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Genghis Khan
slash. Genghis Khan, born Temujin, see when he went in 62, august 1227, also known as Genghis Khan, was the founder and first Khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongol tribes, he launched a series of military campaigns, conquering large parts of China and Central Asia. Welcome to Human Wreckage, this episode we are going to talk about. Genghis Khan, let's get into it. Born between 1155 and 1167 and given the name Temujin, he was the eldest child of Yesuji, a Mongol chieftain of the Borjigin clan, and his wife Hurlun. When Temujin was eight, his father died and his family was abandoned by its tribe. Reduced to near poverty, temujin killed his older half-brother to secure his familial position. His charismatic personality helped to attract his first followers and to form alliances with two prominent step-leaders named Jamukha and Tagrol. They worked together to retrieve Temujin's newlywed wife, bert, who had been kidnapped by raiders. As his reputation grew, his relationship with Jamukha deteriorated into open warfare. Temujin was badly defeated in C when M-187, and may have spent the following years as a subject of the Jin dynasty. Upon re-emerging in 1196, he swiftly began gaining power. Togrol came to view Temujin as a threat and launched a surprise attack on him in 1203. Temüjin retreated, then regrouped and overpowered Togrol. After defeating the Neyman tribe and executing Jamukha, he was left as the sole ruler on the Mongolian steppe. Temüjin formally adopted the title Genghis Khan, the meaning of which is uncertain, at an assembly in 1206. Of which is uncertain, at an assembly in 1206. Carrying out reforms designed to ensure long-term stability, he transformed the Mongols' tribal structure into an integrated meritocracy dedicated to the service of the ruling family. After thwarting a coup attempt from a powerful shaman, genghis began to consolidate his power. In 1209, he led a large-scale raid into the neighboring western Zia, who agreed to Mongol terms the following year. He then launched a campaign against the Jin Dynasty, which lasted for four years and ended in 1215 with the capture of the Jin capital, zhongdu. His general, jib, annexed the central Asian state of Karakhetai in 1218. Genghis was provoked to invade the Khwarazmian Empire the following year by the execution of his envoys. The campaign toppled the Khwarazmian state and devastated the regions of Transoxiana and Khorasan. While Jib and his colleague Sabutai led an expedition that reached Georgia and Kivan Rus, in 1227, genghis died while subduing the rebellious Western Xia. Following a two-year interregnum, his third son and heir, urjadei, acceded to the throne in 1229.
Speaker 1:Genghis Khan remains a controversial figure. He was generous and intensely loyal to his followers, but ruthless towards his enemies. He welcomed advice from diverse sources in his quest for world domination, for which he believed the shamanic supreme deity Tengri had destined him. The Mongol army under Genghis killed millions of people, yet his conquests also facilitated unprecedented commercial and cultural exchange over a vast geographical area. He is remembered as a backwards, savage tyrant in Russia and the Arab world, while recent Western scholarship has begun to reassess its previous view of him as a barbarian warlord. He was posthumously deified in Mongolia. Modern Mongolians recognize him as the founding father of their nation.
Speaker 1:Multiple chronicles in Persian have also survived, which display a mix of positive and negative attitudes towards Genghis Khan and the Mongols. Both Minhaj-i-Suroj-Juzjani and Atamalik Jubaini completed their respective histories in 1260. Juzjani was an eyewitness to the brutality of the Mongol conquests and the hostility of his chronicle reflects his experiences. His contemporary Jubaini, who had traveled twice to Mongolia and attained a high position in the administration of a Mongol successor state, was more sympathetic. His account is the most reliable for Genghis Khan's Western campaigns. The most important Persian source is the Jami al-Tawarik Compendium of Chronicles compiled by Rashid al-Din on the order of Genghis's descendant, ghazan in the early 14th century. Ghazan allowed Rashid privileged access to both confidential Mongol sources such as the Alton Deader and to experts on the Mongol oral tradition, including Kublai Khan's ambassador Bala Ching San. As he was writing an official chronicle, rashid censored inconvenient or taboo details. There are many other contemporary histories which include additional information on Genghis Khan and the Mongols, although their neutrality and reliability are often suspect. Additional Chinese sources include the chronicles of the dynasties conquered by the Mongols and the Song diplomat Zhao Hong, who visited the Mongols in 1221. Arabic sources include a contemporary biography of the Khwarazmian prince Jalal al-Din by his companion al-Masawi. There are also several later Christian chronicles, including the Georgian Chronicles and works by European travelers such as Carpini and Marco Polo.
Speaker 1:The year of Temujin's birth is disputed, as historians favor different dates 1155, 1162, or 1167. Some traditions place his birth in the year of the pig, which was either 1155 or 1167. While dating to 1155 is supported by the writings of both Zhao Hong and Rashid al-Din, other major sources, such as the history of Yuan and the Shenggu, favor the year 1162. The 1167 dating favored by the sinologist Paul Pelliot is derived from a minor source, a text of the artist Yang Huizhen, but is more compatible with the events of Genghis Khan's life than a 1155 placement, which implies that he did not have children until after the age of 30 and continued actively campaigning into his seventh decade. 1162 is the date accepted by most historians. The historian Paul Rachnevsky noted that Temujin himself may not have known the truth. The location of Temujin's birth, which the secret history records as Daluun Bulldog on the Anan River, is similarly debated. It has been placed at either Datil in Kentiai province or in southern Aginbaryat, akhrag, russia.
Speaker 1:Temujin was born into the Borjigin clan of the Mongol tribe, to Yesuji, a chieftain who claimed descent from the legendary warlord Bodhichar, monk Hag and his principal wife Hurlun, originally of the Alkanag clan, whom Yesuji had abducted from her market bridegroom childhood. The origin of his birth name is contested. The earliest traditions hold that his father had just returned from a successful campaign against the Tatars with a captive named Temujin Yuj, after whom he named the newborn in celebration of his victory, while later traditions highlight the root Temur, meaning iron, and connect to theories that Temujin means blacksmith. Several legends surround Temujin's birth. The most prominent is that he was born clutching a blood clot in his hand, a motif in Asian folklore indicating the child would be a warrior. Others claimed that Hurlun was impregnated by a ray of light which announced the child's destiny, a legend which echoed that of the mythical Borgian ancestor Alangua. Yesuje and Hurlun had three younger sons after Temujin, kassar Hachun and Temuj, as well as one daughter, temulun. Temujin, kassar Hachun and Temuj, as well as one daughter, temulun. Temujin also had two half-brothers, bader and Belgute, from Yesuje's secondary wife, sachajil, whose identity is uncertain. The siblings grew up at Yesuje's main camp on the banks of the Anan, where they learned how to ride a horse and shoot a bow.
