Before conquering half the world, Genghis Khan was abandoned by his tribe as a child, lived in absolute poverty eating rodents to survive, was enslaved and held in a wooden collar, and had to watch his wife get abducted. His early life was pure destitution.

Born as Temüjin around 1162 in Mongolia, his childhood was defined by betrayal, poverty, and violence.

When Temüjin was about 9 years old, his father Yesügei was poisoned by rival Tatars. Immediately after, his own tribe abandoned his family, leaving his mother Hoelun with several young children to fend for themselves on the harsh Mongolian steppe. They were outcasts with no protection, no livestock, and no allies.

The family survived in desperate poverty, reduced to digging for roots, catching fish, and hunting marmots and field mice just to avoid starvation. This wasn’t temporary hardship, it lasted years. At one point, Temüjin killed his own half-brother Bekhter in a dispute over hunting spoils, showing just how brutal survival had become.

Things got worse. The Tayichiud clan captured teenage Temüjin and enslaved him, forcing him to wear a wooden cangue (a heavy collar and board) around his neck as punishment and humiliation. He was paraded as a slave and held prisoner. He eventually escaped during a celebration when his captors were drunk, fleeing with help from a sympathetic guard’s family.

Even after escaping slavery, his struggles continued. When he finally married his bride Börte, the Merkits raided and kidnapped her as revenge for an old grievance against his father. Temüjin had to build alliances from nothing to rescue her.

From slave to ruler of the largest contiguous land empire in history, Genghis Khan’s rise is one of the most extreme rags-to-riches stories in human history.

Slumhorse millionaire

Anyone interested should listen to the Fall of Civilizations podcast episode titled “Mongols – Terror of the Steppe. It’s my favorite episode so far.
Actually, anyone *uninterested* should also listen to Fall of Civilizations. It’s a fantastic podcast.

Absolutely incredible story exploration by Dan Carlin.

Wrath of the Khans Series – Dan Carlin https://share.google/p9Abrd3PCePKcb2eJ

hurt people hurt people

The historian Conn Iggulden who wrote a series of historical fiction books about him described his story as ‘the greatest rags to riches story in human history, Temujin later Genghis Khan spent his youth as a slave, as he approached adulthood he had a few gers and families following him and within 50 years the Empire he created stretched from the Sea of Japan to the Danube River.’

I don’t think there has ever been greater military success than what was had by Genghis and his generals. A lot of people won’t even be aware of the name Subutai but his military achievements under Genghis stack up with any other military commander in human history, if not exceeds them.

This guys rise and rule was, in my opinion, one of the longest and most effective revolutions in human warfare without a significant technological advancement (meaning it was skill and tactics based rather than due to one side having better equipment).

The accuracy and speed of their archers turned the tank of the day into just another man.

One of the most interesting stories I heard about (on Wrath of the Khans Series – Dan Carlin)was when a dukes sister (south of Russia?) sent a letter to the pope apologizing that they were unable to fulfill their commitment to send forces for his crusade as “Someone” rode through and killed them all. A Mongolian scouting expedition just killed them in passing and never announced themselves. Wild.


Unloved/un-cared for boys make for evil tyrannical men

I dated a Polish girl and her dad looked exactly like Genghis, it was sort of a family joke with them. This guy must have had the strongest genes ever.

Wasn’t that starting arc of Conan the Barbarian?

Mongol (2007) is an incredibly well made film, depicting Genghis Khan’s early life and rise to power. They have talked about a sequel for well over a decade now, but that seems unlikely.

If anyone’s interested in watching a nearly 7-hour documentary on the subject (and really, who isn’t?), [this is perhaps the best, most engaging history channel on all of YouTube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdFwMDuAnS4)

Well at least he turned the corner and didn’t grow up to be a murderer or something!

Idk but does anybody know where is tomb

“The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth”

That’s Savage!

It’s so inspiring to hear a real rags to riches story /s

“And I took that personally.”
– Genghis Kahn

Another interesting fact, he was indeed a great conqueror and leader from his early years, but his destructive nature that earned him titles like “Scourge of God”, was not triggered by a zeal to conquer lands, rather it was due to the two-fold humiliation by first the governor and then the Shah of Khwarazm, a place he had no prior interest to conquer. He just wanted to establish trade, and sent a caravan, which was seized by the governor, who also executed the members. Genghis even then wanted a diplomatic solution, by sending an envoy to the Shah to punish the governor, who again, beheaded the chief envoy and humiliated the rest (by having their beards and head shaved, iirc, might be wrong).

What followed was a total destruction of the entire Khwarazmian empire by Genghis, and what historians describe as mountains of skeletons and levelling of prosperous cities.