生平经历

早年

金世宗大定二年（1162年），成吉思汗生于漠北草原。成吉思汗父亲为其乞颜部酋长也速该。其名字「铁木真」之由来，乃是因为在他出生时，其父也速该正好俘虏到一位属于塔塔儿部族，名为铁木真兀格的勇士。按当时蒙古人信仰，在抓到敌对部落勇士时，如正好有婴儿出生，该勇士的勇气会转移到该婴儿身上。成吉思汗「铁木真」之名遂因此而来。传说成吉思汗出生时，手中正拿著一血块，寓意天降将掌生杀大权。

在带铁木真去弘吉剌部娶亲后回来的路上，途经塔塔儿部，也速该遭到塔塔儿部杀害（怀疑被毒死），之后乞颜部族的泰赤乌氏首领塔里忽台因不满也速该生前的所作所为，在也速该死后对铁木真一家进行报复，命令部众们迁至他地，孤立铁木真一家，但铁木真一家靠著毅力艰苦的活了下去。

就在铁木真渐渐出落成一个魁梧英俊的少年时，有三次劫难却意外地降临到他的头上。

• 第一次是：脱离他们家族的泰赤乌氏担心铁木真长大后报仇，于是对铁木真家进行了突袭，并且计划将被捕的铁木真处死。铁木真靠著父亲的旧部锁儿罕失剌以及其子沈白、赤老温，其女合答安的协助脱逃，才因此逃过了一劫。身为长子的他，要携母和弟妹们走到不儿罕山区，逃避泰赤乌氏追捕长达数年，自此形成他刚毅忍辱性格。

• 第二次是：在一个风雪交加的夜晚，一帮盗贼把他家仅有的几匹马抢走。在与盗贼的搏斗中，铁木真被盗贼射中喉咙。危难之际，一个名叫博尔术的青年拔刀相助，赶跑了盗贼，夺回了马匹，铁木真得以幸免于难。

• 第三次是：成年后，铁木真与孛儿帖结婚时，三姓蔑儿乞部的首领脱黑脱阿，为报其弟赤列都的未婚妻诃额仑当年被铁木真的父亲也速该所抢之仇，突袭了铁木真的营帐。在混战中，铁木真逃进了不儿罕山（今肯特山），他的妻子和异母却变成了脱黑脱阿的俘虏。

然而，三次劫难并未击垮铁木真，反倒增强了他的复仇心理。他发誓要夺回家里失去的一切。铁木真深知，要想立足，必须拥有实力。于是，他把妻子嫁妆中最珍贵的「黑貂皮」献给了当时草原上实力最雄厚的克烈部落统领王汗。利用王汗的势力，铁木真不仅收拢了他家离散的部族，还在王汗及幼时「安答」（义兄弟）札木合的帮助下，击败了三姓蔑儿乞部首领脱黑脱阿、忽都父子，救出了妻子孛儿帖和异母。

自此铁木真和札木合两人一起在部落共同生活。

成为乞颜部的可汗

由于铁木真提拔一些非贵族的人为将领，引发札木合不满，最终双方决裂。1182年，铁木真被推举成为蒙古乞颜部的可汗。

军事生涯

统一蒙古各部

1190年，在铁木真的领导下，乞颜迅速发展壮大，引起札达兰部首领札木合的不满。札木合以其弟弟绐察儿被铁木真部下所杀为藉口，纠集了13个部落三万馀人，向铁木真发起进攻。铁木真也动员了部众十三翼（即13个部落）迎击，即著名的十三翼之战。铁木真虽兵败退至斡难河畔哲列捏狭地，但万万没想到获胜的札木合却失去了人心。战后，因为札木合把俘虏全部处死，将俘虏分七十大锅煮杀，史称「七十锅惨案」。这种惨不忍睹的场面，连其部下也「多苦其主非法」，甚至担心起自己的命运来。相反的，宽厚仁容的铁木真赢得了人心，那些担心自己命运的札木合的部下纷纷倒向铁木真。此战铁木真败而得众，使其军力得以迅速恢复和壮大。铁木真的部众一下子增加了许多。1196年，塔塔儿部首领蔑兀真笑里徒反抗金朝，金朝丞相完颜襄约克烈部王汗和铁木真联合出兵进攻塔塔儿，塔塔儿部大败，蔑兀真笑里徒被杀。铁木真遂被金朝封为「札兀惕忽里」，即部落官。

主儿乞部偷袭铁木真的后方营地，被铁木真剿灭。1201年，泰赤乌部、塔塔儿部、蔑儿乞部等11部推举札达兰部的札木合为「古儿汗」，联兵攻打铁木真。铁木真联合王汗，于阔亦田之战击败札木合等十二部联军。联军溃散后，铁木真追击并剿灭了泰赤乌部。1202年，杀死塔塔儿部首领札邻不合并屠杀残馀的塔塔儿人，忆起少年时，父亲也速该遭塔塔儿所害，临命终时的遗言，遂将凡是身高超过车轮高的塔塔儿士兵、男子通通都杀光，手法残忍震惊蒙古诸部族。

1203年，王汗将铁木真收为义子，导致桑昆跟铁木真仇恨，札木合鼓动桑昆联合王汗夹击铁木真。合兰真沙陀之战爆发，这是铁木真经历的最为惨烈的一仗，只剩下19人随他败走班朱尼河，北上贝尔湖途中陆续追随而来的部众也只有2千6百人。同年秋天突袭王汗驻地，三天后完全消灭克烈部。王汗逃到鄂尔浑河畔之后被乃蛮人杀死。而其子桑昆则逃到库车，被当地人杀死。

1204年，铁木真征伐蒙古草原西边的太阳汗，于纳忽崖之战击败乃蛮大军，太阳汗当场被杀。秋，于合剌答勒忽札兀儿击败蔑儿乞部首领脱黑脱阿。1205年，铁木真于额尔齐斯河击败蔑儿乞和乃蛮残部联军，蔑儿乞首领脱黑脱阿阵亡，其子逃往康里、钦察，乃蛮部王子屈出律则逃亡西辽。1206年，札木合被叛变的将领送到铁木真之手，札木合请死，铁木真便杀了他。尔后，铁木真统一蒙古各部。

称成吉思汗

1206年春天，蒙古贵族们在斡难河（今鄂嫩河）源头召开大会，诸王和群臣为铁木真上尊号「成吉思汗」，正式登基成为大蒙古国皇帝 （蒙古帝国大汗），这是蒙古帝国的开始。成吉思汗遂颁布了《成吉思汗法典》，是世界上第一套应用范围最广泛的成文法典，建立了一套以贵族民主为基础的蒙古贵族共和政体制度。

威胁西夏

蒙古分别在1205年、1207年及1209年三次入侵西夏，逼使西夏臣服。1210年，西夏向蒙古称臣，并保证派军队支持蒙古以后的军事行动，此外，西夏皇帝夏襄宗献女求和，把察合公主嫁给了成吉思汗。

征服森林部落

1207年，成吉思汗命长子术赤征森林部落。

降葛逻禄

1210年，成吉思汗命忽必来征葛逻禄，首领阿儿思兰汗率部降。

消灭金朝未果

1210年，成吉思汗与金朝断绝了朝贡关系（约从1195年开始）。

1211年二月，成吉思汗亲率大军入侵金朝，在1211年的野狐岭会战击败四十万金军，并在次年和第三年陆续攻破金朝河北、河东北路和山东各州县，1214年三月，金宣宗遣使向蒙古求和，送上大量黄金、丝绸、马匹，并将金卫绍王的女儿岐国公主送给成吉思汗为妻，还有童男女五百陪嫁。成吉思汗从中都撤兵。

在金朝的东北地区，1212年，契丹人耶律留哥在辽东起兵反抗金朝，并宣布归附蒙古，耶律留哥和蒙古联军打败前来征讨的六十万金朝军队，1213年，耶律留哥自称辽王，1215年春，耶律留哥攻克金朝东京（今辽宁省辽阳），并占领金朝东北大部分地区。1215年十一月耶律留哥秘密与其子耶律薛闍带著厚礼前往漠北草原朝觐成吉思汗，成吉思汗极为高兴，赐给耶律留哥金虎符，仍旧封他为辽王。

为了远离蒙古的威胁，1214年6月27日，金宣宗离开中都，迁都汴京，得知金朝皇帝离开，成吉思汗下令入侵中都，蒙古军在1215年5月31日占领中都，金朝在黄河以北之地陆续失守。

占领中都后，成吉思汗返回蒙古草原，1217年，成吉思汗任命大将木华黎为「太师国王」，让他负责继续入侵金朝，经过木华黎和他的儿子孛鲁十年的战争，到1227年成吉思汗去世前夕，蒙古军队基本占领金朝黄河以北的所有领土，金朝的领土仅局限于河南、陕西等地（当时的黄河取道江苏北部的淮河入海）。

1217年，成吉思汗派大将速不台追击脱黑脱阿诸子忽都、合剌、赤剌温，次年于楚河地区剿灭蔑儿乞残部。

正当金朝危在旦夕时，中亚的花剌子模王国惹怒蒙古，成吉思汗性急，转而报仇，暂时无暇顾及继续入侵金朝。

灭西辽及花剌子模

早在1211年春天，畏兀儿亦都护巴而术·阿而忒·的斤便归附蒙古。至1218年春季，成吉思汗派遣的蒙古使团到达花剌子模王国，强迫摩诃末苏丹签订与蒙古的条约。条约签订后，花剌子模城市讹答剌长官海儿汗杀死路过此城的一支来自蒙古的由500人穆斯林组成的商队，夺取货物，仅有一人幸免于难逃回蒙古，成吉思汗派三个使臣前往花剌子模向摩诃末交涉，结果为首者被杀，另外二人被辱，成吉思汗更加愤怒，决定入侵花剌子模。

1218年，成吉思汗派大将哲别灭西辽，杀死西辽末代皇帝屈出律，平定西域。西征花剌子模进兵路上的障碍被扫除了。

1219年六月，成吉思汗亲率蒙古主力（大约十万人）向西侵略，并在中途收编了5万突厥军，1220年底，一直被蒙古军队追击的花剌子模算端摩诃末病死在宽田吉思海（今里海）中的一个名为额别思宽岛（或译为阿必思昆岛，已陆沉）的小岛上，并在临死前传位札兰丁。蒙古军先后取得河中地区和呼罗珊等地，1221年，蒙古军队消灭花剌子模王国，1221年十一月，成吉思汗率军追击札兰丁一直追到申河（今印度河）岸边，札兰丁大败，仅仅率少数人渡河逃走。

当初，成吉思汗命令速不台和哲别率领二万骑兵追击向西逃亡的摩诃末，摩诃末逃入里海后，他们率领蒙古军继续向西进发，征服了太和岭（今高加索山）一带的很多国家，然后继续向西进入钦察草原扩张。1223年，者别与速不台于迦勒迦河之战（今乌克兰日丹诺夫市北）中击溃基辅罗斯诸国王公与钦察忽炭汗的联军，然后又攻入黑海北岸的克里木半岛。

1223年底，哲别与速不台率军东返，经过也的里河（今伏尔加河的突厥名，又译亦的勒），攻入此河中游的不里阿耳，遭遇顽强抵抗后，沿河南下，经由里海，咸海之北，与成吉思汗会师东归。在东返途中，哲别病逝。

攻西夏·去世

成吉思汗回师后干，再次入侵西夏。1227年8月25日（农历七月十二己丑日），在蒙古军围困西夏首都时，成吉思汗病逝于今宁夏南部六盘山（一说灵州），享寿六十五岁。其死因至今众说纷纭，《元史》记载：「（元太祖二十二年）秋七月壬午，不豫。己丑，崩于萨里川哈老徒之行宫。」

成吉思汗去世前向儿子们交代了灭金的计划：「假道宋境，包抄汴京。」后来窝阔台和拖雷灭金朝，采用的就是成吉思汗的这个战略。

此前西夏末代皇帝李睍已经答应投降，成吉思汗去世后，蒙古军密不发丧，李睍开城投降后，前去参见成吉思汗，诸将托言成吉思汗有疾，不让他参见。在成吉思汗去世三天后，1227年8月28日，诸将遵照成吉思汗遗命将西夏末帝杀死，西夏灭亡。蒙古军将领察罕努力使西夏首都中兴府（今宁夏银川）避免了屠城的命运，入城安抚城内军民，城内的军民得以保全。

《蒙古秘史》记载成吉思坠马跌伤。而罗马天主教教廷使节约翰·普兰诺·加宾尼在《被我们称为鞑靼的蒙古人的历史》称成吉思汗可能是被雷电击中身亡。

据《蒙古秘史》记载，成吉思汗的遗体被葬在不儿罕山接近斡难河源头的地方，这是他生前指定的墓地。《元史》则记载他和历代元朝皇帝都葬于起辇谷。起辇谷的具体位置不详。在今日蒙古国肯特省的不儿罕山间有一片被称为「大禁忌」的土地，为达尔扈特人世代守护，相传是成吉思汗的墓地所在。在内蒙古自治区西部的鄂尔多斯高原上，有一座蒙古包式建筑宫殿，为成吉思汗的衣冠冢，经过多次迁移后直到1954年才由湟中县的塔尔寺迁回故地伊金霍洛旗，北距包头市185公里。每年的农历三月廿一、五月十五、八月十二和十月初三，为一年四次的大祭。

有传言认为成吉思汗可能是遭三子窝阔台毒杀，原因是当时大汗打算传位给窝阔台，但突然改变注意，欲传位给四子拖雷，窝阔台为保汗位，所以毒杀其父。《成吉思汗与今日世界之形成》关于成吉思汗之死的论述与诸多的死亡故事相反，认为成吉思汗在游牧帐篷中去世，与他在游牧帐篷中的出生情形相似，这说明他在保存其本民族传统生活方式方面非常成功；然而，他保持其自身生活方式的过程中，却改变了人类社会。他在故土安葬，没有一座陵墓，没有一座寺庙，甚至没有一块用来标示其长眠之地的小墓碑。按照蒙古人的信仰，遗体应该在静穆中离去，并不需要纪念碑，因为灵魂已经不在那里了；灵魂继续活在精神之旗中。但他的精神之旗在1937年从蒙古中部的黑尚赫山下月亮河畔的寺庙里消失了。虔诚的喇嘛们护卫几个世纪的圣物，在由当时斯大林的追随者霍尔洛·乔巴山开展的遏制蒙古文化与宗教的运动中，永远的消失了。

