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Genghis Khan history. Great generals

Death of Genghis Khan. Major Versions

Genghis Khan died in 1227 during a campaign against. According to the dying wish of Genghis Khan, his body was transported to his homeland and interred in the area of Mount Burkan-Kaldun.
According to the official version of the "Secret Tale", on the way to the Tangut state, he fell off his horse and badly hurt himself while hunting for wild wild ass horses and fell ill:
“Having decided to go to the Tanguts at the end of the winter period of the same year, Genghis Khan carried out a new recount of the troops and in the autumn of the year of the Dog (1226) set out on a campaign against the Tanguts. Yesui-kha followed the sovereign from the khansh tun. On the way, during the raid on the Arbukhay wild horses-kulans, which are found there in abundance, Genghis Khan was sitting astride a brown-gray horse. During the onslaught of kulans, his brown-gray rose to the dab, and the sovereign fell and badly hurt himself. Therefore, we made a stop at the Tsoorhat tract. The night passed, and the next morning Yesui-Khatun said to the princes and noyons: “The sovereign had a strong fever at night. We need to discuss the situation."
Further in the text of the Secret History it is said that “Genghis Khan, after the final defeat of the Tanguts, returned and ascended to heaven in the Year of the Pig” (1227). From the Tangut booty, he especially generously rewarded Yesui Khatun at his very departure.
In the "Collection of Chronicles" by Rashid ad-Din, the following is said about the death of Genghis Khan:
“Genghis Khan died within the country of Tangut from an illness that happened to him. Even earlier, during the testament to his sons and sending them back, he commanded that when this event happened to him, they would hide him, not sob and cry, so that his death would not be revealed, and that the emirs and troops would wait there until the sovereign and the inhabitants of Tangut would not leave the walls of the city at the appointed time, then they would have killed everyone and prevented the rumor of his death from quickly reaching the regions until the ulus gathered together. According to his will, the death was covered up.”
In Marco Polo, Genghis Khan dies heroically in battle from a wound in the knee with an arrow, in and in chronicle « from an incurable disease caused by an unhealthy climate" or from a fever that he contracted in a Tangut city,from a lightning strike. The version of the death of Genghis Khan from a lightning strike is found only in the writings of Plano Carpini and brother C. de Bridia. In Central Asia, death by lightning was considered unfortunate to the extreme.
In the Tatar chronicleGenghis Khan was stabbed to death with sharp scissors in her sleep by a young Tangut princess during their wedding night. According to another little-spread legend, he died during the wedding night from a mortal wound inflicted by the teeth of a Tangut princess, who then threw herself into the Huang-he River. This river began to be called by the Mongols Khatun-muren, which means " queen's river».
In retellingthis legend goes like this:
“According to a widespread Mongolian legend, which the author had to hear, Genghis Khan allegedly died from a wound inflicted by the Tangut khansha, the beautiful Kurbeldishin-Khatun, who spent her only wedding night with Genghis Khan, who took her as his wife by right of conqueror after the capture of the Tangut kingdom. The Tangut king Shidurkho-Khagan, who was distinguished by cunning and cunning, left his capital and harem, as if persuaded his wife, who remained there, to inflict a mortal wound with her teeth on Genghis Khan during the wedding night, and his treachery was so great that he sent advice to Genghis Khan to preliminarily searched "to the nails" in order to avoid an attempt on the life of the khan. After the bite, Kyurbeldishin-Khatun rushed as if into the Yellow River, on the banks of which Genghis Khan stood at his headquarters. After that, the Mongols began to call this river Khatun-myuren, which means "river of the queen."
A similar version of the legend is given by N.M. Karamzin in the History of the Russian State (1811):
“Karpini writes that Genghis Khan was killed by thunder, and the Siberian Mungals say that, having taken his young wife from the Tangut Khan by force, he was stabbed to death by her at night, and that she, fearing execution, drowned herself in the river, which was named because Khatun-Gol.”
N.M. Karamzin probably borrowed this evidence from the classic work “History of Siberia”, written by the German historian academician G. Miller in 1761:
“It is known how Abulgazi tells about the death of Genghis: according to him, she followed on the way back from Tangut, after he defeated the ruler named Shidurku, who had been appointed by him, but rebelled against him. The Mongolian chronicles report completely different information about this. Gaudurga, as they write, was then a khan in Tangut, he was attacked by Genghis in order to kidnap one of his wives, about whose beauty he had heard a lot. Genghis was lucky to get the desired booty. On the way back, during a night stop on the bank of a large river, which is the border between Tangut, China and Mongolian land and which flows through China into the ocean, he was killed while sleeping by his new wife, who stabbed him with sharp scissors. The killer knew that for her deed she would receive retribution from the people. She averted the punishment that threatened her by throwing herself into the aforementioned river immediately after the murder, and there she committed suicide. In memory of her, this river, which in Chinese is called Gyuan-go, received the Mongolian name Khatun-gol, that is, the female river. The steppe near Khatun-gol, in which this great Tatar sovereign and founder of one of the largest kingdoms was buried, bears the Mongolian name Nulun-talla. But it is not known whether other Tatar or Mongol sovereigns from the Genghis clan were buried there, as Abulgazi tells about the Burkhan-Kaldin tract.
G. Miller names the Tatar manuscript chronicle of Khan Abulagazi as the source of this information and “. However, information that Genghis Khan was stabbed to death with sharp scissors is given only in the annals of Abulagazi; this detail is not in the Golden Chronicle, although the rest of the plot is the same.
In the Mongolian work "Shastra Orunga" the following is written: "Genghis Khan in the summer of the year of the ge-cow in the sixty-sixth year of his life in the city at the same time with his wife Goa Hulan, changing the body, showed eternity.
All the listed versions of the same memorable event for the Mongols are surprisingly very different from each other. The latest version is in conflict with the "Secret Tale", which says that at the end of his life, Genghis Khan was sick, and next to him was his devoted khan Yesui-Khatun.
Thus, today there are five different versions of the death of Genghis Khan, each of which has an authoritative justification in historical sources.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

KAZAKH NATIONAL UNIVERSITY named after K.I.SATPAEV

Department of History of Kazakhstan

Topic: “Genghis Khan. Years of government”

Completed:

1st year student

font 5В072400

Kulmakhanov Ramadan

Checked:

Ph.D. assistant professor

Department of IC

Chatybekova K.K.

Almaty 2011

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan (1155 or 1162 - August 25, 1227) - a short title of the Mongol khan from the Borjigin family, who united the scattered Mongol tribes.

The commander who organized the conquest campaigns of the Mongols in China, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Founder of the Mongol Empire and its first Great Khan.

After his death in 1227, the heirs of the empire were his direct descendants from the first wife of Borte in the male line, the Genghisides.

Biography. Birth and youth

Temujin was born in the Delyun-Boldok tract on the banks of the Onon River (Fig. 1) in the family of one of the leaders of the Mongolian Taichiut tribe Yesugei-Bagatur from the Borjigin clan and his wife Hoelun from the Ungirat tribe, whom Yesugei recaptured from the Merkit Eke-Chiledu and was named in honor of the Tatar leader Temuchin-Uge captured by him, whom Yesugei defeated on the eve of the birth of his son. The year of Temujin's birth remains not fully clarified, since the main sources indicate different dates. According to Rashid ad-Din, Temujin was born in 1155. The History of the Yuan Dynasty lists 1162 as the date of birth. A number of scientists (for example, G.V. Vernadsky) points to 1167.

At the age of 9, Yesugei-bagatur betrothed his son Borte, a 10-year-old girl from the Ungirat family. Leaving his son in the bride's family until the age of majority, in order to get to know each other better, he went home. According to the Secret History, on the way back, Yesugei stopped at the Tatars' parking lot, where he was poisoned. Upon returning to his native ulus, he fell ill and died three days later.

After the death of Temujin's father, his followers abandoned the widows (Yesugei had 2 wives) and Yesugei's children (Temujin and his younger brother Khasar, and from his second wife, Bekter and Belgutai): the head of the Taichiut clan drove the family out of their homes, stealing all her cattle. For several years, widows with children lived in complete poverty, wandering in the steppes, eating roots, game and fish. Even in summer, the family lived from hand to mouth, making provisions for the winter.

