Geghis (Chingis/ Jenghis) Khan brings out a variety of emotions amongst people even in today’s times. One can love him or hate him but there is no way that you can ignore him. A lot of negativity is associated with the name of Genghis Khan. Muslims accuse him of being an enemy of Islam; western scholars present him as bigoted dictator .In fact the views of Muslim historians are so biased in against him that one could even doubt personal vendetta in the writings of Muslim. The history books of Islamic nations present Genghis Khan as a blood thirsty Kafir who hated Islam. This as far as it can be from the truth. In their zeal to label Genghis Khan as an enemy of Islam Muslim historians tend to hide many facts.
It is by means of this article that I shall try and bring out a few of these facts before condemning Genghis khan Hence it is for this purpose that we see the events which eventually lead to the Mongol invasion into the Muslim territories. While Genghis Khan was a military genius is still a sort of cult figure amongst his people, he never misguided people into believing that he was a Prophet of God. Hence we can easily see the actions of this man in the context of the society that he was born and brought up into. Let us begin with a brief chronology of events that took place in the life of Genghis Khan.
Chronology of life and death of Genghis Khan
1167 Birth of Temujin future Genghis/Chingis Khan
1206 The Khuriltai (assembly) give the title of “Chingis Khan”
1209-10 Campaign against the Xi Xia.
1211, 1213, 1215. Campaigns against the Jin Empire.
1214. Mongols lay siege to the Jin capital of Zhongdu (modern day Beijing), which falls in
1215 Areas north of the Huang He becomes under Mongol control. Jin capital is moved south to Kai-feng.
1218 Conquest of the Kara Kitai. Mongols raid Korea.
1220. Mongol caravan and ambassadors are murdered by the Khwarazmians. War against Khwarazm(Persia) begins. Capture of Bokhara and Samarkand.
1221. Subedei begins expedition around the Caspian Sea and into Russia. Jalal ad-Din rises in Persia and challenges the Mongols. Jalal ad-Din defeated at the battle of Indus. War withthe Kwarazmian Empire concludes.
1226. Final campaign against the Xia Xia.
1227 Genghis Khan dies. War with the Xi Xia concludes.
Early years
Born to the noble family of Yesugei and Ho’elun, Genghis Khan was first called Temuchin.
During the period from late 12th to early 13th century, Temudjin, consolidated all the Mongol tribes
and placed under his leadership a centralized empire which brought the Mongols to a new stage
of development. In 1206, he had a clan meeting held on the bank of the Onon river, at which he
was proclaimed the Great Khan, with the reign title of Genghis Khan. He was later known as
Emperor Tai Zu of the Yuan Dynasty.
When Temujin was nine years old, his father was poisoned by Tartar chiefs. Since he was much
too young to rule, his clansmen deserted him. Temujin and his family (7 people total) moved to
the most desolate areas of the steppes, eating roots and rodents for living. He had many great
adventures, ranging from chasing horse thieves to being captured by enemies. When Temujin
was 16, the Merkid Tribe attacked his family and captured his wife. With an army of five men,
Temujin could not retaliate on his own, so he turned to one of his father’s old friends, Toghrul
Khan of the Kereyid Tribe, who in turn, also enlisted a Mongol coalition leader, Jamugha.
Together they defeated the Merkids and Temujin recovered his wife. Temujin quickly took
advantage of his powerful allies, particularly Jamugha, who was also happened to be a Mongol
and a childhood friend of his, and became a notable figure on the steppes. Temujin and Jamugha
took control over most of the Mongol Clans, but that was not enough for Temujin.
According to the Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty, one day while Temujin and Jamugha were
riding at the front of the Mongols, Temujin decided to “keep going” while Jamugha stopped to
pitch tent. Temujin broke up with Jamugha and the Mongols were split into two groups. Hostilities
soon broke out between the two parties. In a clash over a minor event, Temujin was defeated and
was forced into exile. However, Temujin returned ten years later and reestablished his position.
From there, he embarked on a conquest of the Mongolia that lasted several years. Unfortunately,
the details are too great to be perused in this article. In short, by 1204 Temujin had subjugated all
that opposed him. He defeated the Tartars, the Kereyids tribe under Toghrul Khan (who
Eventually betrayed him), the Naimans the Merkids, and Jamugha’s Mongol clans.
