Genghis Khan

It's not uncommon to hear the phrase Genghis Khan's Mongolia in Mongolia.
. In Eastern Asia, especially in Mongolia, while acknowledging the destruction caused by his conquests, he is known also for his achievements as a unifying, even cosmopolitan ruler, who orchestrated in uniting the Mongols and as a person who brought Mongols from political instability to world wide fame and by uniting them paved the way for the nation of Mongolia.
. This may be a throwback into the late period of the Khanate, when Genghis Khan was deified throughout the empire. The Russian communists consider the modern era as beginning with Peter's reign, and being surpassed by the contemporary era with the October revolution. His face appears on Mongolian bank notes and vodka labels. His project for a canal to link the Baltic and the White Seas for both commercial and naval use was carried out under Stalin, for example, though in a haphazard manner with great loss of life and resulting in a militarily useless canal.

He is viewed as a conquering general of the stature of Alexander the Great. They looked to Peter the Great as a model to surpass, for they wanted to over-complete the modernization of Russia. In the years that Mongolia has de-coupled itself from Communism and the Russian bloc in the early '90s, Genghis Khan has become a symbol for the free nation's identity. In the twentieth century, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union took it as its point of honor to surpass in every regard anything that any Tsar had ever done. There is a feeling that his military and administrative genius is undervalued, as is his undisputed status as the conqueror of one of the largest empires in history. No child would simply and directly succeed his or her parent until Paul followed Catherine the Great in 1796, over seventy years after Peter had died.
. Particularly in Central and East Asia, and certainly in Mongolia where Genghis Khan is a national hero, there is much concern about the negative bias in historical records about Genghis Khan which emphasize his assaults, barbarism, and butchery. Thereafter, inheritance of the Throne was generally chaotic—the next two monarchs were descendants of Peter I's half brother Ivan V, but the Throne was restored to Peter's own descendants through a coup d'état in 1741.

From this genetic evidence it is reasoned that over 0.5% of the world's population (as the study was only able to cover direct male descendants) is descended from a male who lived in Mongolia around the time of Genghis Khan, perhaps even Genghis Khan himself, although there is considerable uncertainty over these numbers. Upon her death in 1727, the Empress Catherine was succeeded by Aleksei's son, Peter II, bringing the direct male line of Romanov monarchs to an end. The age of the cluster, estimated from the mutation rate, places its origin just before the time of Genghis Khan, and it is especially common among the Hazara people, who claim to be descended from soldiers of Genghis Khan (a claim traditionally rejected by most scientists because it was assumed to be local folklore). The lack of clear succession rules led to many succession conflicts in the subsequent "era of palace revolutions." Peter was succeeded by his wife Catherine, who had the aid of the imperial guards. 2003, pdf of paper) found a cluster of Y chromosome variants in 1/12 of the men in the area of the Mongolian Empire, and 1/200 of men worldwide. A law of 1722 had allowed Peter to choose his own successor, but he failed to take advantage of it before he died from an illness in 1725. A recent genetic survey (Zerjal et al. Peterhof (Dutch for "Peter's Court") was a grand residence, becoming known as the "Russian Versailles" (after the great French Palace of Versailles).

At the height of his powers, Genghis Khan is reputed to have had five hundred wives and concubines, a tradition followed in successive generations. In 1725, construction of Peterhof, a palace near St Petersburg, was completed. Nishapur, Merv and Samarqand suffered similar destructions. Aleksei's friends had also been tortured. For example the cities of Rey and Tus, the two largest and most populous cities in Iran at the time, and centers of literature, culture, trade and commerce, were completely destroyed by the order of Genghis Khan. Aleksei's mother Eudoxia had also been punished; she was dragged from her home and tried on false charges of adultery. Genghis Khan's campaigns in Central Asia and the Middle East caused massive destruction and the loss of human life. All of Peter's male children had died—the eldest son, Aleksei, had been tortured and killed on Peter's orders in 1718 because he had disobeyed his father and opposed official policies.

Genghis Khan's used brutal measures against those who would resist him in order to inflict fear. In 1724, Peter had his second wife, Catherine, crowned as Empress, although he continued to remain Russia's actual ruler. In the West and the Middle East, the perception of Genghis Khan is strongly negative due to the destruction his forces caused, though there have been recent efforts by Western historians to explore the positive aspects of Genghis Khan's conquest. The taxes on land on households were payable only by individuals who owned property or maintained families; the new head taxes, however, were payable by serfs and paupers. However, Genghis Khan's legacy is perceived very differently in Mongolia from the rest of the world. He abolished the land tax and household tax, and replaced them with a capitation. Near-contemporary Middle-Eastern accounts by Juvayni and Rashid al-Din have survived, along with the anonymous Uighur / Chinese document known as The Secret History of the Mongols, which presents Genghis Khan from the Mongol point of view. Peter also introduced new taxes to fund improvements in Saint Petersburg.

