Genghis Khan - Mongol Empire 1of6

In 1162, deep in the heart of Asia, a child was born. He was clutching a blood clot, a sign from heaven that he was destined to be a great warrior. His life was to become a legend. His name, Genghis Khan. Many believe his story is simple, that he was the incarnation of evil, a brutal barbarian who butchered millions. But the real character of Genghis Khan is far more intriguing. How did this illiterate outcast turn the feuding tribes of Mongolia into a powerful nation? And how did he transform the Mongol hordes into a ruthless and disciplined fighting machine? An army with revolutionary tactics and ingenious weapons that ultimately stood poised to conquer Europe. And why on his deathbed did he believe his divine mission remained unfulfilled? Soon I will know death, but I will never know my destiny. Shortly after his death, his heirs gathered their memories into an epic account of his life. They called it the secret history of the Mongols. Evidence from Chinese and Persian sources, the work of leading scholars and the secret history allow this to be the most complete television portrait of Genghis Khan ever made. The characters are all real historical figures. And the words of Genghis Khan are rooted in the great speeches of the secret history. This is the story of how that tiny fist turned to iron and came to rule the largest land empire ever known to man. In 1215, the Mongol warrior Genghis Khan led his army to Beijing, capital of Northern China. After fighting his way across Asia, the city stood before him. But Beijing was protected by formidable defenses. Surrounding it was a wall 12 meters high and 30 kilometers long. Behind the wall was one of the world's most advanced armies. First, Genghis Khan besieged the city. Then he ordered an audacious attack. He forced enemy prisoners to fill his front lines. He built new weapons to attack the city's defenses. Finally, having endured the Chinese arrows and bombs, he commanded his Mongol warriors to scale the walls. Genghis Khan sensed victory was within his grasp. Beijing was fighting for its life. A poor nomad from the remote Mongol steppe, Genghis Khan had made an extraordinary journey. The boy who had become Genghis Khan was called Temujin. He was the son of a tribal warrior chief. When he was only nine years old, he received news that was to change his life. My father had been poisoned by a rival tribe. My mother told me my father's enemies were forever the enemies of my own heart. From that day, I would never be a child again. As the eldest son, Temujin grew up to lead what was little more than an extended family. And on the steppes, a small tribe was weak and vulnerable. To survive, Temujin knew he must forge links with other tribes. And there was only one way he could do that. Her name was Borte. There were only two things to know about my marriage. She was a woman of beauty. And the sable fur they gave us was worth a thousand of the swifter's torches. The great tribes of Mongolia were locked in a spiral of murderous vendettas. There was only one law on the steppes. If a man wanted something, he took it. Now, Temujin had something another man wanted. The Merkit tribe had feuded with Temujin's father. Now, Temujin himself was in danger. And especially vulnerable was his new wife. The secret history records what Temujin, the man who would one day be Genghis Khan, did next. They'd taken my wife. I knew what I had to do. What Temujin had to do was to escape. Only a fool fights a battle he knows he cannot win. Wife-stealing was common on the steppes. Borte knew she had no choice but to submit. I had just one friend I could trust, Jamukha. As children, we had sworn the vow of Ander. It was the most sacred vow of all. We were blood brothers. A bond that joined our lives. With my sworn brother, Jamukha, my power had been increased by heaven and earth. At the Merkit camp in the mountains of northern Mongolia, Temujin went looking for his wife. We made the Merkits pay for their deed. We destroyed their families and emptied their breasts. Temujin, the man who was to become Genghis Khan, was barely 20 and he'd already eliminated one of Mongolia's great tribes.