Genghis Khan Argumentative

Genghis Khan (/ˈɡɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/ or /ˈdʒɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/, Mongol: [tʃiŋɡɪs xaːŋ] Chingis/Chinghis Khan; 1162? – August 1227), born Temujin, was the founder and Great Khan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his demise. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed “Genghis Khan,” he started the Mongol invasions that resulted in the conquest of most of Eurasia. These included raids or invasions of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by wholesale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in theKhwarezmian controlled lands. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China. Before Genghis Khan died, he assigned Ögedei Khan as his successor and split his empire into khanates among his sons and grandsons.

He died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia at an unknown location. His descendants went on to stretch the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering or creating vassal states out of all of modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, Central Asian countries, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Many of these invasions repeated the earlier large-scale slaughters of local populations. As a result Genghis Khan and his empire have a fearsome reputation in local histories.[8] Beyond his military accomplishments, Genghis Khan also advanced the Mongol Empire in other ways. He decreed the adoption of the Uyghur script as the Mongol Empire’s writing system. He also promoted religious tolerance in the Mongol Empire, and created a unified empire from the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. Present-day Mongolians regard him as the founding father of Mongolia.[9] Tolui, (Classic Mongolian: Toluy, Tului, (Mongolian: Тулуй хаан), Tolui Khan (meaning the Khan Tolui)) (1192–1232) was the fourth son of Genghis Khan by his chief khatun Börte.

His ulus, or territorial inheritance, at his father’s death in 1227 was the homelands in Mongolia, and it was he who served as civil administrator in the time it took to confirm Ögedei as second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (1206–1368). Before that he had served with distinction in the campaigns against the Jin Dynasty, the Xi Xia and the Khwarezmid Empire, where he was instrumental in the capture and massacre at Merv and Nishapur. He is a direct ancestor of most of the Emperors of Mongolia and the Ilkhanids. Tolui never used the title of Khagan himself; though neither Genghis Khan nor his immediate three successors ever use any reigning titles unlike the neighboring Chinese dynasties in the south.

Tolui was awarded the title of Khagan by his son Möngke and was given a temple name (Chinese: 元睿宗; pinyin: Yuán Ruìzōng; Wade–Giles: Jui-Tsung) by his other son Kublai, when he established the Yuan Dynasty a few decades later. Ögedei Khan, born Ögedei (also Ogodei, Mongolian: c. 1186 – 11 December 1241) was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan(Khagan) of the Mongol Empire by succeeding his father. He continued the expansion of the empire that his father had begun, and was a world figure when the Mongol Empire reached its farthest extent west and south during the invasions of Europe and Asia.[1] Like all of Genghis’ primary sons, he participated extensively in conquests in China, Iran and Central Asia.

He was given the temple name of Taizong (Tai-tsung; Chinese: 太宗; pinyin: Tàizōng; Wade–Giles: T’ai4-tsung1) later by his nephew Kublai Khan, who founded the Yuan Dynasty. Töregene Khatun (also Turakina) (1242–1246) was the Great Khatun and regent of the Mongol Empire from the death of her husband Ögedei Khan in 1241 until the election of her eldest son Güyük Khan in 1246. Born in the Naiman tribe, Töregene was given as wife to Qudu, the noble of the Merkit clan at first.[1] But Rashid-al-Din Hamadani named her first husband as Dair Usun of the Merkits.[2] When Genghis conquered the Merkits in 1204, he gave Töregene to Ögedei as his second wife. While Ögedei’s first wife had no sons, Töregene gave birth to five sons.

She eclipsed all of Ögedei’s wives and gradually increased her influence among the court officials. But Töregene still resented Ögedei’s officials and the policy of centralizing the administration and lowering tax burdens. Töregene sponsored the reprinting of the Taoist canon in North China.[3] Through the influence of Töregene, Ögedei appointed Abd-ur-Rahman as tax farmer in China. Soon after Ögedei died in 1241, at first power passed to the hands of Moqe, one of Genghis Khan’s wives, who Ögedei inherited. With the support of Chagatai and her sons, Töregene assumed complete power as regent in spring 1242 as Great Khatun[4] and dismissed her late husband’s ministers and replaced them with her own, the most important of whom was another woman, Fatima, a Tajik or Persiancaptive from the Middle Eastern campaign.

