Genghis Khan, whose original name was Temujin (also translated as Timuzhen), was born in 1162 on the banks of the Onan River (today's Onen River) on the Mongolian Plateau. The Borjijin tribe, a branch of the Mongolian ethnic group, has two powerful clans, one is called the Qiyan clan and the other is called the Taichiwu clan. Temujin's father, Yesugei, was the leader of the Qiyan clan. When Temujin was born, Yesugei participated in the war between the Mongols and the Tatars. They captured two leaders of the Tatar tribe, one of whom was named Temujin. In order to commemorate the victory of this battle, Yesugei named his newborn son Temujin. This Temujin would later become the world-famous Genghis Khan.
When Temujin was 9 years old, his father Yesugei took him to Hongji Labu to propose marriage. The leader of the Hongjila tribe was very satisfied when he saw Temujin's cleverness and intelligence, so he agreed to betroth his daughter Borte to Temujin. According to the custom at that time, men often stayed in the woman's family to marry into the family. Yesugei left Temujin behind and returned home alone.
On his way home, Yesugei passed by the Tatar camp and saw the Tatars holding a banquet. He accepted the invitation and sat down to drink. The Tatars recognized Yesugei as their enemy and secretly poisoned the wine.
After the banquet, Yesugei continued on his way home. As he walked, he felt a pain in his stomach, which became worse and worse. By the time he managed to get home, he was already dying. He understood that he had been plotted by the Tatar people, so he called his wife Hoelun to him and begged: "You must raise the Temujin brothers, educate them to inherit their ancestral heritage, and avenge me!" Hoelun Choking and nodding. Soon, Yesugei died.
After Yesu died, the family, which was left with only an orphan and a widowed mother, not only declined in power and lost its dominant position in the tribe, but was also often bullied by others. The Taichiwu clan, which was originally nomadic with the Qiyan clan, took the opportunity to expand its power and asked the Qiyan clan's tribe and subjects to go nomadic with them. They also relied on the strength of their numbers to conquer Temujin. All the livestock were driven away.
From then on, Temujin’s mother lived a very difficult life with several young children. They often had to rely on gathering wild fruits, digging wild vegetables and grass roots to survive. The mother worked hard and overcame all difficulties to raise her children with all her heart; Temujin was smart and sensible, and gradually grew up under the temper of hard years.
He was born tall and had bright eyes. He developed a strong character who was not afraid of difficulties and had outstanding talents of being good at observing things and being rich in strategies.
The leader of the Taichiwu clan was worried that the Qiyan clan's renewed strength would threaten his status, so he gathered his clan members to attack Temujin's camp in an attempt to get rid of Temujin.
The Taichiwu people surrounded Temujin's family and threatened to hand over Temujin alone. In order not to cause harm to his family and tribe, Temujin fled alone to the mountains and dense forests.
The Taichiwu people pursued Temujin closely. They surrounded the mountains and forests and set up sentries at various intersections. Temujin hid in the dense forest for seven days and nights with nothing to eat. He could only chew grass roots and wild vegetables to satisfy his hunger. Later, he couldn't bear it anymore and walked out of the dense forest, but was caught by the Taichiwushi people.
Temujin was put in wooden shackles and sent to the camp of the Taichiwu clan. They ridiculed and insulted Temujin in every possible way. Temujin gritted his teeth and endured it all silently. One night, Temujin escaped while the guards were not paying attention. Then with the help of some kind-hearted people, he escaped back home.
This was the first time Temujin encountered disaster in his early years. Shortly thereafter, Temujin encountered two more catastrophes. Once, several bandits stole Temujin's horses. Temujin chased them bravely and fought fiercely with the bandits alone. Later, with the help of a warrior, he defeated the bandits and regained the horses. In the end, Temujin was accidentally shot in the neck by a bandit and almost lost his life.
Temujin was killed for the third time, shortly after his wedding. In order to take revenge, the Merqi tribe suddenly attacked Temujin. Temujin had no strength to resist, so he had to command his family and tribe to flee into the mountains, thus escaping the disaster.
Due to the hasty retreat, his wife Borte was kidnapped by the Meer beggars.
Temujin was grief-stricken and determined to rescue his wife. He himself did not have enough troops, so he asked Wang Han, the leader of the Kelie tribe, for support. Before this, when Temujin married his wife Borte, in order to expand his strength and revitalize his family, Temujin dedicated his wife's precious dowry sable skin to Wang Han, the leader of the Kelei tribe, and obtained the king's title. Rare trust. At that time, Wang Han promised Temujin that he would collect the departed tribesmen for him and help him re-establish the old tribe. Now, when Temujin encountered difficulties, he asked Wang Han for help, and Wang Han agreed.