Speaker 1:When Temujin was eight years old, his father decided to betroth him to a suitable girl. Yesuje took his heir to the pastures of Herlun's prestigious Angjerat tribe, which had intermarried with the Mongols on many previous occasions. There, he arranged a betrothal between Temujin and Bert, the daughter of an Angjerat chieftain named De Sechen. As the betrothal meant Yesece would gain a powerful ally, and as Bert commanded a high bride price, dei Sechin held the stronger negotiating position and demanded that Temujin remain in his household to work off his future debt. Accepting this condition, yesuji requested a meal from a band of totters he encountered while riding homewards alone. Relying on the steppe tradition of hospitality to strangers, however, the totters recognized their old enemy and slipped poison into his food. Yesuji gradually sickened but managed to return home. Close to death, he requested a trusted retainer called Munglig to retrieve Temujin from the Angjerat. He died soon after.
Speaker 1:Yesuji's death shattered the unity of his people, which included members of the Borjigin, teichir and other clans. As Temujin was not yet ten and Bader around two years older, neither was considered experienced enough to rule. The Teichud faction excluded Hurlun from the ancestor worship ceremonies which followed a ruler's death and soon abandoned her camp. The secret history relates that the entire Borjigin clan followed, despite Hurlun's attempts to shame them into staying by appealing to their honor. Rashid al-Din and the Shengu, however, imply that Yesuji's brothers stood by the widow. It is possible that Hurlun may have refused to join and liberate marriage with one, resulting in later tensions, or that the author of the secret history dramatized the situation, or that the author of the secret history dramatized the situation. All the sources agree that most of Yesu-J's people renounced his family in favor of the Teichuds and that Herlun's family were reduced to a much harsher life, taking up a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. They collected roots and nuts, hunted for small animals and caught fish.
Speaker 1:Tensions developed as the children grew older, both Temujin and Bader had claims to be their father's heir. Although Temujin was the child of Yesajay's chief wife, bader was at least two years his senior. There was even the possibility that, as permitted under Leverate law, bader could marry her alone upon attaining his majority and become Temujin's stepfather. As the friction, exacerbated by frequent disputes over the division of hunting spoils, intensified, temujin and his younger brother, kassar, ambushed and killed Bader. This taboo act was omitted from the official chronicles, but not from the secret history, which recounts that Herlun angrily reprimanded her sons. Bader's younger full brother, belgite, did not seek vengeance and became one of Temujin's highest ranking followers, alongside Kassar.
Speaker 1:Around this time, temujin developed a close friendship with Jamukha, another boy of aristocratic descent. The secret history notes that they exchanged knuckle bones and arrows as gifts and swore the Andapak, the traditional oath of Mongol blood brothers, at eleven. As the family lacked allies, temujin was taken prisoner on multiple occasions. Captured by the Teichutes, he escaped during a feast and hid first in the Anan and then in the tent of Sorkin Shira, a man who had seen him in the river and not raised the alarm. Sorkin Shira sheltered Temujin for three days at great personal risk, before helping him to escape. Temujin was assisted on another occasion by Borchu, an adolescent who aided him in retrieving stolen horses. Soon afterwards, borchu joined Temujin's camp as his first Nurkur personal companion, pl Nurkod. These incidents, related by the secret history, are indicative of the emphasis its author put on Jenga's personal charisma.
Speaker 1:Temujin returned to Dei Sechin to marry Bert when he reached the age of majority at 15. Delighted to see the son-in-law he feared had died, dei Sechin consented to the marriage and accompanied the newlyweds back to Temujin's camp. His wife Chodden presented her loom with an expensive sable cloak. Seeking a patron, temujin chose to regift the cloak to Togrilil, con-ruler of the Kere tribe, who had fought alongside Yesuje and sworn the Ande pact with him. Toghril ruled a vast territory in central Mongolia but distrusted many of his followers In need of loyal replacements. He was delighted with the valuable gift and welcomed Temujin into his protection. The two grew close and Temujin began to build a following as Nurkads, such as Jelmi, entered into his service.
Speaker 1:Temujin and Bert had their first child, a daughter named Kajin, around this time. Soon afterwards, seeking revenge for Yesuje's abduction of Haralun, around 300 Merkits raided Temujin's camp. While Temujin and his brothers were able to hide on Berk in Kaldan Mountain. Bert and Sachajul were abducted In accordance with Leverate law. Bert was given in marriage to the younger brother of the now deceased Childu.
Speaker 1:Temujin appealed for aid from Tagrol and his childhood and a Jamukha who had risen to become chief of the Jataran tribe. Both chiefs were willing to field armies of 20,000 warriors and with Jamukha in command, the campaign was soon won. A now pregnant Bert recovered successfully and soon gave birth to a son, jachai, although Temujin raised him as his own questions over his true paternity followed Jachai throughout his life. This is narrated in the secret history in contrast with Rashid al-Din's account, which protects the family's reputation by removing any hint of illegitimacy. Over the next decade and a half, temujin and Bert had three more sons Chagatai, erjideh and Tolui, and four more daughters Chetch-Yajin, alaka, tumulun and Al-Altan.
Speaker 1:The followers of Temujin and Jamukha camped together for a year and a half, during which their leaders reforged their Anda pact and slept together under one blanket. According to the secret history, the source presents this period as close friends bonding, but Raczniewski questioned if Temujin actually entered into Jamukha's service in return for the assistance with the Merkits. Tensions arose and the two leaders parted, ostensibly on account of a cryptic remark made by Jamukha on the subject of camping. In any case, temujin followed the advice of Herlun and Bert and began to build an independent following. The major tribal rulers remained with Jamukha, but 41 leaders gave their support to Temujin, along with many commoners. These included Subutai and others of the Urienshai, the Barulas, the Olkanods and many more. Many were attracted by Temujin's reputation as a fair and generous lord who could offer better lives, while his shamans prophesied that heaven had allocated him a great destiny.
Speaker 1:Temujin was soon acclaimed by his close followers as the Khan of the Mongols. Togrol was pleased at his vassals' elevation, but Jamukha was resentful. Tensions escalated into open hostility and in around 1187 the two leaders clashed in battle at Dalin Baljot. The two forces were evenly matched, but Temujin suffered a clear defeat. Later chroniclers, including Rashid al-Din, instead state that he was victorious, but their accounts contradict themselves and each other.
Speaker 1:Modern historians such as Rachnevsky and Timothy may consider it very likely that Temujin spent a large portion of the decade following the clash at Dalin Baljit as a servant of the Jurchen Jin dynasty in North China. Zhao Hong recorded that the future Genghis Khan spent several years as a slave of the Jin, formerly seen as an expression of nationalistic arrogance. The statement is now thought to be based in fact, especially as no other source convincingly explains Temujin's activities between Dalin Baljut and Si when he was 95. Taking refuge across the border was a common practice both for disaffected steppe leaders and disgraced Chinese officials. Temujin's re-emergence, having retained significant power, indicates that he probably profited in the service of the Jin as he later overthrew that state. Such an episode, detrimental to Mongol prestige, was omitted from all their sources. Zhao Hong was bound by no such taboos.
