bringing them under his sway. In 1206, Temujin was crowned as the leader of the Great Mongol Nation. It was then that he assumed the title of Genghis Khan, meaning universal leader, marking the start of the Mongol Empire. The first great khan was able to grasp power over such varied populations through blood