Genghis Khan is a "Mongol" with a Slavic appearance. Falsification of history

In the middle of the XII century. after the death of several Mongol khans, the defense of the Mongols from the Jurchens and their allies, the Tatars, was led by the descendant of Khabul Khan, Yesugei Bagatur (“bagatur” means “bogatyr”). A brave and determined man, Yesugei Bagatur was not a khan, but the head of the Borzhigin family, who lived in the area north of the modern Russian-Mongolian border, where the city of Nerchinsk is now located.

Once Yesugei, while still a very young man, was hunting in the steppe with a falcon and suddenly saw how some sort of dimmer was carrying a girl of exceptional beauty in a cart pulled by a very good horse. Yesugei called his brothers, and the Mongols rushed in pursuit of the prey. Seeing the pursuers, the girl wept bitterly and said to the merkit, her fiancé: "You see these people - they will kill you, leave me, leave, I will remember you forever." Then she took off her shirt and gave it to him as a keepsake. The Mongols were already approaching - Merkit quickly unharnessed the horse, burned it with a whip and left the pursuit. And the brothers harnessed their horses to the cart and, bringing the crying girl home, said; “Forget about your fiancé, our Yesugei lives without a woman” - and they gave her off to Yesugei. Yesugei's wife, whose name remained in history, was called Hoelun.

The marriage was happy. In 1162 Hoelun gave birth to her first child - Temujina, and later three more sons: Hasara, Hachiun beki, Temuge - and daughter Temulun. From his second wife (the Mongols allowed and encouraged polygamy) - Sochikhel - Yesugei had two more sons: Bekter and Belgutei.

When Temujin grew up and he was 9 years old, then according to the Mongolian custom he had to be engaged. The father agreed on the engagement of Temujin with the parents of a beautiful ten-year-old girl named Borte from the neighboring tribe Honkyrat and took his son to the camp of his future father-in-law. Leaving Temujina from the honkyrats, so that he got used to his bride and future relatives, Yesugei set off on the return journey. On the way, he saw several people sitting by the fire, who, as befits in the steppe, invited him to share a meal. Yesugei rode closer and only then realized that they were Tatars. It was useless to run, because the Tatars would have chased after him, and Yesugei's horse was tired. According to the steppe tradition, no one could touch the guest by the campfire.

Yesugei had no choice - he accepted the invitation and, having eaten, left safely. But on the way, Yesugei felt bad and decided that he had been poisoned. On the fourth day, having reached home, he died, bequeathed to his relatives to take revenge on the Tatars. It is difficult to say how right Yesugei was in his suspicions, but something else is important: he admitted that the Tatars could poison him, that is, commit an unheard-of violation of the customs of the steppe inhabitants.

Father's associates went for Temujin and brought the boy home. As the eldest son, he became the head of the clan, and then it turned out that all the strength of the tribe lay in the will and energy of Yesugei. With his authority, he forced people to go on campaigns, to defend themselves from the enemy, to forget parochial scores for the sake of a common cause. But since Yesugei was not a khan, his influence ended with his death. The tribesmen did not have any obligations to the family of Yesugei and left the Borjigins, driving away all their cattle, essentially dooming the family of Yesugei to death by starvation: after all, the eldest, Temujin, was only 9 years old, and the rest were even less.

The initiators of such cruelty were the Taijiuts, a tribe that was hostile towards Yesugei. Then Hoelun grabbed Yesugei's banner, galloped after those who were driving away and shamed them: "How are you not ashamed to leave the family of your leader!" Some returned, but then left again, and all the difficulties of raising children and obtaining food for the family fell on the shoulders of two women: Hoelun and Sochihel - the elder and younger wives of Yesugei. They caught marmots in order to get at least some kind of meat, and collected wild garlic - wild garlic. Temujin went to the river and tried to shoot taimen. Like all Mongols, he knew how to shoot through the water, despite the fact that the water refracts light, distorting the image, and it is very difficult to hit the target. Even in the summer, the family lived from hand to mouth, making provisions for the winter.

Meanwhile, the tribesmen, who insulted and abandoned Yesugei's family, continued to follow her, as they feared deserved revenge. Apparently, they managed to make Sochihel's eldest son, Bekter, a spy. Bekter, feeling empowered, began to disdain the Hoelun children. Temujin and Khasar could not stand the bullying of his stepbrother and shot him with a bow.

By this time, the characters were already fully formed and the inclinations of Yesugei's children were determined. Hasar was a brave and strong guy, an excellent marksman. Temuge became a gentle and obedient son, he took care of his mother and stepmother. Hachiun Beki had no merit. In Temujin, both friends and enemies noted endurance, will, stubborn striving for the goal. Of course, all these qualities frightened the enemies of the Borjigins, and therefore the Taijuits attacked the yurt of Yesugei's family. Temujin managed to escape into the taiga thicket, where, as the Mongolian source says, there were not even paths along which "a well-fed snake could crawl."
Nine days later, tormented by hunger, Temujin was forced to surrender. He went out into the steppe, where they seized him and brought him to his camp. What was he hunted for? Yes, obviously for the murder of Becker, the Taijiut spy. The Taijiuts did not kill Temujin. Targutai Kiriltukh - Yesugei's friend - was able to save the young man from death, but not from punishment. They put a block on Temujin - two wooden planks with a hole for the neck, which were pulled together. The block was a painful punishment: a person himself did not have the opportunity to either eat or drink, or even drive away a fly that had landed on his face. In addition, the boards had to be held all the time with your hands so that they did not squeeze your neck.

Temujin outwardly endured everything completely resignedly. But one day, during the full moon holiday, the Taijiuts made a big drink and got drunk, leaving the prisoner under the protection of some weak guy who was not given archi (milk vodka). Temujin seized the moment, hit the guy on the head with a shoe and ran away, holding the boards with his hands. But you can't run that far - Temujin reached the coast of Onon and lay down in the water. The watchman, having come to his senses, shouted: "I missed the convict!" - and the whole drunken crowd of Taijiuts rushed to look for the fugitive. The moon was shining brightly, everything was visible as during the day. All of a sudden Temujin realized that a man was standing over him and looking into his eyes. It was Sorgan Shira from the Suldus tribe, who lived in the Taijiut camp and was engaged in his craft - making kumis. He told Temujin: “That's why they don't like you, that you are so sharp-witted. Lie down, do not be afraid, I will not betray you. "

Sorgan Shira returned to his pursuers and suggested that they search everything again. It is easy to understand that the prisoner was not found. The drunken Taijiuts wanted to sleep and, deciding that the man in the stock would not go far, they stopped searching. Then Temujin got out of the water and went to his savior. Sorgan Shira, seeing that a convict was crawling into his yurt, got scared and was about to drive Temujin away, but then the children of Sorgan Shira protested: “No, what are you, father. When the predator drives the birdie into the thicket, then the thicket also saves it. We cannot kick him out, since he is a guest. " They removed the block from Temujin, chopped it open and threw it into the fire. Sorgan Shira had only one way out - to save Temujin, and therefore he gave him a horse, a bow, two arrows, but did not give flint and flint. After all, horses grazed in the steppe, the bow was kept on the upper cornice of the yurt door, and it was easy to steal them, and every steppe dweller carried flint and flint with him. If Temujin had been seized and found with him the flint or flint of Sorgan Shira, the family of the savior and he himself would have had a bad time.

Temujin rode away and after a while found his family. The Borjigins immediately migrated to another place, and the Taijiuts could no longer find them. It is this circumstance that shows that Bekter really was an informer: after his death, there was no one to inform the enemies about the places of the Borjigins' nomadic camps. Then Temujin married his betrothed Borte. Her father kept his word - the wedding took place. Borte's dowry was a luxurious sable fur coat. Temujin brought Borte home ... and immediately "confiscated" her precious fur coat. He understood that without support he could not resist numerous enemies, and therefore he soon went to the most powerful of the then steppe leaders - Wang Khan from the Kerait tribe. Wang Khan was once a friend of Temujin's father, and he managed to enlist Wang Khan's support, recalling this friendship and presenting a luxurious gift - Borte's sable fur coat.

But no sooner had Temujin returned home, happy from the achieved success, when the Borjigin camp was attacked again. This time, the Merkits attacked, forcing the family to hide on Mount Burkhan Haldun. At the same time, there were some losses: Borte and Yesugei's second wife, Sochihel, were captured. Temujin, having lost his beloved wife, was in despair, but not at a loss. The Borjigins' messengers galloped to his twin brother Jamukha Sachen from the Jajirat tribe and the Kerait Wan Khan. The united army was led by Jamukha, a former talented commander.

In the late autumn of 1180, when the first snow had already fallen, the warriors of Jamukha and Temujin suddenly fell upon the Merkit nomad that was located to the east of Lake Baikal. The enemies, taken by surprise, fled. Temujin wanted to find his Borte and called her by name. Borte heard and, running out of the crowd of women, grabbed the stirrup of her husband's horse. And Sochihel left with the kidnappers. It seems that she began to perform the same espionage duty as her son Bekter: after all, there was no one besides her to tell the Merkits where the Borjigins' nomad was located and how an attack could be organized. Sochihel did not return, and her son, the good-natured Belgutei, who loved his mother very much, demanded that the Merkits be returned to him in vain.