Speaker 1:The sources do not agree on the events of Temujin's return to the steppe. In early summer 1196, he participated in a joint campaign with the Jin against the Tatars, who had begun to act contrary to Jin interests. As a reward, the Jin awarded him the honorific Cha-Ot-Kyuri, the meaning of which probably approximated Commander of Hundreds in Jurchen. At around the same time, he assisted Togrol with reclaiming the lordship of the Kerait, which had been usurped by one of Togrol's relatives, with the support of the powerful Naaman tribe. The actions of 1196 fundamentally changed Temujin's position in the steppe. Although nominally still Togrol's vassal, he was de facto an equal ally.
Speaker 1:Jamukha behaved cruelly following his victory at Dalin Baljit. He allegedly boiled 70 prisoners alive and humiliated the corpses of leaders who had opposed him. A number of disaffected followers, including Yesuje's follower Moonvig and his sons, defected to Temujin as a consequence. They were also probably attracted by his newfound wealth. Temujin subdued the disobedient Jurkin tribe that had previously offended him at a feast and refused to participate in the Tatar campaign. After executing their leaders, he had Belgute symbolically break a leading Jurkan's back in a staged wrestling match in retribution. This latter incident, which contravened Mongol customs of justice, was only noted by the author of the secret history, who openly disapproved these events occurred c 1197.
Speaker 1:During the following years, temujin and Togrol campaigned against the Merkits, the Namans and the Tatars, sometimes separately and sometimes together. In around 1201, a collection of dissatisfied tribes, including the Angjerat, the Teichud and the Tatars, swore to break the domination of the Borjigin-Karid alliance, electing Jamukha as their leader and Gherkin Litt Khan of the tribes. After some initial successes, temujin and Togrol routed this loose confederation at Yedikwanan, and Jamukha was forced to beg for Togrol's clemency. Desiring complete supremacy in eastern Mongolia, temujin defeated first the Teichud and then, in 1202, the Tatars. After both campaigns, he executed the clan leaders and took the remaining warriors into his service. These included Sorkin Shira, who had come to his aid previously, and a young warrior named Jib who, by killing Temujin's horse and refusing to hide that fact, had displayed martial ability and personal courage.
Speaker 1:The absorption of the Tatars left three military powers in the steppe the Namans in the west, the Mongols in the east and the Karait in between. Seeking to cement his position, temujin proposed that his son Jachai marry one of Togrol's daughters. Led by Togrol's son Singam, the Karait elite believed the proposal to be an attempt to gain control over their tribe, while the doubts over Jachai's parentage would have offended them further. In addition, jamukha drew attention to the threat Temujin posed to the traditional steppe aristocracy by his habit of promoting commoners to high positions which subverted social norms. Yielding eventually to these demands, togrol attempted to lure his vassal into an ambush, but his plans were overheard by two herdsmen. Temujin was able to gather some of his forces, but was soundly defeated at the battle of Kala Aljid Sands.
Speaker 1:Retreating southeast to Baljana, an unidentified lake or river, temujin waited for his scattered forces to regroup. Borchu had lost his horse and was forced to flee on foot, while Temujin's badly wounded son Urjadeh had been transported and tended to by Barakula, a leading warrior. Temujin called in every possible ally and swore a famous oath of loyalty, later known as the Baljana Covenant, to his faithful followers, which subsequently granted them great prestige. Prestige the oath-takers of Baljana were a very heterogeneous group, men from nine different tribes, who included Christians, muslims and Buddhists. United only by loyalty to Temujin and to each other, this group became a model for the later empire, termed a proto-government of a proto-nation by historian John Mann. The Baljana covenant was omitted from the secret history as the group was predominantly non-Mongol. The author presumably wished to downplay the role of other tribes.
Speaker 1:A ruse de guerra involving Kassar allowed the Mongols to ambush the Karait at the Jedjer Heights, but though the ensuing battle still lasted three days, it ended in a decisive victory for Temujin. Togrol and Sengum were both forced to flee, and while the latter escaped to Tibet, togrol was killed by a Naaman who did not recognize him. Temujin sealed his victory by absorbing the Kered elite into his own tribe. He took the princess Ibaka as a wife and married her sister Sorgatani and niece Dakwas to his youngest son, tolui. The ranks of the Naamans had swelled due to the arrival of Jamukha and others defeated by the Mongols, and they prepared for war. Temujin was informed of these events by Alakwish, the sympathetic ruler of the Angad tribe. In May 1204, at the Battle of Chakramaut in the Alta Mountains, the Namans were decisively defeated. Their leader, tayang Khan, was killed and his son, kuchlug, was forced to flee west. The markets were decimated later that year, while Jamukha, who had abandoned the Naemans at Chakramaut, was betrayed to Temujin by companions who were executed for their lack of loyalty. According to the secret history, jamukha convinced his childhood Anda to execute him honorably. Other accounts state that he was killed by dismemberment.
Speaker 1:Now sole ruler of the steppe, temujin held a large assembly called Akiraltai at the source of the Anon river in 1206. Here he formally adopted the title Genghis Khan, the etymology and meaning of which have been much debated. Some commentators hold that the title had no meaning, simply representing Temujin's actual of the traditional Gherkin title which had been accorded to Jamukha and was thus of lesser worth. Another theory suggests that the word Genghis bears connotations of strength, firmness, hardness or righteousness. A third hypothesis proposes that the title is related to the Turkic Tengiz Ocean. The title Genghis Khan would mean master of the ocean and, as the ocean was believed to surround the earth, the title thus ultimately implied Universal Ruler.
Speaker 1:Having attained control over one million people, genghis Khan began a social revolution, in May's words. As traditional tribal systems had primarily evolved to benefit small clans and families, they were unsuitable as the foundations for larger states and had been the downfall of previous steppe confederations. Genghis thus began a series of administrative reforms designed to suppress the power of tribal affiliations and to replace them with unconditional loyalty to the Khan and the ruling family. As most of the traditional tribal leaders had been killed during his rise to power, genghis was able to reconstruct the Mongol social hierarchy in his favor. The highest tier was occupied solely by his and his brother's families, who became known as the Altanuruk Lit Golden Family or Chagan Yasin Lit White Bone. Underneath them came the Kara Yasin Lit Black Bone, sometimes Karachu, composed of the surviving pre-empire aristocracy and the most important of the new families.
