Surname smetanin. Book Review C

23.10.201927.05.2017

Name: Genghis Khan (Temujin)

State: Mongol Empire

Field of activity: Politics, army

Greatest Achievement: United the nomadic tribes of the Mongols, created the largest empire in history in terms of territory

The Mongol warrior and ruler Genghis Khan created the Mongol Empire, the largest in the world in terms of area in the history of mankind, uniting scattered tribes in Northeast Asia.

“I am the punishment of the Lord. If you have not committed mortal sins, the Lord will not send you punishment in my face! Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan was born in Mongolia around 1162, at birth he was given the name Temujin. He married at the age of 16 and had many wives throughout his life. At the age of 20, he began to create a large army with the intention of conquering individual tribes in Northeast Asia and uniting them under his rule. He succeeded: the Mongol Empire became the largest in the world, much larger than the British, and existed after the death of Genghis Khan (1227).

Early years of Genghis Khan

Born in Mongolia around 1162, Genghis Khan received the name Temujin - that was the name of the Tatar leader who was captured by his father Yesugei. The young Temujin was a member of the Borjigin tribe and a descendant of Khabula Khan, who briefly united the Mongols against the Jin (Chin) dynasty in northern China in the early 1100s. According to The Secret History of the Mongols (a contemporary account of Mongolian history), Temujin was born with a blood clot in his hand, a sign in Mongolian folklore that he was destined to become the ruler of the world. His mother, Hoelun, taught him how to survive in the bleak, turbulent Mongol tribal society and inspired him to form alliances.

When Temujin was 9 years old, his father took him to live with the family of the future bride, Borte. Returning home, Yesugei encountered a Tatar tribe. He was invited to a feast, where he was poisoned for past crimes against the Tatars. Upon learning of his father's death, Temujin returned home to claim the title of head of the clan. However, the clan refused to recognize the child as ruler and expelled Temujin and his younger and half-brothers, dooming them to a beggarly existence. The family had a very hard time, and once, in a dispute about hunting prey, Temujin quarreled with his half-brother Bekhter and killed him, thereby establishing his position as the head of the family.

At 16, Temujin married Borte, cementing the alliance between her tribe, the Conkirat, and his own. Shortly thereafter, Borte was kidnapped by the Merkit tribe and taken by their leader. Temujin recaptured her and shortly thereafter she gave birth to her first son Jochi. Although Borte's capture casts doubt on Jochi's origins, Temujin accepted him as his own. With Borte, Temujin had four sons, as well as many other children with other wives, which was common in Mongolia at that time. However, only his sons by Borte were eligible to inherit.

Genghis Khan - "Universal Ruler"

When Temujin was about 20 years old, he was captured by former allies of the family, the Taijits. One of them helped him escape, and soon Temujin, along with his brothers and several other clans, gathered his first army. So he began his slow rise to power, building a large army of more than 20,000 men. He intended to eliminate the traditional enmity between the tribes and unite the Mongols under his rule.

Excellent in military tactics, merciless and cruel, Temujin avenged the murder of his father by destroying the Tatar army. He ordered to kill every Tatar man taller than a cart wheel. Then, using their cavalry, Temujin's Mongols defeated the Taichiuts, killing all their leaders. By 1206, Temujin had also defeated the powerful Naiman tribe, thereby gaining control of central and eastern Mongolia.

The rapid success of the Mongolian army owes much to the brilliant military tactics Genghis Khan, as well as understanding the motives of his enemies. He used an extensive spy network and quickly adopted new technologies from his enemies. The well-trained Mongol army of 80,000 fighters was controlled by a complex alarm system - smoke and burning torches. Large drums sounded commands for charging, and further orders were transmitted by flag signals. Each soldier was fully equipped: he was armed with a bow, arrows, shield, dagger and lasso. He had large saddlebags for food, tools and spare clothing. The bag was waterproof and could be inflated to avoid drowning while crossing deep and fast-moving rivers. Cavalrymen carried a small sword, spears, body armor, a battle ax or mace, and a hooked spear to push enemies away from their horses. The attacks of the Mongols were very destructive. Since they could only control a galloping horse with their feet, their hands were free for archery. A well-organized supply system followed the entire army: food for soldiers and horses, military equipment, shamans for spiritual and medical care, as well as bookkeepers for accounting for trophies.

After victories over the warring Mongol tribes, their leaders agreed to peace and gave Temujin the title "Genghis Khan", which means "universal ruler". The title had not only political, but also spiritual significance. The supreme shaman declared Genghis Khan to be the representative of Monkke Koko Tengri ("Eternal Blue Sky"), the supreme god of the Mongols. The divine status gave the right to claim that his destiny was to rule the world. Although, but ignoring the Great Khan was tantamount to ignoring the will of God. That is why, without any hesitation, Genghis Khan will say to one of his enemies: “I am the punishment of the Lord. If you have not committed mortal sins, the Lord will not send you punishment in the face of me!

The main conquests of Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan wasted no time capitalizing on his newly acquired divinity. While his army was spiritually inspired, the Mongols found themselves face to face with serious difficulties. Food and resources decreased as the population grew. In 1207, Genghis Khan marched his armies against the Xi Xia kingdom and forced it to surrender two years later. In 1211, the armies of Genghis Khan conquered the Jin Dynasty in northern China, lured not by the artistic and scientific wonders of the great cities, but rather by endless rice fields and easy enrichment.

Although the campaign against the Jin Dynasty continued for almost 20 years, Genghis Khan's armies were also actively fighting in the west against the frontier empires and the Muslim world. Initially, Genghis Khan used diplomacy to establish trade relations with the Khorezm dynasty, an empire with a head in Turkey that included Turkestan, Persia, and Afghanistan. But the Mongolian diplomatic caravan was attacked by the governor of Otrar, who, apparently, considered that this was just a cover for a spy mission. When Genghis Khan heard about this insult, he demanded that he be given a governor, and for this he seconded an ambassador. Shah Muhammad, the head of the Khorezm dynasty, not only refused the demand, but also, in protest, refused to receive the Mongol ambassador.

