Genghis Khan And Kublai Khan

　　◆By TRICIA CARSWELL

　　The very idea of going to Mongolia makes me shiver. It's not that it's as far north or as cold as Siberia, but the legends and myths which are as plentiful as the grasslands and the Gobi Desert sands are enough to leave me in terror. A Christmas present that I held in my hand at the end of the "choose an unopened gift or take one already seen" was a specially boxed set of knife, silver cup and tasselled tusk from Mongolia. An informed guest explained that this was a warrior's kit, the knife to pierce a horse's neck and the cup was the vessel from which to drink the blood. I didn't ask about the horn.

　　Mongolian warriors had a reputation of uncanny ability to attack, aiming faultlessly with bow and arrow, either in front or behind, while riding at full gallop. Many paintings depict this preciseness of hunting skill, be it for food or for bringing down the enemy. The Mongols of the 12th century were a nomadic, pastoral people of loosely organised tribes, who constantly fought with each other, so the time was right for a loose cannon to make a stronghold and take control. In rode the brilliant, but blood-thirsty, leader who came to be known as Genghis Khan, followed by his equally warmongering descendants. No doubt, their speed and skill at horsemanship is worthy of legends, originating at the peak of Genghis' rise to imperial power. It is true that neighbouring tribes feared the onslaught. A game of polo against them would be foolhardy.

　　Fiercely independent by nature, the Mongols developed their own form of social rules, and possessed an intense sense of loyalty, hated theft, had a history of the acceptance of the beliefs and the way of life of others, and tended to be generous to people they trusted. As for religion, they were essentially shamanistic, as history shows Buddhism to wax and wane. Their needs were few, but what they needed was acquired through barter, rather than with money. As a result of tribal in-fighting, they were economically poor. Known to live on meat and fermented mare's milk, there still persisted stories of eating "anything that moved" or even practising cannibalism in desperation. Perhaps this was the titbit that moved the Chinese to say they eat anything with four legs except a table.

　　Because they were nomadic, a real "Mongol Nation" did not exist. Geographically speaking, the Tartars to the east, and the Keraits immediately west were long-standing enemies. To the south-west were the Uyghurs, and due south, the Chinese Jin dynasty was well established. To the far west, stretching to the Black Sea, the Islamic Sultanate of Muhammad of Khwarazm1 thrived.

　　Genghis Khan's given name at his birth in the middle of the 1160s was Tumujen (Temuchin), in honour of a Tartar leader, captured but admired by the newborn's father, a tribal chief who had started the expansion of the Mongol empire. Rumour has it that the baby held a bloodclot in the palm of his hand, an omen that he would become a hero. Raised by a single mother following his father's early death, he displayed determination and willpower of such magnitude that as a youth he was recognised as a threat by opposing tribes. In fact, he had taken Toghrul, a member of the Keraits, as his patron, mentor and adoptive father. By 1189, he was married and had been elected as the leader, challenged with the task of rebuilding the power of his dwindling clan, the Kiyats. True to the prophecy, this great man was reputed to be 18 feet tall, stronger than 3 bulls and a single arrow from his bow could pierce 20 men. Such was the grandiose myth that grew around him.

　　Following his victory over the Tartars and early reunification of some of the tribes of the steppesthe young Temujen, in 1206, was given the title of Genghis Khan (Chingis) which means "emperor of all emperors" or "oceanic ruler". During his time as economic and political leader, the fearless, ruthless Genghis doubled the size of what was to become the Mongol empire, encompassing a land mass that covered the present area from the boundaries of Korea to Russia and Poland westwards, as well as south to the Mekong delta. After successfully conquering and bringing unity among the Mongols, Chingis Khan developed a strict code of laws called the Yassa. The punishment for breaking the laws of the Yassa was death. The Yassa was so well obeyed that a cart of gold could be left in the open street and no one would dare to touch it. Pickpockets or purse snatchers were unheard of in these turbulent times.