In Europe however, it is his image as bloodthirsty conqueror that dominates, and in the Middle East there are mixed feelings about Genghis Khan compared to Alexander the Great as there were similar destruction, but many Mongol armies and their families assimilated to the local culture. The Table of Ranks continued to remain in effect until the Russian monarchy was overthrown in 1917. Today Genghis Khan's image is that of a ruthless and powerful conquerer in most of the world, known for his willpower and political persuasiveness, as also for fostering meritocracy among the nomads and the the Yasa code which formed the basis of the Empire. In order to deprive the Boyars of their high positions, Peter directed that precedence should be determined by merit and service to the Emperor. The chronicler Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani left a description of Genghis Khan, written when the subject was about 60 years of age:. Formerly, precedence had been determined by birth. He was ruthless to enemies, yet very generous and loyal to friends and some defeated foes who had surrendered according to his understanding of the rules of war in his culture. In 1722, Peter created a new order of precedence, known as the Table of Ranks.

Temujin was a very capable leader. In 1721, he followed an advise of Feofan Prokopovich and erected the Holy Synod, a council of ten clergymen, to take the place of the Patriarch and Coadjutor. Even his eldest son was the target of a planned military campaign just before Genghis died. In 1700, when the office fell vacant, Peter had refused to name a replacement, allowing the Patriarch's Coadjutor (or deputy) to discharge the duties of the office. Some he executed in secret, through deception. The traditional leader of the Church was the Patriarch of Moscow. He turned on some allies, like Jamuqa, and defeated them in open battle. Peter also reformed the government of the Orthodox Church.

Genghis Khan murdered his own brother by shooting him in the back. Several rulers feared that Peter would claim authority over them, just as the Holy Roman Emperor had once claimed suzerainty over all Christian nations. This is reflected in the fate of many of his closest allies and relatives. In the minds of many, the word "Emperor" connoted superiority or pre-eminence over mere Kings. It is hard to work out what his personality was like, but he consistently displayed a sense that people were about to betray him. (Some proposed that he take the title "Emperor of the East," but he refused.) His imperial title was recognized by Augustus II of Poland, Frederick William I of Prussia and Frederick I of Sweden, but not by the other European monarchs. He was physically timid and even the Secret History makes fun of his cowardice. In 1721, soon after peace was made with Sweden, he was acclaimed Emperor of All Russia.

He seemed to be a quick study, adopting new technologies and ideas that he encountered, although he never learned a foreign language or showed much interest in the cultures of other people. Peter's last marked by further reforms in Russia. His military strategies showed a deep interest in gathering good intelligence and understanding the motivations of his rivals. The Tsar was, however, permitted to retain some Finnish lands close to Saint Petersburg, which he had made his capital in 1712. He apparently valued honesty and loyalty highly, even an enemy soldier's loyalty to his leader, although not a civilian populations' loyalty to their own government. In turn, Russia paid two million Riksdaler and surrendered most of Finland. According to quotations attributed to him in his later years, he urged future leaders to follow the Yasa teachings, and refrain from surrounding themselves with wealth and pleasure. Russia acquired Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and a substantial portion of Karelia.

As he aged, he seemed to become increasingly aware of the consequences of numerous victories and expansion of the Mongol Empire, including the possibility that succeeding generations might choose to live a sedentary lifestyle. In 1721, the Treaty of Nystad ended what became known as the Great Northern War. Genghis Khan appeared to fully embrace the Mongol people's nomadic way of life and did not act to change their customs or beliefs. Sweden made peace with all powers but Russia by 1720. It is not entirely clear what Genghis Khan was truly like, but his personality and character were doubtless molded by the many hardships he faced when he was young and during the time that it took to unify the Mongol nation. Still, Charles refused to yield, and not until his death in battle in 1718 did peace become feasible. Other tales state that his grave was stampeded over by many horses, over which trees were then planted. Peter also obtained the assistance of Hanover and the Kingdom of Prussia.

In folklore, it is said that a river was diverted over his grave to make it impossible to find. The Tsar's navy was so powerful that the Russians could penetrate Sweden. However, skeptics of this discovery see in the find evidence of a Mongol palace, and in accordance with Mongol tradition it is unlikely that Gengis Khan would be buried anywhere near one of his palaces. Most of Finland was occupied by the Russians in 1714. As of October 6, 2004, there has been an alleged discovery of "Genghis Khan's palace" that makes a discovery of his burial site possible. Peter's northern armies took the Swedish province of Livonia (the northern half of modern Latvia, and the southern half of modern Estonia), driving the Swedes back into Finland. The Genghis Khan Mausoleum is his memorial, but not his burial site. In return, the Sultan expelled Charles XII from his territory.