This event could have provoked a wave of resistance that would have swept through central Asia and eastern Europe. In 1219, Genghis Khan personally took over the planning and execution of a three-stage attack by 200,000 Mongol soldiers against the Khorezm dynasty. The Mongols passed through all the fortified cities without hindrance. Those who survived the assault were put up as a human shield in front of the Mongol army when the Mongols took the next city. No one was left alive, including small domestic animals and livestock. The skulls of men, women and children were stacked in high pyramids. Cities were conquered one by one, and finally Shah Muhammad and then his son were captured and killed, as a result of which in 1221 the dynasty of Khorezm ceased to exist.

Scholars call the period after the Khorezm campaign Mongol. Over time, the conquests of Genghis Khan connected the major trading centers of China and Europe. The empire was governed by a legal code known as the Yasa. This code was developed by Genghis Khan, was based on common Mongolian law, but contained decrees prohibiting blood feud, adultery, theft and perjury. The Yasa also contained laws that reflected Mongol respect for the environment: a ban on swimming in rivers and streams, an order for any soldier following another to pick up everything that the first soldier dropped. Violation of any of these laws was usually punishable by death. Promotion through the military and government ranks was based not on traditional lines of heredity or ethnicity, but on merit. There were tax incentives for high-ranking priests and some craftsmen, and religious tolerance was enshrined, which reflected the long Mongol tradition of viewing religion as a personal belief, not subject to condemnation or interference. This tradition had a practical application, since there were so many different religious groups in the empire that it would be quite cumbersome to impose one religion on them.

With the destruction of the Khorezm dynasty, Genghis Khan again turned his attention to the east - to China. The Xi Xia Tanguts disobeyed his orders to send troops to the Khorezm campaign and openly protested. Capturing the Tangut cities, Genghis Khan eventually took the capital of Ning Khia. Soon the Tangut dignitaries surrendered one by one, and the resistance ended. However, Genghis Khan has not yet fully avenged the betrayal - he ordered the execution of the imperial family, thereby destroying the Tangut state.

Genghis Khan died in 1227, shortly after the conquest of Xi Xia. The exact cause of his death is unknown. Some historians claim that he fell off his horse while hunting and died from fatigue and injuries. Others claim he died of a respiratory illness. Genghis Khan was buried in a secret place in accordance with the customs of his tribe, somewhere in his homeland, near the Onon River and the Khentii Mountains in northern Mongolia. According to legend, the funeral escort killed everyone they encountered to hide the location of the burial, and a river was laid over Genghis Khan's tomb, completely blocking access to it.

Before his death, Genghis Khan handed supreme leadership to his son Ögedei, who controlled most of East Asia, including China. The rest of the empire was divided among his other sons: he took central Asia and northern Iran; Tolui, being the youngest, received a small territory from the Mongol homeland; and Jochi (who was killed before the death of Genghis Khan) and his son Batu took control of modern Russia and. The expansion of the empire continued and reached its peak under the leadership of Ögedei. Mongol armies eventually invaded Persia, the Song Dynasty in southern China, and the Balkans. When the Mongol troops reached the gates of Vienna (Austria), the supreme commander Batu received the news of the death of the great Khan Ogedei and returned to Mongolia. Subsequently, the campaign faded, marking the furthest Mongol invasion of Europe.

Among the many descendants of Genghis Khan is Kubilai Khan, the son of the son of Tolui, the younger son of Genghis Khan. At a young age, Kubilai showed great interest in Chinese civilization and did much throughout his life to incorporate Chinese customs and culture into Mongol rule. Kubilai rose to prominence in 1251 when his elder brother Monkke became Khan of the Mongol Empire and appointed him governor of the southern territories. Kubilai is remembered for the growth of agricultural production and the expansion of the Mongolian territory. After Monkke's death, Kubilai and his other brother, Arik Boke, fought for control of the empire. After three years of tribal warfare, Kubilai won and became the Great Khan and Emperor of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty.

THE LEGENDARY PEOPLE OF MONGOLIA

Genghis Khan
(1162-1227)

Genghis Khan (Mong. Genghis Khan own name - Temujin, Temuchin, Mong. Temujin). May 3, 1162 - August 18, 1227) - Mongol Khan, founder of the Mongolian state (since 1206), organizer of aggressive campaigns in Asia and Eastern Europe, great reformer and unifier of Mongolia. The direct descendants of Genghis Khan in the male line are Genghisides.

The only historical portrait of Genghis Khan from the series of official portraits of rulers was drawn during the reign of Kublai Khan in the 13th century. (beginning of reign from 1260), a few decades after his death (Genghis Khan died in 1227). The portrait of Genghis Khan is kept in the Beijing History Museum. The portrait depicts a face with Asian features, with blue eyes and a gray beard.

early years

The ancestor of all Mongols according to the "Secret Tale" is Alan-Goa, in the eighth generation from Genghis Khan, who, according to legend, conceived children from a sunbeam in a yurt. Genghis Khan's grandfather, Khabul Khan, was a wealthy leader of all the Mongol tribes, successfully waged wars with neighboring tribes. Temuchin's father was Yesugei Baatur, the grandson of Khabul Khan, the leader of most of the Mongol tribes, in which there were 40 thousand yurts. This tribe was the complete owner of the fertile valleys between the rivers Kerulen and Onon. Yesugei-baatur also successfully fought and fought, subjugating the Tatars and many neighboring tribes. From the contents of the "Secret Tale" it is clear that the father of Genghis Khan was the famous Khan of the Mongols.

It is difficult to name the exact date of birth of Genghis Khan. According to the Persian historian Rashid-ad-din, the date of birth is 1155, modern Mongolian historians adhere to the date - 1162. He was born in the Delyun-Boldok tract on the banks of the Onon River (near Lake Baikal) in the family of one of the Mongol leaders of the Taichiut tribe Yesugei-bagatura ("bagatur" - hero) from the Borjigin clan, and his wife Hoelun from the Onhirat tribe. It was named after the Tatar leader Temuchin, whom Yesugei defeated on the eve of the birth of his son. At the age of 9, Yesugei-bagatur betrothed a son to a 10-year-old girl from the Khungirat 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. On the way back, Yesugei lingered at the Tatars' parking lot, where he was poisoned. When he returned to his native ulus, he became ill, and a few days later he died.

