All about Great Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan)
Chinggis Khan (Genghis, Jenghiz, Chingiz)
(1162?– 1227) Founder of the Mongol Empire and national hero of the Mongol people
Like that of most great conquerors, the legacy of Chinggis Khan has been very controversial. In his day many non-Mongols called him an accursed bandit and killer destined for hell, while others described him as a man of tremendous gifts and charisma who had received his mission of rule from God. The Mongols themselves traditionally called him the “Holy Lord,” and his cult became a cornerstone of Mongol civic and religious traditions.
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH OF CHINGGIS KHAN
Chinggis was the son of YISÜGEI BA’ATUR and so a member of the Mongols’ ruling BORJIGID lineage. His birthplace of Deli’ün Boldaq on the Onon River is placed sometimes in Dadal Sum in Mongolia’s Khentii province and sometimes on the southern border of Aga Buriat Autonomous Area, in Russia. Yisügei himself was a grandson and nephew of two of the first Mongol khans.
When his first son by his principal wife, Ö’ELÜN, was born, Yisügei was returning to his camp from the battle against the hostile Tatar tribe with a captive named Temüjin (blacksmith). Yisügei thus named his son, the future Chinggis, Temüjin. The fact that he was born with a blood lot in his hand was later taken as an augury of his violent rise to universal rule. When Temüjin was only nine years old, his father was poisoned while at the camp of some TATARS.
The SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS, the earliest monument of Mongolian literature, presents the following period as one of almost total isolation and deprivation for Yisügei’s two widows and their sons. The Persian historian RASHID-UD-DIN and the SHENGWU QINZHENG LU (a Mongolian chronicle preserved only in Chinese translation), however, imply that Yisügei’s brothers stood by their sister-in-law. The sources do agree, however, that most of Yisügei’s subject tribesmen deserted him and that dominance over the Mongols passed to the rival TAYICHI’UD clan.
Early Life and Challenges of Temüjin: Formative Years, Family Conflicts, and Alliances in the Making of Genghis Khan
As a child, Temüjin spent some time with Dei Sechen of the QONGGIRAD and his daughter BÖRTE; before his death, Yisügei and Dei Sechen had betrothed the children to each other. He also formed a blood brotherhood (ANDA) with JAMUGHA, who later grew up to be his rival. As he entered adolescence, Temüjin’s life became dangerous. Ö’elün’s older sons, emüjin and Qasar, came into conflict with Begter and Belgütei, the sons of Yisügei’s other wife.
Eventually, Temüjin and Qasar murdered Begter but spared Belgütei. Temüjin faced repeated threats from the hostile clans and tribes, horse thieves, and other dangers of the steppe. The rival Tayichi’ud clan at one point imprisoned him, perhaps for his murder of Begter, but he escaped. Probably shortly after this episode, Temüjin went to claim his betrothed bride, Börte, bringing her to his camp. The MERKID tribe had long desired vengeance for Ö’elün, who had been stolen by Yisügei from one of their tribesmen.
Now, hearing that Temüjin had a new wife, the Merkid raided his camp, kidnapping Börte and Yisügei’s other wife, while Ö’elün and the brothers fled. With the aid of Toghril Khan of the KEREYID and his blood brother Jamugha, Temüjin and his brothers succeeded in rescuing Börte. Soon after, Börte gave birth to a son, whom Chinggis named JOCHI, or “guest.” The name reflected Temüjin’s doubts about his son’s paternity, doubts that later caused family conflict. Börte later gave birth to three other sons and five daughters. Chinggis had four other major wives, but of these four most were childless, and only one son, Kölgen, by his second wife, Qulan, survived to adulthood.
TEMÜJIN’S ( Chinggis Khan) RISE TO POWER
The counterattack against the Merkid, perhaps around 1180, marked Temüjin’s entrance onto the larger Mongolian stage. Toghril Khan, the ruler of the Kereyid Khanate occupying central Mongolia, had been Yisügei’s blood brother, and now he took Temüjin under his wing. Soon after, he and Jamugha had a falling out, after which Temüjin’s uncles, together with a significant part of the MONGOL TRIBE, declared Temüjin khan of the Mongols.