　　The selection of leaders for the warriors was not something taken lightly by Genghis Khan. Officer Jelme was selected after he witnessed Genghis hiding from pursuing Tartars in a river, but rightly refrained from revealing his watery shelter. Officer Borguchi befriended him when eight of his leader's horses were stolen by the enemy. Subetai, who arrived at a battle site riding on a reindeer, was seen to be resourceful and full of wisdom, eventually becoming his most famous general. In a surprise move, Chepe the Arrow was a prisoner of war, captured but spared from the usual execution or enslavement, when Genghis thought him to be a good warrior and candidate for a leadership role among his own men. His commanders were given unconditional trust.

　　The newly-created cavalry was good at what it was supposed to do. This army experienced success due to many reasons, regardless of being illiterate. 2Since it was "fragmented," a single unit composed of soldiers from different tribes, although led by like-minded principals, each troop operated with a clear objective. Collectively, this enabled the army to initiate many different manoeuvres concurrently. All were well disciplined, trained and skilled fighters. Honed on bow and arrow, they rode a short horse stirrup for control, and were armoured for protection. They were used to a harsh environment. The Mongols also copied the fighting techniques of civilisations that they conquered, winning by playing their own game. Battles were not board-games, but winner take all.

　　In 1209, the Uyghurs fell to Genghis, leaving him free to focus on overpowering the area to the south. This led him to overpower the Jin, effectively taking China under his command. After several battles, defeating the Tangut kingdom of Xi Xia, and even an embarrassing retreat, in 1215, Genghis overpowered and destroyed Zongdu, the Jin capital and rebuilt is as Dadu (later renamed Peking, now Beijing), and the Jin capital moved south to Nanking.This ultimately allowed for the creation of the Yuan Dynasty(1279-1368). In a poorly thought-out skirmish, soldiers of Sultan Muhammad of Khwarazm executed a caravan of trader emissaries from Khan, then killed an ambassador, forcing Genghis to declare war. The ensuing combat went far beyond the eye for an eye or tooth for a tooth.

　　A story about one of his last battles reveals the leader's love of his expanded homeland in the Ordos area, when he apparently dropped his horsewhip, stating that upon his death he wished to be buried there. The whip was buried and the spot marked by stone. When he was sixty seven years old, Chingis Khan died. Even in death, Genghis Khan leaves both legend and myth for descendants to ponder. One tale suggests he died from a hunting accident, when he was pierced by the tusk of a wild boar and the wound became infected. Another reports that he tragically fell from his horse, sustaining fatal injuries. A legend persists that 40 virgins accompanied Genghis Khan to a hedonistic afterlife. In an effort to keep the burial place safe from grave robbers and secret, 50 of the cavalry carried him to the resting place and were murdered by another 50, who then galloped over the site, finishing themselves off in a mass suicide. A shrine was established during the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911), despite the fact that his remains may be elsewhere.

　　The search for his burial site may be coming to an end, as Professor Damba Bazargur, a historical geographer of the Centre of Nomadic Pastoral Studies, and scholar of The Secret History of Genghis Khan, (written in Mongolian right after his demise) believes he has tracked down a possible location north of Ulan Bator. An excavation co-ordinated with archaeologists has turned up bones and metal chest plates of two men of a height over 2 metres, and remains of a young woman interred in the same tomb as a young deer and a wolf's penis. Speculation is that there could be a huge grave housing Khan and 34 of his khan descendants and families. The find could become a tourist attraction to equal the Terra Cotta Warriors and a boon for a kingdom sorely lacking in the tourist industry.

　　Over time, leaders in the Middle Kingdom inherited either an unwieldy group of defiant clans or a reunited, somewhat coherent unit of ethnic minorities. Two generations later, Kublai Khan took over his grandfather's legacy of a united empire, the largest ever to be created in the world. Genghis' heir, Ogodei, had added the southern Song empire, a difficult entrapment in oppressive heat and forested terrain, followed by Mongol successes in Russia and western Europe. Mongke, the youngest son, moved towards Baghdad, causing a religious furore by killing the Muslims and sparing the Christians. Has anything changed?

