Genghis Khan - The Mongol Emperor Who Lived - And Killed - By ‘The Art of War'
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The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources."
Introduction
He was born around 1162. His name Temüjin (meaning "Iron" or "Blacksmith"), the son of a chief within a nomadic tribe in Mongolia. At age 9, his father took him on a trip to select a girl as his future wife. But on their journey, they were betrayed by a rival faction, and his father was killed by poisoning. And for the next 20 + years of his life, Temujin endured much hardship, humiliation, and betrayal, as his own tribe abandoned him, leaving him as an orphan in the Monogolian steppe.
His enemies tortured him, starved him, bound him into slavery by bo’orcu (wooden collar), tried to kill him (unsuccessfully), and even gifted his wife to another man as a spoil of war.
Table of Contents
From Bondage to Empire: The Ruthless Education of Temüjin
And within that time period, Temüjin repeatedly escaped bondage (only to be recaptured several times), learned to hunt and forage to survive in the wild, and trained himself to fight and to kill. And gradually Temüjin became stronger, becoming a brutal and ruthless warrior who rarely ever left a score unsettled by death. And eventually, Temüjin even rescued his wife.
And as he grew older he became wiser and more open minded, for after having endured so much betrayal, he was tolerant of different religions, valuing more the spirit in each man's soul. Temüjin believed in meritocracy as opposed to favoritism, and in doing so, he united faiths across the land, inspiring deep loyalty within the men, turning enemies into friends, friends into warriors, warriors into tribes, and tribes into a vast army over 250,000 strong.
"If You Had Not Committed Great Sins, God Would Not Have Sent A Punishment Like Me Upon You."
The Great Unifier: Temüjin’s Rise from Exile to Empire
By 1206, Temüjin was appointed Supreme Ruler of the Mongolian Empire and rode across northern Asia, capturing walled cities and castles, sometimes never even attacking them, but rather surrounding and starving them out till surrender (tactics outlined in "The Art of War"). And with each new territory conquered, Temüjin generously bestowed the newfound riches to his people and not so much himself, for his main objective was to challenge and conquer other empires.
But let's not sugar coat history, during his reign historians estimate Temüjin was responsible for the deaths of up to 40 million people. His reputation invoked so much fear that cities would often surrender immediately upon his arrival. And so brutal were his methods that 20th Century Soviet historians suppressed his history, merely describing Temüjin as a "merciless, barbarian monster".
Facts about Temüjin:
→ Born 1162
→ name means "Iron" or "Blacksmith"
→ at age 9 met his wife Börte
→ his father, Yesügei, was poisoned by Tatars
From Cub to Conqueror: The Reclaimed Legacy of Genghis Khan
But in 2005, when Russian Filmmaker Sergei Bodrov set out to make a film about Temüjin's life, he "started to get suspicious. I found just an amazing, great, childhood story. He was orphan. He suffered a lot, he was a slave, he was the under dog. And there was an amazing love story. And there was something wrong with this interpretation."
Upon his death in 1227, Temüjin conquered twice as much land than any other person in world history, bringing Eastern and Western civilizations into contact with one another in the process.
And in 2007, Sergei Bodrov's film about Temüjin was released. It was called "Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan" and it's opening tagline was...
"Do not scorn a weak cub. He may become a brutal tiger."
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