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Genghis Khan (circa|c. 1162fn|1–August 18,
1227) (Cyrillic:
Чингис
Хаан), (also spelled as
Chingis Khan, Jenghis Khan, etc.), (pronounced
IPA|/ʧiŋɡis xaːn/,
audio|Genghis Khan.ogg|Mongolian pronunciation),
born as Temüjin
(Тэмүүжи
н), was a Great Khan and military leader who
united the Mongol tribes and founded the Mongol
Empire (1206–1368). 

Genghis Khan is widely considered as one of the
most brilliant military leaders in world history
who is also remembered for his merciless campaign
against resistance against his conquests. 

In modern Mongolia, he is considered a national
hero for his historical role in uniting the Mongol
tribes by giving them a common identity.
==Overview==

Born in Mongolia in the 12th century, Temüjin
united the Mongol tribes and established the
largest contiguous Mongol Empire|empire in world
history.

Though often outnumbered in battles, he used
superior military intelligence, endurance, tactics
and the mobility of his armies to defeat
opponents, rapidly conquering more territory than
any other single ruler. After unifying Mongol
tribes, he conquered the territories of the
Naiman, Merkit, Tatars|Tatar, and Kerait and led
very successful and sometimes brutal campaigns
against Western Xia in northern China and the
Khwarezmid Empire in Central Asia.

His conquest, and his strategy of inducing fear by
slaughtering the entire populations of resisting
cities such as Merv and Herat, led to millions of
deaths, and, in the longer term, resulted in
large-scale depopulation of the areas of Asia that
he conquered
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm#Mongo
l. 

The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his
khan|successors ruled most of Eurasia, including
Central Asia|Central Asia, North Asia, Eastern
Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern
Europe|Eastern Europe, and Central Europe,
stretching from Vietnam to successful campaigns in
Poland and Hungary. Genghis Khan's successors
continued to rule and expand the Mongol Empire he
founded after his death, and, even after the
unified empire dissolved a century and a half
later, separate Khanates existed for centuries
afterwards.

Genghis Khan's descendants included Kublai Khan,
and possibly also Timur and Babur, though it is
unlikely that Timur was related. His family ruled
the  Mongols until the 17th century, when the last
Khan of his house was conquered by the Manchu.

===Timelines===
* circa|c. 1162 - Temujin was born in Orkhon
Valley
* circa|c. 1171 - Temujin's father Yesugay
Ba'atur|Yesükhei is poison|poisoned by the
Tatars, leaving him and his family in desertion
* circa|c. 1184 - Temujin's wife Borte get
kidnapped by Merkits; calls on his friend Jamuka
for aid and rescues her
* circa|c. 1185 - First son Jochi was born,
leading to doubt about his paternity later among
Genghis Khan's children, because he was born soon
after Borte's rescue from the Merkits.
* 1190 - Temujin united the Mongol tribes and
becomes a leader and devised code of law Yassa.
* 1201 - Won victory over Jamuka, his blood
brother and later rival.
* 1202 - Adopted as Wang Khan's heir after
successful campaigns against Tatars.
* 1203 - Won victory over Keraits.
* 1204 - Won victory over Naimans (all these
confederations were united and became the
Mongols).
* 1206 - Temujin was titled Genghis Khan by his
followers in Kurultai (around 40 years of age).
* 1207-1210 - Genghis Khan led operations against
the Western Xia, which comprised much of
northwestern China and parts of Tibet. Western Xia
ruler submitting to Genghis Khan. During this
period, the Uighurs also submitted peacefully to
the Mongols and became valued administrators
throughout the empire. 
* 1211 - After Khuriltai, Genghis Khan led his
armies against the Jin Dynasty that ruled northern
China. 
* 1219-1222 - Attacked Khwarezmid Empire under
provocation.
* 1226 - Started the campaign against the Western
Xia for coalition against the Mongols, being the
second battle with the Western Xia.
* 1227 - Genghis Khan dies leading fight against
Western Xia.

