I learned things today about Genghis Khan – yes, that guy – that I had no idea I didn’t know. CNN declared him the “Man of the Millennium” a few years back and I now understand why.
- He invented a lot of things, including passports, the Pony Express, and the concept of diplomatic immunity.
- He had two horsehair “spirit banners,” one black and one white, made from the hair of his best stallions. The black represented war and the white represented peace. These went with him everywhere and in Mongolia, legend has it that the black one still exists.
- He set foot inside a building exactly once in his entire life. He lived in tents called gers, or yurts, and dressed like everyone else. He also insisted that his name not be spoken with any particular reverence.
- Although he was definitely a bloodthirsty invader who rightly inspired fear in many nations, he never attacked anyone without giving advance notice.
- He was a firm believer in the idea of a meritocracy – after removing those in power in a place he conquered, he would install new leaders of those areas based on their individual worth. Sometimes these new leaders would be chosen from among his fellow Mongols, but just as often he would select them from among the people he conquered.
- Everyone living in his empire had the right of religious freedom; they could worship however they chose and were never penalized for it.
- He had a harem, of course, but that was normal for his culture at the time. His chief wife was a woman named Borte, to whom he became betrothed at the age of eight. He loved her devotedly – before they were married, she was kidnapped by one of his enemies, who raped and impregnated her. Khan fought to get her back, by which time she had birthed a son. He married her regardless and raised his stepson with great kindness.
- Because she was his first and most important wife, the four sons Borte bore him were the ones who inherited his empire. They also had daughters, all of whom became pretty important figures. Right up until Khan’s death, he would go to Borte for advice on all manner of things and considered her extremely wise; after his passing, she retained her high status in the empire and continued to advise her sons and other nobles.
- Reportedly, he was afraid of two things: wild dogs and his mother’s temper.
- He was buried with a treasure so vast as to be beyond counting; it took 2,000 soldiers to dig the burial site. When they returned after his tomb was sealed, they were all slaughtered in order to keep the location a secret. To this day it has never been found.
Rescuing Borte was pretty much what started Temujin on the
path to becoming Genghis Khan; he recruited a bunch of allies to go fight the
tribe who’d taken her, and after they succeeded, though “hey, I’m pretty good
at this, might as well keep going and unite the Mongols.”
Mooncustafer 