Page 61 - Mongolia & the Gobi Desert

With the decline of the Uyghurs, a period of uncertainty, weak leadership, and outside
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named Temujin that the core of the old empire was reunited. In 1206, he took the title Genghis
Khan, meaning King Genghis. (Despite his power, he wasn’t actually called a Khagan, or
emperor, until after his death.)

As one of the most famed and feared names in history, Genghis had quite a life. If the records
left after his death are to be believed, he started life as a nobleman’s son, but when his father
was murdered by poison, he and his family lived in poverty. At age 9, he was engaged to
Borte (later his chief wife), at age 10, he killed his half-brother in what might have been an
accident, and at age 16, he and Borte were married. Not one to settle down to a quiet life,
Genghis began to unite the Mongol tribes, survived an assignation plot, rescued Borte (she had
been kidnapped by a rival tribe), and executed his sworn “blood brother” Jumaka—all before
turning 39.

Yet despite the excitement of his early life, it wasn’t until his 40s that Genghis really came
into his own. After his election to the title of Khan in 1206—at the age of 44—he began a
remarkable series of military campaigns across Asia and Europe. The result was the largest
continuous land empire that has ever existed in human history. At its height, the Mongol
Empire covered roughly 22% of the world’s landmass. Yet when the Great Khan died in 1227,
he was buried in an unmarked grave, in accordance with the customs of his tribe.

After the Empire

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hotly debated today. Some historians, such as R.J. Rummel, have estimated that 30 million
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the Mongol hoards as proof of Genghis’ bloodthirsty nature. Other historians have dubbed the
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territories. These historians point to the increased trade on the Silk Road, the religious
tolerance of the Mongol court, and Genghis’ policy of promoting people based on merit instead
of birth as signs of an enlightened reign.

In any case, both groups seem to agree that empire was largely based on the larger-than-life
personality of the Khan himself. So it would be logical to presume that his death posed a huge
threat the empire’s survival. Yet surprisingly, the Mongol Empire actually gained lands and
fame under Genghis’ immediate descendents. The most notable of these successors was his
grandson Kublai Khan, who founded the Yuan Dynasty in China. (It was his court that Marco
Polo visited in the 1200s, and inspired the poem “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.)
It wasn’t until the fall of the Yuan in 1368 that the Mongol Empire collapsed back into
smaller states.

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many rivalries created some interesting leaders, such as the warrior Esen Taishi and Queen
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death she adopted the last remaining heir of Genghis Khan, successfully upheld his claim to

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