It must be said that although Belgutei was the son of a traitor and the brother of a traitor, Temujin, knowing that Belgutei himself is a frank person, appreciated him, loved and always saw in him his closest relative. This, of course, is not at all a bad characterization of the person from whom historians tried to make a monster! When reading what was written by contemporaries about Temujin, it is necessary to remember that people who wrote about him were extremely ill-disposed towards him. But even the Devil (Iblis) in Muslim poetry says: "They paint me in the baths so ugly, because the brush is in the palm of my enemy."

The campaign against the Merkits greatly increased the authority and fame of Temujin, but not among all the inhabitants of the steppe, but among their passionate part - "people of long will." The lonely heroes saw that it makes sense to support the initiative son of Yesugei, even risking their lives. And a process began, which, without knowing it, was provoked by the Kerait khan and the Jajirat leader: steppe daredevils began to gather around Temujin. They then in 1182 and elected him khan with the title "Chinggis".

The very word "Chinggis" is incomprehensible. D. Banzarov, a Buryat researcher, believes that this is the name of one of the shamanic spirits. Others believe that the title originated from the word "chingikhu" - "to embrace", therefore, "Chinggis" is the title of a person who had all the power. Be that as it may, the Mongols established a new system of government. It is rather difficult to call its principle monarchical, because the khan was by no means autocratic, but, on the contrary, could not but reckon with the noyons - the heads of the tribes that joined him - and with his heroes. Thus, the army reliably limited the will of the khan.

The state system did not provide for the right of inheritance, although subsequently each new khan was elected only from the descendants of Genghis. But this was not a law, but an expression of the will of the Mongols themselves. Respecting Genghis Khan, his services to the people, they saw no reason to deny the succession of the throne to his descendants. In addition, the Mongols believed in the innate nature of human strengths and weaknesses. Thus, the tendency to betrayal was considered as an inalienable attribute of heredity as the color of the eyes or hair, and therefore the traitors were exterminated mercilessly along with their relatives.

The election of Khan came as a surprise to Temujin: all other claimants to the throne from among the descendants of Khabul Khan simply refused this burdensome position. The news of the election of Temujin as khan was met in different ways in the steppe. Wang Khan was very pleased with this turn of the matter, and the leader of the Jajirat Jamukha received the news of the rise of his brother with irritation. As a sin, when trying to drive away the herd from the possessions of Chinggis, Jamukha's brother, Taichar, was killed. Under the pretext of revenge, Jamukha marched against Chinggis with an army of thirty thousand. Failing to achieve decisive success in defeating the enemy, the leader of the Jajirat limited himself to brutal reprisals against the prisoners and retreated.

The manifestation of cruelty, unusual for the steppe people, deprived Jamukha of popularity. The two largest and most efficient tribes - the Uruts and Manguts - migrated to Chinggis. At a feast in honor of deliverance from Jamukha, Genghis Khan's brother Belgutei caught a thief who stole the bridle and leash from the hitching post. Bogatyr Buri Boko from the Chzhurki (Yurki) tribe stood up for the thief. A fight ensued, which ended in failure for the chzhurki. When Genghis set out on another campaign against the Tatars, the Chzhurks, mindful of the quarrel, did not come to their aid, but moved to the defenseless Mongol yurts, robbed and killed a dozen feeble old people. Returning from the campaign, Genghis decided to punish the Chzhurki tribe and defeated their nomadic camps. The leaders of the tribe were executed, and the surviving soldiers were included in the army of the Mongol Khan.

The details of what happened later (1185 1197) are not exactly known, but the gap in historical knowledge may well be filled with information from the informative book "Meng da Bei Lu" ("The Secret History of the Mongols"). Meng Da Bei Lu reports that Temujin was captured by the Manchus and spent 11 years in prison. Then he somehow escaped and returned to the steppe.

Now Chinggis had to start all over again. Of the 13 thousand horsemen, less than 3 thousand remained, the Mongols not only lost all the advantages that they acquired during their reign Genghis Khan, but also quarreled with each other. Even Hasar abandoned his brother and went to serve the Khan of the Kerait.

But already in 1198 Temujin again stood at the head of a powerful horde. What allowed him to recover what he had lost so quickly? Probably, the increase in the passionarity of the Mongols again affected. The number of "people of long will" grew; their desire to arrange life in their own way grew as well. Therefore, they still needed a leader who would command them to do what they wanted to do. After all, Chinggis's rivals - the well-born noyons Altai, Khuchar, Seche biki - dreamed of the old order based on arbitrariness, the right to disgrace, lack of fidelity to obligations; Chinggis' supporters wanted firm order, guarantees of mutual assistance and respect for their rights. Perfectly understanding the aspirations of his followers, Genghis Khan formulated a new set of laws - the Great Yasa. Yasa was by no means a modification of customary law, but was based on the obligation of mutual assistance, a uniform discipline for all, and condemnation of betrayal without any compromise.

Thus, Yasa Genghis Khan, in fact, was the regulation of those new stereotypes of behavior that were defended by "people of long will." The Mongolian practice knew nothing of the kind. So, according to the Great Yasa, every traitor, that is, a person who deceived who trusted him, was put to death. Ordinary people were cut off their heads, and people of high origin broke their spines so that the blood remained in the body of the murdered. In this case, according to Mongolian belief, the killed person could be reborn to a new life. If the blood flowed to the ground, the person lost not only life, but also his soul.

In the same way, the death penalty was also imposed for failure to provide assistance to a comrade in arms. For example, having met any tribesman in the desert, each Mongol was obliged (!) To offer him something to drink and eat. After all, a traveler who did not have the opportunity to reinforce his strength could die, and then the charge of murder fell on the one who broke the law. If one of the soldiers lost a bow or a quiver with arrows, then the one riding behind had to pick up and return the weapon to him. Violation of this rule was also tantamount to failure to provide assistance and resulted in the death penalty.

Punishment by death was also a retribution for murder, fornication of a man, unfaithfulness of a wife, theft, robbery, buying up stolen goods, hiding an escaped slave, sorcery aimed at the harm of a neighbor, threefold failure to repay a debt. For less serious crimes, exile to Siberia or punishment with a fine was relied on.

Yasa - an unheard-of violation of tribal customs - marked the end of the latent ("incubation") period of Mongolian ethnogenesis and the transition to the explicit period of the ascent phase with a new imperative: "Be who you should be!" The legislatively enshrined principle of mutual assistance gave the passionary subethnos of Chingas supporters the opportunity to coordinate their efforts. However, most of the Mongols stubbornly preferred the usual forms of family life, rather than the life of a military horde.

The enemies of the Mongols of Chinggis were, as before, the Merkits, the Naimans, the Tatars, the Jurchens, and the Oirats, and the only ally, the Kerait, led by Wang Khan, did not differ in reliability. "People of long will," as before, had to defend themselves in order to live. But now the increased passionarity dictated to them the desire for victories, for in those days only victory over the enemies was able to save the people from the constant threat. And the wars for victory began. The entry of the Mongols into the arena of world military-political history was a turning point in the existence of the entire Eurasian continent.

At the very beginning of the XIII century, in 1202 1203, which were critical for the whole situation in the steppe, the Mongols first defeated the Merkits, and then the Kerait. The fact is that the Kerait were divided into supporters of Genghis Khan and his opponents. The opponents of Genghis Khan were headed by the son of Wang Khan, the legitimate heir to the throne - Nilha (among the Kerait, Nestorian Christians, this name corresponded to the name Ilya). Nilha had reason to hate Genghis Khan: even at a time when Wang Khan was an ally of Chinggis, the leader of the Kerait, seeing the indisputable talents of the latter, wanted to transfer the Kerait throne to him, bypassing his own son. The collision of this part of the Kerait with the Mongols happened during the life of Wang Khan. And although the Kerait were outnumbered, the Mongols defeated them, thanks to the fact that they showed exceptional mobility and took the enemy by surprise.

In the collision with the Kerait, the character of Genghis Khan was fully manifested. When Wang Khan and his son Nilha fled from the battlefield, one of their noyons with a small detachment detained the Mongols, saving their leaders from captivity. This noyon was seized, brought before the eyes of Chinggis, and he asked: “Why, noyon, seeing the position of your troops, didn’t leave yourself? You had both the time and the opportunity. " He replied: "I served my khan and gave him the opportunity to escape, and my head is for you, about the victor." Genghis Khan said: “Everyone should imitate this man. See how he is brave, faithful, valiant. I cannot kill you, noyon, I offer you a place in my army. " Noyon became a thousand-man and, of course, served faithfully Genghis Khan because the Kerait horde disintegrated. Wang Khan himself absurdly died while trying to escape to the Naimans. Their guards at the border, seeing the Kerait, without thinking twice, killed him, and brought the severed head of the old man to their khan.

In 1204, an inevitable clash occurred between the Mongols of Genghis Khan and the powerful Naiman Khanate - a horde with a mixed population consisting of the Naiman Mongols and the Turks who joined them. And again the Mongols of Chinggis won the victory. The Naiman Khan died, and his son Kuchluk (Gush Luk) fled to his fellow tribesmen - the Kara Chinese. The defeated, as usual, were included in the Chinggis horde.

