Genghis Khan Dbq

The Mongol invasions of the 13th century resulted in the far-reaching and vastly influential Mongol Empire. While these conquests brought much bloodshed and many atrocities, they were exceedingly important as they made the world more connected than ever before. At the heart of the Mongol Empire was its creator and first emperor, Genghis Khan. This “Great Khan” was able to unite nomadic tribes to form a shockingly powerful empire. Without him, the Mongol Empire likely would have never came to be. Genghis Khan’s strong and persistent character is the reason for this great empire that truly altered the world in a tremendous manner.

Genghis Khan was born Temujin around 1167. It is unknown for sure what year Temujin was born as some traditions maintain that it was in the Pig year of 1155 or 1167. Other versions insist that his life began in 1162 because in 1962, the Mongolian People’s Republic celebrated the 800th anniversary of his life. Despite the controversy, the scholarly preference in 1167.1 Temujin was born in the northern Gobi Desert of

Mongolia into the steppe culture of the Eurasian nomads. Names are very important to the steppe people as they are seen as extremely symbolic and are said to decide a child’s character and fate. The root of the name Temujin is the verb temul which one Mongolian explained as meaning “the look in the eye of a horse that is racing where it wants to go, no matter what the rider wants”.2 Temujin would grow to fit this description quite well.
Temujin’s mother was a young woman named Hoelun that had been kidnapped by his father, Yesugei.3 Temujin “was a nobody” but he had ancestors of note. His great-grandfather had been Kabul Khan, leader of the whole Mongol nation, a man who in his time had defeated an army sent from China by the Kin emperor, Holoma. That had been fifty years before.4 These roots, however, did not help Temujin in any way throughout his life. He began facing adversity the moment he was born. His father viewed him as inferior considering he already had a son from another woman. Furthermore, his mother would come to resent him completely.
In the steppe culture of the Gobi, “children…were not hardened to suffering; they were born to it”.5 After being weaned from their mother’s milk, they were essentially expected to care for themselves. They occupied the seats furthest from the fire and were the last ones to get ahold of the food pot. Strength was a necessity from a very early age. Fighting was a daily part of life for the nomads and children were not shielded from this. Conflicts with neighbors were as common as hunts for food. Children were a part of nearly every aspect of nomadic life. From a very early age, Temujin was taught the skills of fighting, herding, hunting, and trading.6 Although daily life was extremely difficult, it was all the nomads knew, therefore it is safe to say that Temujin and his family led a relatively normal life until the death of his father.
Just before the birth of Temujin, his father Yesugei had killed a warrior from the neighboring tribe of the Tatars. This warrior’s name was Temujin Uge and ironically, gave Yesugei the inspiration for his new son’s name. When Temujin was eight years old, the Tartars killed Yesugei as revenge for having killed Temujin Uge. Yesugei left behind two widows and six children under the age of ten. The clan to which the family belonged decided they could not afford to feed these nine people without the help from their patriarch and decided to abandon them. Furthermore, now that Yesugei was dead, it was customary for Hoelun’s oldest stepson to become her husband. This meant that Temujin’s older half brother, Begter, would become the head of the family in every sense. Temujin could not stand this thought and killed his brother with a bow and arrow. This both enraged and disgraced Temujin’s mother, Hoelun. She said to Temujin, “Now, you have no companion other than your shadow”.7 This action made Temujin a murder and led his former clan to hunt and imprison him for killing on their land.
Temujin, being the warrior he was, managed to escape his imprisonment. He then went to his intended wife, Borte, whom he had not seen for years .They then wed and presented gifts to a new clan in hopes of gaining entry. They were permitted to join the clan, however, fighting was always present for the nomads and revenge was of utmost importance. The Merkid tribe from which Temujin’s mother was abducted, wished to avenge this kidnapping. Seeing as the kidnapper, Temujin’s father was dead, the Merkid opted to seek their revenge at the expense of Temujin. They decided to abduct his wife, Borte. This conflict with the Merkid is what began Temujin’s path to domination.8
With the help of his new clan and childhood self-proclaimed brother, Jamuka, Temujin began his fight against the Merkid, and inadvertently, his formation of the great Mongol Empire.

He saved his wife and accepted his new role as a warrior. As Temujin and Jamuka both rose in rank, they became enemies. Temujn then decided his goal was to become a khan and unify all the Mongol tribes. He wasted no time dominating rival clan leaders and soon his message was clear, “To those who followed Temujin faithfully, there would be rewards and good treatment. To those who chose to attack him, he would show no mercy”.9 Even Ong Khan, the steppe emperor of the time was scared of Temujin and plotting his murder. Temujin, however, was persistent and with his men from nine different tribes, ready to take on anyone. His army grew as he was willing to accept any person into his clan and in 1204, came the last battle for control of

Mongolia.10
Temujin’s military tactics were unusual and effective. Rather than advancing all at once, he would send squads of ten men to attack from different directions. They would then disperse in the squads just as they came in order to cause confusion and avoid easy retaliation. This made the small size of Temujin’s army a near nonissue. These tactics enabled Temujin to defeat all Mongol clan leaders and left no enemy but Jamuka who actually begged for death. With the killing of Jamuka, Temujin has gained victory over all Mongol tribes that rivaled him. He had unified the Mongols and the title of “Chinggis Khan” or as he is known in the west, “Genghis Khan”, was bestowed upon him.11 He was now the the leader of the Mongols; the roughly one million people who he had united. He was also declared by the leading shaman to be the representative of the “Eternal Blue Sky”, the supreme god of the Mongols. This declaration made Genghis Khan divine. To defy him, was to defy the will of God. His destiny was now to rule the world and he wasted no time doing so.12
A major motive to move as quickly as possibly in conquering was the lack of food in the Mongol Empire. As population grew, food became more and more scarce. In 1207, Genghis Khan led his armies to the Xi Xia kingdom in China. In just two years, they gained control of this vast and powerful kingdom. In 1211, they moved on to the Jin Dynasty as here, there were endless rice fields. While Genghis Khan’s newfound divinity surely played a role in his reasoning for immediate conquest, the environmental factor of food scarcity was the greatest factor. The new Khan had to take care of his people by any means.13