Genghis Khan

Reign	Spring 1206 – August 25, 1227 (more than 21 years)
Coronation	Spring[1] 1206 in khurultai at the Onon River, Mongolia
Full name	Genghis Khan Mongol: Чингис Хаан Chingis Khaan Mongol script (right): Chinggis Khagan[note 1]
Titles	Khan, Khagan Temple name: Chinese: 元太祖; pinyin: Yuán Tàizǔ Posthumous name: Emperor Fatian Qiyun Shengwu (法天啟運聖武皇帝)
Born	probably 1162[3]
Birthplace	Khentii Mountains, Mongolia
Died	August 1227[4] (Aged 65)
Successor	Ögedei Khan
Consort	Borte Ujin Khulan Yesugen Yesui others
Offspring	Jochi Chagatai Ögedei Tolui Others
Royal House	Borjigin
Father	Yesuhei
Mother	Oulen

Genghis Khan (/ˈɡɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/ or /ˈdʒɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/,^[5][6] Mongol: [tʃiŋɡɪs xaːŋ] ( listen); 1162? – August 1227), born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu (太祖), was the founder and Great Khan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death.
He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he started the Mongol invasions that resulted in the conquest of most of Eurasia. These included raids or invasions of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by wholesale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in Khwarezmia. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China.
Before Genghis Khan died, he assigned Ögedei Khan as his successor and split his empire into khanates among his sons and grandsons.^[7] He died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia at an unknown location. His descendants went on to stretch the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering and/or creating vassal states out of all of modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, Central Asian countries, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Many of these invasions resulted in the large-scale slaughter of local populations, which have given Genghis Khan and his empire a fearsome reputation in local histories.^[8] Mongol campaigns may have resulted in the deaths of 40 million people.^[9]
Beyond his military accomplishments, Genghis Khan also advanced the Mongol Empire in other ways. He decreed the adoption of the Uyghur script as the Mongol Empire's writing system. He also promoted religious tolerance in the Mongol Empire, and created a unified empire from the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. Present-day Mongolians regard him as the founding father of Mongolia.^[10]

Birth

The Onon River, Mongolia, in autumn, the region where Temujin was born and grew up.

Because of the lack of contemporary written records, there is very little factual information about the early life of Temujin. The few sources that provide insight into this period often conflict.
Temujin was born in 1162 or 1155^[3] in Delüün Boldog near Burkhan Khaldun mountain and the Onon and Kherlen Rivers in modern-day Mongolia, not far from the current capital, Ulaanbaatar. The Secret History of the Mongols reports that Temüjin was born with a blood clot grasped in his fist, a traditional sign that he was destined to become a great leader. He was the third-oldest son of his father Yesükhei, a Khamag Mongol's major chief of the Kiyad and an ally of Toghrul Khan of the Kerait tribe,^[12] and the oldest son of his mother Hoelun. According to the Secret History, Temujin was named after a Tatar chieftain, Temujin-üge, whom his father had just captured. The name also suggests that they may have been descended from a family of blacksmiths (see section Name and title below).
Yesukhei's clan was called Borjigin (Боржигин), and Hoelun was from the Olkhunut, the sub-lineage of the Onggirat tribe.^[13][14] Like other tribes, they were nomads. Because his father was a chieftain, as were his predecessors, Temüjin was of a noble background. This higher social standing made it easier to solicit help from and eventually consolidate the other Mongol tribes.

Early life and family

Temujin had 3 brothers named Hasar, Hachiun, and Temüge, and one sister named Temülen, as well as two half-brothers named Behter and Belgutei. Like many of the nomads of Mongolia, Temujin's early life was difficult. His father arranged a marriage for him, and at nine years of age, he was delivered by his father to the family of his future wife Börte, who was a member of the tribe Onggirat. Temujin was to live there in service to Dei Sechen, the head of the new household, until he reached the marriageable age of 12. While heading home, his father ran into the neighboring Tatars, who had long been enemies of the Mongols, and he was subsequently poisoned by the food they offered. Upon learning this, Temujin returned home to claim his father's position as chieftain of the tribe; however, his father's tribe refused to be led by a boy so young. They abandoned Hoelun and her children, leaving them without protection.

Genghis Khan and Toghrul Khan. Illustration from a 15th century Jami' al-tawarikh manuscript

For the next several years, Hoelun and her children lived in poverty, surviving primarily on wild fruits and ox carcasses, marmots, and other small game hunted by Temujin and his brothers. It was during one hunting excursion that 10-year-old Temujin killed his half-brother, Behter, during a fight which resulted from a dispute over hunting spoils.^[15] This incident cemented his position as a prisoner for manslaughter. In another incident in 1182 he was captured in a raid and held prisoner by his father's former allies, the Tayichi'ud. The Tayichi'ud enslaved Temujin (reportedly with a cangue), but with the help of a sympathetic watcher, the father of Chilaun (who later became a general of Genghis Khan), he was able to escape from the ger in the middle of the night by hiding in a river crevice.^{[citation needed]} It was around this time that Jelme and Bo'orchu, two of Genghis Khan's future generals, joined forces with him. Temüjin's reputation also became widespread after his escape from the Tayichi'ud.
At this time, none of the tribal confederations of Mongolia were united politically, and arranged marriages were often used to solidify temporary alliances. Temujin grew up observing the tough political climate of Mongolia, which included tribal warfare, thievery, raids, corruption and continuing acts of revenge carried out between the various confederations, all compounded by interference from foreign forces such as the Chinese dynasties to the south. Temujin's mother Olen taught him many lessons about the unstable political climate of Mongolia, especially the need for alliances.
As previously arranged by his father, Temujin married Börte of the Onggirat tribe when he was around 16 in order to cement alliances between their respective tribes. Börte had four sons, Jochi (1185–1226), Chagatai (1187—1241), Ögedei (1189—1241), and Tolui (1190–1232). Soon after Börte's marriage to Temujin, she was kidnapped by the Merkits, and reportedly given away as a wife. Temüjin rescued her with the help of his friend and future rival, Jamuha, and his protector, Toghrul Khan of the Kerait tribe. She gave birth to a son, Jochi, nine months later, clouding the issue of his parentage. Despite speculation over Jochi, Börte would be his only empress, though Temujin did follow tradition by taking several morganatic wives.^[16] Genghis Khan also had many other children with his other wives, but they were excluded from the succession. While the names of sons were documented, daughters were not. The names of at least six daughters are known, and while they played significant roles behind the scenes during his lifetime, no documents have survived that definitively provide the number or names of daughters born to the wives and consorts of Genghis Khan.^[17]
Temujin valued loyalty above all else and also valued brotherhood.^[18] Jamuha was one of Temujin's best friends growing up. But their friendship was tested later in life, when Temujin was fighting to become a khan. Jamuha said this to Temujin before he was killed, "What use is there in my becoming a companion to you? On the contrary, sworn brother, in the black night I would haunt your dreams, in the bright day I would trouble your heart. I would be the louse in your collar, I would become the splinter in your door-panel...as there was room for only one sun in the sky, there was room only for one Mongol lord."[