In the eastern steppe, there were no more tribes capable of actively resisting the new order, and in 1206, at the great kurultai, Chinggis was re-elected khan, but this time throughout Mongolia. This is how the all-Mongolian state was born. The only hostile tribe to him remained the old enemies of the Borjigins - the Merkits, but even those by 1208 were forced out into the valley of the Irgiz River.

The growing passionarity of the horde of Genghis Khan allowed it to quite easily and fruitfully assimilate different tribes and peoples. For, in accordance with Mongolian stereotypes of behavior, the khan could and should have required obedience, obedience to orders, performance of duties, but demanding that a person renounce his faith or customs was considered not only stupid, but also immoral - the individual had the right to his own choice. ... This arrangement attracted many. In 1209, the independent state of the Uighurs sent ambassadors to Genghis Khan with a request to accept them into his ulus. The request, of course, was granted, and Genghis Khan gave the Uighurs huge trade privileges. Through the Uyguria, they ate a caravan route, and the Uyghurs, being part of the Mongol state, became rich due to the fact that they sold water, fruit, meat and "pleasure" to starving caravan men at high prices.

The voluntary union of the Uyguria with Mongolia turned out to be useful for the Mongols as well. Firstly, the steppe people, not having their own writing, borrowed the Uyghur. (It is interesting that the first literate in the ulus was a Tatar by birth, an orphan boy Shikhi Khutukhu, raised by the khan's mother - Hoelun.) Secondly, with the annexation of the Uyguria, the Mongols went beyond the borders of their ethnic area and came into contact with other peoples of the Oykumen.

In 1210 a heavy war broke out with the Jurchens. Mongolian army led Genghis Khan, his sons Jochi, Chagatai, Ogedei and the commander Jebe. The Chzhurchen commanders were not inferior in talents to the Mongol ones, but they did not have troops similar to those of Genghis Khan. The Jurchens suffered defeats, but fought stubbornly - the war lasted a very long time and ended only in 1234, after the death of Genghis Khan, with the capture of the last strongholds of the Qin empire - Kaifeng and Caizhou,

In Kaifeng, the Jurchens, who desperately resisted, simply starved to death. They were so weak that they could not hold weapons in their hands. When they were offered to surrender, the soldiers said: "As long as there are mice in the fortress, we catch and eat them, and if they are not there, then we have wives and children, we will eat them, but we will not surrender." Such was the Jurchen passionarity, which was in no way inferior to the Mongolian.

In 1216, on the Irgiz River, the Mongols utterly defeated the remnants of the Merkits, but they themselves were attacked by the Khorezmians.

It is necessary to say more about Khorezm. Khorezm turned out to be the most powerful of the states that arose in the XII century, with the weakening of the Seljuk state. The rulers of Khorezm from the governors of the ruler of Urgench turned into independent sovereigns and took the title of “Khorezmshahs”. They proved to be energetic, adventurous, and warlike rulers. This allowed the Khorezmshahs to conquer most of Central Asia. They even conquered southern Afghanistan, thereby uniting Iran and Maverannahr under their rule. The Khorezmshahs created a huge state in which the main military force was made up of the Turks from the adjacent steppes: Kangly (Pechenegs) and Karluks.

But this state turned out to be fragile, despite the abundance of material wealth, brave warriors and experienced ulema who served as diplomats. The regime of the military dictatorship relied on tribes that were alien to the local population and had a different language, different manners and customs. It cannot be said that religions were also different, since the idea of ​​religion among the soldiers of the Turks was extremely amorphous. But the mercenaries knew how to misbehave! They displeased the inhabitants of Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv - in a word, a number of Central Asian cities where the population could not bear the arbitrariness of the gulyams. The uprising in Samarkand, for example, led to the fact that the Turkic garrison was destroyed, and the local residents tore the Turks apart. Naturally, this was followed by a punitive operation by the Khorezmians, who suppressed the uprising and cruelly dealt with the population of Samarkand. Other large and wealthy cities of Central Asia suffered in the same way.

In this situation, Khorezmshah Muhammad decided to confirm his title “ghazi” - “conqueror of the infidels” - and become famous for another victory over them. The opportunity presented itself to him in the same year 1216, when the Mongols, fighting with the Merkits, reached Irgiz. Upon learning of the arrival of the Mongols, Muhammad sent an army against them only because the steppe inhabitants did not believe in Allah.

The Khorezm army attacked the Mongols, but in the rearguard battle they themselves went on the offensive and badly wounded the Khorezmians. Only the attack of the left wing, commanded by the talented commander Dzhelal ad Din, the son of the Khorezmshah, straightened the situation. After that, the Khorezmians withdrew, and the Mongols returned home: they were not going to fight with Khorezm, on the contrary, Genghis Khan with all his might wanted to establish relations with the Khorezmshah. After all, the Great Caravan Route went through Central Asia, and all the owners of the lands along which it ran grew rich at the expense of the duties paid by merchants. The merchants willingly paid any duties, because they invariably passed the costs onto the consumers, while they themselves did not lose anything. Wishing to preserve all the advantages associated with the caravan route, the Mongols strove for peace and tranquility on their borders. The difference of faith, in their opinion, did not give a pretext for war and could not justify the bloodshed. Probably, the Khorezmshah himself understood the episodic nature of the clash on the Irgiz. In 1218 Muhammad sent a trade caravan to Mongolia. Peace was restored, especially since the Mongols had no time for Khorezm.

A little earlier, the Naiman prince Kuchluk began a new war with the Mongols, relying on the strength of their fellow tribesmen - the Kara Kitays. Kuchluk was defeated, but it was not military weakness that killed the prince. His strength was enough to fight against the small corps sent by Genghis Khan, but Kuchluk accepted new faith, the details of which are not in the sources. In any case, this belief did not belong either to Islam, or to Christianity, or to Buddhism, but was a kind of unknown cult. Another thing is precisely known: the entire population refused to obey Kuchluk. He fled, heroically defending himself, retreated to the very Pamirs, where he was overtaken by the Mongols and killed. And the population of the Karakitai Khanate completely and eagerly submitted to Genghis Khan.

For the second time, the Mongol-Khorezm relations were violated by the Turkic sardars (officers) and the Khorezmshah himself, who approved their arbitrariness. In 1219, a rich caravan from the lands of Genghis Khan approached the city of Otrar, the possession of the Khorezmshah. The caravan stopped on the banks of the Syr Darya, and the merchants went to the city to buy supplies at the bazaar and wash themselves in the bathhouse. The merchants met two acquaintances, and one of those met reported to the ruler of the city that these merchants were spies. He immediately realized that there was a great reason to rob the travelers. The merchants were killed, their property was confiscated. The ruler of Otrar sent half of the loot to Khorezm, and Muhammad took the spoil, which means he shared responsibility for what he had done.

Genghis Khan sent ambassadors to find out what caused such a strange incident. Muhammad was angry when he saw the infidels, and ordered some of the ambassadors to kill, and some, stripping naked, drive them out to certain death in the steppe. Two or three Mongols still got home and talked about what had happened. Genghis Khan's anger had no limits. From the Mongol's point of view, the most terrible crimes have occurred: deceiving those who confide in and killing guests. According to the Great Yasa, Genghis Khan could not leave unavenged neither those merchants who were killed in Otrar, nor those ambassadors whom the Khorezmshah insulted and killed. The khan had to fight, otherwise his fellow tribesmen would simply refuse to trust him.

In Central Asia, the Khorezmshah had at their disposal a regular army of four hundred thousand. And the Mongols, as our famous orientalist V.V. Bartold established, had only 200 thousand militias. Genghis Khan demanded military assistance from all allies. Warriors came from the Turks and Kara Kitays, the Uighurs sent a detachment of 5 thousand people, only the Tangut ambassador boldly replied: "If you do not have enough troops, do not fight." Genghis Khan considered the answer an insult and said: "Only dead could I bear such an insult."

So, Genghis Khan threw the assembled Mongol, Uyghur, Turkic and Kara Chinese troops to Khorezm. Khorezm Shah, having quarreled with his mother Turkan Khatun, did not trust the military leaders who were related to her. He was afraid to gather them into a fist in order to repel the onslaught of the Mongols, and scattered the army across the garrisons. The best commanders of the shah were his own unloved son Dzhelal ad Din and the commandant of the Khujand fortress - Timur Melik. The Mongols took fortresses one after another, and in Khojent, even taking a fortress, they could not capture the garrison. Timur Melik put his soldiers on rafts and escaped pursuit along the wide Syrdarya. Scattered garrisons could not hold back the advance of Genghis Khan's troops. Soon all the major cities of the Sultanate: Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv, Herat - were captured by the Mongols.

Regarding the capture of Central Asian cities by the Mongols, there is a well-established version: "Wild nomads destroyed the cultural oases of agricultural peoples." This version is based on the legends created by the court Muslim historiographers. For example, the fall of Herat was reported by Islamic historians as a disaster in which the entire population was exterminated in the city, except for a few men who managed to escape in the mosque. They hid there, afraid to take to the streets littered with corpses. Only wild beasts roamed the city and tormented the dead. After sitting out for some time and coming to their senses, these "heroes" went to distant lands to rob caravans in order to regain their lost wealth.

