In what year did Temuchin become Genghis Khan?

How did he become a robber? It is known that Stepan’s father, the old Cossack Timofey Razya, a participant in many wars and campaigns against the Turks and “Krymchaks,” died in 1650, when the future ataman was only 19 years old. At the same time, his character, as the old people said, was sharp, cool and brave

Genghis Khan (1155-1227) reigned from 1206.

In the spring of 1206, during the kurultai - a meeting of the leaders of nomadic tribes held on the Onon River (Trans-Baikal Territory), the mighty Mongol warrior Temujin was proclaimed great khan over all the Mongol tribes and received the name Genghis Khan. The shamans predicted power over the whole world for him. Genghis Khan united disunited Mongolia, defeated the Chinese, captured lands as far as the Urals, entered Central Asia, founded the Mongol Empire and became famous as one of the most outstanding conquerors in history.

In that era, the Mongols lived in tribes, raised horses, and roamed the steppes along the rivers. They had no written language, no government system, and they very often fought with each other. The tribes were similar in their way of life - at the head of each was a bogatur, that is, a hero. They were divided into noyons - masters, nukers - warriors and slaves from among the prisoners who served them and were shepherds. The Pope's envoy, Plano Carpinini, described them this way: “These are people of short stature, broad shoulders, shaved heads and high cheekbones. They ate fried meat and liquid millet porridge, and drank kumiss. Their homes were tent-yurts, which were easily disassembled. Men looked after the cattle. They were all warriors. And everyone had as many wives as he could support.”

Only at the beginning of the 12th century did the scattered Mongol tribes attempt to unite into a state. They created a union of tribes, which was called Khamag Mongol and which continued the previous policy of subjugating other nomadic tribes...

Temujin lived with his mother and brothers. From her stories, he knew that his father, Bogatur, the leader of the tribe, managed to unite the Mongols, but the Tatar tribes from the Turkic peoples who came to their land killed him. She had to flee with her small children and hide in the forests. Plastic water containers can be used in any temperature range. And now he, Temuchin, has to become the leader of the tribe and avenge the death of his father.

Temujin was strong and strong, adversity strengthened his character, he did not want to concede anything to anyone. He was captivated by the idea of ​​becoming the leader of not only one tribe, avenging his father, but also uniting all the Mongols. He began to gather strong, strong warriors around him. They galloped across the steppes, trained to shoot with a bow on the move and hit the enemy with a spear. With these warriors, Temujin raided other tribes, took away livestock and beautiful girls. He killed all those who resisted, and invited the prisoners to join his army.

By 1206, he had gathered an army that numbered up to 90 thousand people. That same year, the assembled tribal leaders unanimously elected Temujin as Great Khan, he received the title Genghis Khan and began to create the Mongolian state. He demanded that everyone follow the law: to help each other during the campaign and not to deceive their own. Anyone who violated it was executed.

Genghis Khan mixed clans, tribes, representatives of different nationalities and introduced an administrative division into tens, hundreds and thousands of humens, which included several tens of thousands of horsemen. All adult men were considered warriors. And only in peacetime did they engage in economic affairs. Genghis Khan appointed the noyons, the local feudal lords, who were loyal to him, as commanders over all the tumens. Genghis Khan's personal guard, called the keshik, monitored order and the rule of law in the Mongol army.

Each warrior, by order of his commander, had to be ready for a military campaign and have all the necessary equipment. The movement of the troops was determined by the so-called yurtjis, and they also looked for places to camp. Information for the attacks was supplied by merchants, caravan leaders and their own intelligence officers. They were sent in advance to one country or another, and they collected data.

Genghis Khan himself and his senior commanders did not take part in the hostilities. They led the troops - they gave them signs with the help of flags, trumpet signals, and smoke from fires. Unusual And Genghis Khan’s mobile cavalry army could move at speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour.

Such an unusually high speed of movement for those times gave him a huge advantage; he conquered Central Asia and decided to go south to conquer China. He easily defeated the petty Chinese princes who were at war with each other and crossed the Great Wall of China. Many military units surrendered without a fight, and Chinese commanders went over to Genghis Khan’s side. In 1215, he captured 90 cities in China. Including the capital Beijing, and China became part of the Mongol Empire.

