Little is known about Temüjin's early life, and the few sources providing insight into this period do not agree on many basic facts. He was likely born around 1162 to 1167 in the mountainous area of Burhan Haldun in Mongolia's Hentiy Province near the Onon and the Herlen (Kherülen) rivers. Folklore and legend stated that when Temujin was born he clutched a blood clot in his fist, an indication that he was destined to go on to do great things. He was the eldest son of Yesükhei, a minor tribal chief of the Kiyad and a nöker (vassal) of Ong Khan of the Kerait tribe,Morgan, David, The Mongols (Peoples of Europe), 1990, p.58. possibly descended from a family of blacksmiths (see below, name). Yesükhei's clan was called Borjigin (Боржигин), and his mother, Hoelun, was of the Olkhunut tribe of the Mongol confederation. They were nomads like almost all Central Asian Turkic and Mongol confederations.

Based on legends and later writers, Temüjin's early life was difficult. When he was only nine, as part of the marriage arrangement, his father Yesukhei delivered Temüjin to the family of his future wife Borte, members of the Onggirat tribe. He was to live there in service to Deisechen, the head of the household, until he reached the marriageable age of 12.

While heading home his father was poisoned by eating poisoned food from the neighbouring Tatars in retaliation for his campaigns and raids against them. This gave Temüjin a claim to be the clan's chief, although his father's clan refused to be led by a mere boy and soon abandoned him and his family including his mother Hoelun.

For the next few years, Temüjin and his family lived the life of impoverished nomads, surviving primarily on wild fruits, marmots and other small game. In one incident, Temüjin murdered his half-brother Bekhter over a dispute about sharing hunting spoils. Despite being severely reproached by his mother, he never expressed any remorse over the killing. The incident also cemented his position as head of the household. In another incident in 1182, he was captured in a raid by his former tribe, the Ta'yichiut, and held captive. The Ta'yichiut enslaved Temüjin (reportedly with a cangue), but he escaped with help from a sympathetic captor, the father of Chilaun, a future general of Genghis Khan. His mother, Hoelun, taught him many lessons about survival in the harsh landscape and even grimmer political climate of Mongolia, especially the need for alliances with others, a lesson which would shape his understanding in his later years. Jelme and Bo'orchu, two of Genghis Khan's future generals, joined him around this time. Along with his brothers, they provided the manpower needed for early expansion and diplomacy.

Temüjin married Börte of the Konkirat tribe around the age of 16, being betrothed as children by their parents as a customary way to forge a tribal alliance. She was later kidnapped in a raid by the Merkit tribe, and Temüjin rescued her with the help of his friend and future rival, Jamuqa, and his protector, Ong Khan of the Kerait tribe. She remained his only empress, although he followed tradition by taking several morganatic wives. Börte's first child, Jochi, was born roughly nine months after she was freed from the Merkit, leading to questions about the child's paternity.

Temüjin became blood brother (anda) with Jamuqa, and thus the two made a vow to be faithful to each other for eternity.

After the defeat of the Kara-Khitais, the extensive Mongol Empire had a border with the Muslim state of Khwarezmia, governed by Shah Ala ad-Din Muhammad. Genghis Khan saw the potential advantage in Khwarezmia as a commercial partner, and sent a 500-man caravan to officially establish trade ties with Khwarezmia. However, Inalchuq, the governor of the Khwarezmian city of Otrar, attacked the caravan that came from Mongolia, claiming that the caravan was a conspiracy against Khwarezmia. The governor later refused to make repayments for the looting of the caravan and murder of its members. Genghis Khan then sent a second group of ambassadors to meet the Shah himself. The shah had all the men shaved and all but one beheaded. This was seen as an affront to Khan himself. This led Genghis Khan to attack the Khwarezmian Dynasty. The Mongols crossed the Tien Shan Mountains, coming into the Shah's empire.

