The Creator of the most Powerful Empire in the World - Gengis Khan

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Good morning dear community, we hope you are well, and are at home taking good care of yourselves. You know that in Virtual Variety we love History, and we are fascinated to tell it to you, in a different way, simpler, but always trying to turn the information into a meaningful learning. A few days ago, we talked about the Emperor Nero, we made a brief summary about his life, his exploits and how he came to power. However, we have always mentioned that there are stories and characters that today are not known or remembered. And we are here to tell you about these people, who changed the course of history.

Much has been said and/or talked about the great Empires that have existed since the beginning of Humanity; there are many civilizations that advanced in a dizzying way, causing us great amazement, because of the intelligence they had, however, we always talk about the same people, Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, But today we will talk about a Man, who thanks to his futuristic vision, charisma and intelligence, achieved what nobody expected, creating the largest Empire in the world, but not only dedicated himself to forge an Empire, he also surrounded himself with people with the necessary intelligences and skills, to create fair laws. No doubt what we are going to tell you will leave you impressed, this is the Story of the Great Genghis Khan.

Who was Genghis Khan?

Near Lake Baikal (Mongolia), he was born between 1155, 1162 and 1167 (The exact date is not known). A boy, named Temujin, his father (Yesugei) was the head of the "Borjigin" Clan. At that time, the Mongolian tribes, were in a kind of "war", there was no union, which made them vulnerable to any attack from foreign adversaries. The greatest power was held by the Tartars, who were enemies of the Borjigin Clan, Temujin's father, dedicated himself to fighting them. At the age of nine, the youngest, was forced to marry, with a girl from another clan, while such event was happening, the Tartars, took advantage of poisoning Temujin's father. Something that brought much misfortune to his family, they were banished from their own clan, along with his mother, began a long journey through the plains, they were very hungry, and his life was in great danger, because other clans tried to kill them.

But his mother was always positive, and taught him the value of union and of forging alliances, for without them, we cannot achieve anything in life. The young man, despite his pain and fears, kept such a teaching from his mother, which would certainly help him a few years later.

How do you become a leader?

In spite of his young age, according to historical data, at the age of 15, the young man decided to retake the alliance that his father had made, before he died, with the "Kerait" Clan. This alliance helped him to get closer to other clans, and that's where he began to have followers who shared his ideals, the advice his mother gave him, I don't miss it at all. So great was the support he got, that the "Nokor" (Blood Brothers) emerged, warriors, who were willing to give up everything, just to follow him and support him. But his best ally in this project that he was just starting was his great childhood friend, Jamukha, who helped him get where he wanted to go.

When he saw that he had enough men, and the necessary preparation, his first decisions were not long in coming, to attack the murderers of his father: "The Tartars". His revenge was lethal, his order was fulfilled to the letter, to kill all the men, and newborns that there were none left alive, the women if he left them alive, these were distributed as a "prize" to all his men, a decision that helped him gain more followers, and tremendous support, from other Clans. They saw him as a kind leader, who knew how to reward those who accompanied him in his plans.

And what happened next?

After finishing with the murderers of his father, he began to improve his army, and it is that he was guided by a Mongolian military tradition, to organize it, nevertheless he decided to unify the different tribes, without concerning where they were from or that they had. He understood that there was no point in having people who came from a great lineage, or had great wealth, on the contrary, he used the skills of each man, to give him the corresponding place within his military forces. It seems that Temujin had a unique ability to know who had the talent to occupy good positions in the military and social sphere. Thanks to these, some time later, he formed his Imperial Guard, formed by the best men, who had unique skills for war, and also found the most suitable to occupy the administration of the towns he took or conquered.

His desire to survive, to take revenge on his father's assassins, and to create a single army, led him to go for more, so he decided to break alliances, with his best friend of childhood Jamukha and with the Clan "Kerait", with such an army accompanying him, nothing could be done to refuse such a break. After that, he started a plan to decimate those rebel clans, who refused to join him or recognize him. All were razed, in the year 1202, he decided to call a small meeting, with all those Nobles of Mongolia, the result of this meeting was to be named Genghis Khan (Universal lord). Khan took advantage of the moment to present his new political measures, which marked a new era for all Mongolia. With this he would start a new judicial structure, which was accompanied by strict and fair laws, for all those who lived in Mongolia.

Genghis understood that he should surround himself with educated people, with the most brilliant minds of those days, if he wanted to strengthen his Empire, for he understood that weapons and warriors can be the basis of a society. In 1209, he met with the Uyghurs, Muslims, who managed to obtain a great cultural and social development, despite being classified as sedentary, thanks to them, he understood the importance of managing resources and sources of income, however the Uyghurs, not only wanted to "educate" the young warrior, on accounts and ways to expand their wealth, on the contrary, they were at war with the Tangut Empire, who were their biggest rivals, and controlled the Silk Road, they were located in the northeast of China, so they advised Genghis, to expand his lands, and to devote himself to conquer these, they were fertile and from there he could collect good taxes.