After this, Genghis Khan returned to his native Mongolia, but soon began a new campaign, now to Central Asia. In 4 years he conquered Afghanistan, Iran, and the principalities of Transcaucasia. Then his army went to the steppes of the North Caucasus. Here the Mongols came across the Cumans. They were quickly defeated, some were subdued, and the replenished army moved through the steppes of the Black Sea region towards Rus'. The Polovtsian Khan Kotyan turned to his son-in-law, the Galician prince Mstislav the Udal and other Russian princes for help, warning them that the Mongols would not stop and would move to Russian land.

At the beginning of 1223, the princes of Kiev, Galicia, Chernigov, Seversk, Smolensk and Volyn came to Kyiv. They had no idea what threat was approaching them, and decided to support the Polovtsians. The troops of the Galician prince and other princes along the Dnieper reached the island of Khortitsa, where they united with the Polovtsians. After crossing to the left bank of the Dnieper, they discovered an advance detachment of the Mongols, defeated it and moved further east in search of the enemy. So they approached the Kalka River.

The battle began on May 31, 1223. The balance of forces was in favor of the Mongols. Their army numbered 30 thousand. On the Russian side, not all princes led their troops against the Mongols. Some were waiting. Initially, the advantage was on the side of the Galician prince and his allies. The advance detachment of the Mongols began to retreat. The Russians gave chase, their formation collapsed, and then they were met by the main Mongol army. Genghis Khan's warriors turned out to be immeasurably greater. The Polovtsians could not stand the fight and fled. The Russians also ran after them.

The defeat of the Russians was complete. The Mongols mockingly killed the captured Russian princes. From the Kalka River the Mongols headed to the Dnieper. On their way, they destroyed cities and villages, but soon turned back to report to Genghis Khan about their victory over the Russians. 13 years after the Battle of Kalka, Genghis Khan’s grandson Batu Khan set out to conquer Rus'.

In the spring of 1226, Genghis Khan led an army against the Tanguts, who professed Buddhism and controlled the eastern part of the Great Silk Road. Their state Xi Xia was located in northern China. After numerous clashes, the Tangut army was defeated, and their capital Zhongxing was taken. Genghis Khan died under the walls of the city when its inhabitants began to surrender. The cause of his death was a sudden illness, either from the unhealthy climate of the Tangut state, or from a fall from a horse. According to the will, Genghis Khan was succeeded by his third son, Ogedei.

By 1206, Genghis Khan had gathered under his rule almost all the Turkic-Mongolian tribes, as the “Secret Legend” says - all “people who lived in felt tents” from Altai to Arguni and from the Siberian taiga to the Chinese Wall. He had the right to consider the moment ripe for solemnly investing himself with the title of emperor. Therefore, it was necessary to convene a kurultai.

Previously, Temujin was elected and named by Genghis Khan as part of the clan leaders, including princes, who, due to their high origins, could also lay claim to the Khanate. Now he decided to once again establish himself in this title as the khan of the entire nation - all the Turkic-Mongols, and the kurultai confirmed his title - Genghis Khan. The Kurultai was the highest authority, and only he had the right to entrust management functions to a certain person, hereinafter referred to as the khan.

The kurultai was attended by princes, uncles, cousins ​​of princes, princesses, sons-in-law-gurkhans, influential noyons and senior emirs, officials, as well as kings and rulers submissive to the Mongols, all of them appeared in a deliberate crowd, with their retinue and servants, with large gifts and offerings.

The distinguished guests were accommodated in tents, the number of which reached a thousand. Meanwhile, the astrologers chose a favorable day for the enthronement of the khan. Usually the kurultai lasted from several days to several weeks, and, according to Juvaini’s account, the participants “put on new clothes of a different color every day.”

The ceremony of enthronement of the khan took place in a tent specially erected for this occasion; all those present, according to custom, uncovered their heads, untied their belts and threw them over their shoulders. The two oldest members of the khan's family took the chosen one by the hands and seated him on the “throne of supreme power and the pillow of kingship.” All those gathered knelt and shouted the name of the new khan three times, then the princes and the highest nobility took a written oath of allegiance to the new sovereign. Upon leaving the tent, they worshiped the Sun three times. After which everyone took the cups and feasted for a week or two.