She was a Shiite Muslim who deported Shiite shrine of Meshed to Mongolia. She tried to arrest several of Ögedei’s main officials. Her husband’s chief secretary, Chinqai, and the administrator, Mahmud Yalavach fled to her son Koden in North China while Turkestani administrator Masud Begh, fled to Batu Khan in Russia. In Iran Töregene ordered Korguz arrested and handed over to the widow of Chagatai, whom he had unwisely defied. The Chagatayid Khan Qara Hülëgü executed him. Töregene appointed Arghun aqa of the Oirat as governor in Persia. She put Abd-ur-Rahman in charge of general administration in North China and Fatima became even more powerful at the Mongol court. These actions led the Mongol aristocrats into a frenzy of extortionate demands for revenue. Güyük (or Kuyuk; Mongolian Cyrillic: Гүюг хаан) (c. 1206–1248) was the third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.

As the eldest son of Ögedei Khan and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he reigned from 1246 to 1248. He was given the temple name Ting-Tsung (Chinese: 元定宗; pinyin: Yuán Dìngzōng) later by Kublai Khan, who founded the Yuan Dynasty. Güyük received military training and served as an officer under Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan. He married Oghul Qaimish of the Merkit clan. In 1233, Güyük, along with his maternal cousin Alchidai and the Mongol general Tangghud, conquered the short-lived Dongxia Kingdom of Puxian Wannu, who was a rebellious Jinofficial,[1] in a few months. After the death of Tolui, Ogedei proposed that Sorghaghtani, the widow of Tolui, marry his son Güyük. Sorghaghtani declined, saying that her prime responsibility was to her own sons.

Mongols were highly tolerant of most religions, and typically sponsored several at the same time. At the time of Genghis Khan in the 13th century, virtually every religion had found converts, from Buddhism to Christianity and Manichaeanism to Islam. To avoid strife, Genghis Khan set up an institution that ensured complete religious freedom, though he himself was a shamanist. Under his administration, all religious leaders were exempt from taxation, and from public service.[1] Mongol emperors were known for organizing competitions of religious debates among clerics, and these would draw large audiences. Initially there were few formal places of worship, because of the nomadic lifestyle. However, under Genghis’s successor Ögedei, several building projects were undertaken in he Mongol capital of Karakorum.

Along with palaces, Ogedei built houses of worship for the Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, and Taoist followers. The dominant religions at that time were Shamanism, Tengriism and Buddhism, although Ogodei’s wife was a Christian.[2] In later years of the empire, three of the four principal khanates embraced Islam, as Islam was favored over other religions.[3][4][5] The Yuan Dynasty mainly adopted Tibetan Buddhism while there were other religions practiced in the east of the Mongol Empire An important legacy of the Mongols’ reign in China was their support of many religions. Islam, for example, was well supported, and the Mongols built quite a number of mosques in China.

The Mongols also recruited and employed Islamic financial administrators — a move that led to good relations with the Islamic world beyond China, in particular with Persia and West Asia. [Also see The Mongols’ Mark on Global History: Relations with Islam] The Mongols were also captivated by Buddhism — particularly the Tibetan form of Buddhism — and they recruited a number of Tibetan monks to help them rule China and promote the interests of Buddhism. The most important of these monks was the Tibetan ‘Phags-pa Lama. This policy resulted in an astonishing increase in the number of Buddhist monasteries in China, as well as in the translation of Buddhist texts. Even Nestorian Christianity was promoted by the Mongols, partly because Khubilai Khan’s own mother was an adherent of that faith.

