Genghis Khan

Content page
Name: Hillel Ben Hur
School: Derech Avot
Date: 28/1/25

Table of contents

1__-introduction
2__-biography
3__-interview
4__-diary
5__-award
6__-conclusion
7__-picture
8__-bibliography

Introduction.
I have decided to write my research project
about Genghis Khan. I feel like this research project
is an excellent opportunity to learn about someone
that has always interested me.

Furthermore, by doing this research project I want to

learn how the great
Genghis Khan built his god-like reputation and
his amazing empire.
Additionally, I would like to
learn about his legacy and all he did in his life.

Finally, I hope to improve my writing, grammar,

vocabulary and overall strengthen my English
skills while also writing about a person who
truly interests me. I hope for this to be a
meaningful and positive experience and I’m
looking forward to get to writing!

Biography
Genghis (Temujin) Khan is considered to be the greatest Mongolian leader to ever
live. Genghis Khan singlehandedly united the Mongolian steppe tribes and
established an empire that is said to be the greatest empire to ever exist.
Early Life
Genghis Khan's life is told in the Secret History of the Mongols parts of which
likely date to the first half of the 13th century as well as later Chinese and Arab
sources. He was born to aristocratic parents and was given the birth name of
Temujin, named after a Tartar captive. The date of birth is not known for certain
with some scholars choosing 1162 and others 1167. Legend has it that the infant
was born clutching a clot of blood in his right hand, an ominous omen of things to
come. When Temujin was only nine years old his father was poisoned by a rival.
As a consequence, he and his mother were abandoned on the Asian steppe, left
to die. However, the outcast family managed to forage and live off the land as
best they could.
Things then got even worse when the young Temujin was captured by a rival clan
leader. Fortunately, Temujin was able to escape during the night. Temujin then
married his betrothed from several years earlier, Borte.
The Great Khan
As his army swelled to ever greater proportions a Mongol confederation met at a
great conference at the Kerulen river in 1206 and formally declared Temujin their
leader. He was given the title of Genghis Khan which likely means 'universal'
leader.
Genghis made his army more secure by expanding his elite bodyguard, the
Kesikten, from 800 to 10,000 men. Later, its members swore absolute loyalty to
the Khan in return for special favours.

Mongol warfare
The Mongols were now unified and their army had several advantages over those
of their larger and more powerful neighbours. They were expert archers using
their far-shooting composite bows and extremely tough soldiers, capable of
riding for days on end with minimal food and water. On top of that, the Mongols
never turned down an opportunity to employ enemy tactics and technology
themselves. They brought ferocious mobility to Asian warfare.
The Mongol Empire
Genghis attacked the Jin state and the plain of the Yellow River in 1205, 1209,
and 1211, the latter invasion consisting of two Mongol armies of 50,000 men
each. The Jurchen controlled most of northern China and were able to field
300,000 infantry and 150,000 cavalry but the Mongol high-speed tactics proved
that numbers were not everything. Genghis would savagely sack a city and then
retreat so that the Jin could retake it but then have to deal with the chaos. The
tactic was even repeated several times on the same city.
The Mongols continued their attacks on China over the next decade, with around
90 cites being destroyed in 1212-1213 alone. Many disgruntled or captured
Chinese and Khitan soldiers were absorbed into the Mongol army along the way.
After a period of relative stability, the Mongols would once more go on the
march, attacking China again in 1234, finally bringing about the collapse of the
Jin state. It was now clear they would not be satisfied until they had conquered
the whole of East Asia.

Western Asia
Genghis Khan was far from satisfied with the imminent fall of China, and turned
his army to the southwest and invaded what is today Turkistan, Uzbekistan, and
Iran between 1218 and 1220. The target was the Khwarezmid Empire. Genghis
had sent a diplomatic mission requesting the Shah of Khwarazm submit to his
overlordship, but the Shah had the ambassadors executed. Genghis responded
by fielding an army of some 100,000 men which swept through Persia and forced
the Shah to flee.
Death & Legacy
Genghis Khan died on 18 August 1227 of an unknown illness, at the time, he was
back in northwest China besieging the Xia state's capital, Zhongxing. His body
was then transported back to Mongolia for burial but the location of his tomb was
kept a secret, a decision that has caused much speculation ever since.
Genghis knew that his successors would dispute control of the Mongol Empire
after his death and so he had already made provisions. The empire was to be
divided amongst his sons Jochi, Chagatai, Tolui and Ogedei, with each ruling a
khanate and Ogedei, the third son, becoming the new Great Khan in 1229, a
position he would maintain until his death in 1241.