The leader of the Taichiuts, Targitai-Kiriltukh (a distant relative of Temujin), who declared himself the ruler of the lands once occupied by Yesugei, fearing the revenge of his growing rival, began to pursue Temujin. Once an armed detachment attacked the camp of Yesugei's family. Temujin managed to escape, but he was overtaken and taken prisoner. They put a block on him - two wooden boards with a hole for the neck, which were pulled together. The block was a painful punishment: the person himself did not have the opportunity to eat, drink, or even drive away the fly that sat on his face.

He found a way to slip away and hide in a small lake, plunging into the water with the stock and sticking out of the water with one nostril. The Taichiuts searched for him in this place, but could not find him. He was noticed by a laborer from the tribe of the Selduz Sorgan-Shire, who was among them, and decided to save him. He pulled young Temujin out of the water, freed him from the block and led him to his dwelling, where he hid him in a cart with wool. After the departure of the Taichiuts, Sorgan-Shire put Temujin on a mare, supplied him with weapons and sent him home (later Chilaun, the son of Sorgan-Shire, became one of the four close nukers of Genghis Khan).

After some time, Temujin found his family. The Borjigins immediately migrated to another place, and the Taichiuts could not find them. At the age of 11, Temujin became friends with his peer of noble origin from the Jadaran (Jajirat) tribe - Jamukha, who later became the leader of this tribe. With him in his childhood, Temujin twice became a sworn brother (anda).

A few years later, Temujin married his betrothed Borta (by this time, Boorchu appeared in the service of Temujin, who was also among the four closest nukers). Borte's dowry was a luxurious sable coat. Temujin soon went to the most powerful of the then steppe leaders - Tooril, the khan of the Kerait tribe. Tooril was the sworn brother (anda) of Temujin's father, and he managed to enlist the support of the leader of the Kereites, recalling this friendship and offering Borte a sable coat. Upon Temujin's return from Tooril Khan, an old Mongol gave him his son Jelme, who became one of his generals, to serve him.

The beginning of the conquests

With the support of Tooril Khan, Temujin's forces began to gradually grow. Nukers began to flock to him; he raided his neighbors, multiplying his possessions and herds. He differed from other conquerors in that during the battles he tried to keep alive as many people from the enemy’s ulus as possible in order to further attract them to his service.

The first serious opponents of Temujin were the Merkits, who acted in alliance with the Taichiuts. In the absence of Temujin, they attacked the camp of the Borjigins and captured Borte (according to the assumption, she was already pregnant and was expecting the first son of Jochi) and Yesugei's second wife, Sochikhel, Belgutai's mother. In 1184 (according to rough estimates, based on the date of birth of Ogedei), Temujin, with the help of Tooril Khan and his Kereites, as well as Jamukha (invited by Temujin at the insistence of Tooril Khan), from the Jajirat clan, defeated the Merkits and returned Borte. Belgutai's mother, Sochikhel, refused to go back.

After the victory, Tooril Khan went to his horde, and Temujin and Jamukha remained to live together in the same horde, where they again entered into an alliance of brotherhood, exchanging golden belts and horses. After some time (from half a year to a year and a half), they dispersed, while many noyons and nukers of Jamukha joined Temujin (which was one of the reasons for Jamukha's dislike for Temujin). Having separated, Temujin set about organizing his ulus, creating a horde control apparatus. The first two nukers, Boorchu and Dzhelme, were appointed senior in the khan's headquarters, Subetai-bagatur, in the future the famous commander of Genghis Khan, received the command post. In the same period, Temujin had a second son, Chagatai (the exact date of his birth is not known) and a third son, Ogedei (October 1186). Temujin created his first small ulus in 1186 (1189/90 are also probable) and had 3 tumens (30,000 people) troops.

Jamukha was looking for an open quarrel with his anda. The reason was the death of Jamukha's younger brother - Taychar - during his attempt to steal a herd of horses from Temujin's possessions. Under the pretext of revenge, Jamukha with his army moved to Temujin in 3 darkness. The battle took place near the Gulegu Mountains, between the sources of the Sengur River and the upper course of the Onon. In this first big battle (according to the main source "The Secret History of the Mongols") Temujin was defeated.

The first major military enterprise of Temujin after the defeat from Jamukha was the war against the Tatars together with Tooril Khan. The Tatars at that time hardly repulsed the attacks of the Jin troops who entered their possession. The combined troops of Tooril Khan and Temujin, having joined the Jin troops, moved against the Tatars. The battle took place in 1196. They inflicted a series of strong blows on the Tatars and captured rich booty. The government of the Jurchen Jin, as a reward for the defeat of the Tatars, awarded high titles to the steppe leaders. Temujin received the title "Jauthuri" (military commissar), and Tooril - "Van" (prince), from that time he became known as Van Khan. Temujin became a vassal of Wang Khan, in whom Jin saw the most powerful of the rulers of Eastern Mongolia.

In 1197-1198. Van Khan, without Temujin, made a campaign against the Merkits, plundered and gave nothing to his named "son" and vassal Temujin. This marked the beginning of a new cooling. After 1198, when the Jin ruined the Kungirats and other tribes, the influence of the Jin on Eastern Mongolia began to weaken, which allowed Temujin to take possession of the eastern regions of Mongolia. At this time, Inanch Khan dies and the Naiman state splits into two uluses, headed by Buyruk Khan in Altai and Taian Khan on the Black Irtysh. In 1199, Temujin, together with Wang Khan and Jamukha, attacked Buyruk Khan with their combined forces and he was defeated. Upon returning home, the Naiman detachment blocked the way. It was decided to fight in the morning, but at night Wang Khan and Jamukha fled, leaving Temujin alone in the hope that the Naimans would finish him off. But by morning, Temujin found out about this and retreated without engaging in battle. The Naimans began to pursue not Temujin, but Wang Khan. The Kereites entered into a heavy battle with the Naimans, and, in the evidence of death, Van Khan sends messengers to Temujin with a request for help. Temujin sent his nukers, among whom Boorchu, Mukhali, Borokhul and Chilaun distinguished themselves in battle. For his salvation, Wang Khan bequeathed his ulus to Temujin after his death.

In 1200, Wang Khan and Temujin launched a joint campaign against the Taichiuts. The Merkits came to the aid of the Taichiuts. In this battle, Temujin was wounded by an arrow, after which Jelme took care of him all the next night. By morning, the Taichiuts had fled, leaving many people behind. Among them was Sorgan-Shira, who once saved Temujin, and the well-aimed shooter Jirgoadai, who confessed that it was he who shot at Temujin. He was accepted into the army of Temujin and received the nickname Jebe (arrowhead). A chase was organized for the taichuts. Many were killed, some surrendered to the service. This was the first major victory won by Temujin.

In 1201, some Mongol forces (including Tatars, Taichiuts, Merkits, Oirats and other tribes) decided to unite in the fight against Temujin. They took an oath of allegiance to Jamukha and elevated him to the throne with the title of Gur Khan. Upon learning of this, Temujin contacted Wang Khan, who immediately raised an army and came to him.

In 1202, Temujin independently opposed the Tatars. Before this campaign, he issued an order according to which it was strictly forbidden to capture booty during the battle and pursuit of the enemy: the commanders had to divide the captured property between the soldiers only at the end of the battle. The fierce battle was won, and on the council gathered by Temujin after the battle, it was decided to destroy all the Tatars, except for children below the cart axle, as revenge for the Mongols' ancestors they had killed (in particular, for Temujin's father).

In the spring of 1203, Temujin's troops fought the combined forces of Jamukha and Wang Khan. Although Wang Khan did not want a war with Temujin, he was persuaded by his son Nilkha-Sangum, who hated Temujin because Wang Khan preferred him over his son and thought to transfer the Kereit throne to him, and Jamukha, who claimed that Temujin was uniting with Naiman Taiyan Khan. In this battle, the ulus of Temujin suffered many losses. But the son of Van Khan was wounded, because of which the Kereites left the battlefield. To gain time, Temujin began to send diplomatic messages, the purpose of which was to separate both Jamukha and Wang Khan, and Wang Khan and his son. At the same time, a number of tribes that did not join either side formed a coalition against both Wang Khan and Temujin. Upon learning of this, Wang Khan attacked first and defeated them, after which he began to feast. When this was reported to Temujin, it was decided to attack with lightning speed and take the enemy by surprise. Without even stopping at night, Temujin's army overtook the Kereites and completely defeated them in the autumn of 1203. The Kereit ulus ceased to exist. Wang-khan and his son managed to escape, but ran into a Naiman guard, where Tayan-khan ordered to cut off Wang-khan's head. Wang Khan's son was able to escape, but was later killed by the Uighurs.