This is a typical example of myth-making. After all, if the entire population of a large city were exterminated and lay corpses on the streets, then inside the city, in particular in the mosque, the air would be contaminated with cadaveric poison, and those hiding there would simply die. No predators, except jackals, live near the city, and they very rarely enter the city. It was simply impossible for exhausted people to move to rob caravans several hundred kilometers from Herat, because they would have to walk, carrying heavy loads - water and provisions. Such a "robber", having met a caravan, would not have been able to rob it, since he would have had enough strength only to ask for water.

Even more amusing is the information reported by historians about Merv. The Mongols took it in 1219 and also allegedly exterminated all the inhabitants there, down to the last person. But already in 1229 Merv revolted, and the Mongols had to take the city again. And, finally, two years later, Merv sent a detachment of 10 thousand people to fight the Mongols.

The fruits of fervent imagination, taken literally, gave rise to an evil, "black" legend of Mongol atrocities. If we take into account the degree of reliability of the sources and ask simple but necessary questions, it is easy to separate historical truth from literary fiction.

The Mongols occupied Persia almost without a fight, driving out the son of the Khorezmshah Dzhelal ad Din to northern India. Muhammad II Gazi himself, broken by struggle and constant defeats, died in a leper colony on an island in the Caspian Sea (1221). The Mongols made peace with the Shiite population of Iran, which was constantly offended by the Sunnis in power, in particular the Baghdad Caliph and Jalal ad Din himself. As a result, the Shiite population of Persia suffered significantly less than the Sunnis of Central Asia. Be that as it may, in 1221 the chimeric education - the state of the Khorezmshahs - was done away with. Under one ruler - Muhammad II Gazi - this state reached its highest power and perished. As a result, Khorezm, Northern Iran, and Khorasan were annexed to the Mongol empire.

In 1226 the hour of the Tangut state struck, which at the decisive moment of the war with Khorezm refused Chinggis in help. The Mongols rightly viewed this move as a betrayal, which, according to Yasa, required revenge. Now the territory of the Tangut state, and these are the steppes and plateaus adjacent to the bend of the Yellow River and the Nanshan ridge, is a real desert. But in the XIII century. on this land there was a rich country with big cities, gold mines, a regular army and an original culture. The capital of Tangut was the city of Zhongxing. He was besieged in 1227 by Genghis Khan, defeating the Tangut troops in the previous battles.

During the siege of Zhongsin, Genghis Khan died, but the Mongol noyons, on the orders of their leader, concealed his death. The fortress was taken, and the population of the "evil" city, on which the collective guilt for betrayal fell, was subjected to execution. The Tangut state disappeared, leaving behind only written evidence of the former high culture, but the city survived and lived until 1405, when it was destroyed by the Chinese of the Ming dynasty.

From the capital of the Tanguts, the Mongols took the body of their great khan to their native steppes. The funeral ceremony was as follows: the remains were lowered into the dug grave Genghis Khan along with many valuable things and killed all the slaves who performed the funeral work. According to custom, exactly one year later, it was required to celebrate the commemoration. In order to accurately find the burial place, the Mongols did the following. At the grave, they sacrificed a little camel just taken from the mother. And a year later, the camel herself found in the boundless steppe a place where her cub was killed. Having killed this she-camel, the Mongols performed the prescribed ceremony of commemoration and then left the grave forever. And to this day no one knows where Genghis Khan is buried.

In the last years of his life Genghis Khan was extremely concerned about the fate of his state. The khan had four sons from his beloved wife Borte and many children from other wives, who, although they were considered legitimate children, had no right to take the father's place. Sons from Borte were very different among themselves in inclinations and in character. The eldest son, Jochi, was born shortly after the Merkit captivity of Borte, and therefore not only "evil tongues", but also the younger brother Chagatai called him a "Merkit geek". Although Borte invariably defended Jochi, and Genghis Khan himself always recognized his son as his own, the shadow of his mother's merkit captivity fell on Jochi with the burden of suspicion of illegitimacy. Once, in the presence of his father, Chagatai openly called Jochi, and the case almost ended in a fight between the brothers.

There were some persistent stereotypes in Jochi's behavior that strongly distinguished him from Chinggis. If for Genghis Khan the very concept of mercy to enemies did not exist (he left life only to young children, who were adopted by his mother Hoelun, and to the valiant Bagatur who accepted the Mongol service), then Jochi was distinguished by his humanity and kindness. So, during the siege of Gurganj, the Khorezmians, completely exhausted by the war, asked to accept the surrender, that is, in other words, to spare them. Jochi spoke in favor of showing mercy, but Genghis Khan categorically rejected the request for mercy, and as a result, the garrison of Gurganj was partially cut, and the city itself was flooded by the waters of the Amu Darya. Unfortunately, the misunderstanding between the father and the eldest son, constantly fueled by the intrigues and slander of relatives, deepened over time and turned into the sovereign's distrust of his heir.

Genghis Khan suspected that Jochi wanted to gain popularity among the conquered peoples and secede from Mongolia. It is unlikely that this was so, but the fact remains: at the beginning of 1227, Jochi, hunting in the steppe, was found dead, with a broken spine. The terrible details of what happened are unknown, but, without a doubt, the father was the only person interested in the death of Jochi and capable of ending the life of the khan's son.

In contrast to Jochi, the second son of Genghis Khan, Chagatai, was a strict, executive and even cruel man. Therefore, he received the post of "custodian of Yasa" (something like the attorney general or the supreme judge). Chagatai observed the law absolutely rigorously and treated the violators without any mercy.

The third son of the great khan. Ogedei, like Jochi, was distinguished by kindness and tolerance towards people. But most characteristic feature Ogedei had a passion for steppe hunting and drinking with friends. The difference in Ogedei's behavior is best illustrated by the following case: once, on a joint trip, the brothers saw a Muslim washing himself by the water. According to Muslim custom, every believer was obliged to perform namaz and ritual ablution several times a day. Mongolian tradition, on the other hand, forbade a person to wash anywhere during the whole summer. The Mongols believed that washing in a river or lake caused a thunderstorm, and a thunderstorm in the steppe was very dangerous for travelers, and therefore the "call" of a thunderstorm was viewed as an attempt on the lives of other people. The Nukhurs (warriors) of the ruthless lawyer Chagatai seized a Muslim. Foreseeing a bloody denouement - the unfortunate man was threatened with cutting off his head - Ogedei sent his man to tell the Muslim to answer that he had dropped the gold one into the water and was just looking for it there. The Muslim said so to Chagatay. He ordered to look for a coin, and during this time Ogedei's vigilante threw a gold coin into the water. The found coin was returned to its “rightful” owner. At parting, Ogedei, taking out a handful of coins from his pocket, handed them to the person he had saved and said: "The next time you drop a gold coin into the water, don't go after it, don't break the law."

Most younger son Genghis Khan, Tului, was born, as the Chinese chronicle indicates, in 1193. As we know from Meng da Bei Lu, Genghis Khan was in Jurchen captivity until 1197. This time Borte's infidelity was quite obvious, but Genghis Khan and Tuluya admitted legitimate son, although outwardly Tului did not resemble Borjigin. All Borjigins were distinguished by green or bluish eyes, Chinese historians called them "glass", and blond with red hair, and Tului had a completely ordinary Mongolian appearance - black hair and dark eyes.

Of the four sons of Genghis Khan, the youngest had the greatest talents and showed the greatest moral dignity. A good commander and an outstanding administrator, Tului remained a loving husband and distinguished himself by nobility. He married the daughter of the deceased head of the Kerait, Wang Khan, who was a devout Christian. Tului himself had no right to accept the Christian faith: like Chinggisid, he had to profess the religion of his ancestors - Bon. But the son of the khan allowed his wife not only to perform all Christian rituals in a luxurious "church" yurt, but also to have priests with them and receive monks. The death of Tului can be called heroic without any exaggeration. When Ogedei fell ill, Tului voluntarily took a strong shamanic potion, trying to "attract" the disease to himself, and died saving his brother.

All four sons were eligible to inherit Genghis Khan... After the elimination of Jochi, three heirs remained, and when Chinggis was gone, and the new khan had not yet been elected, Tului ruled the ulus. At the kurultai of 1229, in accordance with the will of Chinggis, the gentle and tolerant Ogedei was chosen as the great khan. Ogedei, as we have already mentioned, had a kind soul, but the kindness of the sovereign is often not good for the state and subjects. Management of the ulus under him was very weakened and was carried out mainly due to the strictness of Chagatai and the diplomatic and administrative skills of Tului. The great khan himself preferred to the state concerns of nomads with hunts and feasts in Western Mongolia.

Genghis Khan's grandchildren were allocated various areas of the ulus or high positions. The eldest son of Jochi, Horde Icheng, received the White Horde, located between the Irtysh and the Tarbagatai ridge (the area of ​​present-day Semipalatinsk). The second son, Batu, began to own the Golden (big) Horde on the Volga. The third son, Sheibani, went to the Blue Horde, roaming from Tyumen to the Aral Sea. At the same time, the three brothers - the rulers of the uluses - were allocated only one two thousand Mongolian soldiers each, while the total number of the Mongol army reached 130 thousand people.