Written by: Mark Cartwright

Edited by: Hillel Ben-Hur
 Interview

Interviewer: Hello, Mr. Khan. How are you doing this afternoon?

Genghis Khan: My name is not "Mr. Khan" or "Genghis".

That is are how I was referred to after I came to amazing power.
I like those names but my real name is actually Temujin.
Anyway, my day is going fine thank you.

Interviewer: Temujin? That is new.

A really nice name, I have to say.

Temujin: Hai.

Interviewer: Let's get on with the questions, shall we?

Temujin: I'm ready.

Interviewer: Where and when were you born?

Temujin: I was born near where the modern border between Mongolia and Siberia
is today.
My birth year is 1162 but I don’t know the exact date.

Interviewer: Wow! That sure was a long time ago.

Temujin: Hai.

Interviewer: Can you tell me about your childhood?

Temujin: Hai. My father kidnapped my mother and forced her into marriage
before I was born.
I was born with a blood clot on my right hand which was a sign of great power
back then.
At the time, nomadic tribes used to fight and steal from each other all of the
time.
My family and I were in one of those tribes which made my childhood full of
violence and death.
I wasn’t even ten years old when my family and I were deserted by our own
tribe. Due to the fact that my father was poisoned by an enemy tribe, they had
no use for us. My mother had to take care of us alone.
Then I killed him.
I killed my half brother.
At one point, I was captured by the clan that had abandoned us but I was
rescued shortly after.
Then, I realized I needed power so I started forming alliances.
That’s the story of my childhood.

Interviewer: Wow, that sound like one rough childhood.

Temujin: Hai. Perhaps, but it shaped me to be the man that I am.

Interviewer: Are you ready for the next question?

Temujin: Hai.

Interviewer: What obstacles have you faced and how exactly have you overcome
them?

Temujin: One big obstacle that I encountered was the lack of manpower I had in
the beginning.
The way I overcame this big issue is I united the steppe tribes.
It was a long and excruciating process but it paid off.
When I accomplished uniting my people, my army was vast and amazing.
I had branches everywhere.
This is when I received my famous name "Genghis Khan".

Interviewer: Wow Temujin that is amazing!

Temujin: Hai. I agree.

Interviewer: Alright, let us move on. What is your greatest strength?

Temujin: I think my greatest strength is the fact that I never leave a score
unsettled.

Interviewer: Can you give me an example of that?

Temujin: Hai of course. In 1219 I offered the Shah of the Khwarezmid Empire,
with whom I had a treaty, a valuable trade agreement to exchange goods along
the Silk Road.
Do you know how he responded? He slaughtered my first emissaries.
I was enraged. I unleashed the the real power of my Mongol empire on to the
Khwarezmid territories in Persia.
It was a great success. We killed a huge amount of people and broke the
Khwarezmid Empire.

Interviewer: That is an amazing story of revenge! It really highlights the true

brutality of your empire.

Temujin: Hai

Interviewer: Next question?

Temujin: Hai Hai stop asking.

Interviewer: Wow okay I will stop asking. What do you think was your greatest
accomplishment?
Temujin: I actually have two things in mind.
The first thing that I consider one of my greatest accomplishments is the uniting
of the steppe tribes into a great army. As I said earlier, the tribes were in an all
out war with each other before I came and united them. I gave them something
to fight for and it worked perfectly. I united them into the great empire that you
already know of.
The second thing that I consider to be one of my greatest accomplishments is
the great attack on the Jin Dynasty.
First of all, their leader made the big mistake of ordering me to surrender.
This sparked burning anger in my army because the order inferred disrespect to
their great leader (me).
So I started my plan.
My army attacked the countryside with great success.
Refugees came pouring into the cities which lead to the second step of the
attack.
The cities now had huge food shortages leading to the Jin killing their own
people.
The final step was to siege Zhongdu and it worked well.
The Jins leader forfeited immediately benefiting us with a lot of wealth.
 Diary

1172

Dear Diary,
I came to write here not to tell you about my day or to tell you about a victory
against an enemy tribe.
I came here to tell you the worst news of my life.
My father, my dear father, has been poisoned and killed by our biggest enemy.
My mother is scared, I am scared.
Our clan is going to leave us to die now that we are like leeches for them.
Our father kept us in the clan for he was a great warrior.
sadly now, he is resting in heaven.

1175
Dear Diary,
They found me. I knew they would come back.
Two days ago they found us, and they came bursting through our already very
worn out door. Surprisingly, they did something I did not expect them to.
In my stupidity I thought they came to slaughter us, to deal with unfinished
business.
What I did not think of was that they came to kidnap me to be a slave.
How could I be so stupid? Why would they waste an excellent worker like me?

