Kaisar Genghis Khan

Legacy and historical assessment

Genghis Khan left a vast and controversial legacy. His unification of the Mongol tribes and his foundation of the largest contiguous state in world history "permanently alter[ed] the worldview of European, Islamic, [and] East Asian civilizations", according to Atwood. His conquests enabled the creation of Eurasian trading systems unprecedented in their scale, which brought wealth and security to the tribes. Although he very likely did not codify the written body of laws known as the Great Yasa, he did reorganise the legal system and establish a powerful judicial authority under Shigi Qutuqu.

On the other hand, his conquests were ruthless and brutal. The prosperous civilizations of China, Central Asia, and Persia were devastated by the Mongol assaults, and underwent multi-generational trauma and suffering as a result. Perhaps Genghis's greatest failing was his inability to create a working succession system—his division of his empire into appanages, meant to ensure stability, actually did the reverse, as local and state-wide interests diverged and the empire began splitting into the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanate, and the Yuan dynasty in the late 1200s. In the mid-1990s, the Washington Post acclaimed Genghis Khan as the "man of the millennium" who "embodied the half-civilized, half-savage duality of the human race". This complex image has remained prevalent in modern scholarship, with historians emphasising both Genghis Khan's positive and negative contributions.

For many centuries, Genghis was remembered in Mongolia as a religious figure, not a political one. After Altan Khan converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the late 1500s, Genghis was deified and given a central role in the Mongolian religious tradition. As a deity, Genghis drew upon Buddhist, shamanistic, and folk traditions: for example, he was defined as a new incarnation of a chakravartin (idealised ruler) like Ashoka, or of Vajrapani, the martial bodhisattva; he was connected genealogically to the Buddha and to ancient Buddhist kings; he was invoked during weddings and festivals; and he took a large role in ancestor veneration rituals. He also became the focus point of a sleeping hero legend, which says he will return to help the Mongol people in a time of great need. His cult was centred at the naiman chagan ordon (lit. '"Eight White Yurts"'), today a mausoleum in Inner Mongolia, China.

In the 19th and early 20th century, Genghis began to be viewed as the national hero of the Mongolian people. Foreign powers recognised this: during its occupation of Inner Mongolia, Imperial Japan funded the construction of a temple to Genghis, while both the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party used the memory of Genghis to woo potential allies in the Chinese Civil War. This attitude was maintained during World War II, when the Soviet-aligned Mongolian People's Republic promoted Genghis to build patriotic zeal against invaders; however, as he was a non-Russian hero who could serve as an anticommunist figurehead, this attitude swiftly changed after the war's end. According to May, Genghis "was condemned as a feudal and reactionary lord [who] exploited the people." His cult was repressed, the alphabet he chose was replaced with the Cyrillic script, and celebrations planned for the 800th anniversary of his birth in 1962 were cancelled and denigrated after loud Soviet complaints. Because Chinese historians were largely more favourable towards him than their Soviet circumstances, Genghis played a minor role in the Sino-Soviet split.

The arrival of the policies of glasnost and perestroika in the 1980s paved the way for official rehabilitation. Less than two years after the 1990 revolution, Lenin Avenue in the capital Ulaanbaatar was renamed Chinggis Khan Avenue. Since then, Mongolia has named Chinggis Khaan International Airport and erected a large statue in Sükhbaatar Square (which was itself renamed after Genghis between 2013 and 2016). His visage appears on items ranging from postage stamps and high-value banknotes to brands of alcohol and toilet paper. In 2006, the Mongolian parliament officially discussed the trivialization of his name through excessive advertising.[236]

Modern Mongolians tend to downplay Genghis's military conquests in favour of his political and civil legacy—they view the destructive campaigns as "a product of their time", in the words of the historian Michal Biran, and secondary to his other contributions to Mongolian and world history. His policies—such his use of the kurultai, his establishment of the rule of law through an independent judiciary, and human rights—are seen as the foundations that allowed the creation of the modern, democratic Mongolian state. Viewed as someone who brought peace and knowledge rather than war and destruction, Genghis Khan is idealised for making Mongolia the centre of international culture for a period. He is generally recognised as the founding father of Mongolia.

The historical and modern Muslim world has associated Genghis Khan with a myriad of ideologies and beliefs. Its first instinct, as Islamic thought had never previously envisioned being ruled by a non-Muslim power, was to view Genghis as the herald of the approaching Judgement Day. Over time, as the world failed to end and as his descendants began converting to Islam, Muslims began to see Genghis as an instrument of God's will who was destined to strengthen the Muslim world by cleansing its innate corruption.

