Genghis Khan was a 13th-century warrior in central Asia who founded the Mongol Empire, which stretched from the Pacific Ocean to Europe.
Much about Genghis Khan remains unknown. For instance, we don’t really know what he looked like, because not a single authentic portrait of the man survives to the present day, Jean-Paul Roux (opens in new tab), who was a professor emeritus at the Ecole du Louvre, wrote in his book “Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire (opens in new tab)” (Thames & Hudson 2003). All images of him that exist today were created after his death or by people who never met him.
Additionally, until Genghis Khan gained control over the Uyghur people, the Mongolians did not have a writing system. As such, many surviving records of him were written by foreigners. One important Mongolian record, called “The Secret History of the Mongols,” was written anonymously (as its name suggests) sometime after Genghis Khan’s death.
When did Genghis Khan live?
From what modern-day historians can gather, Genghis Khan was born sometime around A.D. 1160 (the exact year is uncertain) and died in August 1227, possibly of bubonic plague, while waging a campaign against the Tangut people.
Early life
Genghis Khan was born with the name Temüjin (also spelled Temuchin). At the time, Mongolia was not unified and was ruled by different clans and tribal groups. His father, named Yesüge (also spelled Yesükai), “was lord and leader of 40,000 tents or families. Even his brothers, including those senior to him, acknowledged him as their leader and head of the Borjigin clan,” Syed Anwarul Haque Haqqi, who was a professor at Aligarh Muslim University in India, wrote in his book “Chingiz Khan: The Life and Legacy of an Empire Builder (opens in new tab)” (Primus Books, 2010).
Temüjin’s mother, Hoelun, had been captured by his father’s clan and forced to become Yesügei’s wife (a common practice in Mongolia at the time). Their son was named Temüjin to celebrate his father’s triumph over an enemy who was also called Temüjin, Haqqi wrote, noting that it was common to name a newborn child after an auspicious event.
We know little of Temüjin’s early life, “but it is reasonable to suppose that as the years rolled by and childhood turned into youth [he] was brought up in the hard and harsh atmosphere of nomadic life, in which the tribal lords and chiefs fought, drank, and duelled, married and slept…
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