With the fall of the Kereites in 1204, Jamukha with the remaining army joined the Naiman in the hope of Temujin's death at the hands of Tayan Khan, or vice versa. Tayan Khan saw in Temujin the only rival in the struggle for power in the Mongolian steppes. Learning about what the Naimans think about the attack, Temujin decided to go on a campaign against Tayan Khan. But before the campaign, he began the reorganization of the management of the army and the ulus. At the beginning of the summer of 1204, Temujin's army - about 45,000 horsemen - set out on a campaign against the Naimans. Tayan Khan's army at first retreated in order to lure Temujin's army into a trap, but then, at the insistence of Tayan Khan's son, Kuchluk, entered the battle. The Naimans were defeated, only Kuchluk with a small detachment managed to escape to the Altai to his uncle Buyuruk. Tayan Khan died, and Jamukha fled even before the start of a fierce battle, realizing that the Naimans could not win. In battles with the Naiman, Khubilai, Chzhebe, Chzhelme and Subetai especially distinguished themselves.

In the autumn of the same year, Temujin, building on success, opposed the Merkits, and the Merkit people fell. Tokhtoa-beki, the ruler of the Merkits, fled to the Altai, where he united with Kuchluk.

In the spring of 1205, Temujin's army attacked Tokhtoa-beki and Kuchluk in the area of the Bukhtarma River. Tokhtoa-beki died, and his army and most of the Naimans of Kuchluk, pursued by the Mongols, drowned while crossing the Irtysh. Kuchluk with his people fled to the Kara-Kitay (southwest of Lake Balkhash). There, Kuchluk managed to gather scattered detachments of Naiman and Kerait, enter the location of the gurkhan and become a rather significant political figure. The sons of Tokhtoa-beki fled to the Kipchaks, taking with them the severed head of their father. Subetai was sent to pursue them.

After the defeat of the Naimans, most of the Mongols of Jamukha went over to the side of Temujin. At the end of 1205, Jamukha himself was handed over to Temujin alive by his own nukers, for which they were executed by Temujin as traitors. Jamukha was also executed by Temujin.

Reforms of the Great Khan

In the spring of 1206, at the head of the Onon River at the kurultai, Temujin was proclaimed a great khan over all the tribes and received the title "Genghis Khan". Mongolia has changed: scattered and warring Mongolian nomadic tribes united into a single state.

A new law came into force - Yasa of Genghis Khan. In Yasa, the main place was occupied by articles on mutual assistance in a campaign and the prohibition of deceiving a trusted person. Those who violated these regulations were executed, and the enemy of the Mongols, who remained loyal to their ruler, was spared and accepted into their army. Loyalty and courage were considered good, while cowardice and betrayal were considered evil.

Genghis Khan divided the entire population into tens, hundreds, thousands and tumens (ten thousand), thereby mixing tribes and clans and appointing specially selected people from his confidants and nukers as commanders over them. All adult and healthy men were considered warriors who ran their household in peacetime and took up arms in wartime. The armed forces of Genghis Khan, formed in this way, amounted to approximately 95 thousand soldiers.

Separate hundreds, thousands and tumens, together with the territory for nomadism, were given into the possession of one or another noyon. The Great Khan, the owner of all the land in the state, distributed the land and arats into the possession of the noyons, on the condition that they would regularly perform certain duties for this. Military service was the most important duty. Each noyon was obliged, at the first request of the overlord, to put the prescribed number of soldiers in the field. Noyon in his inheritance could exploit the labor of arats, distributing his cattle to them for grazing or involving them directly in work on his farm. Small noyons served as large ones.

Under Genghis Khan, the enslavement of arats was legalized, unauthorized transition from one dozen, hundreds, thousands or tumens to others was prohibited. This prohibition meant the formal attachment of the arats to the land of the noyons - for disobedience, the arat was threatened with the death penalty.

An armed detachment of personal bodyguards, called keshik, enjoyed exclusive privileges and was intended to fight against the internal enemies of the khan. Keshiktens were selected from the Noyon youth and were under the personal command of the khan himself, being essentially the khan's guard. At first, there were 150 keshiktens in the detachment. In addition, a special detachment was created, which was supposed to always be in the forefront and be the first to engage in battle with the enemy. He was called a detachment of heroes. The Russian word "bogatyr" comes from the Mongolian word "bagadur".

Genghis Khan created a network of communication lines, large-scale courier communications for military and administrative purposes, organized intelligence, including economic intelligence.

Genghis Khan divided the country into two "wings". At the head of the right wing he placed Boorcha, at the head of the left - Mukhali, two of his most faithful and experienced companions. The position and titles of senior and senior military leaders - centurions, thousands and temniks - he made hereditary in the family of those who, with their faithful service, helped him seize the khan's throne.

Conquest of Northern China

In 1207-1211, the Mongols conquered the land of the forest tribes, that is, they subjugated almost all the main tribes and peoples of Siberia, imposing tribute on them. In 1209, Genghis Khan conquered Central Asia and turned his gaze to the south.

Before the conquest of China, Genghis Khan decided to secure the border by capturing in 1207 the Tangut state Xi-Xia, which was located between his possessions and the state of Jin. Having captured several fortified cities, in the summer of 1208 Genghis Khan withdrew to Longjin, waiting out the unbearable heat that fell that year.

Meanwhile, news reached him that his old enemies Tokhtoa-beki and Kuchluk were preparing for a new war with him. Having carefully prepared, Genghis Khan defeated them utterly in a battle on the banks of the Irtysh. Tokhtoa-beki was among the dead, and Kuchluk fled and found shelter with the Karakitays.

Satisfied with the victory, Temujin again sent his troops against Xi-Xia. After defeating an army of Chinese Tatars, he captured a fortress and a passage in the Great Wall of China and in 1213 invaded the Chinese state of Jin directly and marched as far as Nianxi in Hanshu province. With increasing stubbornness, Genghis Khan led his troops deep into the continent and established his power over the province of Liaodong, the central province of the empire. Several Chinese commanders went over to his side. The garrisons surrendered without a fight.

Having established his position along the entire Great Wall of China, in the fall of 1213, Temujin sent three armies to different parts of the Chinese Empire. One of them, under the command of the three sons of Genghis Khan - Jochi, Chagatai and Ogedei, headed south. The other, led by the brothers and commanders of Genghis Khan, moved east to the sea. Genghis Khan himself and his youngest son Tolui at the head of the main forces set out in a southeasterly direction. The first army advanced all the way to Honan and, after capturing twenty-eight cities, joined Genghis Khan on the Great Western Road. The army under the command of Temujin's brothers and generals captured the province of Liao-si, and Genghis Khan himself ended his triumphal campaign only after he reached the sea rocky cape in the province of Shandong. In the spring of 1214, he returned to Mongolia and made peace with the Chinese emperor, leaving Beijing to him. However, the leader of the Mongols did not have time to leave the Great Wall of China, as the Chinese emperor moved his court further away, to Kaifeng. This move was perceived by Temujin as a manifestation of hostility, and he again brought troops into the empire, now doomed to death. The war continued.

The Jurchen troops in China, having replenished at the expense of the natives, fought the Mongols until 1235 on their own initiative, but were defeated and exterminated by Genghis Khan's successor Ogedei.

Fight against the Kara-Khitan Khanate

Following China, Genghis Khan was preparing for a campaign in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. He was especially attracted by the flourishing cities of South Kazakhstan and Zhetysu. He decided to carry out his plan through the valley of the Ili River, where rich cities were located and they were ruled by an old enemy of Genghis Khan, Khan of the Naimans Kuchluk.