尊谥庙号

至元二年十月十四日（1265年11月23日），元世祖忽必烈追尊成吉思汗庙号为太祖。

至元三年十月十八日（1266年11月16日），太庙建成，制尊谥庙号，元世祖追尊成吉思汗諡号为圣武皇帝。

至大二年十二月六日（1310年1月7日），元武宗海山加上尊谥法天启运，庙号太祖。从此之后，成吉思汗的諡号变为法天启运圣武皇帝。《太祖皇帝加上尊谥册文》，内容如下：

称号来源

「成吉思汗」是铁木真于1206年获得的称号。「成吉思」的含义不明确，一种说法由「成」（，意思是「强」）派生而来。另一种说法是来自海洋一词，代表他像海洋一样伟大（）。「汗」原本写作（鲍培转写：，《蒙古秘史》记音：中罕，西里尔写法：），直到13世纪末后人才更改为来自突厥语的（鲍培转写：，《蒙古秘史》记音：中合罕，西里尔写法，意译：皇帝）。

皇帝和大汗的双重身份

大蒙古国时期

「成吉思汗」源于蒙古语。「成吉思」为的汉语译音。「汗」是蒙古语（鲍培转写：，《蒙古秘史》汉字记音：中罕，西里尔拼写：）的汉语译音，其后经突厥语又转译为汉字「合罕」（），原义为「父主」；大部落首领多用此称号。

现存的13世纪和14世纪期的众多史料以及考古文物和摩崖石刻证明，1206年成吉思汗建立大蒙古国后，可能已经拥有皇帝和大汗的双重身份。生活在草原地区的蒙古等民族用蒙古语称呼铁木真为「大汗」、「成吉思汗」；生活在西北地区的突厥和其他民族用突厥语或其他语言称铁木真为「汗」或者「可汗」；生活在漠南汉地和东北地区的契丹人、女真人、党项人等民族，在13世纪前期的时候，历经辽朝、金朝、西夏等汉化政权，大部分已经汉化，通用汉语汉字，多称铁木真为「皇帝」；而生活在漠南汉地和东北地区的汉族人则直接使用「成吉思皇帝」一词。大量历史记载资料证明，1215年成吉思汗在攻取包括金中都在内的整个幽云十六州之后，其在长城以南汉地的统治保留了一些辽、金等朝的旧俗，并且在这些区域的官方文件，直接应用了「皇帝」的尊号来指代历任大蒙古国大汗。例如：

• 1219年农历五月，铁木真派刘仲禄邀请长春真人丘处机前往蒙古草原的诏书中，自称为「朕」，将自己建国登基称为「践祚」。

• 1220年农历二月丘处机抵达燕京后，得知铁木真在中亚进行西征花剌子模的战争，觉得自己年事已高，西行太远，希望约铁木真在燕京相见，于是在三月写了一份陈情表，在陈情表中，丘处机对铁木真的称呼是「皇帝」。同年收到丘处机的陈情表后，铁木真第二次派曷剌邀请丘处机前往中亚草原的诏书中，以「成吉思皇帝」和「朕」自称。

• 1221年南宋使者赵珙出使大蒙古国，回来后著有《蒙鞑备录》，书中对铁木真的称呼是「成吉思皇帝」。《蒙鞑备录》中提到，铁木真在位时期，朝廷使用的金牌，带两虎相向，曰虎头金牌，上书汉字：「天赐成吉思皇帝圣旨，当便宜行事」；其次为素金牌，书：「天赐成吉思皇帝圣旨疾」。1998年，一块「圣旨金牌」发现于河北廊坊，正面刻双钩汉字：「天赐成吉思皇帝圣旨疾。」和《蒙鞑备录》所记载的素金牌上汉文完全相同；背面牌心刻双钩契丹文，其汉语意思为：「速、走马，或快马」。这块圣旨牌的发现，说明铁木真在世时，其官方中文称谓作「成吉思皇帝」。

• 1227年全真教道士李志常写成的《长春真人西游记》，记录了丘处机从1219年受邀西行直至1227年去世的事迹，书中对铁木真的称呼是「成吉思皇帝」，将他下的命令称为「圣旨」；书中也提到了铁木真的侍臣刘仲禄前来邀请丘处机时携带了虎头金牌，金牌上面的文字是：「如朕亲行、便宜行事」，似乎在铁木真时期，凡是针对汉地的蒙古官方文件，均把成吉思汗翻译为「成吉思皇帝」。

• 1232年南宋使者彭大雅随奉使到大蒙古国，使者徐霆1235年—1236年随奉使到大蒙古国，二人返回南宋后，彭大雅撰写，并由徐霆作疏，合著《黑鞑事略》，书中对铁木真的称呼是「成吉思皇帝」。

• 2010年，刻有多位蒙古皇帝圣旨的全真教炼神庵摩崖石刻于山东徂徕山被发现，石刻一共四方，全部以汉语白话文写就，记述了大蒙古国皇室成员历代颁发给全真教掌教的官方文牒，其中有成吉思皇帝、合罕皇帝（窝阔台）、贵由皇帝，孛罗真皇后（窝阔台之妻）、唆鲁古唐妃，以及昔列门太子、和皙太子（均为窝阔台之子）等字样，其中记叙的「甲辰年十月初八日」表明该条圣旨是乃马真后称制的1244年颁发，落款「庚戌年十二月」则表明该石刻刻于海迷失后称制的1250年。圣旨石刻以汉语写就，包含不同时期、不同蒙古大汗的圣旨记录，为大蒙古国时期在汉地以中文「皇帝」作为蒙古大汗官方尊号的有力文物证据。

• 至元三年（1266年）忽必烈给日本的国书中，国书开头自称「大蒙古国皇帝」，在后面的内容中，自称为「朕」，此时距离他1271年正式立国号「大元」，还有五年时间。

元朝时期

然而大蒙古国时期的「皇帝」，和后来元朝的「皇帝」称号有本质的不同；前者是对「蒙古大汗」的汉式翻译，而后者则是按照中原文明的传统开立的新王朝君主，其「皇帝」称号上承秦汉隋唐宋等朝代。在1259年蒙哥汗去世后，忽必烈认为自己是大蒙古国汗位的正式继承者，自立为大汗，称「大蒙古国皇帝」，并于1263年将大蒙古国的历代大汗一并列入了自己新落成的太庙中；由于最终忽必烈没能获得蒙古各部贵族认可为新一任大汗，其于1271年按照中原文明的传统，建国号「大元」，因而元朝以后官方正史一直依照庙号将成吉思汗称作「太祖」。此时的大元皇帝，与之前大蒙古国时期被称作「皇帝」的蒙古大汗有本质区别——蒙古四大汗国的独立、大蒙古国的分裂，标志著忽必烈没能正式继承「大蒙古国」大汗之位；元朝，则是其新开创的王朝。元成宗时期，经过与蒙古四大汗国协商，元朝皇帝作为整个蒙古帝国共主的身份获得四大汗国承认，作为中国历史上最高统治者称号的「皇帝」称号和作为「大蒙古国」最高统治者称号的「大汗」称号，同时集合在了后代的元朝皇帝的身上，如同中世纪欧洲由某王国国王或某公国大公出任神圣罗马帝国皇帝。

中西方古代历史记载的差异

整个元朝时期乃至后世王朝，官修历史一直保持了元朝的传统，将大蒙古国时期与元朝时期的统治一并而论，不作区分，统一将君主称为「皇帝」。《元史》中的<太祖本纪>记载铁木真于1206年建大蒙古国时，称其「即皇帝位于斡难河之源，诸王群臣共尊其为成吉思皇帝」。元惠宗至正五年（1345年）十一月修成的法律《至正条格》中，称铁木真为「成吉思皇帝」，将他下的命令称为「圣旨」。明初官修《元史》，书中出现过「成吉思皇帝」一词多次，从未出现过「成吉思汗」一词。1252年成书的《元朝秘史》（《蒙古秘史》），蒙文音译作「成吉思合罕」，旁注释为「太祖皇帝」。直到近代中国，《新元史》中出现了「成吉思合罕」、「成吉思可汗」等词语，原因是《新元史》完成于民初（1920年），而《史集》、《世界征服者史》等西方的史书在清朝末年传入中国，《新元史》作者柯劭忞也深受其影响。

然而对于中国以外的地区，则仍将「大蒙古国」的君主称谓记作「大汗」。关于「成吉思汗」的记载见于拉施特《史集》、志费尼《世界征服者史》等中亚史籍，这两位作者均为蒙古帝国时期伊儿汗国（位于西亚）史学家，与元朝《元史》等史书基本处于同一时代，其书可为依据。四大汗国治下以的西亚国家以及欧洲公国仅知「成吉思汗」，同一时期的中国仅知「成吉思皇帝」，可见「成吉思皇帝」一词是针对古代汉字文化圈地区特设的翻译用词；由于西亚及欧洲文字皆为表音文字，其记载最能说明，大蒙古国君主的官方称谓仍为「大汗」，而非「皇帝」。

麾下大将

• 四兄弟：哈撒儿、别勒古台（异母弟）、哈赤温、帖木格

• 四杰（或称四骏）：木华黎（札剌亦儿人）、博尔术、赤老温、博尔忽（主儿乞人）

• 四犬（或称四獒、四勇、四先锋）：者勒蔑、速不台、忽必来、哲别

• 四养子（成吉思汗母亲诃额仑的养子）：曲出（蔑儿乞人）、阔阔出（晃豁坛人）、失吉忽图忽（塔塔儿人）、博尔忽（亦为四杰之一）

• 四子（成吉思汗正妻孛儿帖的儿子）：术赤、察合台、窝阔台、拖雷

• 怯薛军：纳牙阿

• 二勇：术赤台、畏答儿

• 幕僚智囊：蒙力克、豁儿赤、塔塔统阿、耶律楚材、丘处机（长春真人）

以上四杰、四犬、与二勇在成吉思汗建立大蒙古国时被封为十大功臣。

家庭

父母

• 也速该，铁木真父亲，从蔑儿乞部手中夺走诃额仑，1170年被塔塔儿部首领札邻不合毒害。也速该死后，族人离散，令铁木真一家被逼过著流离生活。1266年元世祖忽必烈追尊也速该为皇帝，为也速该上庙号烈祖，諡号神元皇帝。

• 诃额仑，铁木真母亲，1206年尊为皇太后，1266年元世祖忽必烈上谥号宣懿皇后。

兄弟姐妹

• 哈撒儿，诃额仑所生。曾因为通天巫阔阔出与之不和，挑起他与铁木真发生争执，最后在诃额仑责备下，铁木真才肯罢休，后人称此事为「掏乳救子」

• 哈赤温，诃额仑所生

• 帖木格，诃额仑所生

• 帖木仑，女，诃额仑所生

• 别克帖儿，速赤吉勒（名字不确定，佩里奥特认为叫「速赤吉勒」）所生，后来被铁木真所杀

• 别勒古台，速赤吉勒所生

妻妾

成吉思汗一共有后妃40多人，分居在四个斡儿朵（原意为毡帐，后来指宫室）中，由于蒙古人后宫只有皇后与妃两个位份，因此称皇后的人相当多，以其正宫皇后孛儿帖地位最高，也只有孛儿帖的儿子有继承汗位的资格。

• 第一斡儿朵：

　• 孛儿帖皇后，1206年立为皇后，1266年元世祖忽必烈上谥号光献皇后，1310年元武宗海山加谥为光献翼圣皇后。

　• 忽鲁伦皇后

　• 阔里桀担皇后

　• 脱忽思皇后

　• 帖木伦皇后

　• 亦怜真八剌皇后

　• 不颜忽秃皇后

　• 忽胜海妃子

• 第二斡儿朵：

　• 忽兰皇后

　• 古儿别速皇后

　• 亦乞列真皇后

　• 脱忽思皇后（与第一斡儿朵第四人同名）

　• 也真妃子

　• 也里忽秃妃子

　• 察真妃子

　• 哈剌真妃子

• 第三斡儿朵：

　• 也遂皇后

　• 也速干皇后

　• 忽鲁哈剌皇后

　• 阿失仑皇后

　• 秃儿哈剌皇后

　• 察合皇后（西夏公主，李安全之女）

　• 阿昔迷失皇后

　• 完者忽都皇后

• 第四斡儿朵：

　• 公主皇后（金国公主，完颜永济四女）

　• 合答安皇后

　• 斡者忽思皇后

　• 燕里皇后

　• 有秃该妃子

　• 完者妃子

　• 金莲妃子

　• 完者台妃子

　• 奴伦妃子

　• 卯真妃子

• 其他：

　• 亦巴合别乞（克烈氏，札合敢不长女）

　• 八不别乞妃子

子女

据《元史》宗室世系表记载，成吉思汗有六个儿子，按出生顺序为

• 术赤，孛儿帖所生

• 察合台，孛儿帖所生

• 窝阔台，孛儿帖所生

• 拖雷，孛儿帖所生

• 兀鲁赤，无后嗣

• 阔列坚，忽兰所生。他虽然是庶子却很受父亲宠爱。后来他随拔都征俄罗斯的时候因箭伤而死

其他没在《元史》宗室世系表记载儿子：

• 察兀儿，也速干所生

• 术儿彻，乃蛮女所生

有史载的成吉思汗女儿：

• 昌国大长公主，名火臣别吉（豁真别乞；火阿真伯姬，伯姬：音译，本作别乞。），孛儿帖所生，嫁给昌忠武王孛秃。《元史·本纪第一·太祖》：帝欲为长子术赤求婚于汪罕女抄儿伯姬，汪罕之孙秃撒合亦欲尚帝女火阿真伯姬，俱不谐，自是颇有违言。《圣武亲征录》也作「汪可汗之孙秃撒合亦求上公主火阿真伯姬」

• 延安公主，名扯扯亦坚，孛儿帖所生，嫁斡亦剌惕部脱劣勒赤

• 赵国大长公主，名阿剌海别吉，孛儿帖所生，嫁给赵武毅王孛要合，无子。成吉思汗1206-1211年西征期间以及逝世以后，她以监国公主的身份代理朝政。《元史》列传第五称载她「明睿有智略，车驾征伐四出，尝使留守，军国大政，谘禀而后行，师出无内顾之忧，公主之力居多。」

