Genghis Khan Information

Genghis Khan 's Contribution   

When Genghis Khan died the Mongol Empire stretched from the Black Sea in the west, to the Sea of Japan in the east. It stretched from the Black Sea south to the Arabian Sea and then northeast across China. Before he died he said to his children and grandchildren: "With heaven's aid I have conquered for you a huge empire. But my life was too short to achieve the conquest of the world. That task is left for you." They took him at his word. Khan's descendants, including his grandson Kublai Khan, carried on his work, marching through southern China, into Korea, western Asia, northern Russia, and the areas that are now Poland, Germany, and Hungary. By 1294, only 67 years after Khan's death, the Mongol Empire ruled over one-half of all the human beings on earth. When Marco Polo returned from China the following year he brought to Europe the first accounts of the splendor of the empire and the achievements of its ruler, Kublai Khan, a man of a far less fierce temperament than his grandfather.

Genghis Khan 's accomplishment

What Genghis Khan accomplished in his life is almost impossible to imagine. Unlike Alexander the Great, he started from obscure beginnings and a childhood marked by poverty and struggle. Yet he ended up ruling the largest land empire in history. He was the very first to unite the Mongol tribes, and other nomadic tribes, into an effective fighting force and a cohesive society. He managed this with a political and military genius that can be matched by only a handful of men in history. He had great physical strength and energy, determination of purpose, and a will that was unbreakable. Yet he would seek and listen to advice from others, even his wife and mother, in a time when women were held in small regard. His passion for loyalty was as deep as his passion for revenge. The Khan's greatest asset was probably his flexibility and his ability to adapt. He learned from every experience and modified and improved his techniques to suit new situations.

Genghis Khan in History and Today

Today, Genghis Khan is remembered mostly for his brutality. Yet he was neither the first nor the last nomadic conqueror to ride out of the steppe and sweep terror across Eurasia. His campaigns, however, were larger, more successful, and more lasting than any other. He was brutal in war but believed he was being just. In his own mind he was punishing those who had offended, particularly in his war against the Muslims, who had violated their treaties of peace and trade. As savage as he could be, he was known for his fairness and generosity with his own people. He also contributed much to the development of his lands. He opened great roads throughout his empire and free trade flourished from east to west. Under the Mongols, the compass, firearm, and printing techniques reached Europe, and the arts and sciences of China flourished. Today the name Genghis Khan is almost always associated with destruction and savagery, yet destruction and savagery were not his invention - they were a way of life in 13th century Asia. He had learned them from his own contemporaries, and they were as acceptable by the standards of his times, as peace and humanism are by ours. His opponents were equally as barbaric. In one town, the Khan's men were put into large vats of water and boiled alive. Genghis Khan was simply destructive in a far broader range and in far greater numbers than anyone else had been. He was, in the long run, the ultimate personification of his time and culture - both in its worthiness, and its wretchedness.