Campaigns of Genghis Khan and his generals

While Genghis Khan was conquering more and more cities and provinces of China, the fugitive Naiman Khan Kuchluk asked the gurkhan who had given him shelter to help gather the remnants of the army defeated at the Irtysh. Having got a rather strong army under his hand, Kuchluk entered into an alliance against his overlord with the Shah of Khorezm Muhammad, who had previously paid tribute to the Kara-Kitays. After a short but decisive military campaign, the allies were left with a big win, and the gurkhan was forced to give up power in favor of an uninvited guest. In 1213, the gurkhan Zhilugu died, and the Naiman khan became the sovereign ruler of Semirechye. Sairam, Tashkent, the northern part of Ferghana passed under his authority. Having become an implacable opponent of Khorezm, Kuchluk began to persecute Muslims in his possessions, which aroused the hatred of the settled population of Zhetysu. The ruler of Koilyk (in the valley of the Ili River) Arslan Khan, and then the ruler of Almalyk (to the north-west of modern Kulja) Buzar moved away from the Naimans and declared themselves subjects of Genghis Khan.

In 1218, Jebe detachments, together with the troops of the rulers of Koilyk and Almalyk, invaded the lands of the Karakitays. The Mongols conquered Semirechye and East Turkestan, which were owned by Kuchluk. In the very first battle, Jebe defeated the Naimans. The Mongols allowed Muslims to public worship, which was previously prohibited by the Naimans, which contributed to the transition of the entire settled population to the side of the Mongols. Kuchluk, unable to organize resistance, fled to Afghanistan, where he was caught and killed. The inhabitants of Balasagun opened the gates to the Mongols, for which the city received the name Gobalyk - "good city". The road to Khorezm was opened before Genghis Khan.

To the west

After the conquest of China and Khorezm, the supreme ruler of the Mongol clan leaders, Genghis Khan, sent a strong cavalry corps under the command of Jebe and Subedei to reconnoiter the "western lands". They marched along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, then, after the devastation of Northern Iran, penetrated into Transcaucasia, defeated the Georgian army (1222) and, moving north along the western coast of the Caspian Sea, met in the North Caucasus the united army of the Vainakhs (Chechens and Ingush), Polovtsy , Lezgins, Circassians and Alans. There was a fight that did not have decisive consequences. Then the conquerors made a split in the ranks of the enemy. They gave the Polovtsy gifts and promised not to touch them. The latter began to disperse to their nomad camps. Taking advantage of this, the Mongols easily defeated the Alans and Circassians, and then defeated the Polovtsy in parts, while the Vainakhs managed to avoid complete defeat. After an unsuccessful attempt to seize the Lezgin-speaking Derbent, the Mongols bypassed the city. After that, through the territory of other Dagestan mountaineers, the Mongols reached the coast of the Caspian Sea north of Derbent, opening their way to the North Caucasian steppes. At the beginning of 1223, the Mongols invaded the Crimea, took the city of Surozh (Sudak) and again moved to the Polovtsian steppes.

The Polovtsy fled to Rus'. The Polovtsian Khan Kotyan asked for the help of his son-in-law Mstislav Udaly and Mstislav III Romanovich, Grand Duke of Kyiv. At the beginning of 1223, a princely congress was convened in Kyiv, which decided that the forces of the Kyiv, Galician, Chernigov, Seversk, Smolensk and Volyn principalities should support the Polovtsians. The Dnieper, near the island of Khortitsa, was appointed as a gathering place for the Russian united rati. Envoys from the Mongol camp were met here, offering the Russians to break their alliance with the Polovtsians. Taking into account the experience of the Polovtsy (who in 1222 went to persuade the Mongols to break their alliance with the Alans, after which Jebe defeated the Alans and attacked the Polovtsy), Mstislav executed the envoys. In the battle on the Kalka River, the troops of Daniel of Galicia, Mstislav the Udaly and Khan Kotyan, without notifying the rest of the princes, decided to “crack down” on the Mongols on their own and crossed to the eastern bank, where on May 31, 1223 they were completely defeated while passively contemplating this bloody battle from the side of the main Russian forces led by Mstislav III, located on the elevated opposite bank of the Kalka.

Mstislav III, having fenced himself with a tyn, held the defense for three days after the battle, and then went to an agreement with Jebe and Subedai on laying down arms and free retreat to Rus', as if he had not participated in the battle. However, he, his army and his princes were captured by the Mongols and brutally tortured as "traitors to their own army."

After the victory, the Mongols organized the pursuit of the remnants of the Russian army (only every tenth warrior returned from the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov), destroying cities and villages in the Dnieper direction, capturing the inhabitants. However, the disciplined Mongol commanders had no orders to linger in Rus'. Soon they were recalled by Genghis Khan, who considered that the main task of the reconnaissance campaign to the west had been successfully completed. On the way back at the mouth of the Kama, the troops of Dzhebe and Subedei suffered a serious defeat from the Volga Bulgars, who refused to recognize the power of Genghis Khan over them. After this failure, the Mongols went down to Saksin and returned to Asia along the Caspian steppes, where in 1225 they joined the main forces of the Mongol army.

The Mongol troops that remained in China met with the same success as the armies in Western Asia. The Mongol Empire was expanded with several new provinces north of the Yellow River. After the death of Emperor Xuin Zong in 1223, the Northern Chinese Empire practically ceased to exist, and the borders of the Mongol Empire almost coincided with the borders of Central and Southern China, ruled by the Song Dynasty.

Death of Genghis Khan

Upon his return from Central Asia, Genghis Khan again led his army through Western China. According to Rashid-ad-din, in the autumn of 1225, having migrated to the borders of Xi Xia, while hunting, Genghis Khan fell off his horse and was badly hurt. By evening, Genghis Khan developed a strong fever. As a result, in the morning a council was assembled, at which the question was "to postpone or not the war with the Tanguts." The council was not attended by the eldest son of Genghis Khan Jochi, to whom there was already a strong distrust, due to his constant deviations from his father's orders. Genghis Khan ordered the army to march against Jochi and put an end to him, but the campaign did not take place, as the news of his death came. Genghis Khan fell ill throughout the winter of 1225-1226.

In the spring of 1226, Genghis Khan again led the army, and the Mongols crossed the Xi Xia border in the lower reaches of the Edzin-Gol River. The Tanguts and some of the allied tribes were defeated and lost several tens of thousands of dead. Genghis Khan gave the civilian population to the flow and plunder to the army. This was the beginning of the last war of Genghis Khan, designed for the complete extermination of the Tangut people. In December, the Mongols crossed the Huang He and reached the eastern regions of Xi Xia. Near Lingzhou, a 100,000-strong Tangut army clashed with the Mongols. The Tangut army was completely defeated. The way to Xi Xia's capital was now open.

Empire of Genghis Khan at the time of his death

In the winter of 1226-1227. The final siege of Zhongxing began. In the spring and summer of 1227, the Tangut state was destroyed, and the capital was doomed. The fall of the capital Xi Xia is directly related to the death of Genghis Khan, who died under its walls. According to Rashid ad-din, he died before the fall of the Tangut capital. According to Yuan-shih, Genghis Khan died when the inhabitants of the capital began to surrender. The "Secret Tale" tells that Genghis Khan received the Tangut ruler with gifts, but, feeling unwell, ordered to kill him. And then he ordered to take the capital and put an end to the Tangut state, after which he died. Sources name different causes of death - a sudden illness, a disease from the unhealthy climate of the Tangut state, a consequence of a fall from a horse. It is established with certainty that he died in the early autumn (or late summer) of 1227 on the territory of the Tangut state Xi Xia immediately after the fall of the capital Zhongxing (the modern city of Yinchuan) and the destruction of the Tanggut state.

According to the will, Genghis Khan's successor was his third son Ogedei.

Tomb of Genghis Khan

Where Genghis Khan was buried is still not exactly established, the sources give different places and possible burial processions.

According to local legends, the tomb of Genghis Khan is located near Lake Tabasun-Nor. The alleged location of the grave is the sacred mountain for the Mongols Burkhan-Khaldun, as well as the tract Delyun-Boldok (Upper course of the Onon).

genghis khan commander army campaign

Personality of Genghis Khan

The main sources by which we can judge the life and personality of Genghis Khan were compiled after his death (the Secret History is especially important among them). From these sources we obtain information both about Genghis' appearance (tall stature, strong build, broad forehead, long beard) and about his character traits. Coming from a people who apparently did not have a written language and developed state institutions before him, Genghis Khan was deprived of a book education. With the talents of the commander, he combined organizational skills, inflexible will and self-control. Generosity and affability he possessed to a sufficient degree to retain the affection of his companions. Without denying himself the joys of life, he remained a stranger to excesses incompatible with the activities of the ruler and commander, and lived to an advanced age, retaining his mental abilities in full force.

