Temuchin was a very active child, like most Mongol children. He learned how to ride a horse when he was just three, and when he was only four years old, he was given his first bow and arrow. Tragedy struck him at the age of nine when his father was poisoned and died. As the oldest son, he was left with his father’s inheritance. Since his father had control of many clans and sub-clans, he was left to control these. Most of the clans didn’t like the idea of being under the rule of a nine year old, so they abandoned him.
One day, his brother came home with frightening news. The Taijiuds were planning to capture and kill Temuchin! Lucky for them, they knew ahead of time so Temuchin fled to the mountains and hid. The Taijiuds knew his approximate location, so they were searching for him. Temuchin went without food for days, and then his hunger took over. He went out of his hiding in search of food. The Taijiuds spotted him and took him as prisoner. He placed in a wooden yoke that was tightly fastened around his neck and tied to his hands (also known as a kong). Then he was thrown in a small yurt with one guard watching over him. Temuchin knew he had to escape, or it would mean torture and death. He waited until the guard fell asleep, and then Temuchin killed him. Then he ran waited in the river until nightfall, so he wouldn’t be spotted by the Taijiuds again. When it was dark, he ran back to where his family was. A week later, they were reunited.
Soon, it was time for Temuchin to get married. Burte was promised as a wife to Temuchin when she was six, and he was eight. Now that he was almost seventeen, they were to wed. Their wedding celebration lasted many days. Then they had their first child – a son. Their son was given the name Juchi, after Temuchin’s brother. Many people held much doubt as to whether it was his son or not, but he never question it.
In the year 1190, a kurultai was assembled to choose a khan, or leader of all the Mongols. The kurulai had to choose between four people. One was Altan Ochigin, son of Kutula Khan. Another contestant was Sacha Biki, who was the chief of the Jurkin clan. A third was Kutchar. Last but not least, was Temuchin. The kurultai ended up choosing Temuchin. No longer was he known as Temuchin, but he had earned the title Genghis Khan at the age of twenty three.
At the time he earned the name Genghis Khan, he had one sworn friend (Tughrul Khan), and one sworn enemy (Jamukha). Jamukha, with help of the Taijiuds, were plotting against Genghis. They made a surprise attack at Dalan Baljiut while Genghis and his troops were resting. Genghis was defeated and retreated to Onon. During the attack, Jamukha captured 70 of Genghis’ nobles and tortured them by boiling them alive in oil. This caused fear amongst many of Genghis’ followers, so many people deserted him. There were also many who joined Genghis’ troops.
In 1200, Genghis Khan had so much power, that he was viewed as a threat by many. Five different clans (the Taijiuds, Khatakins, Saljiuds, Durbens, and Khonigirads) joined forces to try and defeat Genghis. Genghis found out about their plans before they had a chance to fully unite, and he defeated all five clans.
During 1202, Genghis traveled east to have a war with the Tatars. He told he soldiers to fight no matter what, and to not take any treasures for themselves because all of it would be split up equally among the troops. The three nobles who disobeyed this orders ended up with nothing. After his victory against the Tatars, he killed the tallest men and gave the women and children to his followers where they would be servants.
Over time, Genghis and Tughrul (his sworn friend) slowly grew apart. Jamukha took this as an opportunity to turn them against each other. He convinced Jamukha that Genghis was plotting against him, and that Genghis must be destroyed. Tughrul listened to Jamukha, and went to war against Genghis’ troops. During the battle, Tughrul ran away and hid with the Naiman clan. This wasn’t a good idea, since they still considered him an enemy. The Naimans then proceeded to kill Tughrul. Genghis’ victory in this war caused him to be viewed as a powerful leader. But he still had many enemies, including the Naiman clan.
In 1204, Genghis’ enemies, Jamukha, the Naimans, and other allies, again united to create a war against Genghis. Whoever won this war, would truly be emperor of Mongolia. Genghis marches 700 miles west to where the war was to take place. Since Genghis was greatly outnumbered, he ordered each of his men to build five fires (to make it appear as though he had more soldiers). The leader of the Naimans, Bai Bukha, was known for his lack of bravery. Bai Bukha ended up retreating to the very top of Mount Naku, and Jamukha deserted. Bai Bukha was killed during the night. The battle was over, and Genghis no longer had enemies that would pose a threat to him. He was now officially emperor of Mongolia.
Genghis highly valued loyalty. Those who have been loyal to him received gifts. He would give the thousands and thousands of families he had captured away as gifts to his own family. He also raised the military positions of his loyal soldiers. However, those who were disloyal to him got punished significantly. This included Jamukha, who was killed by Genghis.
In the first decade of 1200 when China was broken up into several kingdoms, Genghis’ army marched 650 miles (much of which was desert) to the Hsi Hsia kingdom. Genghis had plans of conquering this kingdom to prepare for other, more powerful kingdoms. The first battle was easily won by Genghis. The second battle was harder, and Genghis won by outsmarting the Hsi Hsians. After the second battle, Genghis built a dike that would flood the city with water from the Yellow River. The dike worked, and the city was flooded and suffered much damage. The Hsi Hsia empire surrendered, and Genghis had conquered them in 1210.
In February of 1211, Genghis Khan attacked the Chin Empire at two different locations. Genghis won the battles, and then marched north to rest his warriors. In autumn of 1212, they returned to the Chin Empire. During a battle, Genghis was hit in the neck with an arrow and wounded badly, so he marched his army back north. In July 1213, they invaded the Chin Empire again.
During this invasion, Genghis planned to capture the largest city in the Chin Empire, Chung Tu. During the first attack, Genghis Khan’s army retreated back north. The second attack was also unsuccessful, but it caused much damage to the city. Rather than attack a third time, Genghis made a peace offering. Hsüng Tsung, the Chin ruler, agreed to the Khan’s peace offering.
When Genghis’s army went back to Mongolia, Hsüng Tsung decided to move the capital so that it would be further away from Genghis’s home in Mongolia. Genghis interpreted this act as breaking the peace treaty and was very angry with it. Genghis marched south and attacked Chung Tu, this time with success. Then he attacked various parts of the Chin, and soon he had conquered the Chin Empire. In 1220, Genghis also conquered Manchuria and Korea. Shortly after, Genghis also conquered Persia, southeast Russia, the Caucasus, and Bulgaria with little effort.
In 1226, Genghis Khan marched to the Hsi Hsia kingdom and planned an attack on them because of their refusal to send him troops. While riding over there horseback, he came in contact with a wild boar. His horse was very frightened, and threw Genghis to the ground. The injuries he received from this fall were worse than his injuries from battle. Genghis, who had conquered half the world, died from those injuries on August 19th, 1277.