Genghis Khan Commander Country: Mongolia

Biography of Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan was a military leader, conqueror, and ruler of the great Mongol Empire. According to legend, Genghis Khan's lineage can be traced back to a Mongolian tribe descended from a woman named Alan-Goa, who became pregnant with rays of light after the death of her husband, Dobun-Bayan. She gave birth to three sons, and those who belong to the lineage of these sons are called Noyon. The word Noyon means "pure womb," indicating that these sons were descendants of supernatural light. Six generations later, Kabul Khan was a direct descendant of Alan-Goa. From the grandson of Kabul Khan, Yesugei Baghatur, came those who were named Kiyat-Burjigin. The word "kiyat" in Mongolian means "a large stream flowing from the mountains to the valleys, turbulent, fast, and strong." Kiyat was used to refer to those who were closer to the beginning of the lineage. Yesugei Baghatur's children were named Kiyat-Burjigin because they were both Kiyat and Burjigin. "Burjigin" in the Turkic language means a person with blue eyes. The color of their skin tends to be slightly yellowish. The bravery of the Burjigins became a proverb.

Genghis Khan was born in 1162 (according to other, less certain sources, in 1155). From an early age, being orphaned at the age of 10, he endured many hardships and twists of fate. But from a young age, he learned to understand people and find loyal individuals. Bogorchin Noyon and Boragul Noyon, who were by his side even during times of defeat when they had to think about finding food, were so valuable to him that he once said, "May there be no sorrow, and may Bogorchin never die! May there be no sorrow, and may Boragul be immortal!" Sorkan-Shira of the Taidjiut tribe, who captured Genghis Khan and eventually helped him escape captivity, earned full respect and admiration for himself, his children, and his supporters. Genghis Khan dedicated poetic lines to Sorkan-Shira's son, Jiladkan-Bakhadur, praising his bravery: "I have not seen a man who fought and seized the heads of the rebellious like this hero!"

There was a man named Sorqak, known as the father of Genghis. At a time when Genghis was not yet a ruler, he said, "Many people strive for power, but in the end, Temujin will become the leader, and his kingdom will be established with the unanimous support of the tribes, for he possesses the abilities and virtues that are clearly evident on his forehead. There are unmistakable signs of heavenly assistance and kingly nobility." These words turned out to be prophetic.

Genghis Khan's extraordinary delicacy characterized his relationship with his first and beloved wife, Borte. He did not allow anyone to doubt her chastity after a year of captivity. From their relationship of personal loyalty, he formed a model of vassalage, which he later institutionalized. Genghis Khan's personal qualities, despite their uniqueness, fit into the timeless characters and motives that politicians have lived and continue to live by: the desire to impress the unquestionable nature of their leadership, the path (sometimes difficult) to rise to power through treachery and loyalty, through hatred and love, through betrayal and friendship, the ability to assess situations and make decisions that bring success.

The hereditary line from Genghis Khan has been carried through his direct and indirect descendants, the Chingizids, in the vast Asian region for centuries. There is a certain identity in the family traits of the Chingizids in general, as well as those who emerged as leaders of the consolidation and formation of a unified Kazakh statehood. From Genghis Khan's eldest son, Jochi, in the sixteenth generation, we have the famous Ablai, his grandson Kenesary. The grandson of the latter, Azimkhan (1867-1937), was highly respected by the people. He participated in the government of Alash Horde as a specialist in irrigation and contributed to the involvement of Kazakhs in agriculture. He was repressed as an "enemy of the people."

In Genghis Khan's life, two main periods can be distinguished: the period of uniting all Mongolian tribes into a single state and the period of conquest campaigns and the creation of a great empire. The border between them is symbolically marked. His original name was Temujin. At the Kurultai in 1206, he was proclaimed the Divine Chinggis Khan. His full name in Mongolian became Delkhan ezen Sutu Bogda Chinggis Khan, meaning Lord of the World, Sent by God Chinggis Khan. European historiography, for a long time, had the tradition of depicting Genghis Khan as a bloodthirsty despot and barbarian. Indeed, he did not receive education and was illiterate. However, the fact that he and his successors created an empire that united 4/5 of the Old World, from the Danube Delta, the borders of Hungary, Poland, and Veliky Novgorod to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic Ocean to the Adriatic Sea, Arabian Desert, the Himalayas, and the mountains of India, at least testifies to him as a brilliant military leader and a prudent administrator, rather than just a conqueror and destroyer.