==Name and Title==
There are many theories for the origins of Genghis
Khan's title; this uncertainty is fueled by the
fact that later members of the Mongol Empire
associated the name with the Mongol word for
strength, "ching", though this does not fit the
etymology.  One theory places the etymology as
stemming from a palatalised version of the
Mongolian language|Mongolian and Turkish
language|Turkish  word tenggiz, meaning "ocean,"
"oceanic" or "wide-spreading".  Lake Baikal and
ocean were called as tenggiz by the Mongols,
however it seems like that if they had meant to
call Genghis Khan tenggiz they could very well
have said (and written) "Tenggiz Khan", which they
did not.  Zhèng (Chinese: 正, pron. "jung"
in English) meaning "right", "just", or "true",
would have received the Mongolian adjectival
modifier -s, creating "Jenggis", which was then
modified by later scribes in India or Iran|Persia
to read as "Genghis".  Likely, contemporary
Mongols would have pronounced the word more like
"Chinggis".  Chingis Khan is the
http://www.mongolianembassy.us/eng_about_mongolia/
history.php?PHPSESSID=41ae870976b9d979216d7279900b
cab5 spelling used by the modern Republic of
Mongolia. See Lister and Ratchnevsky, referenced
below, for further reading.

==Early life==
===Birth===
There is not much known about his early years, but
Temujin was born sometime between 1155 and 1167 in
Hentiy aymag|Hentiy, Mongolia. His birthplace was
most likely the mountainous area of Burhan Haldun.
He was the second son of Yesugay
Ba'atur|Yesükhei, a tribal chief of the Kiyad.
Yesükhei's clan was called Borjigin
(Боржиги
н). His mother was named Hoelun and was of
the Olkunut tribe. Temüjin was named after one of
the more powerful chiefs of a rival tribe. The
name "Temujin" probably derives from a word for
"Iron".

His early life was difficult: His father delivered
him to his future wife's family when he was only
nine. He was supposed to live there until he
reached the Arranged marriage|marriageable age of
14. Shortly thereafter, his father was murdered by
the neighboring Tatars while returning home. This
made Temüjin the clan's chief, though his clan
refused to be led by a boy and soon abandoned him
and his family. For the next few years, he and his
family lived the life of impoverished nomads,
surviving primarily on marmots and other small
game. 

In one incident, Temüjin reportedly slew his
half-brother over a dispute about sharing hunting
spoils. In another, he was captured in a raid by
his former tribe and held captive with a wooden
collar around his neck. He escaped with help from
a sympathetic captor. His mother, Hoelun, taught
him many lessons on survival in the harsh
political climate of Mongolia, especially the need
for alliances with others, a lesson which would
shape his understanding in his later years. 

Around the age of 16, Temüjin married Börte of
the Konkirat tribe. Later she was kidnapped in a
raid by the Merkit tribe, and Temüjin called on
his friend and later rival, Jamuka, and his
protector, Wang Khan of the Kerait tribe, for aid.
Temüjin became blood brother|blood brothers with
Jamuka and thus made a vow to be faithful to each
other for eternity. 

Börte's first child, Jochi, was born suspiciously
soon after she was freed from the Merkit, leading
to questions regarding the child's paternity.

===Uniting the tribes and early Mongol Empire===

Temüjin began his slow ascent to power by allying
himself with his father's anda (sworn brother or
blood brother).  Genghis's ally was Toghril, khan
of the Kerait and better known by the Chinese
title Wang Khan which the  Jin Dynasty
(1115-1234)|Jin Empire granted him in 1197.
Temüjin was adopted as Wang Khan's heir after
successful campaigns against the Tatars (1202).
This led to jealousy on the part of Senggum,
Wang's former heir, who planned to assassinate
Temüjin. Temüjin learnt of Senggum's intentions,
eventually defeated him and his loyalists and
succeeded to the title of Wang Khan.

In 1201, a Khuriltai elected Jamuka as Gur Khan,
universal ruler, a title used by the rulers of the
Kara-Khitan Khanate. Jamuka's assumption of this
title was the final breach with Temüjin and
Jamuka formed a coalition of tribes to oppose him.

Jamuka was less successful in coalition-building
because, unlike Temüjin, he maintained
traditional divisions between tribes in his forces
and assigned commands by hereditary rank rather
than merit. In particular, Jamuka did not recruit
shepherds who lacked tribal status in the Mongol
tradition. This allowed Temüjin to recover from a
series of military defeats inflicted by Jamuka and
to emerge victorious.

