From Tribal Chaos to Conqueror : The Rise of Genghis Khan

Born in Borjigin Clan, Genghiz khan,one of the most successful conquerors of his times ,had territories extending to the west of Asia and Europe till the eastern land of Russia at one point of time.

During initial years, there were so many tribes in the region but there was no unity amongst them, and Genghis khan Realized this at an early Stage. He went onto unite the tribes which later helped him to extend his empire which was 2.5 times the size of Roman Empire at the time of his death.

When was he born ?

“The History of the Yuan”, a historical account commissioned by China’s Ming dynasty, claims that Genghis Khan was born in 1162, while “The Secret History of the Mongols” – written by an anonymous author for the Khan family – suggests that he was born in 1162. born much earlier. 

 Cause of death ?

The cause of death is still unknown although it is well known that he died in the year 1227.

To this day, the circumstances of Genghis Khan’s death remain a mystery. To honor or denigrate the memory of him, friends and enemies of the Mongols created a large number of fascinating but contradictory legends about the death of the famous king.

The various theories are:

(1) he died from injuries sustained when falling from a horse;

(2) he died from blood loss after being castrated or simply stabbed by a Tangut princess (the Tangut people are a Tibeto-Burman tribe living in northwest China);

(3) he died fighting the Chinese

(4) He died from an infected arrow wound during his last campaign against Western Xia.

Mystery of dead body

The same applies to his final resting place. Almost every historical document or oral tradition tells a different story.

However, there is general acceptance among Historians that Genghis Khan’s body was buried somewhere in Mongolia and that traces of his burial site were covered up by his closest followers, who may have been killed to protect their master’s secret. .

The loyal followers kept his resting place hidden due to the respect they held for him and the desire to protect it from robbers and enemies.

To date, Genghis Khan’s body has never been found. If so, it will be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time, along with the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

Marco Polo Notes

The search for Genghis Khan’s final resting place begins with a handful of contemporary sources.

Curiously, many of the most reliable accounts of Genghis Khan’s life mention virtually nothing about his death.

The Secret History of the Mongols, the oldest known document in the Mongolian language, only states that the Khan “ascended to heaven” in 1227.

More useful to us is the Persian chronicler Mohammed al-Jurjani, cited by Baumer. He writes: “The Mongols have the custom of digging an underground chamber for the dead ruler.” “The floor is covered with rugs on which lies a throne… Once the body sits on the throne, the tomb fills at night.”

The trail continues with Marco Polo, who spent several years in the company of Genghis Khan’s heir and eventual successor, Kublai Khan.

In The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian merchant notes: “It was an immutable custom that all the Great Khans… were buried on a certain high mountain called Altai.”

Not even Kublai Khan knew where Genghis Khan’s tomb was, and rightly so.

According to oral tradition, slaves and soldiers who attended the Khan’s funeral were killed to keep the location of his resting place secret.

This tradition was continued by Kublai Khan’s predecessor, Möngke Khan, whose followers, according to Polo, murdered anyone who crossed the path of the procession.

The death of Genghis Khan

In order to know about Genghis Khan’s tomb we need to look more closely at the circumstances of his death.

When he died, the Khan was waging war against the Tanguts in northwest China.

This is how historian Frank McLynn, author of Genghis Khan, explains it: The man who conquered the world would have made it difficult for his body to return to Mongolia, a 500-kilometer journey.

McLynn suggests that Genghis Khan’s tomb could be located somewhere in northwest China, perhaps in the Ordos region. This hypothesis is supported by two Mongolian chronicles: Altan Tobchi (1604) and Erdeni Tobchi (1662).

The first suggests that Genghis Khan’s coffin was empty when he arrived in Mongolia; The latter claims that his tent and his clothing were buried in Ordos.

Another biographer of Genghis Khan, Paul Lococo Jr., states that Genghis Khan’s tomb is undoubtedly located in Mongolia.

According to Lococo sources, “arrangements were made to bury the Khan along the Onon River, near a sacred mountain.” This “sacred mountain” could be Burkhan Khaldun, which is also considered the birthplace of the Khan.

Burkhan Khaldun now lies within the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area, a region of the country declared by the Mongolian government to protect wildlife and religious heritage.

The area is largely inaccessible to tourists and researchers. Hunting and mining are prohibited and even livestock farming (an otherwise unregulated practice) is strictly controlled.