In post-Mongol Asia, Genghis was also a source of political legitimacy, because his descendants had been recognised as the only ones entitled to reign. As a result, aspiring potentates not descended from him had to justify their rule, either by nominating puppet rulers of Genghis's dynasty, or by stressing their own connections to him. Most notably, the great conqueror Timur, who established his own empire in Central Asia, did both: he was obliged to pay homage to Genghis's descendants Soyurgatmish and Sultan Mahmud, and his propaganda campaigns vastly exaggerated the prominence of his ancestor Qarachar Noyan, one of Genghis's lesser commanders, depicting him as Genghis's blood relative and second-in-command. He also married at least two of Genghis's descendants. Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India,[k] in turn derived his authority through his descent from both Timur and Genghis. Until the eighteenth century in Central Asia, Genghis was considered the progenitor of the social order, and was second only to the prophet Muhammad in legal authority.

With the rise of Arab nationalism in the nineteenth century, the Arab world began to view Genghis increasingly negatively. Today, he is perceived as the ultimate "accursed enemy", a "barbarian savage who began the demolition of civilization which culminated in [the Siege of Baghdad in 1258]" by his grandson Hulegu. Similarly, Genghis is viewed extremely negatively in Russia, where historians have consistently portrayed the rule of the Golden Horde—the "Tatar Yoke"—as backwards, destructive, inimical to all progress, and the reason for all of Russia's flaws. His treatment in modern Central Asia and Turkey is more ambivalent: his position as a non-Muslim means other national traditions and heroes, such as Timur and the Seljuks, are viewed more highly.

Under the Yuan dynasty in China, Genghis was revered as the nation's creator, and he remained in this position even after the foundation of the Ming dynasty in 1368. Although the late Ming somewhat disavowed his memory, the positive viewpoint was restored under the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644–1911), who positioned themselves as his heirs. The rise of 20th-century Chinese nationalism initially caused the denigration of Genghis as a traumatic occupier, but he was later resurrected as a useful political symbol on a variety of issues. Modern Chinese historiography has generally viewed Genghis positively and he has been portrayed as a Chinese hero. In contemporary Japan, he is most known for the legend that he was originally Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a samurai and tragic hero who was forced to commit seppuku in 1189.

The Western world, never directly affected by Genghis, has viewed him in shifting and contrasting ways. During the 14th century, as shown by the works of Marco Polo and Geoffrey Chaucer, he was seen as a just and wise ruler, but during the eighteenth century he came to embody the Enlightenment stereotype of a tyrannical Oriental despot, and by the twentieth century he represented a prototypical barbarian warlord. In recent decades, Western scholarship has become increasingly nuanced, viewing Genghis as a more complex individual.

Dari Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas

Ikan Genghis khan (Pangasius sanitwongsei ) merupakan salah satu spesies ikan air tawar yang biasa dijadikan ikan hias. Ikan ini sering juga disebut dengan ikan hiu air tawar disebabkan bentuk dan cara berenangnya yang mirip dengan ikan hiu. Ikan yang mempunyai nama lain paroon shark ini sebenarnya termasuk ke dalam jenis ikan patin[2].

Habitat ikan ini berasal dari perairan sungai Chao Phraya dan Mekong yang melintasi negara Kamboja, Laos, Cina, Thailand, dan Vietnam.

Ikan ini sangat aktif berenang ke sana kemari, bahkan terkadang ikan ini sering sekali menabrakkan diri ke kaca akuarium dengan keras jika dipelihara di dalam akuarium. Oleh karena itu jika ingin memelihara ikan ini harap menyediakan akuarium yang luas, dengan ukuran minimal 1,5 meter dengan ketebalan kaca aquarium 12 mm.

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Sonora.ID – Apakah kamu pernah mendengar nama tokoh Genghis Khan? Ia adalah seorang Kaisar Mongol yang pernah menguasai Asia dan Eropa. Simak sejarah Kaisar Mongol Genghis Khan berikut ini!

Pemimpin Mongol, Genghis Khan (1162-1227) merupakan orang sederhana yang berusaha untuk mendirikan kerajaan terbesar dalam sejarah.

Setelah menyatukan suku-suku nomaden di dataran tinggi Mongolia, ia menaklukkan sebagian besar wilayah di Asia Tengah dan Cina.

Keturunannya memperluas kekaisaran lebih jauh, maju ke tempat-tempat yang jauh seperti Polandia, Vietnam, Suriah dan Korea.

Pada puncaknya, bangsa Mongol menguasai antara 11 dan 12 juta mil persegi yang bersebelahan, sebuah wilayah seukuran Afrika.