Jamuka was eventually betrayed to Temüjin by his
followers and executed in 1206. The Secret History
of the Mongols states that Jamuka insisted that he
be executed even when Temüjin offered renewal of
their brotherhood. Temüjin executed Jamuqa's
betrayers on the principle that betrayal merits
the harshest punishment.

His borders were threatened to the south by the
Jin who then ruled North China and to the west by
the Western Xia|Xia. Temüjin organized his people
to prepare for possible conflicts, especially with
the Jin. The Chinese had grown uncomfortable with
the newly unified Mongols. Many trade routes ran
through Mongol territory, and they feared that the
Mongols would eventually restrict the supply of
goods.

Temüjin managed to unite the tribes under a
single system by 1206 using his personal charisma
and strong will. It was a monumental feat for the
Mongols, who had a long history of internecine
dispute and economic hardship. At a Kurultai (a
council of Mongol chiefs) he was acknowledged as
the first and only "Khan" or Khagan, the ruler of
rulers or emperor

See also: Mongols before Chinggis Khan|Mongols
before Genghis Khan

==Mongol Empire==
Main article: Mongol Empire

===Politics and economics===
Main article: Organization of state under Genghis
Khan


The Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan was tolerant
of the people it had conquered, provided that they
did not resist, and often let conquered nations
keep local rulers and worship their own religions.
He instituted a meritocracy among the Mongols and
allied nomadic people. The Mongols was ruled by
the code of Yasa created by Genghis Khan, a
chivalric code of honor and pay obligations to the
Khan of which no complete copy survives today.
Generally, the Mongol Empire was also friendly to
outside trade along the Silk Road, although the
Mongol's conquests led to a collapse of many of
the ancient trading cities of Central Asia. Taxes
were also heavy, and conquered people were used as
forced labor.

Temüjin was illiterate when he was young but
learned to read Taoism|Taoist sermons later in his
life. He brought tutors with him to teach his
children and himself to read and write.

===Military===
Main article: Military advances of Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan made advances in military
disciplines, such as mobility, psychological
warfare, intelligence, military autonomy, and
military tactics|tactics.

Genghis Khan's armies were generally able to best
their enemies in the 12th century|12th and 13th
century because of their superior military
strategy|strategy, mobility, and military
intelligence. Genghis developed a well organized
and trained army.  He refused to divide his troops
into different ethnic enclaves, creating a sense
of unity, while he punished even small infractions
against discipline severely. He also divided his
armies into a number of smaller groups, taking
advantage of the superb mobility of his
well-trained mounted archers to attack their
enemies on several fronts at once.

===After Genghis Khan===


At his death, Genghis Khan divided the lands of
his empire amongst his sons or their children. The
most distant lands conquered by the Mongols, then
southern Ruthenia, were divided among his
grandsons Batu, leader of the Blue Horde, and
Orda, leader of the White Horde. Chagatai
Khan|Chagatai was the next-eldest son of Genghis
and so was given Central Asia.  Tolui, the
youngest, was given the Mongol homeland as per
Mongol custom.  The office of Great Khan was a
matter of dispute.  The eldest son Jochi was dead
and there were questions about his parentage. 
Chagatai Khan|Chagatai was a hot-head and disliked
by his brothers.  This left Ogedei, third oldest,
who was well liked by most people and so was made
Great Khan. 

On his deathbed in 1227, Genghis Khan outlined to
his youngest son, Tolui, the plans that later
would be used by his successors to complete the
destruction of the Jin Empire.

Genghis Khan's successors expanded the empire even
further, into south China, Russia, Iraq, Korea,
and Tibet. The Mongols eventually briefly overran
Poland and Hungary under Batu Khan's rule, and
(with varying degrees of success) Syria, and
Vietnam. The European expansion came to a halt
when a number high-ranking leaders had to return
to Mongolia to participate in the khuriltai for
the election of the next Great Khan. 