According to (probably apocryphal) legend, the funeral escort killed anyone and anything that strayed across their path to his burial, so as not to reveal where he was finally laid to rest. Peter's campaign in the Ottoman Empire was disastrous; in the ensuing peace treaty, Peter was forced to return the Black Sea ports he had seized in 1697. After he died, his body was returned to Mongolia and presumably to his birthplace in Hentiy aymag, where many assume he is buried somewhere close to the Onon river. Peter, however, mistrusted the Boyars; he abolished the Duma and created a Senate of ten members. It is alleged that Genghis Khan asked to be buried without markings. Normally, the Boyar Duma would have exercised power during his absence. There are persistent folktales that a Tangut princess, to avenge her people and prevent her rape, castrated him with a hidden knife and he never recovered. Peter foolishly attacked the Ottomans in 1711.

The Galician-Volhynian Chronicle alleges he was killed by the Tanguts, but as of today the truth is unclear. Charles fled to the then-neutral Ottoman Empire, where he tried to convince the Sultan, Ahmed III, to help him in a renewed campaign. Many assume he fell off his horse, due to old age and physical wearing down; some contemporary observers even cited prophecies from his opponents. In Poland, August II was restored as King. The reason for his death is uncertain. Peter reaped the benefits of years of work on improvements to the Russian army, inflicting almost ten thousand casualties and afterwards capturing what remained of the Swedish army. In his last campaign leading the Mongol fight against the Tangut Empire, Genghis Khan died on August 18, 1227. Charles then found Peter much more aggressive, and the battle both yearned for took place at Poltava on 27 June.

Timur based much of his early legitimacy on claiming descent from Genghis Khan. In the summer of 1709, they nevertheless resumed their efforts to capture Ukraine. It holds the record for the largest continuous landmass controlled by any empire in history depending on how you define the Mongol Empire. Thus, the Swedes became incapable of capturing Russian supplies, and suffered in the bitterly cold winter of 1708–1709. According to some sources, the empire encompassed almost 50% of the world population and included the most advanced and populous nations of that time; China and many of the main contemporary states of the Islamic world in Iraq, Persia, and Asia Minor. Skillfully, Peter withdrew southward, destroying any Russian property that could assist the Swedes along the way. Control of much of this region, especially in Siberia, was nominal or non-existent. Charles refused to retreat to Poland or back to Sweden, instead invading Ukraine.

At its height, the Mongolian Empire stretched from Southeast Asia to Europe, covering 35 million square kilometers (13.8 million square miles), little less than the British Empire with its 36 million square kilometers (14.1 million square miles). Deprived of this aid, Charles was forced to abandon his proposed march on Moscow. The European expansion came to a halt when a number high-ranking leaders had to return to Mongolia to participate in the khuriltai for the election of the next Great Khan. In the Battle of Lesnaya, however, Charles suffered his first ever loss after Peter crushed a group of Swedish reinforcements marching from Riga. The Mongols eventually briefly overran Poland and Hungary under Batu Khan's rule, and (with varying degrees of success) Syria, and Vietnam. After crossing into Russia, Charles defeated Peter at Golovchin in July. Genghis Khan's successors expanded the empire even further, into south China, Russia, Iraq, Korea, and Tibet. Charles XII turned his attention to Russia, invading it in 1708.

On his deathbed in 1227, Genghis Khan outlined to his youngest son, Tolui, the plans that later would be used by his successors to complete the destruction of the Jin Empire. Following several defeats, the Polish King August II abdicated in 1706. This left Ögedei, third oldest, who was well liked by most people and so was made Great Khan. Martha converted to Orthodox Christianity and took the name Catherine, allegedly marrying Peter in secret in 1707. Chagatai was a hot-head and disliked by his brothers. He also took Martha Skavronskaya as a mistress. The eldest son Jochi was dead and there were questions about his parentage. He forbade the building of stone edifices outside Saint Petersburg — which he wanted to become Russia's capital — so that all the stonemasons could participate in the construction of the new city.

The office of Great Khan was a matter of dispute. As the Poles and Swedes fought each other, Peter founded the great city of Saint Petersburg (named for Saint Peter the Apostle) in Ingria (which he had captured from Sweden) in 1703. Tolui, the youngest, was given the Mongol homeland as per Mongol custom. Confident he could beat Peter at his leisure, Charles ignored these campaigns, and continued to wage war primarily in Poland and Saxony. Chagatai was the next-eldest son of Genghis and so was given Central Asia. Peter improved his own army, conquering modern Estonia. The most distant lands conquered by the Mongols, then southern Ruthenia, were divided among his grandsons Batu, leader of the Blue Horde, and Orda, leader of the White Horde. Russia could not meaningfully participate for years, and Charles meanwhile concentrated on Poland and Saxony.

