Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temüjin , (c.1162 - 1227) was the first Mongol emperor. He used his political and military genius to unify the Turkic and Mongol tribes of Central Asia and thus found his empire, the largest of all time. He led the conquest of most of Asia, including China, Russia, Persia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. His grandson, Kublai Khan, was the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty in China.
The young years
Temüjin's childhood is little known, he was born around 1162 in the Khentii region in Dunlunboldag on the Onon in Mongolia. Originally named Temüjin (from Turco-Mongolian temür , tömör :iron), he is the eldest son of Yesügei, chief of the Borjigin (Боржигин) clan, and of Hoelun, of the tribe of Olkhunut. According to Mongolian beliefs, he was born holding a blood clot in the shape of an ossicle in his fist, a sign of his future exploits.
Based on legends handed down by his biographers, the early years of the future conqueror were difficult:at age 9 he was engaged to Borte La Céruleenne , of the powerful clan of Khongirats and must live with his beautiful family so that he earns by his work, according to custom, the price of his fiancé. But his father dies soon after, poisoned in the Yellow Steppe during a feast shared with the Tatars. Temüjin being then too young, the clan did not submit to him and it was the Tayitchiout clan that seized power. Taking away the cattle, they abandon the widow of Yesügei, with all her family.
He spent the following years with his family following the nomadic way of life. Captured one day by a rival tribe, he managed to escape soon after with the help of one of his captors. During these years of misery, Temüjin and his brother Kassar kill their half-brother Bekter. Little by little, he is rebuilding a heritage.
At 16, he marries Bortë, but she is kidnapped by the Merkit tribe. Temüjin, with the support of Toghril and Djamuka, chief of the Djadjirat, crushes the Merkit on the banks of the Buura, a tributary of the Selenga and frees his family. Her first son Jochi was born just nine months after his mother's release, nurturing doubts about his paternity.
At 19, Temüjin, whom historians depict as tall, lean and muscular, is a fierce warrior but also a skilful politician, which will serve him in his attempt to unify the Mongol tribes. His fame grew and many young people eager for adventure joined him. Among them, Bortchou, Djelmé, Djebé la Flèche , Subötai will always remain his four ferocious dogs . [edit]
During this period, the nomadic peoples of Central Asia were divided and easily manipulated by sedentary peoples led by powerful monarchs, such as those of the Jin dynasty in northern China. Allied with the Chinese, the young Temüjin intervenes in the struggles against their adversaries, in particular the Tatars, the most powerful Mongolian people. The decisive game was played in 1201. Thanks to a disconcerting tactic, taken over by the Scythian horsemen, Témudjin defeated all his enemies, the Naiman Turks, the Tatars and above all, at the battle of the Seventy Coats, his Mongol rivals, the Taïdjioutes.
Forging strong friendships among the heads of the Mongol clans, Temüjin succeeded after a series of wars and shifting alliances to become lord of the Mongols in 1206.[edit]
Foundation of the Empire
Mongolia was born. A khuriltai (council of chiefs) gives Temüjin the title of Chingis Qaghan (modern Mongolian Ĉingis Xaan ), which we made "Genghis Khan" which means "Supreme Leader".
Genghis, in Turkish-Mongolian, means "ocean" (cf. Mongolian tengis and Turkish deniz :sea, ocean), i.e. Khan Ocean, or rather "Oceanic Sovereign" (i.e. universal).
As the new emperor, he developed a new military system based on the decimal system, with armies divided into groups of 10, 100, 1,000 and 10,000 (tumen). The soldiers take their families and horses with them, each rider having three or four horses. He also reformed discipline and tactics (see Mongolian army ).
The conflict that Genghis has maintained with the Western Xia since the time of the Khuriltai gives rise to the first war of conquest of the emperor. Although laborious, this conquest succeeded after a peace agreement in 1209 and the Emperor of Western Xia recognized his inferiority.
But the main target of Genghis remains Jin, both for reasons of revenge and to monopolize the wealth of northern China. War was declared in 1211. The same operations as for Western Xia were applied against the second Jin dynasty of the Jurchens. Victorious in the countryside, the Mongols saw their assaults repelled in the conquest of the big cities. Applying his proverbial method of logic and determination, Gengis leans with the help of his teammates on the problem of attacks on fortified places. Helped by Chinese engineers, they gradually build the techniques that will make them the most formidable siege leaders in military history.
