The Mongol Empire (1206-1368) and the Bogd Khan (reigned 1911-1924)

[Rhys82192]

About the Mongol Empire:
Mongol Empire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

About the Bogd Khan:
Bogd Khan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map of the Mongol Empire:
http://www.artsmia.org/art-of-asia/h...pire-large.gif

[Rhys82192]

Genghis Khan, Founder of the Mongol Empire (b. ca. 1151, Mongolia - d. August 25, 1227, Kansu, China)

Mongol Name: Chinggis Khaan, Temujin
Chinese Name: Chengjisi Han/ Tiemuzhen

Genghis Khan was the creator of the Mongol nation and the founder of one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen.

Early Life

Genghis Khan, whose original name was Temüjin, was born near the river Onon in the northeast corner of present-day Mongolia. When he was nine years old his father Yesugei took him to another tribe to find him a wife. On the way back Yesugei was killed by the Tatars, who in the second half of the twelfth century had displaced the Mongols as the strongest tribe in eastern Mongolia. Yesugei's followers deserted his widow and children, who were then forced to live in conditions of great hardship. Temüjin survived by hunting and fishing.

Rise to Power

Temüjin began to attract followers who liked how he handled himself in battle. He became a follower of Toghril, the ruler of a Christian tribe in central Mongolia. Toghril and a young Mongol chief named Jamuka helped Temüjin rescue his wife, who had been captured by the Merkits, a tribe in present-day Russia. Some of the Mongol princes named Temüjin as their ruler, giving him the title of Chingiz-Khan (Genghis Khan), or "Supreme Ruler of the Ocean." Genghis Khan and Toghril later helped North China in a successful battle against the Tatars.

Relations between Genghis Khan and Toghril worsened and eventually led to open warfare. Genghis Khan was defeated in the first battle and withdrew into a remote area of northeastern Mongolia. In 1203, however, he gained a complete victory over Toghril, who fled and was killed by the Naimans. Toghril's people were absorbed by the Mongols. Genghis Khan now turned against his enemies in western Mongolia, including the Naimans allied with Jamuka and the rest of the Merkits. The Naimans were defeated in 1204. Jamuka was soon given up by his followers and put to death by his former friend. In 1206 a group of Mongol princes proclaimed Genghis Khan supreme ruler of the Mongol peoples.

Conquest of China

Genghis Khan did more than just invade and conquer. He established a code of laws for the empire and a standard written language for his people, and he set up a kind of postal system to help different parts of the empire communicate with each other. His greatest skill, though, was as a military leader. In 1211 the Mongols began a full assault on China by invading the entire region north of the Great Wall. In the summer of 1215 Peking, China, was captured. Leaving one of his generals in charge of further operations in North China, Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia to devote his attention to events in central Asia.
Küchlüg the Naiman, who had taken refuge among the Kara-Khitai, had overthrown the ruler of that people and taken over that kingdom. An army sent by Genghis Khan chased him into Afghanistan, where he was captured and put to death; the takeover of his territory gave the Mongols a common frontier with Sultan Muhammad, the ruler of Khiva, who after recent conquests had claimed all of central Asia as well as Afghanistan and the greater part of Persia.

Campaign in the West

It was only a matter of time before the two empires went to war; it began with the execution of some of Genghis Khan's supporters and merchants accompanying them at the town of Otrar. Genghis Khan set out for revenge in the spring of 1219. By April 1220 he had captured Otrar as well as the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. Genghis Khan sent his two best generals in pursuit of Sultan Muhammad, who fled across Persia and was killed on an island in the Caspian Sea. Continuing westward, the generals defeated an army of Russians and Turks before rejoining their master on his journey homeward. Genghis Khan, in the meantime, had attacked and captured Termez in the autumn of 1220 and spent the winter in what is now Tajikistan.

Early in 1221 Genghis Khan destroyed the city of Balkh, in the Persian province of Khurasan. He sent his son Tolui (Tulë) to complete the takeover of that province, which has not fully recovered from the damage to this day. Genghis Khan advanced through Afghanistan to attack Sultan Jalal al-Din, the son of Sultan Muhammad, who had defeated a Mongol army near Kabul. He fought with Jalal al-Din on the banks of the Indus; the sultan escaped capture only by swimming across the river. Jalal al-Din's defeat concluded the campaign in the west, and Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia. In 1226 he resumed war with the Tanguts, a Tibetan people. He died, with the war still in progress, in the Liupan Mountains in Kansu on August 25, 1227.

source: Genghis Khan Biography - life, children, name, death, wife, young, son, old, information, born

Genghis Khan was such a heartless and notorious ruler, he is often happy everytime his men are harshly treating the people of countries they've invaded. One of his quotes is:

"The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters"

...but he will be still remembered as the founder of one of the world's greatest empires.
.