• 郓国公主，名秃满伦，孛儿帖所生，嫁弘吉剌部赤古

• 阿儿答鲁黑，又译作阿勒塔伦，按塔伦，又名阿勒塔鲁罕，孛儿帖所生幼女。嫁给斡勒忽讷兀惕部的泰出（又译作塔出）驸马。有子术真伯（又称扎兀儿薛禅），术真伯先后娶元宪宗蒙哥之女失邻公主和必赤合公主

• 高昌公主，名也立安敦，嫁畏吾儿亦都护巴而术·阿而忒·的斤

相关史料

• 《长春真人西游记》：元朝全真教掌教李志常撰写，记述了李志常的师父丘处机从山东西行前往中亚见元太祖并返回的事迹，书后附有元太祖给丘处机的一道诏书和四道圣旨，正文中和圣旨中对元太祖的称呼为「成吉思皇帝」。

• 《成吉思皇帝赐丘神仙手诏碣》：1219年，元太祖派刘仲禄等人前往山东邀请丘处机的诏书全文，全文共406字，元武宗至大二年（1309年）四月，诏书被刻在石碑上，现存于河南省内乡县石堂山普济宫。

• 《圣武亲征录》：「圣武」是成吉思汗的諡号「法天启运圣武皇帝」的简称。该书记载了他一生征战的事。

• 《蒙古秘史》，又称《元朝秘史》。

• 《史集》，蒙古帝国伊儿汗国史学家拉施特撰写：

• 《世界征服者史》，蒙古帝国伊儿汗国史学家志费尼撰写。

• 《元史·太祖本纪》 ，明朝官修正史

• 《新元史·太祖本纪》 ，民国官修正史

• 《续资治通鉴》 ，清朝史学家毕沅撰写。

• 《蒙鞑备录》，南宋使者赵珙1221年出使大蒙古国，返回南宋后撰写。

• 《元史类编》，清朝史学家邵远平撰写。

• 《元史新编》，清朝史学家魏源撰写。

• 《元书》，清朝史学家曾廉撰写。

• 《蒙兀儿史记》，清末民初史学家屠寄撰写。

• 《成吉思汗评传》，民国史学家张振佩撰写。

• 《图说成吉思汗的世界》日本史学家 堺屋太一撰写

评价

• 金末元初长春真人丘处机，拒绝金朝皇帝和南宋皇帝的邀请，答应前往草原和铁木真相见，抵达燕京后，得知铁木真已在中亚西征花剌子模，觉得自己年事已高，西行太远，希望约铁木真在燕京相见，于是在1220年三月写了一份陈情表，在陈情表中，对铁木真的评价是：「前者南京及宋国屡召不从，今者龙庭一呼即至，何也？伏闻皇帝天赐勇智，今古绝伦，道协威灵，华夷率服。是故便欲投山窜海，不忍相违；且当冒雪冲霜，图其一见。」（南京指的是当时的金朝首都开封，1214年，金朝从中都迁都到南京开封府）

• 南宋使者赵珙，1221年出使大蒙古国，在燕京（原为金中都，1215年被蒙古军队攻取，1217年木华黎改名燕京，今北京市）见到主持进攻金朝的太师国王木华黎，回来后著有《蒙鞑备录》，书中的评价是：「今成吉思皇帝者，……。其人英勇果决，有度量，能容众，敬天地，重信义。」

• 蒙古帝国伊儿汗国史学家志费尼《世界征服者史》的评价是：「倘若那善于运筹帷幄、料敌如神的亚历山大活在成吉思汗时代，他会在使计用策方面当成吉思汗的学生，而且，在攻略城池的种种妙策中，他会发现，最好莫如盲目地跟成吉思汗走。」

• 明朝官修正史《元史》宋濂等的评价是：「帝深沉有大略，用兵如神，故能灭国四十，遂平西夏。其奇勋伟迹甚众，惜乎当时史官不备，或多失于纪载云。」

• 明朝官修皇帝实录《明太祖实录》记载，洪武二十二年（1389年）五月，明太祖朱元璋给北元阿札失里大王的信中，对成吉思汗、元太宗窝阔台、元定宗贵由、元宪宗蒙哥、元世祖忽必烈这五位在一统天下中均作出重要贡献的帝王的综合评价如下：「覆载之间，生民之众，天必择君以主之，天之道福善祸淫，始古至今，无有僭差。人君能上奉天道，勤政不贰，则福祚无期，若怠政殃民，天必改择焉。昔者，二百年前，华夷异统，势分南北，奈何宋君失政，金主不仁，天择元君起于草野，戡定朔方，抚有中夏，混一南北，逮其后嗣不君，于是天更元运，以付于朕。」

• 明朝官修皇帝实录《明太祖实录》记载，洪武二十二年（1389年）十二月，明太祖朱元璋给哈密国兀纳失里大王的信中，对成吉思汗和元世祖忽必烈的评价如下：「昔中国大宋皇帝主天下三百一十馀年，后其子孙不能敬天爱民，故天生元朝太祖皇帝，起于漠北，凡达达、回回、诸番君长尽平定之，太祖之孙以仁德著称，为世祖皇帝，混一天下，九夷八蛮、海外番国归于一统，百年之间，其恩德孰不思慕，号令孰不畏惧，是时四方无虞，民康物阜。」

• 清朝史学家邵远平《元史类编》的评价是：「册曰：天造鸿图，艰难开创；浑河启源，角端呈像；芟夏蹙金，电扫莫抗；栉沭廿年，驱指四将；止杀一言，皇猷弥广。」

• 清朝史学家毕沅《续资治通鉴》的评价是：「太祖深沉有大略，用兵如神，故能灭国四十，遂平西夏。」

• 清朝史学家魏源《元史新编》的评价是：「帝深沉有大略，用兵如神，故能灭国四十，遂平夏克金，有中原三分之二。使舍其攻西域之力，以从事汴京，则不俟太宗而大业定矣。然兵行西海、北海万里之外，昆仑、月竁重译不至之区，皆马足之所躏，如出入户闼焉。天地解而雷雨作，鹍鹏运而溟海立，固鸿荒未辟之乾坤矣。」

• 清朝史学家曾廉《元书》的评价是：「论曰：太祖崛起三河之源，奄有汉代匈奴故地，而兼西域城郭诸国，朔方之雄盛未有及之者也。遗谋灭金，竟如其策，金亡而宋亦下矣，此非其略有大过人者乎？又明于求才，近则辽金，远则西域，仇敌之裔，俘囚之虏，皆收为爪牙腹心，厥功烂焉，何其宏也，立贤无方，太祖有之矣。羽翼盛，斯其负风也大，子孙蒙业，遂一宇宙，不亦宜乎。」

• 民国史学家屠寄《蒙兀儿史记》的评价是：「论曰：旧史称成吉思汗深沉有大度，用兵如神，故能灭国四十，遂平西夏，信然。独惜军锋所至，屠刿生民如鹿豕，何其暴也。及至五星聚见东南，末命谆谆，始戒杀掠，岂所谓人之将死，其言善欤！蒙兀一代，并漠北四君数之，卜世十四，卜年蕲百六十，唐宋以降，享国历数，为由蹙于是者。于戏，可以观天道矣！」

• 民国官修正史《新元史》柯劭忞的评价是：「天下之势，由分而合，虽阻山限海、异类殊俗，终门于统一。太祖龙兴朔漠，践夏戡金，荡平西域，师行万里，犹出入户闼之内，三代而后未尝有也。天将大九州而一中外，使太祖抉其藩、躏其途，以穷其兵力之所及，虽谓华夷之大同，肇于博尔济锦氏，可也。」

• 现代文学家鲁迅《朝花夕拾》：听说「我们」的成吉思汗征服欧洲，是「我们」最阔气的时代。到二十五岁，才知道所谓这「我们」最阔气的时代，其实是蒙古人征服了中国，我们做了奴才……倒是俄人被奴的资格比我们老，应该他们说「我们的成吉思汗征服中国，是我们最阔气的时代」的。

• 民国史学家张振佩《成吉思汗评传》（1943年版）绪言部分的评价是：「成吉思汗之功业扩大人类之世界观——促进中西文化之交流——创造民族新文化。」

• 台湾历史学家、蒙藏委员会主任秘书刘学铫在《蒙古论丛》一书中，认为只有元太祖成吉思可汗、孙中山、蒋介石三人，才配称为中华民族的民族英雄，并对元太祖的功绩进行了高度评价：「成吉思可汗不仅奠定了后日中华民族的生存空间，还扩大了整个人类的视界，此外还在人类历史上写下了最艰难的而最荣耀的一页——征服俄罗斯，他的丰功伟绩，不但在我国历史上是空前的，即在世界史上亦不作第二人想，尊之为民族英雄实是最恰当不过的。」

• 1939年，处于抗战时期的中国共产党对成吉思汗做出了高度评价。6月21日，成吉思汗灵柩西迁途中到达延安时，中共中央和各界人士二万馀人夹道迎灵，并在延安十里铺搭设灵堂，举行了盛大的祭祀活动。在此次祭祀仪式上，中共中央将成吉思汗正式尊称为「世界巨人」、「世界英杰」，并首次提出「继承成吉思汗精神坚持抗战到底」的口号。延安十里铺灵堂两侧悬挂一幅对联，灵堂正上方有一横联，内容如下：

横联：世界巨人

上联：蒙汉两大民族更亲密地团结起来

下联：继承成吉思汗精神坚持抗战到底

灵堂前面搭建一座牌楼，悬挂「恭迎成吉思汗灵柩」匾额。代表们将灵柩迎入灵堂后，举行祭典。中共中央、毛泽东、周恩来、朱德等敬献了花圈。由陕甘宁边区政府秘书长曹力如代表党政军民学各界恭读祭文：维中华民国二十八年六月二十一日，中国共产党中央委员会代表谢觉哉、国民革命军第八路军代表滕代远、陕甘宁边区政府代表高自立，率延安党政军民学各界，谨以清酌庶馐之奠，致祭于圣武皇帝成吉思汗之灵曰：

• 1940年3月31日，中国共产党在延安成立了「蒙古文化促进会」，4月，在延安建立了「成吉思汗纪念堂」和「蒙古文化陈列馆」，敬立成吉思汗半身塑像，并由毛泽东题写了「成吉思汗纪念堂」七个大字。在这里每年农历三月二十一日，也就是成吉思汗春季查干苏鲁克大祭之日，延安各界举行盛大的祭奠仪式，以蒙汉两种语言诵读成吉思汗祭文。1942年5月5日，蒙古文化促进会还编辑出版了《延安各界纪念成吉思汗专刊》。毛泽东和朱德分别为专刊题词，内容如下：

• 毛泽东在1964年3月24日，在一次听取汇报时的插话中对成吉思汗、汉高祖刘邦、明太祖朱元璋的治国能力评价如下：「可不要看不起老粗。」「知识分子是比较最没有知识的，历史上当皇帝的，有许多是知识分子，是没有出息的：隋炀帝，就是一个会做文章、诗词的人；陈后主、李后主，都是能诗善赋的人；宋徽宗，既能写诗又能绘画。一些老粗能办大事：成吉思汗，是不识字的老粗；刘邦，也不认识几个字，是老粗；朱元璋也不识字，是个放牛的。」

• 1941年十一月三日国民政府正式宣布对日本及德国、意大利宣战前夕，蒋介石赶赴甘肃省榆中县兴隆山，对成吉思汗灵寝举行了大祭。蒙藏委员会委员长吴中信代表国民政府恭读祭文：维中华民国三十年十一月三日国防最高委员会委员长蒋中正，特派蒙藏委员会委员长吴中信，以马羊帛酒香花之仪，致祭于成吉思汗之灵而昭告以文曰：

• 1957年三月十二日，蒋介石在在主持陆军指挥参谋学校正×期开学典礼讲——《军事哲学对于一般将领的重要性》中，评价成吉思汗：「我在此还要举出我们中国历史中两位最有名的勇将来作一对照，以供我们今日军人的抉择。这两位勇将中的第一位，就是汉楚时代的项羽。第二位就是纵横欧亚的成吉思汗。这二位英勇无比的名将，其平生战绩乃是众所周知，无待详述，可是其结果则完全不同。兹据其二人所制的歌词的气概与精神，就可想见胆力的强弱与事业的成败了。当成吉思汗西征时的歌词是：「上天与下地，俯伏啸以齐，何物蠢小丑，而敢当马蹄」。而项羽最后失败时的歌词则是：「力拔山兮气盖世，时不济兮骓不逝，骓不逝兮可奈何，虞兮虞兮奈若何？」后来还有许多人评判项羽这首歌词是悲歌慷慨，不失为英雄气概；我以为项羽的歌词充满了「恐惧」「愤怒」「疑惑」的气氛，毫无英勇镇定与自信的心理，更没有如克劳塞维茨所说：「在绝望中之奋斗」的军人精神。所以到了最后他只有在乌江自刎了事。我以为这种卑怯自杀，而不能抱定荣誉战死的军人，只可说是一个最无志气的懦夫，那能配称为勇将！故无论他过去有如何勇敢的史迹，我们不仅不屑敬仰他，而且应在弃绝不齿之列。至于成吉思汗的这首歌词，我认为是充满了他自信、勇敢与镇定的心理，诚不失为一首英勇壮烈的歌词，正与项羽的歌词语意完全相反，所以他成功亦自不同。因为他既有这样一个战胜一切的信心，自然不会再有恐惧愤怒与疑惑的心理了。所以成吉思汗，实为我们中国军人所应该效法与崇敬的第一等模范英雄。」

• 中华民国总统马英九在2009年4月16日（农历三月二十一日）「二00九年中枢致祭成陵大典」中，特派蒙藏委员会委员长高思博主祭成吉思汗。祭坛上陈放有成吉思汗的画像，摆放有鲜花、水果和糕点，点燃供烛。仪式遵循古礼。台北市国乐团演奏乐曲《万寿无疆》。身穿长袍马褂的高思博，依序向成吉思汗像献香、献花、献爵（献酒）、献帛（献哈达）。司仪宣读祭文：「马英九特派蒙藏委员会委员长高思博敬以香花清酌之仪致祭于成吉思汗之灵曰：『维汗休烈，雄才大略。天挺英明，龙兴溯漠。……礼仪孔修，有芘其芳。神之格思，德音不忘。』」

