Genghis Kahn (Part XI)

Physical appearance

Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis, was noted not to have inherited his grandfather's red hair

Genghis Khan never allowed his image to be portrayed in paintings or sculptures. The earliest known image of Genghis Khan was produced half a century after his death, including the famous National Palace Museum portrait, produced by an anonymous author under the Yuan dynasty.  Images depicting Genghis Khan were produced half a century after his death and each culture projected their own particular image of him.

The Persian chronicler Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani described Genghis Khan as "a man of tall stature, of vigorous built, robust in body, the hair of his face scanty and turned white, with cats’ eyes, possessed of dedicated energy, discernment, genius, and understanding, awe-striking, a butcher, just, resolute, an overthrower of enemies, intrepid, sanguinary and cruel."

"Although the factual nature of the statement is controversial", the Persian historian Rashid al-Din stated in his Jami' al-tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) that Genghis Khan and his male-line ancestors were tall, and red-haired. He also said that they had blue-green eyes, and that they had long beards. Rashid noted that Kublai Khan, Genghis' grandson, did not inherit the red hair.  Rashid al-Din authored these statements under the auspice of Mongol emperor Ghazan Khan, with the assistance of Bolad.

Depictions in modern culture

There have been several films, novels and other adaptation works on the Mongolian ruler.

Films

·         Genghis Khan, a 1950 Philippine film directed by Manuel Conde.

·         The Conqueror, released in 1956 and starring John Wayne as Temüjin and Susan Hayward as Börte.

·         Genghis Khan, a 1965 film starring Omar Sharif.

·         Under The Eternal Blue Sky, a Mongolian film directed by Baljinnyam, which was released in 1990. Starring Agvaantserengiin Enkhtaivan as Temüjin.

·         Genghis Khan, an unfinished 1992 film starring Richard Tyson, Charlton Heston and Pat Morita.

·         Genghis Khan – A Proud Son Of Heaven, a 1998 film made in Mongolian, with English subtitles.

·         Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea, also known as The Descendant of Gray Wolf, a Japanese-Mongolian film released in 2007.

·         Mongol, a film by Sergei Bodrov released in 2007. (Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film).

·         No Right to Die – Chinggis Khaan, a Mongolian film released in 2008.

Television series

·         Genghis Khan, a 1987 Hong Kong television series produced by TVB, starring Alex Man.

·         Genghis Khan, a 1987 Hong Kong television series produced by ATV, starring Tony Liu.

·         Genghis Khan, a 2004 Chinese-Mongolian co-produced television series, starring Ba Sen, who is a descendant of Genghis Khan's second son Chagatai.

Poetry

·         "The Squire's Tale", one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, is set at the court of Genghis Khan.

·         The End of Genghis, a poem by F. L. Lucas, in which the dying Khan, attended by his Khitan counselor Yelü Chucai, looks back on his life.

Novels

·         The Conqueror series of novels by Conn Iggulden

·         Steppe by Piers Anthony

·         Genghis Khan (Last incarnation) in Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

Short stories

·         The Private Life of Genghis Khan by Douglas Adams and Graham Chapman

Music

·         West German pop band Dschinghis Khan took its name from the German-language spelling of Genghis Khan. They participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 with their song of the same name.

·         British heavy metal band Iron Maiden released an all-instrumental track titled "Genghis Khan" on their 1981 sophomore album Killers.

·         The artist Miike Snow released the song "Genghis Khan" in 2017.

·         Mongolian Folk-Rock band The Hu released a song called The Great Chinggis Khaan in August 2019.

Video games

·         Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

·         Aoki Ookami to Shiroki Mejika IV: Genghis Khan

·         Crusader Kings 2

·         Deadliest Warrior: Legends

·         Sid Meier's Civilization

There are many theories about the origins of Temüjin's title. Since people of the Mongol nation later associated the name with ching (Mongolian for strength), such confusion is obvious, though it does not follow etymology.