Board results

During the conquest of the Naimans, Genghis Khan got acquainted with the beginnings of written office work, some of the Naimans entered the service of Genghis Khan and were the first officials in the Mongolian state and the first teachers of the Mongols. Apparently, Genghis Khan hoped to later replace the Naimans with ethnic Mongols, as he ordered noble Mongolian youths, including his sons, to learn the language and writing of the Naimans. After the spread of Mongol rule, even during the life of Genghis Khan, the Mongols also used the services of officials and clergy of the conquered peoples, primarily the Chinese and Persians.

In the field of foreign policy, Genghis Khan sought to maximize the expansion of the territory subject to him. The strategy and tactics of Genghis Khan were characterized by thorough reconnaissance, surprise attacks, the desire to dismember the enemy forces, setting up ambushes using special detachments to lure the enemy, maneuvering large masses of cavalry, etc.

Temujin and his descendants swept away great and ancient states from the face of the earth: the state of Khorezmshahs, the Chinese Empire, the Baghdad Caliphate, most of the Russian principalities were conquered. Huge territories were placed under the control of the Yasa steppe law.

In 1220 Genghis Khan founded Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol Empire.

Timeline of major events

1162 - Birth of Temujin (also probable dates - 1155 and 1167).

1184 (approximate date) - Capture by the Merkits of Temujin's wife - Borte.

1184/85 year (approximate date) - Liberation of Borte with the support of Jamukha and Toghrul. The birth of the eldest son - Jochi.

1185/86 year (approximate date) - Birth of the second son of Genghis Khan - Chagatai.

October 1186 - Birth of the third son of Genghis Khan - Ogedei.

1186 - His first ulus of Temujin (also probable dates - 1189/90), as well as a defeat from Jamukha.

1190 (approximate date) - Birth of the fourth son of Genghis Khan - Tolui.

1196 - The combined forces of Temujin, Togoril Khan and the Jin troops advance on the Tatar tribe.

1199 - Attack and victory of the combined forces of Temujin, Van Khan and Jamukha over the Naiman tribe led by Buyruk Khan.

1200 - Attack and victory of the joint forces of Temujin and Wang Khan over the Taichiut tribe.

1202 - Attack and destruction of the Tatar tribe by Temujin.

1203 - Attack of the Keraites, the tribe of Van Khan, with Jamukha at the head of the army, on the ulus of Temujin.

Autumn 1203 - victory over the Kereites.

Summer 1204 - victory over the Naiman tribe led by Tayan Khan.

Autumn 1204 - victory over the Merkit tribe.

Spring 1205 - Attack and victory over the close-knit forces of the remnants of the Merkits and Naimans tribe.

1205 - The betrayal and surrender of Jamukha by his nukers to Temujin and the probable execution of Jamukha.

1206 - At kurultai, Temujin is given the title "Genghis Khan".

1207 - 1210 - Genghis Khan's attacks on the Tangut state Xi Xia.

1215 - The fall of Beijing.

1219-1223 - The conquest of Central Asia by Genghis Khan.

1223 - the victory of the Mongols led by Subedei and Jebe on the Kalka River over the Russian-Polovtsian army.

Spring 1226 - Attack on the Tangut state Xi Xia.

Autumn 1227 - The fall of the capital and state Xi Xia. Death of Genghis Khan.

References

Borzhigin G. N. Ertniy etseg ovgod khuu urag. -- M.: Mongolia, 2005;

Grousset R. Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the Universe. - M., 2008. (ZhZL series) - ISBN 978-5-235-03133-3

D "Osson K. From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane. - Paris, 1935;

Kradin N. N., Skrynnikova T. D. The Empire of Genghis Khan. - M.: Eastern Literature, 2006. - ISBN 5-02-018521-3

Rashid ad-Din Fazlullah Hamadani. Collection of annals. - T. 1. Book. 1. Per. L. A. Khetagurova, 1952

Rashid ad-Din Fazlullah Hamadani. Collection of annals. - T. 1. Book. 2. Per. O. I. Smirnova, 1952;

Yuan-chao bi-shih. Secret History of the Mongols. Per. S. A. Kozina, 1941;

Yuan shi. History of the Yuan Dynasty. -- M.: Beijing, 1976.

Yurchenko A.G. The image of Genghis Khan in the world literature of the XIII-XV centuries. // Yurchenko A. G. Historical geography of political myth. The image of Genghis Khan in the world literature of the XIII-XV centuries. - St. Petersburg: Eurasia, 2006. - p. 7-22.

divine origin

At all times, the appearance of great people was overgrown with divine ancestors and heavenly signs. The chronicles of the conquered countries give different dates of Temujin's birth: 1155 and 1162, mentioning a blood clot that the baby squeezed in his palm.

The Mongolian literary monument "The Secret History", compiled in 1240, gives a detailed description of the ancestors of Genghis Khan, their families and matrimonial circumstances. For example, the name Temujin was given to the future khan of the universe in honor of the defeated Tatar leader Temujin-Uge. The boy was born from Yesugei-Bagatur from the Borjigin clan and the girl Oelun from the Olkhonut clan. Yesugei himself, according to the Tale, was poisoned by the Tatars when Temujin was 9 years old. His father managed to woo him to Borte, an 11-year-old girl from the Ungirat family.

The death of his father set off a chain of events that influenced the formation of Temujin. Neighboring clans drive the family from their homes, pursue Yesugei's heir and try to kill him. Captured, he runs, splitting the wooden blocks, hiding in the lake, then escapes in a cart with wool, which was provided to him by the sons of some farm laborer. Subsequently, the people who helped him will be generously treated. The cruelty towards young Temujin was not unfounded. The expanded Mongol tribes lacked pastures and waited for a leader who would unite them to conquer new lands.

The boy finds his relatives and marries Bortu. Trials hardened him and gave life meaning. Clever beyond his years, Temujin watches as his nation's human resources are expended on mutual extermination. He is already beginning to form his circle and befriend some tribal leaders against others.

Mongols against Tatars

The glory of a successful commander attracts the best warriors to him. His mercy towards the vanquished and strictness towards violators of military discipline makes him the most famous commander in Mongolia. Temujin knows how to select shots. In his ulus, a hierarchy of power is being built, which will then spread to his entire empire. He won the intraspecific struggle of the steppes. According to the Chinese chronicles, the Tatars were a strong tribal association, whose raids disturbed not only the Mongol uluses, but also the Chinese civilization. The Jin dynasty finds in Temujin a true ally, who acquires not only high titles, but also the ability to intrigue.

In 1202, Temujin was so strong that he was able to stand alone against the Tatars, his old offenders and enemies. Contrary to the usual rule not to kill opponents who admitted defeat, he massacres almost all Tatars, leaving alive only children shorter than a cart wheel. With daring and unexpected attacks, he defeats the former allies of Van Khan and Jamukha, and then betrays the latter to a bloodless death - his back was broken. The backbone of the intra-Mongolian opposition was broken.

Formation of the Great Empire

In the spring of 1206, the kurultai of all Mongol leaders proclaims Temujin Genghis Khan, that is, the lord of the endless steppe, like the sea. First of all, the new ruler destroys tribal differences, dividing his subjects into hundreds, thousands and tumens. It was a militarized power, in which every man was obliged, at the first call, to stand in a horse lava with a weapon in his hands. Heads of departments were chosen not for their generosity, but for their abilities. Loyalty became the highest virtue, so having a Mongol friend was a great acquisition. Deception, cowardice and betrayal were punishable by death, and the enemy, devoted to his master to the end, was accepted into the army without any problems.

Building the socio-political pyramid of his power, Genghis Khan, of course, took an example from the state model of the Celestial Empire, where he probably managed to visit. He managed to impose a feudal hierarchy on his nomadic people, to secure simple nomadic peasants (arats) for certain lands and pastures, placing noyons over them. The noyons exploited the peasants, but they themselves were responsible to a higher boss for the mobilization of a certain number of soldiers. The transition from one chief to another was forbidden under pain of death.