At his death, Genghis Khan divided the lands of his empire amongst his sons or their children. Russia turned out to be ill-prepared to fight the well-trained Swedes, and their first attempt at seizing the Baltic coast ended in disaster at the Battle of Narva in 1700. He also divided his armies into a number of smaller groups, taking advantage of the superb mobility of his mounted archers to attack their enemies on several fronts at once. Sweden was also opposed by Denmark, Norway, Saxony and Poland. He refused to divide his troops into different ethnic enclaves, creating a sense of unity, while he punished even small infractions against discipline severely. Peter declared war on Sweden, which was at the time led by the sixteen-year old King Charles XII. Genghis developed a well organized army. He sought to acquire control of the Baltic Sea, which had been taken by Sweden a half-century earlier.

Genghis Khan's armies were generally able to best their enemies in the 12th and 13th century because of their superior strategy, mobility, and military intelligence. Peter made peace with the Ottoman Empire and turned his attention to Russian maritime supremacy. Genghis Khan made advances in military disciplines, such as mobility, psychological warfare, intelligence, military autonomy, and tactics. Traditionally, the years were reckoned from the purported creation of the World, but after Peter's reforms, they were to be counted from the birth of Christ. Main article: Military advances of Genghis Khan. In 1699, Peter also abolished the traditional Russian calendar, in which the year began on 1 September, in favor of the Julian calendar, in which the year began on 1 January. He brought tutors with him to teach his children and himself to read and write. Boyars who sought to retain their beards were required to pay an annual tax of one hundred rubles.

Temüjin was illiterate when he was young but learned to read Taoist sermons later in his life. He commanded all of his courtiers and officials to cut off their long beards and wear European clothing. Taxes were also heavy, and conquered people were used as forced labor. Peter's visits to the West impressed upon him the notion that European customs were in several respects superior to Russian traditions. Generally, it is thought that the Mongol Empire was also friendly to outside trade along the Silk Road, although the Mongol's conquests led to a collapse of many of the ancient trading cities of Central Asia. [1]. The Mongols was ruled by the code of Yasa created by Genghis Khan of which no complete copy survives today. Sheremetyev also investigated the possiblity of future joint ventures with the Knights, including action against the Turks and the possibility of a future Russian naval base.

He instituted a meritocracy among the Mongols and allied nomadic people. In 1698, Peter sent a delegation to Malta under boyar Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev, to observe the training and abilities of the Knights of Malta and their fleet. The Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan was tolerant of the beliefs of the people it had conquered, provided that they did not resist, and often let conquered nations keep local rulers and worship their own religions. The Tsaritsa had borne Peter three children, although only one—the Tsarevich Aleksei—had survived past his childhood. Main article: Organization of state under Genghis Khan. He divorced the Tsaritsa, Eudoxia Lopukhina, whom he had deserted long earlier. Main article: Mongol Empire. Also, upon his return from his European tour, Peter sought to end his unhappy marriage.

How many of these deaths were attributable directly to Genghis Khan and his forces is unclear, as are the numbers. The streltsy were disbanded, and the individual they sought to put on the Throne—Peter's half-sister Sophia—was forced to become a nun. Before the Mongol invasion, China had at least 100 million inhabitants; after the complete conquest in 1279, the census in 1300 showed it to have roughly 60 million people. Over 1200 of them were tortured and executed, with Peter acting as one of the executioners. China suffered a drastic decline in population. Peter nevertheless acted ruthlessly towards the mutineers. According to the works of Iranian historian Rashid al-Din, Mongols killed over 70,000 people in Merv and more than a million in Nishapur. The rebellion was, however, easily crushed before Peter returned; of the Tsar's troops, only one was killed.

Over much of Central Asia Indo-European Persian-speakers were replaced by Turkic speakers. His visit was cut short in 1698, when he was forced to rush home by a rebellion of the streltsy. Genghis Khan's conquests were characterized by wholesale destruction on unprecedented scale and radically changed the demographic situation in Asia. He studied shipbuilding in Deptford and Amsterdam, and artillery in Königsberg. There were also mass slaughters even where there was no resistance, especially in Northern China, and the vast majority of the populations so killed had long histories of accepting nomadic rulers. In visiting England, the Holy Roman Empire and France, Peter learnt much about Western culture. Genghis Khan preferred to offer opponents the chance to submit to his rule without a fight, but was merciless if he encountered any resistance by totally exterminating the entire population of the resisting cities. The Grand Embassy, although failing to complete the mission of creating an anti-Ottoman alliance, still continued to travel across Europe.

At the Battle of Kalka River in 1223, the Mongols defeated the larger Russian force, capturing and killing 6 princes, Mstislav of Kiev among them. Peter, furthermore, had chosen the most inopportune moment; the Europeans at the time were more concerned about who would succeed the childless Spanish King Charles II than about fighting the Ottoman Sultan. Batu Khan sent emmisarries to the Slavic princes calling for separate peace but the emmisarries were executed. Peter's hopes were dashed; France was a traditional ally of the Ottoman Sultan, and Austria was eager to maintain peace in the east whilst conducting its own wars in the west. While he was heading home, Batu assaulted the Kipchaks and was intercepted by the allied troops of Mstislav the Bold of Halych and Mstislav III of Kiev, along with a force of Kievan Rus numbering around 80,000. In 1697, he traveled to Europe along with a large delegation of advisors—the "Grand Embassy"—to seek the aid of the European monarchs. Batu destroyed Georgian crusaders, sacked the Genoese trade-fortress of Kaffa in Crimea, and stayed the winter near the Black Sea. Peter knew that Russia could not face the mighty Ottoman Empire alone.