At its height, the Mongolian Empire stretched from
Southeast Asia to Europe, covering 35 million
square kilometers (13.8 million square miles),
little less than the British Empire with its  36
million square kilometers (14.1 million square
miles). According to some sources, the empire
encompassed almost 50% of the world population and
included the most advanced and populous nations of
that time; China and many of the main contemporary
states of the Islamic world in Iraq, Persia, and
Asia Minor. It holds the record for the largest
continuous landmass controlled by any empire in
history.

Timur based much of his early legitimacy on
claiming descent from Genghis Khan.

==Major campaigns==
===China===

Genghis Khan was already around 40 years old when
he became Khan and started his campaign outward.
At the time of the Khuriltai in 1206 that Genghis
Khan got his title, Mongols were involved in a
dispute with the Tangut Empire of Western Xia,
which demanded tribute from the Mongols. Genghis
Khan led the Mongols against Xi Xia, and conquered
the empire despite initial difficulties in
defeating its well-defended cities. By 1209, the
Tangut emperor acknowledged Genghis Khan as
overlord. In 1211, Genghis Khan set about bringing
the Jurchen|Nuzhen (the founders of the Jin
Dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin Dynasty) completely
under his dominion, in order to prevent them from
challenging the Mongols for territory and
resources. The Mongol army crossed the Great Wall
of China in 1213, and in 1215 Genghis besieged,
captured, and sacked the Jin capital of Yanjing
(later known as Beijing). This forced the Jin
Emperor Emperor Xuan Zong of Jin|Xuan Zong to move
his capital south to Kaifeng.  

The Mongol Empire campaigned 6 time against the
Tanguts (1202, 1207, 1209-1210, 1211-1213,
1214-1219 and 1225-1226). The vassal emperor of
the Tanguts (Western Xia) had refused to take part
in the war against the Khwarizmid Empire (see
below). While Genghis Khan was busy with the
campaign in Persia, Tangut and Jin had formed an
alliance against the Mongols.  In retaliation, the
Genghis Khan prepared for war against their
alliance.

In 1226, Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts on the
pretext that the Tanguts had deceived the Mongols
and they were seeking retribution for this
betrayal. In February, he took Heisui, Ganzhou and
Suzhou and in the autumn, he took Xiliang-fu. One
of Tangut generals challenged the Mongols for a
battle near Helanshan (Helan means "great horse"
in the northern dialect, shan means "mountain").
The Tangut armies were soundly defeated. In
November, the Genghis Khan laid siege to the
Tangut city of Lingzhou and then crossed the
Yellow River and defeated the Tangut relief army.
Genghis reportedly saw five stars arranged in a
line in the sky, which he took to be an omen of
his victory.

In 1227, the Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts'
capital, and continued to advance, seizing
Lintiao-fu in February, Xining province and
Xindu-fu in March, and Deshun province in April.
At Deshun, the Tangut general Ma Jianlong put up a
fierce resistance for several days and personally
led charges against the invaders outside of the
city gate.  Ma Jianlong later died from wounds
received from arrows in battle.  Genghis Khan,
after conquering Deshun, went to Liupanshan
(Qingshui County, Gansu Province) for shelter from
the severe summer.

The new Tangut emperor quickly surrendered to the
Mongols.  The Tanguts officially surrendered in
1227, after having ruled for 189 years, starting
in 1038. In the end, Genghis Khan had the Tangut
emperor and his family executed.

By this time, his advancing age had led Genghis to
make preparations for his death and to assure an
orderly succession among his descendants; he
selected his third son Ögedei Khan|Ögedei as his
successor and established the method of selection
of subsequent Khans, specifying that they should
come from his direct descendants.

===Central Asia===
Meanwhile, Kuchlug, the deposed Khan of the Naiman
tribe, had fled west and had usurped the Khanate
of Kara-Khitan Khanate|Kara-Khitan (also known as
Kara Kitay), the western allies that had decided
to side with Genghis Khan. By this time the Mongol
army was exhausted from ten years of continuous
campaigning in China against the Tangut and the
Rurzhen. Therefore, Genghis sent only two tumen
(roughly 20,000 soldiers) under a brilliant young
general, Jebe (known as "The Arrow"), against
Kuchlug. An internal revolt was incited by Mongol
agents against Kuchlug, leaving the Naiman forces
open for Jebe to overrun the country. Kuchlug's
forces were defeated west of Kashgar; he was
captured and executed and Kara-Khitan was annexed
by Genghis Khan. By 1218, the Mongol Empire
extended as far west as Lake Balkhash and adjoined
Khwarizm, a Islam|Muslim state that reached to the
Caspian Sea in the west and to the Persian Gulf
and the Arabian Sea in the south.