Speaker 1:To break any concept of tribal loyalty, mongol society was reorganized into a military decimal system. Every man between the age of 15 and 70 was conscripted into a Minyan PL Minkad, a unit of a thousand soldiers, which was further subdivided into units of hundreds, jaghan, pl Jaghat and Tens Arben. The units also encompassed each man's household, meaning that each military Minkin was supported by a Minkin of households in what May has termed a military-industrial complex. Each Minkin operated as both a political and social unit, while the warriors of defeated tribes were dispersed to different Minkad to make it difficult for them to rebel as a single body. This was intended to ensure the disappearance of old tribal identities, replacing them with loyalty to the great Mongol state and to commanders who had gained their rank through merit and loyalty to the Khan. This particular reform proved extremely effective even after the division of the Mongol Empire.
Speaker 1:Fragmentation never happened along tribal lines. Instead, the descendants of Genghis continued to reign unchallenged, in some cases until as late as the 1700s, and even powerful non-imperial dynasties such as Timur and Adig were compelled to rule from behind. A puppet ruler of his lineage, genghis's senior Nurkod, were appointed to the highest ranks and received the greatest honors. Borchu and Mukhali were each given 10,000 men to lead as commanders of the right and left wings of the army respectively. The other Nurkhod were each given commands of one of the 95 Minkad, in a display of Genghis' meritocratic ideals. Many of these men were born to low social status. Rachnevsky cited Jelmi and Savitai, the sons of blacksmiths, in addition to a carpenter, a shepherd and even the two herdsmen who had warned Temujin of Togrul's plans in 1203. As a special privilege, genghis allowed certain loyal commanders to retain the tribal identities of their units. A lackwish of the Angud was allowed to retain 5,000 warriors of his tribe because his son had entered into an alliance pact with Genghis marrying his daughter, olaka.
Speaker 1:A key tool which underpinned these reforms was the expansion of the Kesheg bodyguard. After Temujin defeated Togrol in 1203, he had appropriated this carried institution in a minor form, but at the 1206 Kurultai its numbers were greatly expanded from 1,150 to 10,000 men. The Kesheg was not only the Khan's bodyguard but his household staff, a military academy and the center of governmental administration. All the warriors in this elite corps were brothers or sons of military commanders and were essentially hostages. The members of the Keshig nevertheless received special privileges and direct access to the Khan, whom they served and who, in return, evaluated their capabilities and their potential to govern or command. Commanders such as Subutai, chormakan and Beju all started out in the Keshig before being given command of their own force.
Speaker 1:From 1204 to 1209, genghis Khan was predominantly focused on consolidating and maintaining his new nation. He faced a challenge from the shaman Kokshu, whose father, munglig, had been allowed to marry Hurlun after he defected to Temujin Kokshu, who had proclaimed Temujin as Genghis Khan and took the Tenggris title Tebtengri-Lit, wholly heavenly, on account of his sorcery, was very influential among the Mongol commoners and sought to divide the imperial family. Genghis's brother, kassar, was the first of Kokshu's targets. Always distrusted by his brother, kassar was humiliated and almost imprisoned on false charges before Herlun intervened by publicly reprimanding Genghis. Nevertheless, kokshu's power steadily increased and he publicly shamed Temüj, genghis's youngest brother. When he attempted to intervene, bert saw that Kokshu was a threat to Genghis's power and warned her husband, who still superstitiously revered the shaman but now recognized the political threat he posed. Genghis allowed Temüj to arrange Kokshu's death and then usurped the shaman's position as the Mongols' highest spiritual authority.
Speaker 1:During these years, the Mongols imposed their control on surrounding areas. Genghis dispatched Jachi northwards in 1207 to subjugate the Hoi'in Urgin, a collection of tribes on the edge of the Siberian Tega. Having secured a marriage alliance with the Warats and defeated the Yenisei Kyrgyz, he took control of the region's trade in grain and furs, as well as its gold mines. Mongol armies also rode retorts, defeating the Neyman-Merkit alliance on the river Erdish in late 1208. Their Khan was killed and Kuchlug fled into Central Asia. Led by Barchuk, the Uyghurs freed themselves from the suzerainty of the Karakitai and pledged themselves to Genghis in 1211 as the first sedentary society to submit to the Mongols.
Speaker 1:The Mongols had started raiding the border settlements of the Tangut-led western Zia kingdom in 1205, ostensibly in retaliation for allowing Sengum Togrol's son refuge. More prosaic explanations include rejuvenating the depleted Mongol economy with an influx of fresh goods and livestock, or simply subjugating a semi-hostile state to protect the nascent Mongol nation. Most Zia troops were stationed along the southern and eastern borders of the kingdom to guard against attacks from the Song and Jin dynasties respectively, while its northern border relied only on the Gobi Desert for protection. After a raid in 1207 sacked the Zia fortress of Wuluhai, genghis decided to personally lead a full-scale invasion in 1209. Wuluhai was captured again in May and the Mongols advanced on the capital Jiangxing modern-day Yinchmen but suffered a reverse against the Zia army. After a two-month stalemate, genghis broke the deadlock with a feigned retreat. The Xia forces were deceived out of their defensive positions and overpowered. Although Zhang Xing was now mostly undefended, the Mongols lacked any siege equipment better than crude battering rams and were unable to progress the siege. The Xia requested aid from the Jin, but Emperor Zhangzong rejected the plea. Genghis's attempt to redirect the Yellow River into the city with the dam initially worked, but the poorly constructed earthworks broke, possibly breached by the Xia, in January 1210, and the Mongol camp was flooded, forcing them to retreat. A peace treaty was soon formalized. The Xia Emperor, zhangzong, submitted and handed over tribute, including his daughter Chaka, in exchange for the Mongol withdrawal.
Speaker 1:Wan Yangji usurped the Jin throne in 1209. He had previously served on the steppe frontier and Genghis greatly disliked him. When asked to submit and pay the annual tribute to Yangji in 1210, genghis instead mocked the Emperor spat and rode away from the Jin envoy, a challenge that meant war. Despite the possibility of being outnumbered eight to one by 600,000 Jin soldiers, genghis had prepared to invade the Jin since learning in 1206 that the state was wracked by internal instabilities. Genghis had two aims to take vengeance for past wrongs committed by the Jin, foremost among which was the death of Ambigai Khan in the mid-12th to 8th century, and to win the vast amounts of plunder his troops and vassals expected.
