Genghis Khan
Discover Genghis Khan — the Mongol conqueror who rose from exile to build the largest contiguous land empire in history, reshaping the medieval world.
Genghis Khan (c. 1162–1227 CE), born Temüjin, rose from orphaned exile on the Mongolian steppe to become the founder of the largest contiguous land empire in human history. His story is one of history's most extraordinary personal transformations — and one of its most consequential.
Temüjin's early life was shaped by the brutal politics of steppe nomad society. Abandoned by his clan after his father's death, he spent years in poverty and captivity before slowly building a network of allies through a combination of personal charisma, strategic marriages, and military skill. By 1206, he had unified the Mongol tribes under his rule and was proclaimed Genghis Khan — "Universal Ruler" — at a great assembly on the banks of the Onon River.
What followed was an explosion of conquest unprecedented in scale and speed. Genghis Khan's armies destroyed the Khwarezmian Empire, conquered northern China, swept across Central Asia, and invaded Russia — all within two decades. His military innovations — decimal-based army organization, meritocratic promotion, sophisticated intelligence networks, and psychological warfare — created the most effective military machine the world had seen. His legal code, the Yasa, imposed order across diverse populations. The empire he built would, under his successors, grow to encompass a quarter of the earth's land surface.