25 Insane Things You Didn’t Know About Genghis Khan

Posted by , Updated on March 22, 2024

While you probably know he was a prolific warlord, there is much more than meets the eye when it comes to the father of military mayhem. These are 25 insane things you didn’t know about Genghis Khan.

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According to legend Genghis was born with a blood clot in his clenched fist which foretold that he would be a great ruler

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He grew to be tall, he had a long beard, and most likely had red hair with green eyes.

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His look came from the fact that Mongolia had experienced a lot of mixing between European and Asian genes

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He founded the Mongol Empire by uniting the various tribes between Russia and China

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This empire became the largest contiguous empire in history. It stretched all the way from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe

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He believed that a man could be measured by the number of children he fathered. His harem included thousands of women and he had children with many of them

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In fact, due to his sexual exploits, geneticists have found that roughly 8% of men in Asia carry his genetic legacy in their Y-chromosome

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Some of his campaigns involved killing all members of a society - men, women, and children

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Some scholars believe that he is responsible for up to 40 million deaths

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He wanted the location of his grave to be unknown (somewhere in present day Mongolia) so his funeral escort killed everyone they met along the way

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Apparently he even demanded that a river be diverted to run across his grave. This way he would never be disturbed

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His birth name was Temujin, the name of a warlord his father had defeated

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At the age of 10 he killed one of his half brothers while fighting over the game they had just killed on a hunt

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At 15 he was enslaved by another tribe. He escaped though, which ended up winning him a lot of respect

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He met his future wife, Börte, when he was only 9 (arranged by his father)

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When he was 16 they were married and their tribes were united.

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Although he would go on to sleep with numerous women, his empress was always Börte

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After his wife was kidnapped by another tribe, Temujin (Genghis) basically went on a rampage and began to conquer his enemies

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Many tribes pledged loyalty and Temujin became their ruler, or Khan. It was at this point that he changed his name to Genghis, meaning "right" or "just".

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He allowed his conquered enemies to fight for him so his army would keep growing

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He used numerous "dirty" techniques and revolutionized espionage and military tactics

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When the Persians beheaded the Mongolian envoy, Genghis released his wrath and destroyed nearly 90% of their population.

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In fact, according to some estimates, Iran's population didn't reach its pre-Mongol levels until the mid-1900s.

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Some see him as the father of "scorched earth" military techniques which involve destroying pretty much any and every sign of civilization.

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If a town or city disobeyed while under his rule, then everybody in the city would be executed

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