Banyak orang dibantai selama invasi Genghis Khan, tetapi ia juga memberikan kebebasan beragama kepada rakyatnya, menghapuskan siksaan, mendorong perdagangan dan menciptakan sistem pos internasional pertama.

Genghis Khan meninggal pada tahun 1227 selama kampanye militer melawan kerajaan Cina Xi Xia. Tempat peristirahatan terakhirnya masih belum diketahui.

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Sejarah Kaisar Mongol Genghis Khan

Temujin, kemudian lebih dikenal sebagai Genghis Khan, lahir sekitar tahun 1162 di dekat perbatasan antara Mongolia modern dan Siberia.

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Later reign: western expansion and return to China (1216–1227)

Character and achievements

No eyewitness description or contemporaneous depiction of Genghis Khan survives. The Persian chronicler Juzjani and the Song diplomat Zhao Hong provide the two earliest descriptions.[i] Both recorded that he was tall and strong with a powerful stature. Zhao wrote that Genghis had a broad brow and long beard while Juzjani commented on his cat's eyes and lack of grey hair. The Secret History records that Börte's father remarked on his "flashing eyes and lively face" when meeting him.

Atwood has suggested that many of Genghis Khan's values, especially the emphasis he placed on an orderly society, derive from his turbulent youth. He valued loyalty above all and mutual fidelity became a cornerstone of his new nation. Genghis did not find it difficult to gain the allegiance of others: he was superbly charismatic even as a youth, as shown by the number of people who left existing social roles behind to join him. Although his trust was hard to earn, if he felt loyalty was assured, he granted his total confidence in return. Recognised for his generosity towards his followers, Genghis unhesitatingly rewarded previous assistance. The nökod most honoured at the 1206 kurultai were those who had accompanied him since the beginning, and those who had sworn the Baljuna Covenant with him at his lowest point. He took responsibility for the families of nökod killed in battle or who otherwise fell on hard times by raising a tax to provide them with clothing and sustenance.

Heaven grew weary of the excessive pride and luxury in China ... I am from the barbaric North ... I wear the same clothing and eat the same food as the cowherds and horse-herders. We make the same sacrifices and we share our riches. I look upon the nation as a new-born child and I care for my soldiers as if they were my brothers.

The principal source of steppe wealth was post-battle plunder, of which a leader would normally claim a large share; Genghis eschewed this custom, choosing instead to divide booty equally between himself and all his men. Disliking any form of luxury, he extolled the simple life of the nomad in a letter to Changchun, and objected to being addressed with obsequious flattery. He encouraged his companions to address him informally, give him advice, and criticise his mistakes. Genghis's openness to criticism and willingness to learn saw him seeking the knowledge of family members, companions, neighbouring states, and enemies. He sought and gained knowledge of sophisticated weaponry from China and the Muslim world, appropriated the Uyghur alphabet with the help of the captured scribe Tata-tonga, and employed numerous specialists across legal, commercial, and administrative fields. He also understood the need for a smooth succession and modern historians agree he showed good judgement in choosing his heir.

Although he is today renowned for his military conquests, very little is known about Genghis's personal generalship. His skills were more suited to identifying potential commanders. His institution of a meritocratic command structure gave the Mongol army military superiority, even though it was not technologically or tactically innovative. The army that Genghis created was characterised by its draconian discipline, its ability to gather and use military intelligence efficiently, a mastery of psychological warfare, and a willingness to be utterly ruthless. Genghis thoroughly enjoyed exacting vengeance on his enemies—the concept lay at the heart of achi qari'ulqu (lit. '"good for good, evil for evil"'), the steppe code of justice. In exceptional circumstances, such as when Muhammad of Khwarazm executed his envoys, the need for vengeance overrode all other considerations.

Genghis came to believe the supreme deity Tengri had ordained a great destiny for him. Initially, the bounds of this ambition were limited only to Mongolia, but as success followed success and the reach of the Mongol nation expanded, he and his followers came to believe he was embodied with suu (lit. ''divine grace''). Believing that he had an intimate connection with Heaven, anyone who did not recognise his right to world power was treated as an enemy. This viewpoint allowed Genghis to rationalise any hypocritical or duplicitous moments on his own part, such as killing his anda Jamukha or killing nökod who wavered in their loyalties.