While he was gathering his forces in Persia and Armenia, a detached force of 40,000 troops of Batu Khan commanded by Subutai pushed deep into Armenia and Azerbaijan. He launched about thirty ships against the Ottomans in 1696, capturing Azov in July of that year. These invasions ultimately added Transoxiana and Persia to an already formidable empire. Peter returned to Moscow in November of that year, and promptly began building a large navy. In 1225 both divisions returned to Mongolia. In the summer of 1695, Peter organized the Azov campaigns in order to take the fortress, but his attempts ended in failure. Neither campaign added territory to the empire, but they pillaged settlements and defeated any armies they met that did not acknowledge Genghis Khan as the rightful leader of the world. Peter's primary objective became the capture of the Ottoman fortress of Azov, near the Don River.

Genghis Khan led a division on a raid through Afghanistan and northern India, while another contingent, led by his general Subedei, marched through the Caucasus and Russia. He was forced to wage war against the Crimean Khan and against the Khan's overlord, the Ottoman Sultan. The Mongol armies then split into two component forces. Peter instead attempted to acquire control of the Caspian Sea, but to do so he would have to expel the Tatars from the surrounding areas. In the end, the Shah killed himself rather than surrender when he was cornered and by 1220, the Khwarizmian Empire was eradicated. The Baltic Sea was at the time controlled by Sweden. However, he was outmaneuvered by the much swifter Mongol army and driven into extended retreat. His only outlet at the time was the White Sea.

The leader of Khwarizm, Shah Muhammad II, prepared to battle with them. To improve his nation's position on the seas, Peter sought to gain more maritime outlets. The Mongol army methodically marched through and sacked Khwarizm's main cities (Bukhara, Samarkand, and Balkh). He faced much opposition to these policies at home, but brutally suppressed any and all rebellions against his authority. At this point (1219), Genghis decided to extend Mongol control into the Muslim world. Heavily influenced by his western advisors, Peter reorganized the Russian army along European lines and dreamt of making Russia a maritime power. Once he had conquered the city, he killed many of the inhabitants and executed the governor by pouring molten silver into his ears and eyes as retribution for the insult. Early in his reign, Peter implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernising Russia.

The Mongol army quickly seized the town, relying on superior strategy and tactics. Peter became the sole ruler when Ivan died in 1696. The governor of the province had the emissaries executed, and Genghis Khan retaliated with an invasion force of 20 tumen (200,000 troops). Formally, Ivan V remained a co-ruler with Peter, although he was still ineffective. In 1218, Genghis sent emissaries to an eastern province of Khwarizm with the intention of discussing possible trade with the Khwarizmian Empire. It was only when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became truly independent. Genghis Khan did not, as a general rule, trust his relatives and so did not allow them to command significant numbers of soldiers. Power was instead exercised by his mother, Nataliya Naryshkina.

These generals were purely choosen on meritocracy as none of them were from direct line of Genghis Khan. Still, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. It should be noted that very talented military generals and military strategists of Genghis Khan like Subutai and Jebe played considerable role in the practicalities of the war and hands-on approaches. She was therefore overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-Tsars. By 1218, the Mongol Empire extended as far west as Lake Balkhash and adjoined Khwarizm, a Muslim state that reached to the Caspian Sea in the west and to the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea in the south. Unfortunately for Sophia, a rival faction of the streltsy had already been plotting against her. Kuchlug's forces were defeated west of Kashgar; he was captured and executed and Kara-Khitan was annexed by Genghis Khan. When she learnt of his designs, Sophia began to conspire with the leaders of the streltsy.

An internal revolt was incited by Mongol agents against Kuchlug, leaving the Naiman forces open for Jebe to overrun the country. By the summer of 1689, Peter had planned to take power from his half-sister Sophia, whose position had been weakened by the unsuccessful campaigns in The Crimea. Therefore, Genghis sent only two tumen (roughly 20,000 soldiers) under a brilliant young general, Jebe (known as "The Arrow"), against Kuchlug. The marriage was an utter failure, and ten years later Peter forced her to become a nun and thus freed himself from the marriage. By this time the Mongol army was exhausted from ten years of continuous campaigning in China against the Tangut and the Rurzhen. Peter's mother sought to force him to adopt a less unconventional approach and arranged his marriage to Eudoxia Lopukhina in 1689. Meanwhile, Kuchlug, the deposed Khan of the Naiman tribe, had fled west and had usurped the Khanate of Kara-Khitan (also known as Kara Kitay), the western allies that had decided to side with Genghis Khan. The ships he built were used during mock battles.