The elders of the Mongol tribes refused to obey the too young and inexperienced Temuchin and left with their tribes for another patron. So young Temujin was surrounded by only a few representatives of his kind: his mother, younger brothers and sisters. All their remaining property included only eight horses and a tribal "bunchuk" - a white banner depicting a bird of prey - a gyrfalcon and with nine yak tails, symbolizing four large and five small yurts of his family. 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, Targultai (a distant relative of Temujin), who declared himself the ruler of the lands once occupied by Yesugei, fearing the revenge of a growing rival, began to pursue Temujin. One day 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. Nevertheless, he found a way to slip away and hide in a small lake, plunging into the water with the block and sticking out of the water only his nostrils. The Taichiuts looked for him in this place, but could not find him; but he was noticed by one Selduz, 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, the Selduz put Temuchin on a mare, provided him with weapons and sent him home.

After some time, Temujin found his family. The Borjigins immediately migrated to another place, and the Taichiuts could no longer find them. Then Temujin married his betrothed Borte. Borte's dowry was a luxurious sable coat. Temujin soon went to the most powerful of the then steppe leaders - Togoril, Khan of the Keraites. Togoril was once a friend of Temuchin's father, and he managed to enlist the support of the leader of the Keraites, recalling this friendship and bringing a luxurious gift - a sable fur coat to Borte.

The beginning of the conquests

With the help of Khan Togoril, Temujin's forces began to gradually grow. Nukers began to flock to him; he raided his neighbors, multiplying his possessions and herds.

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 and Yesugei's second wife, Sochikhel. Temujin, with the help of Khan Togoril and the Keraites, as well as his anda (named brother) Jamukha from the Jajirat clan, defeated the Merkits. At the same time, while trying to drive away the herd from the possessions of Temujin, Jamukha's brother was killed. Under the pretext of revenge, Jamukha with his army moved to Temujin. But not having achieved success in defeating the enemy, the leader of the Jajirats retreated.

Temujin's first major military undertaking was the war against the Tatars, launched jointly with Togoril around 1200. The Tatars at that time hardly repelled the attacks of the Jin troops who entered their possessions. Using the favorable situation, Temuchin and Togoril inflicted a number of strong blows and captured rich booty. The Jin government, as a reward for the defeat of the Tatars, awarded high titles to the steppe leaders. Temujin received the title of "jautkhuri" (military commissar), and Togoril - "van" (prince), from that time he became known as Van-khan. In 1202, Temujin independently opposed the Tatars. Before this campaign, he made an attempt to reorganize and discipline the army - he issued an order according to which it was strictly forbidden to capture booty during the battle and the pursuit of the enemy: the commanders had to divide the captured property between the soldiers only at the end of the battle.

Temujin's victories caused the rallying of the forces of his opponents. A whole coalition was formed, including Tatars, Taichiuts, Merkits, Oirats and other tribes, who elected Jamukha as their khan. In the spring of 1203, a battle took place, ending in the complete defeat of the Jamukha forces. This victory further strengthened Temujin's ulus. In 1202-1203, the Keraites were headed by Van Khan's son Nilkha, who hated Temujin because Van Khan gave preference to him over his son and thought to transfer the Keraite throne to him bypassing the Nilkha. In the autumn of 1203, Wang Khan's troops were defeated. His ulus ceased to exist. Wang Khan himself died while trying to escape to the Naimans.

In 1204 Temujin defeated the Naimans. Their ruler Tayan Khan died, and his son Kuchuluk fled to the territory of the Semirechye in the country of the Karakitays (southwest of Lake Balkhash). His ally, the Merkit khan Tokhto-beki, fled with him. There Kuchuluk managed to gather disparate detachments of Naimans and Keraites, enter the location of the gurkhan and become a rather significant political figure.

Reforms of the Great Khan

At kurultai in 1206, Temujin was proclaimed a great khan over all tribes - Genghis Khan. Mongolia has changed: scattered and warring Mongolian nomadic tribes united into a single state.

At the same time, a new law was issued: Yasa. The main place in it was occupied by articles on mutual assistance in the campaign and the prohibition of deceiving a trusted person. Those who violated these regulations were executed, and the enemy of the Mongols, who remained faithful to his khan, was spared and accepted into his army. "Good" was considered loyalty and courage, and "evil" - cowardice and betrayal.

After Temujin became the all-Mongol ruler, his policy began to reflect the interests of the noyonism even more clearly. The noyons needed such internal and external measures that would help consolidate their dominance and increase their income. New wars of conquest, robbery of rich countries were supposed to ensure the expansion of the sphere of feudal exploitation and the strengthening of the class positions of the noyons.

The administrative system created under Genghis Khan was adapted to the implementation of these goals. He 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. Such an organization provided Genghis Khan with the opportunity to increase his armed forces to about 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, considering himself 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 already meant the formal attachment of the arats to the land of the noyons - for migration from the possessions, the arat was threatened with the death penalty.

A specially formed armed detachment of personal bodyguards, the so-called keshik, enjoyed exclusive privileges and was intended mainly 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.

Genghis Khan elevated the written law to a cult, was supporters of a firm rule of law. He created a network of communication lines in his empire, courier communications on a large scale 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 Yakuts [source?], Kirghiz and Uighurs, 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 eastern border, capturing in 1207 the state of the Xi-Xia Tanguts, who had previously conquered Northern China from the dynasty of the Chinese emperors Song and created their own state, which was located between his possessions and the state of Jin. Having captured several fortified cities, in the summer of 1208 the "True Sovereign" withdrew to Longjin, waiting out the unbearable heat that fell that year. Meanwhile, news reaches him that his old enemies Tokhta-beki and Kuchluk are preparing for a new war with him. Preventing their invasion and carefully preparing, Genghis Khan defeated them utterly in a battle on the banks of the Irtysh. Tokhta-beki was among the dead, and Kuchluk fled and found shelter with the Karakitays.

Satisfied with the victory, Temujin again sends 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 Empire itself, the State of Jin, and marched as far as Nianxi in Hanshu Province. With increasing persistence, Genghis Khan led his troops, covering the road with corpses, deep into the continent and established his power even over the province of Liaodong, the central province of the empire. Several Chinese commanders, seeing that the Mongol conqueror was gaining invariable victories, ran over to his side. The garrisons surrendered without a fight.

