8 Temujin Becomes Genghis Khan

Chapter 7 Temujin Becomes Genghis Khan One year later, in 1206, Temujin summoned a meeting near his childhood home along the Onon River. Thousands attended. Lines of gers stretched for miles in every direction. In the shadow of Burkhan Khaldun, the

united tribes of the steppe officially proclaimed Temujin their leader. He was given the name Chinggis Khan. In Mongolian, chin means strong or fearless, and chino means wolf. Khan means ruler. Today, he is known more commonly by another name: Genghis Khan. There were days of celebrations. There was feasting and music. Men competed in horse racing, wrestling, and archery. Shamans beat their drums and chanted to the nature spirits and the Eternal Blue Sky.

WHAT DID GENGHIS KHAN LOOK LIKE? BECAUSE HE WOULDN'T ALLOW ANYONE TO PAINT HIS PORTRAIT, NO ONE KNOWS WHAT GENGHIS KHAN REALLY LOOKED LIKE. ALL PAINTINGS OF GENGHIS KHAN WERE MADE AFTER HIS DEATH. ONE PERSIAN CHRONICLER DESCRIBED HIM AS TALL AND VIGOROUS, WITH SPARKLING CAT'S EYES. A CHINESE SCHOLAR SAID HE HAD A WIDE BROW AND A LONG BEARD. SOME SAY HE HAD RED HAIR AND DARK GREEN OR GRAY EYES. BUT NO ONE IS CERTAIN. Genghis Khan gave his people a new name: the Great Mongol Nation. Their nation was huge. One million people (and up to twenty million animals!) called it home. He imposed a new set of rules—the Great Law of Genghis Khan—to keep peace and maintain order. The different tribes could keep

their local customs and laws, as long as they followed the Great Law. Under the Great Law, every man between fifteen and seventy had to fight in the army. Stealing and kidnapping were forbidden. Enslavement of any Mongol was illegal. Stealing livestock was punishable by death. A "lost and found" program was started for animals found on the steppe. An official hunting season was established in the fall and winter, so baby animals could grow in the spring and summer. He also established mail service. The military provided horses and riders to deliver messages from one postal station to the next. The stations were set up about every twenty miles, and they were run by local families. As the Mongol empire grew, the postal service grew

with it. Finally, under the Great Law, freedom of religion was guaranteed. Everyone in the Great Mongol Nation could worship freely without harm. At this time, no Mongol could read or write. To record his Great Law, Genghis Khan established a written language for his people. In 1207, one year after being named Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader sent Jochi and a tumen of ten thousand soldiers north, to Siberia. There, Jochi made alliances with the forest tribes. He returned home with new recruits for the Mongol army and products such as fur, lumber, and hunting birds. Genghis Khan was happy to receive the men and goods. But the riches he sought were on the other side of the Gobi Desert in the wealthy Jurched Empire of northern China. Fifty million farmers and city dwellers called the Jurched Empire home. Behind their heavily guarded city walls lay treasures in gold, silver, pearls, silk, satin, and metal. With the most powerful and disciplined army

in the world at his back, Genghis Khan set his sights on China.