Genghis Khan
The
Prince of Conquerers
Who was
Genghis Khan?
Genghis Khan established the Mongol empire, conquered
most of Asia and Europe and rightfully earned the reputation as one of
the greatest military leaders of all time. Although he was often
called “barbarian,”
Genghis Khan achieved his victories through brilliant organization and tactics rather than barbaric
behavior.
Born into the noble family of Yesugei and Ho’elun in central Mongolia
along the Onon River in 1166, Genghis Khan received the name Temuchin
in honor of
a Tartar chieftain his father captured. When Temuchin was
nine,
Yesugei was poisoned by a group of Tartars, forcing the family into
exile.
They barely survived the harsh winter, and their situation became even
more difficult when another tribe raided their camp and took Temuchin
prisoner, placing a heavy wooden collar around his neck to prevent
escape.
The security measures did not
prove adequate. Temuchin managed to free himself, return to his
tribe, and by his early teens, gained the reputation as a mighty
warrior. Before he was twenty, Temuchin had begun to forge
cooperation among the many tribes with diplomacy and marriage to the
daughter of a powerful neighbor. While the number of the young
leader’s alliances were still small, a rival tribe, the Merkits, raided
Temuchin’s camp and kidnapped
his wife. Temuchin increased his efforts to unite the neighboring
families
and within a year defeated the Merkits and rescued his wife, Borte.
Temuchin’s successful conquest of the Merkits attracted other tribes to
his side. He attacked and defeated those who opposed him.
By the
age of twenty-five, Temuchin had strategically united all of the Mongol
clans
into a single federation and assumed the title of Genghis
Khan-meaning mighty ruler.
He then embarked on a career of conquest and formed
the largest
empire the world had ever known.
Genghis Khan’s conquest ended in 1227, where he, fighting against the
Tanguts, fell off his horse and died. But the legacy passed on to
his third son
Ogatai, who completed the conquest of northern China and advanced into Europe.
Genghis Khan had been the greatest conquerer of all time-his kingdom
being more than two times larger than Alexander the Great’s. The
Mongol nation believed that he had been one of the greatest men of all
time and a man sent from heaven. Among the Mongols he was known
as the Holy Warrior, and, like the Jews, who continued to see hope in a
conquering king (messiah), the
Mongols continued to believe that one day Genghis Khan would rise again
and
lead his people to new victories.