The details of Temüjin’s subsequent rise to the chief of the Mongol tribe are told in the Secret History of the Mongols, the Shengwu Qinzheng Lu, and in Rashid-ud-Din’s COMPENDIUM OF CHRONICLES. While often sharing episodes, they also diverge on many points, particularly chronology, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to reconstruct a synoptic narrative of his political vicissitudes before 1201. The only incident that can be firmly dated is his 1196 participation in an attack on the Tatar tribe, his hereditary enemies.
This attack had been planned by the JIN DYNASTY in North China, and for his participation, the dynasty gave Temüjin the Chinese title of Zhaotao, or “Pacification Commissioner,” and Toghril the title of ONG KHAN, or “Prince Khan.” By 1201 Temüjin had fought his way to dominance among the Mongol clans. The Tayichi’ud and other remaining opponents within the Mongols, with the support of the Tatars, the NAIMAN, the Merkid, and other tribes, elected Jamugha khan in an attempt finally to block Temüjin’s rise.
Chinggis Khan's Path to Dominance: Conquests, Alliances, and the Unification of Mongolian Tribes
Temüjin’s subsequent defeat of Jamugha and his virtual annihilation of the Tayichi’ud made him the recognized leader of the Mongol tribe, yet many disaffected Mongols preferred to submit directly to Ong Khan rather than acknowledge Temüjin’s rule. Together with Ong Khan, Temüjin warred against the Tatars, the Naiman, and the Merkid.
In 1202 Temüjin and his Mongols crushed the Tatars, whose adult population he massacred and whose children he distributed to his people as slaves. Temüjin’s powerful position in the court of his ally Ong Khan eventually raised the fears of Ong Khan’s son that the Mongols planned to usurp rule over the Kereyid Khanate as well. Temüjin tried to cement their alliance by requesting Ong Khan’s daughter as a bride for his son Jochi and by giving his own daughter to one of Ong Khan’s sons. Ong Khan pretended to agree but instead planned a sudden attack on Temüjin and his troops.
Fortunately, Temüjin was warned by two herdsmen, Badai and Kishiliq, who heard the news from their lord and warned him of the danger. Even so, the Kereyid and a large part of the Mongol tribe under his command decisively defeated Temüjin at the battle of QALAQALJID SANDS (spring 1203). Regrouping in the east, only 2,600 of Temüjin’s once scores of thousands of men were left. At the muddy waters of Baljuna Lake he promised that should regain his position, he would always honour those faithful few who had shared the water with him and their descendants (see BALJUNA COVENANT).
Before the year was out, however, Temüjin had gathered new adherents among the Mongols, tricked Ong Khan and the Kereyid with a fake message of surrender from his brother Qasar, and crushed the Kereyid forces at the battle of Jeje’er Heights (autumn 1203). Ong Khan was killed in his flight, and the Kereyid as a whole surrendered to Temüjin. Now the victories followed in rapid succession. In 1204 he defeated the Naiman tribe inhabiting the ALTAI RANGE at the battle of Keltegei Cliffs, and then he crushed the Merkid troops at Qaradal Huja’ur. Meanwhile, the ruler of the ÖNGGÜD, along the frontier between Mongolia and China, had joined Temüjin and received his daughter in marriage. With these victories, Temüjin united the nomadic peoples of the Mongolian plateau for the first time in centuries.
THE 1206 QURILTAI AND CHINGGIS’S NEW INSTITUTIONS
In 1206 Temüjin held a great assembly (quriltai) on the ONON RIVER, where he was acclaimed as Chinggis Khan, ruler of the “Great Mongol Empire.” The term Chinggis has often been interpreted as being meaning Tenggis, or“Ocean,” thus referring to Chinggis’s pretension of universal rule, yet Igor de Rachewiltz’s identification of Chinggis with a Turkish word meaning “hard” or “severe” seems more probable. The name was pronounced “Chingiz” in the Turkish and Persian languages, and a misreading of the Persian manuscripts by pioneering French scholars in the 18th century produced the European “Genghis” or “Jenghiz.”