By this time, his advancing age had led Genghis to make preparations for his death and to assure an orderly succession among his descendants; he selected his third son Ögedei as his successor and established the method of selection of subsequent Khans, specifying that they should come from his direct descendants. He engaged in such pastimes as ship-building and sailing. In the end, Genghis Khan had the Tangut emperor and his family executed. Peter, meanwhile, was not particularly concerned that others ruled in his own name. The Tanguts officially surrendered in 1227, after having ruled for 189 years, starting in 1038. For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat. The new Tangut emperor quickly surrendered to the Mongols. Sophia acted as Regent during the minority of the two Sovereigns and exercised all power.

Genghis Khan, after conquering Deshun, went to Liupanshan (Qingshui County, Gansu Province) for shelter from the severe summer. Sophia insisted that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, with Ivan being acclaimed as the senior of the two. Ma Jianlong later died from wounds received from arrows in battle. The memory of this violence may have caused trauma during Peter's later years. At Deshun, the Tangut general Ma Jianlong put up a fierce resistance for several days and personally led charges against the invaders outside of the city gate. In the subsequent conflict, many of Peter's relatives and friends were murdered—Peter even witnessed the butchery of one of his uncles by a mob. In 1227, the Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts' capital, and continued to advance, seizing Lintiao-fu in February, Xining province and Xindu-fu in March, and Deshun province in April. But one of Aleksei's daughters by his first marriage, Sophia Alekseyevna, led a rebellion of the Streltsy (Russia's élite military corps).

Genghis reportedly saw five stars arranged in a line in the sky, which he took to be an omen of his victory. Consequently, the Boyar Duma (a council of Russian nobles) chose the ten-year old Peter to become Tsar, his mother becoming regent. In November, the Genghis Khan laid siege to the Tangut city of Lingzhou and then crossed the Yellow River and defeated the Tangut relief army. Properly, Ivan was next in the line of succession, but he was an invalid and of infirm mind. The Tangut armies were soundly defeated. Fyodor III's uneventful reign ended within six years; as Fyodor did not leave any children, a dispute over the succession between the Naryshkin and Miloslavskyi families broke out. One of Tangut generals challenged the Mongols for a battle near Helanshan (Helan means "great horse" in the northern dialect, shan means "mountain"). Fyodor is a more proper rendition of the name--though the variant "Feodor" often appears--the Russian Cyrillic equivalent being Фёдор, the second letter of which [ё] takes the sound "yo." (It should be noted passim that one very rarely sees the form ё in print, the dieresis almost always being omitted--leaving a bare e--unless the vehicle is a primer with a target audience of young children who have not yet learned to read.).

In February, he took Heisui, Ganzhou and Suzhou and in the autumn, he took Xiliang-fu. (Note the confusion in this article--in the vein of the preceding [since corrected] misspelling of Alekseyevich in Russian Cyrillic characters--over spelling conventions. In 1226, Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts on the pretext that the Tanguts had deceived the Mongols and they were seeking retribution for this betrayal. Aleksei I went on to have two further daughters by Nataliya Naryshkina--Anna, who died in her twenties, and Elizabeth, who took the throne of Russia 1741-1761, before dying in 1676, to be succeeded by his eldest surviving son, who became Fyodor III. In retaliation, the Genghis Khan prepared for war against their alliance. Alexei I had previously married Maria Miloslavskaya, having five sons and eight daughters by her, although only two of the sons—Feodor and Ivan—were alive when Peter was born. While Genghis Khan was busy with the campaign in Persia, Tangut and Jin had formed an alliance against the Mongols. Peter, the son of Aleksei Mikhailovich of Russia and his second wife, Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, was born in Moscow.

The vassal emperor of the Tanguts (Western Xia) had refused to take part in the war against the Khwarizmid Empire (see below). . The Mongol Empire campaigned 6 times against the Tanguts (1202, 1207, 1209-1210, 1211-1213, 1214-1219 and 1225-1226). Peter was an extraordinarily tall and powerful man, at six foot seven inches (2.04 meters), with large, green and ambitious eyes that showed his desire and desperation to turn Russia into the great modern Empire that it once was. This forced the Jin Emperor Xuan Zong to move his capital south to Kaifeng. Senate Chancellor Golovkin added "the Great, Father of His Country, Emperor of All the Russias" to Peter's traditional title Tsar following a speech by the archbishop of Pskov in 1721. The Mongol army crossed the Great Wall of China in 1213, and in 1215 Genghis besieged, captured, and sacked the Jin capital of Yanjing (later known as Beijing). Peter carried out a policy of "Westernization" and expansion that transformed Russia into a major European power.

