Well into his middle age
and with a mighty empire under his control
Genghis Khan's thoughts linger on
what would happen to that empire after he dies.
What would become of his family
What will become of the world he has worked so hard to shape.
Music (birth of the people)
The 13th century...
The muslim lands of the Khwarazmian empire were the richest
and most sophisticated in the world.
Its citizens swore about their contemporaries in Europe, India and China
in astronomy, mathematics, agronomy and many other fields.
But because they stood higher, they had the furthest to fall.
a 100,000 mongol horsemen stormed the Khwarazmian cities.
The sultan of Khwarazmian had 4 times as many soldiers
but the mongol forces were terrifying.
and they honored their promise of clemency to all who surrendered
as strictly as their honor their promise of destruction to all who resisted.
Cities fell one after another...
Many surrendered without a fight.
Other held out for a few days or weeks before falling.
After defeating each city, Genghis Khan sent clerks to divide the civilian population by profession.
Including doctors, astronomers, judges, engineers, teachers, artisans and religious leaders.
They especially sought out people who spoke multiple languages
Despite all of their growth, wealth and power,
The Mongols still practiced no crafts themselves, other than war, herding, and hunting
All of the skilled work done in their growing empire
was done by the people they conquered
They needed teachers as much as they needed riches
But one group in particular could expect no mercy from the Mongol forces
That group being: The wealthy and the powerful
Under the chivalrous rules of warfare as practiced in Europe and the Middle East during the Crusades
Aristocrats were protected and kept as hostages to be ransomed
The Mongols had no use for such pleasantries
To prevent future wars, they sought out and eliminated
any enemy aristocrats they could find
Aristocrats offered nothing of value to the Mongols,
*and* were the most likely to resist them successfully in the future
By eliminating the aristocracy, they decapitated the social system of their enemies
As the 1220's rolled in, Genghis Khan was in his sixties,
at the height of his power - with nothing...
Genghis Khan was in his sixties, at the height of his power - with nothing, and no-one...
Genghis Khan was in his sixties, at the height of his power - with nothing, and no-one standing in his way
But despite his overwhelming success as a conqueror, he was *really* struggling as a father
Custom held that each son in a herding family inherited some of their family's herd
Genghis Khan intended to instead offer each son a piece of his empire
However, he also needed to choose one son to be the next Great Khan after he died
He summoned a family Kurultai to discuss the matter
His two eldest sons, Jochi and Chagatai, were tense and terse with one another
Ögedei, his third son, arrived to the meeting slightly late
Ögedei, his third son, arrived to the meeting slightly late, and also, *slightly inebriated*
Genghis Khan asked his eldest son Jochi to speak first on the matter of succession
In doing so, he emphasized Jochi's rank as his elder son, implying he was the likely successor
Chagatai did not agree.
Chagatai did not agree, and interrupted before Jochi could answer.
Jochi lunged at his brother, and the two men started to fistfight
Genghis Khan broke up the fight, and tearfully pleaded with his sons
Begging them to understand how different things were before they were born, when nobody was safe
He ordered them to respect each other, but he knew he could not impose a choice on them
that would last after his death
They would have to find a compromise
After much discussion, the family decided that neither Chagatai, nor Jochi
should become their father's heir
But instead, agreed that the role of successor should go to their mellow, good-natured and hard drinking brother, Ögedei
Genghis Khan then allotted his personal lands and herds to each son
Genghis Khan then allotted his personal lands and herds to each son, and separated Jochi and Chagatai
giving them kingdoms at far opposite ends of his territory
This ordeal cast a pall over the remainder of this campaign
Genghis Khan was now keenly aware of how much work he needed to do
to preserve the empire after his death
He had been so *doggèd* in his pursuit of empire and unification that, he'd neglected his family
He put much effort into trying to mend the relationship between his eldest sons
He assigned them jointly to a campaign but, neither brother could agree on what tactics to use
but, neither brother could agree on what tactics to use. And because of their bickering,
the campaign stretched on for six months
- an unprecedented amount of time for a Mongol siege.
Eventually, they had no choice but to burn the city to the ground and flood it,
destroying it utterly, and leaving nothing to loot.