The 1206 assembly also founded the core institutions of the new MONGOL EMPIRE. Both the Naiman and the Kereyid had a more centralised monarchy than did the tribal Mongols, and Chinggis borrowed extensively from them. He moved his headquarters to Ong Khan’s Shira Ordo, or “Yellow Palace Tent,” and created a large imperial guard (KESHIG) divided into day guards and night guards on the model of the Kereyid guard.
Chinggis Khan's Leadership: Establishing the Uighur-Mongolian Script, Decimal Organization, and Building a Loyal Aristocracy
Chinggis ordered the Naiman’s chief Uighur scribe, TATAR-TONG’A, to instruct his sons and the adopted foundling SHIGI QUTUQU in the mystery of writing, thus inaugurating the UIGHUR-MONGOLIAN SCRIPT, which has remained in use up to the present. He also divided all the Mongols into 10s, 100s, 1,000s, and 10,000s, each with its own commander.
Chinggis Khan personally appointed all the commanders of the rank of chiliarch (commander of 1,000) and above. This DECIMAL ORGANIZATION, part of a long tradition in Inner Asia, created a hierarchy of nested cells through which he could quickly mobilize forces of the desired size and transmit orders. Perhaps the most critical measures for Chinggis were the rewards decreed for those who had been faithful to him in his rise to power. Virtually all his uncles and cousins and most of the significant clan heads had turned against him during his rise, so Chinggis found his supporters among individual companions (NÖKÖR) often hailing from clans of very low rank in the traditional Mongol order.
Chinggis’s mother, Ö’elün, had raised foundlings, discovered in the camps of defeated Tayichi’ud, the Yürkin, and the Tatar, to be adoptive brothers for her son, and Chinggis Khan gave many of them, such as Shigi Qutuqu, high position. The list of these positions in the Secret History of the Mongols divides them into several categories, such as the “four steeds” and the “four dogs.”
Chinggis expected both unwavering loyalty and effective service from his “dogs” and “steeds,” and he received it from them virtually to a man. As a result their clans, such as MUQALI’s JALAYIR, Boroghul’s Üüshin, and Chila’uns Suldus, among the “steeds,” and Qubilai’s Barulas, among the “dogs,” became powerful aristocratic families for the next few centuries, holding vast appanages and major political power in North China, Turkestan, Persia, and the Inner Asian steppe.
While hardly any of Chinggis’s uncles and cousins even survived the brutal politics of his rise, his brothers, sons, daughters, and sons-in-law all became powerful members of the new ruling class.
Chinggis’s relations with his brothers were not free of tension. Qasar, his full brother, had often wavered in his support. Chinggis had excluded his half-brother Belgütei from his intimate counsels for his indiscretions, and his youngest brother, Temüge Odchigin, he considered too lazy for any serious posts. Even so, he assigned subjects and territory to all of them. To his sons, he assigned subject peoples and advisers as well as chances to show themselves in battle. In accordance with the Mongolian tradition of QUDA, or marriage alliance, the families of his sons’ wives and of his sons-in-law kürgen) also shared in his good fortune.
CHINGGIS KHAN’S RELIGIOUS MANDATE
Before Chinggis Khan’s birth, the Borjigid aristocracy among the Mongols had justified its rule through predestination by “Eternal Heaven” (see TENGGERI) and legends of its divine origin from its ancestress ALAN GHO’A. Chinggis Khan himself came to see heavenly predestination in his extraordinary rise to power. A key role in this religious aspect of his early rise was played by TEB TENGGERI, a shaman and the son of “Father” Münglig, to whom Chinggis had granted his widowed mother, Ö’elün, in marriage.
