Chinggis (Genghis) Khan (1162[?] - 1227), Founder
of the great Mongol Empire, National Palace
Museum, Taipei

Chinggis (Genghis) Khan
(1162[?] - 1227)
Founder of the great Mongol Empire

After starting from obscure and insignificant beginnings, Chinggis Khan (birthname Temujin — he didn't acquire the title "Chinggis Khan" until 1206) brought all the nomadic tribes of Mongolia under the rule of himself and his family in a rigidly disciplined military state.

After establishing this unity, Chinggis turned his attention toward the settled peoples beyond the borders of his nomadic realm and began the series of campaigns of plunder and conquest that eventually led to the establishment of the great Mongol Empire.

The four most significant legacies of Chinggis Khan are:

• his tolerance of many religions
• his creation of the Mongols' first script
• his support for trade and crafts
• his creation of a legal code specific to the Mongols' pastoral-nomadic way of life

No contemporaneous portrait of Chinggis Khan has survived to this day. The painting shown here is a much later imagining of what the warrior/ruler might have looked like.