After compiling information from many sources Genghis Khan carefully prepared his army, which was divided into three groups. His son Jochi led the first division into the Northeast of Khwarezmia. The second division under Jebe marched secretly to the Southeast part of Khwarzemia to form, with the first division, a pincer attack on Samarkand. The third division under Genghis Khan and Tolui marched to the northwest and attacked Khwarzemia from that direction.

The Shah's army were split by diverse internal disquisitions, and by the Shah's decision to divide his army into small groups concentrated in various cities — this fragmentation was decisive in Khwarezmia's defeats. The Shah's fearful attitude towards the Mongol army also did not help his army, and Genghis Khan and his generals succeeded in destroying Khwarizm.

Tired and exhausted from the journey, the Mongols still won their first victory against the Khwarezmian army. The Mongol army quickly seized the town of Otrar, relying on superior strategy and tactics. Once he had conquered the city, Genghis Khan executed many of the inhabitants and executed Inalchuq by pouring molten silver into his ears and eyes, as retribution for the insult.
According to stories, Khan diverted a river of Ala ad-Din Muhammad II of Khwarezm's birthplace, erasing it from the map. The Mongols' conquest of the capital was nothing short of brutal: the bodies of citizens and soldiers filled the trenches surrounding the city, allowing the Mongols to enter raping, pillaging and plundering homes and temples.

In the end, the Shah fled rather than surrender. Genghis Khan charged Subutai and Jebe with hunting him down, giving them two years and 20,000 men. The Shah died under mysterious circumstances on a small island within his empire.

By 1220 the Khwarezmid Empire was eradicated. After Samarkand fell, Bukhara became the capital of Jorezm, while two Mongol generals advanced on other cities to the north and the south. Jorezm, the heir of Shah Jalal Al-Din and a brilliant strategist, who was supported enough by the town, battled the Mongols several times with his father's armies. However, internal disputes once again split his forces apart, and Jorezm was forced to flee Bukhara after a devastating defeat.

Genghis Khan selected his third son Ögedei as his successor before his army set out, and specified that subsequent Khans should be his direct descendants. Genghis Khan also left Muqali, one of his most trusted generals, as the supreme commander of all Mongol forces in Jin China.

These campaigns were the start of Mongol invasion of Rus and Mongol invasion of Europe by almost two decades until 1240s.

After conquering the Khwarezmid Empire, the Mongols split into two component forces. Genghis Khan led a division on a raid through Afghanistan and northern India, while another contingent, led by his generals Jebe and Subutai, marched through the Caucasus and Russia. Neither campaign added territory to the empire, but they pillaged settlements and defeated any armies they met that did not acknowledge Genghis Khan as the rightful leader of the world. In 1225 both divisions returned to Mongolia. These invasions ultimately added Transoxiana and Persia to an already formidable empire.

While Genghis Khan gathered his forces in Persia and Armenia, a detached force of 20,000 troops, commanded by Jebe and Subutai, pushed deep into Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Mongols destroyed Georgia, sacked the Genoese trade-fortress of Caffa in Crimea, and stayed over winter near the Black Sea.

Heading home, Mongols assaulted the Kipchaks and were intercepted by the allied troops of Mstislav the Bold of Halych and Mstislav III of Kiev, along with about 80,000 Kievan Rus'. Subutai sent emissaries to the Slavic princes calling for separate peace, but the emissaries were executed. At the Battle of Kalka River in 1223, the Mongols defeated the larger Kievan force. The Russian princes then sued for peace. Subedei agreed but was in no mood to pardon the princes. As was customary in Mongol society for nobility the Russian princes were given a bloodless death. Subedei had a large wooden platform constructed on which he ate his meals along with his other generals. Six Russian princes, including Mstislav of Kiev, were put under this platform and they were crushed to death.

Subotai's army lost to Volga Bulgars in the first attempt in 1223,• though they returned to avenge their defeat by subjugating all Volga Bulgaria under the Khanate Golden Horde. The Mongols learned from captives of the abundant green pastures beyond the Bulgar territory, allowing for the planning for conquest of Hungary and Europe.

