-Genghis Khan
When Temujin was sixteen years old, his wife Bortei was carried off in a raid by the Merkid tribe. He called upon his allies, the Kereyid tribe, and Jamugha, the leader of all the Mongol tribes, to help him recover her. The Merkids were defeated and Bortei was rescued. Temujin became the joint leader of the Mongols, along with Jamugha. However, they had a disagreement, and in the ensuing battle, Temujin was defeated and exiled.
He returned ten years later and regained control of the Mongol tribes. He went on to conquer the Tartars, Kereyids, Naimans, and the Merkids, controlling all of Mongolia by 1204. In 1206, Temujin held a "Quraltai," or meeting, in which he laid down the laws his country would be governed by. He also organized the army and the means of maintaining it. It was at this meeting that Temujin renamed himself Genghis Khan.
It was at this meeting that Genghis introduced the "Great Yasa," a collection of laws. Among these laws were such principles as freedom of religion, keeping water unpolluted, and not getting drunk more than three times a month. These laws were to become the basis for running the Empire, and perhaps the Empire owed its longevity to ideas like freedom of religion, which kept all of its citizenry happy.
The Mongol army also benefited from good organization. Their army was organized according to a decimal system, from groups of ten, to groups of one hundred, one thousand, and ten thousand. These groups elected their leaders from their own ranks, which ensured deserving leaders. Any man could rise through the ranks. The exceptions for this election system were the groups of ten thousand; their leaders were handpicked by the Khan himself, and if they failed to do their job, they were replaced.
The Mongol army practiced frequently. Besides the fact that they were always at war with someone, every year they had a large hunt, in which they used teamwork to surround groups of animals, and then they had a chance to exhibit personal bravery by sallying forth into the ring to engage in single combat with bears, yaks, and other large animals. Then they would cook up the animals and have a large feast.
It has been said that the Mongols developed the tactics of modern warfare. Their tactics were definitely more advanced than those of their opponents. A typical Mongol battle developed as follows. First, an elite group of "mandaugai," or suicide warriors, would charge the enemy and fire some arrows into their midst. Then they would turn around and stage a mock retreat. When the enemy followed them, they would be quickly encircled by Mongol light horse archers, who would fire arrows into their midst to weaken them. When the commanders judged that the enemy was sufficiently weakened, they would send a wave of heavily armed horsemen to break up the enemy and force them into retreat. Theses usually were equipped with spear, maces, and axes, as well as bows. The Mongols had a complicated system of whistling arrows and messengers, which allowed them to stay in constant contact with each other. This ability allowed them to exploit any opportunities during the battle, which in turn caused Europeans to drastically overestimate their numbers. The Mongols always absorbed their conquered provinces' technologies, and where known to use catapults to create smokescreens and rockets to spread confusion in the enemy ranks.
The Mongol army was possibly the most organized and efficient the world has ever seen. Over the next few years, they would defeat most of the other armies in the world.
In 1213, the Mongol army attacked again. They quickly conquered all of the Chin Empire above the Huang He (a Chinese river), except for the city of Chung-tu, which held out until 1215. The rest of the Jin Empire was left untouched, however, as the Mongol's interest turned to the West.
After conquering the Qara Khitai Empire, Genghis Khan sent a caravan with a message of peace and goods to trade with the Khwarazm Empire. The Shah, however, did not want to trade for the merchandise. He murdered the traders, seized their possessions, and humiliated the Mongol Envoys by singeing off their beards. Genghis Khan, of course, declared war.
The Shah and his son differed on battle strategy. The Shah wanted to spread his armies along the border, using large city garrisons to defeat the Mongols. Jalal ad-Din pointed out that this would be a misuse of their three-to-one numerical superiority, and favored a preemptive strike into Mongol territory. The Shah ignored his son.
The Mongol army attacked in 1219, divided into three parts. Genghis sent his sons Chaghadia and Ogedei to drive due west into the Empire. He sent his general Chepe to guard the left flank. He himself, and his general Subedei, made a force march through the supposedly impassable desert of Kizil Kum. They suddenely appeared, without warning, just north of the capitol, Samarqand, and laid siege to it. The capitol, which was supposed to be able to withstand for months, was destroyed in only ten days. After its fall, the Empire was crushed. Jalal ad-Din organized some resistance, but he was crushed by a Mongol force near the Indus river.
The Shah himself had fled west, and Subedei was given an army of 20,000 with which to capture him. When he captured the city in which the Shah was hiding, he discovered that the Shah had died of natural causes. However, he decided to keep going, and with an army of only 20,000, conquered Azerbaijan and Georgia, and even destroyed a Russian army, obliterating the city of Volga Bulgar before returning to the Mongol Empire.
Genghis Khan was one of the most influential men in history. He destroyed centuries-old empires with ease, and made the Mongol's the greatest military force ever known.