Wednesday, 29 June 2016

10 Fascinating Facts About Genghis Khan


















In the 65 years that Genghis Khan lived, he conquered more land than any other ruler in history—nearly 31 million square kilometers (12 million mi2) in total. He ruthlessly cut down anyone in his way, leaving millions of people dead in his wake. However, he removed 700 million tons of carbon from the air in doing so, while also modernizing Mongolian culture, and he was the main benefactor in uniting the Eastern and Western civilizations. Here are 10 other facts you might not know about the bloodthirsty yet genius ruler.


10Genghis Was Not His Real Name


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The man who would one day become the “Great Khan” of the Mongols was born in north central Mongolia around 1162. His given name at birth was Temujin, which means “blacksmith” or “of iron.” Named after the Tatar chieftain that his father had captured and killed, the young boy was a member of the Borjin tribe.


Around the year 1206, Temujin attended a tribal meeting by the Onon River known as a kurultai. This meeting consisted of both political and military councils of ancient Mongol and Turkic chiefs and khans alike. It was here at this assembly that Temujin received the honorific name of Genghis Khan and was proclaimed leader of the Mongols. The origins of “Genghis” still remain unknown to this day. However, historians know for a fact that “Khan” is the traditional title meaning “ruler” or “leader.”


9He Had A Rough Childhood


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Genghis Khan was forced to face the brutality of life at a rather young age. His father, Yesukai, once left him behind by accident as they moved to another camp. He was found by the Tayzichiud clan and was brought into their leader’s household for a significant amount of time. Genghis was eventually reunited with his family, but the sequences and details leading up to the reunion are unknown.


When he was only nine years old, his father took him to search for a wife. Once a family was found, Genghis was left to work under the watchful eye of his new in-laws. It was at this time that his father was poisoned by an enemy tribe. After his father’s death, the tribe expelled him, his six siblings, and his mother. Only a couple years later in a fight for power, Genghis and his brother Khasar killed their elder sibling Begter. During his teenage years, a rival clan kidnapped Genghis and his wife, subjecting them to a life of slavery.


By his early twenties, Genghis had overcome his hardships and was starting to become a formidable young warrior and leader. However, he would never forget his childhood, which is often attributed for his great success and rise to power.


8There Is No Definitive Record Of What He Looked Like


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For someone as successful and influential as Genghis Khan was, very little is known about his personal life and even less about his appearance. Not a single portrait or sculpture of the Khan has survived through the centuries. What information has survived cannot be verified, leaving it contradictory and often unreliable. All images of the warrior were either created after his passing or are simply renditions by artists that never met him.


While most portraits and films today portray him as a strong man with a flowing mane of hair and a long bushy beard, a description by the 14th-century historian Rashid Al-Din proves to be quite surprising. His records state that Genghis had red hair and extremely green eyes. While the information is highly debated, it is not completely dismissed. Features as striking as these were not unheard of among the very ethnically diverse Mongols.


7Some Of His Most Trusted Generals Were Former Enemies


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One thing that separated Genghis Khan from most conquers was his keen eye for talent and his openness to new ideas and knowledge. Instead of cutting down every person in his path, Genghis respected those with great skills and often recruited them for his empire. His officers, for example, were often promoted on skill and experience rather than class and pass allegiances.


A clear case of this meritocracy is found during a battle in 1202 against the Taijut tribe. When Genghis had his favorite horse, a chestnut with white markings, shot out from underneath him on the battlefield, he demanded to know who was responsible. One brave prisoner admitted that he was the archer responsible, and he was brought before the great leader. Upon meeting the prisoner, Genghis was impressed by the marksman’s boldness and ultimately pardoned him. Furthermore, he made him an officer in his army. Genghis gave the officer the name Jebe, which translates as “Arrow,” and he went on to become one of the Mongols’ greatest generals.


6He Rarely Left A Score Unsettled


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While Genghis Khan was known to be very open minded and tolerant of other religions and of kingdoms who submitted peacefully, he did not hesitate to cut down any society that resisted. The Mongol invasion of the Khwarezmid Empire is a clear example of such.


Originally, Genghis sent a message to the neighboring nation, expressing that they were equals and should act as such. However, the Sultan and governor refused to cooperate and had the 450 Mongol emissaries slaughtered. The Khan flew into a rage and responded by invading the empire. The Mongol troops left millions of soldiers and civilians dead in their wake, leaving the empire in ruins.