The Empire by 1204
In 1206, Temujin held a great Khuriltai (assembly) on the banks of the Onon River. There, he took
the title Genghis Khan. The name Genghis Khan is commonly referred to as Genghis Khan.
However, “Genghis” is actually a corrupted variation, and thus for accuracy reason, he will be
referred to as “Genghis ” Khan. During the Khuriltai of 1206, Genghis Khan decreed the structure
and laws for his new Empire. To ensure stability and cooperation between people of the tribes
that he united, Genghis Khan installed a military superstructure to integrate all the peoples of his
Empire. The population was divided into units responsible for maintaining a certain amount of
warriors ready at any given time, thus overriding previous tribal organizations. Furthermore, he
decreed many specific laws and created an efficient administrative hierarchy. Genghis Khan
created the most advanced government of any steppe nation up to that time. His horde would
soon prove to be the most disciplined, the most powerful and the most feared army to ride from
the steppes.
The War in Northern China
Genghis Khan became emperor of “all who lived in felt tents,” but his dreams was to conquer the
world. First, he led his men in a series of campaigns against the Xi Xia Empire in western China.
In 1209, the Xi Xia capital was threatened, but the Mongols were satisfied with tribute after their
camp was unexpectedly flooded. It must be understood that the Mongols were still more
interested in and tribute plunder rather than to capture cities. However, as the Empires in China
discontinued to pay tribute once the Mongols withdraw, the raids soon turned into conquest.
In 1211, Genghis Khan took 65,000 men and marched against the Jin Empire of Northern China.
With the help of the Ongguts, a people who lived on the Jin’s northern border, Chingis Khan
easily passed through the defenses and marched into Jin territory. He continued a trail of plunder
until he met a large force of around 150,000 men, which he defeated. Chingis split his army and
launched a multiple pronged attack on the Jin. He and his generals dealt several blows against
the Jin, including capturing the strategic Juyong pass. Unfortunately, Genghis was wounded
during a siege and withdrew to Mongolia. Subsequently, Jin forces began to recapture territories
loss to the Mongols.
In 1213, the Mongols returned after learning that the Jin had refortified their locations. Genghis
divided his army into three parts, one under command by himself and the other two, under his
sons. The three Mongol armies devastated the Jin Empire, and by 1214, most of the area north of
the Huang He (Yellow river) was in Mongol hands. One exception was the city of Chungdu,
capital of the Jin Empire. Like other nomadic armies, Genghis Khan’s Mongol hordes were
entirely cavalry, and the weakness of cavalry forces was the lack of ability to capture fortifications.
Genghis realized this weakness and was quick to capture Chinese siege engineers to learn siege
tactics. Despite so, Chungdu withstood the Mongols’ assaults. Chingis’s men became short on
supplies and were ravaged by plague, but he tenaciously continued the siege. Accounts describe
that every tenth man was sacrificed to be fed to the others. But the siege went on for so long that
Genghis had to personally abandon the campaign. He then placed his general Mukali in charge.
The Mongols finally entered the city in 1215, but by then, the Jin capital had already been moved
south to Kai-feng.
The First Move West – the Conquest of the Kwarazm-Shah Empire
Genghis lost interest in the war in China and instead, turned his attention towards the west. He
got interested in trading especially with the countries due west from Mongolia. Thus he began
sending trade caravans to those countries. However this did not last long. As the once Free Silk
Route, extending from Korea going through Tibet and Kashmir right into Central Asia and Arabia,
was after the advent of Islam taken over by Warlords. These very the same people who once
used to be peaceful Buddhists. However now with their conversion to Islam they began to follow
the footsteps of their Prophet and were thus encouraged to loot caravans which passed through
their lands. All said the real issue was with the huge Kwarazmian Empire in Persia. Hostilities
broke out when the Kwarazm Shah (a Muslim king) attacked a Mongol caravan and humiliated
Chingis’s ambassadors by burning their beards. Since Genghis sent the ambassadors for the
purpose of making peace, he was outraged. Chingis prepared for the largest operation he had yet
performed and assembled a force that totaled around 90-110,000 men. The total numerical
strength of the Kwarazm shah was two to three times greater, but Chingis’ army was better
disciplined, and most of all, better led.
