Page | 23Genghis Khan was born as Temujin, son of a Mongol tribal leader, most likely in either
1162 or 1167.110,^111 Temujin’s early life was far from easy. After neighboring Tatars
poisoned his father, Temujin and the rest of his family lived as tribal outcasts, enduring
extreme poverty for several years. He eventually became a warrior for another Mongol
tribal leader, Toghrul Khan. Temujin’s battlefield exploits allowed him to consolidate
considerable power for himself that ultimately proved a threat to his patron. Temujin
defeated Toghrul Khan in battle in 1203 and by 1206 had consolidated complete power
over the tribes of the steppes. The latter date marks the founding of the Mongol Empire
and Temujin taking a new title: Genghis Khan.^112
Thereafter, for the last 21 years of his life, Genghis Khan focused his attention on lands
beyond the Mongolian steppes. By the time of his death in 1227, the Mongol Empire
extended westward across Central Asia to the Black Sea, eastward into the Korean
Peninsula, and southward through North China.
113
Genghis Khan’s Successors
After Genghis Khan’s death, each of his sons or his sons’
descendants received parts of the Mongol Empire as their
personal domains to rule.^114
Only the death that same year of Ögedei, Genghis Khan’s third
son who had been proclaimed the Great Khan (Khagan) two
years after his fathers’ death, stalled the Mongol assault on
Europe.
Jöchi, Genghis Khan’s eldest son,
preceded his father in death, but Jöchi’s sons received the
western part of the empire. Batu, one of Jöchi’s sons, received
the northwestern portion of the empire. From here, Batu and his
great general Subedei launched raids into eastern and central
Europe, culminating in the conquest of Poland and Hungary in
1241.
115, 116(^110) Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Genghis Khan: Early Struggles,” 2011,
Batu and his forces, which had reached the
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/229093/Genghis-Khan
(^111) Thomas Streissguth, “Chapter 1: The Rise of Genghis Khan,” in Genghis Khan’s Mongol Empire
(Detroit, MI: Lucent Books, 2005), 16.
(^112) Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Genghis Khan: Rise to Power,” 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/229093/Genghis-Khan
(^113) Robert L. Worden, “Chapter 1: Historical Setting: The Era of Chinggis Khan, 1206–27: Rise of
Chinggis Khan,” in Mongolia: A Country Study, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1991), 14.
(^114) Encyclopædia Britannica Online, “Jöchi,” 2011,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/304336/Jochi
(^115) Robert L. Worden, “Chapter 1: Historical Setting: Successors of Chinggis 1228–59: Subetei and the
European Expedition,” in Mongolia: A Country Study, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office, 1991), 21.