Having established his position along the entire Great Wall of China, in the autumn 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 Temujin, 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 the brothers and commanders of Temujin 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. But either fearing civil strife, or due to other reasons, he decides to return to Mongolia in the spring of 1214 and concludes 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.

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.

Conquest of Central Asia

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 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, Lezgins and Circassians, and then defeated the Polovtsy in parts. 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'. Departing from the Mongol army, Khan Kotyan, through his ambassadors, asked not to refuse him the help of his son-in-law Mstislav the Udaly, as well as Mstislav III Romanovich, the ruling Grand Duke of Kyiv. At the beginning of 1223, a large princely congress was convened in Kiev, where an agreement was reached that the armed forces of the princes of Kiev, Galicia, Chernigov, Seversk, Smolensk and Volyn principalities, united, should support the Polovtsy. The Dnieper, near the island of Khortitsa, was appointed as a gathering place for the Russian united rati. Here the envoys from the Mongol camp were met, offering the Russian military leaders to break the alliance with the Polovtsy and return to Rus'. 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 Daniil of Galicia, Mstislav the Udaly and Khan Kotyan, without notifying the rest of the princes, decided to "crack down" on their own with the Mongols, crossed over to east coast, where on May 31, 1223 they were completely defeated during the passive contemplation of this bloody battle by 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, during three days after the battle, he held the defense, and then went to an agreement with Jebe and Subedai on the laying down of arms and a free retreat to Rus', as if he had not participated in the battle. However, he, his army and the princes who trusted him were treacherously 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 civilians. 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 a few new conquered provinces north of the Yellow River, with the exception of one or two cities. 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. In 1225 or at the beginning of 1226, Genghis undertook a campaign against the country of the Tanguts. During this campaign, the astrologers informed the Mongol leader that the five planets were in unfavorable alignment. The superstitious Mongol considered that he was in danger. Under the power of a bad feeling, the formidable conqueror went home, but on the way he fell ill and died on August 25, 1227.

Before his death, he wished that the king of the Tanguts would be executed immediately after the capture of the city, and the city itself would be destroyed to the ground. Various sources give different versions of his death: from an arrow wound in battle; from a long illness, after a fall from a horse; from a lightning strike; from the hand of a captive princess on their wedding night.

According to the dying wish of Genghis Khan, his body was taken to his homeland and interred in the Burkan-Kaldun area. 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 wild horses-kulans and fell ill: winter period 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. Of the khans, Yesui-Khatun followed the sovereign. 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 in the morning Yesui-khatun said to the princes and noyons: "The sovereign had a strong fever at night. We must discuss the situation." The "Secret Tale" says that "Genghis Khan, after the final defeat of the Tanguts, returned and ascended to heaven in the Year of the Pig" (1227).

According to the will, Genghis Khan was succeeded by his third son Ogedei. Until the Xi-Xia Zhongxing capital was taken, the death of the great ruler was to be kept secret. The funeral procession moved from the camp of the Great Horde to the north, to the Onon River. The Secret History and the Golden Chronicle report that on the way of the caravan with the body of Genghis Khan to the burial place, all living things were killed: people, animals, birds. The annals record: "They killed every living creature that they saw, so that the news of his death would not spread to the surrounding places. In his four main hordes, they mourned and buried him in the area, which he had once deigned to designate as a great reserve" . His wives carried his body through his native camp, and in the end he was buried in a rich tomb in the Onon Valley. During the burial, mystical rites were carried out, which were designed to protect the place where Genghis Khan was buried. The place of his burial has not yet been found. After the death of Genghis Khan, mourning continued for two years.

According to legend, Genghis Khan was buried in a deep tomb, sitting on a golden throne, at the family cemetery "Ikh Khorig" near Mount Burkhan Khaldun, at the headwaters of the Urgun River. He sat on the golden throne of Muhammad, brought by him from the captured Samarkand. So that the grave would not be found and desecrated in subsequent times, after the burial of the Great Khan, a herd of thousands of horses was driven across the steppe several times, destroying all traces of the grave. According to another version, the tomb was arranged in the riverbed, for which the river was blocked for a while, and the water was directed along a different channel. After the burial, the dam was destroyed, and the water returned to its natural course, forever hiding the burial place. Everyone who participated in the burial and could remember this place was subsequently killed, those who carried out this order were subsequently killed too. Thus, the secret of Genghis Khan's burial remains unsolved until now.

Until now, attempts to find the grave of Genghis Khan have not been successful. The geographical names of the times of the Mongol Empire have completely changed over many centuries, and today no one can say with accuracy where Mount Burkhan-Khaldun is located. According to the version of Academician G. Miller, based on the stories of the Siberian "Mongol", Mount Burkhan-Khaldun in translation can mean "Mountain of God", "Mountain where deities are placed", "Mountain - God scorches or God penetrates everywhere" - "sacred mountain Genghis and his ancestors, the redeeming mountain, which Genghis, in memory of his salvation in the forests of this mountain from fierce enemies, bequeathed to sacrifice forever and ever, was located in the places of the original nomads of Genghis and his ancestors along the Onon River.

RESULTS OF THE BOARD OF GENGHIS KHAN

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 Chinese and Persian officials.

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.

The ruler of the Mongols created the greatest empire in history, subjugating vast expanses of Eurasia from the Sea of Japan to the Black in the 13th century. He and his descendants swept away the 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.

The old Mongolian code of laws "Jasak", introduced by Genghis Khan, reads: "Genghis Khan's Yasa prohibits lies, theft, adultery, orders to love your neighbor as yourself, not to cause offense, and forget them completely, to spare countries and cities that have submitted voluntarily, to free from any tax and respect the temples dedicated to God, as well as his servants. The significance of "Jasak" for the formation of statehood in the empire of Genghis Khan is noted by all historians. The introduction of a code of military and civil laws made it possible to establish a firm legal order on the vast territory of the Mongol Empire, and failure to comply with its laws was punishable by death. Yasa prescribed tolerance in matters of religion, respect for temples and clerics, forbade quarrels among the Mongols, disobedience of children to parents, theft of horses, regulated military duty, rules of conduct in battle, distribution of military booty, etc.
"Immediately kill anyone who steps on the threshold of the governor's headquarters."
"He who urinates in water or on ashes is put to death."
"Forbidden to wash the dress while wearing it, until it is completely worn out."
"Let no one leave his thousand, hundreds or ten. Otherwise, let him and the head of the unit that received him be executed."
"Respect all confessions without giving preference to any."
Genghis Khan declared shamanism, Christianity and Islam as the official religions of his empire.

