Mongol legend has it that a blue wolf from heaven, and his spouse, a doe, travelled across the ocean and stopped at Mount Burkan Kaldun, the source of the Onon River. Here the doe bore a human, Batacaciqan, from whom all Mongols were descended. Nobody knows of the true origins of the Mongols since they had not developed writing, and the only source of information about them is from neighbouring civilisations. From 800 BCE, there had been reports in the Middle East of raids by nomadic horsemen from the steppes. In the 6th century CE, the Turks emerged from the steppes to form their own empire. Later in the 9th century CE the Uighurs settled west of Mongolia, developing writing and a legal code. However the Mongols themselves still migrated seasonally with their herds in the harsh steppes, also becoming expert hunters. They developed stirrups, allowing for the mounted archers which were later adapted to decimate enemy armies.

In the 11th century CE, Mongolia was mostly ruled by the Khitan, a Mongol people in China, who had renamed themselves the Liao dynasty. It was inhabited by many different clans, which were still primarily nomadic and illiterate. These clans had complex hierarchial patterns, and many marriage alliances with one another. It was by letting these clans fight each other, and ensuring they all remained weak and divided, that the Khitan could retain control. But after battles in China, the Khitan army was forced to flee and set up the Kara-khitai empire in central Asia. They were displaced by the Jurchen, a tribe from Manchuria. The Jurchen integrated themselves into the Chinese civilisation, and formed the Chin (meaning "golden") dynasty, ruling northern China from the 12th century CE onwards. By the end of the century, their sinification was complete, and the Sung empire had been pushed south. They were not too concerned about the Mongol tribes, but initially allied themselves to a south-eastern Mongol people, the Tartars, close to their own empire, as a bulwark against the others. This led to Tartar dominance over the other tribes in Mongolia - these were the Merkits in the north, the Kereyids in the centre, and the Naimans in the west.

