Genghis Khan Timeline

Around 1201, a collection of dissatisfied tribes including the Onggirat, Tayichiud, and Tatars swore to break the domination of the Borjigin-Kereit alliance, electing Jamukha as their leader with the title gurkhan, meaning 'khan of the tribes'.

Desiring complete supremacy in eastern Mongolia, Temüjin defeated the Tayichiud tribe. After the campaign he executed the clan leaders and took the remaining warriors into his service.

Image source: Taichiud

In 1202, Temüjin defeated the Tatars, executing their clan leaders and absorbing the remaining warriors into his army, further consolidating his control over eastern Mongolia.

Image source: Mongol conquests

Toghrul, Temüjin's former patron, came to view him as a threat and launched a surprise attack on him in 1203. Temüjin ultimately defeated Toghrul that year and appropriated Kereit institutions, including an expanded imperial guard.

Image source: Keraites

At the Battle of Chakirmaut in the Altai Mountains in May 1204, the Naimans were decisively defeated: their leader Tayang Khan was killed, and his son Kuchlug was forced to flee west, leaving Temüjin sole ruler of the steppe.

Now sole ruler of the steppe, Temüjin held a large assembly called a kurultai at the source of the Onon River in 1206, where he formally adopted the title 'Genghis Khan', the meaning of which remains uncertain. He also expanded his imperial guard from 1,150 to 10,000 men, rewarding many followers of low social status in a display of meritocratic ideals.

Image source: Kurultai

The Mongols began raiding the border settlements of the Tangut-led Western Xia kingdom in 1205, ostensibly in retaliation for allowing Senggum, Toghrul's son, refuge. A further raid in 1207 sacked the Xia fortress of Wulahai.

Image source: Western Xia

In 1207, Genghis dispatched his son Jochi northwards to subjugate the Hoi-yin Irgen, a collection of tribes on the edge of the Siberian taiga. Qorchi was appointed governor of these tribes, though his later abuses would spark rebellion.

Image source: Genghis Khan

Mongol armies rode westwards in late 1208, defeating the Naiman-Merkit alliance on the River Irtysh, eliminating remaining resistance to Mongol dominance in the region.

Image source: Naimans

In 1209, Genghis personally led a large-scale invasion of Western Xia. His attempt to redirect the Yellow River into the capital failed when the dam broke in January 1210, flooding the Mongol camp, but the Xia agreed to Mongol terms the following year.

Image source: Mongol conquest of Western Xia

Wanyan Yongji usurped the Jin throne in 1209. When asked to submit and pay annual tribute to Yongji in 1210, Genghis mocked the emperor, spat, and rode away from the Jin envoy—a challenge that meant war.

Led by Barchuk, the Uyghurs freed themselves from the suzerainty of the Qara Khitai and pledged themselves to Genghis in 1211, becoming the first sedentary society to submit to the Mongols.

Image source: Qocho

After calling for a kurultai in March 1211, Genghis launched his invasion of Jin China in May, reaching the outer ring of Jin defences the following month. Despite being potentially outnumbered eight-to-one, he sought vengeance for past wrongs, including the death of Ambaghai Khan, and vast plunder.

Image source: Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty

The Jin lost numerous towns during the invasion and were hindered by defections, the most prominent of which led directly to Muqali's victory at the Battle of Huan'erzhui in autumn 1211.

Image source: Muqali

The campaign against the Jin was halted in 1212 when Genghis was wounded by an arrow during the unsuccessful siege of Xijing (modern Datong).

Image source: Datong

When the conflict resumed in 1213, the defences of Juyong Pass had been strongly reinforced, but a Mongol detachment led by Jebe infiltrated the pass and surprised the elite Jin defenders, opening the road to the Jin capital Zhongdu (modern-day Beijing).

Image source: Juyong Pass

Genghis secured tribute from the Jin—including 3,000 horses, 500 slaves, a Jin princess, and massive amounts of gold and silk—before lifting the siege of Zhongdu and setting off homewards in May 1214.

Image source: Zhongdu

Muqali captured numerous towns in Liaodong during winter 1214–1215, and although the inhabitants of Zhongdu surrendered to Genghis on 31 May 1215, the city was sacked, ending the four-year campaign against the Jin.

Image source: Sieges of Zhongdu

When Genghis returned to Mongolia in early 1216, Muqali was left in command in China, where he waged a brutal but effective campaign against the unstable Jin regime until his death in 1223.

Genghis's general Jebe annexed the Central Asian state of Qara Khitai in 1218, removing Kuchlug—the Naiman prince who had usurped its throne between 1211 and 1213—from power.

Image source: Qara Khitai

Many members of the altan uruq invested in a caravan of 450 merchants which set off to Khwarazmia in 1218 with a large quantity of wares. The caravan's mistreatment gave Genghis a pretext for war against the Khwarazmian Empire.

Image source: Otrar

Otrar was besieged in autumn 1219; the siege dragged on for five months, but in February 1220 the city fell and Inalchuq was executed, opening the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire.

Image source: Otrar Catastrophe

Bukhara's citadel was captured in February 1220, and Genghis moved against Muhammad's residence Samarkand, which fell the following month, shattering Khwarazmian resistance.

Image source: Samarkand

Bewildered by the speed of the Mongol conquests, Muhammad fled from Balkh, pursued by Jebe and Subutai until he died from dysentery on a Caspian Sea island in winter 1220–21, having nominated his eldest son Jalal al-Din as successor.

Image source: Muhammad II of Khwarazm

Genghis abruptly halted his Central Asian campaigns in 1221. Although the Mongols spent much of 1222 repeatedly overcoming rebellions in Khorasan, they withdrew completely from the region, setting their new frontier on the Amu Darya river.

Image source: Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire

Jalal al-Din was weakened by arguments among his commanders, and after losing decisively at the Battle of the Indus in November 1221, he was compelled to escape across the river into India.

Image source: Battle of the Indus

Returning to Mongolia in early 1225, Genghis spent the year preparing for a campaign against the rebellious Western Xia, who had declined to provide auxiliaries for the 1219 invasion.

The final campaign against Western Xia began in the first months of 1226 with the capture of Khara-Khoto on the Xia's western border. Later that winter, Genghis fell from his horse while hunting and became increasingly ill during the following months.

Image source: Khara-Khoto

When Genghis's grandson Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in 1271, he bestowed upon his grandfather the temple name Taizu ('Supreme Progenitor') and the posthumous name Shengwu Huangdi ('Holy-Martial Emperor').

Image source: Yuan dynasty

The spelling 'Genghis' was introduced into English during the 18th century based on a misreading of Persian sources. Modern English spellings include 'Chinggis', 'Chingis', 'Jinghis', and 'Jengiz'. During this century he also came to embody the Enlightenment stereotype of a tyrannical Oriental despot.

In the 19th and early 20th century, Genghis began to be viewed as the national hero of the Mongolian people, whereas for many centuries he had been remembered in Mongolia primarily as a religious figure rather than a political one.

Under socialist rule, Genghis was condemned as a feudal and reactionary lord who exploited the people. His cult was repressed, the alphabet he chose was replaced with Cyrillic, and celebrations planned for the 800th anniversary of his birth in 1962 were cancelled after loud Soviet complaints.

Less than two years after the 1990 democratic revolution in Mongolia, Lenin Avenue in the capital Ulaanbaatar was renamed Chinggis Khan Avenue, marking the rehabilitation of Genghis as a national symbol.

Image source: Ulaanbaatar

In 2006, the Mongolian parliament officially discussed the trivialization of Genghis Khan's name through excessive advertising, reflecting both his enduring cultural importance and concerns about commercial exploitation of his legacy.