In 1211, Genghis Khan set about bringing the Nuzhen (the founders of the Jin Dynasty) completely under his dominion, in order to prevent them from challenging the Mongols for territory and resources. Peter then ruled alone until 1724, whenceforth he ruled jointly with his wife, Yekaterina I. By 1209, the Tangut emperor acknowledged Genghis Khan as overlord. Known as Peter the Great (Пётр Великий, Pyotr Velikiy), he was at first a joint ruler with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V, who died in 1696. Genghis Khan led the Mongols against Xi Xia, and conquered the empire despite initial difficulties in defeating its well-defended cities. Peter I (Пётр I Алексейевич in Russian, or Pyotr I Alexeyevich) (10 June 1672–8 February 1725 [30 May 1672– 28 January 1725] O.S.¹]) ruled Russia from 7 May (27 April O.S.) 1682 until his death. At the time of the Khuriltai in 1206 that Genghis Khan got his title, Mongols were involved in a dispute with the Tangut Empire of Western Xia, which demanded tribute from the Mongols. Caesaropapism.

Genghis Khan was already around 40 years old when he became Khan and started his campaign outward. Peter the Great and the Russian Empire. See Lister and Ratchnevsky, referenced below, for further reading. Peterhof - Peter the Great's summer palace. Chingis Khan is the spelling used by the modern Republic of Mongolia. Likely, contemporary Mongols would have pronounced the word more like "Chinggis".

"jung" in English) meaning "right", "just", or "true", would have received the Mongolian adjectival modifier -s, creating "Jenggis", which was then modified by later scribes in India or Persia to read as "Genghis". Zhèng (Chinese: 正, pron. Lake Baikal and ocean were called as tenggiz by the Mongols, however it seems like that if they had meant to call Genghis Khan tenggiz they could very well have said (and written) "Tenggiz Khan", which they did not. One theory places the etymology as stemming from a palatalised version of the Mongolian and Turkish word tenggiz, meaning "ocean," "oceanic" or "wide-spreading".

There are many theories for the origins of Genghis Khan's title; this uncertainty is fueled by the fact that later members of the Mongol Empire associated the name with the Mongol word for strength, "ching", though this does not fit the etymology. See also: Mongols before Genghis Khan. At a Kurultai (a council of Mongol chiefs) he was acknowledged as the first and only "Khan" or Khagan, the ruler of rulers or emperor. It was a monumental feat for the Mongols, who had a long history of internecine dispute and economic hardship.

Temüjin managed to unite the tribes under a single system by 1206 using his personal charisma and strong will. In any event the Mongols were raiding China's northern border. It may be that some trade routes ran through Mongol territory, and it is possible that they feared that the Mongols would eventually restrict the supply of goods. The Jurchen had grown uncomfortable with the newly unified Mongols.

Temüjin organized his people to prepare for future conflicts, especially with the Jin. His borders were threatened to the south by the Jin who then ruled North China and to the west by the Xia. Temüjin executed Jamuqa's betrayers, officially on the principle that betrayal merits the harshest punishment. The Secret History of the Mongols states that Jamuqa insisted that he be executed even when Temüjin offered renewal of their brotherhood.

Jamuqa was eventually betrayed to Temüjin by his followers and executed in 1206. This allowed Temüjin to recover from a series of military defeats inflicted by Jamuqa and to emerge victorious. In particular, Jamuqa did not recruit shepherds who lacked tribal status in the Mongol tradition. Jamuqa was less successful in coalition-building because, unlike Temüjin, he maintained traditional divisions between tribes in his forces and assigned commands by hereditary rank rather than merit.

Jamuqa's assumption of this title was the final breach with Temüjin and Jamuka formed a coalition of tribes to oppose him. In 1201, a Khuriltai elected Jamuqa as Gur Khan, universal ruler, a title used by the rulers of the Kara-Khitan Khanate. Temüjin learnt of Senggum's intentions, eventually defeated him and his loyalists and succeeded to the title of Wang Khan. This led to jealousy on the part of Senggum, Wang's former heir, who planned to assassinate Temüjin.

It is claimed that Temüjin was adopted as Wang Khan's heir after successful campaigns against the Tatars (1202). Temüjin began his slow ascent to power by allying himself with his father's anda (sworn brother or blood brother) Toghril, khan of the Kerait and better known by the Chinese title Wang Khan which the Jin Empire granted him in 1197. All four sons participated in Genghis Khan's campaigns, and eventually became Khans of different Khanates after Genghis Khan's death, but it was Ögedei who was proclaimed the Great Khan and inherited Genghis Khan's mantle. Because Jochi was born after Borte was freed from her captors, his paternity was contested.