Return to China and final campaign (1222–1227)

Genghis abruptly halted his Central Asian campaigns in 1221. Initially aiming to return via India, Genghis realised that the heat and humidity of the South Asian climate impeded his army's skills, while the omens were additionally unfavourable. Although the Mongols spent much of 1222 repeatedly overcoming rebellions in Khorasan, they withdrew completely from the region to avoid overextending themselves, setting their new frontier on the Amu Darya river. During his lengthy return journey, Genghis prepared a new administrative division which would govern the conquered territories, appointing darughachi (commissioners, lit. "those who press the seal") and basqaq (local officials) to manage the region back to normalcy. He also summoned and spoke with the Taoist patriarch Changchun in the Hindu Kush. The khan listened attentively to Changchun's teachings and granted his followers numerous privileges, including tax exemptions and authority over all monks throughout the empire—a grant which the Taoists later used to try to gain superiority over Buddhism.

The usual reason given for the halting of the campaign is that the Western Xia, having declined to provide auxiliaries for the 1219 invasion, had additionally disobeyed Muqali in his campaign against the remaining Jin in Shaanxi. May has disputed this, arguing that the Xia fought in concert with Muqali until his death in 1223, when, frustrated by Mongol control and sensing an opportunity with Genghis campaigning in Central Asia, they ceased fighting. In either case, Genghis initially attempted to resolve the situation diplomatically, but when the Xia elite failed to come to an agreement on the hostages they were to send to the Mongols, he lost patience.

Returning to Mongolia in early 1225, Genghis spent the year in preparation for a campaign against them. This began in the first months of 1226 with the capture of Khara-Khoto on the Xia's western border. The invasion proceeded apace. Genghis ordered that the cities of the Gansu Corridor be sacked one by one, granting clemency only to a few. Having crossed the Yellow River in autumn, the Mongols besieged present-day Lingwu, located just 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the Xia capital Zhongxing, in November. On 4 December, Genghis decisively defeated a Xia relief army; the khan left the siege of the capital to his generals and moved southwards with Subutai to plunder and secure Jin territories.

Genghis fell from his horse while hunting in the winter of 1226–27 and became increasingly ill during the following months. This slowed the siege of Zhongxing's progress, as his sons and commanders urged him to end the campaign and return to Mongolia to recover, arguing that the Xia would still be there another year. Incensed by insults from Xia's leading commander, Genghis insisted that the siege be continued. He died on either 18 or 25 August 1227, but his death was kept a closely guarded secret and Zhongxing, unaware, fell the following month. The city was put to the sword and its population was treated with extreme savagery—the Xia civilization was essentially extinguished in what Man described as a "very successful ethnocide". The exact nature of the khan's death has been the subject of intense speculation. Rashid al-Din and the History of Yuan mention he suffered from an illness—possibly malaria, typhus, or bubonic plague. Marco Polo claimed that he was shot by an arrow during a siege, while Carpini reported that Genghis was struck by lightning. Legends sprang up around the event—the most famous recounts how the beautiful Gurbelchin, formerly the Xia emperor's wife, injured Genghis's genitals with a dagger during sex.

After his death, Genghis was transported back to Mongolia and buried on or near the sacred Burkhan Khaldun peak in the Khentii Mountains, on a site he had chosen years before. Specific details of the funeral procession and burial were not made public knowledge; the mountain, declared ikh khorig (lit. "Great Taboo"; i.e. prohibited zone), was out of bounds to all but its Uriankhai guard. When Ögedei acceded to the throne in 1229, the grave was honoured with three days of offerings and the sacrifice of thirty maidens. Ratchnevsky theorised that the Mongols, who had no knowledge of embalming techniques, may have buried the khan in the Ordos to avoid his body decomposing in the summer heat while en route to Mongolia; Atwood rejects this hypothesis.

The tribes of the Mongol steppe had no fixed succession system, but often defaulted to some form of ultimogeniture—succession of the youngest son—because he would have had the least time to gain a following for himself and needed the help of his father's inheritance. However, this type of inheritance applied only to property, not to titles.

The Secret History records that Genghis chose his successor while preparing for the Khwarazmian campaigns in 1219; Rashid al-Din, on the other hand, states that the decision came before Genghis's final campaign against the Xia. Regardless of the date, there were five possible candidates: Genghis's four sons and his youngest brother Temüge, who had the weakest claim and who was never seriously considered. Even though there was a strong possibility Jochi was illegitimate, Genghis was not particularly concerned by this; nevertheless, he and Jochi became increasingly estranged over time, due to Jochi's preoccupation with his own appanage. After the siege of Gurganj, where he only reluctantly participated in besieging the wealthy city that would become part of his territory, he failed to give Genghis the normal share of the booty, which exacerbated the tensions. Genghis was angered by Jochi's refusal to return to him in 1223, and was considering sending Ögedei and Chagatai to bring him to heel when news came that Jochi had died from an illness.