Unlike other conquerors for hundreds of years before the Mongols who dominated Eurasia, only Genghis Khan managed to organize a stable state system and make Asia appear before Europe not just as an unexplored steppe and mountainous expanse, but as a consolidated civilization. It was within its borders that the Turkic revival of the Islamic world then began, with its second onslaught (after the Arabs) almost finished off Europe.

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

The Mongols revere Genghis Khan as greatest hero and reformer, almost like the incarnation of a deity. In European (including Russian) memory, he remained something like a pre-storm crimson cloud that appears before a terrible, all-cleansing storm.

DESCENDANTS OF GENGHIS KHAN

Temujin and his beloved wife Borte had four sons:

son Jochi
son Chagatai
son Ogedei
son Tolu th.

Only they and their descendants could claim the highest power in the state. Temujin and Borte also had daughters:

daughter Hodgin bags, wife of Butu-gurgen from the Ikires clan;
daughter Tsetseihen (Chichigan), wife of Inalchi, the youngest son of the head of the Oirats Khudukh-beki;
daughter Alangaa (Alagay, Alakha), who married the Ongut noyon Buyanbald (in 1219, when Genghis Khan went to war with Khorezm, he entrusted state affairs to her in his absence, therefore she is also called Tor zasagch gunzh (ruler-princess);
daughter Temulen, wife of Shiku-gurgen, son of Alchi-noyon from the Khongirads, the tribe of her mother Borte;
daughter Alduun (Altalun), who married Zavtar-setsen, noyon of the Khongirads.

Temujin and his second wife Khulan-Khatun, daughter of Dair-usun, had sons

son Kulkhan (Khulugen, Kulkan)
son Harachar;

From Tatar Yesugen (Yesukat), daughter of Charu-noyon

son Chakhur (Jaur)
son Harhad.

The sons of Genghis Khan continued the work of the Golden Dynasty and ruled the Mongols, as well as the conquered lands, based on the Great Yasa of Genghis Khan until the 20s of the XX century. Even the Manchurian emperors who ruled Mongolia and China from the 16th to the 19th centuries were descendants of Genghis Khan, as for their legitimacy they married Mongol princesses from the golden family dynasty of Genghis Khan. The first prime minister of Mongolia in the 20th century, Chin Van Khanddorj (1911-1919), as well as the rulers of Inner Mongolia (until 1954), were direct descendants of Genghis Khan.

The family vault of Genghis Khan is maintained until the 20th century; in 1918, the religious head of Mongolia, Bogdo-gegen, issued an order to preserve the Urgiin bichig (family list) of Mongolian princes, called shastir. This shastir is kept in the museum and is called "Shastir of the state of Mongolia" (Mongol Ulsyn shastir). Many direct descendants of Genghis Khan from his golden family still live in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia.

ADDITIONAL LITERATURE

Vladimirtsov B.Ya. Genghis Khan. Publishing house Z.I. Grzhebin. Berlin. Petersburg. Moscow. 1922 Cultural and historical sketch of the Mongol Empire of the XII-XIV centuries. In two parts with appendices and illustrations. 180 pages. Russian language.

The Mongol Empire and the nomadic world. Bazarov B.V., Kradin N.N. Skrynnikova T.D. Book 1. Ulan-Ude. 2004. Institute of Mongolian Studies, Buddhology and Tebetology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The Mongol Empire and the nomadic world. Bazarov B.V., Kradin N.N. Skrynnikova T.D. Book 3. Ulan-Ude. 2008. Institute of Mongolian Studies, Buddhology and Tebetology SB RAS.

On the art of war and the conquests of the Mongols. The composition of Lieutenant Colonel of the General Staff M. Ivanin. St. Petersburg, Publisher: printed in a military printing house. Year of publication: 1846. Pages: 66. Language: Russian.

Secret History of the Mongols. Translation from Mongolian. 1941.

On November 23, Mongolia celebrated National Pride Day - the birthday of Genghis Khan. Several Mongolian scientists will devote their lectures to this date. In particular, on November 20 and 21, lectures "Genghis Khan and the world" and "The basis of the success of the Mongols of the Middle Ages" were delivered in Ulaanbaatar, writes Baikal 24.

The very date of National Pride Day was set in 2012 by the government on the eve of the 850th anniversary of the birth of Genghis Khan, who is considered the founder of the Mongolian nation. Legislators defined it as the first day of the first winter month according to the Mongolian lunar calendar.

Last year, the program of the holiday included a ceremony of honoring the national flag and the Nine Bunker White Banner, a solemn procession in the robes of ancient Mongolia and the Mongolian Empire, a ceremony of lighting the state hearth, honoring the statue of Genghis Khan on Genghis Khan Square, presenting the Order of Genghis Khan, and wrestling competitions.

Pedigree

According to the "Secret Tale", the ancestor of Genghis Khan was Borte-Chino, who became related to Goa-Maral and settled in Khentei (central-eastern Mongolia) near Mount Burkhan-Khaldun. According to Rashid ad-Din, this event took place in the middle of the VIII century. Bata-Tsagaan, Tamachi, Horichar, Uujim Buural, Sali-Khajau, Eke Nyuden, Sim-Sochi, Kharchu were born from Borte-Chino in 2-9 generations. Borzhigidai-Mergen was born in the 10th generation, he married Mongolzhin-goa. From them, in the 11th generation, the family tree was continued by Torokoljin-bagatur, who married Borochin-goa, Dobun-Mergen and Duva-Sohor were born from them. Dobun-Mergen's wife was Alan-goa, the daughter of Khorilardai-Mergen from his one of the three wives Barguzhin-Goa. Thus, the foremother of Genghis Khan is from the Khori-Tumats, one of the Buryat branches. (Secret legend. § 8. Rashid ad-Din. T. 1. Book 2. S. 10.) Three younger, golden-haired and blue-eyed [source not specified 31 days] son of Alan-goa, born after the death of her husband, were considered the ancestors of the Mongols-niruns ("actually the Mongols"). From the fifth, youngest, son of Alan-goa, Bodonchar, the Borjigins originated, writes Wikipedia.