So, in the spring of 1206, at the all-Mongol kurultai for the solemn confirmation of the sovereign - Genghis Khan - at the source of the Onon, all the defenders of the nine-tailed white banner gathered, and Genghis Khan ascended the throne. Subsequently, his title was supplemented by the following official formula, carved on the state jasper seal: “God is in Heaven, Khan is the Power of God on Earth. Seal of the Lord of Humanity."

Both the Turks and the Mongols formed a new Mongolian nation (Mongol ulus), and from now on, under the name of the Mongols, both the victors and the vanquished, the Keraits, Naimans and Borjigins, entered history, and under this name they glorified themselves. In this connection, in the “Secret Legend” it is written: “Genghis Khan henceforth proclaimed the single name of the Mongols. All leaders of various clans and tribes become vassals of the Mongol Khan and acquire the name “Mongol.” In other words, the name “Mongol” now extended to all tribes united under the scepter of Genghis Khan. The Chinggisid Mongols sometimes called themselves “blue Mongols,” just as the ancient Turks were once called “blue Turks.” In this case, the epithet “blue” means Heaven (Tengri), whose authorized representatives and envoys on Earth the Turkic Khagans, then the great Chinggisid Khans, considered themselves to be. It is also known that the Mongols were mistakenly called “Tatars” and that they vehemently protested about this in conversations with Western travelers of the 13th century.

Subject Age: 51
Basic

Genghis Khan (1167-1227) was the founder of the Mongol nation and the founder of one of the most extensive empires the world has ever seen.

Temujin (Temuchin) - this is the name of Genghis Khan given to him at birth, was born on the banks of the Onon River, in the extreme northeast of modern Mongolia. At the age of 9, the boy was left an orphan - his father, the nephew of the last Khan of the Mongols, died at the hands of the Tatars - enemies of the Temujin tribe, who came to these lands in the second half of the 12th century, significantly displacing the Mongols. Temujin's mother was left to fend for herself by her husband's followers as the leaders of the rival Mongol Taijiud clan desired independence. Thus, Temujin's mother raised her sons in very difficult conditions.

Temujin's rise to power

When Temujin became a teenager, he was captured by the Taijiud tribe. However, he managed to escape and enlist the support of Togoril, the ruler of the Christian Kereit tribe, which roamed Central Mongolia. It was with the help of Togoril and the young leader of a small Mongol tribe named Jamukha (Temujin's sworn brother) that the future great khan was able to save his bride, who was kidnapped by the Merkits, a tribe inhabiting modern Buryatia. Temujin and Jamukha remained friends since childhood, but then, for unknown reasons, a split occurred between the named brothers. Most researchers agree that the reason for the cooling and even the beginning of enmity between the two friends was the egoism and power ambitions of Jamukha, because it was during this period that the Mongol tribes, one by one, recognized the supreme power of Temujin, who after some time was proclaimed Genghis Khan - the Great Ruler of the steppe.

1198 is the first exact date in the career of Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan and Togoril unite with the rulers of Northern China in a campaign against the Tatars.

In 1199, Genghis Khan's allies launched a campaign against the Naimans, the most powerful tribe in western Mongolia, but the campaign was unsuccessful.

In 1200-1202, the allies won several victories over the troops of a confederation of tribes led by Genghis Khan's former friend Jamukha, and in 1202 Genghis Khan finally settled accounts with the Tatars.

Now Genghis Khan was faced with the task of defeating his enemies in Western Mongolia: the Naimans in alliance with Jamukha and the remnants of the Merkits. The Naiman were defeated in 1204, and Kuchluk, the son of their ruler, fled west to find refuge with the Karakitai. Jamukha also went on the run, but was betrayed by his own comrades, caught and sentenced to death. Having destroyed his former friend and main enemy, Genghis Khan gained complete control over all of Mongolia. In 1206, at the kurultai of the Mongol princes, held at the origins of Onon, he was proclaimed the supreme ruler of the Mongol tribes, and was now ready to begin the expansion of the empire by conquering neighboring countries.

Conquest of China

Already in 1205, Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts, a people of Tibetan origin who inhabited the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Ordos. In 1207 and 1209, as a result of repeated attacks in the direction of Northern China, the way was opened for a massive offensive deep into Chinese territory.