There was one religion, however, that did not have Mongol support: Daoism. Daoism was at that time embroiled in a struggle with Buddhism that often flared into actual pitched battles between the monks of the two religions. The Mongols, siding with the Buddhists, did not look favorably upon the Daoists. In fact, at a meeting in 1281 where Buddhist and Daoist monks debated the merits of their individual religions, Khubilai Khan supported the Buddhists and imposed severe limits on Daoism. As a result of this meeting, a considerable number of Daoist monasteries were converted into Buddhist monasteries, some Daoist monks were defrocked, and some of the wealth and property of the Daoists was taken over either by the Mongol state or by Buddhist monasteries. [Chinggis Khan, on the other hand, favored Daoism. Read more about Chinggis Khan’s Legacy of Religious Tolerance]

There are 3 periods of Genghis Khan in his lifetime. Before 1206 he was busy unifying the tribes in the north dessert to set up his Great Mongolia Empire. From 1207 on he was moving south, unifying the north China; after 1219 he fought west for his great empire across Asia and Europe. What he did was about his race, about China as well as the whole world. His achievements are shown in these directions. Generally speaking he is hero of Mongolians, of Chinese, and of the world. Genghis Khan made never-ignorable achievements for Mongolians for his forming the Mongolian race and improving the Mongolian society. 1) Unifying The Mongolia Plateau

Many tribes and tribes’ leagues in all sizes are scattered over the various Mongolia Plateau in Genghis Khan’s time. Beside the Mongolia ones there were other big tribes such as tartar, kered, Mecrit, Naimang, Ongut and the like who kept combating each other. The continuous war slowed economy development and allowed the Jin rulers robbing and killing on the prairie.Genghis Khan set up his grand empire under serious atmosphere with great intelligence and great mind, conquering many tribes and at last unifying the plateau, setting up the Great Mongolian Empire.The unification of Mongolia ended the combating confusion between tribes, forging them into one firm and displined country, bringing the prairie order and peace, along with convenience for development. 2) Pushing the formation of Mongolian race

There were about 100 big and small tribes before Genghis Khan combating each other, the set up of the Mongolian Empire ended the confusion and made the scattering tribes linked with each other, families are organized in hundreds and thousands, helping tribes get in touch with each other, breaking the borders between tribes, making people work and live together, when combating together under the guidance of Genghis. The Mongolian characters greatly cultivated people and helped run orders, and Mongolian became the common language between tribes. Mongolia is, since then, not only name of one tribe but also name of a race consisted by tribes, which means the formation of Mongolians. 3) Lifting the social production of Mongolia society

The tribes were transferring fiercely and confusingly from clan society to higher stage before unified by Genghis Khan with a quite poor production capability. The wars stopped and society was stable after unification, giving a suitable condition for production capability, comedy transferring was getting safer and more frequent.The wars with West Xia Dynasty and Jin Dynasty in the south brought advanced technology and craftsmen, greatly promoted handicraft industry and agriculture.Animal husbandry made further improvement after utilization, helping the poor race grow into a prosperous one. 4) Improving Mongolian Culture

In Genghis Khan`s reign, Mongolian common language were made, which has great effect to increase Mongolian culture and put government order into effect,Genghis Khan also ask to write a manual book about the laws and promulgate the corpus juris.Genghis Khan emphasize on absorbing various culture of advanced nation and the learned people, offer seats for them wherever they come from. Talents from Uighur, Qidan and Han were collected around him made great contribution to the Mongolian culture. The lag and obscuration Mongolian culture had been changed after the unification, greatly promoted the society development. Force conquer outwards began in 1205 after Genghis Khan’s unifying Mongolia, beating the opposition fraction from the inside so as to remove threats outwards and to crusade against enemies as well as enlarge territory.

Genghis Khan made 6 movements in 23 years and finally perished West Xia Dynasty in 1227. The war against Jing Dynasty began in 1211 and areas north of Yellow River had been got on Genghis Khan’s death.Ogedei, successor of Genghis ended Jin Dynasty in 1234, Kublian Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan ended South Song Dynasty, unified China.Genghis Khan unified north China, grounding the unification of China. The wars of Genghis Khan against West Xia Dynasty and Jin is actually the unification war of China.Genghis Khan’s westwards conquering unified various areas across Europe and Asia in a great emperor, stopping the long-lasting wars and confusion there, bringing long peace and quiet there, greatly affecting histories of both China and the world.

The giant emperor built a broad way for the communications of economy, culture and trade between east and west, bringing light to the dark ages of the west. The 3 conquers of Mongolian army rewrote world history, modified world map, changed borders of countries.The trade between east and west after the conquer to the west brought Chinese culture to Europe, brought them prosperous . The Great Empire built by Genghis Khan and his descendents open the west-east channel, promote the eastern and western cultura, pufprward economical communication and nationalsyncretize.