Birth and youth

Temujin was born in the Delyun-Boldok tract on the banks of the Onon River in the family of Yesugei-Bagatur from the Borjigin clan and his wife Hoelun from the Olkhonut clan, whom Yesugei recaptured from the Merkit Eke-Chiledu. The boy was named after the Tatar leader Temujin-Uge, captured by Yesugei, whom Yesugei defeated on the eve of the birth of his son.

The year of Temujin's birth remains unclear, as the main sources indicate different dates. According to the only source during Genghis Khan's lifetime Men-da bei-lu (1221) and according to Rashid ad-Din's calculations based on authentic documents from the archives of the Mongol khans, Temujin was born in 1155. The “History of the Yuan Dynasty” does not give an exact date of birth, but only calls the life span of Genghis Khan as “66 years” (taking into account the conditional year of intrauterine life, taken into account in the Chinese and Mongolian traditions of counting life expectancy and taking into account the fact that the “accrual” of the next year life happened simultaneously for all Mongols with the celebration of the Eastern New Year, that is, in reality, more likely about 65 years), which, when counted from the known date of his death, gives 1162 as the date of birth. However, this date is not supported by earlier authentic documents from the Mongol-Chinese office of the 13th century. A number of scientists (for example, P. Pellio or G. V. Vernadsky) indicate the year 1167, but this date remains the hypothesis most vulnerable to criticism. The newborn, as they say, squeezed a blood clot in his palm, which foreshadowed him the glorious future of the ruler of the world.

At the age of 9, Yesugei-bagatur betrothed his son Borte, an 11-year-old girl from the Ungirat clan. 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 left the widows (Yesugei had 2 wives) and Yesugei's children (Temujin and his brothers Khasar, Khachiun, Temuge 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, Targutai-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 Suldus Sorgan-Shira tribe, 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-Shira put Temujin on a mare, provided him with weapons and sent him home (later Chilaun, the son of Sorgan-Shira, became one of the four 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 one of the four close 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. Togoril 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 a sable fur coat to Borte. Upon Temujin's return from Togoril Khan, an old Mongol gave him his son Jelme, who became one of his generals, into his service.

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. Armed forces 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.

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 ranks 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.

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.

He captured a fortress and a passage in the Great Wall of China and in 1213 invaded the Chinese state of Jin directly, marching as far as Nianxi in Hanshu province. Genghis Khan led his troops deep into the continent and established his power over the province of Liaodong, the center 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, Genghis Khan sent three armies to different parts of the Jin 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 the brothers and commanders of Genghis Khan 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 Genghis Khan as a manifestation of hostility, and he again brought troops into the empire, now doomed to death. The war continued.

To the west

After the capture of Samarkand (spring of 1220), Genghis Khan sent troops to capture the Khorezmshah Muhammad, who fled after the Amu Darya. The tumens of Jebe and Subedei passed through Northern Iran and invaded the South Caucasus, bringing cities into submission by negotiations or force and collecting tribute. Having learned about the death of the Khorezmshah, the noyons continued their march to the west. Through the Derbent passage, they penetrated into the North Caucasus, defeated the Alans, and then the Polovtsians. In the spring of 1223, the Mongols defeated the combined forces of the Russians and the Polovtsians on the Kalka, but when they retreated to the east, they were defeated in the Volga Bulgaria. The remnants of the Mongol troops in 1224 returned to Genghis Khan, who was in Central Asia.

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. In December, the Mongols crossed the Huang He and reached the eastern regions of Xi-Xia. Near Lingzhou [where?] there was a clash of a hundred thousandth Tangut army with the Mongols. The Tangut army was completely defeated. The way to the capital of the Tangut kingdom was now open.

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 of the Tangut kingdom 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 call different reasons 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 immediately after the fall of the capital Zhongxing ( modern city Yinchuan) and the destruction of the Tangus state.

Genghis Khan (Temujin, Temujin)
OK. 1155–1227

Great conqueror. Founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.