In 1213, with his crushing victories in campaigns and his few successes against fortified cities, Genghis extended his conquest of the territory of Jin southward to the Great Wall. He then advances with three armies into the heart of the territory, between the Great Wall and the Huang He. After devastating northern China and taking many cities, he captured Jin's capital in 1215, Yanjing (later to become Beijing). The Emperor of Jin does not capitulate but entrenches himself in Kaifeng. His successors will then be defeated there, but not before 1234. Meanwhile, Kuchlug, the fallen leader of the Naiman fled west and appropriated the state of the Kara-Khitans (Liao), western ally of Genghis.
Seeing his army diminished after ten years of campaigns against Western Xia and Jin, Genghis sends only two tumen against Kuchlug, fortunately led by a talented young general, Djebé. Mongol agents provoke a civil revolt, allowing Djebé to invade the country. Kuchlug, whose army was wiped out west of Kashgar, was captured and then executed. In 1218, the Mongol Empire extended west to Lake Balkhash and reached the vicinity of Khwarizm, a Muslim state stretching from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. to the south.
In 1218 Genghis sent emissaries to an eastern province of Khwarezm to parley with the governor. These are executed. Genghis responds by sending a force of 200,000 men. In 1220, Khwarezm was defeated. [edit]
The final campaign
The Emperor of Western Xia having refused to take part in the war against Khwarezm, Genghis promises him punishment. While in Iran, the Western Xia and Jin ally against the Mongols.
Over time, Gengis takes the future with more consideration and ensures a selection of successors among his descendants. He chooses his third son Ögödei as heir and establishes a method of selecting his sub-chiefs specifying that they must come from his direct descent. At the same time, he studies his spies' reports on Western Xia and Jin and prepares a force of 180,000 men for his new campaign.
In 1226, Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts on the pretext that they harbored enemies of the Mongols. In February, he seized the cities of Heisui, Gan-zhou and Su-zhou. In the fall, he takes Xiliang-fu. A Xixia general challenges the Mongols to a battle near Helanshan Mountain, but his army is defeated. In November, Gengis led the siege against the Tangut city of Ling-zhou, then crossed the Yellow River and annihilated the rest of the Tangut army. A five-star alignment is observed on the evening of this battle.
In 1227, he attacked the Tangut capital and seized Lintiao-fu in February. In March, he took Xindu-fu and Xining prefecture. In April, Deshun Prefecture. In Deshun, General Xixia Ma Jianlong resisted the Mongols for several days and personally led the attacks to keep them out of town. Ma Jianlong dies shortly after under the onslaught of Mongol archers. After conquering Deshun, Genghis heads to Liupanshan Mountain to spend the summer. On the mountain, he decrees that the Mongols should no longer kill indiscriminately, in accordance with the word he had had a year before, during the alignment of the five stars.
In 1227, on his deathbed, Genghis Khan explained to his youngest son, Tului, the plans that would later be used to complete the destruction of Jin's empire.
His body is brought back to Mongolia. On the way back, his escort kills any witness to the procession so that the place of his last resting place remains secret. Since this place has not been discovered, the mausoleum of Genghis Khan is in fact only a cenotaph.
The new Emperor of Xixia surrenders to the Mongols. The Tangoutes officially capitulated in 1227, after 190 years of existence. The Tangut Emperor and the royal family are executed. [edit]
Inheritance
Today, Genghis Khan has become the symbol of a Mongolia in search of identity. Her face appears on vodka labels and banknotes. [edit]
Quotes
“He who does not obey the Iassa loses his mind. [...] Just as there is only one invisible god in the sky, there is only one master on earth, that is me, Genghis Khan. [...] The duty of the Mongols is to come when I call, to go when I order, to kill whoever I indicate. [...] The greatest happiness of the Mongol is to defeat the enemy, to rob his treasures, to make his servants howl, to save himself at the gallop of his well-fed horses, to use the bellies of his women and to his daughters like diapers and take pleasure in their beauty... »
Family
Temujin has three brothers and one sister:Khasar (brother) Khajiun (brother) Temüge (brother) Temülen (sister)
With his wife Borte he had four sons:Jochi (1185-1227) (paternity doubtful) Chagatai (-1241) Ogedei (-1241) Tolui (1190-1232)
His four sons participated in the campaigns of Genghis and became Khan of different Khanates, but it was Ogödei who would become Great Khan .