Chagatai's attitude towards Jochi's possible succession—he had termed his elder brother "a Merkit bastard" and had brawled with him in front of their father—led Genghis to view him as uncompromising, arrogant, and narrow-minded, despite his great knowledge of Mongol legal customs. His elimination left Ögedei and Tolui as the two primary candidates. Tolui was unquestionably superior in military terms—his campaign in Khorasan had broken the Khwarazmian Empire, while his elder brother was far less able as a commander. Ögedei was also known to drink excessively even by Mongol standards—it eventually caused his death in 1241. However, he possessed talents all his brothers lacked—he was generous and generally well-liked. Aware of his own lack of military skill, he was able to trust his capable subordinates, and unlike his elder brothers, compromise on issues; he was also more likely to preserve Mongol traditions than Tolui, whose wife Sorghaghtani, herself a Nestorian Christian, was a patron of many religions including Islam. Ögedei was thus recognised as the heir to the Mongol throne.

Serving as regent after Genghis's death, Tolui established a precedent for the customary traditions after a khan's death. These included the halting of all military offensives involving Mongol troops, the establishment of a lengthy mourning period overseen by the regent, and the holding of a kurultai which would nominate successors and select them. For Tolui, this presented an opportunity. He was still a viable candidate for succession and had the support of the family of Jochi. Any general kurultai, attended by the commanders Genghis had promoted and honoured, would however observe their former ruler's desires without question and appoint Ögedei as ruler. It has been suggested that Tolui's reluctance to hold the kurultai was driven by the knowledge of the threat it posed to his ambitions. In the end, Tolui had to be persuaded by the advisor Yelü Chucai to hold the kurultai; in 1229, it crowned Ögedei as khan, with Tolui in attendance.

Börte, whom Temüjin married c. 1178, remained his senior wife. She gave birth to four sons and five daughters, who all became influential figures in the empire. Genghis granted Börte's sons lands and property through the Mongol appanage system, while he secured marriage alliances by marrying her daughters to important families. Her children were:

After Börte's final childbirth, Temüjin began to acquire a number of junior wives through conquest. These wives had all previously been princesses or queens, and Temüjin married them to demonstrate his political ascendancy. They included the Kereit princess Ibaqa; the Tatar sisters Yesugen and Yesui; Qulan, a Merkit; Gürbesu, the queen of the Naiman Tayang Khan; and two Chinese princesses, Chaqa and Qiguo, of the Western Xia and Jin dynasties respectively. The children of these junior wives were always subservient to those of Börte, with daughters married off to seal lesser alliances and sons, such as Qulan's child Kölgen [ja], never a candidate for succession.

Kurultai of 1206 and reforms

Now sole ruler of the steppe, Temüjin held a large assembly called a kurultai at the source of the Onon River in 1206. Here, he formally adopted the title "Genghis Khan", the etymology and meaning of which have been much debated. Some commentators hold that the title had no meaning, simply representing Temüjin's eschewal of the traditional gurkhan title, which had been accorded to Jamukha and was thus of lesser worth. Another theory suggests that the word "Genghis" bears connotations of strength, firmness, hardness, or righteousness. A third hypothesis proposes that the title is related to the Turkic tängiz ('ocean'), the title "Genghis Khan" would mean "master of the ocean", and as the ocean was believed to surround the earth, the title thus ultimately implied "Universal Ruler".

Having attained control over one million people, Genghis Khan began a "social revolution", in May's words. As traditional tribal systems had primarily evolved to benefit small clans and families, they were unsuitable as the foundations for larger states and had been the downfall of previous steppe confederations. Genghis thus began a series of administrative reforms designed to suppress the power of tribal affiliations and to replace them with unconditional loyalty to the khan and the ruling family. As most of the traditional tribal leaders had been killed during his rise to power, Genghis was able to reconstruct the Mongol social hierarchy in his favour. The highest tier was occupied solely by his and his brothers' families, who became known as the altan uruq (lit. 'Golden Family') or chaghan yasun (lit. 'white bone'); underneath them came the qara yasun (lit. 'black bone'; sometimes qarachu), composed of the surviving pre-empire aristocracy and the most important of the new families.