In 1211, the Mongols invaded Chinese lands and captured territories north of the Great Wall of China. In 1213, the wall was breached and hordes of Mongol nomads poured into the Chinese plains. Many Chinese generals went over to the side of the Mongols, and cities often surrendered without a fight. In the summer of 1215, Beijing was captured and sacked, and the Qin Emperor fled to Kaifeng, on the southern bank of the Yellow River. Leaving one of his generals in China and entrusting him with further operations in Northern China, Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia to concentrate on the Central Asian campaign.

Campaign in the West

Genghis Khan set out from Mongolia in the spring of 1219, reaching the border Otrar in the fall, and, leaving sufficient forces for its siege, moved on to Bukhara, which fell already in March 1220, as well as to Samarkand, which surrendered just a month later. The besieged Otrar also fell. From Samarkand, Genghis Khan sent his two best generals Jebe and Subedei in pursuit of the Khorezm Shah Muhammad, who met his death on one of the islands in the Caspian Sea. Continuing their journey to the west, Genghis Khan’s generals invaded the Caucasus and, having defeated the Alans, turned north, where they faced a clash with the united Russian-Polovtsian army on the Kalka River. Having won a victory at Kalka, the Mongols turned east to the lands of the Volga Bulgars, which lay on the way back to Central Asia, where they faced an unpleasant defeat. In the Battle of Samara Luka, Jebe and Subedei suffered a crushing defeat from the Bulgars. During the campaign through the territory of Bulgaria, only a small part remained of the huge Mongol army - about 4,000 people.

At this time, Genghis Khan attacked and captured Termez, and spent the autumn and winter of 1220-1221 on the territory of modern Tajikistan. At the beginning of 1221, he marched to the ancient city of Balkh, which was part of the Persian province of Khorasan, and sent his youngest son Tolui (Tule), father of the Great Khan Mengu (Mongke) and Kublai, to complete the conquest of this province. At the end of the summer of that year, Genghis Khan launched a campaign south through Afghanistan against Sultan Jalal al-Din, the son of Sultan Muhammad. Genghis Khan and Jalal al-Din met on the banks of the Indus. The Sultan was defeated, but escaped capture by swimming across the river.

With the defeat of Jalal al-Din, Genghis Khan's campaign in the West was practically over, and he returned to Mongolia.

Death and burial of Genghis Khan

The only thing known for certain about the death of Genghis Khan is that the great conqueror died in 1227 during another campaign. Returning from Central Asia, Genghis Khan began a war against the Tangut state. Historians give a variety of versions of his death: from being wounded by an arrow during a battle, to a long illness as a result of falling from a horse. There is a version according to which Genghis Khan died from a lightning strike (this man did too much evil, and the sky punished him). There were also some assumptions in the spirit of “look for a woman”: a number of researchers suggest that the great conqueror fell at the hands of a captured Tangut khansha in the heat of his wedding night.
The burial place of Genghis Khan is still unknown. According to legend, the khan's grave is filled to the brim with untold riches, and Genghis Khan himself sits on a golden throne.

Genghis Khan's legacy in the field of law and rules of warfare

Historians claim that Mongolian society during the reign of Genghis Khan became truly democratic. Contrary to his reputation as a ruthless barbarian in the West, Genghis Khan pursued such an enlightened policy that no European ruler had pursued at that time.

A humble slave could easily rise to the rank of army commander if he showed sufficient military valor.

War booty was divided equally among all warriors who took part in the battle, regardless of their social status.

Unlike most rulers of the time, Genghis Khan trusted loyal followers more than members of his own family.

The Great Khan forbade the abduction of women, probably partly due to his own experience with his wife, whom he had to rescue from captivity. In addition, this practice led to wars between different groups of Mongols.

He guaranteed freedom of religion, protection of the rights of Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and Hindus. Genghis Khan himself, worshiping heaven, forbade the killing of priests, monks and mullahs.

The Great Khan also protected the integrity of envoys and envoys, including those of the enemy, regardless of what message they brought.

Unlike most conquered peoples, the Mongols did not practice torture of prisoners.

Finally, the laws in force in the Mongol Empire also applied to the khan himself - all Mongols were equal before the law, regardless of their financial and social status, this principle was implemented very strictly.