• 马英九在2010年5月4日（农历三月二十一日）蒙藏委员会上午举办的「99年中枢祭成吉思汗大祭」典礼中，指派蒙藏委员会委员长高思博以香花清酌仪式祭拜成吉思汗。典礼安排向成吉思汗像献花、献香、献爵（献酒）、献帛（献哈达），并宣读「中华民国总统祭文」，相关司祭者皆穿著蒙古传统服饰，仪式遵循古礼，场面庄严隆重，马英九在祭文中，肯定成吉思汗「雄才大略，天挺英明，拓土开疆，威震万国。」

• 瑞典学者多桑在其《蒙古史》中对成吉思汗的一生总结分析，多桑认为为成吉思汗之成功乃由于其具有极强的贪欲以及非常之野心。多桑称他「狂傲」地妄想征服世界，死前还嘱咐其子孙完成他的事业。

• 英国学者莱穆在《全人类帝王成吉思汗》一书中说：「成吉思汗是比欧洲历史舞台上所有的优秀人物更大规模的征服者。他不是通常尺度能够衡量的人物。他所统率的军队的足迹不能以里数来计量，实际上只能以经纬度来衡量。」

• 印度总理尼赫鲁在《怎样对待世界历史》一书中说：「蒙古人在战场上取得如此伟大的胜利，这并不靠兵马之众多，而靠的是严谨的纪律、制度和可行的组织。也可以说，那些辉煌的成就来自于成吉思汗的指挥艺术。」

• 「卡内基全球生态研究部」：「历史上『最环保的侵略者』。因为杀人无数，让大片耕地恢复成为森林，让大气中的碳大幅减量达7亿吨！」

• 美国西维吉尼亚大学的研究人员指出成吉思汗的成功恰逢当时1000年来最温和、最潮湿的天气，之前的1180-1190年间，蒙古曾经历严重乾旱，之后的温和湿润气候有助于青草的繁茂生长，为以骑兵为主的蒙古大军的战马提供了丰富的饲料。

• 1999年12月的美国A+E电视网评选出过去千年影响最深远的100大人物，成吉思汗被列为第22位（在亚洲人中仅次于第17位的甘地）。

纪年

根据《元史·太祖本纪》整理。

后世纪念

• 成吉思汗陵

• 成吉思汗国际机场

影视形象

电影

• 1956年《成吉思汗》，约翰韦恩饰

• 1986年中国电影《成吉思汗》，德力格尔饰

• 1997年中国电影《一代天骄成吉思汗》，原名《成吉思汗和他的母亲》，塞夫·麦丽丝导演，涂门饰

• 2006年由德国、俄罗斯、哈萨克斯坦合作制作的电影《zh-cn:蒙古王; zh-tw:铁木真：开天辟地; zh-hk:成吉思汗;》，浅野忠信饰

• 2006年由蒙古、日本合作制作的电影《成吉思汗 征服到地与海的尽头》，反町隆史饰

• 2010年由蒙古、俄罗斯、哈萨克斯坦合作制作的电影《大漠雄鹰 成吉思汗》

• 2012年由中国、蒙古合作制作的电影《成吉思汗 十勇士传奇》，巴森饰

• 2013年中国电影《止杀令》。全真教道长丘处机为了劝成吉思汗止杀东归，不惜西行35000里前往西域会见成吉思汗劝其止杀的故事。涂门饰

• 2018年中国电影《战神纪》以铁木真及12世纪蒙古草原为元素的玄幻片，陈伟霆饰

电视剧

• 1976年电视剧《射雕英雄传》，凌汉饰

• 1983年电视剧《射雕英雄传》，秦沛饰

• 1987年香港无线电视剧集《成吉思汗》，万梓良饰

• 1987年香港亚洲电视剧集《成吉思汗》，刘永饰

• 1988年电视剧《射雕英雄传》，李志坚饰

• 1994年电视剧《射雕英雄传》，刘江饰

• 1997年电视剧《一代天骄成吉思汗》，涂们饰

• 2000年电视剧《成吉思汗》，巴森、科尔沁毕少格、锡林满达、达楞照日格饰

• 2002年由中国中央电视台制作，2004年播出中国电视剧《成吉思汗》，巴森饰

• 2003年电视剧《射雕英雄传》，巴森饰

• 2008年电视剧《射雕英雄传》，巴音饰

• 2013年由中国中央电视台制作，同年播出中国电视剧《建元风云》，唐国强饰

• 2017年电视剧《射雕英雄传》，郑斌辉饰

流行文化

电玩

• 微软游戏《世纪帝国II：帝王世纪》的第一场战役中出现过

• 成为王者荣耀的射手英雄

金庸小说中的成吉思汗

在金庸武侠小说《射雕英雄传》的事迹与史实相差不多，只是在攻打花剌子模都城撒马尔罕的战役上，绝大部份功劳都由习过《武穆遗书》的男主角郭靖尽占（其中也受过女主角黄蓉暗中指点）。故事中的成吉思汗对郭靖甚为器重，更深爱其为人，即便最终理念不合而处于对立，成吉思汗心情上仍视其为己出，甚至在自己驾崩前仍要求见郭靖最后一面。在小说的结尾，他们甚至辩论何谓「英雄」，致铁木真到死不断自问这个疑问。 郭靖在成吉思汗驾崩后离开蒙古回到中原并与黄蓉成亲并定居桃花岛十馀载，直至蒙古正式侵南宋时才举家迁至襄阳城御敌，成为成吉思汗的后裔之大敌。

成吉思汗在本故事中还有一个由作者金庸虚构出来的女儿华筝（不过是以史实人物火臣别吉为原型），曾想将其许配给郭靖，于是封郭靖为「金刀驸马」，但最后因各种原因导致郭靖与蒙古决裂并逃回中原，华筝并自行取消与郭靖的婚约。

注释

Early life

Lineage

Genghis Khan was related on his father's side to Khabul Khan, Ambaghai, and Hotula Khan, who had headed the Khamag Mongol confederation and were descendants of Bodonchar Munkhag (c. 900). When the Jurchen Jin dynasty switched support from the Mongols to the Tatars in 1161, they destroyed Khabul Khan.

Genghis Khan's father, Yesügei (leader of the Kiyat-Borjigin clan and nephew to Ambaghai and Hotula Khan), emerged as the head of the ruling Mongol clan. This position was contested by the rival Tayichi'ud clan, who descended directly from Ambaghai. When the Tatars grew too powerful after 1161, the Jin switched their support from the Tatars to the Keraites.

Birth

Little is known about Genghis Khan's early life, due to the lack of contemporary written records. The few sources that give insight into this period often contradict.

Temüjin means "blacksmith". According to Rashid al-Din Hamadani, Chinos constituted that branch of the Mongols which existed from Ergenekon through melting the iron mountain side. There existed a tradition which viewed Genghis Khan as a blacksmith. Genghis's given name was Temüjin was equated with Turco-Mongol temürči(n), "blacksmith". Paul Pelliot saw that the tradition according to which Genghis was a blacksmith was unfounded though well established by the middle of the 13th century.

Genghis Khan was probably born in 1162 in Delüün Boldog, near the mountain Burkhan Khaldun and the rivers Onon and Kherlen in modern-day northern Mongolia, close to the current capital Ulaanbaatar. The Secret History of the Mongols reports that Temüjin was born grasping a blood clot in his fist, a traditional sign that he was destined to become a great leader. He was the first son of Hoelun, second wife of his father Yesügei, who was a Kiyad chief prominent in the Khamag Mongol confederation and an ally of Toghrul of the Keraite tribe. According to the Secret History, Temüjin was named after the Tatar chief Temüjin-üge whom his father had just captured.

Yesukhei's clan was Borjigin (Боржигин), and Hoelun was from the Olkhunut sub-lineage of the Khongirad tribe. Like other tribes, they were nomads. Temüjin's noble background made it easier for him to solicit help from and eventually consolidate the other Mongol tribes.

Early life and family

Temüjin had three brothers Hasar, Hachiun, and Temüge, one sister Temülen, and two half-brothers Begter and Belgutei. Like many of the nomads of Mongolia, Temüjin's early life was difficult. His father arranged a marriage for him and delivered him at age nine to the family of his future wife Börte of the tribe Khongirad. Temüjin was to live there serving the head of the household Dai Setsen until the marriageable age of 12.

While heading home, his father ran into the neighboring Tatars, who had long been Mongol enemies, and they offered him food that poisoned him. Upon learning this, Temüjin returned home to claim his father's position as chief. But the tribe refused this and abandoned the family, leaving it without protection.

For the next several years, the family lived in poverty, surviving mostly on wild fruits, ox carcasses, marmots, and other small game killed by Temüjin and his brothers. Temüjin's older half-brother Begter began to exercise power as the eldest male in the family and would eventually have the right to claim Hoelun (who was not his own mother) as a wife. Temüjin's resentment erupted during one hunting excursion when Temüjin and his brother Khasar killed Begter.

In a raid around 1177, Temüjin was captured by his father's former allies, the Tayichi'ud, and enslaved, reportedly with a cangue (a sort of portable stocks). With the help of a sympathetic guard, he escaped from the ger (yurt) at night by hiding in a river crevice. The escape earned Temüjin a reputation. Soon, Jelme and Bo'orchu joined forces with him. They and the guard's son Chilaun eventually became generals of Genghis Khan.

At this time, none of the tribal confederations of Mongolia were united politically, and arranged marriages were often used to solidify temporary alliances. Temüjin grew up observing the tough political climate, which included tribal warfare, thievery, raids, corruption, and revenge between confederations, compounded by interference from abroad, such as from China to the south. Temüjin's mother Hoelun taught him many lessons, especially the need for strong alliances to ensure stability in Mongolia.

Wives, concubines, and children

As was common for powerful Mongol men, Genghis Khan had many wives and concubines. He frequently acquired wives and concubines from empires and societies that he had conquered, these women were often princesses or queens that were taken captive or gifted to him. Genghis Khan gave several of his high-status wives their own ordos or camps to live in and manage. Each camp also contained junior wives, concubines, and even children. It was the job of the Kheshig (Mongol imperial guard) to protect the yurts of Genghis Khan's wives. The guards had to pay particular attention to the individual yurt and camp in which Genghis Khan slept, which could change every night as he visited different wives. When Genghis Khan set out on his military conquests, he usually took one wife with him and left the rest of his wives (and concubines) to manage the empire in his absence.

Börte

The marriage between Börte and Genghis Khan (then known as Temüjin) was arranged by her father and Yesügei, Temüjin's father, when she was 10 and he was 9 years old. Temüjin stayed with her and her family until he was called back to take care of his mother and younger siblings, due to the poisoning of Yesügei by Tatar nomads. In 1178, about 7 years later, Temüjin traveled downstream along the Kelüren River to find Börte. When Börte's father saw that Temüjin had returned to marry Börte, he had the pair "united as man and wife". With the permission of her father, Temüjin took Börte and her mother to live in his family yurt. Börte's dowry was a fine black sable jacket.

Soon after the marriage between them took place, the Three Merkits attacked their family camp at dawn and kidnapped Börte. She was given to one of their warriors as a spoil of war. Temüjin was deeply distressed by the abduction of his wife and remarked that his "bed was made empty" and his "breast was torn apart". Temüjin rescued her several months later with the aid of his allies Wang Khan and Jamukha. Many scholars describe this event as one of the key crossroads in Temüjin's life, which moved him along the path towards becoming a conqueror.

「As the pillaging and plundering went on, Temüjin moved among the people that were hurriedly escaping, calling, 『Börte, Börte!』 And so he came upon her, for Lady Börte was among those fleeing people. She heard the voice of Temüjin and, recognizing it, she got off the cart and came running towards him. Although it was still night, Lady Börte and Qo』aqčin both recognized Temüjin』s reins and tether and grabbed them. It was moonlight; he looked at them, recognized Lady Börte, and they fell into each other』s arms.」 -The Secret History of the Mongols

Börte was held captive for eight months, and gave birth to Jochi soon after she was rescued. This left doubt as to who the father of the child was, because her captor took her as a "wife" and could have possibly impregnated her. Despite this, Temüjin let Jochi remain in the family and claimed him as his own son. Börte had three more sons, Chagatai (1183–1242), Ögedei (1186–1241), and Tolui (1191–1232). Temüjin had many other children with other wives, but they were excluded from the succession, only Börte's sons could be considered to be his heirs. Börte was also the mother to several daughters, Kua Ujin Bekhi, Alakhai Bekhi, Alaltun, Checheikhen, Tümelün, and Tolai. However, the poor survival of Mongol records means it is unclear whether she gave birth to all of them.

Yesugen

During his military campaign against the Tatars, Temüjin fell in love with Yesugen and took her in as a wife. She was the daughter of a Tatar leader named Yeke Cheren that Temüjin's army had killed during battle. After the military campaign against the Tatars was over, Yesugen, one of the survivors went to Temüjin, who slept with her. According to the Secret History of the Mongols, while they were having sex Yesugen asked Temüjin to treat her well and to not discard her. When Temüjin seemed to agree with this, Yesugen recommended that he also marry her sister Yesui.

Both the Tatar sisters, Yesugen and Yesui, became a part of Temüjin's principal wives and were given their own camps to manage. Temüjin also took a third woman from the Tatars, an unknown concubine.

Yesui

At the recommendation of her sister Yesugen, Temüjin had his men track down and kidnap Yesui. When she was brought to Temüjin, he found her every bit as pleasing as promised and so he married her. The other wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of the Tatars had been parceled out and given to Mongol men. The Tatar sisters, Yesugen and Yesui, were two of Genghis Khan's most influential wives. Genghis Khan took Yesui with him when he set out on his final expedition against the Tangut empire.

Khulan

Khulan entered Mongol history when her father, the Merkit leader Dayir Usan, surrendered to Temüjin in the winter of 1203–04 and gave her to him. But at least according to the Secret History of the Mongols, Khulan and her father were detained by Naya'a, one of Temüjin's officers, who was apparently trying to protect them from Mongol soldiers who were nearby. After they arrived three days later than expected, Temüjin suspected that Naya'a was motivated by his carnal feelings towards Khulan to help her and her father. While Temüjin was interrogating Naya'a, Khulan spoke up in his defense and invited Temüjin to have sex with her and inspect her virginity personally, which pleased him.