　　Kublai Khan, whether as part of a personality change or for some other reason, had to undertake a transformation from tyrannical conqueror to autocratic, yet conciliatory, ruler of a country in which he was an alien. He became more of an administrator/delegator and undertook changes that influenced every one of his subjects. Among other things, he introduced paper currency, and created a judicial system that operated independently of the royal court. There was freedom of religion, and certainly no persecution, which allowed for the practice and growth of Buddhism and Taoism.

　　With such a large empire, transportation routes naturally were extended both by road and waterway, and the beginnings of a postal service allowed for better communications. Having taken over the lands of Cathay, the location of a capital was a priority, Dadu being the choice. There was also a summer capital for the court of the Mongol-led dynasty, popularly known to the Chinese as the Yuan, situated in Shandu/Xanadu. Kublai Khan created the prototype for the Forbidden City, an architectural delight of mythical proportions - 9999 rooms. Unfortunately, the move out of Mongolia offended many in the home country, and conflict to maintain stability and satisfy a nomadic society was never far from the surface. Using his innate psychological skill, he flattered the Han Chinese by giving them positions of power. They resisted the control of an alien dynasty, steadfastly maintaining their Confucian principles and culture, as the invaders maintained theirs. Integration then, as now, is not an easy matter.

　　As traffic along the Silk Road increased, Kublai became host to one of the most famous expats in history: Marco Polo from Venice - he, following in his father's footsteps, a trader and negotiator. Europeans became very fond of silk, tea, opium and other treasures of the east, eventually seeking a naval passage to replace or speed up the hazardous journey across the deserts and sands and hostile territory. Marco Polo wrote at length about his 20 years in the royal circle. He was judge and justice, imparting punishment of his own design. He was allowed the indulgences and trappings of imperial order, purple silks and sedan chair transport, coloured umbrellas and concubines, feasting and entry into the private quarters of the palace. What puzzles many, is not so much what Polo wrote about, but what he did not. Since many of his memoirs were written from a jail cell, his reputation is somewhat clouded, with some experts even doubting his presence in China. To omit important aspects of Chinese culture such as the Great Wall or women with bound feet begs the question, "Was he really there or was he relating hearsay?"

　　Kublai Khan, to settle the score on behalf of his native peoples, resorted to further expansion, depleting Chinese resources in two failed attempts against Japan, losing 150,000 patriots in a monsoon, and another against Java in climatic conditions the invaders were unused to. On the personal front, after his favourite wife passed away, he became depressed and turned to drink and gluttony, succumbing in 1294, at age 79. The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)suffered from internal squabbling, rivalries between heirs, perceived inequalities, and lost a great deal of face in the handling of nature's regular disasters. Mongols thought they were becoming too Chinese and the Chinese preferred their rulers to speak their own language and adopt their customs. The Yuan were neither, caught between a rock and a hard place.

　　When the peasants backed an uprising against the Yuan, it was not long before the Chinese took back their own country and reinstated an extremely enduring dynasty of their own in 1368. The Ming went on to become one of the most powerful and influential entities of the cultural world, sharing its evolution with the European Renaissance and global exploration.

　　One further mystery and legacy of the Khan family remains, one which has only reached serious consideration with recent advances in DNA science and technology. A study was completed with blood samples collected over a period of ten years from more than 40 populations living in and around the former Mongol empire. Well-documented and reported recently in National Geographic, nearly 16 million living men are carrying the Y-chromosome as direct descendants of Genghis Khan. This is a patrilineal oddity that allows 8% of Asian men, or 0.5% of the world population to have a common genealogy. In other words, Genghis Khan had about 800,000 times the reproductive success of the average man of his age. Khan's eldest son was reputed to have fathered 40 sons. Documents written during or just after Khan's reign say that after a conquest, looting, pillaging, and rape were the spoils of war for all soldiers, but that Khan got first pick of the beautiful women. Kublai Khan had 22 legitimate sons, and he lovingly added 30 virgins to his personal harem annually. Undoubtedly, the circumstances of a hedonistic, non-monogamous lifestyle, the social mores of conquest, environment and female fertility led to the unique circumstances for the genetic proliferation. If and when the burial site is located, positive proof of the lineage of the Mongol male will be accounted for and open the box for more speculation, myths and legends about the Khans and the Yuan Dynasty.