History abounds with tales of ruthless conquerors but the man who remains unparalleled for his mindless brutality is Genghis Khan. He is certainly the cruelest conqueror of all times. Of humble origin, he grew up a poor, illiterate boy, known as Temujin. Not content with a life of anonymity and poverty, he strove to get recognised as the leader of the disunited Mongols, driven by the conviction that Tengri, the Mongol deity, had decreed that he was to conquer all lands in every direction. In 1189, the Mongols anointed him with the name Genghis, believed to be derived from an obsolete Turkish word, chinghis, meaning fierce, hard and tough.
Genghis and his rampaging hordes presided over an empire which comprised most of central Asia, from the Caspian Sea in the west to the China Sea in the east, including the great cities of the Silk Route, Bukhara and Samarkand. In 1211, he set out with a 100,000- strong army and advanced across the Gobi desert to conquer the Chinese empire of Jin. The army had 300,000 horses and was armed with catapults that could expel rocks or firebombs up to 100 metres. The army resembled a mass migration of several families, sheep and herds of mares to provide the warriors with horse milk. There were about 250,000 people with around a million animals in tow.
Genghis’ strategy to conquer a fortified city was to surround it and starve its inhabitants. He would give them the option of surrendering or being massacred. But this was almost always a ruse. Even if they took his word and surrendered, he would renege on his commitment and kill every man, woman and child anyway. Bukhara and Samarkand were ancient cities whose inhabitants were known for their appreciation of the arts. These ancient outposts of Islam had a degree of civilisation which was unheard of.
These beautiful cities were peppered with domes, palaces, mosques and huge libraries where scores of scholars led the world in maths, science, astronomy and general knowledge. Bukhara was stripped of its treasures, bombarded and burned until every male inhabitant was slaughtered. The Mongol juggernaut then proceeded towards Samarkand, which was defended by about 100,000 troops and 20 elephants, which panicked, trampled their drivers and made off into the plains. When the city’s merchant leaders and senior clergy invited the Mongols in, they looted their treasures, their wives and made the survivors their slaves.
After laying siege to the remaining great city of Gurganj and becoming victorious five months later, the Mongols had no mercy. Muslim historians have left behind some staggering figures: 50,000 soldiers killed 24 men each. Genghis then proceeded towards Merv, the oasis city of mosques, mansions and ten libraries which contained a staggering 150,000 volumes, the greatest collection in central Asia. The Mongols entered the city and separated 400 craftsmen and a crowd of children to act as slaves and drove the remaining population on to the plain. Then the carnage began. The city was ransacked, the buildings destroyed and the books burnt. Nobody was to be spared. Each soldier in the 7,000 strong army was given a target of 300 people to kill.
By the end of 1227, he was on the verge of achieving an empire, stretching from the Pacific to almost Baghdad, but this was not to be. Genghis became seriously ill with typhus and died within days. Today, a massive mausoleum stands with colossal statues of him but there is no body. No one knows what became of it.
Genghis built nothing. He didn’t leave any writings or philosophy. His grandson Kublai Khan was the emperor of the Chinese dynasty, the Yuan and built its capital, Shang Du. He innovated paper money, built pagodas and adopted Buddhism. Compared to his grandfather, he was a benevolent dictator. When he died at 80, his empire stretched from the Black Sea in the west to the China Sea in the east, covering a sixth of the world’s known land mass. But within two years of his death, the Empire split up and vanished, leaving the world a legacy of nothing.