To break any concept of tribal loyalty, Mongol society was reorganised into a military decimal system. Every man between the age of fifteen and seventy was conscripted into a minqan (pl. minkad), a unit of a thousand soldiers, which was further subdivided into units of hundreds (jaghun, pl. jaghat) and tens (arban, pl. arbat). The units also encompassed each man's household, meaning that each military minqan was supported by a minqan of households in what May has termed "a military–industrial complex". Each minqan operated as both a political and social unit, while the warriors of defeated tribes were dispersed to different minqad to make it difficult for them to rebel as a single body. This was intended to ensure the disappearance of old tribal identities, replacing them with loyalty to the "Great Mongol State", and to commanders who had gained their rank through merit and loyalty to the khan. This particular reform proved extremely effective—even after the division of the Mongol Empire, fragmentation never happened along tribal lines. Instead, the descendants of Genghis continued to reign unchallenged, in some cases until as late as the 1700s, and even powerful non-imperial dynasts such as Timur and Edigu were compelled to rule from behind a puppet ruler of his lineage.

Genghis's senior nökod were appointed to the highest ranks and received the greatest honours. Bo'orchu and Muqali were each given ten thousand men to lead as commanders of the right and left wings of the army respectively. The other nökod were each given commands of one of the ninety-five minkad. In a display of Genghis' meritocratic ideals, many of these men were born to low social status: Ratchnevsky cited Jelme and Subutai, the sons of blacksmiths, in addition to a carpenter, a shepherd, and even the two herdsmen who had warned Temüjin of Toghrul's plans in 1203. As a special privilege, Genghis allowed certain loyal commanders to retain the tribal identities of their units. Alaqush of the Ongud was allowed to retain five thousand warriors of his tribe because his son had entered into an alliance pact with Genghis, marrying his daughter Alaqa.

A key tool which underpinned these reforms was the expansion of the keshig ('bodyguard'). After Temüjin defeated Toghrul in 1203, he had appropriated this Kereit institution in a minor form, but at the 1206 kurultai its numbers were greatly expanded, from 1,150 to 10,000 men. The keshig was not only the khan's bodyguard, but his household staff, a military academy, and the centre of governmental administration. All the warriors in this elite corps were brothers or sons of military commanders and were essentially hostages. The members of the keshig nevertheless received special privileges and direct access to the khan, whom they served and who in return evaluated their capabilities and their potential to govern or command. Commanders such as Subutai, Chormaqan, and Baiju all started out in the keshig, before being given command of their own force.

Consolidation of power (1206–1210)

From 1204 to 1209, Genghis Khan was predominantly focused on consolidating and maintaining his new nation. He faced a challenge from the shaman Kokechu, whose father Münglig had been allowed to marry Hö'elün after he defected to Temüjin. Kokechu, who had proclaimed Temüjin as Genghis Khan and taken the Tengrist title "Teb Tenggeri" (lit. "Wholly Heavenly") on account of his sorcery, was very influential among the Mongol commoners and sought to divide the imperial family. Genghis's brother Qasar was the first of Kokechu's targets—always distrusted by his brother, Qasar was humiliated and almost imprisoned on false charges before Hö'elün intervened by publicly reprimanding Genghis. Nevertheless, Kokechu's power steadily increased, and he publicly shamed Temüge, Genghis's youngest brother, when he attempted to intervene. Börte saw that Kokechu was a threat to Genghis's power and warned her husband, who still superstitiously revered the shaman but now recognised the political threat he posed. Genghis allowed Temüge to arrange Kokechu's death, and then usurped the shaman's position as the Mongols' highest spiritual authority.

During these years, the Mongols imposed their control on surrounding areas. Genghis dispatched Jochi northwards in 1207 to subjugate the Hoi-yin Irgen [ja], a collection of tribes on the edge of the Siberian taiga. Having secured a marriage alliance with the Oirats and defeated the Yenisei Kyrgyz, he took control of the region's trade in grain and furs, as well as its gold mines. Mongol armies also rode westwards, defeating the Naiman-Merkit alliance on the River Irtysh in late 1208. Their khan was killed and Kuchlug fled into Central Asia. Led by Barchuk, the Uyghurs freed themselves from the suzerainty of the Qara Khitai and pledged themselves to Genghis in 1211 as the first sedentary society to submit to the Mongols.

The Mongols had started raiding the border settlements of the Tangut-led Western Xia kingdom in 1205, ostensibly in retaliation for allowing Senggum, Toghrul's son, refuge. More prosaic explanations include rejuvenating the depleted Mongol economy with an influx of fresh goods and livestock, or simply subjugating a semi-hostile state to protect the nascent Mongol nation. Most Xia troops were stationed along the southern and eastern borders of the kingdom to guard against attacks from the Song and Jin dynasties respectively, while its northern border relied only on the Gobi desert for protection. After a raid in 1207 sacked the Xia fortress of Wulahai, Genghis decided to personally lead a full-scale invasion in 1209.