Genghis Khan recalled this force back to Mongolia soon afterwards, and Jebe died on the road back to Samarkand. This famous cavalry expedition of Subutai and Jebe, in which they encircled the entire Caspian Sea defeating every single army in their path, remains unparalleled to this day.

The Mongol Empire was governed by civilian and military code, called the Yassa code created by Genghis Khan.

Among nomads, the Mongol Empire did not emphasize the importance of ethnicity and race in the administrative realm, instead adopting an approach grounded in meritocracy. The exception was the role of Genghis Khan and his family. The Mongol Empire was one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse empires in history, as befitted its size. Many of the empire's nomadic inhabitants considered themselves Mongols in military and civilian life, including Turks, Mongols, and others and included many diverse Khans of various ethnicities as part of the Mongol Empire such as Muhammad Khan.


There were tax exemptions for religious figures and so to some extent teachers and doctors. The Mongol Empire practiced religious tolerance to a large degree because it was generally indifferent to belief. The exception was when religious groups challenged the state. For example Ismaili Muslims that resisted the Mongols were exterminated.

It is claimed that the Mongol Empire linked together the previously fractured Silk Road states under one system and became somewhat open to trade and cultural exchange. However, the Mongol conquests did lead to a collapse of many of the ancient trading cities of Central Asia that resisted invasion. Taxes were also heavy and conquered people were used as forced labour in those regions.

Modern Mongolian historians say that towards the end of his life, Genghis Khan attempted to create a civil state under the Great Yassa that would have established the legal equality of all individuals, including women *. However, there is no contemporary evidence of this, or of the lifting of discriminatory policies towards sedentary peoples such as the Chinese. Women played a relatively important role in Mongol Empire and in family, for example Torogene Khatun was briefly in charge of the Mongol Empire when next male Khagan was being chosen. Modern scholars refer to the alleged policy of encouraging trade and communication as the Pax Mongolica (Mongol Peace).

Genghis Khan realized that he needed people who could govern cities and states conquered by him. He also realised that such administrators could not be found among his Mongol people because they were nomads and thus had no experience governing cities. For this purpose Genghis Khan invited a Khitan prince, Chu'Tsai, who worked for the Jin and had been captured by Mongol army after the Jin Dynasty were defeated. Jin had captured power by displacing Khitan. Genghis told Chu'Tsai, who was a lineal descendant of Khitan rulers, that he had avenged Chu'Tsai's forefathers. Chu'Tsai responded that his father served the Jin Dynasty honestly and so did he; he did not consider his own father his enemy, so the question of revenge did not apply. Genghis Khan was very impressed by this reply. Chu'Tsai administered parts of the Mongol Empire and became a confidant of the successive Mongol Khans.

In contrast to most of their enemies, almost all Mongols were nomads and had experience in riding and managing horses from a very young age. Mongol military structure was based largely on meritocracy. For example if a Khan was not fit for military command, the troops would be led by someone with more experience and victories an example being Subedei. Genghis Khan refused to divide his troops into different units based on ethnicity, instead he mixed tribesmen from conquered groups, like the Tatars and Keraits, which fostered a sense of unity and loyalty by reducing the effects of the old tribal affiliations and preventing any one unit from developing a separate ethnic or national character. Discipline was strictly maintained, with severe punishments provided for even small infractions. The armies were also divided based on the traditional Inner Asian decimal system in units of 10 (arban), 100 (jaghun), 1,000 (mingghan), and 10,000 (tumen) men.• They were extremely ruthless when in battle based on others' standards (see below). These units of 10s were like a family or close-knit group, every unit of 10 had a leader who reported up to the next level, and men were not allowed to transfer from one unit to another
.
Discipline was severe - if one member of an arban disappeared, all the arban were executed; if the whole arban disappeared, the entire jaghun would be executed.
Leaders of the tumens were mostly Mongol nobility, or those who had been granted noble status, while the leader of the 100,000 (leader of 10 tumens) was the Khagan himself.