In the end Temüjin accepted Dayir Usan's surrender and Khulan as his new wife. However, Dayir Usan later retracted his surrender but he and his subjects were eventually subdued, his possessions plundered, and he himself killed. Temüjin continued to carry out military campaigns against the Merkits until their final dispersal in 1218. Khulan was able to achieve meaningful status as one of Temüjin's wives and managed one of the large wifely camps, in which other wives, concubines, children and animals lived. She gave birth to a son named Gelejian, who went on to participate with Börte's sons in their father's military campaigns.

Möge Khatun

Möge Khatun was a concubine of Genghis Khan and she later became a wife of his son Ögedei Khan. The Persian historian Ata-Malik Juvayni records that Möge Khatun "was given to Chinggis Khan by a chief of the Bakrin tribe, and he loved her very much." Ögedei favored her as well and she accompanied him on his hunting expeditions. She is not recorded as having any children.

Juerbiesu

Juerbiesu was an empress of Qara Khitai, Mongol Empire, and Naiman. She was a renowned beauty on the plains. She was originally a favored concubine of Inanch Bilge khan and after his death, she became the consort of his son Tayang Khan. Since Tayang Khan was a useless ruler, Juerbiesu was in control of almost all power in Naiman politics.

She had a daughter named Princess Hunhu (浑忽公主) with Yelü Zhilugu, the ruler of Liao. After Genghis Khan destroyed the Naiman tribe and Tayang Khan was killed, Juerbiesu made several offensive remarks regarding Mongols, describing their clothes as dirty and smelly. Yet, she abruptly rescinded her claims and visited Genghis Khan's tent alone. He questioned her about the remarks but was immediately attracted to her beauty. After spending the night with him, Juerbiesu promised to serve him well and he took her as one of his empresses. Her status was only inferior to Khulan and Borte.

Ibaqa Beki

Ibaqa was the eldest daughter of the Kerait leader Jakha Gambhu, who allied with Genghis Khan to defeat the Naimans in 1204. As part of the alliance, Ibaqa was given to Genghis Khan as a wife. She was the sister of Begtütmish, who married Genghis Khan's son Jochi, and Sorghaghtani Beki, who married Genghis Khan's son Tolui. After about two years of childless marriage, Genghis Khan abruptly divorced Ibaqa and gave her to the general Jürchedei, a member of the Uru'ut clan and who had killed Jakha Gambhu after the latter turned against Genghis Khan. The exact reason for this remarriage is unknown: According to The Secret History of the Mongols, Genghis Khan gave Ibaqa to Jürchedei as a reward for his service in wounding Nilga Senggum in 1203 and, later, in killing Jakha Gambhu. Conversely, Rashid al-Din in Jami' al-tawarikh claims that Genghis Khan divorced Ibaqa due to a nightmare in which God commanded him to give her away immediately, and Jürchedei happened to be guarding the tent. Regardless of the rationale, Genghis Khan allowed Ibaqa to keep her title as Khatun even in her remarriage, and asked that she would leave him a token of her dowry by which he could remember her. The sources also agree that Ibaqa was quite wealthy.

Uniting the Mongol confederations

In the early 12th century, the Central Asian plateau north of China was divided into several prominent tribal confederations, including Naimans, Merkits, Tatars, Khamag Mongols, and Keraites, that were often unfriendly towards each other, as evidenced by random raids, revenge attacks, and plundering.

Early attempts at power

Temüjin began his ascent to power by offering himself as an ally (or, according to other sources, a vassal) to his father's anda (sworn brother or blood brother) Toghrul, who was Khan of the Keraites, and is better known by the Chinese title "Wang Khan", which the Jurchen Jin dynasty granted him in 1197. This relationship was first reinforced when Börte was captured by the Merkits. Temüjin turned to Toghrul for support, and Toghrul offered 20,000 of his Keraite warriors and suggested that Temüjin involve his childhood friend Jamukha, who had himself become Khan of his own tribe, the Jadaran.

Although the campaign rescued Börte and utterly defeated the Merkits, it also paved the way for the split between Temüjin and Jamukha. Before this, they were blood brothers (anda) vowing to remain eternally faithful.

Rift with Jamukha and defeat at Dalan Balzhut

As Jamukha and Temüjin drifted apart in their friendship, each began consolidating power, and they became rivals. Jamukha supported the traditional Mongolian aristocracy, while Temüjin followed a meritocratic method, and attracted a broader range and lower class of followers. Following his earlier defeat of the Merkits, and a proclamation by the shaman Kokochu that the Eternal Blue Sky had set aside the world for Temüjin, Temüjin began rising to power. In 1186, Temüjin was elected khan of the Mongols. Threatened by this rise, Jamukha attacked Temujin in 1187 with an army of 30,000 troops. Temüjin gathered his followers to defend against the attack, but was decisively beaten in the Battle of Dalan Balzhut. However, Jamukha horrified and alienated potential followers by boiling 70 young male captives alive in cauldrons. Toghrul, as Temüjin's patron, was exiled to the Qara Khitai. The life of Temüjin for the next 10 years is unclear, as historical records are mostly silent on that period.

Return to power

Around the year 1197, the Jin initiated an attack against their formal vassal, the Tatars, with help from the Keraites and Mongols. Temüjin commanded part of this attack, and after victory, he and Toghrul were restored by the Jin to positions of power. The Jin bestowed Toghrul with the honorable title of Ong Khan, and Temüjin with a lesser title of j'aut quri.

Around 1200, the main rivals of the Mongol confederation (traditionally the "Mongols") were the Naimans to the west, the Merkits to the north, the Tanguts to the south, and the Jin to the east.

In his rule and his conquest of rival tribes, Temüjin broke with Mongol tradition in a few crucial ways. He delegated authority based on merit and loyalty, rather than family ties. As an incentive for absolute obedience and the Yassa code of law, Temüjin promised civilians and soldiers wealth from future war spoils. When he defeated rival tribes, he did not drive away their soldiers and abandon their civilians. Instead, he took the conquered tribe under his protection and integrated its members into his own tribe. He would even have his mother adopt orphans from the conquered tribe, bringing them into his family. These political innovations inspired great loyalty among the conquered people, making Temüjin stronger with each victory.

Rift with Toghrul

Senggum, son of Toghrul (Wang Khan), envied Genghis Khan's growing power and affinity with his father. He allegedly planned to assassinate Genghis Khan. Although Toghrul was allegedly saved on multiple occasions by Genghis Khan, he gave in to his son and became uncooperative with Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan learned of Senggum's intentions and eventually defeated him and his loyalists.

One of the later ruptures between Genghis Khan and Toghrul was Toghrul's refusal to give his daughter in marriage to Jochi, Genghis Khan's first son. This was disrespectful in Mongolian culture and led to a war. Toghrul allied with Jamukha, who already opposed Genghis Khan's forces. However, the dispute between Toghrul and Jamukha, plus the desertion of a number of their allies to Genghis Khan, led to Toghrul's defeat. Jamukha escaped during the conflict. This defeat was a catalyst for the fall and eventual dissolution of the Keraite tribe.

After conquering his way steadily through the Alchi Tatars, Keraites, and Uhaz Merkits and acquiring at least one wife each time, Temüjin turned to the next threat on the steppe, the Turkic Naimans under the leadership of Tayang Khan with whom Jamukha and his followers took refuge. The Naimans did not surrender, although enough sectors again voluntarily sided with Genghis Khan.

In 1201, a khuruldai elected Jamukha as Gür Khan, "universal ruler", a title used by the rulers of the Qara Khitai. Jamukha's assumption of this title was the final breach with Genghis Khan, and Jamukha formed a coalition of tribes to oppose him. Before the conflict, several generals abandoned Jamukha, including Subutai, Jelme's well-known younger brother. After several battles, Jamukha was turned over to Genghis Khan by his own men in 1206.

According to the Secret History, Genghis Khan again offered his friendship to Jamukha. Genghis Khan had killed the men who betrayed Jamukha, stating that he did not want disloyal men in his army. Jamukha refused the offer, saying that there can only be one sun in the sky, and he asked for a noble death. The custom was to die without spilling blood, specifically by having one's back broken. Jamukha requested this form of death, although he was known to have boiled his opponents' generals alive.

Sole ruler of the Mongol plains (1206)

The part of the Merkit clan that sided with the Naimans were defeated by Subutai, who was by then a member of Genghis Khan's personal guard and later became one of Genghis Khan's most successful commanders. The Naimans' defeat left Genghis Khan as the sole ruler of the Mongol steppe – all the prominent confederations fell or united under his Mongol confederation.

Accounts of Genghis Khan's life are marked by claims of a series of betrayals and conspiracies. These include rifts with his early allies such as Jamukha (who also wanted to be a ruler of Mongol tribes) and Wang Khan (his and his father's ally), his son Jochi, and problems with the most important shaman, who allegedly tried to drive a wedge between him and his loyal brother Khasar. His military strategies showed a deep interest in gathering intelligence and understanding the motivations of his rivals, exemplified by his extensive spy network and Yam route systems. He seemed to be a quick student, adopting new technologies and ideas that he encountered, such as siege warfare from the Chinese. He was also ruthless, demonstrated by his tactic of measuring against the linchpin, used against the tribes led by Jamukha.

As a result, by 1206, Genghis Khan had managed to unite or subdue the Merkits, Naimans, Mongols, Keraites, Tatars, Uyghurs, and other disparate smaller tribes under his rule. This was a monumental feat. It resulted in peace between previously warring tribes, and a single political and military force. The union became known as the Mongols. At a Khuruldai, a council of Mongol chiefs, Genghis Khan was acknowledged as Khan of the consolidated tribes and took the new title "Genghis Khan". The title Khagan was conferred posthumously by his son and successor Ögedei who took the title for himself (as he was also to be posthumously declared the founder of the Yuan dynasty).

According to the Secret History of the Mongols, the chieftains of the conquered tribes pledged to Genghis Khan by proclaiming:"We will make you Khan; you shall ride at our head, against our foes. We will throw ourselves like lightning on your enemies. We will bring you their finest women and girls, their rich tents like palaces."

Religion

Genghis Khan was a Tengrist, but was religiously tolerant and interested in learning philosophical and moral lessons from other religions. He consulted Buddhist monks (including the Zen monk Haiyun), Muslims, Christian missionaries, and the Taoist monk Qiu Chuji.

According to the Fozu Lidai Tongzai written by Nian Chang (b. 1282) Genghis Khan's viceroy Muqali was pacifying Shanxi in 1219, the homeland of Zen Buddhist monk Haiyun (海云, 1203–1257), when one of Muqali's Chinese generals, impressed with Haiyun and his master Zhongguan's demeanor, recommended them to Muqali. Muqali then reported on the two to Genghis Khan who issued the following decree on their behalf: "They truly are men who pray to Heaven. I should like to support them with clothes and food and make them chiefs. I'm planning on gathering many of this kind of people. While praying to Heaven, they should not have difficulties imposed on them. To forbid any mistreatment, they will be authorized to act as darqan (possessor of immunity)." Genghis Khan had already met Haiyun in 1214 and been impressed by his reply refusing to grow his hair in the Mongol hairstyle and allowed him to keep his head shaven. After the death of his master Zhongguan in 1220, Haiyun became the head of the Chan (Chinese Zen) school during Genghis Khan's rule and was repeatedly recognized as the chief monk in Chinese Buddhism by subsequent Khans until 1257 when he was succeeded as chief monk by another Chan master Xueting Fuyu the Mongol-appointed abbot of Shaolin monastery.

Genghis Khan summoned and met the Daoist master Qiu Chuji (1148–1227) in Afghanistan in 1222. He thanked Qiu Chuji for accepting his invitation and asked if Qiu Chuji had brought the medicine of immortality with him. Qiu Chuji said there was no such thing as a medicine of immortality but that life can be extended through abstinence. Genghis Khan appreciated his honest reply and asked Qiu Chuji who it is that calls him eternal heavenly man, he himself or others. After Qiu Chuji replied that others call him by that name Genghis Khan decreed that from thenceforth Qiu Chuji should be called "Immortal" and appointed him master of all monks in China, noting that heaven had sent Qiu Chuji to him. Qiu Chuji died in Beijing the same year as Genghis Khan and his shrine became the White Cloud Temple. Following Khans continued appointing Daoist masters of the Quanzhen School at White Cloud Temple. The Daoists lost their privilege in 1258 after the Great Debate organized by Genghis Khan's grandson Möngke Khan when Chinese Buddhists (led by the Mongol-appointed abbot or shaolim zhanglao of Shaolin monastery), Confucians and Tibetan Buddhists allied against the Daoists. Kublai Khan was appointed to preside over this debate (in Shangdu/Xanadu, the third meeting after two debates in Karakorum in 1255 and 1256) in which 700 dignitaries were present. Kublai Khan had already met Haiyun in 1242 and been swayed towards Buddhism.

Genghis Khan's decree exempting Daoists (xiansheng), Buddhists (toyin), Christians (erke'üd) and Muslims (dashmad) from tax duties were continued by his successors until the end of the Yuan dynasty in 1368. All the decrees use the same formula and state that Genghis Khan first gave the decree of exemption. Kublai Khan's 1261 decree in Mongolian appointing the elder of the Shaolin monastery uses the same formula and states "Činggis qan-u jrlg-tur toyid erkegü:d šingšingü:d dašmad aliba alba gubčiri ülü üjen tngri-yi jalbariju bidan-a irüge:r ögün atugai keme:gsen jrlg-un yosuga:r...ene Šaolim janglau-da bariju yabuga:i jrlg ögbei" (According to the decree of Genghis Khan which says may the Buddhists, Christians, Daoists and Muslims be exempt from all taxation and may they pray to God and continue offering us blessings...I have given this decree to the Shaolin elder to carry it). According to Juvaini, Genghis Khan allowed religious freedom to Muslims during his conquest of Khwarezmia "permitting the recitation of the takbir and the azan". However, Rashid-al-Din states there were occasions when Genghis Khan forbade Halal butchering. Kublai Khan revived the decree in 1280 after Muslims refused to eat at a banquet. He forbade Halal butchering and circumcision. The decree of Kublai Khan was revoked after a decade. Genghis Khan met Wahid-ud-Din in Afghanistan in 1221 and asked him if the prophet Muhammad predicted a Mongol conqueror. He was initially pleased with Wahid-ud-Din but then dismissed him from his service saying "I used to consider you a wise and prudent man, but from this speech of yours, it has become evident to me that you do not possess complete understanding and that your comprehension is but small".