Wulahai was captured again in May and the Mongols advanced on the capital Zhongxing (modern-day Yinchuan) but suffered a reverse against a Xia army. After a two-month stalemate, Genghis broke the deadlock with a feigned retreat; the Xia forces were deceived out of their defensive positions and overpowered. Although Zhongxing was now mostly undefended, the Mongols lacked any siege equipment better than crude battering rams and were unable to progress the siege. The Xia requested aid from the Jin, but Emperor Zhangzong rejected the plea. Genghis's attempt to redirect the Yellow River into the city with a dam initially worked, but the poorly-constructed earthworks broke—possibly breached by the Xia—in January 1210 and the Mongol camp was flooded, forcing them to retreat. A peace treaty was soon formalised: the Xia emperor Xiangzong submitted and handed over tribute, including his daughter Chaka, in exchange for the Mongol withdrawal.

Wilayah kekuasaan Genghis Khan, Kekaisaran Mongol.

Genghis Khan lahir dengan nama Temujin (dibaca Temuchin). Pada saat itu Mongolia tidak bersatu dan diperintah oleh klan dan kelompok suku yang berbeda. Ayahnya, bernama Yesuge (dibaca Yesukai) merupakan tuan dan pemimpin dari 40 ribu tenda keluarga.

Bahkan, saudara laki-lakinya, termasuk yang senior, mengakuinya sebagai pemimpin dan kepala klan Borjigin, menurut Syed Anwarul Haque Haqqi, profesor di Aligarh Muslim University India dalam bukunya 'Chingiz Khan: The Life and Legacy of an Empire Builder' (Primus Book, 2010).

Ibu Temujin, Hoelun telah ditangkap oleh klan ayahnya dan dipaksa menjadi istri Yesugei (praktik umum di Mongolia saat itu). Anak laki-laki mereka diberi nama Temujin untuk merayakan kemenangan ayahnya atas musuh yang juga disebut Temujin.

"Kita hanya tahu sedikit tentang kehidupan awal Temujin, namun masuk akal untuk menganggap bahwa tahun-tahun yang berlalu dan masa kanak-kanaknya berubah menjadi remaja. Dia dibesarkan dalam suasana kehidupan nomaden yang keras di mana para penguasa dan kepala suku bertempur, minum, dan berduel, menikah dan tidur dengan senjata di bawah mereka —kehidupan yang keras di mana para pemimpin berbagi kesengsaraan dan kelaparan," tulis Haqqi.

Sekitar usia 9 tahun, dia dijodohkan dengan Borte, putri Dai Sechen yang berusia 10 tahun, pemimpin suku Jungirat. Pada suatu saat, ayah Temujin meninggal dunia (tampaknya diracun) dan kekuatan keluarga memudar karena banyak pengikut ayahnya meninggalkan mereka.

Temujin, keluarganya, dan pengikut mereka yang tersisa terpaksa mencari nafkah di padang rumput marjinal, bersaing dengan pencuri dan saingan lama Yesugei yang ingin membunuh keluarganya.

Sekitar usia 14 tahun, dia membunuh saudara tirinya, Bekter menurut The Secret History of the Mongols. Ini mungkin karena perselisihan tentang sumber daya. Setelah beberapa tahun, Temujin menikahi Borte dan menjadi istri yang paling menonjol.

Pada 1200, dia dan temannya Toghrul melancarkan kampanye melawan Tatar, sebuah kelompok yang tinggal di bagian yang sekarang menjadi Mongolia dan China dan yang mereka kalahkan dua tahun kemudian.

"Tahun 1206, Temujin telah menaklukkan sebagian besar Mongolia, dan suku-suku yang tersisa terpaksa mengakuinya sebagai pemimpin mereka. Dia mengambil nama Genghis Khan, yang memiliki beberapa terjemahan berbeda, salah satunya adalah penguasa samudra," tulis Roux.

Genghis Khan kemudian meluncurkan kampanye yang sukses melawan Dinasti Jin, merebut China utara. Catatan sejarah menunjukkan bahwa pada 1234, populasi China utara turun dua pertiga karena perang, menurut laman Live Science, Rabu, 25 Januari 2023.

Kematian Genghis Khan dan kelanjutan kekaisaran

Ketika Genghis Khan kembali ke Mongolia pada 1225, ia mengendalikan petak besar wilayah dari Laut Jepang sampai Laut Kaspia. Namun demikian, dia tidak beristirahat lama sebelum mengalihkan perhatiannya kembali ke kerajaan Xi Xia, yang telah menolak untuk berkontribusi pasukan ke invasi Khwarezm. Pada awal 1227 seekor kuda melemparkan Genghis Khan ke tanah, menyebabkan luka dalam. Dia terus dengan kampanye, tetapi kesehatannya tidak pernah pulih. Dia meninggal pada 18 Agustus 1227, tepat sebelum Xi Xia dihancurkan.