Mongols in general were very used to living through cold, harsh winters, in fact often preferring to campaign in winter in order to facilitate river crossings, and they were used to travelling great distances in very short time without difficulty, since their nomadic lifestyle already involved bi-annual migrations from summer to winter pastures. For instance, the journey from Mongolia to the Caspian sea was considered a hundred days' ride for the army.

Genghis Khan expected unwavering loyalty from his generals, and granted them a great deal of autonomy in making command decisions. Muqali, a trusted general, was given command of the Mongol forces against the Jin Dynasty while Genghis Khan was fighting in Central Asia, and Subutai and Jebe were allowed to pursue the Great Raid into the Caucausus and Kievan Rus, an idea they had presented to the Khagan on their own initiative. The Mongol military also was successful in siege warfare, cutting off resources for cities and towns by diverting rivers, taking enemy prisoners and driving them in front of the army , and adopting new ideas, techniques and tools from the people they conquered, particularly in employing Muslim and Chinese siege engines and engineers to aid the Mongol cavalry in capturing cities. Also one of the standard tactics of Mongol military was the commonly practiced feigned retreat to break enemy formations and to lure small enemy groups away from larger group and defended position for ambush and counterattack.

Another important aspect of the military organization of Genghis Khan was the communications and supply route or Yam, adapted from previous Chinese models. Genghis Khan dedicated special attention to this in order to speed up the gathering of military intelligence and official communications. To this end, Yam waystations were established all over the empire.

Before his death, Genghis Khan divided his empire among his sons Ögedei, Chagatai, Tolui, and Jochi (Jochi's death several months before Genghis Khan's meant that his lands were instead split between his sons, Batu and Orda) into several Khanates designed as sub-territories: their Khans were expected to follow the Great Khan, who was, initially, Ögedei.


Following are the Khanates in the way in which Genghis Khan assigned after his death:

Empire of the Great Khan - Ögedei Khan, as Great Khan, took most of Eastern Asia, including China; this territory later to comprise the Yuan Dynasty under Kubilai Khan.

Mongol homeland (present day Mongolia, including Karakorum) - Tolui Khan, being the youngest son, received a small territory near the Mongol homeland, following Mongol custom.

Chagatai Khanate - Chagatai Khan, Genghis Khan's second son, was given Central Asia and northern Iran.

Blue Horde - Batu Khan, and White Horde - Orda Khan, both were later combined into the Kipchak Khanate, or Khanate of the Golden Horde, under Toqtamysh. Genghis Khan's eldest son, Jochi, had received most of the distant Russia and Ruthenia. Because Jochi died before Genghis Khan, his territory was further split up between his sons. Batu Khan launched an invasion of Russia, and later Hungary and Poland, and crushed several armies before being summoned back by the news of Ögedei's death.

In military strategy, Genghis Khan generally preferred to offer opponents the chance to submit to his rule without a fight and become vassals by sending tribute, accepting residents, contributing troops and supply. He guaranteed them protection only if they abided by the rules set forth, but his and his successor leaders' policy was widely written in historical documents as causing mass destruction, terror and deaths if they encountered a resistance. For example David Nicole states in The Mongol Warlords, "terror and mass extermination of anyone opposing them was a well tested Mongol tactic." In such cases the Mongol leaders would not give an alternative choice but ordered massive collective slaughter of the population of resisting cities and destruction of their property. Only the skilled engineers and artists were spared from death and maintained as slaves if they agreed to surrender. Documents written during or just after Genghis Khan's reign say that after a conquest, the Mongol soldiers looted, pillaged, and raped while the Khan got the first pick of the beautiful women. Some troops who submitted were incorporated into the Mongol system in order to expand their manpower; this also allowed the Mongols to absorb new technology, manpower, knowledge and skill for use in military campaigns against other possible opponents. These techniques were sometimes used to spread terror and warning to others (see above).

