B. Summary of Evidence Before Genghis Khan’s leadership, the Mongols were simply a group of diverse tribes. Constantly hostile towards China, the Mongols went through the Bronze Age and Iron Age as separate tribes. However, during the 12th and 13th centuries, this would change. Thought to be born in 1155 or 1162, Temujin (later known as Chinggis and Genghis Khan) was one of six siblings and a violent nomad. Coincidently, he had a blood clot in his arm - to the Mongols, this was a sign meaning he was destined to become a great leader. At the young age of nine, Temujin’s father arranged a marriage for him and delivered him to a new family where he would later be married. Not a long time after this event, his father was poisoned by an enemy tribe. Wishing to be a leader, he returned home to claim his father’s old position. After being declined to lead the tribe, he was banished and left amid poverty along with his mother and siblings. Surviving on wild berries and ox carcasses, his family looked up to him. Often shunned by the rest of his family, Temujin lived a difficult life. It wasn’t until he killed his brother when hunting for game that his position in the family became concrete. Later, on the year of 1177, the young boy was captured by one of his father’s old tribes, the Tayichiud. These men enslaved and tortured him. It wasn’t until a father of the tribe, Chilaun, helped him escape. He soon joined forces with other men and his name spread quickly around the Mongols. At this time, he started studying the “difficult political climate” between the tribes and grew up to learn the truth of society which included tribal warfare, thievery, raids, corruption, and continuing acts of revenge. In order to create an alliance... ... middle of paper ... ...ws can be interpreted in a couple different ways. First of all, the most common way one can interpret these views is to view them as a product of Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory. During this time period, it was well-known that one must fight to live. Especially before Genghis Khan introduced the act of mercy to the Mongols, society was particularly violent, uneasy, and backstabbing. This means that people would rarely allow others to dominate and would, instead, create an opposition. Finally, these views can also be interpreted by believing that Genghis Khan actually fought to impress his parents. A few recovered documents suggest that he built his army due to his love towards his family and out of familial pride. However, other evidence, such as his hatred towards particular family members, proves this interpretation to be somewhat false.
To start, the mongols were able to used brutal and strategic military tactics that helped them conquer more than 4,800,000 miles of land. The Mongols leader “Genghis Khan” was a very smart and strategic leader. He organized his army into groups of ten, hundred, and one thousand. If such groups runs away or flees, the entire group was put to death. Genghis Khans army was able to succeed in conquering land due to horses. His army
... were positive, one may argue that these individuals only saw the tolerant and fair-minded side of the Mongols, and not the relentless warrior part of the society who was known for its “dirty” tactics of war, which went as far as launching diseased-ridden corpses over the walls of castles during sieges. Alternatively, one may argue that the scholars who provided negative documentation of the Mongols only saw the destructive side, not the open-minded side of the society who were known for their cultural acceptance. Although these accounts allowed for an adequate idea of the nature of the Mongols, a record from a peasant who was not a member of the upper class in their society, as all reports presented were from historians, scholars, and political leaders. This would allow for a different perspective on the issue and would produce a better understanding of the topic.
The purpose of this chapter is to put a light on some main events in Temujin or Genghis Khan’s life and his main achievements. Weatherford want to g...
The most important constituent to the Mongols success was ‘a ruthless use of two psychological weapons, loyalty and fear’ (Gascoigne 2010). Ghengis Khan, the Mongol leader from 1206-1227, was merciless and made a guileful contrast in his treatment of nomadic kinsfolk and settled people of cities. For instance, a warrior of a rival tribe who bravely fights against Ghengis Khan and loses will be r...
Unlike Attila, Genghiz Khan also known as Temujin and founder of the Mongol Empire in 1206, fought his way to the top after being exiled from his people at an early age. He was known to be just because he ensure that the spoils were distributed evenly among his warriors and he refrained his warriors from harming the innocents without his permission. Due to his fairness, he lost some friends that fought along with him to retrieve his wife, which the Merkits kidnapped. He was very diplomatic and laid down a solid rule for his army to abide by. He also came up with a good defense mechanism of dividing his army into “arbans (10 people), zuun...
In the 13th century BC, the Mongols rose to power and conquered an empire whose size still has yet to matched. The Mongols conquered lands such as China, leaving such a lasting influence on them that their legacy still lives on. However, despite the Mongols success, their actions have left a constantly ongoing debate on whether they were barbarians, seen and portrayed by different societies of their time as people with no morale or modern civilities, or civilized people who were just feared by other societies. Although the Mongols are generally now seen as Barbarians because of their violent and barbaric war tactics they used to instill fear in people, they are actually civilized because they had a strategically organized army, and because they were accepting of the customs of other peoples. These two elements would eventually lead them to their success.
