subject: Genghis Khan: King of Kings [print this page] Genghis Khan: King of Kings Genghis Khan: King of Kings
Mongolia as known today has a lot to offer in gratitude to this famous man, Genghis Khan, thanks to him, Mongolia is today. Genghis was very gifted when it came to unity. He rose to positions of leadership through his relentless efforts in bringing together the tribes of the nomadic peoples of North Eastern parts of Asia. He remains a central figure in the history of the Asian peoples for his role in the expansion of the Mongolian Empire. The influence of his leadership was so great that even in some parts of Europe, Eastern, as well as the Middle East, eventually came to be part of the Empire. Presently, countries such as Turkey, China, India, Russia, and many others belonged at one time or another, to the Mongolian Empire. Such was the magnitude of Genghis' reign. It is said that his achievements by far surpass those of the great achievers, such as the Roman Empire. This paper seeks to understand this enigmatic man and his involvement in the writing of the history of the Asian Continent as a whole.
His Life as a Child
Although not much is known regarding his early life, certain things are easily agreed upon. His was born to Yesugei and Hoelun, a family of a noble origin. The date of his birth has been placed between the year1162 and 1165. His history has been said to have been surrounded by a lot of speculations. It is said that a blood clot was found on his hand after birth, something that was seen as an indicator of the kind of future that awaited him. He was born third in his family. His father, Yesugei, was a chief in the tribe of Kiyad. The father had a number of wives, but Genghis came first to his mother. A famous book containing the history of the Mongolia, as well as the history of Genghis is The Secret History of the Mongols. It is claimed that his name points to a possible blacksmith origin. As will be seen later, his birth was strategic in bringing about unity among the people of Mongolia. This was because of his nobility, which made things a little easier for him. Hoelun, his mother, was an Olkhunut sub tribe, which just like his father's Borjigin, was nomadic. Genghis was also known by the name Temujin. It is said that he was given this name early in his life. This name is allegedly assigned to him after his father took into captivity, one chief from the Tatar tribe.
Military and Personal Achievements
Personal Achievements
The greatest achievement of Genghis was perhaps that of uniting the tribes of Asia as well as certain parts of Europe. When he was just a young man, the whole of Northern China was composed of several tribes, which had their own organizations. It was not uncommon to find tribes attacking each other, or even acting with great hostility against members of opposite tribes. Genghis wisely decided to make friendship with other rulers, and this was not difficult considering that he was of noble origin. Around the year 1190, Genghis had managed to bring together a small number of tribes into a confederation. Perhaps one of the best ways, which perhaps acted as his best strategy, was to give positions of leadership on the basis of merit. This marked a paradigm shift from the traditional Mongolian way of doing things. This shift was also evident in the way he dealt with tribes that he captured. He was not cruel with the people tribes that he conquered, instead, he took them in and offered them protection and accepted them as members of his tribe. This served him well because it elicited loyalty among those people, and as a result, instead of the conquered tribes being angry with him, they found him a great leader, effectively handing him more strength and might. In order to get his people behind him, and fulfill the requirements of the law, he offered them the promise of a share in the conquered properties (Lamb, 1927). During these times, several tribes were content with the manner in which Genghis was doing things. In an interesting turn of events for instance, Jamuka, a long time friend turned foe, had been crowned as the ruler of all peoples. However, he was not to live long in this capacity because most of his military men changed camps, and joined Genghis. Eventually, they arrested their own leader, Jamuka, and handed him over to Genghis in the year 1206. It is said that due to the greatness of this leader, he offered pardon to his old time friend, and asked him to join the government. However Jamuka felt that this was too much and requested to be killed instead (Lamb, 1927). Most notable, perhaps even by today's standards was the fervor with which he sought knowledge. He valued technology and actually learnt much with the same respect. Through his great wisdom and love of unity, most of the tribes that were constantly hostile to each other were now united (Lamb, 1927). By the time he passed on, Genghis Khan had under his leadership, a huge area of governance, something that seemed impossible or perhaps was unthinkable in the years before him. He fervently encouraged his people to be educated, and even had several professionals in his government and army. He was one of the few world leaders, if any, to allow people to worship with freedom. He lowered taxation levels remarkably in order to ensure that no one was too hard pressed. At the same time, the rule of law was his favorite choice system of governance (Lamb, 1927).
Military Achievements
Conquest of the North China
As already mentioned, the strategy of bringing together peoples into a unity was perhaps informed by the future idea he had of a greater unified empire. The first step towards the conquest of this territory was to form alliance with the southerners, Uighurs (Martin, 1950). This alliance was cemented by the marriage of his daughter by the king of Uighurs. Uighurs was far richer than the Mongols. This even embarrassed them during the ceremony of the wedding of Genghis' daughter (Martin, 1950). His cunning however, as well as his high level of intelligence led him to invent new ways of fighting. This was also informed by the smaller number of his men. They therefore resulted in measures such as diversion of rivers, as well as interrupting the flow of supplies (Kennedy, 2002). In this he won. However, shortly afterwards, around 1211, a fight broke out between Jin dynasty and Genghis. Due to the numbers again, on the part of Genghis, he devised tactics that would help him despite the small number of fighters (Martin, 1950). He claimed victory in this one as well.
The Conquest of Afghanistan and Persia
Genghis Khan understood the importance of trade, so he sought a relation with the Sultan Empire. However, the rulers killed the men that he sent to speak on his behalf. This provoked him into action. This eventually led to his attacking of Afghanistan and Persia. This battle was not very difficult because he easily got the support of the civilians in these places. These civilians were very instrumental in ensuring that his men were well fed. Every time he conquered any people, he offered them protection. However, after every victory he would sort out the captives according to their professions. His was a more humane kind of approach to warfare. He did not kill or maim unless it was totally unavoidable.
