Genghis Khan, the great Mongol conqueror, was born about 1162. His father was a petty Mongol chieftain, and he named the boy Temujin, after defeated chieftain. When Temujin was nine, his father was killed by a member of the rival tribe, and for some years the surviving members of the family lived in constant danger and privation. This was an inauspicious begining, but Temujins situation was to become a lot worse before it got any better. When he was a youngman, he was captured in a raid by a rival tribe. To prevent him from escaping, a wooden collar was placed around his neck. From this extremity of helplessness, as an illeterate prisoner in a primitive, barren country, Temujin rose to become the most powerful man in the world. His rise started when he managed to escape from his captors. He then allied himself with Togrill, a friend of his father's, and chieftain of one of the related tribes in the area. A war had broken out between the Mongol tribes, which was to last many years, in the course of which Temujin gradually fought his way to the top. After wining a series of wars against different Mongol tribes, Temujin defeated all rival chieftains, and around 1206, he became ruler of the Mongols, and he proclaimed himself Genghis Khan " the universal emperor". He had unified the country for the first time in it's history. After that, Genghis Khan turned his tribal army into a formidable military machine, and he now setted out to conquer his neighbouring countries. He first attacked the Hsi Hsia state in northwestern China and the Chin Empire in northern China. While these battles were going on , a dispute arose between Genghis Khan and the Khwarezem Shah Muhammad, who ruled a considerable empire in Persia and central Asia. In 1219, Genghis led his armies against the Khwarezem Shah. Central Asia and Persia were overan, and the Khwarezem Shah's empire was completely destroyed. While other Mongol armies were attacking Russia, Genghis Khan himself led the raid to Afghanisthan and Northern India. He returned to Mongolia in 1225, and he died there in 1227. Shortly before his death, Ghenghis Khan requested that his third son Ogadi, be named his sucessor. Ogadi was a fine general and leader of the Mongols, and under him, they completely overan Russia, and in 1241, a series of Polish, German and Hunarian armies were routed by the Mongols, who advanced well past Budapest. However, in that year Ogadi died, and his armies withdrew from Europe, never to return. In a matter of fourteen years after Genghis Khans death , the Mongol armies carved up the biggest land empire in history. During then, the Mongol Empire was probably in the height of it's power. However, under the next two Mongols, (Gengis grandsons, Mangu and Kublai Khan) the Mongol advance in Asia continued. In 1279, the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan completed, the full conquest of China, and after China's defeat he formed the Yuan dynasty in China, which would endure, until the Mongols are overthrowned in 1368. After he completed the conquest of China, Kublai Khan's sovereignty was recognised in Korea, Tibet, and parts of Southeast Asia. Even under Kublai Khan, the Mongol empire remained gigantic, but an empire, this large, will surely not last that long. After Kublai Khan's death in 1295, the Mongol empire split up. But Mongol rule lasted in the remaining sucessive states. The Mongols were expelled from China in 1368, and the Golden Horde, a name given by Batu, Genghis grandson, remained to rule Russia till the sixteenth century, and the Khanate remained to rule Crimea until 1783. Other sons or grandsons of Genghis established dynasties in Central Asia and Persia. Both of these areas were conquered by Timur (Tamerlane), he claimed descent from Genghis Khan, and he ruthlessly conquered central Asia in the late fourteenth century. After Tamerlanes death, the empire he built, it died with him, and the hayday of Mongol conquest came to an end. But it didn't end there. Baber, Timurs great -grandson invaded and conquered India, and found the Moghul dynasty, which almost conquered all of India, and ruled India till the mid eighteenth century. The infleunce and legasy of Genghis Khan, lasted for nearly 600 years, and the Mongol conquest had such a long effect in central Asia., for far to long. Throughout history there have been men, whose destiny is to conquer the world, and there has been a sucession of megalomaniacs or madmen, and amongst them include Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonapture and Adolf Hitler. The reason why I have listed Genghis Khan higher than these three men, was that the Mongol conquest was far more effective than the conquest of these three men. However I would certainly argree, that in the long term, the pen is mightier than the sword, and the short term matters too, because these four men ruled larger areas of the world, and changed the face of history.