Abstract
The rise of Mongolia King named Genghis Khan remains one of the most dramatic happenings of the 11th Century. Documented history indicates that Khan was the founder and ruler of the Mongol Empire for 21 years until 1227. Most of the documented works about the Mongol ruler came from the voluminous script titled, “The secret history of the Mongols”. The source strays into describing the early life of Khan, adventures that facilitates his rise into power, and finally the aftermath of his leadership. Scholars from different cultural backgrounds have spent considerable time trying to establish facts about this unparalleled ruler as documented in the script. Based on their works, certain scholarly works indicates a reasonable agreement between analysts from different backgrounds. However, other articles about Genghis depict substantial contradictions on the general flow of the story. In this context, we will appraise the level of agreement and divergence between Arab articles about Khan, and those from the Franj perspective.
Introduction
Various sources indicate that Khan took over power as the leader of his clan at a tender age. His father died from intentional poisoning by an enemy army. Consequently, Genghis Khan, who was then called Temujin, took over the clan leadership. Despite being at his early age, Temujin could demonstrate qualities of strict leadership. On one occasion, he shot his half brother with an arrow after a fight over fish. Based on the incident, one could agree that Temujin was exceedingly cruel against his foes. However, many other incidences of his childhood showed that the same leader had considerable kindness towards his loyal friends. At this juncture, the thesis statement says that the rise of Genghis Khan is attributed to his brutal personality towards enemies and subsequent kindness towards loyal clansmen.
With constant attacks from their enemies, Temujin and his clan grew weaker. In fact they would be forced to live in utter hardships where they fed on bitter plant roots for survival. At the age of 15, Khan had great stamina and physical strength. Despite, having not assumed exclusive political powers from his clan, the teenager would demonstrate a show of might when with his private army of five men. What intrigues many scholars is the fact that Genghis Khan would rise from a humble background to being one of the most unparalleled conqueror in human history. Based on comparison from Persian Empire and even the Roman Empire, no king had ever rises from such a low social position and ended up achieving great success in his reign. As opposed to Arab perspective, Franj articles add that unlike other preceding rulers, Khan also has substantial religious influence on the Mongol population. In this case, consolidation of his personal traits with his social appeal created a synergistic effect that would bolster him into power.
Article 1
Rossabi, Morris. "Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World." Journal of Asian Studies 12 (2001).
According to Rossabi, who writes from a Franj perspective, Khan enjoyed tremendous social support because of his religious inclination. At the age of 17, the king showed no subjective prejudice towards other outside cultural believes as opposed to typical Mongol rulers of the past. In fact articles from the Franj point of view explicitly show how Kan approached religious aspects from a philosophical perspective rather than a personal and prejudiced standpoint. He would constantly consult with leaders from other religions including Buddhists, Christians and Muslims. In this case, Khan’s religious tolerance accounts for the reason why the ruler exercised substantial influence, especially during unification of the diverged Mongol confederations. As a result of his social tolerance, Khan was able to unite Naimans, Keraits and Tatars, who were bitter rivals of his father. After the unification, Mongol Empire, under Khan’s leadership would strengthen due to lack of frequent revenge attacks and raids from rival tribes.
Article 2
Thomas, Allsen. "Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire: A Cultural History of Islamic Textiles." Journal of Asian Studies 6 (1998): 8.
Despite Franj articles emphasizing on resourcefulness of Khan’s religious tolerance, Arab scholarly journals holds a contrary opinion on this concept. According to Thomas, who is a writer of Arab articles, Khan consolidated his power through military conquests and assimilative techniques. During the early 11th Century, the main rivals of Khan’s clan were Naimans and Merkits. In his first conquest, Genghis Khan rounded up 20000 warriors and successfully defeated Naimans. Upon every defeat of his enemies, Khan would offer defeated soldiers and civilians comfort in form of wealth and protection. In fact Khan promised defeated soldiers of more material wealth upon any subsequent win of conquest battles. He would even delegate his political authority to defeated Naimans based on the aspect of merit. Based on these tactical moves, Khan was able to grow stronger after every victory on his enemies.
Article 3
Lane, George. Genghis Khan and Mongol Rule. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Lane from Arabic articles says that apart from how Khan gained power through conquests, the ruler would employ unorthodox means of scaling up his clan’s political ladder. Khan, while still using the name Temujin amassed strength collectively with his friend Jamugha. While going around with their nomadic movements, Temujin staged an intentional fall out between his loyal supporters and that of his friend Jamugha. Consequently, their Mongolian subjects split proportionately with respect to each ruler’s influence. As a result, Temujin gained more loyal followers that his friend, thus ending up being crowned as Genghis Khan. In this context, Arabs believe that Temujin tactically used Jamugha first as a close friend, and later used him in rising to power. Therefore, such mischievous and unorthodox techniques enhanced Khan’s unparalleled expansion of Mongol Empire.