Genghis Khan's empress was Borte, his childhood friend in whose family's care his father left Temujin when he was 9; she bore him four sons:. When the Tatars, in turn, grew too powerful after 1161, the Jin moved their support from the Tatars to the Kerait. Genghis Khan's father, Yesugei, khan of the Borjigin, and nephew to Ambaghai and Qutula Khan, emerged as the head of the ruling clan of the Mongols, but this position was contested by the rival Tayichi’ud clan, who descended directly from Ambaghai. Genghis Khan was related through his father to Qabul Khan, Ambaghai and Qutula Khan who had headed the Mongol confederation under Jin patronage until the Jin switched their support to the Tatars in 1161 and destroyed Qutula Khan.

Main article: Family tree of Genghis Khan. Börte's first child, Jochi, was born about nine months after she was freed from the Merkit, leading to questions regarding the child's paternity. Temüjin became blood brothers with Jamuqa and thus made a vow to be faithful to each other for eternity. Later she was kidnapped in a raid by the Merkit tribe, and Temüjin called on his friend and later rival, Jamuka, and his protector, Wang Khan of the Kerait tribe, for aid.

Around the age of 16, Temüjin married Börte of the Konkirat tribe. His mother, Hoelun, taught him many lessons on survival in the harsh political climate of Mongolia, especially the need for alliances with others, a lesson which would shape his understanding in his later years. He escaped with help from a sympathetic captor. In another, he was captured in a raid by his former tribe and held captive with a wooden collar around his neck.

Despite being reproached by his mother he never expressed any remorse over the killing. In one incident, Temüjin reportedly murdered his half-brother over a dispute about sharing hunting spoils. For the next few years, he and his family lived the life of impoverished nomads, surviving primarily on marmots and other small game. This gave Temüjin a claim to be the clan's chief, though his clan refused to be led by a boy and soon abandoned him and his family.

Shortly thereafter, his father was murdered by the neighboring Tatars while returning home. He was supposed to live there until he reached the marriageable age of 14. His early life was difficult: His father delivered him to his future wife's family when he was only nine. Like any nomad of the time, he was familiar, at least partially, with the working of iron and steel, for such purposes as horse-shoeing and weaponry.

The name "Temujin" translates into English as "Smith" or "Blacksmith" though there is no evidence that Temujin had smithing as an occupation. Temüjin was named after one of the more powerful chiefs of a rival tribe who his father, Yesükhei, had recently defeated. His mother was named Hoelun and was of the Olkunut tribe. Yesükhei's clan was called Borjigin (Боржигин).

He was the second son of Yesükhei, a tribal chief of the Kiyad. His birthplace was most likely the mountainous area of Burhan Haldun. There is not much known about his early years, but Temujin was born sometime between 1155 and 1167 in Hentiy, Mongolia. His family ruled the Mongols until the 17th century, when the last Khan of his house was conquered by the Manchu.

Genghis Khan's descendants included Kublai Khan, and possibly also Timur and Babur, though it is unlikely that the last were related. Genghis Khan's successors continued to rule and expand the Mongol Empire he founded after his death, and, even after the unified empire dissolved a century and a half later, separate Khanates existed for centuries afterwards. The Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors ruled most of Eurasia, including Central Asia, North Asia, Eastern Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Central Europe, stretching from Vietnam to successful campaigns in Poland and Hungary. His conquest, and his strategy of inducing fear by slaughtering the entire populations of resisting cities such as Merv and Herat, led to millions of deaths, and, in the longer term, resulted in large-scale depopulation of the areas of Asia that he conquered [1].

After unifying the Mongol tribes, he conquered the territories of the Naiman, Merkit, Tatar, and Kerait and led very successful and sometimes brutal campaigns against Western Xia in northern China and the Khwarezmid Empire in western Asia. Though often outnumbered in battles, he used superior military intelligence, endurance, tactics and the mobility of his armies to defeat opponents, rapidly conquering more territory than any other single ruler. Born in Mongolia in the 12th century, Temüjin united the Mongol tribes of Central Asia, forging a powerful empire that became the nucleus of what was to become the largest contiguous empire in world history. .

In Mongolia, he is considered a hero for his historical role in uniting the Mongol tribes by giving them a common identity. Genghis Khan is considered as one of the most brilliant military leaders who is also remembered for his ruthless intolerance of resistance. See International Phonetic Alphabet." class="IPA" style="white-space: nowrap; font-family:'Code2000', 'Chrysanthi Unicode', 'Doulos SIL', 'Gentium', 'GentiumAlt', 'TITUS Cyberbit Basic', 'Bitstream Vera', 'Bitstream Cyberbit', 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro'; font-family /**/:inherit; text-decoration: none">/ʧiŋɡis xaːn/,  Mongolian pronunciation^?), born as Temüjin (Тэмүүжин), was a Great Khan of Mongol Empire and military leader who united the Mongol tribes and founded the Mongol Empire. 1162¹–August 18, 1227) (Cyrillic: Чингис Хаан), (also spelled as Chingis Khan, Jenghis Khan, etc.), (pronounced