China itself is to blame for allowing the unification of the Mongols. Playing on contradictions and secretly supporting Temujin's opponents, the rulers could keep the steppes in disunity for a long time. But the Chinese themselves were fragmented, and the Mongol Khan got good advisers who helped him build a state machine and pointed the way to China. Having conquered the Siberian tribes, Genghis Khan concentrated his forces along the Great Wall of China. His sons - Jochi, Chagatai and Ogedei - lead the hordes that bite into the body of the Jin Empire, the lord of the steppes himself with his youngest son Tolui became the head of the army that moved to the sea. The empire collapses like a house of cards, weakened by the weight of internal contradictions, leaving Beijing to the emperor, but the next year the war continued with the remnants of the doomed empire.

Movement to the west

The flourishing cities of Semirechye, which lay to the west of China, tried to unite before the formidable conqueror, headed by the Naiman Khan Kuchluk. Using religious and ethnic contradictions, the Mongols conquer Semirechye and East Turkestan in 1218, and approach the borders of Muslim Khorezm.

By the time of the Mongol conquest, the power of the Khorezmshahs had turned into a huge Central Asian power, subjugating southern Afghanistan, eastern Iraq and Iran, Samarkand and Bukhara. The ruler of the Khorezmshah empire, Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, behaved extremely presumptuously, underestimating the strength and treachery of the Khan of Mongolia. He ordered to cut off the heads of the ambassadors of Genghis Khan, who arrived for peaceful trade and friendship. The fate of Khorezm was sealed. He cracked the well-fortified cities of the Asian power like nuts, since Chinese engineers who knew a lot about siege were in his army.

The commanders of Genghis Khan, Jebe and Subedey, pursue the remnants of the army of Khorezmshah through Northern Iran, the South Caucasus, then through the North Caucasus, sweeping away the Alans, Polovtsians and Russians on their way. In the spring of 1223, the first clash between the princes of northeastern Rus' and the hordes of nomads took place on the Kalka River. The Mongols used their usual fake flight tactic and, after luring the combined Slavic and Polovtian forces deep into their position, flanked and utterly routed the enemy. Unfortunately, our ancestors did not draw any conclusions from this defeat and did not unite in front of a formidable enemy. The days of civil strife and princely freemen were numbered. The yoke of the Golden Horde will crush the Slavic tribes for two hundred years in order to become cement for the future great Russia.

The world after Genghis Khan

The leader of the Mongols still continues to fight with the remnants of the unconquered tribes of China, Siberia and Central Asia. While hunting, Genghis Khan falls from his horse and is injured, which causes intense heat and weakening of the whole body. In the spring of 1226, he led a campaign against the Tangut in the Chinese province of Ningxia, defeated the Tangut army and died under the walls of the city of Zhusin.

The grave of the Great Mogul has not been precisely established, which gives food for numerous conjectures and fantasies. The successors of Genghis Khan failed to keep a huge empire under a single command. Very soon it breaks up into uluses, which are only formally subordinate to the ruler in Karakorum (the capital of the empire). Our ancestors encountered the ulus of Jochi, whose son was the famous commander Batu. In 1266, this ulus was separated into a separate state, which received the name "Golden Horde" in historiography.

Having conquered many lands from Hungary to Vietnam, the Mongols were not at all going to impose their culture, customs and religion on the unfortunate peoples. Having made terrible material destruction, this "locust" subsided or disappeared into the local population. Among the Russian nobles there are many descendants of the Mongolian "bagaturs" and even Chingizids. The famous revolutionary Georgy Valentinovich Plekhanov was a descendant of the "lord of the endless steppes." In China, the Mongol dynasty ruled under the name Yuan from 1271 to 1368.

IGDA/M. Seemuller Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (Temujin) (1155 - 1227+)

Genghis Khan (1155 -1227). According to legend, he was born, "squeezing a clotted blood clot in his right hand." Whether it was really so, it is impossible to find out, but this child became one of the most cruel and bloodthirsty conquerors in the history of mankind. His name - Genghis Khan Temuchin - terrified many peoples and countries.

His father, Khan Bagadur (Bogatyr), the leader of one of the Mongol tribes that roamed the Transbaikal steppes, began to unite his fellow tribesmen under his rule. When he died, the khans subordinate to him rebelled and tried to massacre his entire family. Temuchin had to wander for a long time. Possessing a flexible mind, strong will, cruelty and discretion, he rallied a group of adherents around him, dealt with his enemies one by one and continued the work of his father.

In 1206, at the general congress of nomads, he was proclaimed Genghis Khan (Great Khan, Emperor). The choice turned out to be extremely successful. Genghis Khan showed outstanding qualities as an organizer. He strengthened the central government and the army; compiled a code of laws and introduced a common Mongolian script (not being able to read or write!). Declared universal military and labor service. He gave more freedom to women so that they could manage the household with the constant absences of men for the war. He made Karakorum the capital of his empire.

Starting from 1211 aggressive campaigns, he conquered China and Tibet, the states Central Asia. His hordes reached the Indus River, passed through the Transcaucasus, the Caspian, the Black Sea and defeated the Russian-Polovtsian troops on the Kalka River. By the end of his life, Genghis Khan ruled the world's largest empire, which was based on the culture and technical inventions of China. So for the first time on a global scale (more precisely, within the Old World), the East declared itself.

The victories of Genghis Khan are explained primarily by his outstanding organizational and military leadership talents and by himself and the entire staff of disciplined and intelligent military leaders. He thoroughly prepared his campaigns, conducting, in particular, reconnaissance and collecting espionage information. One Persian historian of that time described the Mongols as follows: they have lion-like courage, dog patience, foresight of a crane, cunning of a fox, far-sightedness of a raven, rapacity of a wolf, fighting heat of a rooster, caring for loved ones of a hen, sensitivity of a cat, and when attacked, the violence of a boar.

Having captured China, the Mongols adopted a number of inventions from the conquered. For example, they began to use the explosive power of gunpowder during the siege of fortresses, terrifying the defenders with their artillery. If necessary, Genghis Khan knew how to play cunning diplomatic games, bribe potential opponents, and, with stubborn resistance, punish enemies with extraordinary cruelty. His huge armies marched across Central Asia, bringing destruction and death, devastating the lands, destroying flourishing cities and irrigation systems. After them, most often there were deserts. The terrible glory of Genghis Khan preceded his arrival, causing general confusion. Feudal fragmentation of various kingdoms and principalities contributed a lot to its success.

According to a contemporary, in the circle of close associates, Genghis Khan boasted that he had killed a huge number of people, shed rivers of blood, and therefore his glory would be eternal. In this he was not mistaken.

Balandin R.K. One Hundred Great Geniuses / R.K. Balandin. - M.: Veche, 2012.

Parents: Yesugei-bagatur (1168+), Hoelun;

Jochi (?-1127+);
- Batu (?-1255+);
Jagatai (Chagatai) (?-1242+);
Ogedei (1186-1241+), successor of Genghis Khan;
Tolui (?);

Highlights of life

Genghis Khan was born on the banks of the Onon River in Mongolia in 1155 or somewhat later. Originally bore the name Temujin (according to another transcription - Temujin). His father, Yesugei-bagatur, apparently had some influence among Mongols, but after his death (about 1168) his adherents immediately left his widow and children; the family wandered in the forests for several years, eating roots, game and fish.

Having matured, Temujin gradually gathered around him a certain number of adherents from the steppe aristocracy, joined the khan of the Christian Keraites and took part in an alliance with the Chinese government, first in the struggle against the intensified Tatars who lived near Lake Buir-nor, then against the democratic movement, headed by became his former friend Jamukha. After the defeat of Chjamukha (1201) there was a quarrel between Temuchin and the Kerait Khan; the latter entered into an agreement with Chjamukha and attracted some of Temujin's adherents to his side. In 1203, the Kerait Khan was killed, and Temujin took possession of all of eastern Mongolia. Chjamukha restored against him the Western Mongols, the Naiman, who were also defeated, after which all of Mongolia was united under the rule of Temujin; then (1206) the latter took the title of Genghis (the exact meaning of this title has not yet been established), gave the nomadic state he founded a strictly aristocratic structure and surrounded himself with bodyguards who enjoyed significant privileges compared to other Mongols, but were subject to strict discipline.

