I have decided to open this thread with regards to a topic I have been asked about several times and which allready started to cause some debate in another article of the History section to avoid over confusing the topic I have decided to break it down over two seperate periods and Historical technicalities aside this should be more understandable for everyone.
I will help paint the picture for you guys and take us all back over almost a millenium of History and explain what happened to the best of my ability and with the best use of sources on this I can find. I will post a bit about further reading at the end.
Right to the begining then.
A thousand years ago the area North and West of China which now comprises Mongolia, Syberia and most of Central Asia was a hostile land, where there was very little civilised settlements. This was a vast land made up almost entirely of an ocean of grass, with a few mountians and trees surrounding the whole vista.
It was a harsh land called the Steppe where summer temperatures could reach 50c and winter would plummet to as low as -20c. It was a land dotted by Tribes of wandering herders and hunter gatherers. Many tribes moved across the land and there was virtually no universal law or order. To the West the World was contained by Castles and Cities from the Byzantine Empire to the smaller Kingdoms and states of Europe. To the South West were the Islamic nations of the Middle East right up to the Kingdom of Egypt and Africa beyond them. To the Immediate South and East lay nations such as China, India and the Lands of Koryu (Korea).
The Steppes were home to many tribes the oldest of whom were a large confederation who had been pushed into the very North around what is now Siberia. These were a people that Historicaly were known to the Chinese as Huni and Romans called them the Huns. The Greek name for these barbarians was “Tartars” they were named after the Greek word “Tartarus” which meant Hell. Tartars was to become a word associated with all the tribes of the Steppe but in the 11th Century the true Tartars were the Northern Huns.
The rest of the Steppes were inhabited by various smaller tribes some of whom were no more than a few dozen fammilies others were small nations of thier own right. The larger tribes were the Kazans a tribe who ruled what is now Kazakstan and all that lies to the West of it right to the Russian border some of this nations were refered to by Russians as Cozacks.
The other large tribes were the Naimans whose territory mostly comrpised of what is now Northern Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Merkits who ruled a vast swathe of land from Eastern Mongolia to the Xingjaing region of China. It is worth noting that China back in those days was a little smaller than today if you take away the entire Xinjiang province then you would be about the size of the Chinese empire at that period which would have the Song Dynasty.
The Oirats and Jaigoriats were tribes largely from what is now Mongolia. The other large tribe from this period which is perhaps the only Steppe tribe to have survived in large numbers to the modern age is the Uighurs who had the territory of Most of Xinjiang and by the 11th Century they were perhaps the most settled of the tribes due to thier close proximity to China.
We begin our Journey in the very heart of what is today Modern Mongolia, which up till a Century ago was always refered to as Mughalistan or Mongolistan (land of the Mongols). The difference between Mughal and Mongol is that Mughal is merely the Persian variation of the word Mongol which comes from the ancient language of the Mongols that is now extinct with only parts of that language ever preserved in Chagatai text.
In Central Mongolia right beside the great Onon river there was a tribe of people known as the Borjigin. The name means, blue wolves, although they had always been reffered to by others as simply the Wolves. The origins of this tribe are lost to the Myths and Legends. All we need to know is that the Borjigin was the tribe of Changez Khan (often rendered in English as Ghengis Khan but the correct Mongol way to say it (phonetically) is the version I shall use). At the time just before Changez was born his Father Yusugie was leader of the Borjigin and had one son named Bektar and his wife Holun. The Borjigin was a very small tribe but they were famed for being very agressive and had beaten thier rival tribes time and agian. Just before Changez was born his father defeated a raiding band of Tartars and took the name of one of his enemies Temujin as a name for his second son. The first name that Changez Khan ever had was Temujin Yusugie. Temujin means Iron and Yusiegi it was said was a man whose word was iron. A promise and personal trust was one of the most important things in the Steppes.
Changez Khan is a name synonimous across the World as a man of terror, evil and pure loathing. Few personalities in history have ever racked up enough hate points as this fellow and to be honest few in History have ever been so misunderstood.
Before I go deeper into his past and his personal characteristics. Heres just a few facts about this man which are worth knowing and keeping in mind. Popular imagination and culture has always depicted him as nothing more than a barbaric brute, a lustfull man who pursued pleasure both on and off the battlefield. A man who was utterly mercyless and cruel beyond belief but we should actually look more closely at this man before we judge him.
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He did indeed take many wives and concubines and most of shocking of all is the fact that there are more men with the same male Y chromosomes in thier genes then perhaps any other historical figure, except perhaps Hazrat Baba Adam Alay-Salaam. Adam the first man if your religous.
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He never lost a battle in which he took to the field and there were over forty set piece engagements in his millitary career which spanned several decades.
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He was not just larger than life in movies and novels he really was a staggering figure back for those days and his physical endurance and mental stamina as well as physical were on par with the top athletes. The man was a giant for his age and by all accounts he had tremendous strength having often fought at the front of his men.
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However the tales about him never showing any mercy are only partly true. I will explain further in more detail suffice to say that Changez Khan that while at times he was utterly brutal he did have a very strong belief and was often very mercifull towards enemies although most of the time he was not and in a few instances he did not spare his own blood either. His vengeance was indeed terrible.
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There is no certian evidence that Changez ever chose a religoin, he was born into a shamanic belief system but at various times in his life he did debate with all kinds of people from Bhudist Monks, Molvis, Syeds/Pirs, Fakirs, Christian Bishops and even a Master Assasin. However theres no record as to whether he ever followed any of the advice of these learned men or took up thier faith. We do however know he had a firm belief in the existence of a One true God or Universal power beyond our world and evidence for this exists in many forms.
However what shaped this mans life and the story of the entire Mongol nation is very interesting indeed the Mongols would rise from a tiny tribe of no more than two hundred people to a potent force that would create the largest single land empire in the History of the World.
In my next installment I shall post about the early life of Changez and what he had to go through which shaped his future.