In 1222,
In 1222, the Mongol conquest reached the city of Multan - in modern day Pakistan
Genghis Khan had set his sights on Northern India
Genghis Khan had set his sights on Northern India, the seat of silk production
Here, however, he faced a new enemy that stopped him in his tracks
As soon as the Mongols left the dry and cold mountainous regions, both warriors and horses
grew sick,
and weak
The Mongol bows, which were so well adapted to the extreme cold and heat of the steppe,
adapted to the extreme cold and heat of the steppe, weakened in the damp air and lost their accuracy
The Mongols were forced to fall back, and sustained massive casualties as they withdrew
to the more familiar climate of Afghanistan
withdrew to the more familiar climate of Afghanistan. Despite this setback,
they had succeeded in their goal of conquering the Khwarasm Empire,
Bringing Central Asia and much of the Middle East under Mongol control
To celebrate, Genghis Khan called for a fete, that ended up being the largest hunt in history
His men cordoned off a massive area of territory,
And tens of thousands of soldiers from different armies converged on the field from different directions
The hunt lasted for months, and was intended as more than a celebration
- Genghis Khan also wanted to use it
to mellow relations between his sons,
and to end the campaign on a cooperative note
Upon returning home, the victorious Mongol army saw the fruits of their conquest
The nation had been utterly transformed
Girls who had spent their days milking goats and yaks were now wearing silk,
while their new servants
performed menial labour for them
Elders who had never seen metal in their lives, now cut meat with Damascus Steel
Elders who had never seen metal in their lives, now cut meat with Damascus Steel, girded with ivory hilts
They served yak's milk from silver bowls, while their musicians sang to them
But Genghis Khan was not built for this life...
He didn't want to stop conquering,
Or, maybe he couldn't stop conquering...
He set out once again to campaign against the Tangut
- the very first foreign nation he had conquered after his election as Great Khan
The Tangut had refused to offer troops for the Khwarasm invasion, a slight that could not stand.
And establishing a base in the Tangut Kingdom would offer a second chance at the Song Dynasty,
a target he still coveted
And that,
And that, is where Genghis Khan's story very suddenly, and very mysteriously, *ends*.
What happened next
remains something of a mystery.
Some say that while traversing the Gobi to fight the Tangut,
Genghis Khan stopped to catch some wild horses and was thrown from his mount
Genghis Khan stopped to catch some wild horses and was thrown from his mount, sustaining internal injuries
Some legends say that he was assassinated by a sex worker, struck by lightning, poisoned,
or, killed by a magic spell cast by the Tangut King - Heck -
Heck - Marco Polo even reports in his book chronicling his time in the court of Kublai Khan,
chronicling his time in the court of Kublai Khan - eh Genghis Khan's grandson,
That the Great Khan was killed after taking *an arrow to the knee*
All that we know for sure, is that just before the Mongol victory over the Tangut,
Genghis Khan died quietly.
A procession would have set out towards Mongolia with Genghis Khan's body on a simple cart.
His horsehair spirit banner would have led the way, and behind the procession would have followed his horse
and behind the procession would have followed his horse, with a loose bridle, and an empty saddle.
He was buried anonymously, in the soil of his homeland, without a monument to mark his grave.
Genghis Khan transformed Mongol warfare, from a messy, tribal raiding system,
into an intercontinental affair, fought on multiple fronts,
across *thousands* of miles
His battlefield techniques made the heavily armored knights of Medieval Europe 'obsolete'
heavily armored knights of Medieval Europe 'obsolete', replacing them with disciplined cavalry
moving in organised units
He made brilliant use of speed and surprise on the battlefield
And perfected siege warfare to such a degree that, he 'ended' the era of walled cities
He taught his people to fight not only across incredible distances, but to sustain their campaigns over years
but to sustain their campaigns over years, decades, and eventually over three generations of constant fighting
His last ruling descendant remained in power in Uzbekistan until he was deposed by the rising tide of the Soviet Revolution in *1920*
Genghis Khan was also, *brutal* - His goals were achieved
Genghis Khan was also, *brutal* - His goals were achieved, through the *deaths of millions*
The Mongols made no technological breakthroughs, founded no new religions,
wrote no great books or dramas
founded no new religions, wrote no great books or dramas, and offered the world
no new crafts or methods of agriculture
They simply conquered, and assimilated
They simply conquered, and assimilated; and their tactics left parts of the world depopulated *to this day*.
But the Mongols absolutely did change the world, and that was what young Temüjin had desparately wanted
from the very moment he first learned
how harsh, violent and unforgiving life can be
He eradicated torture, kidnapping and raiding from his world, but at the cost of countless lives and entire cultures
*Is peace bought with blood,*
*Is peace bought with blood, and maintained with force*
*Is peace bought with blood, and maintained with force truly peace?*
It may be impossible to say whether Genghis Khan better than he found it, but
It may be impossible to say whether Genghis Khan better than he found it, but, it was still, undeniably
It may be impossible to say whether Genghis Khan better than he found it, but, it was still, undeniably, changed
changed
Hopefully doing captions bit by bit
Hopefully doing captions a bit like this - like how autocaptions does it wasn't bad and conveys the speaking rhythm
have a good one! ^__^