Genghis Khan Unites the Mongols

The Mongols were an ancient people of northern China, originally in the Ergun River basin, who later migrated west into the Mongolian steppe. Skilled at riding and archery, they followed water and grass and lived as nomads. In the 12th century the tribes of the steppe fought constantly over people, pastures, water and livestock, and people longed for unity and an end to war. The unification of the Mongol tribes was achieved by Temujin. Temujin (c. 1162–1227) came from a noble family of the Mongol Kiyat tribe; when he was nine his father Yesugei was poisoned by Tatars, his followers scattered, and he lived in hardship with his mother and brothers, enduring many trials. As an adult, supported by his father's sworn brother Toghrul, chief of the Kereit, he gradually gathered followers and grew in strength. He was good at employing people, fair in reward and punishment, and knew men's worth. He then defeated the Tatars, Taichiud, Kereit, Naiman, Merkit and other tribes and united the Mongol steppe. In 1206 the Mongol nobles held an assembly at the source of the Onon River, chose Temujin as great khan with the title “Genghis Khan”, and founded the Mongol Empire. After founding the state Genghis Khan organized all herders into units of a thousand, a hundred and ten, a military-civil system of thousand-households, and had the Mongolian language written in Uyghur script, creating the Mongol script. Mongol unification ended the long strife on the steppe and boosted the Mongol economy, and the Mongols entered history as a unified people. Genghis Khan then led armies against Western Xia and Jin and died in 1227 during the campaign against Western Xia.