From the beginning of time wherever groups of people have lived together they have also fought among themselves Some have fought for control of basic necessities food water and shelter or territory Others have been spurred to fight by religious differences Still others have fought solely for sport Throughout the ages some fighters have taken up arms willingly others have been forced into battle For all however the ultimate goal has always been victory The term Mongol today conjures up images of arrow-shoot ing horse-riding warriors doling out death and destruction Between about a d 1206 and 1368 the Mongol Empire reigned as the largest contiguous empire in human history At its peak Mongol territory included all of present-day China North Korea South Korea Mongolia and Iran as well as great portions of Russia In a relatively short period of time many groups of nomadic warriors united and spread conquering other tribes and nations and toppling dynasties The Mongol Empire brought the world one of its most memorable and feared names Genghis Khan and generations of ferocious warriors that have continued to live large in both the annals of history and in popular culture
THE ROOTS OF AN EMPIRE T he rise of the Mongol Empire in Eurasia began around a d 1000 and its effects would be felt until almost 1500 Five hundred years is not a very long time in the con text of human history but in those five centuries the Mongols managed to build an everlasting reputation This impressive feat was made possi ble by the eventual unification of small family groups that wandered across the Asian steppes living in portable huts and surviving largely on sheep meat and horse milk These people known as Mongols were bound together under the strong leadership of one man a former slave who turned into one of the most memorable leaders in history Genghis Khan Mongolia had a history of conquest even before Genghis Khan came to power Around 200 b c a collection of tribes in Central Asia consolidated to form a people known as the Xiongnu Raising an army that consisted of as many as 300,000 warriors and horses the Xiongnu controlled a huge swath of Earth’s known territory for about 700 years These war riors launched raids on neighboring kingdoms which helped prompt one neighbor China to develop a unique means of defense the Great Wall of China an enormous stone wall that would eventually run for some 4,500 miles 7,245 km In the 400s a d though the Xiongnu Empire collapsed China had grown in strength and Xiongnu leaders had fallen into quarrels with one another weakening the empire People of the Mongolian steppes returned to their own tribes continuing to fol low their traditional ways of life for centuries In a d 1162 the child who would become known as Genghis Khan was born to a Mongol tribal leader named Yesugei The new born came into the world clutching a blood clot in his hand which the Mongol people interpret The Great Wall of China ranges in height from 20 to 40 feet 6 12 m at various points along its length 6