Speaker 1:After calling for a kyriltai in March 1211, genghis launched his invasion of Jin, china, in May, reaching the outer ring of Jin defenses the following month. These border fortifications were guarded by a Laquish's Ongud, who allowed the Mongols to pass without difficulty. The three-pronged chevaché aimed both to plunder and burn a vast area of Jin territory, to deprive them of supplies and popular legitimacy, and to secure the mountain passes which allowed access to the North China plain. The Jin lost numerous towns and were hindered by a series of defections, the most prominent of which led directly to Mukhali's victory at the Battle of Yunershui in autumn 1211. The campaign was halted in 1212 when Genghis was wounded by an arrow during the unsuccessful siege of Zaijing, modern Dadong. Following this failure, genghis set up a core of siege engineers which recruited 500 Jin experts over the next two years. The defenses of Jiang Pass had been strongly reinforced by the time the conflict resumed in 1213, but a Mongol detachment led by Jib managed to infiltrate the pass and surprise the elite Jin defenders, opening the road to the Jin capital, zhongdu modern-day Beijing.
Speaker 1:The Jin administration began to disintegrate After the kittens, a tribe subject to the Jin, entered open rebellion. Hushahu, the commander of the forces at Zijing, abandoned his post and staged a coup in Zhongdu, killing Yangji and installing his own puppet ruler, xuanzang. This governmental breakdown was fortunate for Genghis's forces. Emboldened by their victories, they had seriously overreached and lost the initiative, unable to do more than camp before Jiangdu's fortifications. While his army suffered from an epidemic and famine, they resorted to cannibalism, according to Karpini, who may have been exaggerating Genghis's open peace negotiations. Despite his commander's militants, he secured tribute including three-deen horses, 500 slaves, a Jin princess and massive amounts of gold and silk, before lifting the siege and setting off homewards in May 1214.
Speaker 1:As the northern Jin lands had been ravaged by plague and war, xuanzong moved the capital and imperial court 600 kilometers, 370 miles southwards, to Kaifeng. Interpreting this as an attempt to regroup in the south and then restart the war, genghis concluded the terms of the peace treaty had been broken. He immediately prepared to return and capture Zhangdu. According to Christopher Atwood, it was only at this juncture that Genghis decided to fully conquer northern China. Mughali captured numerous towns in Liaodong during winter 1214-15, and although the inhabitants of Jiangdu surrendered to Genghis on the 31st of May 1215, the city was sacked. When Genghis returned to Mongolia in early 1216, mughali was left in command in China. He waged a brutal but effective campaign against the unstable Jin regime until his death in 1223.
Speaker 1:In 1207, genghis had appointed a man named Korkai as governor of the subdued Hoi-Yin urgent tribes in Siberia. Appointed not for his talents but for prior services rendered. Korkai's tendency to abduct women as concubines for his harem caused the tribes to rebel and take him prisoner in early 1216. The following year, they ambushed and killed Borokul, one of Genghis's highest-ranking. Nurkod the Khan was livid at the loss of his close friend and prepared to lead a retaliatory campaign. Eventually, dissuaded from this course, he dispatched his eldest son, jachai, and a Derbic commander. They managed to surprise and defeat the rebels, securing control over this economically important region.
Speaker 1:Kuchlug, the Naaman prince, who had been defeated in 1204, had usurped the throne of the Central Asian Karakiti dynasty between 1211 and 1213. He was a greedy and arbitrary ruler who probably earned the enmity of the native Islamic populace, whom he attempted to forcibly convert to Buddhism Islamic populace whom he attempted to forcibly convert to Buddhism. Genghis reckoned that Kuchlug could be a threat to his empire and Jib was sent with an army of 20,000 cavalry to the city of Kashgar. He undermined Kuchlug's rule by emphasizing the Mongol policies of religious tolerance and gained the loyalty of the local elite. Kuchlug was forced to flee southwards, to the Pamir Mountains, but was captured by local hunters. Kuchlug was forced to flee southwards to the Pamir Mountains, but was captured by local hunters. Jib had him beheaded and paraded his corpse through Kara-Kitai, proclaiming the end of religious persecution in the region.
Speaker 1:Genghis had now attained complete control of the eastern portion of the Silk Road, and his territory bordered that of the Khwarazmian Empire, which ruled over much of Central Asia, persia and Afghanistan. Merchants from both sides were eager to restart trading, which had halted during Kuchelug's rule. The Khwarazmian ruler, muhammad Roman II, dispatched an envoy shortly after the Mongol capture of. While Genghis instructed his merchants to obtain the high-quality textiles and steel of Central and Western Asia, many members of the Alta Nuruk invested in one particular caravan of 450 merchants, which set off to Khwarazmia in 1218 with a large quantity of wares. Inalchuk, the governor of the Khwarazmian border town of Atrar, decided to massacre the merchants on grounds of espionage and seize the goods. Muhammad had grown suspicious of Genghis's intentions and either supported Inalchuk or turned a blind eye. A Mongol ambassador was sent with two companions to avert war, but Muhammad killed him and humiliated his companions. The killing of an envoy infuriated Genghis, who resolved to leave Mughali with a small force in north China and invade Khwarazmia with most of his army.
Speaker 1:Muhammad's empire was large but disunited. He ruled alongside his mother, turk and Khatan in what the historian Peter Golden terms an uneasy daichi, while the Khwarazmian nobility and populace were discontented with his warring and the centralization of government. For these reasons and others, he declined to meet the Mongols in the field, instead garrisoning his unruly troops in his major cities. This allowed the lightly armored, highly mobile Mongol armies uncontested superiority outside city walls. Uttar was besieged in autumn 1219, the siege dragged on for five months, but in February 1220 the city fell and Inalchuk was executed. Genghis had meanwhile divided his forces, leaving his sons Chagatai and Urjadei to besiege the city. He had sent Jachai northwards down the Sardaria river and another force southwards into central Transoxiana, while he and Tolui took the main Mongol army across the Kaizokum desert, surprising the garrison of Bukhara in a pincer movement. Bukhara's citadel was captured in February 1220 and Genghis moved against Muhammad's residence, samarkand, which fell the following month.
Speaker 1:Bewildered by the speed of the Mongol conquests, muhammad fled from Balkh, closely followed by Jeeb and Subutai. The two generals pursued the Khwarazmsha until he died from dysentery on a Caspian Sea island in winter 12, 2021, having nominated his eldest son, jalal al-Din, as his successor. Jeeb and Subutai then set out on a 7,500-kilometer, 4700-mile expedition around the Caspian Sea, later called the Great Raid. This lasted four years and saw the Mongols come into contact with Europe for the first time. Meanwhile, the Khwarazmian capital of Gurganj was being besieged by Genghis's three eldest sons. The long siege ended in spring 1221.