Article 4
Shlapentokh, Dmitry. "The image of Genghis Khan and ethnic identities in Post-Soviet Russia." Journal of Asia-Europe Studies (2009).
With respect to the use of unorthodox military tactics, Franj article by Shlapentokh also agree that Khan consistently played foul to his enemies. On one instance, Khan was defeated by an army of Naimans, and he went into China for exile. While in China, he had time to restructure his influence; hence returning home just to overthrow Jamugha. Subsequently, Jamugha joined forces with Khan’s rivals, especially the Tartars. As tension increased, the two opposing sides staged a war at a place called Koyitan. However, the decisive battle was disrupted by a snowfall, and the two sides reached an agreement to call off the war. Despite Genghis reaching a cease fire agreement with his rivals, he would immediately turn against one of the opposing armies during the withdrawal process. Consequently, Genghis was able to totally defeat the already weakened Tartars in the ambush, thus gaining an advantage over the Jamugha’s allies. In this context, Franj agrees that dishonoring of the cease fire agreement by Khan amounts to use of unorthodox means of gaining strength.
Article 5
Menges, Karl., and Michael Prawdin. "The Mongol Empire: Its Rise and Legacy." Journal of American Historical Review (1942).
After numerous nomad conquests within the Mongol Empire, Khan would soon settle down to build his secured kingdom. In this case, Franj writers namely Menges and Michael agrees that Khan would be remembered for his role in creating a sustainable peace in Mongol, which was a state totally different from the typical chaotic struggle between nomadic powers. Apart from creating peace, Khan implemented imperial administration over the empire. In this case, the ruler was remembered by his subjects for his role in ensuring justice within the empire. Based on his imperial rule, Franj articles claims that Khan declared specific policies of taxation, penalty for crimes and religious tolerance. Such policies were instrumental in ensuring continued survival of the Mongol Empire until Khan’s demise from power. In this regard, Franj holds the perspective that Khan was highly respected and cherished by Mongolians.
Article 6
Rossabi, Morris. "Social Revolutions in Asia: The Social History of Mongolia in the Eleventh Century”. Journal of Asian Studies (2009)
Despite the role played by the ruler in structuring Mongol Empire, Arab article by Rossabi is quick to admit that the ruler subjected the Empire into a battleground for six years. In fact these articles holds the opinion that Khan consolidates as much power within six years compared to what Alexander the great gathered in four centuries. Conquests that would yield success within such a short time usually come with a lot of bloodshed and terror to the civilian population. In this regard, Khan’s subjects who were conquered and assimilated would not forget the brutal traits of their ruler. Despite presence of justice and religious tolerance in Mongol, subjects affected by conquests viewed Khan as an evil incarnate. These subjects would be swift to characterize Khan’s battles by loud screams of doomed civilians and unceasing drumbeats of lethal horse-hooves. In this context, Khan would qualify as a cause of terror rather than peace in Mongolia.
Despite the differing perspectives of Arab and Franj articles, one would still have to acknowledge the fact that Khan was a vicious and brilliant ruler. Apart from Alexander the Great, Khan would qualify as one of the greatest army commander the world has ever had. As a king, he almost spent his entire lifetime in archery and horsemanship. He implemented strict military laws which would transform the whole Mongol men into lifetime soldiers. Consequently, Khan’s army became the most feared force in the world as by first quarter of the 11th Century. This position is seconded by barbarian historical scripts which refer to Khan’s Mongol army as being the most experienced and disciplined force on earth.
Conclusion
At this juncture, analysis of the articles yields different insights opposed to the thesis statement. In the beginning, people believe that Genghis Khan used his personality traits of brutality towards enemies and kindness to loyal subjects as the only means of achieving success. However, Arabs and Franj would unearth the fact that Khan used cunning to achieve his ends. Therefore, rise of Genghis was partly from his personality, but largely from his mischievous military tactics.
Bibliography
Lane, George. Genghis Khan and Mongol Rule. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Menges, Karl., and Michael Prawdin. "The Mongol Empire: Its Rise and Legacy." Journal of American Historical Review (1942).
Rossabi, Morris. "Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World." Journal of Asian Studies 12 (2001).
Rossabi, Morris. "Social Revolutions in Asia: The Social History of Mongolia in the Eleventh Century”. Journal of Asian Studies (2009)
Shlapentokh, Dmitry. "The image of Genghis Khan and ethnic identities in Post-Soviet Russia." Journal of Asia-Europe Studies (2009).
Thomas, Allsen. "Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire: A Cultural History of Islamic Textiles." Journal of Asian Studies 6 (1998): 8.
