Genghis Khan Genghis Khan killed so many people during his conquests that huge swathes of cultivated land returned to forests, which is why sometimes Genghis Khan is referred to as Genghis the
“Green”. Genghis Khan was a Mongolian warrior that united all the Mongols into one collective army that swept across all of Asia, Russia and most of Europe. Genghis Khan was born “Temujin” after a Tatar Chieftain that his father, Yesukhei, captured. He grew up as a member in the Borjigin Tribe and was the descendant of Khabul Khan who briefly united the
Mongols against the Jin dynasty of northern China. Temujin was apparently born with a blood clot in his hand, which according to Mongol folklore, meant he was destined to become a leader. His father was poisoned and killed by their rivals, the Tatar. He tried to secure his position as clan chief but was unsuccessful due to his age. No longer given the luxuries of the son of a clan chief, he and his brothers had to work to survive. One day, while Temujin and his brother were out hunting, They began fighting over the spoils causing Temujin to kill his brother, making him head of his family. When Temujin was around 20, he started his slow ascent to power. He began building a large army of more than 20,000 men and set out to destroy all the mongolian tribes and unite them all under his banner. With his army, he set out to avenge his father’s murder by destroying the
Tatar tribe and killing every Tatar male over 3 feet tall. The early success of the mongol army was due to Temujin’s military tactics, knowledge of his enemies’ motivations, and extensive spy networks that granted Temujin the advantage of adopting new technologies from his enemies. With an army of over 80,000, Temujin needed to find new ways to make communication throughout his army easier. Large drums signalled the command to charge, whilst complex flag signals were used to convey further orders. Every mongol warrior was equipped with a bow and at least 3 horses in case one of his horses were injured or killed.
Despite his army being so vast, Temujin kept total control over his army. After several months of continuous victories, the remaining tribes agreed to peace and gave
Temujin the title of “Genghis Khan”, which means “Universal Ruler”. With this new title, it was accepted that Genghis Khan was destined to conquer the world. Religious tolerance was practiced in the mongol empire, but to defy Genghis Khan was to defy God. Now with an army of over 300,000 men, Food had become scarce. Looking to the seemingly endless fields of rice in northern China, Genghis Khan set out to collect. Though it took Genghis Khan 20 years to conquer the Jin dynasty and take control of their food supplies, he was also fighting the
Khwarizm Dynasty after a governor believed that Genghis Khan was using trade caravans as a cover for spy missions. Enraged by this false accusation, Genghis demanded the governor be brought to him and sent a mongolian diplomat to collect him. Shah Muhammad, the leader of Khwarizm Dynasty, refused and sent back the mongolian diplomat’s head as an act of defiance. Genghis Khan responded by releasing several attacks by using the full scale of