Teb Tenggeri’s visions and austerities earned great influence among the Mongols, and he proclaimed that Temüjin was heaven’s chosen lord of the world. It was Teb Tenggeri who chose the title “Chinggis” for Temüjin. After Chinggis’s coronation, the power of Teb Tenggeri and his brothers grew, and around 1210 they challenged Chinggis’s new dynasty, attacking his brothers.
Had Teb Tenggeri prevailed, rule over the new Mongolian empire might well have turned into a nonhereditary, charismatic succession of prophets, much like the early caliphate in Islamic history. Protests by Chinggis’s family, particularly his mother, Ö’elün, and his wife, Börte, however, convinced him to defend the dynastic nature of the state, and he allowed his brother Temüge Odchigin to fight back against Teb Tenggeri and kill him.
After Teb Tenggeri’s death Chinggis Khan would personally commune with “Eternal Heaven,” seeking his approval before major campaigns, such as that against the Jin empire in China and against KHORAZM in the West. Chinggis Khan thus replaced Teb Tenggeri as the empire’s voice of heaven’s will. The Secret History of the Mongols detailed the repeated signs that heaven had destined him for rule, from the blood clot he held in his hand at his birth to the oxen that butted Jamugha’s tent and bellowed, “Heaven and Earth have taken counsel: Let Temüjin be Lord of the Nation.”
Chinggis Khan: A Conqueror and Lawgiver with a Unique Religious Policy and Interaction with Diverse Spiritual Leaders
Contemporary stories from people in contact with the Mongols emphasized that Chinggis Khan was not just a conqueror but a Moses-like lawgiver and prophet for the new nation. In future years, after conquering the sedentary powers, Chinggis Khan would fashion a distinctive religious policy that saw all religions as praying to one god, or heaven. Heaven’s will was made known primarily by success in this life, and Chinggis expected religious figures to recognize that his extraordinary career was the direct result of heaven’s favour and not a chance event.
Despite his conflict with Teb Tenggeri, Chinggis Khan sought out holy men of various religions, and those who impressed him by their irreproachable conduct and wisdom would receive tax privileges and immunities for them and their followers. After meeting in 1222–23 with a Chinese Taoist priest, Master CHANGCHUN, who urged him to show respect for life, Chinggis Khan tried to give up hunting, encourage filial piety, and show more humanity on his campaigns, but such resolves had no lasting effect.
THE FOREIGN CONQUESTS BY CHINGGIS KHAAN
After his coronation in 1206, Chinggis Khan strengthened his new Mongol state and prepared for a final confrontation with the Jin dynasty by concluding marriage alliances with the Siberian tribes to the north, with the
UIGHURS and QARLUQS, both Turkish-speaking peoples in the oases of Turkestan, and with the Tanguts’ XIA DYNASTY in northwest China (see SIBERIA AND THE MONGOL EMPIRE). These alliances having been secured by diplomacy or force, Chinggis Khan led the Mongols into a full-scale invasion of the Jin dynasty in 1211. Before Chinggis, the Mongols had suffered heavily from the Jin dynasty’s punitive expeditions and its policy of encouraging tribal conflicts on the Mongolian plateau, and Chinggis Khan conducted the campaign against the Jin with appalling ruthlessness. Repeatedly defeated but refusing to submit, the Jin rulers fled south of the Huang (Yellow) River in 1214, abandoning their capital at Zhongdu (modern Beijing; see ZHONGDU, SIEGES OF).
Chinggis Khan’s original plan of making the Jin tributary turned into a policy of occupying and administering North China according to Mongol norms. While Muqali, Chinggis Khan’s viceroy in northern China, began a systematic destruction of remaining resistance in North China, Chinggis turned to the west. In 1204 remnants of the Naiman and Merkid had fled west of the Altai into the QARA-KHITAI empire in Turkestan. The resulting turmoil and the disintegration of the Qara- Khitai due to religious strife opened the way for the Mongols to occupy all of eastern Turkestan.