Military campaigns

Western Xia Dynasty

During the 1206 political rise of Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire created by Genghis Khan and his allies shared its western borders with the Western Xia dynasty of the Tanguts. To the east and south was the Jin dynasty, founded by the Manchurian Jurchens, who ruled northern China as well as being the traditional overlords of the Mongolian tribes for centuries.

Genghis Khan organized his people, army, and his state to first prepare for war with Western Xia, or Xi Xia, which was close to the Mongolian lands. He correctly believed that the more powerful young ruler of the Jin dynasty would not come to the aid of Xi Xia. When the Tanguts requested help from the Jin dynasty, they were refused. Despite initial difficulties in capturing its well-defended cities, Genghis Khan managed to force the emperor of Xi Xia to submit to vassal status.

Jin dynasty

In 1211, after the conquest of Western Xia, Genghis Khan planned again to conquer the Jin dynasty. Wanyan Jiujin, the field commander of the Jin army, made a tactical mistake in not attacking the Mongols at the first opportunity. Instead, the Jin commander sent a messenger, Ming'an, to the Mongol side, who defected and told the Mongols that the Jin army was waiting on the other side of the pass. At this engagement fought at Yehuling, the Mongols massacred hundreds of thousands of Jin troops. In 1215, Genghis besieged the Jin capital of Zhongdu (modern-day Beijing). According to Ivar Lissner, the inhabitants resorted to firing gold and silver cannon shot on the Mongols with their muzzle-loading cannons when their supply of metal for ammunition ran out. The city was captured and sacked. This forced the Jin ruler, Emperor Xuanzong, to move his capital south to Kaifeng, abandoning the northern half of his empire to the Mongols. Between 1232 and 1233, Kaifeng fell to the Mongols under the reign of Genghis's third son, Ögedei Khan. The Jin dynasty collapsed in 1234, after the siege of Caizhou.

Qara Khitai

Kuchlug, the deposed Khan of the Naiman confederation that Temüjin defeated and folded into his Mongol Empire, fled west and usurped the khanate of Qara Khitai (also known as the Western Liao, as it was originally established as remnants of the Liao dynasty). Genghis Khan decided to conquer the Qara Khitai and defeat Kuchlug, possibly to take him out of power. By this time the Mongol army was exhausted from ten years of continuous campaigning in China against the Western Xia and Jin dynasty. Therefore, Genghis sent only two tumen (20,000 soldiers) against Kuchlug, under his younger general, Jebe, known as "The Arrow".

With such a small force, the invading Mongols were forced to change strategies and resort to inciting internal revolt among Kuchlug's supporters, leaving the Qara Khitai more vulnerable to Mongol conquest. As a result, Kuchlug's army was defeated west of Kashgar. Kuchlug fled again, but was soon hunted down by Jebe's army and executed. By 1218, as a result of the defeat of Qara Khitai, the Mongol Empire and its control extended as far west as Lake Balkhash, which bordered Khwarazmia, a Muslim state that reached the Caspian Sea to the west and Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea to the south.

Khwarazmian Empire

In the early 13th century, the Khwarazmian dynasty was governed by Shah Ala ad-Din Muhammad. Genghis Khan saw the potential advantage in Khwarazmia as a commercial trading partner using the Silk Road, and he initially sent a 500-man caravan to establish official trade ties with the empire. Genghis Khan and his family and commanders invested in the caravan gold, silver, silk, various kinds of textiles and fabrics and pelts to trade with the Muslim traders in the Khwarazmian lands. However, Inalchuq, the governor of the Khwarazmian city of Otrar, attacked the caravan, claiming that the caravan contained spies and therefore was a conspiracy against Khwarazmia. The situation became further complicated because the governor later refused to make repayments for the looting of the caravans and hand over the perpetrators. Genghis Khan then sent a second group of three ambassadors (two Mongols and a Muslim) to meet the Shah himself, instead of the governor Inalchuq. The Shah had all the men shaved and the Muslim beheaded and sent his head back with the two remaining ambassadors. Outraged, Genghis Khan planned one of his largest invasion campaigns by organizing together around 100,000 soldiers (10 tumens), his most capable generals and some of his sons. He left a commander and number of troops in China, designated his successors to be his family members and likely appointed Ögedei to be his immediate successor and then went out to Khwarazmia.

The Mongol army under Genghis Khan, generals and his sons crossed the Tien Shan mountains by entering the area controlled by the Khwarazmian Empire. After compiling intelligence from many sources Genghis Khan carefully prepared his army, which was divided into three groups. His son Jochi led the first division into the northeast of Khwarazmia. The second division under Jebe marched secretly to the southeast part of Khwarazmia to form, with the first division, a pincer attack on Samarkand. The third division under Genghis Khan and Tolui marched to the northwest and attacked Khwarazmia from that direction.

The Shah's army was split by diverse internecine feuds and by the Shah's decision to divide his army into small groups concentrated in various cities. This fragmentation was decisive in Khwarazmia's defeats, as it allowed the Mongols, although exhausted from the long journey, to immediately set about defeating small fractions of the Khwarazmian forces instead of facing a unified defense. The Mongol army quickly seized the town of Otrar, relying on superior strategy and tactics. Genghis Khan ordered the wholesale massacre of many of the civilians, enslaved the rest of the population and executed Inalchuq by pouring molten silver into his ears and eyes, as retribution for his actions.

Genghis Khan next advanced on the city of Bukhara, which was not heavily fortified, with just a moat and a single wall, and the citadel typical of Khwarazmian cities. The city leaders opened the gates to the Mongols, though a unit of Turkish defenders held the city's citadel for another twelve days. The survivors from the citadel were executed, artisans and craftsmen were sent back to Mongolia, young men who had not fought were drafted into the Mongolian army and the rest of the population was sent into slavery. After the surrender of Bukhara, Genghis Khan also took the unprecedented step of personally entering the city, after which he had the city's aristocrats and elites brought to the mosque, where, through interpreters, he lectured them on their misdeeds, saying: "If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you."

With the capture of Bukhara, the way was clear for the Mongols to advance on the capital of Samarkand, which possessed significantly better fortifications and a larger garrison compared to Bukhara. To overcome the city, the Mongols engaged in intensive psychological warfare, including the use of captured Khwarazmian prisoners as body shields. After several days only a few remaining soldiers, loyal supporters of the Shah, held out in the citadel. After the fortress fell, Genghis executed every soldier that had taken arms against him. According to the Persian historian Ata-Malik Juvayni, the people of Samarkand were then ordered to evacuate and assemble in a plain outside the city, where they were killed and pyramids of severed heads raised as a symbol of victory. Similarly, Juvayni wrote that in the city Termez, to the south of Samarkand, "all the people, both men and women, were driven out onto the plain, and divided in accordance with their usual custom, then they were all slain".

Juvayni's account of mass killings at these sites is not corroborated by modern archaeology. Instead of killing local populations, the Mongols tended to enslave the conquered and either send them to Mongolia to act as menial labor or retain them for use in the war effort. The effect was still mass depopulation. The piling of a "pyramid of severed heads" happened not at Samarkand but at Nishapur, where Genghis Khan's sons-in-law Toquchar was killed by an arrow shot from the city walls after the residents revolted. The Khan then allowed his widowed daughter, who was pregnant at the time, to decide the fate of the city, and she decreed that the entire population be killed. She also supposedly ordered that every dog, cat and any other animals in the city by slaughtered, "so that no living thing would survive the murder of her husband". The sentence was duly carried out by the Khan's youngest son Tolui. According to widely circulated but unverified stories, the severed heads were then erected in separate piles for the men, women and children.

Near to the end of the battle for Samarkand, the Shah fled rather than surrender. Genghis Khan subsequently ordered two of his generals, Subutai and Jebe, to destroy the remnants of the Khwarazmian Empire, giving them 20,000 men and two years to do this. The Shah died under mysterious circumstances on a small island in the Caspian Sea that he had retreated to with his remaining loyal forces.

Meanwhile, the wealthy trading city of Urgench was still in the hands of Khwarazmian forces. The assault on Urgench proved to be the most difficult battle of the Mongol invasion and the city fell only after the defenders put up a stout defense, fighting block for block. Mongolian casualties were higher than normal, due to the unaccustomed difficulty of adapting Mongolian tactics to city fighting.

As usual, the artisans were sent back to Mongolia, young women and children were given to the Mongol soldiers as slaves, and the rest of the population was massacred. The Persian scholar Juvayni states that 50,000 Mongol soldiers were given the task of executing twenty-four Urgench citizens each, which would mean that 1.2 million people were killed. These numbers are considered logistically implausible by modern scholars, but the sacking of Urgench was no doubt a bloody affair.

Georgia, Crimea, Kievan Rus and Volga Bulgaria

After the defeat of the Khwarazmian Empire in 1220, Genghis Khan gathered his forces in Persia and Armenia to return to the Mongolian steppes. Under the suggestion of Subutai, the Mongol army was split into two forces. Genghis Khan led the main army on a raid through Afghanistan and northern India towards Mongolia, while another 20,000 (two tumen) contingent marched through the Caucasus and into Russia under generals Jebe and Subutai. They pushed deep into Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Mongols defeated the kingdom of Georgia, sacked the Genoese trade-fortress of Caffa in Crimea and overwintered near the Black Sea. Heading home, Subutai's forces attacked the allied forces of the Cuman–Kipchaks and the poorly coordinated 80,000 Kievan Rus' troops led by Mstislav the Bold of Halych and Mstislav III of Kiev who went out to stop the Mongols' actions in the area. Subutai sent emissaries to the Slavic princes calling for a separate peace, but the emissaries were executed. At the Battle of Kalka River in 1223, Subutai's forces defeated the larger Kievan force. They may have been defeated by the neighbouring Volga Bulgars at the Battle of Samara Bend. There is no historical record except a short account by the Arab historian Ibn al-Athir, writing in Mosul some away from the event. Various historical secondary sources – Morgan, Chambers, Grousset – state that the Mongols actually defeated the Bulgars, Chambers even going so far as to say that the Bulgars had made up stories to tell the (recently crushed) Russians that they had beaten the Mongols and driven them from their territory. The Russian princes then sued for peace. Subutai agreed but was in no mood to pardon the princes. Not only had the Rus put up strong resistance, but also Jebe – with whom Subutai had campaigned for years – had been killed just prior to the Battle of Kalka River. As was customary in Mongol society for nobility, the Russian princes were given a bloodless death. Subutai had a large wooden platform constructed on which he ate his meals along with his other generals. Six Russian princes, including Mstislav III of Kiev, were put under this platform and crushed to death.

The Mongols learned from captives of the abundant green pastures beyond the Bulgar territory, allowing for the planning for conquest of Hungary and Europe. Genghis Khan recalled Subutai back to Mongolia soon afterwards. The famous cavalry expedition led by Subutai and Jebe, in which they encircled the entire Caspian Sea defeating all armies in their path, remains unparalleled to this day, and word of the Mongol triumphs began to trickle to other nations, particularly in Europe. These two campaigns are generally regarded as reconnaissance campaigns that tried to get the feel of the political and cultural elements of the regions. In 1225 both divisions returned to Mongolia. These invasions added Transoxiana and Persia to an already formidable empire while destroying any resistance along the way. Later under Genghis Khan's grandson Batu and the Golden Horde, the Mongols returned to conquer Volga Bulgaria and Kievan Rus' in 1237, concluding the campaign in 1240.

Western Xia and Jin Dynasty

The vassal emperor of the Tanguts (Western Xia) had earlier refused to take part in the Mongol war against the Khwarezmid Empire. Western Xia and the defeated Jin dynasty formed a coalition to resist the Mongols, counting on the campaign against the Khwarazmians to preclude the Mongols from responding effectively.

In 1226, immediately after returning from the west, Genghis Khan began a retaliatory attack on the Tanguts. His armies quickly took Heisui, Ganzhou, and Suzhou (not the Suzhou in Jiangsu province), and in the autumn he took Xiliang-fu. One of the Tangut generals challenged the Mongols to a battle near Helan Mountains but was defeated. In November, Genghis laid siege to the Tangut city Lingzhou and crossed the Yellow River, defeating the Tangut relief army. According to legend, it was here that Genghis Khan reportedly saw a line of five stars arranged in the sky and interpreted it as an omen of his victory.

In 1227, Genghis Khan's army attacked and destroyed the Tangut capital of Ning Hia and continued to advance, seizing Lintiao-fu, Xining province, Xindu-fu, and Deshun province in quick succession in the spring. At Deshun, the Tangut general Ma Jianlong put up a fierce resistance for several days and personally led charges against the invaders outside the city gate. Ma Jianlong later died from wounds received from arrows in battle. Genghis Khan, after conquering Deshun, went to Liupanshan (Qingshui County, Gansu Province) to escape the severe summer. The new Tangut emperor quickly surrendered to the Mongols, and the rest of the Tanguts officially surrendered soon after. Not happy with their betrayal and resistance, Genghis Khan ordered the entire imperial family to be executed, effectively ending the Tangut royal lineage.

Succession

The succession of Genghis Khan was already a significant topic during the later years of his reign, as he reached old age. The long running paternity discussion about Genghis's oldest son Jochi was particularly contentious because of the seniority of Jochi among the brothers. According to traditional historical accounts, the issue over Jochi's paternity was voiced most strongly by Chagatai. In The Secret History of the Mongols, just before the invasion of the Khwarezmid Empire by Genghis Khan, Chagatai declared before his father and brothers that he would never accept Jochi as Genghis Khan's successor. In response to this tension and possibly for other reasons, Ögedei was appointed as successor.

Ögedei

Ögedei Khan, born Ögedei (c. 1186 – December 11, 1241) was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan (Khagan) of the Mongol Empire. He continued the expansion that his father had begun and was a world figure when the Mongol Empire reached its farthest extent west and south during the invasions of Europe and Asia.

Jochi

Genghis Khan was aware of the friction between his sons (particularly between Chagatai and Jochi) and worried of possible conflict between them if he died. He therefore decided to divide his empire among his sons and make all of them Khan in their own right, while appointing one of his sons as his successor. Chagatai was considered unstable due to his temper and rash behavior, because of statements he made that he would not follow Jochi if he were to become his father's successor. Tolui, Genghis Khan's youngest son, was not suitable since in Mongol culture, youngest sons were not given much responsibility due to their age. If Jochi were to become successor, it was likely that Chagatai would engage in warfare with him and collapse the empire. Therefore, Genghis Khan decided to give the throne to Ögedei. Ögedei was seen by Genghis Khan as dependable in character and relatively stable and down to earth and would be a neutral candidate that might defuse the situation between his brothers.

