Genghis Khan and His Empire
Who was Genghis Khan?
Genghis Khan and war
Were the terrors he created most
gruesome as were perceived?
Genghis Khan and the nature/Nurture
dichotomy
Genghis Khan
 Like the empire he built, Genghis Khan’s life
remains in many ways a mystery and myth.
 Despite this, we know this man much better than
he was known in previous centuries
 But what kind of man was he?
 Does what is recorded in Muslims’ Chroniclers
represent/characterize him correctly?
 “The great joy a man can know is to conquer his enemies
and drive them before him. To ride their horses and take
away their possessions. To see the faces of those who
were dear to them bedewed with tears, and to clasp their
wives and daughters in his arms.”
The Mongolian Empire
 The largest empire in the world history
A Warrior Leader
 Waged war with a strategic purpose in mind: to
preserve Mongol life
 Never willingly sacrifice a single one of his soldiers
 Every soldiers is taught to live his life as warrior who
is always a winner and will not die easily on
battlefield
 Show little concern for the loss of enemy life, but
 The Mongol warriors killed enemy soldiers and
bureaucrats
 They did not torture, mutilate, or maim their enemy
soldiers like others did
Mongol soldiers tortured
 In 1228, Jalal al-Din, the son of the Kwarizm
sultan, captured four hundred Mongol
soldiers, tied them behind horses, and
dragged them through the streets of the city
to entertain the city’s residents
 Persian victors killed the Mongol captives by
driving nails into their heads
 In 1235, sultan of Delhi had elephants crush
their Mongol captives, then built a tower from
the severed heads of the Mongols
War with Golden Khan
 You don’t conquer Asia without cracking a
few skulls. In fact, during their horrific
invasion of the Khwarezmia Empire, it is
rumored that after taking Samarkand,
Genghis ordered the civilians, including the
children, beheaded and a pyramid of their
severed heads erected in honor of his
victory.
Genghis had as much as 75% of the Iranian
population massacred during his conquest,
and, for the provincial governor who initially
rebuffed his envoys, Genghis had him
executed by pouring molten silver into his ears
and eyes.
War with Khwarizm
 It took four years (1219-1223)
 It was a war in which Genghis Khan’s 150,000 to
200,000 horsemen fought against Khwarizm’s
400,000 men
 Genghis Khan attacked not just Khawarizm, but an
entire ancient civilization
 The Muslim lands of the thirteenth century,
combing Arabic, Turkic, and Persian civilizations
 The richest countries in the world and the most
sophisticated in virtually every branch of learning from
astronomy and mathematics to agronomy
Khubilai Khan

Genghis Khan’s grandson who ruled entire China and
established the Yuan Dynasty in 1279 AD



The conquest of China (Southern Song/Sung) began in
1268 and took 11 years to complete, highlighted by





first conquered north China under the Jurchen,
Then conquered south China under the Southern Song/Sung,
The battle of Xiangyang, which took 5 years (1268-1273)
The battle of Yangzhou, 1 year (1275)
The seize of Hangzhou, the capital city
Song loyalists continued to fight against the Mongols army
in the far south until the last emperor perished at sea and
the last general lost his life
Khubilai Khan was able to institute Mongolian rule
effectively, as evidenced by few major insurrections
occurring during his reign