The children of Chagatai also received a thousand warriors, and the descendants of Tului, being at the court, owned all of their grandfather's and paternal ulus. So the Mongols established a system of inheritance, called a minorat, in which the youngest son inherited all the rights of his father, and the older brothers - only a share in the common inheritance.

The great khan Ogedei also had a son - Guyuk, who claimed the inheritance.
The increase in the clan during the lifetime of Chinggis's children caused the division of the inheritance and enormous difficulties in managing the ulus, stretching from the Black to the Yellow Sea. These difficulties and family accounts concealed the seeds of future strife, which destroyed the great state created by Genghis Khan and his associates.

• Genghis Khan (real name Temuchin or Temujin) was born on May 3, 1162 (according to other sources - about 1155) in the Delyun-Boldok tract on the banks of the Onon River (near Lake Baikal).
• Temuchin's father, Yesugei-Bagatur, was a leader, he was considered a hero in his tribe. He named his son in honor of the Tatar leader, defeated by him on the eve of his birth.
• Temuchin's mother's name was Hoelun, she was one of the two wives of Yesugei-bagatur.
• The future Chinggis Khan did not receive any education. His people were extremely undeveloped. Throughout his life, the conqueror of vast territories did not know a single language except Mongolian. In the future, he forced his numerous descendants to study many sciences.
• 1171 - the father marries nine-year-old Temuchin to a girl from a neighboring clan and, according to custom, leaves him in the bride's family until he comes of age. On the way home, Yesugei was poisoned.
• After the death of his father, Temuchin returns to the family. After a short time, Yesugei's wives and children were expelled and wandered around the steppes for several years. Yesugei's land is occupied by his relative.
• A relative of Temuchin sees him as a rival and pursues him. But the Yesugei-Bagatura family still manages to migrate to a safe place.
• After a while Temuchin marries Borte - the girl he was married to. He manages to find support from a friend of his late father, the powerful Khan Torgul. Gradually, Temuchin has warriors. He raids neighboring lands, gradually conquering territories and livestock.
• Around 1200 - Temuchin's first serious military campaign. Together with Torgul, he wages a war against the Tatars and wins it, capturing rich trophies.
• 1202 - Temuchin independently and successfully fights against the Tatars. Gradually, its ulus increases and becomes stronger.
• 1203 - Temuchin breaks the coalition formed against him.
• 1206 - at the kurultai Temuchin was proclaimed by Chinggis Khan (great khan over all tribes). Mongolian tribes are united into a single state, headed by Temuchin. He publishes a new code of laws - Yasa. Genghis Khan is actively pursuing a policy aimed at uniting previously warring tribes. He divides the population of the Mongolian state into tens, hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands (tumens), not paying attention to the belonging of their citizens to the tribes. In this state, all strong healthy men are considered warriors who are engaged in farming in peacetime, and in case of war take up arms. Thus, Temuchin was able to get a 95,000-strong army under his command.
• 1207 - 1211 - during this period, Genghis Khan with his army conquers the lands of the Uighurs, Kirghiz and Yakuts. In fact, the entire Eastern Siberia becomes the territory of the Mongolian state. All conquered peoples are obliged to pay tribute to Genghis Khan.
• 1209 - Temuchin conquers Central Asia. Now he intends to conquer China.
• 1213 - Genghis Khan (“The True Ruler,” as he calls himself) invades the Chinese Empire, having spent the previous two years conquering the border territories. Genghis Khan's march to China can be considered triumphant - he purposefully moves to the center of the country, sweeping away the slightest resistance on his way. Many Chinese commanders surrender to him without a fight, some go over to his side.
• 1215 - Genghis Khan is finally established in China, conquers Beijing. The war between the Mongols and China will continue until 1235, and it will be completed by Genghis Khan's successor Udegei.
• 1216 - ruined China is no longer able, as before, to trade with the Mongols. Genghis Khan increasingly embarks on campaigns to the west. His plans include the conquest of Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
• 1218 - the interests of trade compel Genghis Khan to conduct diplomatic negotiations with the Khorezkhshah Mohammed, who owned Iran and the Muslim territories of Central Asia. An agreement on good-neighborly relations was reached between the two rulers, and Genghis Khan sent the first merchants to Khorezm. But the ruler of the city of Otrar accuses the merchants of espionage and kills them. Muhammad did not betray the khan who had violated the agreement; instead, he executed one of Genghis Khan's ambassadors, and cut off his beards with others, thereby inflicting a grave insult on the entire Mongol state. War becomes inevitable. Genghis Khan's army turns west.
• 1219 - Genghis Khan personally takes part in the Central Asian campaign. The Mongol army is divided into several parts, which are commanded by the sons of the leader. The city of Otrar, in which the merchants were killed, was razed to the ground by the Mongols.
• At the same time, Genghis Khan sent a strong army under the command of his sons Jebe and Subedei to the "western lands".
• 1220 Muhammad is defeated. He flees, the troops of Genghis Khan pursue him through Persia, the Caucasus and the southern lands of Russia.
• 1221 Genghis Khan conquers Afghanistan.
• 1223 - The Mongols completely seize the territories that previously belonged to Muhammad. They stretch from the Indus River to the coast of the Caspian Sea.
• 1225 Genghis Khan returns to Mongolia. In the same year, the army of Jebe and Subedei came from the Russian lands. Russia was not captured by them only because its conquest was not the goal of the reconnaissance campaign. The weakness of fragmented Russia was fully demonstrated by the battle on the Kalka River on May 31, 1223.
• After returning to Mongolia, Genghis Khan again embarks on a campaign in Western China.
• The beginning of 1226 - a new campaign against the country of the Tanguts.
• August 1227 - in the midst of a campaign against the Tanguts, astrologers inform Genghis Khan that he is in danger. The conqueror decides to return to Mongolia.
• August 18, 1227 - Genghis Khan dies on his way to Mongolia. The exact place of his burial is unknown.

Name: Genghis Khan (Temujin Borjigin)

Date of Birth: 1162 BC

Age: 65 years

Activity: founder and first great khan of the Mongol Empire

Family status: was married

Genghis Khan: biography

The commander, known to us as Genghis Khan, was born in Mongolia in 1155 or 1162 (according to various sources). This man's real name is Temujin. He was born in the Delyun-Boldok tract, his father was Yesugei-bagatura, and his mother was Hoelun. It is noteworthy that Hoelun was married to another man, but Yesugei-Bagatura recaptured his beloved from his rival.

Temujin got his name in honor of the Tatar Temujin-Uge. Yesugei defeated this leader shortly before his son uttered his first cry.

Temujin lost his father early enough. At the age of nine, he was married to eleven-year-old Borte from a different clan. Yesugei decided to leave his son in the bride's house until they both reach the age of majority, so that the future spouses get to know each other better. On the way back, Genghis Khan's father stayed at the Tatar camp, where he was poisoned. Yesugei died three days later.

After that, dark times came for Temujin, his mother, the second wife of Yesugei, as well as the brothers of the future great commander. The head of the clan drove the family away from their usual place and took away all the cattle belonging to her. For several years, widows and their sons had to live in absolute poverty and wander across the steppes.

After some time, the leader of the Taichiuts, who drove away the Temujin family and proclaimed himself the owner of all the lands conquered by Yesugei, began to fear revenge from the matured son of Yesugei. He set an armed detachment on the family's camp. The guy escaped, but soon he was caught up, captured and placed in a wooden block, in which he could neither drink nor eat.

Genghis Khan was saved by his own ingenuity and the intercession of several representatives of another tribe. One night, he managed to escape and hide in the lake, almost completely sinking under the water. Then several local residents hid Temujin in a cart with wool, and after that they gave him a mare and a weapon so that he could get home. Some time after the successful release, the young warrior married Borte.

Rise to power

Temujin, like the son of a leader, aspired to power. At first he needed support, and he turned to the Kereite khan Tooril. He was Yesugei's brother and agreed to unite with him. Thus began the story that led Temujin to the title of Genghis Khan. He raided neighboring settlements, increasing his possessions and, oddly enough, his army. Other Mongols during the battles tried to kill as many opponents as possible. Temujin, on the other hand, sought to keep as many warriors as possible alive in order to lure them to him.

The first serious battle of the young commander took place against the Merkit tribe, who were in alliance with all the same Taichiuts. They even kidnapped Temujin's wife, but he, together with Tooril and another ally - Jamuqi from another tribe - defeated the opponents and returned his wife. After the glorious victory, Tooril decided to return to his own horde, and Temujin and Jamuqa, having concluded an alliance of twinning, remained in the same horde. At the same time, Temujin was more popular, and Jamukha eventually began to dislike him.

He was looking for a reason for an open quarrel with his brother and found him: Jamuqa's younger brother died when he tried to steal horses belonging to Temujin. Allegedly with the aim of revenge, Jamukha attacked the enemy with his army, and in the first battle he won a victory. But the fate of Genghis Khan would not have attracted so much attention if it could have been so easily broken. He quickly recovered from defeat, and new wars began to occupy his mind: together with Tooril he defeated the Tatars and received not only excellent booty, but also the honorary title of military commissar ("Jautkhuri").