Curiously, the Mongolian tradition mentioned that the Khan could enjoy many freedoms and total power, while he was at war, but if peace came, all this would be limited, and in the worst cases, there was the possibility of being willing. As Genghis, he had a prodigious mind, and saw the future, he decided to accept the advice given by his allies the Uyghurs, to attack the Tangut Empire, and it is here when our protagonist, takes his most ambitious decision, to last 20 years, conquering distant lands. It ends with the Tangut Empire, and takes possession of those lands called Xi Xia, taking these as a vassal state, in 1211, after razing the Tangut Empire, continued with the Jin Empire, when the tribes oppressed by that Empire, saw the opportunity to join the Khan, did not think twice, such is the case of the Kidan tribe, they brought much knowledge of military engineering, and new tactics to achieve an effective siege, and achieve victory. Although the Jin Empire had an army three times larger than theirs, this did not limit Genghis; on the contrary, his ambition grew to such an extent that, in 1215, he crossed the Great Wall of China with a great number of soldiers; this crusade gave him the opportunity to plunder and besiege Beijing. When they were trapped and without enough strength to face the Kan, the Jin court, decided to flee to the south; for this reason Genghis decided to leave his best General, so that he could continue the siege and take control of the whole China, but this could not be achieved until 1234.

Was he a fair leader?

It is very ironic to answer this question, because he had no compassion for his enemies, he finished all of them or tried to do so, he did not limit himself, much less recapitulate, perhaps because of what he lived through from a very young age, the assassination of his father, having to flee with his mother and being in that fear or anxiety that at any moment some clan is going to kill you. We know that this cannot be an excuse to act like this, but let's remember that we are talking about a time or era when everything was about killing or living. However, some historians agree that with the arrival of Genghis to power, and his great conquests, made it possible to start a new era in Asia, thanks to what some call "Pax mongólica". And not only kingdom for a certain time a peace, we also see a great cultural exchange, between different clans that were separated, which were in wars, this man united them, and work constantly, in the literacy of the Mongolian people, was responsible for sponsoring, a host of artists, craftsmen, great scholars, in order that their peoples flourish, progress and advance.

Something that calls our attention is that several historians agree that Genghis, unlike other great leaders or emperors, was responsible for respecting all religions that existed at that time, something that helped him gain the sympathy of many people, it is said, he was responsible for promoting tolerance to religions, all people and religions were seen equally, before the Mongolian law.

His history is extensive, and as much as we are looking for a way to summarize it, we cannot, for that reason, we are going to complement this post with some curious facts about this leader:

Genghis Khan's army, has performed a unique feat in military history, they traveled more than twenty thousand kilometers in four years.
It is worth mentioning that his army stood out for being great masters of the bow, and so on horseback, they had two cavalries, the Heavy and Light, which formed great tactics to confuse the enemy, and so attack them, with all the power, thanks to this, they managed to conquer large areas from Asia, the Middle East and even incursion into Russian lands.
Their great conquests made possible the creation of a unique, fast, stable and safe postal network throughout Asia.
Each State he conquered had a representative from Mongolia, but local authorities living in those places were respected, and this helped him to form the above-mentioned postal network, and to gain support from the sites he conquered.

In 1218, in the west of Mongolia, some internal disputes began in the Kingdom of the Karajitai, Genghis, did not miss such an opportunity, and ordered his men to take those lands, thanks to it, took control of some territories, which today would be, Afghanistan and Iran and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.
Women had an important role, in his Empire, even the laws protected them, it was forbidden to mistreat them, violate them, or force them to do what they did not want, if a child was born under marriage, the man was obliged to leave an inheritance his son, and wife, the curious thing is that our dear Khan had more than 30 women, and according to studies, currently, about 130 million people share their chromosome, yes they had fun.
We could say that the creator of the first Military Academy was Genghis Khan, because of the training his soldiers received, the way his army was structured, and the education he gave them, let us remember that all those who joined his ranks were clan warriors, For this reason, they acted violently, without caring about anything, this changed with Genghis, he made them change that archaic action, looting bodies, raping women, and raze what they wanted, this was forbidden, they had to wait for orders from their superiors.
Curiously, it was severely punished, who urinated in rivers, or in the tombs, and those who bathed in the river when winter fell, it should be noted that these laws promoted by Genghis, shaped the lives of all people living in Mongolia.

What was the end of Genghis?

In 1225, the Khan returns to his beloved Mongolia, after having traveled through Kazakhstan, and starts what would be his last campaign against the Tangut, a year later, something that he could not achieve at all, since the Tangut resisted and did not die, but managed to flee or hide; he simply devoted himself to devastate the whole nation. However, nothing is forever, as we mention in every publication on these subjects, because of a horse fall, Genghis Khan, died, so it would be an intestinal hemorrhage, leaving the throne to his son, Ogodei, who swore to maintain the unity of the Empire, and so it was for a quarter of a century more. We hope you have enjoyed such a fascinating story, as we can read in this publication, there are many feats performed by this man, who revenge led him to become the creator of the most powerful Empire in the world.