During the conquest of the Naimans, Chingiz got acquainted with the beginnings of written office work, which was in the hands of the Uighurs there; the same Uighurs entered the service of Genghis and were the first officials in the Mongolian state and the first teachers of the Mongols. Apparently, Genghis hoped later to replace the Uighurs with natural Mongols, as he ordered the noble Mongolian youths, among other things, his sons, to learn the language and writing of the Uyghurs. After the spread of Mongol rule, even during the life of Genghis, the Mongols also used the services of Chinese and Persian officials.

Pursuing the nomads who fled from Mongolia, the Mongols in 1209 accepted obedience from the Uighurs in East Turkestan, in 1211 - from the Karluks, in the northern part of Semirechye; in the same year, a war broke out with China, which temporarily stopped the successes of the Mongols in the west. Northern China belonged at that time to the Jurchens, a people of Manchu origin (Jin dynasty). In 1215, Genghis took Beijing; the final conquest of the state of the Jurchens took place already under the successor of Genghis, Ogedei.

In 1216, campaigns were resumed against the nomads who had fled to the west; in the same year, an accidental clash occurred between the Mongolian detachment and the army of Khorezmshah Mohammed, who united Muslim Central Asia and Iran under his rule. Beginning around the same time, on the basis of commercial interests, diplomatic relations between Genghis and Mohammed ended in 1218 with the plundering of a caravan sent by Genghis and the massacre of merchants in Otrar, a border town in Mohammed's domain. This forced Genghis, without completing the conquest of China, to send troops to the west.

In 1218, the Mongols conquered Semirechye and East Turkestan, which were owned by the Naiman prince Kuchluk, who had fled from Mongolia; in 1219, Genghis personally went on a campaign with all his sons and with the main military forces; in the autumn of the same year, the Mongols approached Otrar. In 1220 Maverannehr was conquered; detachments sent to pursue the fleeing Muhammad passed through Persia, the Caucasus and southern Russia (the battle on the Kalka River) and from there returned to Central Asia.

Genghis himself in 1221 conquered Afghanistan, his son Tului-Khorasan, other sons - Khorezm (Khanate of Khiva). In 1225 Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia. In the lands north of the Amu Darya and east of the Caspian Sea, the dominion of the Mongols was firmly established by him; Persia and southern Russia were reconquered by his successors. In 1225 or at the beginning of 1226, Genghis undertook a campaign against the Tangut country, where he died in August 1227.

We have fairly detailed information both about Chingiz's appearance (tall stature, strong build, broad forehead, long beard) and about his character traits. With the talents of the commander, he combined organizational skills, inflexible will and self-control, which could not be shaken by failures, insults, or deceived hopes. Generosity and affability he possessed to a sufficient degree to retain the affection of his companions. Without denying himself the joys of life, he, in contrast to most of his descendants, remained a stranger to excesses incompatible with the activities of the ruler and commander, and lived to an advanced age, retaining his mental abilities in full force.

Coming from a people who at that time stood at the lowest level of culture, Genghis was deprived of any education, did not have time to acquire the knowledge that he ordered to teach his sons, and until the end of his life did not know any other language than Mongolian. Naturally, the range of his ideas was very limited; apparently, he felt like only an ataman who leads his warriors to victories, brings them wealth and glory, and for this he has the right to the best part of the booty. In the sayings attributed to him there are no signs of understanding the idea of the good of an entire people; even less can we assume in it broad state aspirations.

There is no reason to believe that from the very beginning he set himself on extensive conquest plans; all his wars were driven by events. The troubles, among which Genghis came forward, could not have ended otherwise than with the unification of Mongolia, which always entailed an attack by nomads on China; campaigns to the west were caused by the pursuit of fleeing enemies, the need to receive goods from the west, which devastated China could no longer provide, and an unforeseen event in Otrar.

The idea of world domination appears among the Mongols only under the successors of Genghis. The main beginnings, the devices of the empire were borrowed from the sphere of nomadic life; the concept of tribal property was transferred from the field of private law relations to the field of state law; the empire was considered the property of the entire khan's family; during the life of Genghis, his sons were assigned destinies. Thanks to the creation of the guard, Genghis had at his disposal a sufficient number of experienced people to whom he could safely entrust the military authorities in remote areas; when organizing civil administration, he had to use the services of conquered peoples. Apparently, he wanted to free his successors from this; it is most natural to explain with such a desire the measure of teaching the Mongolian youths of the Uyghur script that he adopted. Genghis had no broader civilizing aspirations; in his opinion, the Mongols, in order to maintain their military predominance, had to continue to lead a nomadic life, not live either in cities or in villages, but use the labors of the hands of conquered farmers and artisans, and only for this purpose protect them.

Despite all this, the activities of Genghis had more lasting results than the activities of other world conquerors (Alexander the Great, Timur, Napoleon). The boundaries of the empire after Genghis not only did not shrink, but expanded significantly, and the vastness of the Mongol empire surpassed all states that had ever existed. The unity of the empire was preserved for 40 years after the death of Genghis; the dominance of his descendants in the states formed after the collapse of the empire continued for about a hundred more years.

In Central Asia and Persia, until the end of the 19th century, many positions and institutions introduced in these countries by the Mongols were preserved. The success of Chingiz's activities is explained only by his brilliant natural talents; he had no predecessors to pave the way for him, no associates to influence him, no worthy successors. Both the Mongol military leaders and the representatives of the cultured nations who were in the Mongol service were only tools in the hands of Genghis;

None of his sons and grandsons inherited his gifts; the best of them could only continue in the same spirit the activities of the founder of the empire, but could not think about reorganizing the state on new principles, in accordance with the requirements of the time; for them, as for their subjects, the precepts of Genghis were an indisputable authority. In the eyes of his contemporaries and posterity, Genghis was the only creator and organizer of the Mongol Empire.

material from the site

FROM ANCIENT Rus' TO THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

State of Genghis Khan, 1227.

Genghis Khan (1155/1162/1167–1227), founder of the Mongol Empire, one of the largest conquerors in world history. Born in the Delyun-Boldak tract on the banks of the Onon River (the exact location is unknown; possibly, the modern Delyun-buldak in the Chita region of the Russian Federation). At birth, he received the name Temujin (Temujin). Information about ancestors, birth and early years of life is drawn mainly from folk traditions, in which facts are intertwined with legends. So, tradition considers the gray wolf and the female white deer to be his very first ancestors. The newborn, as they say, squeezed a blood clot in his palm, which foreshadowed him the glorious future of the ruler of the world.

Path to supremacy in Mongolia. Yesugai Baatur, the father of Genghis Khan, belonged to the family of the rulers of the first Mongol state - Hamad Mongol Ulus, which existed in the middle of the 12th century. Around 1160, it collapsed after the defeat in the war with the Tatars, who acted in alliance with the Jin dynasty that ruled northern China. (Later, all the Mongols in Europe were called Tatars in general.) Yesugai named his son Temujin after the name of the Tatar leader, who was taken prisoner on the day the child was born. At that time, Yesugai-baatur was the head of the ulus, which united a number of Mongol tribes. When Temujin was nine years old, according to tradition, which required the choice of a bride outside the local nomadic community, his father went with him on a trip to the far outskirts of Mongolia. Having met on the way the leader of the Ungirat (Kungirat) tribe named Dai-sechen, Yesugai betrothed Temujin to his daughter, ten-year-old Borte, and, according to ancient custom, left his son in the yurt of the future father-in-law. On the way home, Esugai met a group of Tatars and was invited to share a meal with them. Recognizing the old enemy, the Tatars mixed poison into his food. Yesugai did not die immediately, having managed to get to his camp, from where he sent one of his people after Temujin.