Later in 1175

I DID IT! I ESCAPED! IT WAS A BRILLIANT PLAN AND I EXECUTED IT TO

PERFECTION!
THEY DID NOT SUSPECT A THING. SO FOOLISH! THEY THOUGHT BECAUSE I AM
ONLY A MERE CHILD I COULD NOT ESCAPE! I PROVED THEM WRONG. NO ONE
SHALL EVER DISRESPECT OR UNDERESTIMATE ME AGAIN. NOW THIS IS A TRUE
VICTORY.
MOMENTS LIKE THIS ARE RESERVED ONLY FOR TRUE VICTORS!
I am finally going home after these long, horrible, disgusting months in captivity.

1178

Dear Diary,
Oh words can not explain how much I love her. My beloved Borte.
Her smile as warm as the sun and her eyes as beautiful as the night sky.
Today is our wedding day. I am so very happy.
Though my age is a mere sixteen years I experience love as much as an adult
man.
I can not wait to take Borte and our children on my adventures and I can see my
sons continuing my legacy after my time on this damned earth is through.

Around 1184

Dear Diary,
I can not believe I was so careless and stupid.
They kidnapped Borte.
They kidnapped my beloved Borte.
They shall pay a great price for their actions.
I am on my way to rescue her from those scums. This will not end until Borte is
in my arms and they are all dead.
I SHALL NOT REST UNTIL BORTE IS SAFE AND THEY ARE ALL IN HELL!
THEY WILL PAY FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE.
THEY SHALL SEE MY TRUE WRATH!

1205

Dear Diary,
I can feel it. VICTORY.
It is so very near. I can feel it with every bone in my body.
After years of killing the heads of clans and taking the members to be a part of
us,
I can finally feel it. Victory is near!
To my best friend, my brother but not through blood, Jamuka.
It pained my heart so much to kill you.
When my spear pierced your heart it felt like a spear was piercing straight
through my heart. Yet it had to be done. You threatened my empire. Your death
was a necessary building stone in the advancement of my empire.
In heaven you shall rest, my friend.

1206

Dear Diary,
The victory I imagined is here. It is finally here.
Today I called the leaders from each part of my territory to a meeting.
The meeting went excellently. My empire is finally real. It is finally what I
imagined it to be when I was young.
In the meeting we established the nation. It is so very large.
They gave me a name. "Chinggis Khan " which means "universal ruler." I like it; it
signifies my power and influence. Finally, my dream has come true. I am the
ruler of the great Mongol empire!

1207-8

Dear Diary,
My empire is growing and expanding rapidly.
I do not want my empire to crumble to the ground.
I know the Mongols. It is in our blood to steal, kill and enslave.
When I was enslaved, I swore that when I will be a great leader I shall not let
those horrible things happens to my people.
When Borte was kidnapped, it further strengthened my decision.
Consequently, I banned the enslavement of any Mongol, the selling or
kidnapping of any woman and I also made the theft of livestock punishable by
death.
Although these changes were drastic, they further strengthened the bond
between each and every Mongol. I feel like I have succeeded.

Award

Ladies and gentlemen good evening and welcome to the 2024 Ben-Hur awards!
The first award that shall be given tonight is the greatest ruler award.
We had some amazing contestants but only one ruler can win.
The winner is the man who united the Mongolian steppe tribes into a great
empire.
His father died while he was only a mere child.
He is the man who sacrificed everything for his empire, even killing his brother
and best friend!
He singlehandedly took down the Xi Xia empire and completely crushed the Jin
Dynasty!
And so the Ben-Hur award for greatest ruler goes to……………..
Genghis (Temujin) Khan!
 Conclusion

In this research project I learned a lot of new information about Genghis khan.
I learned that his true name was Temujin and not Genghis and that he had such a
rough childhood. I was surprised about the fact that he is historically not a tyrant
as most portray him. He actually did a lot of good in his lifetime. This project was
full of new discoveries.

I learned quite a few life lessons during this project.

One was not to judge a book by its cover. Temujin is greatly portrayed as a bad
person but I learned that this claim is mostly incorrect this taught me not to
judge people before you know them.
I know this claim sounds ridiculous because I have not met Temujin but when I
read about his heroic actions I could not stop myself from thinking of him as a
good man.

Finally, I feel that my English skills have improved drastically by writing this
project.
My vocabulary has expanded dramatically and my writing is getting better by the
minute. In conclusion this project has taken my English to a new level. I am truly
grateful.
picture
 Bibliography
1 history.com
2 worldhistory.com
3 biography.com
4 wikipedia.com