In 1219, Chingis’s sons Chaghadai and Ogedei set out to attack the city of Utar located east of
the Aral Sea. Meanwhile, Chingis’ general, Chepe, marched southwestward to protect the left
flank during the operation. The main attack, however, was led by Chingis Khan himself, who
along with general Subedei, marched through the Kizil Kum desert and outflanked the
Kwarazmiam forces. The plan was that the Kizil Kum desert was considered impractical to cross,
which made it a great opportunity to surprise the enemy. Chingis and his army disappeared into
the desert and suddenly, out of nowhere, he appeared at the city of Bokhara. The city garrison
was stunned, and was quickly defeated. Next, Chingis marched towards Samarkand, capital of
the Kwarazmian Empire. The magnificent city was heavily fortified and had a garrison of 110,000
men, which vastly outnumbered Chingis’ besieging army. The city was expected to be able to
hold out for months, but on March 19, 1220 its walls were breached in just ten days. After the fall
of Samarkand, the Mongols overran much of the Empire. Devastation was so great that the
Kwarazmian Empire itself was nearly wiped away from history. The conquest of the Kwarazm
also created another remarkable event. After his defeat, the Kwarazm Shah fled west and
Subedei followed in pursue with a force of 20,000 men. The Kwarazm Shah died, however, but
Subedei went further. He brought his army north and defeated a heavily outnumbering Russian
and Cuman army at the Khalka River. He went further and attacked the Volga Bulgars before
returning back. As said by the famed history Gibbons, Subedei’s expedition was one of the most
daring expeditions in history, unlikely to be repeated ever again.
During the entire campaign, the Kwarazm Shah failed to assemble an army to fight the Mongols
on the battlefield. The Kwarazm strategy relied on its extensive city garrisons that outnumbered
the besieging Mongol armies. This of course, failed in every way. The only well organized
resistance against the Mongols came from Jalal ad-Din (another muslim general), who after the
fall of Samarkand, organized a resistance force in modern day Afghanistan. At Parwan, he
defeated a Mongol force led by one of Chingis’ adopted son, making it the only Mongol defeat in
the entire campaign. Genghis chases after Jalal ad-Din and destroyed his army at the Indus
River. The defeat of Jalal ad-Din meant the consolidation of rule of Transoxania. However, the
southern parts of the Kwarazmian Empire were left unconquered and later turned into a collection
of Independent states.
At the age approaching sixty, Chingis’ health was at a decline. He sought the legendary Daoist
monk Changchun for the exilir to Immortality. His wish did not come true, as Changchun had no
magical exilir, but Genghis praised his wisdom and the two became good friends. Following the
meeting with the Daoist monk, Genghis returned to the administration side of his objectives.
Unlike Attila the Hun and Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan realized the importance of a
smooth succession after his death. Before he completed his conquest of the Kwarazmian Empire,
he had already carefully chosen his son Ogedei to be his successor. After Genghis returned to
Mongolia to finish establish the administration structure of his empire, all the matters were in good
order, except for the Tanguts. The Tangut Xi Xia Empire had long been defeated by the Mongols,
but became more of a tributary rather than being annexed. However, the Tanguts had stopped
complying with terms while Chingis was away. In 1226, Genghis Khan led his army against Xi Xia
and captured its capital.
The Death of Chingis Khan
The campaign against the Xi Xia was his last campaign Shortly later in August 1227, Chingis
Khan died at the age of 60. The reason remains unsolved, with theories ranging from internal
injuries after a hunting accident, to malaria, to prophecies of the Tanguts.
The Final Word
There is no doubt in mind that Genghis Khan was indeed a conqueror of yore like many others.
However his legacy died within four generations of him. He never preached to people of his
prophet hood, nor did he ever say that God had given in triumphs in battles because the hand
of God was behind his back. Unlike Muhammad , who was a coward, this man lead his forces
from the front. He gave respect to his generals and his army. So the next time you sit back
and accuse this man of being a religious bigot do give a minute more and think about it.