The military exploits of the Mongols under Ghengis Khan as well as other leaders and the ruthless brutality that characterized the Mongol conquests have survived in legend. The impact of the invasions can be traced through history from the different policies set forth to the contributions the Mongols gave the world. The idea of the ruthless barbarian’s intent upon world domination will always be a way to signify the Mongols. Living steadfast upon the barren steppe they rode out of Mongolia to pursue a better life for their people.
Genghis Khan, as it is well-acknowledged, is renowned for governing the extensively immense Mongol Empire. Despite the common argument that he indiscriminately (done at random or without careful judgement―by definition) slaughtered millions of people, Genghis Khan aspired to conquer new territories and, in accordance to their religion, animism, “the sky god made it their goal to unite the land under one sword.” How else would he have done the preceding? Just as the Mongol Government Official stated, “war is inevitable,” especially when capitulation is refused. Moreover, Genghis Khan noted that peace usually follows surrender. Though Prince Kiev attempted to confute the aforementioned, he was mistaken when he said that “war sparked between the two peoples” as a result of an attempt at peace. In response, Genghis Khan’s negation included that war arose as a consequence of their mistrust of him and the denial of a viable peace
The Mongols emerged from the Steppes of Central Asia that stretched from Central Europe, Siberia, India and Arabia, expanding some 33,000,000 square kilometers (22% of the Earth's total land mass). As Janhunen (2000) asserts, “The Mongols were the descendents of a variety of tribes that inhabited the Steppes of Central Asia for over 850,000 years, spanning as far back as the prehistoric period” (as cited in Hildinger, 2001, p. 40). During the early 13th century, Genghis Khan (born Temüjin) united the different tribes, forming tribal alliances under his control to establish the Mongol Empire. From these tribal alliances, Genghis Khan was able to form an effective military force which enabled the Mongol Empire to conquer nearly all of continental
This story can be summarized by dividing the story into three major sections that represent a genealogy of the Genghis Khan ancestors, the lifestyle of Genghis Khan and the story of Genghis son and Ogodei his successor. This piece of early time’s literature was translated and edited by Jack Weatherford and it was not released until 16th February, 2010. The piece of work restores early history’s most prominent figures to the positions they rightfully deserves. It clears the picture of the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongols and it is rich with information regarding the society of the Mongols in the 12th and the 13th centuries” (Kahn, 2005).
Arriving in this world with a blood clot in the palm of his hand , Genghis Khan was destined to be a hero. In 1167, Genghis Khan was born to Yisugei, Chieftain of the Kiyat-Borjigid, and his wife Ho’elun. He was named Temujin (which means blacksmith) after a Tatar Chieftain his father had just captured. As a young boy, Temujin experienced many hardships after his father was poisoned by a group of Tartars. This loss of their leader caused the Kiyat tribe to scatter, leaving Temujin and his family alone. Yet, with much will power and determination Temujin developed into an intelligent, brave warrior at an early age.
Hartog, L. D. (2004). Genghis Khan: conqueror of the world (vii ed.). [eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)]. http://dx.doi.org/AN 112269
Genghis Khan wasn’t his real name, it was a sort of nickname meaning “Universal Leader.” But when his father was poisoned by an enemy of the Mongolians, Genghis and his brother were the next ones in line to rule even though there wasn’t much land at the time to rule at the Mongolian steppe. When winter came around and Genghis Khan was only about four or five years old, he had killed his own brother over a rabbit which he would not share. Khan had killed his brother with a bow and watched him die right before his eyes and this was only the beginning of the violent terrors ahead.
First of all, Genghis Khan lived a very sad life full of death and betrayal. When he was believed to be around nine years-old, and still called by his birth name Temujin, his father arranged a marriage for him. His father took Temujin to live with the tribe, Onggirat, where his future wife lived. When his father was on the way back to his own tribe, he encountered the Tatars. The Tatars recognized him as a threat and offered poisoned food to him. Upon eating it, Yisugei was poisoned and died. When Temujin heard of the news, he went back to his tribe to take the position his father held. The tribe did not like the idea of suc...
To begin, here is a little background information on the origins of Chinggis Khan. Temujin, later known as Chinggis Khan or famously known as Genghis Khan, was born around 1162 in close proximity to the border between present day Mongolia and Siberia. His mother was abducted by his father and forced into marriage from a war with a neighboring tribe. At that point in time, several neighboring tribes located in steppes were frequently fighting and stealing from each other, so life for Temujin was very hostile. In the early years of his life, his father was poisoned to death by an enemy clan (Hanson-Harding, 18). Immediately following his father’s death his own clan abandoned Temujin and his family (Hanson-Harding, 18). The years following his father death, life for Temujin and his family was painstakingly difficult with everyday being one of uncertainty. Several years later escaping from slavery and saving his wife after being abducted the tribe that once abandon Temujin welcomed him back where he assume the position of tribal chieftain (Hanson-Harding, 18).