There also were instances of mass slaughter even where there was no resistance, especially in Northern China where the vast majority of the population had a long history of accepting nomadic rulers. Many ancient sources described Genghis Khan's conquests as wholesale destruction on an unprecedented scale in their certain geographical regions, and therefore probably causing great changes in the demographics of Asia. For example, over much of Central Asia speakers of Iranian languages were replaced by speakers of Turkic languages. According to the works of Iranian historian Rashid al-Din, the Mongols killed more than 70,000 people in Merv and more than a million in Nishapur. China reportedly suffered a drastic decline in population during 13th and 14th centuries. Before the Mongol invasion, unified China reportedly had approximately 120 million
inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60 million people. 13 Whether these deaths are directly attributable to Genghis Khan and his forces or by other causes is unclear and speculative.

After the fall of People's Republic of Mongolia and with onset of democratic Mongolia, the memory of Genghis Khan has catapulted to legendary status and became Mongolians' pride.
Genghis Khan is now regarded by many modern Mongolian observers and by general public of Mongolia as one of Mongolia's greatest, legendary and cherished leaders. He was to a large extent responsible for the emergence of Mongolia as a political and ethnic identity. There is also a chasm in the perception of his brutality - Mongolians often feel that the historical record, written for the most part by non-Mongolian observers, is unfairly biased against Genghis Khan and exaggerates his barbarism and butchery while underplaying his positive role, for example in founding the Mongol nation. He reinforced many Mongol traditions and provided stability and unity for the Mongol nation at a time of great uncertainty as a result of both internal factors and outside influences. He also brought in cultural change and helped create a writing system for the Mongolian language based on existing Uyghur script.

In the early 1990s, when Mongolia repudiated communism and withdrew from the Russian bloc, Genghis Khan became a symbol of the free nation's identity. It's not uncommon for Mongolians to refer to Mongolia and themselves as "Genghis Khan's Mongolia," "Genghis Khan's children" and "father of the Mongols." Mongolians have given his name to many products, streets, buildings, and other places. For example his face is on the largest denominations of ₮500, ₮1000, ₮5000 and ₮10,000 Mongolian tugrug, the official currency of Mongolia. Mongolia's main international airport in the capital Ulaanbaatar, for example, is known as Chinggis Khaan International Airport and he is viewed with great respect by virtually all Mongolians and Mongol-related ethnic groups, such as Buryats and Evenkhei, while the destructions, deaths and conquests that occurred on other people are not lauded nor bluntly ignored by the general public of Mongolia. He is talked about with great pride and reverence by Mongolians, because of his strong presence and "Mongol" identity that he helped shape that lasts until today *. Mongolia created a statue of Genghis Khan, his sons and main generals in main plaza of capital Ulaanbaatar in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of founding the Mongol Nation in 1206 *. His name is often mentioned in modern day by historians, politicians and by the general public that supports unified, stable and powerful Mongolia as the representation of unified "Mongol" people and country *. The Mongolian parliament has gone to try to preserve and regulate the usage of the name "Genghis Khan" so that it remains symbolic and powerful representation of Mongolia*.

Zerjal et al 2003
identified a Y-chromosomal lineage present in about 8% of the men in a large region of Asia
(about 0.5% of the men in the world). The paper suggests that the pattern of variation within the lineage is consistent with a hypothesis that it originated in Mongolia about 1,000 years ago. Such a spread would be too rapid to have occurred by genetic drift, and must therefore be the result of natural selection. The authors propose that the lineage is carried by likely male-line descendants of Genghis Khan, and that it has spread through social selection.

In addition to the Khanates and other descendants, the Mughal emperor Babur's mother was a descendant and also Timur, the 14th century military leader claimed descent from Genghis Khan.