One theory suggests the name stems from a palatalized version of the Mongolian and Turkic word tenggis, meaning "ocean", "oceanic" or "wide-spreading". (Lake Baikal and ocean were called tenggis by the Mongols. However, it seems that if they had meant to call Genghis tenggis they could have said, and written, "Tenggis Khan", which they did not.) Zhèng (Chinese: 正) meaning "right", "just", or "true", would have received the Mongolian adjectival modifier -s, creating "Jenggis", which in medieval romanization would be written "Genghis". It is likely that the 13th-century Mongolian pronunciation would have closely matched "Chinggis".

The English spelling "Genghis" is of unclear origin. Weatherford claims it derives from a spelling used in original Persian reports. Even at this time some Iranians pronounce his name as "Ghengiss". However, review of historical Persian sources does not confirm this.

According to the Secret History of the Mongols, Temüjin was named after a powerful warrior of the Tatar tribe that his father Yesügei had taken prisoner. The name "Temüjin" is believed to derive from the word temür, Turkic for iron (modern Mongolian: төмөр, tömör). The name would imply a blacksmith or a man strong like iron.

No evidence has survived to indicate that Genghis Khan had any exceptional training or reputation as a blacksmith. But the latter interpretation (a man strong like iron) is supported by the names of Genghis Khan's siblings, Temülin and Temüge, which are derived from the same root word.

Name and spelling variations

Genghis Khan is spelled in a variety of ways in different languages such as Mongolian Chinggis Khaan, English Chinghiz, Chinghis, and Chingiz, Chinese: 成吉思汗; pinyin: Chéngjísī Hán, Turkic: Cengiz Han, Çingiz Xan, Çingiz Han, Chingizxon, Çıñğız Xan, Chengez Khan, Chinggis Khan, Chinggis Xaan, Chingis Khan, Jenghis Khan, Chinggis Qan, Djingis Kahn, Russian: Чингисхан (Čingiskhan) or Чингиз-хан (Čingiz-khan), etc. Temüjin is written in Chinese as simplified Chinese: 铁木真; traditional Chinese: 鐵木眞; pinyin: Tiěmùzhēn.

When Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in 1271, he had his grandfather Genghis Khan placed on the official record as the founder of the dynasty or Taizu (Chinese: 太祖). Thus, Genghis Khan is also referred to as Yuan Taizu (Emperor Taizu of Yuan, Chinese: 元太祖) in Chinese historiography.

Timeline

·         Probably 1155, 1162, or 1167: Temüjin was born in the Khentii Mountains.

·         When Temüjin was nine, his father Yesükhei was poisoned by Tatars, leaving Temüjin and his family destitute.

·         c. 1184: Temüjin's wife Börte was kidnapped by Merkits; he called on blood brother Jamukha and Wang Khan for aid, and they rescued her.

·         c. 1185: First son Jochi was born; leading to doubt about his paternity later among Genghis's children, because he was born shortly after Börte's rescue from the Merkits.

·         1190: Temüjin united the Mongol tribes, became leader, and devised code of law Yassa.

·         1201: Victory over Jamukha's Jadarans.

·         1202: Adopted as Wang Khan's heir after successful campaigns against Tatars.

·         1203: Victory over Wang Khan's Keraites. Wang Khan himself killed by accident by allied Naimans.

·         1204: Victory over Naimans (all these confederations unite and become the Mongols).

·         1206: Jamukha was killed. Temüjin was given the title Genghis Khan by his followers in a Kurultai (around 40 years of age).

·         1207–1210: Genghis led operations against the Western Xia, which comprises much of northwestern China and parts of Tibet. Western Xia ruler submitted to Genghis Khan. During this period, the Uyghurs also submitted peacefully to the Mongols and became valued administrators throughout the empire.

·         1211: After the kurultai, Genghis led his armies against the Jin dynasty ruling northern China.

·         1215: Beijing fell; Genghis Khan turned to west and the Khara-Kitan Khanate.

·         1219–1222: Conquered Khwarezmid Empire.

·         1226: Started the campaign against the Western Xia for forming coalition against the Mongols, the second battle with the Western Xia.

·         1227: Genghis Khan died after conquering the Tangut people. Cause of death is uncertain.