genghis khan

temujin

-birth name of genghis khan, he wanted to deal with the tatars the same way he had fealty with the jurkin and tayichuid. which was to kill the leaders and aboarb the survivors and all their goods and animals to his tribe (this is how temujin conquered a lot of areas)., temul=to rush headlong, to be inspired, to have a creative thought, and even to take a fight of fancy.

chingiss khan (genghis khan)

born on the land by the side of the onon river. he recognized that warfar was not a sporting contest between rivals, but more of a total commitment of one person against another.

burkhan khaldun

-"god mountain"; located in the khentii range -tallest mountain was the con of the area, and it was the earthly place closest to the eternal blue sky. -it was also the sacred heart of the mongol world

subodei

most accomplished of all mongol generals (trained mongke khan). he was the general who ravaged europe and china before retiring when he was 70. he wished to invade europe when he was 60. he was a very successful general despite his physical limitations (blind in one eye, could no longer ride a horse, and had to be hauled around in an iron chariot). he favored a break with the policies of genghis khan by organizing a massive campaign to the west, and towards europe (a previously unknown civilization that he discovered by accident).

marco polo

he wrote stories. he inspired those in europe to travel to asia. colombus had a copy of his travels and used it as a practical guide and to write notes in. he also wrote that money was accepted throughout the empire.

khubilai khan

-had deep knowledge of chinese culture and led the army of the left to conquer the sung dynasty, -grandson of the genghis khan (1215-1294); claimed the title of great khan and established the yuan dynasty in china, -created the office for the stimulation of agriculture under the authority of 18 commissioners who sough ways to improve farmers' lives and yields. -ruled with the mandate of heaven, had to display to make time, forecast the phases of the moon, the changing seasons, and the timing or the lunar and solar eclipses.

hulegu

-conqueror of baghdad and the founder of the ilkhanate over persia. -died in 1265, -the grandson of genghis khan, -he conquered persia, the arab cities, and eliminated the abbasid caliphate and baghdad, establishing the II-khans in persia (assigned by mongke), -he deliberately advanced slowly and ostentatiously with a nomadic empire

guyuk

-great han of the mongol empire (1246-1248); son of ogodei (he was ogodei's least favorite son), -killed fatima,

juvaini

-the first persian chronicler who wrote his own version of the mongolian history (seemed to favor genghis khan), -he disliked fatima and seemingly all women in politics

toregene

wife of ogodei khan, regent of the mongol empire during the period 1241-1246

fatima

she was a tajik/persian captive from the khawrizm campaign who had been brought to work in karakoram. she enjoyed constant access to toregene's tent and became the "sharer of the intimate confidence and the depository of hidden secrets" as well as playing political role (she was free to issue commands and prohibitions). toregene felt that she could orchestrate her son's election. guyuk eventually took control of fatima, and used horrific methods of torture on her. torture was against the mongol rule, but she was technically not a mongol or married to one so it was legal. eventually she confessed her list of evils (including bewitching toregene and other members of the royal family) which to guyuk stated that she was sewn shut and rolled up in a felt blanket to down in the river.

sorkhokhtani

her eldest son, mongke, was elected but ogedai boycotted the election. she was the widow of genghis khan's youngest son and controlled the ancient family homeland where genghis khan had been born, elected, and buried. she helped the election here on this sacred ground, because the ogedai refused to vote (wanted to vote in mongolia). no one could refuse to vote in such a sacred ground so she organ-led a second election for this hallowed spot. mongke grand khan at 43 took the throne. this time no one could reject the venue.

tolui

-youngest son of genghis khan (1193-1233). married to sorkhokhtani, who managed to seize control over the empire for their four sons. -with power eventually failing their sons, khubilai and hulegu, who left to complete conquest assigned by mongke.

ogedai

-the third son of genghis khan and borte, -great khan of the mongol empire (1229-1241), -he made a centerpiece for the castle made of complex series of gold and silver cars that were very late and held alcohol, -he was an alcoholic,

jamuka

-anda (sworn brother) or genghis khan, and for a brief period of time he was a gur-khan of the mongols until executed by genghis khan, -a slighter older boy whose family camped near temujin on the banks of the onon river and as a member of the jacaranda clan. he was temujin's and a and eventually became his rival warrior. he was distantly related to the clan of temujin's father. temujin and jamuka swore and oath to the eternal brotherhood (twice), becoming blood brothers according to the mongol traditions. they basically grew up together. the first oath was an exchange of toys, the second one was where the two swallowed a small amount of one another's blood.

