(Image credit: Shutterstock)Īround 1200, Temüjin and his friend Toghrul launched a campaign against the Tatars, a group that lived in parts of what are now Mongolia and China, and whom they defeated in 1202. Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire in 1227 and at its greatest extent in 1279. Around age 14, Temüjin murdered his half brother Bekter according to 'The Secret History of the Mongols.' This may have arisen from a dispute over resources. After a few years, Temüjin was able to marry Börte, and she became the most prominent of his multiple wives. Temüjin, his family and their remaining followers were forced to eke out a living on marginal pasturelands, contending with thieves and old rivals of Yesügei hoping to kill his family. At some point, Temüjin's father died (apparently poisoned), and the family's power faded as many of his father's followers deserted them. We know little of Temüjin's early life, 'but it is reasonable to suppose that as the years rolled by and childhood turned into youth was brought up in the hard and harsh atmosphere of nomadic life, in which the tribal lords and chiefs fought, drank, and duelled, married and slept with their weapons underneath them - a rigorous life in which chiefs shared the miseries, hungers and privations of their people,' Haqqi wrote.Īround age 9, Temüjin was betrothed to Börte, the 10-year-old daughter of Dai Sechen, the leader of the Jungirat tribe (there are different spellings of these names). Their son was named Temüjin to celebrate his father's triumph over an enemy who was also called Temüjin, Haqqi wrote, noting that it was common to name a newborn child after an auspicious event. Temüjin's mother, Hoelun, had been captured by his father's clan and forced to become Yesügei's wife (a common practice in Mongolia at the time).

Genghis birth of an empire