Under Genghis Khan, social policy across the Mongol Empire became
more lenient and the empire expanded substantially through western
conquests.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Support the argument that Genghis Khan was one of the most successful world leaders of his time
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
Genghis Khan was the first leader, or Khan, of the Mongol Empire, from 1206 CE­1227 CE.
Genghis Khan advocated literacy, religious freedom, and trade.
In terms of social policy, he forbade the selling of women, theft of others' properties, and fighting.
Because of his support of religious freedom, people of many religions joined Genghis willingly long
before his conquests.
Genghis Khan led the conquests of the Western Xia Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty in 1234, the Kara­
Khitan Khanate, and the Khwarazmian Empire.
TERMS [ edit ]
Temujin
Ghengis Khan's birth name
Uyghur­Mongolian script
The first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language and the most successful until
the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946. This is a true alphabet with separate letters for consonants and
vowels, alphabets based on this script are used in Inner Mongolia and other parts of China to this
day.
The Beginnings of the Mongol Empire
Before Genghis Khan became the leader of Mongolia, he was known as Temujin. When his
young wife Börte was kidnapped by a rival tribe, Temujin united the nomadic, previously ever­
rivaling Mongol tribes under his rule through political manipulation and military might. He
defeated the tribe that had captured Börte and rescued her.
As Temujin gained power, he forbade looting of his enemies without permission, and he
implemented a policy of sharing spoils with his warriors and their families instead of giving it
all to the aristocrats. Because of this, he was a popular leader. However, these policies brought
him into conflict with his uncles, who were also legitimate heirs to Mongol succession, as well as
his generals.
War ensued, and Temujin prevailed, destroying all the remaining rival tribes from 1203–1205
and bringing them under his sway. In 1206, Temujin was crowned as the leader of the Great
Mongol Nation. It was then that he assumed the title of Genghis Khan, meaning universal
leader, marking the start of the Mongol Empire.
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan as portrayed in a 14th­century Yuan­era album. He was the first leader of the unified
Mongols and first emperor under the Mongolian Empire.
Innovations Under Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan innovated many ways of organizing his army, dividing it into decimal subsections
of 10; 100; 1,000; and 10,000. He also founded the Imperial Guard. He rewarded loyalty with
high positions as heads of army units and households, even though many had originally been
from very low­rank clans.
He proclaimed a new law of the empire and codified everything related to the everyday life and
political affairs of the people. He outlawed the theft of other's properties, fighting among
themselves, and hunting animals during the breeding season.
He also made changes regarding women in Mongol society. He forbade the selling of women,
and continued to encourage the age­old tradition of allowing women to discuss major, public
decisions. For example, unlike other Mongols and leaders in the region, Ghengis allowed his
wives to sit at the table with him and encouraged them to voice their opinions. Apparently, they
helped him decide the next khan. He eventually also allowed widows to choose to remarry­­
which was previously uncommon­­to help keep them from poverty and other social ills.
He appointed his adopted brother as supreme judge, ordering him to keep records of the
empire. He decreed religious freedom and supported domestic and international trade. He
exempted the poor and the clergy from taxation. Because of this, Muslims, Buddhists, and
Christians from Manchuria, North China, India, and Persia in fact joined Genghis willingly long
before his foreign conquests. He also encouraged literacy, adopting the Uyghur script, which
would form the Empire's Uyghur­Mongolian script.
The Mongol Empire Under Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan initially forged the initial Mongol Empire in Central Asia with the unification of
the Mongol and Turkic confederations on the Mongolian plateau in 1206. The Mongols invaded
westward into Central Asia with the conquests of the Western Xia Dynasty in 1209, the Jin
Dynasty in 1234, the Kara­Khitan Khanate in 1218, and the Khwarazmian Empire in 1221.
These conquests seriously depopulated large areas of Islamic central Asia and northeastern
Iran, since any city or town that resisted the Mongols was subject to destruction. Each soldier
was required to execute a certain number of persons, with the number varying according to
circumstances. For example, after the conquest of the city of Urgench, each Mongol warrior, in
an army that might have consisted of 20,000 soldiers, was required to execute 24 people.
By 1260, the armies of the Mongol Empire had swept with overwhelming force out of the Asian
steppes, utterly destroyed ancient and powerful kingdoms in the Middle East, and reached as
far west as Egypt and Poland before halting their advance. During the same period, Mongol
assaults on China replaced the Sung Dynasty with the Yuan Dynasty. The Mongols' military
tactics, based on the swift and ferocious use of mounted cavalry, crushed even the strongest
European and Islamic forces that took the field against them. They also learned primitive
cannon and firearm technologies and brought these to the West.