Speaker 1:Amid brutal urban conflict, jalloh al-Din moved southwards to Afghanistan, gathering forces on the way and defeating a Mongol unit under the command of Shigi Qutub, genghis's adopted son. In the Battle of Parwan, jalloh was weakened by arguments among his commanders and, after losing decisively at the Battle of the Indus in November 1221, he was compelled to escape across the Indus River into India. Genghis's youngest son was concurrently conducting a brutal campaign in the regions of Khorasan. Every city that resisted was destroyed. Nishapur, merv and Herat, three of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world, were all annihilated. This campaign established Genghis's lasting image as a ruthless, inhumane conqueror. Contemporary Persian historians place the death toll from the three sieges alone at over 5.7 million, a number regarded as grossly exaggerated by modern scholars. Nevertheless, even a total death toll of 1.25 million for the entire campaign, as estimated by John Mann, would have beena demographic catastrophe.
Speaker 1:Genghis abruptly halted his Central Asian campaigns in 1221. Initially aiming to return via India, genghis realized that the heat and humidity of the South Asian climate impeded his army's skills, while the omens were additionally unfavorable. Although the Mongols spent much of 1222 repeatedly overcoming rebellions in Khorasan, they withdrew completely from the region to avoid overextending themselves, setting their new frontier on the Almudaria River. During his lengthy return journey, genghis prepared a new administrative division which would govern the conquered territories, appointing Darghaji commissioners, lit those who pressed the seal and basked local officials to manage the region back to normalcy. He also summoned and spoke with the Taoist patriarch Changchun and the Hindu Kush. The Khan listened attentively to Changchun's teachings and granted his followers numerous privileges, including tax exemptions and authority over all monks throughout the empire, a grant which the Taoists later used to try to gain superiority over Buddhism.
Speaker 1:The usual reason given for the halting of the campaign is that the Western Xia, having declined to provide auxiliaries for the 1219 invasion, had additionally disobeyed Mukhali in his campaign against the remaining Jin, and Shaanxi Mei has disputed this, arguing that the Zia fought in concert with Mukhali until his death in 1223. When frustrated by Mongol control and sensing an opportunity with Genghis campaigning in Central Asia, they ceased fighting. In either case, genghis initially attempted to resolve the situation diplomatically, but when the Zia elite failed to come to an agreement on the hostages they were to send to the Mongols. He lost patience. Returning to Mongolia in early 1225, genghis spent the year in preparation for a campaign against them. This began in the first months of 1226 with the capture of Karakoto, on Zia's western border. The invasion proceeded apace. Genghis ordered that the cities of the Gansu corridor be sacked one by one, granting clemency only to a few.
Speaker 1:Having crossed the Yellow River in autumn, the Mongols besieged present-day Lingwu, located just 30 kilometers, 19 miles south of the Zia capital, jiangxing, in November. On the 4th of December, genghis decisively defeated a Zia relief army. The Khan left the siege of the capital to his generals and moved southwards with Subutai to plunder and secure Jin territories. Genghis fell from his horse while hunting in the winter of 1226-27 and became increasingly ill during the following months. This slowed the siege of Jiangxing's progress, as his sons and commanders urged him to end the campaign and return to Mongolia to recover, arguing that the Ziya would still be there another year. Incensed by insults from Ziya's leading commander, genghis insisted that the siege be continued. He died on either 18 or the 25th of August 1227, but his death was kept a closely guarded secret and Jiangxing, unaware, fell the following month, the city was put to the sword and its population was treated with extreme savagery. The Zia civilization was essentially extinguished in what man described as a very successful ethnocide.
Speaker 1:The exact nature of the Khan's death has been the subject of intense speculation. Rashid al-Din and the history of Yun mention he suffered from an illness, possibly malaria, typhus or bubonic plague. Marco Polo claimed that he was shot by an arrow during a siege, while Carpini reported that Genghis was struck by lightning. Legends sprang up around the event. The most famous recounts how the beautiful Gerbilchin, formerly the Zia Emperor's wife, injured Genghis's genitals with a dagger during sex.
Speaker 1:After his death, genghis was transported back to Mongolia and buried on or near the sacred Birkin Kaldun Peak in the Kenti Mountains, on a site he had chosen years before. Specific details of the funeral procession and burial were not made public knowledge. The mountain declared it Korglit. Specific details of the funeral procession and burial were not made public knowledge. The mountain declared it Korglit. Great Tabu, that is, prohibited zone, was out of bounds to all but its Uriankai guard. When Urjadei acceded to the throne in 1229, the grave was honored with three days of offerings and the sacrifice of 30 maidens. Rachnevsky theorized that the Mongols, who had no knowledge of embalming techniques, may have buried the Khan in the Ordos to avoid his body decomposing in the summer heat while en route to Mongolia. Atwood rejects this hypothesis.
Speaker 1:The tribes of the Mongol steppe had no fixed succession system, but often defaulted to some form of ultimajnature succession of the youngest son because he would have had the least time to gain a following for himself and needed the help of his father's inheritance. However, this type of inheritance applied only to property, not to titles. The secret history records that Cengiz chose his successor while preparing for the Khwarazmian campaigns in 1219. Rashid al-Din, on the other hand, states that the decision came before Cenghis's final campaign against the Zia. Regardless of the date, there were five possible candidates Genghis's four sons and his youngest brother, temüj, who had the weakest claim and who was never seriously considered, even though there was a strong possibility.
Speaker 1:Jachai was illegitimate. Genghis was not particularly concerned by this was illegitimate. Genghis was not particularly concerned by this. Nevertheless, he and Jachai became increasingly estranged over time. Due to Jachai's preoccupation with his own appanage. After the siege of Gurganj, where he only reluctantly participated in besieging the wealthy city that would become part of his territory, he failed to give Genghis the normal share of the booty, which exacerbated the tensions. Genghis was angered by Jachai's refusal to return to him in 1223, and was considering sending Urjidei and Chagatai to bring him to heel when news came that Jachai had died from an illness.
Speaker 1:Chagatai's attitude towards Jachai's possible succession—he had termed his elder brother a murkid bastard and had brawled with him in front of their father—led Genghis to view him as uncompromising, despite his great knowledge of Mongol legal customs. His elimination left Erjude and Tolui as the two primary candidates. Tolui was unquestionably superior in military terms. His campaign in Khorasan had broken the Khwarezmian empire, while his elder brother was far less able as a commander. Erjude was also known to drink excessively even by Mongol standards. That eventually caused his death in 1241. However, he possessed talents all his brothers lacked. He was generous and generally well-liked. Aware of his own lack of military skill, he was able to trust his capable subordinates and, unlike his elder brothers, compromise on issues. He was also more likely to preserve Mongol traditions than Talyuri, whose wife, sorghatani, herself an historian Christian, was a patron of many religions, including Islam. Urjadei was thus recognized as the heir to the Mongol throne.
