Genghis Khan

I, finally, went and saw the Genghis Khan’s exhibit in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was a fascinating exhibit with many relics from that period. I knew a little bit about Genghis Khan, since Iran was one of the countries that was invaded by him in 13th century. I had read about the death and destruction that the Mongols brought to Iran. It was a dark period in the Iranian history. But I learned so much more yesterday.

Genghis Khan was a brilliant man and a great politician who unified the nomadic Mongolian tribes and created this amazingly well organized and highly skilled army. They conquered what would constitute 30 countries in today’s world in the span of 25 years, far greater than the areas conquered by the Romans, Greeks and the Persians. I learned a lot about medieval warfare, weapons and war tactics, unusual topics, but quite interesting. What a different and violent world they lived in.

Genghis Khan also promoted freedom of religion and brought the first written language to his people by borrowing the script used by people in western Mongolia. Although he was a shamanist but his main wife was a Christian. He had many wives and also had the pick of whomever he wanted in lands that he conquered. A recent study has shown that the ancestry of 16 million men in the world today can be traced back to Genghis Khan, which means one in every two hundred men in the world today is his descendent. It was said that he spread his DNA 800,000 times more than the average man.

Many cities were destroyed and population wiped out by Genghis Khan and his army. The combination of his brilliance, drive and inhumanity has made him the greatest conqueror the world has ever known.