It should be noted that very talented military
generals and military strategy|strategists of
Genghis Khan like Subutai and Jebe played
considerable role in the practicalities of the war
and hands-on approaches. These generals were
purely choosen on meritocracy as none of them were
from direct line of Genghis Khan.

===Middle East===
In 1218, Genghis sent emissary|emissaries to an
eastern province of Khwarizm with the intention of
discussing possible trade with the
Khwarezmia|Khwarizmian Empire. The governor of the
province had the emissaries executed, and the
Genghis Khan retaliated with an invasion force of
20 tumen (200,000 troops). The Mongol army quickly
seized the town, relying on superior strategy and
tactics.  Once he had conquered the city, he
killed many of the inhabitants and executed the
governor by pouring molten silver into his ears
and eyes as retribution for the insult.

At this point (1219), Genghis decided to extend
Mongol control into the Islam|Muslim world. The
Mongol army methodically marched through and
sacked Khwarizm's main cities (Bukhara, Samarkand,
and Balkh).  The leader of Khwarizm, Muhammad II
of Khwarezm|Shah Muhammad II, prepared to battle
with them. However, he was outmaneuvered by the
much swifter Mongol army and driven into extended
retreat. In the end, the Shah killed himself
rather than surrender when he was cornered and by
1220, the Khwarizmian Empire was eradicated.

The Mongol armies then split into two component
forces. Genghis Khan led a division on a raid
through Afghanistan and northern India, while
another contingent, led by his general Subedei,
marched through the Caucasus and Russia. Neither
campaign added territory to the empire, but they
pillaged settlements and defeated any armies they
met that did not acknowledge Genghis Khan as the
rightful leader of the world. In 1225 both
divisions returned to Mongolia.

These invasions added Transoxiana and Iran|Persia
to an already formidable empire.

===Europe and Caucasus===
While he was gathering his forces in Iran|Persia
and Armenia, a detached force of 40,000 troops
commanded by Batu Khan pushed deep into Armenia
and Azerbaijan Batu destroyed Georgia
(country)|Georgian crusaders, sacked the Republic
of Genoa|Genoese trade-fortress of Kaffa in
Crimea, and stayed the winter near the Black Sea.
While he was heading home, Batu was intercepted by
the troops of Mstislav III of Kiev and Mstislav
the Bold, along with a force of Kievan Rus
numbering around 80,000. At the Battle of Kalka
River in 1223, the Mongols defeated the larger
Russian force, killing both princes.

===Massacres and Destruction===
Genghis Khan preferred to offer opponents the
chance to submit to his rule without a fight, but
was merciless if he encountered any resistance by
totally exterminating the entire population of the
resisting cities. There were also mass slaughters
even where there was no resistance, especially in
Northern China, and the vast majority of the
populations so killed had long histories of
accepting nomadic rulers.  Genghis Khan's
conquests were characterized by wholesale
destruction on unprecedented scale and radically
changed the demographic situation in Asia.
According to the works of Iranian historian Rashid
al-Din, Mongols killed over 70,000 people in Merv
and more than a million in Nishapur. China
suffered a drastic decline in population. Before
the Mongol invasion, China had about 100 million
inhabitants; after the complete conquest in 1279,
the census in 1300 showed it to have roughly 60
million people. How many of these deaths were
attributable directly to Genghis Khan and his
forces is unclear, as are the numbers.

==Death and burial==


In his last campaign leading the Mongol fight
against the Tangut Empire, Genghis Khan died on
August 18, 1227. The reason for his death is
uncertain. Many assume he fell off his horse, due
to old age and physical wearing down; some
contemporary observers even cited prophecies from
his opponents. The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle
alleges he was killed by the Tanguts, but as of
today the truth is unclear.  There are persistent
folktales that a Tangut princess, to avenge her
people and prevent her rape, castrated him with a
hidden knife and he never recovered.

