Genghis-Khan (Part 1), Scourge form the steppes

This post is the first of a twelve-month-series about Gengis-Khan. Be ready for a year of adventures!

Genghis-Khan was one of, if not the greatest, leader and an absolute legend in history. He shook the world under the hooves of his hordes during his invasions. When I started researching for this post, I was far from imagining the sheer scale of the impact that one random nomadic guy ended up having on the world. You thought Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Mehmet or Louis XIV were influential? They are wannabes compared to Genghis-Khan and his accomplishments. Not counting the leaders of the global age, the only other people that came close to his stature were Napoleon and Queen Victoria.  

Okay let’s start with the beginning. For a man of his renown Genghis-Khan, or Temujin before he was named the Great Khan, had surprisingly humble origins. Although he was the son of the chieftain of a Mongol clan, he had to start from scratch. Indeed, his father Yesugei Bagatur, was assassinated by the Merkit for kidnapping Hö’elün, who was promised to one of their nobles. And since none of Yesugei’s sons were old enough to take over the family they were all banished into the steppes. Don’t worry, Temujin got back at them later on, … all of them! 

So, after surviving, with a mix of cunning, resourcefulness, stubbornness and a tad bit of plot armor (the Mongol plateau is not a great place to live), Temujin eventually managed to claw his way back into Mongol society. Not only that, but he managed to reshape it into a meritocratic society and would unleash some of the biggest genocides history ever saw... Because yes, another thing that is rarely talked about when it comes to Genghis-Khan is the mind-blowing amount of people he killed. We always argue between Hitler and Stalin when deciding on the deadliest man. Genghis-Khan, however, sits comfortably at the second spot with a kill count higher than both of them combined. His campaigns resulted in the death of roughly 50 million people, in the MIDDLE AGES – which is about 11% of the world population back then. 

But of course, this wasn’t the only legacy he left, far from it. Genghis-Khan rewrote the history of East Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North Africa. Entire civilizations were born and killed by his hordes. 

We’ll follow with his incursions in China in the next post. Make sure to follow his adventures!