In 1218–19, Chinggis dispatched his general SÜBEETEI BAATUR and his eldest son, Jochi, to pursue the refugees and conquer the Qara-Khitai, bringing the Mongols’ frontier up to the border of the new Muslim Turkish dynasty of Khorazm, then ruling Central Asia, Iran, and Afghanistan. The tension between these two powerful states erupted into war when Sultan Muhammad executed Mongol merchants and envoys in 1218–19.
The result was another campaign of vengeance on the part of Chinggis Khan, one that brought Central Asia, eastern Iran, and Afghanistan under Mongol rule. In eastern Iran and Afghanistan, in particular, the Mongols faced dogged resistance and responded with repeated horrific massacres. It was in these years that a rift arose between Chinggis Khan’s eldest son, Jochi, and his two younger brothers, CHA’ADAI and Ögedei.
Bitter at being passed over for Ögedei as Chinggis’s designated heir, Jochi nomadized with his camp and subjects to the western steppe of Kazakhstan and refused to see his father again until his untimely death around 1225. Returning to Mongolia, Chinggis planned for his final campaign against the Xia, who had refused to supply troops for his western campaign. Chinggis took this refusal as a personal insult, and the campaign against the Xia was marked by general massacres as well as incidents of unpredictable clemency. At some point in the campaign, he fell ill, perhaps after a fall from a horse.
By summer 1227, with the Xia campaign effectively over and warned by astrological signs of his impending death, Chinggis attempted to delay the inevitable with a proclamation against killing and looting. On August 25, after giving his generals a final plan for the destruction of the Jin, he died, probably at age 66. His body was buried at a site he had chosen before his death, called Kilengu, somewhere in the KHENTII RANGE. Xu Ting in 1235–36 described the site as surrounded by the KHERLEN RIVER and the mountains. His palace tents, perhaps located at AWARGA, became the site for his cult that began in his son ÖGEDEI KHAN’s reign. (See EIGHT WHITE YURTS.) allow historians in the Mongolian ACADEMY OF SCIENCES to discuss the issue.
Although the top leader, YUMJAAGIIN TSEDENBAL, expressed reservations, commemorative stamps were issued, and a front-page editorial in the party daily, Ünen (Truth), on May 31, 1962, offered a mostly favourable appraisal, as did an academic conference. An 11 meter (36 foot) high stone monument with a carved portrait of Chinggis Khan was erected near the khan’s presumed birthplace of Gurwan Nuur in Dadal Sum, Khentii province.
Informed of the conference, Soviet historians had been strongly critical, while Chinese scholars were either critical or praised Chinggis as a unifying figure in Chinese history. When in spring 1962 the Inner Mongolians held their own celebrations, this focus, with an implicit reference to bringing Mongolia back within China, was the theme.
The Soviet embassy soon attacked the Mongolian academics, claiming they had belittled Russia’s contribution to Mongolian independence and had criticized Soviet historians by name. On September 10, 1962, at a special Politburo meeting, Tsedenbal saddled the regime’s chief theoretician, DARAMYN TÖMÖR-OCHIR, with responsibility for the debacle, and he was dismissed. After Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated into violent polemics in 1963–64, Soviet spokesmen denounced some favourable articles on Chinggis Khan published in China from 1961 to 1964.
In this way, Chinggis Khan became a minor issue in the SINO-SOVIET SPLIT. In fact, the Chinese Communists had little interest in Chinggis Khan. During the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 many Inner Mongolians were persecuted for supposedly venerating Chinggis Khan above Chairman Mao, and both the Ejen Khoroo mausoleum and the Ulaankhota temple were gutted; restoration was completed at the sites only in 1984 and 1987, respectively.
In 1975, however, the Mongolian ruler Tsedenbal again accused the Chinese of “making a fetish” of Chinggis Khan to justify their expansionist aims, thus strangely linking contempt for Chinggis Khan with the defence of Mongolian independence. In the late 1980s, ideological pressure against the Mongolians’ veneration of Chinggis Khan was removed.