As a conqueror, he has no equal in world history. He possessed the courage of strategic plans and had a profound foresight in political and diplomatic calculations. Intelligence, including economic reconnaissance, the organization of a large-scale courier communication for military and administrative purposes, were his personal discoveries. A reassessment of Genghis Khan's personality was significantly influenced by the Eurasian movement. In relation to Genghis Khan, the Eurasianists abandoned the concept of the "Tatar-Mongol yoke," which is associated with the idea of Russia-Eurasia as a specific historical and cultural region distinct from Western Europe, the Middle East, or China, and Russia as the heir to the Mongol Empire of the 13th-14th centuries. The second idea of the Eurasianists is to explain the reasons for the sudden rise of activity of Mongolian tribes in Transbaikalia under the leadership of Genghis Khan with a specific characteristic - passionarity. A person endowed with passionarity is possessed by an irresistible desire for activity for the sake of an abstract ideal, a distant goal, for the achievement of which the passionate individual sacrifices not only the lives of others but also their own. There are periods of sharp increase in the number of passionate individuals within an ethnic group compared to ordinary people. According to Genghis Khan's terminology, there are "people of strong will," for whom honor and dignity are more valuable than anything else, including well-being and even life. They are opposed by those who value security and well-being more than their own dignity and honor.

Genghis Khan created a network of communication lines that provided unprecedented access for government and private needs, facilitating trade and cultural exchange within the empire. Genghis Khan wanted to bring such conveniences to trade that people could wear gold on their heads as ordinary vessels throughout his empire without fear of robbery or oppression. His attention to personnel policies is evidenced by the respect he showed to bearers of technology and culture, his care for the education of his children, and the inclusion of a descendant of the Kitan clan Eluy Chutai in his service. This philosopher and astrologer managed the administration, finances, and chancellery of the empire. Marco Polo noted among the noble qualities of Genghis Khan that he did not violate property rights in the conquered lands.

An important component of Genghis Khan's spiritual legacy is the code of laws he compiled, known as the Yasa. It was advanced for its time and elevated written law to a cult status. Genghis Khan was a supporter of a strong legal order. In addition to strict adherence to the law, Genghis Khan considered religious devotion to be an essential basis for statehood.

Genghis Khan died in 1227 and was buried in an unidentified location in Purkash-Kaldun. According to legend, in this place, Genghis Khan, feeling "a certain inner joy," said to his close associates, "Our final resting place should be here."

V.I. Vernadsky proposed the idea that Genghis Khan's legacy has "enormous global-historical significance," thanks to which "cultures of various, often very high, levels were given the opportunity to influence each other."

While emphasizing the extraordinary personal qualities of Genghis Khan, it is important not to oppose the tradition of depicting him as a ruthless conqueror, but to perceive him in the multidimensionality of his traits, both positive and negative. Like any conqueror, he fought, which means he destroyed, ravaged, looted, but at the same time, he attracted the defeated to his side and, in many cases, exhibited a sense of economy, prudence, and concern for the future and the sustainability of his conquests.

Chingism is a concept introduced into historical science by Kazakh researcher V.P. Yudin. It meant not only that certain practical traditions, including traditions of passing on military art, continued to exist for a long time on the large territory conquered by Genghis Khan and his descendants. It refers to something else, specifically an ideology and, moreover, such a powerful ideology that could bind on a large scale and for a long time what can be called the geopolitical legacy of Genghis Khan.

V.P. Yudin calls this ideology a worldview, ideology, philosophy, sanction of the social system and structure of social institutions, political and legal system, cultural doctrine, basis of enlightenment, and a means of regulating behavior in society.

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