Nomadic Empires and Genghis Khan

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing the social background, political rise, and military campaigns of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire.

Genghis Khan

The Mongol leader (d. 1227) who united the Mongol people and sought to fulfill a divine mandate to rule the world, establishing the largest empire in history.

Mongke

Grandson of Genghis Khan (1251-60) who warned French ruler Louis IX (1226-70) that there is only one Eternal Sky in Heaven and one Lord, Genghis Khan, on Earth.

Batu

Grandson of Genghis Khan whose 1236-41 military campaigns devastated Russian lands up to Moscow, seized Poland and Hungary, and camped outside Vienna.

Juwaini

A late-thirteenth-century Persian chronicler of the Mongol rulers of Iran (Ilkhans) who recorded accounts of the 1220 capture of Bukhara and calculated 1,300,000 casualties in Merv.

Gers

Tents in which the pastoral Mongols lived as they travelled with their herds from winter to summer pasture lands.

Altai Mountains

Snow-capped mountain range that ringed the Central Asian steppes to the west in the area of modern Mongolia.

Gobi Desert

Arid desert bounding the Central Asian steppe pasture lands to the south.

Onon and Selenga Rivers

Rivers that drained the Central Asian steppe landscape in the north and west where Mongol pastoralists nomadised.

Hsiung-nu

A Turkic steppe confederacy established in Central Asia around 200 BCE.

Juan-juan

A Mongol steppe confederacy formed in Central Asia around 400 CE.

Epthalite Huns

A Mongol steppe confederacy formed in Central Asia around 400 CE.

T'u-chueh

A Turkic steppe confederacy formed in Central Asia around 550 CE.

Uighurs

A Turkic steppe confederacy established in Central Asia around 740 CE.

Khitan

A Mongol steppe confederacy formed in Central Asia around 940 CE.

Attila

Fifth-century ruler (d. 453) whose broad confederation of nomadic tribes was matched in size only by that stitched together by Genghis Khan.

Great Wall of China

A common defensive outwork integrated starting from the third century BCE to protect agrarian societies in north China from nomadic raids.

Temujin

The original name of Genghis Khan, born around 1162 near the Onon river to Yesugei, chieftain of the Kiyat clan.

Yesugei

Father of Temujin and chieftain of the Kiyat, a group of families related to the Borjigid clan, who was murdered when Temujin was young.

Oelun-eke

Mother of Temujin who raised him, his brothers, and step-brothers through great hardship following the murder of his father.

Borte

Wife of Temujin who was kidnapped shortly after their marriage, requiring Temujin to fight to recover her.

Boghurchu

The first ally and trusted friend of young Temujin during his early years of hardship.

Jamuqa

Blood-brother (anda) of Temujin who later became a hostile foe and was ultimately defeated by Temujin in 1206.

Anda

The Mongol term for a blood-brother relationship, such as that formed between Temujin and Jamuqa.

Tughril / Ong Khan

Ruler of the Kereyits and old blood-brother of Yesugei, who acted as an ally to Temujin in the 1180s and 1190s before being defeated by him in 1203.

Quriltai

An assembly of Mongol chieftains where Temujin was proclaimed 'Great Khan of the Mongols' in 1206.

Qa'an

The title meaning 'Great Khan of the Mongols' proclaimed at the assembly of chieftains in 1206.

Genghis Khan (Title Meaning)

The title bestowed upon Temujin in 1206, meaning 'Oceanic Khan' or 'Universal Ruler'.

Hsi Hsia

People of Tibetan origin in the north-western provinces of China who were defeated by Genghis Khan by 1209.

Jurchen

People whose Chin dynasty ruled north China from Peking and fought long-drawn-out battles against the Mongols until 1234.

Sung Dynasty

The dynasty that controlled southern China during the campaigns of Genghis Khan.

Qara Khita

The power that controlled the Tien Shan mountains north-west of China until defeated by the Mongols in 1218.

Sultan Muhammad

The ruler of Khwarazm whose execution of Mongol envoys enraged Genghis Khan and triggered devastating Mongol campaigns from 1219 to 1221.

Nishapur

City captured in 1220 where a Mongol prince was killed, leading Genghis Khan to order that the town be completely laid waste, leaving not even cats and dogs alive, resulting in 1,747,000 deaths.

Jalaluddin

The son of Sultan Muhammad who was pursued by Mongol forces into Afghanistan and the Sindh province.