Jochi died in 1226, during his father's lifetime. Some scholars, notably Ratchnevsky, have commented on the possibility that Jochi was secretly poisoned by an order from Genghis Khan. Rashid al-Din reports that the great Khan sent for his sons in the spring of 1223, and while his brothers heeded the order, Jochi remained in Khorasan. Juzjani suggests that the disagreement arose from a quarrel between Jochi and his brothers in the siege of Urgench. Jochi had attempted to protect Urgench from destruction, as it belonged to territory allocated to him as a fief. He concludes his story with the clearly apocryphal statement by Jochi: "Genghis Khan is mad to have massacred so many people and laid waste so many lands. I would be doing a service if I killed my father when he is hunting, made an alliance with Sultan Muhammad, brought this land to life and gave assistance and support to the Muslims." Juzjani claims that it was in response to hearing of these plans that Genghis Khan ordered his son secretly poisoned; however, as Sultan Muhammad was already dead by 1223, the accuracy of this story is questionable.

Death and burial

Genghis Khan died in August 1227, during the fall of Yinchuan, which is the capital of Western Xia. The exact cause of his death remains a mystery, and is variously attributed to being killed in action against the Western Xia, illness, falling from his horse, or wounds sustained in hunting or battle. According to The Secret History of the Mongols, Genghis Khan fell from his horse while hunting and died because of the injury. He was already old and tired from his journeys. The Galician–Volhynian Chronicle alleges he was killed by the Western Xia in battle, while Marco Polo wrote that he died after the infection of an arrow wound he received during his final campaign. Later Mongol chronicles connect Genghis's death with a Western Xia princess taken as war booty. One chronicle from the early 17th century even relates the legend that the princess hid a small dagger and stabbed him, though some Mongol authors have doubted this version and suspected it to be an invention by the rival Oirads.

Years before his death, Genghis Khan asked to be buried without markings, according to the customs of his tribe. After he died, his body was returned to Mongolia and presumably to his birthplace in Khentii Aimag, where many assume he is buried somewhere close to the Onon River and the Burkhan Khaldun mountain (part of the Kentii mountain range). According to legend, the funeral escort killed anyone and anything across their path to conceal where he was finally buried. The Genghis Khan Mausoleum, constructed many years after his death, is his memorial, but not his burial site.

In 1939 Chinese Nationalist soldiers took the mausoleum from its position at the 'Lord's Enclosure' (Mongolian: Edsen Khoroo) in Mongolia to protect it from Japanese troops. It was taken through Communist-held territory in Yan'an some on carts to safety at a Buddhist monastery, the Dongshan Dafo Dian, where it remained for ten years. In 1949, as Communist troops advanced, the Nationalist soldiers moved it another farther west to the famous Tibetan monastery of Kumbum Monastery or Ta'er Shi near Xining, which soon fell under Communist control. In early 1954, Genghis Khan's bier and relics were returned to the Lord's Enclosure in Mongolia. By 1956 a new temple was erected there to house them. In 1968 during the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards destroyed almost everything of value. The "relics" were remade in the 1970s and a great marble statue of Genghis was completed in 1989.

On October 6, 2004, a joint Japanese-Mongolian archaeological dig uncovered what is believed to be Genghis Khan's palace in rural Mongolia, which raises the possibility of actually locating the ruler's long-lost burial site. Folklore says that a river was diverted over his grave to make it impossible to find (the same manner of burial as the Sumerian King Gilgamesh of Uruk and Alaric I). Other tales state that his grave was stampeded over by many horses, and that trees were then planted over the site, and the permafrost also did its part in hiding the burial site.

Genghis Khan left behind an army of more than 129,000 men; 28,000 were given to his various brothers and his sons. Tolui, his youngest son, inherited more than 100,000 men. This force contained the bulk of the elite Mongolian cavalry. By tradition, the youngest son inherits his father's property. Jochi, Chagatai, Ögedei Khan, and Kulan's son Gelejian received armies of 4,000 men each. His mother and the descendants of his three brothers received 3,000 men each.

Mongol Empire

Politics and economics

The Mongol Empire was governed by a civilian and military code, called the Yassa, created by Genghis Khan. The Mongol Empire did not emphasize the importance of ethnicity and race in the administrative realm, instead adopting an approach grounded in meritocracy. The Mongol Empire was one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse empires in history, as befitted its size. Many of the empire's nomadic inhabitants considered themselves Mongols in military and civilian life, including Mongols, Turks and others and included many diverse Khans of various ethnicities as part of the Mongol Empire such as Muhammad Khan.

There were tax exemptions for religious figures and, to some extent, teachers and doctors. The Mongol Empire practiced religious tolerance because Mongol tradition had long held that religion was a personal concept, and not subject to law or interference. Sometime before the rise of Genghis Khan, Ong Khan, his mentor and eventual rival, had converted to Nestorian Christianity. Various Mongol tribes were Shamanist, Buddhist or Christian. Religious tolerance was thus a well established concept on the Asian steppe.

Modern Mongolian historians say that towards the end of his life, Genghis Khan attempted to create a civil state under the Great Yassa that would have established the legal equality of all individuals, including women. However, there is no evidence of this, or of the lifting of discriminatory policies towards sedentary peoples such as the Chinese. Women played a relatively important role in the Mongol Empire and in the family, for example Töregene Khatun was briefly in charge of the Mongol Empire while the next male leader Khagan was being chosen. Modern scholars refer to the alleged policy of encouraging trade and communication as the Pax Mongolica (Mongol Peace).

Genghis Khan realised that he needed people who could govern cities and states conquered by him. He also realised that such administrators could not be found among his Mongol people because they were nomads and thus had no experience governing cities. For this purpose Genghis Khan invited a Khitan prince, Chu'Tsai, who worked for the Jin and had been captured by the Mongol army after the Jin dynasty was defeated. Jin had captured power by displacing Khitan. Genghis told Chu'Tsai, who was a lineal descendant of Khitan rulers, that he had avenged Chu'Tsai's forefathers. Chu'Tsai responded that his father served the Jin dynasty honestly and so did he; also he did not consider his own father his enemy, so the question of revenge did not apply. This reply impressed Genghis Khan. Chu'Tsai administered parts of the Mongol Empire and became a confidant of the successive Mongol Khans.

Military

Genghis Khan put absolute trust in his generals, such as Muqali, Jebe and Subutai, and regarded them as close advisors, often extending them the same privileges and trust normally reserved for close family members. He allowed them to make decisions on their own when they embarked on campaigns far from the Mongol Empire capital Karakorum. Muqali, a trusted lieutenant, was given command of the Mongol forces against the Jin dynasty while Genghis Khan was fighting in Central Asia, and Subutai and Jebe were allowed to pursue the Great Raid into the Caucasus and Kievan Rus', an idea they had presented to the Khagan on their own initiative. While granting his generals a great deal of autonomy in making command decisions, Genghis Khan also expected unwavering loyalty from them.

The Mongol military was also successful in siege warfare, cutting off resources for cities and towns by diverting certain rivers, taking enemy prisoners and driving them in front of the army, and adopting new ideas, techniques and tools from the people they conquered, particularly in employing Muslim and Chinese siege engines and engineers to aid the Mongol cavalry in capturing cities. Another standard tactic of the Mongol military was the commonly practiced feigned retreat to break enemy formations and to lure small enemy groups away from the larger group and defended position for ambush and counterattack.

Another important aspect of the military organization of Genghis Khan was the communications and supply route or Yam, adapted from previous Chinese models. Genghis Khan dedicated special attention to this in order to speed up the gathering of military intelligence and official communications. To this end, Yam waystations were established all over the empire.

Khanates

Several years before his death, Genghis Khan divided his empire among his sons Ögedei, Chagatai, Tolui, and Jochi (Jochi's death several months before Genghis Khan's meant that his lands were instead split between his sons, Batu and Orda) into several Khanates designed as sub-territories: their Khans were expected to follow the Great Khan, who was, initially, Ögedei.

Following are the Khanates as Genghis Khan assigned them:

• Empire of the Great Khan: Ögedei Khan, as Great Khan, took most of Eastern Asia, including China; this territory later to comprise the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan.

• Mongol homeland (present day Mongolia, including Karakorum): Tolui Khan, being the youngest son, received a small territory near the Mongol homeland, following Mongol custom.

• Chagatai Khanate: Chagatai Khan, Genghis Khan's second son, was given Central Asia and northern Iran.

• Blue Horde to Batu Khan, and White Horde to Orda Khan, both were later combined into the Kipchak Khanate, or Khanate of the Golden Horde, under Toqtamysh. Genghis Khan's eldest son, Jochi, had received most of the distant Russia and Ruthenia. Because Jochi died before Genghis Khan, his territory was further split up between his sons. Batu Khan launched an invasion of Russia, and later Hungary and Poland, and crushed several armies before being summoned back by the news of Ögedei's death.

After Genghis Khan

Contrary to popular belief, Genghis Khan did not conquer the whole area of the eventual Mongol Empire. At the time of his death in 1227, the empire stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Sea of Japan. Its expansion continued for one or more generations. Under Genghis's successor Ögedei Khan the speed of expansion reached its peak. Mongol armies pushed into Persia, finished off the Western Xia and the remnants of the Khwarezmids, clashed with the imperial Song dynasty of China, and eventually took control of all of China in 1279. They also pushed further into Russia and eastern Europe.

Perceptions

Like other notable conquerors, Genghis Khan is portrayed differently by conquered peoples than those who conquered with him. Negative views persist in histories written by many cultures from different geographical regions. They often cite the systematic slaughter of civilians in conquered regions, cruelties and destruction by Mongol armies. Other authors also cite positive aspects of Genghis Khan's conquests.

Positive

Genghis Khan is credited with bringing the Silk Road under one cohesive political environment. This allowed increased communication and trade between the West, Middle East and Asia, thus expanding the horizons of all three cultural areas. Some historians have noted that Genghis Khan instituted certain levels of meritocracy in his rule, was tolerant of religions and explained his policies clearly to all his soldiers.

In Mongolia

Genghis Khan had been revered for centuries by Mongols and certain other ethnic groups such as Turks, largely because of his association with Mongol statehood, political and military organization, and his victories in war. He eventually evolved into a larger-than-life figure chiefly among the Mongols and is still considered the symbol of Mongolian culture.

During the communist period in Mongolia, Genghis was often described as a reactionary, and positive statements about him were avoided. In 1962, the erection of a monument at his birthplace and a conference held in commemoration of his 800th birthday led to criticism from the Soviet Union and the dismissal of secretary Tömör-Ochir of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee.

In the early 1990s, the memory of Genghis Khan underwent a powerful revival, partly in reaction to its suppression during the Mongolian People's Republic period. Genghis Khan became one of the central figures of the national identity. He is considered positively by Mongolians for his role in uniting warring tribes. For example, Mongolians often refer to their country as "Genghis Khan's Mongolia", to themselves as "Genghis Khan's children", and to Genghis Khan as the "father of the Mongols" especially among the younger generation. However, there is a chasm in the perception of his brutality. Mongolians maintain that the historical records written by non-Mongolians are unfairly biased against Genghis Khan and that his butchery is exaggerated, while his positive role is underrated.

In Mongolia today, Genghis Khan's name and likeness appear on products, streets, buildings, and other places. His face can be found on everyday commodities, from liquor bottles to candy, and on the largest denominations of 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 Mongolian tögrög (₮). Mongolia's main international airport in Ulaanbaatar is named Chinggis Khaan International Airport. Major Genghis Khan statues stand before the parliament and near Ulaanbaatar. There have been repeated discussions about regulating the use of his name and image to avoid trivialization.

Genghis Khan is regarded as one of the most prominent leaders in Mongolia's history. He is responsible for the emergence of the Mongols as a political and ethnic identity because there was no unified identity between the tribes that had cultural similarity. He reinforced many Mongol traditions and provided stability and unity during a time of almost endemic warfare between tribes. He is also credited for introducing the traditional Mongolian script and creating the first written Mongolian code of law, the Ikh Zasag ("Great Administration"). Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj has noted that the Ikh Zasag heavily punished corruption and bribery, and he considers Genghis Khan a teacher for anti-corruption efforts who sought equal protection under the law for all citizens regardless of status or wealth. On the 850th anniversary of Genghis's birth, the President stated "Chinggis ... was a man who deeply realized that the justice begins and consolidates with the equality of law, and not with the distinctions between people. He was a man who knew that the good laws and rules lived longer than fancy palaces." In summary, Mongolians see him as the fundamental figure in the founding of the Mongol Empire and therefore the basis for Mongolia as a country.

, Elbegdorj issued a decree establishing Genghis Khan's birthday as a national holiday on the first day of winter (according to the Mongolian lunar calendar).

In Europe

Genghis Khan had a positive reputation among western European authors in the Middle Ages, who knew little concrete information about his empire in Asia. Philosopher and inventor Roger Bacon applauded the scientific and philosophical vigor of Genghis Khan's empire, and the famed writer Geoffrey Chaucer wrote concerning :

The Italian explorer Marco Polo said that Genghis Khan "was a man of great worth, and of great ability, and valor."

In Japan

Japanese such as Kenchō Suyematsu have claimed that the ethnic Japanese Minamoto no Yoshitsune was Genghis Khan.

Mixed

In China

There are conflicting views of Genghis Khan in the People's Republic of China. The legacy of Genghis and his successors, who completed the conquest of China after 65 years of struggle, remains a mixed topic. China suffered a drastic decline in population. The population of north China decreased from 50 million in the 1195 census to 8.5 million in the Mongol census of 1235–36. However most of them were victims of plague, floods and famine long after the war in northern China was over in 1234 and were not killed by Mongols. Since the 1340s, Yuan China experienced problems. The Yellow River flooded constantly, and other natural disasters also occurred. At the same time the Yuan dynasty required considerable military expenditure to maintain its vast empire. The Black Death also contributed to the birth of the Red Turban movement. Other groups or religious sects made an effort to undermine the power of the last Yuan rulers; these religious movements often warned of impending doom. Decline of agriculture, plague and cold weather hit China, spurring the armed rebellion. In Hebei, 9 out of 10 were killed by the Black Death when Toghon Temür was enthroned in 1333. Two out of three people in China had died of the plague by 1351. An unknown number of people migrated to Southern China in this period. James Waterson cautioned against attributing the population drop in northern China to Mongol slaughter since much of the population may have moved to southern China under the Southern Song or died of disease and famine as agricultural and urban city infrastructure were destroyed. The Mongols spared cities from massacre and sacking if they surrendered like Kaifeng, which was surrendered to Subetai by Xu Li, Yangzhou which was surrendered to Bayan by Li Tingzhi's second in command after Li Tingzhi was executed by the Southern Song, and Hangzhou was spared from sacking when it surrendered to Kublai Khan. Han Chinese and Khitan soldiers defected en masse to Genghis Khan against the Jurchen Jin dynasty. Towns which surrendered were spared from sacking and massacre by Kublai Khan. Khitan did not like leaving their homeland in Manchuria as the Jin moved their primary capital from Beijing south to Kaifeng and defected to the Mongols.