guillaume boucher

mongke's army took the city of belgrade where they captured guillaume boucher. boucher was a parisian goldsmith and had the ability to make christian religious objects. he was first given to sorkhokhtani, and her deathbed her passed to mongke's younger brother arik boke. mongke selected boucher and a team of 50 assistant craftsmen to add an exotic european flair to the mongol capital. he did this in an overwhelming but idiosyncratic style that amazed visitors to his courts.

jochi

-eldest son of genghis khan and borte. legitimacy was always questioned because of his conception time. -he died in 1227, the same year as his father; his descendants became the golden horde of russia

assassins

-consists of nizari ismailis (a hierarchical muslim sect of shi'ites), -a person who murders a public figure, such as a government leader

hazara

descendants of the mongols who lived in afghanistan and have been persecuted by the taliban

voltaire

(1694-1778) french philosopher. he believed that freedom of speech was the best weapon against bad government. he also spoke out against the corruption of the french government, and the intolerance of the catholic church.

tamerlane

-a turkic warrior who claimed to be descendant of genghis khan (relatives intermarriaged with real descendants of genghis khan to make sure linkage would acquire the blood of genghis khan). -sought to retrieve the mongol, conquering much of the former territory from india to the mediterranean -slaughtered people without a reason and found pleasure in torturing/humiliating his prisoners

tatars

-the group that killed temujin's father, allegedly by poison (altan khan east of vassals of jurched of north china), -owned more trade goods that any other tribe on the steppe

secret history of the mongols

-the original mongolian documents (hard to decipher because it was filled with codes and chinese characters), -the primary source of the mongol family written by those close to genghis khan

khwarizm

-the turkic sultan muhammad II, whose empire was called the khwarizm-the vast areas of mountains stretching from afghanistan to the black sea with the world's finest of all metals, magnificent steel, cotton, and other textiles.-genghis khan wanted these commodities and sought a trading partnership with the sultan (the mongols wanted to create a trade treaty and formalize their commercial relationship with the sultan).-the merchants that genghis khan sent were murdered because of a greedy governor. genghis khan sent envoys to request that the sultan punish the official, but the sultan rebuked and killed the envoys, causing a war. -the mongols took every major city in the khwarizm empire and the sultan was laid abandoned in the caspian Sea.

jawaharlal nehru

-peace advocate jawaharlal nehru, the father of indian independence-began writing long series of letters to his daughter to explain history as an antidote to what she had learned through colonial school after he received news his wife was captured by british colonial authorities-depicted genghis khan as a part of an ancient struggle of asian people against european domination.-concluded that genghis khan was the greatest military genius and leader in history

how did temujin rose to power? what was his early life like, especially with his family (siblings, mother, wife)

after temujin's father died and the family was abandoned, they lived in desolation. these events gave him the wisdom and conviction to push through his hardships as leader in his empire. his tribe's abandonment gave him the knowledge that neither blood nor race could be relied on for support, and he vowed to change the tribe. it was important to gain influential alliances. the murder of his half-brother, begter, made him the family leader, but also a criminal. when he was captured by the tayichiud tribe, who he had previously had kinship with, but was freed by a poor family outside of the tribe. this taught him that some people within kinship could not be trusted, and some people outside of it could.

how did he change nomadic society? what kinds of things did he prohibit?

he prohibited the kidnapping of women (because of how borte was kidnapped). they had their conquered people help work for the economy such as making goods to assist in their tradingee, as the status of merchants were increased. many territories were nomadic and people inhabited did not support agriculture, as a result, nomadic societies needed to adapt to the arid landscapes in central asia. central asia could not support an irrigation system as well. however. nomadic societies were able to focus on producing specialized products which greatly led them to advantages. the nomadic people did not need to focus on agriculture and irrigation.

where is temujin buried? why has it been so difficult for those wanting to locate his final resting place?

temujin is buried in a sacred location, and this is unknown because the location is kept secret for sacred reasons. the resting place has been unnamed and no one is allowed to go to the location because the people in the area don't allow anyone to come in because this keeps temujin's body sacred from others. (there were no primary sources/written accounts of the nation's endeavors, but the secret history of the mongols was recently decoded).

familiarize yourself with the events leading up to temujin declaring war on the khwarizm sultan. know why the mongols were so powerful militarily.

the mongols wanted to create a trade treaty and formalize their commercial relationship with the sultan. the merchants that genghis khan sent were murdered because of a greedy governor. genghis khan sent envoys to request that the sultan punish the official, but the sultan rebuked and killed the envoys, causing a war. the mongols took every major city in the khwarizm empire and the sultan was laid abandoned in the caspian sea (next to the middle east, (106-107), a combination of training, tactics, discipline, intelligence and constantly adapting new tactics gave the mongol army its savage edge against the slower, heavier armies of the times (AND THEIR COMPOSITE BOWS, which gave great power and range to penetrate plate armors in close distance).