• Thought to have been born in 1162 or 1167 on the steppes near Lake Baikal, Temujin was born to Yesugai Batatur, a local Mongol chieftain. He was named after one of his father's defeated opponents. Yesugai was a leader of the Bjorjin clan and the grandson of the greatest Mongol leader till then, Khabul Khan.
• When Temujin was nine, his father arranged a marriage for him with a girl, Borte in the Ungirad clan. Whilst returning home from the girl's family, he was poisoned by their rivals, the Tartars. The Bjorjin now deserted Yesugai's family, and another family seized control. Hoelun, Yesugai's widow, moved away and raised her children in extreme hardship, surviving by hunting and fishing. During this time, Temujin killed his half-brother following a quarrel while they were fishing.
• He was then captured by the Tayichiud tribe, but later escaped. At age 13, Temujin managed to regain some leadership of his clan.
• When he was 16, Temujin finally married Borte, but she was kidnapped by the Merkits soon after. The kidnap was in revenge for Yesugai's capture of Hoelun from one of the Merkit leaders in the past. Temujin had allied himself with Toghril the leader of the Kereyids, who were one of the most powerful of the Mongol clans at the time, and Temujin appealed to them to help him destroy the Merkits. Toghril gave Temujin an army, and Temujin returned after defeating the Merkits and rescuing his wife. Borte was however pregnant, and the legitimacy of the child, Jochi, was in doubt.
• Jamukha, one of Temujin's childhood friends, turned against him, and suddenly attacked Temujin's unsuspecting clan. Temujin barely escaped, but all of the prisoners from his clan were boiled to death in large vats by Jamukha.
• Before Temujin could retaliate, Toghril needed his help to quell an internal insurrection against him from other Kereyid leaders. Temujin and his army easily defeated the rebel Kereyids, earning the gratitude of the old Toghril.
• Meanwhile the Tartars demanded more support and payment from the Chin dynasty, and encroached on Chin territory. The Chinese were angered by this and approached Toghril and Temujin and hired them to attack the Tartars. Temujin gladly defeated the Tartar forces. For this, he and Toghril were honoured, and Toghril became known as Ong Khan.
• By now, in 1201, the other clans saw the threat and allied themselves against the powerful armies of Temujin and Toghril. The Merkits, the Naimans, the Tayichiuds, the Ungirads, and the remaining Tartars gathered under Jamukha's leadership to face the Kereyids. They were all defeated separately.
• Temujin avenged his father's death by slaughtering the Tartars, killing all adults (identified as all people above the height of a cart), and taking in the children into his own tribe.
• Toghril began to fear Temujin, and soon deserted him, and allied himself with Jamukha. In 1203, a huge Kereyid force attacked Temujin's forces, and Temujin had to retreat to Lake Baljuna. Here he and his followers (numbering less than 5000 at this point) tried to muster support from other tribes.
• Even though he had an inferior army, Temujin attacked the Kereyids, and after three days, forced Toghril to flee. He was later captured and killed. The defeated Kereyids were assimilated into Temujin's Mongol clan. To foster this, he married his sons to Kereyid princesses.
• Only one other clan was left in Mongolia. They were the Naimans, who harboured remnants from the other tribes, including the elusive Jamukha, and formed a massive army. In 1204 Temujin marched west towards the Naimans. As he made camp, he ordered hundreds of fires to be lit, fooling the enemy into thinking Temujin had a great force. Jamukha fled before battle even began, and his army soon disintegrated. The Naiman leader was killed, and Jamukha was captured. He was executed at his own request.
• Thus, in 1206, Temujin was undisputed ruler of Mongolia. A gathering of all of the clans by the River Onon, that year proclaimed Temujin 'Genghis Khan' (possibly from Turkic 'tengiz' meaning "oceanic" or Chinese 'cheng-sze' meaning "precious warrior") probably meaning "Universal Lord". Karakorum was chosen as his new capital.
• Genghis Khan now organised the army in decimal units. There were probably a hundred thousand men overall, of which 10,000 were retained as a personal bodyguard. Old tribal divisions were eliminated by scattering the different clans throughout the army. The soldiers took part in hunts, and officers were encouraged to think of new tactics for surrounding and killing prey. Extensive scouting and communication systems were also developed by Genghis Khan to cope with the large distances involved.
• Outside Mongolia, to the west, there lived the Uighurs. In 1207 they were the first to submit to Genghis Khan. In return they were granted a large degree of autonomy. In the same year, a small party was sent into Hsi-Hsia. Hsi-Hsia was to the south of Mongolia and part of China. It was ruled by the Tanguts, the weakest of the three Chinese empires (the others being the Chin and the Sung).
• Two years later, Genghis Khan attacked the Tanguts, besieging their capital. They soon surrendered and Genghis Khan married the daughter of the Tangut king.
• In 1211, he attacked the large Chin empire, rapidly conquering its territory. However without any siege weapons, he was forced to withdraw since he couldn't take any of their fortified cities.
• The Mongols then allied with the Khitan, the people previously displaced by the Chin. Together they attacked the Chin again and again. Many cities remained out of his grasp, including the capital, Chung-tu (present Beijing), but his forces plundered the countryside, killed huge numbers of peasants and managed to raze just under a hundred cities. In 1214, the Chin offered him a large tribute, which Genghis Khan accepted.
• Later on in the year, the Chin emperor decided to move south, and Kaifeng was made the new Chin capital. Genghis Khan took this to be a sign of mistrust by the Chin, and in the winter of 1214, the Mongols again besieged Chung-tu. In 1215 the city surrendered. As an example to the Chinese, the Mongols completely destroyed the city, butchering most of the civilians. The few survivors were allowed to flee, ensuring that the Chinese would hear of this atrocity. The Mongols now controlled northern China.
• The Persian emperor, the Khwarezm Shah, heard of the Mongol conquests, and sent envoys to meet them. Genghis Khan concluded peace with the Shah, and reached a trade agreement for his merchants too.
• In 1218, the Koreans subjugated themselves to Genghis Khan, offering tributes, in return for being spared.
• Meanwhile, an escaped Naiman leader, Kuchlug, established a kingdom to the west in Kara-Khitai. This was destroyed next. Mongol lands now adjoined the empire of the Khwarezm Shah.
• The same year, 450 Mongol merchants arrived at the Persian town of Utrar. Inalchuq, the governor of the city, had them all killed on suspicion of espionage. Genghis Khan sent three envoys to the Shah demanding compensation for this. The Shah responded by killing one of them, and burning the beards of the other two (a great insult at the time). Genghis Khan raised an army of over 200,000 men and advanced into the province of Transoxania, where the Shah had stationed over 400,000 troops in anticipation.
• In 1219 Genghis Khan and his favoured commander, Subedei led almost half of the Mongol forces west into the Kizil Kum desert. The Shah's spies lost track of him here, as it was thought that the desert was impassable. The other forces were led by Genghis' sons, Jagadai and Ogedei, and besieged Utrar. The city was taken and burnt to the ground, and Inalchuq was executed by having molten silver poured into his eyes and his ears.
• Genghis Khan's troops finally appeared outside Bukhara in the spring of 1220. The garrison in the city rushed out to drive away the Mongols but were crushed. Once again, the city was looted and razed by the Mongols. Inhabitants from the city were used as a human shield as Genghis Khan approached the Khwarezm capital, Samarkand.
• The Khwarezm Shah escaped and fled to the Middle East. Subedei chased him with a detachment of troops. The Shah's son, Jalal al-Din, now raised forces to fight the Mongols. Genghis Khan led his army in pursuit of Jalal al-Din. As they followed him, they laid waste to Nishapur, Merv, and Balkh, three of the largest remaining cities in Persia. The army turned south and reached the Hindu Kush in 1221.
• The next year, 1222, Genghis Khan returned slowly to Mongolia. He reached it in 1225, bringing back all the loot they had seized from the former Khwarezm empire. Subedei returned after his own victories in Russia, and confirmed news of the Khwarezm Shah's death.
• In 1226, he began another assault on the Tanguts. Before the start of the Persian campaign, the Tanguts had reneged on a promise to supply the Mongols with troops should they be required. It was time for revenge. However, he had been badly injured in the war, and in the same year his eldest son, Jochi died.
• In the summer of 1227, the Tanguts were about to fall, and the dying Genghis Khan discussed future campaigns that his sons should undertake. Ogedei, his third son, was to be Great Khan after him.
• On 18 August 1227, Genghis Khan died passing his empire on to his sons. His death was concealed from the soldiers until the Mongols had retaken the Tangut capital. A huge procession carried his body to his favoured resting place, and towards the end of the year, he was buried on the slopes of Mount Burkan Kaldun. Forty girls and forty horses were also sacrificed and buried with him.

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