In 1992 Lenin Avenue in ULAANBAATAR was renamed Chinggis Khan Avenue. See also CHINA AND MONGOLIA; EIGHT WHITE YURTS; JAPAN AND THE MODERN MONGOLS; SOVIET UNION AND MONGOLIA.
Chiggis Khan (Genghis Khan) Movies
Genghis Khan, the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, has been a subject of fascination and intrigue in both history and popular culture. His life, marked by extraordinary military achievements and a complex legacy, has inspired numerous films over the years. These movies often explore his life, his conquests, and the impact he had on the world. Here are some notable films about Genghis Khan:
The Conqueror (1956) - Genghis Khan
Starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan, this Hollywood film is often remembered for its controversial casting and historical inaccuracies. Directed by Dick Powell, the film was criticized for its portrayal of Khan and the Mongol history, but it remains a notable part of the cinematic history surrounding this figure.
Genghis Khan (1965)
This epic historical drama, directed by Henry Levin, stars Omar Sharif as Genghis Khan. The film follows his life from his early days as a slave to becoming one of the world's most powerful conquerors. It's known for its grand scale and ambitious storytelling, though it has faced criticism for historical inaccuracies and its casting choices.
Chinggis Khaan - Under the Power of Eternal Blue Sky (1992)
This is a film that delves into the life and legacy of one of history's most renowned figures, Genghis Khan, known as Chinggis Khaan in Mongolian. This movie is significant as it offers a perspective from the homeland of the legendary conqueror, providing insights into his life, culture, and the immense impact he had on the world.
Genghis Khan (2004)
This movie released in 2004, is a Chinese film that explores the life and legacy of one of history's most iconic figures, Genghis Khan. This film is part of a long tradition of cinematic portrayals of the Mongol leader, offering a unique perspective that blends historical drama with epic storytelling.
Mongol (2007) - Genghis Khan
Directed by Sergei Bodrov, this film is perhaps one of the most acclaimed movies about Genghis Khan. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. "Mongol" focuses on the early life of Genghis Khan, then known as Temujin. It portrays his struggles, his love for his wife Borte, and the challenges he faced on his path to becoming a leader. The film is appreciated for its attempt to humanize Khan and for its stunning cinematography.
Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea (2007)
This Japanese-Mongolian film, directed by Shinichirō Sawai, explores the life and conquests of Genghis Khan. It's known for its large-scale battle scenes and its focus on the details of Mongol culture.
Genghis: The Legend of the Ten (2012)
A Mongolian film directed by Zolbayar Dorj and U. Shagdarsuren, this movie focuses on a lesser-known aspect of Genghis Khan's life - the story of his last military campaign as told through the eyes of his ten bodyguards. It's a film that combines historical drama with action and adventure.
Documentaries and Series about Genghis Khan
Apart from feature films, there have been several documentaries and TV series that delve into the life and legacy of Genghis Khan. These productions often aim to provide a more historically accurate and detailed account of his life, his military strategies, and the empire he built.
These films, each in their own way, contribute to the larger narrative of Genghis Khan's life and legacy. They range from attempts at historical accuracy to more fictionalized interpretations, reflecting the enduring fascination with one of history's most legendary figures.
Further reading: J. Boldbaatar, “The Eight-Hundredth Anniversary of Chinggis Khan: The Revival and Suppression of Mongolian National Consciousness,” in Mongolia in the Twentieth Century: Landlocked Cosmopolitan, ed. Stephen Kotkin and Bruce A. Elleman (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1999), 237–246; Paul Hyer, “The Chinggis Khan Shrine in Eastern Inner Mongolia,” in The Chinggis Khan Symposium in Memory of Gombojab Hangin (Ulaanbaatar: Mongol Sudlal Hevlel, 2001), 113–138.
Source: Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, Christopher P. Atwood, Indiana University, Bloomington
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