However, the Mongols did not stop there, they returned to the east and slaughtered thousands Xi Xia Tanguts. This particular group of Mongols refused to send troops for the invasion of Khwarizm, which ultimately led to their demise. After taking their capital, Genghis Khan then had the entire Tangut royal family executed as punishment for their defiance.


5He Was Responsible For 40 Million Deaths But Helped Lower Carbon Levels


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Genghis Khan was a conqueror by force and led numerous military campaigns. The exact number of people killed during these conquests are hard to pinpoint and to this day still remains unknown. However, historians put the number somewhere around 40 million, which made up about 11 percent of the world’s population at the time.


Censuses from the Middle Ages show that China’s population plummeted by the millions. Scholars also estimate that during his war on Khwarezmid Empire, Khan eliminated three-fourths of Iran’s modern-day population.


Surprisingly, a new study has revealed that although bloody and tyrannical, the conquests actually helped the environment. The mass slaughtering of people removed nearly 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere. These deaths resulted in the cultivated land growing thick with trees and foliage once again. In turn, they absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, ultimately becoming the first man-made global cooling.


4He Was Tolerant Of Different Religions


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Genghis Kahn was a man interested in numerous religions and embraced the diversity of his conquered territories. The Mongols had a humanitarian view toward foreign religions and often practiced different religions themselves. In fact, Genghis’s sons married Nestorian women.


As the Mongols conquered territory after territory, Genghis decided on a religious freedom policy for all. He also instated a policy exempting religious leaders from taxation. The political side of this policy was that the conquered people were less likely to rebel. Whether Buddhist, Nestorian, Christian, Daoist, or Islamic, you were free to practice your religion under the Mongols’ rule. While the Mongols are often remembered for their ruthlessness, religious tolerance is one of the more positive legacies the Mongol Empire left behind.


3No One Knows How He Died Or Where He Is Buried


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Of all the mysteries that seem to surround Genghis Khan, the most well known centers around his death. The traditional death concerning the Khan is that in 1227 he took a terrible fall from a horse. However, other sources contend he died from an arrow wound in the knee or to respiratory disease.


However he died, Genghis followed the traditional Mongol custom of keeping his burial site unknown. According to legend, during his funeral procession, the soldiers killed every single person on the road that they came across. Once buried, they continued to repeatedly ride horses over the grave to conceal it even more. Another account states that the horsemen were killed by soldiers so they could not reveal the location of the grave, and in turn, those soldiers were killed, too.


After the burial, several hundred square miles were sealed off, and no one could enter this area except for family members. Soldiers specially trained to kill all intruders guarded the burial site day and night. Historians believe that his tomb is most likely around the Burkan Khaldun mountains, but the exact location of his burial site still remains unknown to this day.


2He Created One Of The First International Postal Systems


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Around the year 1200, Genghis Khan created the first international postal system. Involving the formation of a mounted courier service, riders could travel up to 300 kilometers (200 mi) a day. It was known as the “Yam,” a series of post houses and way stations set up all throughout the empire.


Postal stations were not only used for mail delivery—passing officials, military men, and foreign dignitaries received access as well. These stations aided in the transport of trade with revolutionary speed, while also acting as the Khan’s eyes and ears. Couriers stopping by the stations would be given food, shelter, and even spare horses. Overall, due to this new postal system Genghis was able to stay up to date with both political and military developments, while also staying in contact with his spies throughout his empire.


1The Soviets Tried To Snuff Out His Memory In Mongolia


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During the early 20th century, the Soviet nation, hoping to eradicate any memory of Genghis Khan, banned the even the slightest mention of the ruler’s name. In fear of inciting Mongolian Nationalism, the government removed his story from history books and forbade people from making pilgrimage to his birthplace.


The Soviet rulers also kept the Khan’s burial grounds closely guarded in fear that it would become a rallying points for Nationalists. They referred to the area as the Bureaucratic designation of Highly Restricted Area and placed it under direct supervision of the government. To prevent travel, the soviets not only banned construction of any roads or bridges within the area—they also sealed off a surrounding 2,471,053 acres of land. In the northeast, a soviet tank blocked the entrance into the now forbidden zone.







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