[Rhys82192]

The Onon River in Mongolia. Temujin was born near the Onon River:
http://pisum.bionet.nsc.ru/kosterin/...dahur/onon.jpg

A Giant Buddha Statue in Mongolia's Capital, Ulaanbaatar, or Ulan Bator:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...laanbaatar.jpg

Before Buddhism arrived in Mongolia, the religion of the Mongols was Shamanism. When the Mongols conquered China in 1211, they arrived in Tibet, and introduced Tibetan Buddhism to Mongolia. Since then, Tibetan Buddhism has become one of the main religion of the Mongols.

An old Chinese Painting depicting Ogedei Khan, Genghis Khan's Son and Successor:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...gadai_Khan.jpg

[Rhys82192]

Kublai Khan, (September 23, 1215 - February 18, 1294) is the Grandson of Mongol Empire Founder Genghis Khan. Kublai was the son of Tolui, one of Genghis Khan's sons. He is the Fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and the founder of China's Yuan Dynasty (Mongolian: On)

Kublai Khan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This portrait of Kublai Khan was done by Anige, a Nepalese artist in Kublai's court:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...tsen_Khaan.JPG

[fearghas]

I recall reading somewhere that a huge number of people from that area have a gene that can be traced back only to Ghengis Kahn, thus proving that he was their ancestor. So he is the historical figure with the most known number of desendants

[Rhys82192]

Originally Posted by fearghas

I recall reading somewhere that a huge number of people from that area have a gene that can be traced back only to Ghengis Kahn, thus proving that he was their ancestor. So he is the historical figure with the most known number of desendants

Yes it is, before Genghis Khan came into this world, the Mongols were lesser-known. Who would believe that a Mongol like Genghis Khan will establish the Greatest Empire ever existed, and that makes his people, the Mongols, even more famous!

[Rhys82192]

The Bogd Khan was also a Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, or the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia:

Jebtsundamba Khutuktu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Are there any Jebtsundamba Khutuktus existing in Mongolia today?

[KittyAtlanta]

My father says the origin of his family is Mongol. Maybe, maybe not. However, if you look at my photo, I kind of look like the Great Khan!

[Jacknch]

Kitty, you could be the Queen of Mongolia!

[KittyAtlanta]

I know...isn't it uncanny. (I'm thinking of redecorating my yurt).

[Rhys82192]

Let me share, these are the dresses that were worn by Mongolian Queens:

http://aliceinulaanbaatar.blogspot.c...1_archive.html (Go to July 3, 2010 to see the outfits)


And did you know that the outfit of Star Wars' Queen Amidala was modeled after the outfits of the Mongolian Queens?

[Rhys82192]

The Mongols had failed to conquer Japan because there were many brave Samurai warriors who fought them, and also, the Mongols had been driven away by a strong hurricane, which the Japanese called Kamikaze which means "Divine Wind". The Japanese believe that the Kamikaze was sent to them by their Sun Goddess, Amaterasu.

[Rhys82192]

The Venetian Explorer, Marco Polo (1254-1324), has met with Kublai Khan on his trip to China. Kublai Khan became interested about Marco Polo that he asked him questions about his country and his culture. Kublai even asked Marco Polo about the Pope and the Church in Rome. Pasta is not well-known in Italy then, in fact Pasta originated in China where it is called "Miantao", which means Noodles. Marco Polo brought the Noodles to Italy, where it became known there as "Pasta", and became an important Italian staple.

[Kasumi]

DNA of Genghis Khan's descendant sequenced in Inner Mongolia | MNN - Mother Nature Network
Scientists in China have used the blood of a direct descendant of Genghis Khan to sequence the genome of an ethnic Mongolian for the first time.
[...]
The name of the man whose DNA was sequenced was not given, but he was identified as a 34th-generation descendant of Genghis Khan and a member of the Mongolian royal family.
He is said to be a member of the Sunit Tribe that lives in the Xilingol prefecture of Inner Mongolia. The scientists said this man has a fully defined family pedigree that dates back to the 13th-century Mongolian empire and his family line shows "no background of intermarriage between other ethnic groups," according to professor Huanmin Zhou, project investigator and director of science and technology at IMAU.

[CyrilVladisla]

How did the Mongols gain so much power?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP-csR_XuoE