Resources
Contents:
Lessons:
- Revisionist History: Historians portray "The Great Genghis Khan" as a brilliant, impressive figure. They would never do the same with "modern" villains, such as Hitler. We tend to focus on the by-product of damage and ignore the short term consequences (in this case, 40-50 million + deaths). The "Great Khan" was an evil person, who fought for profit and power - and raped, killed, lied, cheated, and tortured to get what he wanted. Importantly, this is not particularly unique. See ‣.
- Militarized Value: Genghis Khan instilled a disciplined, militarized culture throughout his empire. He gave extreme autonomy, respect (religious tolerance), and riches to those who were loyal to him. He built a powerful religion.
- Aliens: To the disconnected, ancient world - the Mongols were aliens. They were foreign creatures from the East (China) who came, destroyed, and left. They were like lightning bolts and bad dreams...many cultures (Muslim, Catholic) saw the Mongol destruction as an act from god.
High-Level:
Genghis Khan or Temüjin Borjigin (/ˈɡɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn, ˈdʒɛŋ-/;[4][5][6][7] Mongolian: Чингис хаан, Çingis hán [t͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋ] ( listen)) (also transliterated as Chinggis Khaan;[note 3] born Temüjin,[note 4] c. 1162 – August 18, 1227) was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death.