The fate of Temujin, or Temujin, was very difficult. He came from a noble Mongolian family, who roamed with their herds along the banks of the Onon River in the territory of modern Mongolia. When he was nine years old, during the steppe civil strife, his father Yesugei-bahadur was killed. The family, which lost its protector and almost all its livestock, had to flee from the nomads. She with great difficulty managed to endure a harsh winter in a wooded area. Troubles continued to haunt the little Mongol - new enemies from the Taijiut tribe attacked the orphaned family and captured Temujin, putting on him a wooden slave collar.
However, he showed the firmness of his character, hardened by the hardships of childhood. Having broken the collar, he escaped and returned to his native tribe, which could not protect his family several years ago. The teenager became a zealous warrior: few of his relatives knew how to control the steppe horse so deftly and shoot accurately from a bow, throw a lasso at full gallop and cut with a saber.
But the warriors of his tribe were struck by something else in Temujin - dominance, the desire to subjugate others. From those who stood under his banner, the young Mongol commander demanded complete and unquestioning obedience to his will. Disobedience was punishable only by death. To the disobedient, he was as merciless as to his natural enemies among the Mongols. Temujin pretty soon managed to take revenge on all the offenders of his family. He was not yet 20 years old, when he began to unite the Mongol clans around him, gathering a small detachment of warriors under his command. It was very difficult - after all, the Mongol tribes constantly waged armed struggle among themselves, raiding neighboring pastures in order to take possession of their herds and seize people into slavery.
Steppe clans, and then entire tribes of the Mongols, he united around him, sometimes by force, and sometimes with the help of diplomacy. Temujin married the daughter of one of the most powerful neighbors, hoping for the support of his father-in-law's soldiers in difficult times. However, while the young military leader had few allies and his own soldiers, he also had to endure setbacks.
The steppe tribe of the Merkits, hostile to him, once made a successful raid on his camp and kidnapped his wife. This was a great insult to the dignity of the Mongol commander. He redoubled his efforts to gather nomadic families under his rule, and in just a year he commanded an entire cavalry army. With him, he inflicted a complete defeat on the large Merkit tribe, exterminating most of it and capturing their herds, and freed his wife, who knew the fate of a captive.
The military successes of Temujin in the war against the Merkits attracted other Mongol tribes to his side, now they resignedly gave their warriors to the military leader. His army was constantly growing, and the territories of the vast Mongolian steppe were expanding, which were now subject to his authority.
Temujin tirelessly waged war with all the Mongol tribes who refused to recognize his supreme authority. At the same time, he was distinguished by perseverance and cruelty. So, he almost completely exterminated the tribe of Tatars that refused to subdue him (the Mongol was already called this name in Europe, although as such the Tatars were destroyed by Genghis Khan in an internecine war). Temujin was well versed in the tactics of war in the steppe. He suddenly attacked the neighboring nomadic tribes and invariably won. He offered the survivors the right to choose: either become his ally, or die.
The leader Temujin fought his first big battle in 1193 near Germany in the Mongolian steppes. At the head of 6 thousand soldiers, he defeated the 10 thousandth army of his father-in-law Ung Khan, who began to argue with his son-in-law. The Khan's army was commanded by the commander Sanguk, who, apparently, was very confident in the superiority of the tribal army entrusted to him and did not worry about either reconnaissance or military protection. Temujin took the enemy by surprise in a mountain gorge and inflicted heavy damage on him.
By 1206, Temujin had become the strongest ruler in the steppes north of the Great Wall of China. That year is notable in his life in that at the kurultai (congress) of the Mongol feudal lords, he was proclaimed the "Great Khan" over all the Mongol tribes with the title of "Genghis Khan" (from the Turkic "tengiz" - ocean, sea). Under the name of Genghis Khan, Temujin entered world history. For the steppe-Mongols, the title sounded like "universal ruler", "real ruler", "precious ruler".
The first thing the great khan took care of was the Mongol army. Genghis Khan demanded that the leaders of the tribes, who recognized his supremacy, maintain permanent military detachments to protect the lands of the Mongols with their nomads and for aggressive campaigns against their neighbors. At former slave there were no more open enemies among the Mongol nomads, and he began to prepare for wars of conquest.
To assert personal power and suppress any discontent in the country, Genghis Khan created a horse guard of 10 thousand people. The best warriors were recruited from the Mongol tribes, and she enjoyed great privileges in the army of Genghis Khan. The guards were his bodyguards. From among them, the ruler of the Mongolian state appointed military leaders to the troops.
The army of Genghis Khan was built according to the decimal system: tens, hundreds, thousands and tumens (they consisted of 10 thousand soldiers). These military units were not only accounting units. A hundred and a thousand could perform independent combat mission. Tumen acted in the war already at the tactical level.
The command of the Mongolian army was also built according to the decimal system: ten's manager, centurion, thousand's manager, temnik. Genghis Khan appointed his sons and representatives of the tribal nobility to the highest positions, temniks, from among those military leaders who, by deed, proved to him their devotion and experience in military affairs. In the army of the Mongols, the strictest discipline was maintained along the entire command hierarchical ladder, any violation was severely punished.
The main branch of the army in the army of Genghis Khan was the heavily armed cavalry of the Mongols proper. Her main weapons were a sword or saber, a pike and a bow with arrows. Initially, the Mongols protected their chest and head in battle with strong leather breastplates and helmets. Subsequently, they had good protective equipment in the form of various metal armor. Each Mongol warrior had at least two well-trained horses for the campaign and a large supply of arrows and arrowheads for them.
Light cavalry, and these were mainly horse archers, were warriors of the conquered steppe tribes. It was they who started the battles, bombarding the enemy with clouds of arrows and introducing confusion into his ranks, and then the heavily armed cavalry of the Mongols themselves went on the attack in a dense mass. Their attack was more like a ramming blow than a dashing raid of mounted nomads.
Genghis Khan entered military history as a great strategist and tactician of his era. For his temnik commanders and other military leaders, he developed the rules for conducting war and organizing the entire military service. These rules, in the conditions of the brutal centralization of the military and government controlled were carried out rigorously.
For the strategy and tactics of the great conqueror ancient world were characterized by careful conduct of long-range and short-range reconnaissance, the surprise attack on any enemy, even noticeably inferior to him in strength, the desire to dismember the enemy forces in order to destroy them in parts. Ambushes and luring the enemy into them were widely and skillfully used. Genghis Khan and his commanders skillfully maneuvered large masses of cavalry on the battlefield. The pursuit of the fleeing enemy was carried out not with the aim of capturing more military booty, but with the aim of destroying it.
At the very beginning of his conquests, Genghis Khan did not always gather a general Mongol cavalry army. Scouts and spies brought him information about a new enemy, about the number, location and routes of movement of his troops. This allowed Genghis Khan to determine the number of troops needed to defeat the enemy and quickly respond to all his offensive actions.
However, the greatness of the military art of Genghis Khan also consisted in something else: he was able to react quickly, changing his tactics depending on the circumstances. Thus, having encountered strong fortifications in China for the first time, Genghis Khan began to use all kinds of throwing and siege machines in war. They were taken disassembled for the army and quickly assembled during the siege of a new city. When he needed mechanics or doctors, who were not among the Mongols, the khan wrote them out from other countries or captured them. In this case, military specialists became khan's slaves, but were kept in fairly good conditions.
