by Piyumal Wijeratne

Created on: February 18, 2009

The name "Genghis Khan" will definitely remind you of a lot of things. The adjectives that are usually linked with this name are mostly words like "Barbaric", "Brutal", "Evil", "Blood thirsty", and "Cruel". Genghis Khan was indeed a conqueror. But he is more than just a conqueror and that is why we should know this man.

The childhood of this legendary warrior was not in the least an easy one. This man was born in 1162 as a son of the Borjigin clan of Mongolia. This child was named Temujn. His father was Yasukhei, a leader of a small clan and his mother was Hoelun. It is said that he was born with a blood clot grasped in his hand. According to the Mongolian fable this was an indication of his future power. He was arranged to marry Borte of the Onggirat tribe and as a part of this marriage agreement he had to serve his future wife's parents until he reached the marring age of 12. In the meantime his father was poisoned. Temujin returned to his clan as the leader but their clan has abandoned him and his family refusing to be led by a boy so young. His family had survived on hunting and wild fruits for years. This poor child was then captured by the Ta'yichiut, a clan that was allied to his father once. Temujin escaped them and met his family and two friends called Jelme and Bo'orchu who later became his generals. It is after all this that he had married Borte Ujin, his empress.

This young man, Temujin did not go to fight other clans at first. However after his wife was kidnapped by the Merkit clan he was forced to wage war. Temujin allied with Ong-Khan who was an ally of his father and he got the support of Jamuka who was a very good friend. Temujin could defeat the Merkits compleately and he was able to save his wife. This war with the Merkits is said to have created a split between Jamuka and Temujin. Seeing Temujin's growing power Jamuka and Ong-Khan declared war against Temujin. Temujin defeated them and started his campaign to unite Mongolia.

This ruler who is famous for killing people in thousands was not at all a lunatic with power. He was smart enough to create a spy network that brought him a lot of news about his rivals. Genghis Khan used wonderful military strategies in his warfare. He could unite the Mongol confederations by 1206. This man then went to conquer the Western Xia dynasty which bordered his empire to the west. In 1211 Temujin went into war against the Jin dynasty. At the engagement fought at the badger pass the Jin army was massacred and

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