It is alleged that Genghis Khan asked to be buried
without markings. After he died, his body was
returned to Mongolia and presumably to his
birthplace in Hentiy aymag, where many assume he
is buried somewhere close to the Onon river. The
funeral escort killed anyone and anything that
strayed across their path to his burial, so as not
to reveal where he was finally laid to rest. The
Genghis Khan Mausoleum is his memorial, but not
his burial site. As of October 6, 2004, there has
been an alleged discovery of "Genghis Khan's
palace" that makes a discovery of his burial site
more likely.  In folklore it is said that a river
was diverted over his grave to make it impossible
to find and/or his grave was stamped over by many
horses.

==Character==
It is not entirely clear what Genghis Khan was
truly like, but his personality and character were
doubtless molded by the many hardships he faced
when he was young and during the time that it took
to unify the Mongol nation. Genghis Khan appeared
to fully embrace the Mongol people's nomadic way
of life and did not act to change their customs or
beliefs. As he aged, he seemed to become
increasingly aware of the consequences of numerous
victories and expansion of the Mongol Empire,
including the possibility that succeeding
generations might choose to live a sedentary
lifestyle. According to quotations attributed to
him in his later years, he urged future leaders to
follow the Yasa teachings, and refrain from
surrounding themselves with wealth and pleasure. 
He apparently valued honesty and loyalty highly,
even an enemy soldier's loyalty to his leader. His
military strategies showed a deep interest in
gathering good intelligence and understanding the
motivations of his rivals. He seemed to be a quick
study, adopting new technologies and ideas that he
encountered, although he never learned a foreign
language or showed much interest in the cultures
of other people.

==Family and heirs==
Main article: Family tree of Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan was related through his father to
Qabul Khan, Ambaghai and Qutula Khan who had
headed the Mongol confederation under Jin
patronage until the Jin switched their support to
the Tatars in 1161 and destroyed Qutula Khan. 
Genghis Khan's father, Yesugei, khan of the
Borjigin, and nephew to Ambaghai and Qutula Khan,
emerged as 
the head of the ruling clan of the Mongols, but
this position was contested by the rival
Tayichi’ud clan, who descended directly from
Ambaghai. When the Tatars, in turn, grew too
powerful after 1161 the Jin moved their support
from the Tatars to the Kerait.

Genghis Khan's empress was Borte, his childhood
friend in whose family's care
his father left Temujin when he was 9; she bore
him four sons:
* Jochi (1185–1227)
* Chagatai
* Ogedei (—1241)
* Tolui (1190–1232)

Because Jochi was born immediately after Borte was
freed from her captors, 
his paternity was contested.  All four sons
participated in the Genghis Khan's campaigns, and
eventually 
became Khans of different Khanates after Genghis
Khan's death, but it was
Ogedei who was proclaimed the Great Khan and
inherited
Genghis Khan's mantle.

==Legacy==
===Historical===
Near-contemporary middle-eastern accounts by
Juvayni and Rashid al-Din have survived, along
with the anonymous Uighur / Chinese document known
as The Secret History of the Mongols, which
presents Genghis Khan from the Mongol point of
view. 

However, Genghis Khan's legacy is perceived very
differently in Mongolia from the rest of the
world. In the West and the Middle East, the
perception of Genghis Khan is strongly negative
due to the destruction his forces caused, though
there have been recent efforts by Western
historians to explore the positive aspects of
Genghis Khan's conquest.  Genghis Khan's used
brutal measures against those who would resist him
in order to inflict fear. Genghis Khan's campaigns
in Central Asia and the Middle East caused massive
destruction and the loss of human life. For
example the cities of Rey and Tus, the two largest
and most populous cities in Iran at the time, and
centers of literature, culture, trade and
commerce, were completely destroyed by the order
of Genghis Khan. Nishapur, Merv and Samarqand
suffered similar destructions.


Particularly in Central and East Asia, and
certainly in Mongolia where Genghis Khan is a
national hero, there is much concern about the
negative bias in historical records about Genghis
Khan which emphasize his assaults, barbarism, and
butchery.  There is a feeling that his military
and administrative genius is undervalued, as is
his undisputed status as the conqueror of one of
the largest empires in history.

