I'm not denying he is a product of his time, nor that the other empires ruling in Europe were any better in that era. I just find it very hard to "admire" the man since there is also a lot of devastation that could probably have been prevented, and that the Mongol empire was actually very short lived and collapsed pretty fast afterwards.
I read a few books about Genghis Khan, I recommend the "Conqueror" series by Conn Iggulden, excellent books. He was definitely someone out of the ordinary (abandonned and left for dead, then he found the strength to gather all the everfighting Mongol tribes...), and probably a very capable military leader (though outclassed in tactics by a few, like Subutai). Subutai's example is also noteworthy in the sense that Genghis Khan was a visionnary in rewarding merit rather than birth.
Also most of the empire that was left behind prospered through the work of his son Ogodei and his grandsons, notably Kublai. He was not the kind of man to build empires, more the kind of guy that would genocide entire countries (Khwarezm, Xixia China...).
Here we have this serious thread about historical figures, people talking about why in their opinion a certain figure in the past has risen to greatness. A lively debate could follow, interesting visions and arguments could be shared. The wonders of an internet forum.
But alas, we have DauT fanbois.
Well... that point especially wasn't dealt with very well.While I agree with most of what you´ve said I disagree with the end, only the primary goal to unite all Mongols into one "tribe" was in fact, building an empire. It ended all wars between Mongols and made them a strong empire, which had to be taken into account. And raising his sons to become prosperous leaders, without some fighting over power etc, etc, is a great achievement, that many great rulers mentioned in this thread couldn't fulfil( eg. Marcus Aurelius, Ceaser, etc).
Well... that point especially wasn't dealt with very well.
Genghis's first wife Bortë was kidnapped and raped by the Tatars shortly after they were married. He rescued her, but when she had their first son Jochi, Genghis never recognized him as his own and was favoring his second born Chagatai. The rivalry between the sons ultimately reached such a point that he declared Ogodei (who had some medical condition, probably some form of epilepsia as I think there is a mention of "crisis" that could be seizures), the third-born, his heir apparent.
The fact that the Mongol code of law, which was in big part the work of Temuge, Genghis' youngest brother, did not specify clear rules for succession would ultimately lead to civil war when Ogodei died. He wanted his son Guyuk to be his successor but not all the figures of power agreed. Ultimately the sons of Tolui, 4th son of Genghis Khan (his sons were Mongke, Hulagu, Kublai and Ariq Boke) would all rule at some point but there was a lot of infighting, and by the point Kublai stabilized power, the empire had already switched into a "confederation" of smaller khanates, that would very quickly be absorbed in the culture of the places they had conquered (the Ilkhanate quickly became Persian, the Yuan dynasty was more Chinese than Mongol, etc.).
Turtle ships #clearly OP, please nerf.
Daut
King Stephen ILucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
More like Maximus Decimus Meridius.Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
To be honest, I think fictional Maximus was in many ways inspired by Lucius Cincinnatus.More like Maximus Decimus Meridius.
Really? What similarities are there between them? (Gladiator one of my fav movies, good memories watching it with my mom)To be honest, I think fictional Maximus was in many ways inspired by Lucius Cincinnatus.
Really? What similarities are there between them? (Gladiator one of my fav movies, good memories watching it with my mom)