This was followed by other successful and not very successful campaigns and regular competitions with Jamukha, as well as with the leader of another tribe - Wan Khan. Wang Khan was not categorically opposed to Temujin, but he was an ally of Jamuqa and was forced to act accordingly.

On the eve of the decisive battle with the joint troops of Jamukha and Van Khan in 1202, the commander independently made another raid on the Tatars. At the same time, he again decided to act differently from how it was customary to carry out conquests in those days. Temujin said that during the battle, his Mongols should not capture the loot, since all of it will be divided between them only after the end of the battle. In this battle, the future great ruler won a victory, after which he ordered the execution of all the Tatars as retribution for the Mongols whom they killed. Only small children were left alive.

In 1203, Temujin and Jamuqa with Wang Khan met face to face again. At first, the ulus of the future Genghis Khan suffered losses, but due to the injury of Wan Khan's son, the opponents retreated. In order to disunite his enemies, during this forced pause, Temujin sent them diplomatic messages. At the same time, several tribes united to fight against both Temujin and Wan Khan. The latter defeated them first and began to celebrate the glorious victory: it was then that Temujin's troops overtook him, catching the soldiers by surprise.

Jamukha was left with only a part of the army and decided to cooperate with another leader - Tayan Khan. The latter wanted to fight Temujin, since at that time only he seemed to him a dangerous rival in a desperate struggle for absolute power in the steppes of Mongolia. The victory in the battle, which took place in 1204, was again won by the army of Temujin, who demonstrated himself as a gifted commander.

Great khan

In 1206, Temujin received the title of Great Khan over all Mongol tribes and widely accepted famous name Genghis, which translates as "the ruler of the endless in the sea." It was obvious that his role in the history of the Mongol steppes was enormous, like his army, and no one else dared to challenge him. This benefited Mongolia: if earlier local tribes constantly fought with each other and raided neighboring settlements, now they have become like a full-fledged state. If before that the Mongolian nationality was invariably associated with strife and blood loss, now - with solidarity and power.

Genghis Khan - the great khan

Genghis Khan wanted to leave behind a worthy legacy not only as a conqueror, but also as a wise ruler. He introduced his own law, which, among other things, spoke of mutual assistance in the campaign and forbade deceiving those who trusted. These moral principles were required to be strictly observed, otherwise the offender could face execution. The commander mixed various tribes and peoples, and no matter what tribe the family belonged to before, its adult men were considered warriors of Genghis Khan's detachment.

Genghis Khan's conquests

Numerous films and books have been written about Genghis Khan, not only because he brought order to the lands of his people. He is also widely known for his successful conquest of neighboring lands. So, in the period from 1207 to 1211, his army subjugated almost all the peoples of Siberia to the great ruler and forced them to pay tribute to Genghis Khan. But the commander was not going to stop there: he wanted to conquer China.

In 1213, he invaded the Chinese state of Jin, establishing authority over the local province of Liaodong. Along the entire route of Genghis Khan and his army, Chinese troops surrendered to him without a fight, and some even went over to his side. By the fall of 1213, the Mongol ruler had consolidated his position along the entire Great Wall of China. Then he sent three powerful armies, led by his sons and brothers, to different regions Jin Empire. Some settlements surrendered to him almost immediately, others fought until 1235. However, in the end, the whole of China at that time spread Tatar-Mongol yoke.

Even China could not force Genghis Khan to end his invasion. Having achieved success in battles with his closest neighbors, he became interested in Central Asia and, especially, in the fertile Semirechye. In 1213, the fugitive Naiman khan Kuchluk became the ruler of this region, who made a political mistake by starting the persecution of the followers of Islam. As a result, the rulers of several sedentary tribes of Semirechye voluntarily announced that they agree to be subjects of Genghis Khan. Subsequently, the Mongol troops conquered other regions of Semirechye, allowing Muslims to perform their divine services and, thereby, aroused sympathy among the local population.

Death

The commander died shortly before the surrender of Zhongxing, the capital of one of the very Chinese settlements that until recently tried to resist the Mongol army. The cause of Genghis Khan's death is called different: fell from a horse, suddenly fell ill, could not adapt to the difficult climate of another country. Where the grave of the great conqueror is located is still not known exactly.

Death of Genghis Khan. Drawing from a book about the travels of Marco Polo, 1410 - 1412

Genghis Khan's numerous descendants, his brothers, children and grandchildren tried to preserve and increase his conquests and were large statesmen Mongolia. So, his grandson became the eldest among the Chingizids of the second generation after the death of his grandfather. In the life of Genghis Khan, there were three women: the previously mentioned Borte, as well as his second wife Khulan-Khatun and the third wife, a Tatar, Yesugen. In total, they bore him sixteen children.

Genghis Khan was the founder and great khan of the Mongol Empire. He united the scattered tribes, organized campaigns of conquest in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and China. The ruler's own name is Temujin. After his death, the sons of Genghis Khan became heirs. They significantly expanded the territory of the ulus. An even greater contribution to the territorial structure was made by the grandson of the emperor - Batu - the owner of the Golden Horde.

The personality of the ruler

All the sources by which one can characterize Genghis Khan were created after his death. Of particular importance among them is the "Secret Legend". In these sources, there is a description and appearance of the ruler. He was tall, with a strong build, a broad forehead and a long beard. In addition, his character traits are also described. Genghis Khan came from a people who probably did not have a written language and state institutions. Therefore, the Mongol ruler did not have any education. However, this did not prevent him from becoming a talented military leader. Organizational skills were combined in him with self-control and unyielding will. Genghis Khan was affable and generous to the extent necessary to maintain the affection of his companions. He did not deny himself the joys, but at the same time did not recognize the excesses that could not be combined with his activities as a commander and ruler. According to sources, Genghis Khan lived to old age, retaining his mental capacity fully.

Heirs

During recent years the life of the ruler was very worried about the fate of his empire. Only a few sons of Genghis Khan had the right to take his place. The ruler had many children, all of them were considered legitimate. But only four sons from Borte's wife could become heirs. These children were very different from each other both in character traits and in inclinations. The eldest son of Genghis Khan was born shortly after Borte's return from Merkit captivity. His shadow always haunted the boy. Evil tongues and even the second son of Genghis Khan, whose name will later go down in history, openly called him a "Merkit geek". The mother has always protected the child. At the same time, Genghis Khan himself always recognized him as his son. Nevertheless, the boy was always reproached for illegitimacy. Once Chagatai (the son of Genghis Khan, the second heir) openly called his brother in the presence of his father. The conflict almost turned into a real fight.

Jochi

The son of Genghis Khan, who was born after the Merkit captivity, had some peculiarities. They, in particular, manifested themselves in his behavior. The persistent stereotypes that were observed in him greatly distinguished him from his father. For example, Genghis Khan did not recognize such a thing as mercy on enemies. He could keep alive only small children, who were later adopted by Hoelun (his mother), as well as the valiant bagatur who took Mongol citizenship. Jochi, on the other hand, was distinguished by kindness and humanity. For example, during the siege of Gurganj, the Khorezmians, who were absolutely exhausted by the war, asked to accept their surrender, spare them, and keep them alive. Jochi expressed his support for them, but Genghis Khan categorically rejected such a proposal. As a result, the garrison of the siege city was partially cut out, and it itself was flooded by the waters of the Amu Darya.

Tragic death

The misunderstanding that was established between the son and the father was constantly fueled by slander and intrigues of relatives. Over time, the conflict deepened and led to the emergence of a persistent mistrust of the ruler to his first heir. Genghis Khan began to suspect that Jochi wanted to become popular with the conquered tribes in order to subsequently secede from Mongolia. Historians doubt that the heir really strove for this. Nevertheless, at the beginning of 1227, Jochi with a broken spine was found dead in the steppe, where he was hunting. Of course, his father was not the only person who benefited from the death of the heir and who had the opportunity to end his life.

Genghis Khan's second son

The name of this heir was known in circles close to the Mongol throne. Unlike his deceased brother, he was characterized by severity, diligence and even a certain cruelty. These traits contributed to the fact that Chagatai was appointed "the keeper of the Yasa". This position is similar to that of the Chief Justice or Attorney General. Chagatay always strictly followed the law, he was merciless to violators.

Third heir

Few know the name of the son of Genghis Khan, who was the next contender for the throne. It was Ogedei. The first and third sons of Genghis Khan were similar in character. Ogedei was also distinguished by his tolerance and kindness towards people. However, his specialty was a passion for hunting in the steppe and drinking with friends. Once, having gone on a joint trip, Chagatai and Ogedei saw a Muslim who was washing himself in the water. According to religious custom, every believer should perform namaz several times during the day, as well as ritual ablution. But these actions were prohibited according to Mongolian custom. Tradition did not allow ablutions anywhere throughout the summer. The Mongols believed that washing in a lake or river causes a thunderstorm, which is very dangerous for travelers in the steppe. Therefore, such actions were viewed as a threat to their lives. The guards (nukhurs) of the ruthless and law-abiding Chagatai seized the Muslim. Ogedei, assuming that the intruder would lose his head, sent his man to him. The messenger had to tell the Muslim that he allegedly dropped the gold into the water and was looking for it there (to stay alive). The intruder answered Chagatai just like that. This was followed by an order to the nuhurs to find the coin in the water. Ogedei's guard threw the gold into the water. The coin was found and returned to the Muslim as its "rightful" owner. Ogedei, bidding farewell to the rescued one, took out a handful of gold coins from his pocket and handed them to the man. At the same time, he warned the Muslim not to look for it, not to break the law the next time he drops a coin into the water.