After the death of Yesugai, his widow with children was left by her husband's relatives, who succumbed to the influence of the Taichiut tribe, which was part of the ulus, whose leaders wanted to take the place of the deceased leader. When Temujin grew up and turned into a young man, the Taichiuts attacked his camp. He tried to hide in the forest, but was still captured. The Taichiuts left him alive by wearing a wooden yoke around his neck. One night, Temujin fled, threw himself into the river and hid, plunging almost completely into the water. One of the Taichiuts noticed him, but took pity on him and persuaded his comrades to postpone the search until dawn. Meanwhile, Temujin crawled to the benefactor's yurt, and he hid him, and then provided him with everything necessary for escape.

Soon Temujin came to the Ungirats for his bride. As a dowry, Borte received a black sable fur coat, which, according to legend, was destined to become the key to Temujin's future success. Temujin decided to present the fur coat to Togril (Tooril), a powerful leader of the Kereites, a Christian tribe in Central Mongolia. Toghril, who at one time became an "anda", the twin brother of Temujin's father, promised the young man protection and help. Soon, the Merkits, who lived on the territory of present-day Buryatia, raided his camp and kidnapped his wife. Temujin turned for help to Toghril and Jamukha, a young Mongol leader, his distant relative and childhood friend. The three of them were able to defeat the Merkit tribe and rescue Borte. For some time, Jamukha and Temujin remained close friends and named brothers, but then they parted ways. And it was at this time that a group of rulers of the Mongol clans proclaimed Temujin Khan; at the same time he took the title of Genghis Khan (according to the accepted version, "Chinggis" means ocean or sea; thus, Genghis Khan means Khan-ocean, in a figurative sense, the ruler of the universe).

After this event, which happened probably ca. 1189, Genghis Khan began to play a prominent role in tribal warfare, but still more as Toghril's protégé than as his equal. In the mid-1190s, Toghril was deposed and expelled. Two years later, he returned to power thanks to the intervention of Genghis Khan, and at the same time both rulers became allies of China in the campaign against the Tatars. For participation in the victory, Toghril received from the Chinese the title of van (prince), from the distorted form of which (ong) came his new name Ongkhan, which, having penetrated into Europe, gave rise to the legend of the Christian ruler of Central Asia, Prester John. In 1199 Toghril, Genghis Khan and Chjamukha undertook a joint campaign against the Naimans, the most powerful tribe in western Mongolia. In 1200–1202 they won several times over the coalition led by Chinggis Khan's former friend Chjamukha. In 1202, Genghis Khan set off alone on a decisive campaign against the Tatars who killed his father, which ended in their extermination. This sharply strengthened the position of Genghis Khan and prompted Ongkhan to break. After the battle, which did not bring success to either side, Genghis Khan went to the remote regions of North-Eastern Mongolia, restored his strength there, and in 1203 again opposed the opponent and defeated him.

Now Genghis Khan ruled in eastern and central Mongolia. In 1205, his old rival Chjamukha was handed over to him, whom he put to death, and Genghis Khan finally became the undisputed master of Mongolia. In the spring of 1206, at the great kurultai, the congress of the Mongol princes, he was declared the supreme khan, approving the title of Genghis Khan for him.

conquest wars. The first big victory of Genghis Khan outside the Mongolian steppes was the campaign of 1209-1210 against the Tanguts. Having secured the southwestern flank, Genghis Khan began preparations for war with the main enemy in the East - the Jurchen state of Jin. Hostilities began in the spring of 1211, and by the end of the year the Mongols captured all the space north of the Great Wall of China. By the beginning of 1214, they had the entire territory north of the Huang He in their hands, and they besieged the main capital of the Jurchens, Yanjing (Beijing). The emperor bought peace by giving Genghis Khan a Chinese princess with a colossal dowry as his wife, and the conquerors began to slowly retreat to the north. However, the war almost immediately resumed, and as a result, the capital of the Jurchens was captured and ravaged by the Mongols.

Although hostilities had not yet ended - the conquest of the Jin state was completed only in 1234 - Genghis Khan decided to abandon the personal leadership of military operations and in the spring of 1216 returned to Mongolia, where he began preparations for a campaign to the West. Thanks to the annexation of the lands of the Karakitays, Genghis Khan received a common border with the Khorezmshah Muhammad, whose vast but weak power included the territories of modern Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as well as Afghanistan and most of Iran. The war between the two empires became inevitable after the ambassadors of Genghis Khan, who arrived as part of a trade caravan in Otrar on the Syr Darya, were killed in the possessions of the Khorezmshah, although, perhaps, without his knowledge.

Departing from Mongolia in 1219, Genghis Khan spent the summer on the Irtysh and by autumn approached the walls of Otrar, which he managed to capture in a few months, leaving part of the troops for the siege. He himself with the main forces went to Bukhara. The city was taken in February 1220 after several days of siege. Then the Mongols went to Samarkand, which also could not offer serious opposition and surrendered in March 1220. After that, Genghis Khan sent two of the best commanders to pursue Khorezmshah Muhammad, who fled to the west. In the end, this sultan found refuge on a small island in the Caspian Sea, where he died in December 1220. The military leaders who carried out the order of Genghis Khan continued their offensive to the west, overcame the mountains of the Caucasus and, before turning back, defeated in 1223 over the combined army of Russians and Turks -Kipchaks on the river. Kalka.

In the autumn of 1220, Genghis Khan captured Termez on the Amu Darya and at the beginning of winter launched military operations in the upper reaches of this river, within the boundaries of present-day Tajikistan. In early 1221, having crossed the Amu Darya, he invaded Afghanistan and captured the ancient city of Balkh. Shortly after the fall of Samarkand, Genghis Khan sent his elder sons north to Khorezm to begin the siege of Urgench, the capital of Muhammad, and now he sent his youngest son to eastern Persia to sack and destroy the rich and populous cities of Merv and Nishapur.

Meanwhile, Sultan Jalal-ad-din, the son of Khorezmshah Muhammad, went to central Afghanistan and defeated the Mongol troops there at Parwan, north of Kabul. Genghis Khan, to whom his sons returned, was forced to move south in the autumn of 1221 and defeated his new enemy on the banks of the Indus. With the defeat of Jalal ad-Din, the campaign in the west was virtually over, and Genghis Khan set off on the long journey back to Mongolia. In 1226-1227 he again waged war with the Tanguts, but did not live to see the successful completion of this last campaign in his life. Genghis Khan died on August 25, 1227 at a summer headquarters in the Tianshui region on the river. Qi, south of the Lupanshan Mountains.

Inheritance. Genghis Khan had many wives and concubines, but Borte gave birth to four of his most famous sons. These are Jochi (Chjochi), whose heir Batu (Batu) created the Golden Horde; Jagatai (Chagatai), who gave the name to the dynasty that dominated a number of Central Asian regions; Ogadai (Ogedei), appointed by Genghis Khan as successor; Tolui (Tului) is the father of Möngke, who ruled the united Mongol Empire from 1251 to 1259. The latter was succeeded by Kublai Khan, the great khan in 1260–1294, who completed the conquest of China and founded the Yuan dynasty. Another of the descendants, Khan Hulagu, laid the foundation for the Ilkhan dynasty in Persia.

The code of laws of Yasa, or the Great Yasa, introduced by Genghis Khan, was based on Mongolian customary law; a reliable tool for his victories was the extremely effective native army, which developed and honed its skills in local tribal battles even before it was turned against the countries of Asia and Eastern Europe.

Genghis Khan went down in history as a military genius. The son of Genghis Khan inherited an empire stretching from Kyiv to Korea, his grandchildren founded dynasties in China, Persia, Eastern Europe, and his descendants reigned in Central Asia for many centuries.

Materials of the encyclopedia "The world around us" are used.

Pedigree of Genghis Khan

The names of Genghis Khan's ancestors are given by Rashid ad-Din and also by Ssang-Sechen. But they have differences. In this list, the names taken from Ssang-Sechen are in brackets.

1 Burtechino

2 Bishin-Kyan (Bedetse)

4 Kishi-Mergen (Kharitsar-Mergen)

5 Kudyum-Burgul (Agoim-Bugurul)

6 Yeke-Nidun (Sali-Khalchigo)

7 Sam-suin (Niche-Nidun)

8 Khalchi-go (Sam-suin)

9 Borji-Getey-Mergen (Khali-Khartu)

10 Togralchin-Bayan

11 Khayar-Tumed

12 Boogu Kata Key

13 Bagaritai-Khabichi