At the height of his powers, Genghis Khan is
reputed to have had five hundred wives and
concubines, a tradition followed in successive
generations. A recent genetic survey (Zerjal et
al. 2003, 
http://www.ceacb.ucl.ac.uk/cultureclub/files/CC200
5-02-03-Zerjal%20et%20al._2003_Genetic%20Legacy%20
of%20the%20Mongols.pdf pdf of paper) found a
cluster of Y chromosome variants in 1/12 of the
men in the area of the Mongolian Empire, and 1/200
of men worldwide. The age of the cluster,
estimated from the mutation rate, places its
origin just before the time of Genghis Khan, and
it is especially common among the Hazara people,
who claim to be descended from soldiers of Genghis
Khan (a claim  traditionally rejected by most
scientists because it was assumed to be local
folklore). From this genetic evidence it is
reasoned that over 0.5% of the world's population
(as the study was only able to cover direct male
descendants) is descended from a male who lived in
Mongolia around the time of Genghis Khan, perhaps
even Genghis Khan himself, although there is
considerable uncertainty over these numbers.

===Genghis Khan in Mongolia===

In the years that Mongolia has de-coupled itself
from Communism and the Russian bloc in the early
'90s, Genghis Khan has become a symbol for the
free nation's identity.  He is viewed as a
conquering general of the stature of Alexander the
Great.  His face appears on Mongolian bank notes
and vodka labels.  This may be a throwback into
the late period of the Khanate, when Genghis Khan
was deified throughout the empire. 

Today, Genghis' image is that of a ruthless
conqueror, known for his willpower and political
persuasiveness, as also for fostering meritocracy
among the nomads and the rule of law (the Yasa
code) which formed the basis of the Empire.  In
Europe however, it is his image as bloodthirsty
conqueror that dominates, whereas in Eastern Asia,
especially in Mongolia, while acknowledging the
destruction caused by his conquests, he is known
also for his achievements as a unifying, even
cosmopolitan ruler, who orchestrated in uniting
the Mongols and as a person who brought Mongols
from political instability to world wide fame and
by uniting them paved the way for the nation of
Mongolia. It's not uncommon to hear the phrase
Genghis Khan's Mongolia in Mongolia.

==See also==
* Babur
* History of Mongolia
* House of Taimur
* Hulegu
* Khwarezmid Empire
* Kublai Khan
* Mongka Khan
* Timur

==Notes==
fnb|1 Rashid al-Din asserts that Genghis Khan
lived to the age of 72, placing his year of birth
at 1155.  The Yuanshi (元史, "History of the
Yuan dynasty", not to be confused with the era
name of the Han dynasty), records his year of
birth as 1162.  However, the Record of Successive
Generations of Buddha (Lidai Fozu Tongzai) records
the Genghis Khan died at the age of 60.  According
to Ratchnevsky, accepting a birth in 1155 would
render Genghis Khan a father only at the age of
30, and would imply that at the ripe age of 72 he
personally commanded the expedition against the
Tanguts.  Also, according to the Altan tobchi,
Genghis Khan's sister, Temulin, was nine years
younger than he, but the Secret History relates
that Temulin was an infant during the attack by
the Merkits, during which Genghis Khan would have
been 18, had he been born in 1155.  Zhao Hong
reports in his travelogue that the Mongols he
questioned did not and had never known their ages.

==External links==
*http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/060
9610627/002-0991999-9524804?v=glance Amazon.com:
Books: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern
World
*http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h11mon.htm Genghis Khan
and the Mongols
*Genghis Khan Movie
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416044/ Mongol at
IMDb
*Welcome to http://www.coldsiberia.org/ The Realm
of the Mongols
*Parts of this biography were taken from the
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/mntoc.html Area
Handbook series at the Library of Congress
*http://koreanhistoryproject.org/Ket/Idx/KETIndex0
504.htm Coverage of Temujin's Earlier Years
*http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm#Mong
ol Estimates of Mongol warfare casualties
*http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/genghis/
Genghis Khan on the Web (directory of some 250
resources)
*http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/Mongols/em
psub2.html Mongol Arms
*http://www.leader-values.com/Content/detail.asp?C
ontentDetailID=799 LeaderValues
*http://nobsnews.blogspot.com/1994/01/inspirations
-of-historians.html#rashid-ad-din-juwayni
‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Ata Malik Juvayni (A History
of the World-Conqueror Ghengis Genghis Khan,
rashid-ad-din-juwayni ‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Ata
Malik Juvayni) 
*iExplore.com:
http://www.iexplore.com/travel/result/47079 The
search for the missing tomb of Genghis Khan

