Genghis Khan, Makers of History Series

The word khan is not a name, but a title. It means chieftain or king. It is a word used in various forms by the different tribes and nations that from time immemorial have inhabited Central Asia, and has been applied to a great number of potentates and rulers that have from time to time arisen among them. Genghis Khan was the greatest of these princes. He was, in fact, one of the most renowned conquerors whose exploits history records.

As in all other cases occurring in the series of histories to which this work belongs, where the events narrated took place at such a period or in such a part of the world that positively reliable and authentic information in respect to them can now no longer be obtained, the author is not responsible for the actual truth of the narrative which he offers, but only for the honesty and fidelity with which he has compiled it from the best sources of information now within reach.

CONTENTS.

Chapter Page

I. PASTORAL LIFE IN ASIA 13

II. THE MONGULS 23

III. YEZONKAI KHAN 41

IV. THE FIRST BATTLE 52

V. VANG KHAN 68

VI. TEMUJIN IN EXILE 76

VII. RUPTURE WITH VANG KHAN 86

VIII. PROGRESS OF THE QUARREL 100

IX. THE DEATH OF VANG KHAN 114

X. THE DEATH OF YEMUKA 123

XI. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE 136

XII. DOMINIONS OF GENGHIS KHAN 150

XIII. THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE KUSHLUK 163

XIV. IDIKUT 175

XV. THE STORY OF HUJAKU 184

XVI. CONQUESTS IN CHINA 198

XVII. THE SULTAN MOHAMMED 213

XVIII. THE WAR WITH THE SULTAN 236

XIX. THE FALL OF BOKHARA 244

XX. BATTLES AND SIEGES 264

XXI. DEATH OF THE SULTAN 281

XXII. VICTORIOUS CAMPAIGNS 297

XXIII. GRAND CELEBRATIONS 318

XXIV. CONCLUSION 330

ENGRAVINGS

Page

THE INAUGURATION OF GENGHIS KHAN Frontispiece.

ENCAMPMENT OF A PATRIARCH 20

SHOOTING AT PURSUERS 35

MAP--EMPIRE OF GENGHIS KHAN 44

PURTA IN THE TENT OF VANG KHAN 62

DRINKING THE BITTER WATER 107

PRESENTATION OF THE SHONGAR 173

THE MERCHANTS OFFERING THEIR GOODS 222

THE GOVERNOR ON THE TERRACE 261

THE BATTLE OF THE BOATS 277

GENGHIS KHAN.

CHAPTER I.

PASTORAL LIFE IN ASIA.

Four different modes of life enumerated.--Northern and southern climes.--Animal food in arctic regions.--Tropical regions.--Appetite changes with climate.--First steps toward civilization.--Interior of Asia.--Pastoral habits of the people.--Picture of pastoral life.--Large families accumulated.--Rise of patriarchal governments.--Origin of the towns.--Great chieftains.--Genghis Khan.

There are four several methods by which the various communities into which the human race is divided obtain their subsistence from the productions of the earth, each of which leads to its own peculiar system of social organization, distinct in its leading characteristics from those of all the rest. Each tends to its own peculiar form of government, gives rise to its own manners and customs, and forms, in a word, a distinctive and characteristic type of life.

These methods are the following:

1. By hunting wild animals in a state of nature.

2. By rearing tame animals in pasturages.

3. By gathering fruits and vegetables which grow spontaneously in a state of nature.

4. By rearing fruits and grains and other vegetables by artificial tillage in cultivated ground.

By the two former methods man subsists on animal food. By the two latter on vegetable food.

As we go north, from the temperate regions toward the poles, man is found to subsist more and more on animal food. This seems to be the intention of Providence. In the arctic regions scarcely any vegetables grow that are fit for human food, but animals whose flesh is nutritious and adapted to the use of man are abundant.