Temujin went to borrow men and horses from Zadalan tribe again. Jamukha, the leader of the Zadalan tribe, was Temujin's childhood friend. When he saw Temujin's request for help, he immediately agreed.
So, with the help of Wang Han and Jamukha, Temujin dispatched allied forces to attack the residence of the Merqi people. They defeated the Merqi people and fled in embarrassment. Temujin rescued his wife and captured many Merggar beggars.
This battle demonstrated Temujin’s political talent. He took advantage of the opportunity of defeating the Meer beggars, gathered and united a group of people, formed his own army, and put his tribe on the road to prosperity and development.
Temujin's growing power aroused the jealousy of his ally Jamuka, and the two finally turned against each other. In 1189, some nobles supported Temujin as Khan, and he was recognized by Wang Han, the leader of the Kelie tribe. Jamukha was unconvinced and became angry, so he summoned the remaining leaders of the Mongolian tribe, assembled 30,000 troops, divided them into thirteen wings, and launched an attack on Temujin. Temujin also divided his team into thirteen wings to attack. In this historically famous Battle of the Thirteen Wings, Temujin failed because of his hasty response.
After Jamuka defeated Temujin, he was satisfied with the partial victory and did not continue the pursuit. At the same time, Jamukha treated Temujin's captured subordinates and children cruelly, and even threw the captives into a pot and boiled them alive inhumanely. His cruel behavior caused dissatisfaction among many clans within Jamuka's power, and they left Jamuka one after another and turned to Temujin. Although Temujin lost the battle of Thirteen Wings, his strength did not suffer much. Due to Jamukha's mistake, Temujin not only quickly recovered his strength, but also the tribe's power increased.
After the Thirteen Wings battle, Temujin took advantage of the Tatar people's defeat by the Jin Dynasty and once again joined forces with Wang Han, the leader of the Kle tribe, to block the Tatar people and hunted and killed their leader. The Tatars had previously captured the leaders of the Mongolian tribe and presented them to the Jin Dynasty for execution. Therefore, this victory fulfilled the Mongolian tribe's desire for revenge and greatly enhanced Temujin's prestige. At the same time, Wanyan Xiang, the prime minister of the Jin Dynasty, also awarded Temujin the title of "Zhawutihuxing" (commander of all tribes), making Temujin the legitimate leader of the Mongolian tribe.
Beginning in 1200, Temujin relied on his power and intelligence to conquer the north and south, determined to unify the Mongolian grasslands. In 1201, Temujin and Wang Han defeated the coalition of 11 tribes gathered by Jamukha, including Taichiwu, Tatar, and Merqi. In this battle, Temujin completely defeated the Taichiwu tribe, and he breathed a sigh of relief for many years.
In 1202, Temujin took the initiative and decided to eliminate the Tatar tribe in order to avenge his father's murder. At this time, Temujin's army already had strict military discipline. Before setting off, Temujin issued an order: "If the enemy is defeated, private looting of property will never be allowed, and the spoils will be distributed uniformly after complete victory; if forced to flee, When you return to your original place, you must fight back. Those who dare not return to fight after being defeated will be beheaded in public."
Due to strict discipline, Temujin's men fought bravely and defeated Tatar in one fell swoop. department. A few years later, Temujin wiped out the last two tribes on the grassland - the Kelei tribe and the Naiman tribe.
In the spring of 1206, Temujin convened a meeting of all nobles and generals at the source of the Onon River where the Mongols originally lived. At the meeting, everyone elected Temujin as the Great Khan, nicknamed "Genghis", and Great Mongolia as the country's name.
"Genghis" means ocean, and "Genghis Khan" is a ruler like the ocean.
As a result, the first powerful country of military slavery in Mongolian history emerged in the vast land starting from the Xing'an Mountains in the east, the Altai Mountains in the west, the Great Desert in the south, and Lake Baikal in the north. The Great Mongol Kingdom, also known as the Mongol Khanate. The unified Mongolian people under the leadership of Genghis Khan officially entered the stage of history.
After Genghis Khan unified the grasslands, he continued to use troops and conquered everywhere, constantly expanding his power and territory. Throughout his life, he "destroyed the country for forty" in one battle and wrote a glorious page in history. He was worthy of being a "genius of a generation".
In 1227, Genghis Khan fell ill and died while attacking Xixia. The successor to the throne was his third son Ogedai.