In Inner Mongolia there are a monument and buildings dedicated to him and considerable number of ethnic Mongols in the area with a population of around 5 million, almost twice the population of Mongolia. While Genghis never conquered all of China, his grandson Kublai Khan completed that conquest and established the Yuan dynasty that is often credited with re-uniting China. There has been much artwork and literature praising Genghis as a military leader and political genius. The Mongol-established Yuan dynasty left an indelible imprint on Chinese political and social structures for subsequent generations with literature during the preceding Jin dynasty relatively fewer.

In Russia

Genghis Khan has a predominantly negative reputation in Russia, although he is perceived positively in Buryatia, the republic of the Mongol-speaking Buryats in the Russian Federation. According to the chief editor of Novaya Buryatia, Timur Dugarzhapov, "Genghis Khan was always a folk hero among the Buryat people. But in Buryatia, even today, children learn ... how terrible the 『Mongol yoke』 was, how it set Russia back and was responsible for all sort of historic ills."

Negative

The conquests and leadership of Genghis Khan included widespread devastation and mass murder, and he, along with the Mongols in general, committed genocide. The targets of campaigns that refused to surrender would often be subject to reprisals in the form of enslavement and wholesale slaughter. The second campaign against Western Xia, the final military action led by Genghis Khan, and during which he died, involved an intentional and systematic destruction of Western Xia cities and culture. According to John Man, because of this policy of total obliteration, Western Xia is little known to anyone other than experts in the field because so little record is left of that society. He states that "There is a case to be made that this was the first ever recorded example of attempted genocide. It was certainly very successful ethnocide." In the conquest of Khwarezmia under Genghis Khan, the Mongols razed the cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, Herāt, Ṭūs, and Neyshābūr and killed the respective urban populations. His invasions are considered the beginning of a 200-year period known in Iran and other Islamic societies as the "Mongol catastrophe." Ibn al-Athir, Ata-Malik Juvaini, Seraj al-Din Jozjani, and Rashid al-Din Fazl-Allah Hamedani, Iranian historians from the time of Mongol occupation, describe the Mongol invasions as an catastrophe never before seen. A number of present-day Iranian historians, including Zabih Allah Safa, have likewise viewed the period initiated by Genghis Khan as a uniquely catastrophic era. Steven R. Ward writes that the Mongol violence and depredations in the Iranian Plateau "killed up to three-fourths of the population... possibly 10 to 15 million people. Some historians have estimated that Iran's population did not again reach its pre-Mongol levels until the mid-20th century."

Although the famous Mughal emperors were proud descendants of Genghis Khan and particularly Timur, they clearly distanced themselves from the Mongol atrocities committed against the Khwarizim Shahs, Turks, Persians, the citizens of Baghdad and Damascus, Nishapur, Bukhara and historical figures such as Attar of Nishapur and many other notable Muslims. However, Mughal Emperors directly patronized the legacies of Genghis Khan and Timur; together their names were synonymous with the names of other distinguished personalities particularly among the Muslim populations of South Asia.

Descent

In addition to most of the Mongol nobility up to the 20th century, the Mughal emperor Babur's mother was a descendant. Timur (also known as Tamerlane), the 14th-century military leader, and many other nobilities of central Asian countries claimed descent from Genghis Khan. During the Soviet purge most of the Mongol nobility in Mongolia were purged.

Physical appearance

Unlike most emperors, Genghis Khan never allowed his image to be portrayed in paintings or sculptures. The earliest known images of Genghis Khan were produced half a century after his death, including the famous National Palace Museum portrait. Though the portrait in the National Palace Museum is often considered the closest resemblance to what Genghis Khan actually looked like, it, like all others, is essentially an arbitrary rendering. These earliest images were commissioned by Kublai Khan and intentionally sinicized Genghis Khan as a Mandarin, in order to posthumously legitimate him as a Chinese emperor. Other portrayals of Genghis Khan from other cultures likewise characterized him according to their particular image of him. In Persia he was portrayed as a Turkish sultan, in Europe he was pictured as an ugly barbarian with a fierce face and cruel eyes. According to Herbert Allen Giles, a painter known as Ho-li-hosun (also known as Khorisun or Qooriqosun ) was a Mongol commissioned by Kublai Khan in 1278 to paint the portrait of Genghis Khan (National Palace Museum portrait). Under Kublai Khan's supervision, he ordered Khorisun along with the other entrusted remaining followers of Genghis Khan to make sure that the portrait of Genghis Khan reflected his true image.

The only individuals to have recorded Genghis Khan's physical appearance during his lifetime were the Persian chronicler Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani and Chinese diplomat Zhao Hong. Minhaj al-Siraj described Genghis Khan as "a man of tall stature, of vigorous build, robust in body, the hair of his face scanty and turned white, with cats』 eyes, possessed of dedicated energy, discernment, genius, and understanding, awe-striking...". The chronicler had also previously commented on Genghis Khan's height, powerful build, with cat's eyes and lack of grey hair, based on the evidence of eyes witnesses in 1220, which saw Genghis Khan fighting in the Khorasan (modern day northwest Persia). According to Paul Ratchnevsky, Zhao Hong, a Song dynasty envoy who visited the Mongols in 1221, described Genghis Khan as "of tall and majestic stature, his brow is broad and his beard is long".

Other descriptions of Genghis Khan come from 14th century texts. The Persian historian Rashid-al-Din in Jami' al-tawarikh, written in the beginning of the 14th century, stated that most Borjigin ancestors of Genghis Khan were "tall, long-bearded, red-haired, and bluish green-eyed," features which Genghis Khan himself had. The factual nature of this statement is considered controversial. In the Georgian Chronicles, in a passage written in the 14th century, Genghis Khan is similarly described as a large, good-looking man, with red hair. However, according to John Andrew Boyle, Rashid al-Din's text of red hair referred to ruddy skin complexion, and that Genghis Khan was of ruddy complexion like most of his children except for Kublai Khan who was swarthy. He translated the text as 「It chanced that he was born 2 months before Möge, and when Chingiz-Khan』s eye fell upon him he said: 「all our children are of a ruddy complexion, but this child is swarthy like his maternal uncles. Tell Sorqoqtani Beki to give him to a good nurse to be reared」. 14th century Arabic historian Shihab al-Umari also disputed Rashid al-Din's translation and claimed Alan Gua falsified the origin of her clan. Some Historians such as Denise Aigle claimed that Rashid al-Din mythicized the origin of Genghis Khan ancestors (the Borjigin clan) through his own interpretations of The Secret History of the Mongols. Italian historian Igor de Rachewiltz claimed that the Mongol origins of the early ancestors of Genghis Khan were animals born from the blue eye wolf (Borte Chino) and the fallow doe (Qo'ai Maral) that was described in the early legends, that their ancestors were animals.

Depictions in modern culture

There have been several films, novels and other adaptation works on the Mongolian ruler.

Films

• Genghis Khan, a 1950 Philippine film directed by Manuel Conde.

• The Conqueror, released in 1956 and starring John Wayne as Temüjin and Susan Hayward as Börte.

• Changez Khan, a 1957 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Kedar Kapoor, starring Sheikh Mukhtar as the emperor along with Bina Rai and Prem Nath in the lead roles.

• Genghis Khan, a 1965 film starring Omar Sharif.

• Under the Eternal Blue Sky, a Mongolian film directed by Baljinnyam, which was released in 1990. Starring Agvaantserengiin Enkhtaivan as Temüjin.

• Genghis Khan, an unfinished 1992 film starring Richard Tyson, Charlton Heston and Pat Morita.

• Genghis Khan – A Proud Son Of Heaven, a 1998 film made in Mongolian, with English subtitles.

• Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea, also known as The Descendant of Gray Wolf, a Japanese-Mongolian film released in 2007.

• Mongol, a film by Sergei Bodrov released in 2007. (Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film).

• No Right to Die – Chinggis Khaan, a Mongolian film released in 2008.

Television series

• Genghis Khan, a 1987 Hong Kong television series produced by TVB, starring Alex Man.

• Genghis Khan, a 1987 Hong Kong television series produced by ATV, starring Tony Liu.

• Genghis Khan, a 2004 Chinese-Mongolian co-produced television series, starring Ba Sen, who is a descendant of Genghis Khan's second son Chagatai.

• "Aaakhri Chattan", a 1978 Pakistani drama series having Zahoor Ahmed as Genghis Khan.

Poetry

• "The Squire's Tale", one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, is set at the court of Genghis Khan.

• The End of Genghis, a poem by F. L. Lucas, in which the dying Khan, attended by his Khitan counsellor Yelü Chucai, looks back on his life.

Novels

• The Conqueror series of novels by Conn Iggulden

• Steppe by Piers Anthony

• Genghis Khan (Last incarnation) in Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

• White cloud of Genghis Khan by Chingiz Aitmatov

Short stories

• The Private Life of Genghis Khan by Douglas Adams and Graham Chapman

Music

• West German pop band Dschinghis Khan took its name from the German-language spelling of Genghis Khan. They participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 with their song of the same name.

• Heavy metal band Iron Maiden released an all-instrumental track titled "Genghis Khan" on their 1981 sophomore album Killers.

• The band Miike Snow released the song "Genghis Khan" in 2017.

• Mongolian Folk-Rock band The Hu released a song called The Great Chinggis Khaan in August 2019.

Video games

• Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

• Aoki Ookami to Shiroki Mejika IV: Genghis Khan

• Crusader Kings 2

• Deadliest Warrior: Legends

• Sid Meier's Civilization

Name and title

There are many theories about the origins of Temüjin's title. Since people of the Mongol nation later associated the name with ching (Mongolian for strength), such confusion is obvious, though it does not follow etymology.

One theory suggests the name stems from a palatalised version of the Mongolic and Turkic word tenggis/tengiz, meaning "sea", "ocean", "oceanic" or "wide-spreading". (Lake Baikal and other large bodies of water were called tenggis by the Mongols). This view was repeated by, among others, the Big Russian Encyclopedia;. However, it seems that if they had meant to call Genghis tenggis they could have said, and written, "Tenggis Khan", which they did not. Zhèng (Chinese: 正) meaning "right", "just", or "true", would have received the Mongolian adjectival modifier -s, creating "Jenggis", which in medieval romanization would be written "Genghis". It is likely that the 13th-century Mongolian pronunciation would have closely matched "Chinggis".

The English spelling "Genghis" is of unclear origin. Weatherford claims it derives from a spelling used in original Persian reports. Even at this time some Iranians pronounce his name as "Ghengiss". However, review of historical Persian sources does not confirm this.

According to the Secret History of the Mongols, Temüjin was named after a powerful warrior of the Tatar tribe that his father Yesügei had taken prisoner. The name "Temüjin" is believed to derive from the word temür, Turkic for iron (modern Mongolian: , tömör). The name would imply a blacksmith or a man strong like iron.

No evidence has survived to indicate that Genghis Khan had any exceptional training or reputation as a blacksmith. But the latter interpretation (a man strong like iron) is supported by the names of Genghis Khan's siblings, Temülin and Temüge, which are derived from the same root word.

Name and spelling variations

Genghis Khan is spelled in a variety of ways in different languages such as Mongolian Chinggis Khaan, English Chinghiz, Chinghis, and Chingiz, 成吉思汗 Chéngjísī Hán, Turkic: Cengiz Han, Çingiz Xan, Chingizxon, Shın'g'ısxan, Çingiz Han Çıñğız Xan, Şıñğıs xan, Çiñğiz Xaan, Çiñğizhan, Russian: Чингисхан (Čingiskhan) or Чингиз-хан (Čingiz-khan), etc. Temüjin is written in Chinese as 铁木眞 Tiěmùzhēn.

When Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in 1271, he had his grandfather Genghis Khan placed on the official record as the founder of the dynasty or Taizu. Thus, Genghis Khan is also referred to as Yuan Taizu (Emperor Taizu of Yuan, ) in Chinese historiography.

Timeline

• Probably 1155 or 1162: Temüjin was born in the Khentii mountains.

• When Temüjin was nine, his father Yesükhei was poisoned by Tatars, leaving Temüjin and his family destitute.

• c. 1184: Temüjin's wife Börte was kidnapped by Merkits; he called on blood brother Jamukha and Wang Khan for aid, and they rescued her.

• c. 1185: First son Jochi was born; leading to doubt about his paternity later among Genghis's children, because he was born shortly after Börte's rescue from the Merkits.

• 1190: Temüjin united the Mongol tribes, became leader, and devised code of law Yassa.

• 1201: Victory over Jamukha's Jadarans.

• 1202: Adopted as Wang Khan's heir after successful campaigns against Tatars.

• 1203: Victory over Wang Khan's Keraites. Wang Khan himself killed by accident by allied Naimans.

• 1204: Victory over Naimans (all these confederations unite and become the Mongols).

• 1206: Jamukha was killed. Temüjin was given the title Genghis Khan by his followers in a Kurultai (around 40 years of age).

• 1207–1210: Genghis led operations against the Western Xia, which comprises much of northwestern China and parts of Tibet. Western Xia ruler submitted to Genghis Khan. During this period, the Uyghurs also submitted peacefully to the Mongols and became valued administrators throughout the empire.

• 1211: After the kurultai, Genghis led his armies against the Jin dynasty ruling northern China.

• 1215: Beijing fell; Genghis Khan turned to west and the Khara-Kitan Khanate.

• 1219–1222: Conquered Khwarezmid Empire.

• 1226: Started the campaign against the Western Xia for forming coalition against the Mongols, the second battle with the Western Xia.

• 1227: Genghis Khan died after conquering the Tangut people. Cause of death is uncertain.