==References==

* Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World,
 by Jack Weatherford, Crown 2004. ISBN: 0609610627
* Mongols, Huns & Vikings, by Hugh Kennedy, 
Cassell, 2002, ISBN: 0304352926
* Web reference | title=Genghis Khan and the
Mongols | work=Genghis Khan and the Mongols |
URL=http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h11mon.htm |
date=June 30 | year=2005
* Man, John. Genghis Khan -- Life, Death and
Resurrection. Bantam Press, 2004. ISBN
0-553-81498-2.
* Lister, R. P. Genghis Khan. Cooper Square Press,
1969. ISBN 0-8154-1052-2.
* Web reference | title=Mongol Arms | work=Mongol
Arms |
URL=http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/Mongols
/empsub2.html| date=June 24 | year=2003
* Zerjal, Tatiana, Yali Xue, Giorgio Bertorelle,
R. Spencer Wells, Weidong Bao, Suling Zhu, Raheel
Qamar, Qasim Ayub, Aisha Mohyuddin, Songbin Fu, Pu
Li, Nadira Yuldasheva, Ruslan Ruzibakiev, Jiujin
Xu, Qunfang Shu, Ruofu Du, Huanming Yang, Matthew
E. Hurles, Elizabeth Robinson, Tudevdagva
GerelsaiGenghis Khan, Bumbein Dashnyam, S. Qasim
Mehdi, and Chris Tyler-Smith. 2003. The Genetic
Legacy of the Mongols. The American Journal of
Human Genetics 72:718-721
*http://ideas.union.edu/articles/files/22_Stevens_
Heirs_to_Discord.pdf Heirs to Discord: The
Supratribal Aspirations of Jamuqa, Toghrul, and
Temüjin
* Ratchnevsky, Paul. Genghis Khan: His Life and
Legacy (Čingis-Khan: sein Leben und Wirken).
Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 1991. ISBN
0-631-18949-1.

===Primary Sources===

* Genghis Khan: The History of the World-Conqueror
by Ala Al-Din Ata Malik Juvayni, Ata-Malik
Juvaini, tr. John Andrew Boyle, Univ of Washington
Press (August 1, 1997), ISBN: 0295976543  
* The Secret History of the Mongols, tr. Igor De
Rachewiltz, Brill's Inner Asian Library. v.7,
Leiden:Boston 2004, ISBN: 9004131590
* A Compendium of Chronicles: Rashid al-Din's
Illustrated History of the World (Jami
al-Tawarikh), The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of
Islamic Art, Vol. XXVII,  ed. Sheila S. Blair
Oxford University Press 1995. ISBN: 019727627X
*  Rashid al-Din Tabib, The Successors of Genghis
Khan Translated from the Persian by John Andrew
Boyle New York/London/Paris, Columbia University
Press/ UNESCO, 1971 extracts from Jami’
Al-Tawarikh

===Further reading===
* Cable, Mildred and French, Francesca. 1943. The
Gobi Desert. London. Landsborough Publications.
* Man, John. 1997. Gobi : Tracking the Desert.
Weidenfield & Nicolson. Paperback by Phoenix,
Orion Books. London. 1998.
*Stewart, Stanley. 2001. In the Empire of Genghis
Khan: A Journey among Nomads.
HarperCollinsPublishers, London. ISBN
0-00-653027-3.
*http://www.historychannel.com/thcsearch/thc_resou
rcedetail.do?encyc_id=210250 History Channel's bio
on Genghis Khan



{| align=center border=1 cellspacing=0
cellpadding=4 style="background: #f9f9f9;
text-align:center; border:1px solid
#aaa;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:95%"
|-
|width="30%" align="center"|Preceded by:
None
|width="40%" align="center"|Great Khan of Mongol
Empire
1206–1227
|width="30%" align="center"|Followed by:
Ogedei
Khan
|}