Speaker 1:Serving as regent after Genghis's death, talyuri established a precedent for the customary traditions after a Khan's death. These included the halting of all military offensives involving Mongol troops, the establishment of a lengthy mourning period overseen by the regent, and the holding of a kyril-tai which would nominate successors and select them. For Talyui, this presented an opportunity. He was still a viable candidate for succession and had the support of the family of Jachai. Any general Kiriltai attended by the commanders Genghis had promoted and honored would, however, observe their former ruler's desires without question and appoint Erjude as ruler. It has been suggested that Talui's reluctance to hold the Kiriltai was driven by the knowledge of the threat it posed to his ambitions. In the end, talui had to be persuaded by the advisor Yeller Chukai to hold the Kiriltai. In 1229, it crowned Urjadei as Khan, with Talui in attendance.
Speaker 1:Bert, whom Temujin married Si when he went here in 78, remained his senior wife. She gave birth to four sons and five daughters, who all became influential figures in the empire. Genghis granted Bert's sons lands and property through the Mongol appanage system, while he secured marriage alliances by marrying her daughters to important families. Her children were Khajan, a daughter born C 1179, who later married Butu of the Achaers, one of Temujin's earliest and closest supporters and the widower of Temelun. Widower of Temelun.
Speaker 1:Jachai, a son born C when he went in 82, after Bert's kidnapping, whose paternity was thus suspect, even though Temujin accepted his legitimacy. Jachai Predesis Genghis. His appanage along the Erdish river and, extending into Siberia, evolved into the Golden Horde. Chagatai, a son born C when I went in 84,. His appanage was the former Karakiti territories surrounding Almolig in Turkestan, which became the Chagatai Khanate.
Speaker 1:Erjide, a son-born Si 1a186, who received lands in Dizengaria and who succeeded his father as ruler of the empire. Chetchyajin, a daughter-born Si 1a188, whose marriage to Tarelchi secured the loyalty of the Warats to the north. Alaka, a daughter born C 1A190, who married several members of the Angud tribe between 1207 and 1225. Tumulun, a daughter born C 1A192, who married Cheeg of the Angarat tribe. Talui, a son born C. Tribe Taluy, a son born Si when he wintered 93, who received lands near the Altai Mountains as an appanage. Two of his sons, murink and Kublai, later ruled the empire, while another, hilagu, founded the Ilkhanate. Al-altan, a daughter born Si when he wintered 96, married the powerful Uyghur ruler Barchuk Shortly after the accession of Guyuk Khan in the 1240s. She was tried and executed on charges that were later suppressed.
Speaker 1:After Bert's final childbirth, temüjin began to acquire a number of junior wives through conquest. These wives had all previously been princesses or queens, and Temüjin married them to demonstrate his political ascendancy. They included the Keryt Princess Ibaka, the Tatar sisters Yesujin and Yesui, kualan Amurkit Guobesu, the queen of the Neiman-Tang Khan, and two Chinese princesses, chaka and Kigwo, of the Western Xia and Jin dynasties respectively. The children of these junior wives were always subservient to those of Burke, with daughters married off to seal lesser alliances and sons, such as Qu'lan's child Kreljan, never a candidate for succession.
Speaker 1:No eyewitness description or contemporaneous depiction of Genghis Khan survives. The Persian chronicler Jizjani and the Song diplomat Zhao Hong provide the two earliest descriptions. Both recorded that he was tall and strong with a powerful stature. Zhao wrote that Genghis had a broad brow and long beard, while Jizjani commented on his cat's eyes and lack of gray hair. The secret history records that Bert's father remarked on his flashing eyes and lively face when meeting him.
Speaker 1:Atwood has suggested that many of Genghis Khan's values, especially the emphasis he placed on an orderly society, derived from his turbulent youth. He valued loyalty above all, and mutual fidelity became a cornerstone of his new nation. Genghis did not find it difficult to gain the allegiance of others. He was superbly charismatic even as a youth, as shown by the number of people who left existing social roles behind to join him. Although his trust was hard to earn, if he felt loyalty was assured, he granted his total confidence in return. Recognized for his generosity towards his followers, genghis unhesitatingly rewarded previous assistants. The Nurkod most honored at the 1206 Kiriltai were those who had accompanied him since the beginning and those who had sworn the Valjana Covenant with him at his lowest point. He took responsibility for the families of Nurkod killed in battle or who otherwise fell on hard times, by raising a tax to provide them with clothing and sustenance.
Speaker 1:The principal source of steppe wealth was post-battle plunder, of which a leader would normally claim a large share. Genghis eschewed this custom, choosing instead to divide booty equally between himself and all his men Disliking any form of luxury. He extolled the simple life of a nomad in a letter to Changchun and objected to being addressed with obsequious flattery. He encouraged his companions to address him informally, give him advice and criticize his mistakes. Jengis's openness to criticism and willingness to learn saw him seeking the knowledge of family members, companions, neighboring states and enemies. He sought and gained knowledge of sophisticated weaponry from China and the Muslim world, appropriated the Uyghur alphabet with the help of the captured scribe Tadatanga, and employed numerous specialists across legal, commercial and administrative fields. He also understood the need for a smooth succession, and modern historians agree he showed good judgment in choosing his heir.
Speaker 1:Although he is today renowned for his military conquests, very little is known about Genghis's personal generalship. His skills were more suited to identifying potential commanders. His institution of a meritocratic command structure gave the Mongol army military superiority, even though it was not technologically or tactically innovative. The army that Genghis created was characterized by its draconian discipline, its ability to gather and use military intelligence efficiently, a mastery of psychological warfare and a willingness to be utterly ruthless.
Speaker 1:Genghis thoroughly enjoyed exacting vengeance on his enemies. The concept lay at the heart of Achai Karyoklet Good for good, evil for evil, the step code of justice. In exceptional circumstances, such as when Muhammad of Khwarizm executed his envoys, the need for vengeance overrode all other considerations. Genghis came to believe the supreme deity Tengri had ordained a great destiny for him. Initially, the bounds of this ambition were limited only to Mongolia, but as success followed success and the reach of the Mongol nation expanded, he and his followers came to believe he was embodied with Sulit divine grace, believing that he had an intimate connection with heaven. Anyone who did not recognize his right to world power was treated as an enemy. This viewpoint allowed Genghis to rationalize any hypocritical or duplicitous moments on his own part, such as killing his Anda Jamuka or killing Nurkod, who wavered in their loyalties.
Speaker 1:Genghis Khan left a vast and controversial legacy. His unification of the Mongol tribes and his foundation of the largest contiguous state in world history permanently altered the worldview of European, islamic and East Asian civilizations. According to Atwood, his conquests enabled the creation of Eurasian trading systems unprecedented in their scale, which brought wealth and security to the tribes. Although he very likely did not codify the written body of laws known as the Great Yasa, he did reorganize the legal system and establish a powerful judicial authority under Shigi Kutuk. On the other hand, his conquests were ruthless and brutal. The prosperous civilizations of China, central Asia and Persia were devastated by the Mongol assaults and underwent multi-generational trauma and suffering as a result.