Until the last day of his life, Genghis Khan sought to maximize his truly vast possessions. Therefore, each time the Mongol army went farther and farther from Mongolia.
First, the great khan decided to annex other nomadic peoples to his state. In 1207 he conquered vast areas north of the Selenga River and in the upper reaches of the Yenisei. The military forces (cavalry) of the conquered tribes were included in the general Mongol army.
Then came the turn of the then large state of the Uighurs in East Turkestan. In 1209, a huge army of Genghis Khan invaded their territory and, capturing one by one their cities and flourishing oases, won a complete victory. After this invasion, only heaps of ruins remained from many trading cities and villages.
The destruction of settlements in the occupied territory, the total extermination of recalcitrant tribes and fortified cities that decided to defend themselves with weapons in their hands, were a characteristic feature of the conquests of the great Mongol Khan. The strategy of intimidation allowed him to successfully solve military problems and keep the conquered peoples in obedience.
In 1211, Genghis Khan's cavalry attacked northern China. The Great Wall of China - this is the most grandiose defensive structure in the history of mankind - did not become an obstacle for the conquerors. The Mongolian cavalry defeated the troops that stood in its way. In 1215, the city of Beijing (Yanjing) was captured by cunning, which the Mongols subjected to a long siege.
In northern China, the Mongols destroyed about 90 cities, the population of which resisted the Mongol army. In this campaign, Genghis Khan adopted the engineering military equipment Chinese - various throwing machines and battering rams. Chinese engineers trained the Mongols to use them and deliver them to the besieged cities and fortresses.
In 1218, the Mongols conquered the Korean Peninsula. After campaigns in Northern China and Korea, Genghis Khan turned his gaze further to the West - towards the sunset. In 1218, the Mongol army invaded Central Asia and captured Khorezm. This time, the great conqueror found a plausible pretext - several Mongol merchants were killed in the border city of Khorezm, and therefore the country where the Mongols were treated badly should be punished.
With the advent of the enemy on the borders of Khorezm, Shah Mohammed, at the head of a large army (figures up to 200 thousand people are called), set out on a campaign. A great battle took place at Karaku, which was distinguished by such persistence that by the evening there was no winner on the battlefield. With the onset of darkness, the commanders took their armies to their camps. The next day, Muhammad refused to continue the battle due to heavy losses, which amounted to almost half of the troops he had gathered. Genghis Khan, for his part, also suffered big losses, retreated, but this was his military ruse.
The conquest of the huge Central Asian state of Khorezm continued. In 1219, the Mongol army of 200 thousand people under the command of the sons of Genghis Khan, Oktay and Zagatai, besieged the city of Otrar, located on the territory of modern Uzbekistan. The city was defended by a 60,000-strong garrison under the command of the brave Khorezm commander Gazer Khan.
The siege of Otrar, with frequent attacks, lasted four months. During this time, the number of defenders decreased three times. Famine and disease began in the city, since it was especially bad with drinking water. In the end, the Mongol army broke into the city, but could not capture the fortress citadel. Gazer Khan with the remnants of the defenders of Otrar held out in it for another month. By order of the Great Khan, the city was destroyed, most of the inhabitants were destroyed, and some - artisans and young people - were taken into slavery.
In March 1220, the Mongol army, led by Genghis Khan himself, laid siege to one of the largest Central Asian cities, Bukhara. The 20,000-strong army of the Khorezmshah stood in it, which, together with its commander, fled when the Mongols approached. The townspeople, not having the strength to fight, opened the city gates to the conquerors. Only the local ruler decided to defend himself, hiding in the fortress, which was set on fire and destroyed by the Mongols.
In June of the same 1220, the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, besieged another large city of Khorezm - Samarkand. The city was defended by a garrison of 110,000 (the figures are greatly inflated) under the command of the governor Alub Khan. Khorezmian soldiers made frequent sorties outside the city walls, preventing the Mongols from conducting siege work. However, there were citizens who, wanting to save their property and life, opened the gates of Samarkand to the enemy.
The Mongols broke into the city, and heated battles with its defenders began in the streets and squares. However, the forces turned out to be unequal, and besides, Genghis Khan brought more and more new forces into battle to replace the tired warriors. Seeing that Samarkand could not be defended, Alub Khan, who fought heroically at the head of a thousand Khorezm horsemen, managed to escape from the city and break through the blockade ring of the enemy. The surviving 30 thousand defenders of Samarkand were killed by the Mongols.
The conquerors also met stubborn resistance during the siege of the city of Khujand (modern Tajikistan). The city was defended by a garrison led by one of the best Khwarezmian commanders, the fearless Timur-Melik. When he realized that the garrison was no longer able to resist the assault, he, with part of his soldiers, embarked on ships and sailed down the Jaksart River, pursued along the coast by the Mongol cavalry. However, after a fierce battle, Timur-Melik managed to break away from his pursuers. After his departure, the city of Khojent surrendered to the mercy of the winners the next day.
The Mongols continued to capture the Khwarezmian cities one after another: Merv, Urgench ... In 1221, they besieged the city of Bamiyan and, after many months of defense, took it by storm. Genghis Khan, whose beloved grandson was killed during the siege, ordered that neither women nor children be spared. Therefore, the city with the entire population was completely destroyed.
After the fall of Khorezm and the conquest of Central Asia, Genghis Khan made a campaign in North-Western India, capturing this large territory as well. However, Genghis Khan did not go further to the south of Hindustan: he was constantly attracted by unknown countries at sunset.
He, as usual, thoroughly worked out the route of a new campaign and sent far to the west his best commanders Jebe and Subedei at the head of their tumens and auxiliary troops of the conquered peoples. Their path lay through Iran, Transcaucasia and the North Caucasus. So the Mongols ended up on the southern approaches to Rus', in the Don steppes.
At that time, Polovtsian towers roamed in the Wild Field, which had long lost their military strength. The Mongols defeated the Polovtsy without much difficulty, and they fled to the borderlands of Russian lands. In 1223, the generals Jebe and Subedey defeated the united army of several Russian princes and Polovtsian khans in a battle on the Kalka River. After the victory, the vanguard of the Mongol army turned back.
In 1226-1227, Genghis Khan made a trip to the country of the Tangut Xi-Xia. He instructed one of his sons to continue the conquest of China. The anti-Mongol uprisings that began in the North China he had conquered caused Genghis Khan great anxiety.
The great commander died during his last campaign against the Tanguts. The Mongols gave him a magnificent funeral and, having destroyed all the participants in these sad celebrations, managed to keep the location of Genghis Khan's grave a complete secret to this day.
The Arab chronicler Rashid-ad-Din in his work "Chronicles" described in detail the history of the formation of the Mongol state and the conquests of the Mongols. Here is what he wrote about Genghis Khan, who has become for world history a symbol of the desire for world domination and military power:
“After his victorious performance, the inhabitants of the world saw with their own eyes that he was marked by all kinds of heavenly support. Thanks to the extreme limit of (his) power and might, he conquered all the Turkic and Mongol tribes and other categories (of the human race), introducing them into a number of his slaves ...
Thanks to the nobility of his personality and the subtlety of his inner qualities, he stood out from all those peoples, like a rare pearl from the midst of precious stones, and drew them into the circle of possession and into the hand of the supreme government ...
Despite the plight and abundance of difficulties, troubles and all sorts of misfortunes, he was an extremely brave and courageous person, very intelligent and gifted, reasonable and knowledgeable ... "