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College Paper Lab
answer question read these passage and answer these question- College Paper Lab | collegepaperslab.com
Descriptions of Genghis Khan
According to a southern Chinese author who was an eyewitness of the bloody Mongol campaign
in north China:
This man is brave and decisive, he is self-controlled, and lenient [merciful] towards the
population; he reveres [respects] Heaven and Earth, prizes loyalty and justice (Qtd. in
Ratchnevsky 167).
The Indian historian Juzjani wrote in 1256 in the Sultanate of Delhi and had been an eyewitness
Of Genghis Khan’s raid on India in 1221. According to him:
A man of tall stature, of vigorous build, robust in body, the hair on his face scanty and
turned white, with cat’s eyes, possessed of great energy, discernment [judgment], genius
and understanding, awe-inspiring, a butcher, just, resolute, an over thrower of enemies,
intrepid [fearless], sanguinary [bloodthirsty] and cruel (Qtd. in Saunders 63).
Ghengis himself had a letter written to a Chinese Daoist sage whom he had invited to discuss
religious topics. The Daoist’s companion included the letter in the account of the trip. He said:
I wear the same clothing and eat the same food as the cow-herds and horse-herders. We
make the same sacrifices and we share our riches. I look upon the nation as my new-born
child, and I care for my soldiers as if they were my brothers (Qtd. in Ratchnevsky 149).
The Muslim historian Rashid al-Din, the official court historian of the Mongol khan of Persia.
According to him, some of Genghis’s sayings included:
From the goodness of severity the stability of government.
When the master is away hunting, or at war, the wife must keep the household in good
order. Good husbands are known by their good wives. If a wife be stupid or dull, wanting
in reason and orderliness, she makes obvious the badness of her husband.
Only a man who feels hunger and thirst and by this estimates the feelings of others is fit
to be a commander of troops. The campaign and its hardships must be in proportion with
the strength of the weakest of the warriors.
My bowmen and warriors loom like thick forests: their wives, sweethearts and maidens
shine like red flames. My task and intention is to sweeten their mouths with gifts of sweet
sugar, to decorate their breasts, backs and shoulders with garments [clothes] of brocade,
to seat them on good geldings [horses], give them to drink from pure and sweet rivers,
provide their beasts with good and abundant [plentiful] pastures, and to order that the
great roads and highways that serve as ways for the people be cleared of garbage, treestumps
and all bad things; and not to allow dirt and thorns in the tents.
It is delightful and felicitous [good] for a man to subdue rebels and conquer and extirpate
[destroy] his enemies, to take all they possess, to cause their servants to cry out, to make
tears run down their faces and noses, to ride their pleasant-paced geldings [horses], to
make the bellies and navels of their wives his bed and bedding, to admire their rosy
cheeks, to kiss them and suck their red lips (Rashid al-Din, Collected Chronicles, qtd. in
Riasanovsky 91)
According to inference from the laws that by tradition Genghis set up:
If it is necessary to write to rebels or send messages to them they shall not be intimidated
by an excessive display of confidence on our part or by the size of our army, but they
shall merely be told: if you submit you will find peace and benevolence. But if you
continue to resist—what then do we know [about your future]? Only God knows what
then shall become of you (Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Syriacum, qtd. in Spuler 40-41).
Whoever gives food or clothing to a captive without the permission of his captor is to be
put to death.
[Leaders are to] personally examine the troops and their armament before going to battle,
even to needle and thread; to supply the troops with everything they need; and to punish
those lacking any necessary equipment.
Women accompanying the troops [are] to do the work and perform the duties of men,
while the latter are absent fighting.
All religions [are] to be respected and . . . no preference [is] to be shown to any of them
(Qtd. in Riasanovsky 83-85).
According to inference from the following decisions made by Genghis Khan:
When fighting against hereditary enemies of his tribe, Genghis’s’s own son begged him to
spare the life of the enemy leader’s son. Genghis replied: “How often have we fought
them? They have caused us much vexation and sorrow. How can we spare his life? He
will only instigate another rebellion. I have conquered these lands, armies, and tribes for
you, my sons. Of what use is he? There is no better place for an enemy of our nation than
the grave (Rashid al-Din, Collected Chronicles, qtd. in Riasanovsky 86)!
At a Grand Council meeting headed by Genghis in 1202, it was decided that “in days
gone by the Tartars killed our ancestors and forefathers. [Therefore] we will sacrifice
them in revenge and retribution…by massacring all except the youngest….down to the
very last male and the remainder will be shared as slaves among us all (Secret History of
the Mongols, secs. 148, 154, qtd. in Ratchnevsky 151).
Discussion questions:
1. What characteristics of Genghis shown by the documents would have been particularly
helpful to him in his career of conquest? If you had to choose three characteristics as the
most helpful, which would they be? Why?
2. What characteristics of Genghis shown by the documents would have been particularly
helpful to him in governing his empire? If you had to choose three characteristics as most
helpful, which would they be? Why?
3. Which of the items of information above about Genghis’s character would you question
as to accuracy, and why?
4. How would you explain variations in the descriptions of what Genghis was like?
5. In what ways could Mongol ideas about women’s position in society help the Mongols’
career of conquest? To answer this question use information from all parts of this unit so
far.
6. Would you agree with Genghis’s idea that severity is good, because it leads to stable
government? Why or why not? Did the idea apply more in Genghis’s time and place?
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