Fourth successor

The youngest son of Genghis Khan, according to Chinese sources, was born in 1193. At this time, his father was in Jurchen captivity. He stayed there until 1197. This time Borte's betrayal was obvious. However, Genghis Khan recognized Tului's son as his own. At the same time, outwardly, the child had a completely Mongolian appearance. All the sons of Genghis Khan had their own characteristics. But Tului was awarded the greatest talents by nature. He was distinguished by the highest moral dignity, possessed extraordinary abilities of an organizer and commander. Tului is known as a loving husband and a noble man. He married the daughter of the deceased Wang Khan (the head of the Kerait). She, in turn, was a Christian. Tului could not accept his wife's religion. As a Chinggisid, he must profess the faith of his ancestors - Bon. Tului not only allowed his wife to perform all the proper Christian rituals in the "church" yurt, but also to receive monks and have priests with him. The death of the fourth heir of Genghis Khan can be called heroic without any exaggeration. To save the sick Ogedei, Tului voluntarily took a powerful shaman potion. So, taking the disease away from his brother, he tried to attract her to him.

Board of heirs

All the sons of Genghis Khan had the right to rule the empire. After the elimination of the elder brother, three successors remained. After the death of his father, until the election of a new khan, Tului ruled the ulus. In 1229 a kurultai took place. Here, according to the will of the emperor, a new ruler was chosen. The tolerant and gentle Ogedei became him. This heir, as mentioned above, was distinguished by kindness. However, this quality is not always in favor of the ruler. During the years of his khanate, the leadership of the ulus was very weakened. Administration was carried out mainly due to the strictness of Chagatai and thanks to the diplomatic abilities of Tului. Ogedei himself, instead of state affairs, preferred to roam in Western Mongolia, hunting and feasting.

Grandchildren

They received various territories of the ulus or significant positions. The eldest son of Jochi, Horde-Icheng, inherited the White Horde. This area was located between the Tarbagatai ridge and the Irtysh (Semipalatinsk region today). Batu was next. Genghis Khan's son left him the Golden Horde. Sheibani (the third successor) was assigned to the Blue Horde. The rulers of the uluses were also allocated 1-2 thousand soldiers. At the same time, the number then reached 130 thousand people.

Batu

According to Russian sources, he is known as the Son of Genghis Khan, who died in 1227, three years before that he had taken possession of the Kipchak steppe, part of the Caucasus, Russia and Crimea, as well as Khorezm. The heir to the ruler died, owning only Khorezm and the Asian part of the steppe. In the 1236-1243's. the all-Mongolian campaign to the West took place. It was headed by Batu. The son of Genghis Khan passed on some character traits to his heir. The sources give the nickname Sain Khan. According to one version, it means "good-natured". This nickname was possessed by Tsar Batu. The son of Genghis Khan died, as mentioned above, owning only a small part of his inheritance. As a result of the campaign made in 1236-1243, Mongolia retreated: the western part to the North Caucasian and Volga peoples, as well as the Volga Bulgaria. Several times, under the leadership of Batu, troops attacked Russia. In their campaigns, the Mongol army reached Central Europe. Frederick II, then emperor of Rome, tried to organize resistance. When Batu began to demand obedience, he replied that he could be the khan's falconer. However, there was no clash between the troops. Some time later, Batu settled in Sarai-Batu, on the banks of the Volga. He no longer made trips to the West.

Strengthening the ulus

In 1243, Batu learned about the death of Ogedei. His army withdrew to the Lower Volga. A new center of the Jochi ulus was founded here. Guyuk (one of the heirs of Ogedei) was elected Kagan at the kurultai in 1246. He was a longtime enemy of Batu. In 1248, Guyuk died, and in 1251, the loyal Munke, a participant in the European campaign from 1246 to 1243, was elected the fourth ruler. To support the new khan, Batu sent Berke (his brother) with an army.

Relations with the princes of Russia

In 1243-1246 all Russian rulers accepted dependence on the Mongol Empire and the Golden Horde. (Vladimir Prince) was recognized as the oldest in Russia. He received Kiev, ravaged by the Mongols in 1240. In 1246 Batu sent Yaroslav to the kurultai in Karakorum as an authorized representative. There the Russian prince was poisoned by Guyuk's supporters. Mikhail Chernigovsky died in the Golden Horde for refusing to enter the khan's yurt between two fires. The Mongols interpreted this as malicious intent. Alexander Nevsky and Andrey - the sons of Yaroslav - also went to the Horde. Arriving from there to Karakorum, the first received Novgorod and Kiev, and the second - the Vladimir reign. Andrei, striving to resist the Mongols, entered into an alliance with the strongest prince in Southern Russia at that time - Galitsky. This was the reason for the punitive campaign of the Mongols in 1252. The army of the Horde led by Nevryu defeated Yaroslav and Andrey. Batu gave the label to Vladimir Alexander. built his relationship with Batu in a slightly different way. He expelled the Horde Baskaks from their cities. In 1254 he defeated the army led by Kuremsa.

Carokorum affairs

After Guyuk was elected in 1246 as the Great Khan, a split occurred between the descendants of Chagatai and Ogedei and the heirs of the other two sons of Genghis Khan. Guyuk went on a campaign against Batu. However, in 1248, while his army was stationed in Maverannahr, he suddenly died. According to one version, he was poisoned by supporters of Munke and Batu. The first later became the new ruler of the Mongol ulus. In 1251, Batu sent an army under the leadership of Burundai near Ortar to help Munka.

Descendants

Batu's successors were: Sartak, Tukan, Ulagchi and Abukan. The first was an adherent of the Christian religion. Sartak's daughter married Gleb Vasilkovich, and the daughter of Batu's grandson became the wife of St. Fedor Cherny. In these two marriages, the Belozersk and Yaroslavl princes (respectively) were born.

Temuchin - this was the initial name of the founder of the Mongol Empire, one of the largest and bloodiest conquerors in world history. Everyone better known under the name of Genghis Khan.

We can say about this man that he was born with a weapon in his hands. A skillful warrior, a talented commander, a competent ruler who managed to assemble a powerful state from a handful of disunited tribes. His fate was so filled with events that were important not only for him, but also for a whole part of the world, that it is rather problematic to compose a short biography of Genghis Khan. We can say that his whole life was one, almost continuous war.

The beginning of the path of the great warrior

Scientists have not been able to find out the exact date when Temuchin was born, it is only known that this happened in the period from 1155 to 1162. But the place of birth is considered to be the Delyun-Baldok tract on the bank of the river. Onona (near Lake Baikal).

Temuchin's father, Yesugei Bugator, the leader of the Taichiuts (one of the many Mongol tribes), raised his son as a warrior from an early age. As soon as the boy turned nine, ten-year-old Borte, a girl from the Urgenat clan, was married to him. Moreover, according to the Mongolian tradition, after the ritual, the groom had to live with the bride's family until his majority. Which was done. The father, leaving his son, went back, but soon after arriving home he died unexpectedly. According to legend, he was poisoned, and his family, both wives and six children were expelled from the tribe, forcing them to wander across the steppe.

Having learned about what had happened, Temuchin decided to share the troubles of his relatives by joining her.

The first battles and the first ulus

After several years of wandering, the future ruler of Mongolia married Borte, receiving as a dowry a rich sable fur coat, which he presented in the future to Khan Tooril, one of the most influential leaders of the steppe, thus endearing the latter to himself. As a result, Tooril became his patron.

Gradually, largely thanks to the "guardian", Temuchin's influence began to grow. Starting literally from scratch, he managed to create a good and strong army. With each new day, more and more soldiers joined him. With his army, he constantly raided neighboring tribes, increasing the holdings and the number of livestock. And even then, by his actions, he differed from other steppe conquerors: attacking the uluses (hordes), he tried not to destroy the enemy, but to attract them to his army.

But his enemies did not doze either: once, during Temuchin's absence, the Merkits attacked his camp, capturing his pregnant wife. But retribution was not long in coming. In 1184 Temuchin together with Tooril Khan and Jamukha (the leader of the Jadaran tribe) brought her back, defeating the Merkits.

By 1186, the future ruler of all Mongolia created his first full-fledged horde (ulus), numbering about 30 thousand soldiers. Now Genghis Khan decided to act independently, emerging from the care of his patron.

The title of Genghis Khan and a single state - Mongolia

To oppose the Tatars, Temuchin again united with Tooril Khan. The decisive battle took place in 1196 and ended in a crushing defeat for the enemy. In addition to the fact that the Mongols received good booty, Temuchin acquired the title of jautkhuri (corresponding to the military commissar), and Tooril Khan became a Mongolian van (prince).