Genghis Khan menaklukkan tanah dua kali lebih banyak dari orang lain dalam sejarah, membawa peradaban Timur dan Barat ke dalam proses. Keturunannya, termasuk Ogodei dan Khubilai, juga penakluk yang produktif, mengambil kendali atas Eropa Timur, Timur Tengah dan seluruh Cina, di antara tempat-tempat lain. Bangsa Mongol bahkan menginvasi Jepang dan Jawa sebelum kekaisaran mereka pecah pada abad ke-14. Keturunan penguasa terakhir Genghis Khan akhirnya digulingkan pada tahun 1920.

Itulah sepenggal kisah dari salah satu penguasa terbesar dalam sejarah. Luas wilayah kekuasaan hanya kalah dari Britania Raya dan menjadi dinasti yang paling berpengaruh.

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Genghis Khan membangun Kekaisaran Mongol yang ditakuti dunia

Setelah menyatukan suku-suku stepa, Genghis Khan memerintah sekitar satu juta orang. Untuk menekan penyebab tradisional perang suku, dia menghapuskan gelar aristokrat yang diwariskan. Dia juga melarang penjualan dan penculikan wanita, melarang perbudakan terhadap orang Mongol dan membuat pencurian ternak bisa dihukum mati. Selain itu, Genghis Khan memerintahkan adopsi sistem penulisan, melakukan sensus rutin, memberikan kekebalan diplomatik kepada duta besar asing dan mengizinkan kebebasan beragama jauh sebelum gagasan itu masuk ke tempat lain.

Kampanye pertama Genghis Khan di luar Mongolia terjadi melawan kerajaan Xi Xia di Cina barat laut. Setelah serangkaian serangan, orang-orang Mongol meluncurkan inisiatif besar pada 1209 yang membawa mereka ke ambang pintu Yinchuan, ibukota Xi Xia. Tidak seperti pasukan lainnya, bangsa Mongol bepergian tanpa kereta pasokan selain cadangan kuda yang besar. Tentara hampir seluruhnya terdiri dari pasukan kavaleri, yang merupakan penunggang ahli dan mematikan dengan busur dan anak panah. Di Yinchuan, orang-orang Mongol mengerahkan pasukan palsu, salah satu taktik khas mereka dan kemudian melakukan pengepungan. Meskipun upaya mereka untuk membanjiri kota gagal, penguasa Xi Xia menyerahkan dan memberikan penghormatan.

Bangsa Mongol selanjutnya menyerang Dinasti Jin di Cina utara, yang penguasanya melakukan kesalahan dengan menuntut pengajuan Genghis Khan. Dari tahun 1211 hingga 1214, orang-orang Mongol yang kalah jumlah itu memporak-porandakan desa dan mengirim para pengungsi ke kota-kota. Kekurangan makanan menjadi masalah, dan tentara Jin akhirnya membunuh puluhan ribu petani sendiri. Pada 1214 bangsa Mongol mengepung ibukota Zhongdu (sekarang Beijing), dan penguasa Jin sepakat untuk menyerahkan sejumlah besar sutra, perak, emas, dan kuda. Ketika penguasa Jin kemudian memindahkan istananya ke selatan ke kota Kaifeng, Genghis Khan menganggap ini sebagai pelanggaran.

Pada 1219 Genghis Khan berperang melawan Kekaisaran Khwarezm di Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, dan Iran. Sultan di sana telah menyetujui perjanjian perdagangan, tetapi ketika karavan pertama tiba, barang-barangnya dicuri dan para pedagangnya terbunuh. Sultan kemudian membunuh beberapa duta besar Genghis Khan. Meskipun sekali lagi kalah jumlah, gerombolan Mongol menyapu kota Khwarezm satu demi satu, termasuk Bukhara, Samarkand dan Urgench. Pekerja terampil seperti tukang kayu dan perhiasan biasanya diselamatkan, sementara bangsawan dan tentara penentang terbunuh. Pekerja tidak terampil sering digunakan sebagai perisai manusia selama serangan berikutnya. Tidak ada yang tahu dengan pasti berapa banyak orang yang tewas selama perang Genghis Khan, sebagian karena orang-orang Mongol menyebarkan citra jahat mereka sebagai cara menyebarkan teror.