Speaker 1:Perhaps Genghis's greatest failing was his inability to create a working succession system. His division of his empire into appanages, meant to ensure stability, actually did the reverse, as local and statewide interests diverged and the empire began splitting into the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanate and the Yuan Dynasty in the late 1200s. In the mid-1990s, the Washington Post acclaimed Genghis Khan as the man of the millennium, who embodied the half-civilized, half-savage duality of the human race. This complex image has remained prevalent in modern scholarship, with historians emphasizing both Genghis Khan's positive and negative contributions. For historians emphasizing both Genghis Khan's positive and negative contributions.
Speaker 2:For many centuries, Genghis was remembered in Mongolia as a religious figure, not a political one. After Altan Khan converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the late 1500s, Genghis was deified and given a central role in the Mongolian religious tradition.
Speaker 1:As a deity. Genghis drew upon Buddhist, shamanistic and folk traditions. For example, he was defined as a new incarnation of a Chakravartin idealized ruler, like Ashoka, or a Vajrapani, the martial bodhisattva. He was connected genealogically to the Buddha and to ancient Buddhist kings. He was invoked during weddings and festivals, and he took a large role in ancestor veneration rituals. He also became the focus point of a sleeping hero legend which says he will return to help the Mongol people in a time of great need. His cult was centered at the Neymanchagan Ordon Lit Eight white yurts, today a mausoleum. In Inner Mongolia, china.
Speaker 1:In the 19th and early 20th century, genghis began to be viewed as the national hero of the Mongolian people. Foreign powers recognized this During its occupation of Inner Mongolia. Imperial Japan funded the construction of a temple to Genghis, while both the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party used the memory of Genghis to woo potential allies in the Chinese Civil War. This attitude was maintained during World War II, when the Soviet-aligned Mongolian People's Republic promoted Genghis to build patriotic zeal against invaders. However, as he was a non-Russian hero who could serve as an anti-communist figurehead, this attitude swiftly changed after the war's end. According to May, genghis was condemned as a futile and reactionary lord who exploited the people. His cult was repressed, the alphabet he chose was replaced with the Cyrillic script, and celebrations planned for the 800th anniversary of his birth in 1962 were cancelled and denigrated after loud Soviet complaints, because Chinese historians were largely more favorable towards him than their Soviet circumstances. Genghis played a minor role in the Sino-Soviet split. The arrival of the policies of Glasnost and Perestroika in the 1980s paved the way for official rehabilitation. Less than two years after the 1990 revolution, lenin Avenue in the capital, ulaanbaatar, was renamed Chinggis Khan Avenue. Since then, mongolia has named Chinggis Khan International Airport and erected a large statue in Sukhbader Square, which was itself renamed after Genghis between 2013 and 2016. His visage appears on items ranging from postage stamps and high-value band notes to brands of alcohol and toilet paper. In 2006, the Mongolian parliament officially discussed the trivialization of his name through excessive advertising.
Speaker 1:Modern Mongolians tend to downplay Genghis's military conquests in favor of his political and civil legacy. They view the destructive campaigns as a product of their time, in the words of the historian Mikkel Buran, and secondary to his other contributions to Mongolian and world history. Secondary to his other contributions to Mongolian and world history. His policies, such as use of the kyrgyzstan, his establishment of the rule of law through an independent judiciary and human rights are seen as the foundations that allowed the creation of the modern, democratic Mongolian state. Viewed as someone who brought peace and knowledge rather than war and destruction, genghis Khan is idealized for making Mongolia the center of international culture for a period. He is generally recognized as the founding father of Mongolia.
Speaker 1:The historical and modern Muslim world has associated Genghis Khan with a myriad of ideologies and beliefs. Its first instinct, as Islamic thought had never previously envisioned being ruled by a non-Muslim power, was to view Genghis as the herald of the approaching Judgment Day. Over time, as the world failed to end and as his descendants began converting to Islam, muslims began to see Genghis as an instrument of God's will who was destined to strengthen the Muslim world by cleansing its innate corruption. In post-Mongol Asia, genghis was also a source of political legitimacy because his descendants had been recognized as the only ones entitled to reign. As a result, aspiring potentates not descended from him had to justify their rule either by nominating puppet rulers of Genghis's dynasty or by stressing their own connections to him. Most notably, the great conqueror Timur, who established his own empire in Central Asia, did both. He was obliged to pay homage to Genghis's descendants, sawyer Gadmash and Sultan Mahmud, and his propaganda campaigns vastly exaggerated the prominence of his ancestor, karachar Noyan, one of Genghis's lesser commanders, depicting him as Genghis's blood relative and second-in-command. He also married at least two of Genghis's descendants. Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India, in turn, derived his authority through his descent from both Timur and Genghis.
Speaker 1:Until the 18th century in Central Asia, genghis was considered the progenitor of the social order and was second only to the Prophet Muhammad in legal authority. With the rise of Arab nationalism in the 19th century, the Arab world began to view Genghis increasingly negatively. Today, he is perceived as the ultimate accursed enemy, a barbarian savage who began the demolition of civilization, which culminated in the siege of Baghdad in 1858 by his grandson, heligu. Similarly, genghis is viewed extremely negatively in Russia, where historians have consistently portrayed the rule of the Golden Horde, the Totter Yoke, as backwards, destructive, inimical to all progress and the reason for all of Russia's flaws. His treatment in modern Central Asia and Turkey is more ambivalent. His position as a non-Muslim means other national traditions and heroes such as Timur and the Seljuks are viewed more highly.
Speaker 1:Under the Yuan dynasty in China, genghis was revered as the nation's creator, and he remained in this position even after the foundation of the Ming dynasty in 1368.
Speaker 1:Although the late Ming somewhat disavowed his memory, the positive viewpoint was restored under the Manchu King dynasty 1644-1911, who positioned themselves as his heirs. The rise of 20th century Chinese nationalism initially caused the denigration of Genghis as a traumatic occupier, but he was later resurrected as a useful political symbol on a variety of issues. Modern Chinese historiography has generally viewed Genghis positively and he has been portrayed as a Chinese hero. In contemporary Japan, he is most known for the legend that he was originally Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a samurai and tragic hero who was forced to commit seppuku in 1189. The western world, never directly affected by Genghis, has viewed him in shifting and contrasting ways. During the 14th century, as shown by the works of Marco Polo and Geoffrey Chaucer, he was seen as a just and wise ruler, but during the 18th century he came to embody the Enlightenment stereotype of a typical barbarian warlord. In recent decades, western scholarship has become increasingly nuanced, viewing Genghis as a more complex individual.