From 1200 to 1204 Temuchin continued to fight the Tatars and the Mongol tribes that had not yet submitted, but already independently, gaining victories and following his tactics - increasing the number of troops at the expense of the enemy's forces.

In 1205, more and more soldiers joined the new ruler, and as a result, in the spring of 1206, he was proclaimed the khan of all Mongols, giving him the appropriate title - Genghis Khan. Mongolia has become a single state with a powerful, well-trained army and its own laws, according to which the conquered tribes became part of the army, and the opposing enemies were subject to destruction.

Genghis Khan practically eradicated the tribal system, mixing the tribes, instead dividing the entire horde into tumens (1 tumen = 10 thousand people), and those, in turn, into thousands, hundreds and even tens. As a result, his army reached the number of 10 tumens.

Subsequently, Mongolia was divided into two separate wings, at the head of which Genghis Khan put his most faithful and experienced companions: Boorchu and Mukhali. In addition, military positions could now be inherited.

Death of Genghis Khan

In 1209, Central Asia conquered the Mongols, and until 1211 - almost all of Siberia, whose peoples were imposed with tribute.

In 1213, the Mongols invaded China. Having reached its central part, Genghis Khan stopped, and a year later he returned the troops back to Mongolia, concluding a peace treaty with the emperor of China and forcing them to leave Beijing. But as soon as the ruling court left the capital, Genghis Khan returned the army, continuing the war.

Having defeated the Chinese army, the Mongol conqueror decided to go to Semirechye, and in 1218 it was captured, and at the same time the entire eastern part of Turkestan.

In 1220, the Mongol empire found its capital - Karakorum, and meanwhile the troops of Genghis Khan, divided into two streams, continued their conquest campaigns: the first part invaded the South Caucasus through Northern Iran, the second rushed to the Amu Darya.

Having crossed the Derbent passage in the North Caucasus, Genghis Khan's troops defeated first the Alans, and then the Polovtsians. The latter, having united with the squads of the Russian princes, attacked the Mongols on Kalka, but here too they were defeated. But in the Volga Bulgaria, the Mongol army received a serious blow and retreated to Central Asia.

Returning to Mongolia, Genghis Khan made a trip along the western side of China. At the end of 1226, having forced the river. Huang He, the Mongols moved east. The one hundred thousandth army of the Tanguts (the people who in 982 created a whole state in China, called Xi Xia) was defeated, and by the summer of 1227 the Tangut kingdom had ceased to exist. Ironically, Genghis Khan died along with the state of Xi Xia.

The heirs of Genghis Khan must be told separately, since each of them deserves special attention.

The ruler of Mongolia had many wives, and even more offspring. Despite the fact that all the children of the emperor were considered legitimate, only four of them could become his true heirs, namely those who were born by the first and beloved wife of Genghis Khan, Borte. Their names were Jochi, Chagatai, Ogedei and Tolui, and only one could take the place of his father. Although all of them were born of the same mother, they were very different from each other in character and inclinations.

Firstborn

The eldest son of Genghis Khan, Jochi, was very different in character from his father. If the ruler was inherent in cruelty (he, without a drop of pity, destroyed all the defeated, who did not submit and did not want to enter his service), then hallmark Jochi was kind and human. Between father and son, misunderstandings constantly arose, which ultimately grew into Genghis Khan's distrust of his firstborn.

The ruler decided that by his actions his son was trying to achieve popularity among the conquered peoples, and then, having led them, to oppose his father and separate from Mongolia. Most likely, such a scenario was far-fetched, and Jochi posed no threat. Nevertheless, in the winter of 1227, he was found dead in the steppe, with a broken spine.

Genghis Khan's second son

As mentioned above, the sons of Genghis Khan were very different from each other. So, the second of them, Chagatai, was the opposite of his older brother. Severity, diligence and even cruelty were inherent in him. Thanks to these character traits, the son of Genghis Khan, Chagatai, took the post of “keeper of the Yasa” (Yasa is the law of power), that is, in fact, he became both the attorney general and the supreme judge in one person. Moreover, he himself observed the provisions of the law strictly and demanded its observance from others, mercilessly punishing violators.

Another offspring of the great khan

Genghis Khan's third son, Ogedei, was similar to his brother Jochi in that he was reputed to be kind and tolerant of people. In addition, he had the ability to persuade: it was not difficult for him to win over a doubter in any dispute in which he took part to his side.

An extraordinary mind and good physical development - perhaps it was these traits inherent in Ogedei that influenced Genghis Khan when choosing a successor, which he did long before his death.

But for all his merits, Ogedei was known as a lover of entertainment, devoting a lot of time to steppe hunting and drinking with friends. In addition, he was strongly influenced by Chagatai, who often forced him to change seemingly final decisions to the opposite.

Tolui, the youngest of the emperor's sons

The youngest son of Genghis Khan, who was named Tolui at birth, was born in 1193. There were rumors among the people that he was allegedly illegitimate. After all, as you know, Genghis Khan came from the Borjigin family, a distinctive feature of which was blond hair and green or blue eyes, but Tolui had a Mongolian, quite ordinary appearance - dark eyes and black hair. Nevertheless, the ruler, in spite of the slander, considered him his.

And it was the youngest son of Genghis Khan, Tolui, who possessed the greatest talents and moral dignity. An excellent commander and a good administrator, Tolui retained nobility and boundless love for his wife, the daughter of the head of the Kerait who served Wang Khan. He not only organized a "church" yurt for her, since she professed Christianity, but even allowed her to hold ceremonies there, for which she was allowed to invite priests and monks. Tolui himself remained faithful to the gods of his ancestors.

Even the death that the youngest son of the Mongol ruler took says a lot about him: when Ogedei was overtaken by a serious illness, then in order to take his ailment on himself, he voluntarily drank a strong potion prepared by the shaman and died, in fact, giving his life for the chance of his brother's recovery ...

Transfer of power

As mentioned above, the sons of Genghis Khan had equal rights to inherit everything that their father left them. After the mysterious death of Jochi, there were fewer applicants for the throne, and when Genghis Khan died and the new ruler had not yet been formally elected, Tolui replaced his father. But already in 1229 Ogedei became the great khan, as Chinggis himself wanted.

However, as mentioned above, Ogedei had a rather kind and gentle character, that is, not the most good and necessary traits for the sovereign. Under him, the management of the ulus was greatly weakened and kept "afloat" thanks to the other sons of Genghis Khan, more precisely, the administrative and diplomatic abilities of Tolui and the strict disposition of Chagatai. The emperor himself preferred to spend time in wanderings in Western Mongolia, which were certainly accompanied by hunting and feasts.

Chinggis's grandchildren

The children of Genghis Khan also had their own sons, who were entitled to a share of the conquests of the great grandfather and fathers. Each of them received either part of the ulus or a high position.

Despite the fact that Jochi was dead, his sons were not left out. So, the eldest of them, Horde-Icheng, inherited the White Horde, which was located between the Irtysh and Tarbagatai. Another son, Sheibani, got the Blue Horde, which roamed from Tyumen to the Aral Sea. From Jochi, the son of Genghis Khan, Batu - perhaps the most famous khan in Russia - received the Golden, or Big Horde. In addition, each brother from the Mongol army was assigned 1-2 thousand fighters.

The children of Chagatai received the same number of soldiers, but the offspring of Tului, being almost inseparable at the court, ruled the grandfather's ulus.

Guyuk, the son of Ogedei, was not left out either. In 1246 he was elected a great khan, and it is believed that from that moment the decline of the Mongol Empire began. There was a split between the descendants of the sons of Genghis Khan. It got to the point that Guyuk organized a military campaign against Batu. But the unexpected happened: in 1248 Guyuk died. One of the versions says that Batu himself had a hand in his death, sending his people to poison the great khan.

Descendant of Jochi, son of Genghis Khan - Batu (Batu)

It was this Mongol ruler who more than others "inherited" in the history of Russia. His name was Batu, but in Russian sources he is more often referred to as Batu Khan.

After the death of his father, who three years before his death received into his possession the Kipchat steppe, Russia with the Crimea, the share of the Caucasus and Khorezm, and by the time of his death had lost most of them (his possessions were reduced to the Asian part of the steppe and Khorezm), the heirs were especially divided there was nothing. But this did not bother Batu, and in 1236, under his leadership, a general Mongol campaign to the West began.

Judging by the nickname given to the commander-ruler - "Sain-khan", meaning "good-natured" - he had some character traits for which his father was famous, only Batu Khan did not interfere with his conquests: by 1243 Mongolia received the western side Polovtsian steppe, the peoples of the Volga region and the North Caucasus, and in addition, the Volga Bulgaria. Several times Khan Byty made raids on Russia. And in the end, the Mongol army reached Central Europe. Batu, approaching Rome, demanded obedience from its emperor, Frederick II. At first, he was going to resist the Mongols, but changed his mind, resigned to his fate. Fighting clashes between the troops never happened.

After some time, Khan Batu decided to settle on the coast of the Volga, and he no longer conducted military campaigns to the West.

Batu died in 1256 at the age of 48. The Golden Horde was headed by the son of Batu - Saratak.