Pakistan is a paradigm example of a failed state that has undergone an extremely dangerous form of radical Islamisation.
The Mongols
From out of the wastes of central Asia they had swept, a savage force for
which the world was utterly unprepared. They swept like a wildly wielded scythe,
hacking, slashing, obliterating all that lay in their path, and calling it
conquest.
Genghis Khan (Changez Khan)
Genghis Khan was born in the early 1160's (it has been argued between 1162
and 1167, but recently agreement has been made for 1167), the son of the
Kiyat-Borjigid chieftain Yisugei. He was named Temujen because, at the time of
his birth, his father had captured a Tatar chieftain of the same name. Legend
says that the newborn Temujen had a bloodclot in the palm of his hand, an omen
that he was destined to be a hero.
When Temujen was a boy, his father was poisoned by a group of Tatars, and the
Kiyat tribe broke up and scattered, abandoning their chief's family and leaving
Temujen's mother, Ho'elun, to raise her children alone. Accounts of Temujen
glorify him as intelligent, brave, and an adept fighter, even from an early age,
and as such a potential threat to the leaders of other tribes of the steppe. As
a young man, despite extreme hardships, he repeatedly met perils and endured
crises through force of character and willpower.
In 1189, after he was elected the new leader of the Kiyat, he embarked on a
series of military campaigns to unify the peoples of the steppe. In 1206, after
a series of skilful victories, Temujen was acknowledged as supreme leader of the
steppe at a khuriltai, a traditional meeting of tribal leaders to decide upon
the future military and state matters. He was given the title of Genghis Khan
meaning "emperor of all emperors" or "oceanic ruler". Genghis Khan's campaigns
and those of his descendants led to the creation of an immense empire that
stretched from Hungary to Korea.
According to legend, Genghis Khan passed through the Ordos area during his
final battle campaign and was so taken with the beautiful grasslands that he
dropped his horsewhip. When attendants went to fetch it, Genghis told them to
let it be and expressed a desire to be buried in the Ordos grasslands. The
attendants buried the horsewhip on the spot and erected a ceremonial stone mount
over it. Since the early Qing dynasty (1614-1911), there has been a shrine to
Genghis Khan's memory located at the site where this event is purported to have
occurred.
Conquests
Temuchin's first major patron was Toghrul, of the Keraits, who he saw as an
adopted father. Toghrul was probably the strongest leader amongst the Mongolian
tribes at that point, although he was constantly under threat both externally
and from family infighting. When Temuchin's wife Börte was abducted by the
Merkits, Toghrul and Jamuka (Temuchin's blood brother, his "anda", and
eventually his enemy) helped rescue her (1183/84).
But not everything went Temuchin's way, with a major defeat in 1187 leading
to almost a ten year gap in his life history, until 1196. That year Temuchin
successfully attacked the Tartars. He then rescued Toghrul from exile, who was
given the Chin title "Wang Khan". Jamuka declared against Temuchin in 1201, when
he was elected "Gurkhan". In 1202 Temuchin exterminated the Tartars, and that
year Wang Khan broke with Temuchin. Thus, and perhaps inevitably, Genghis was at
war with the Keraits.
In 1203 Wang Khan died, and Genghis assumed his title of King of the Keraits.
Jamuka was betrayed to Temuchin, and died in 1205. Thus the stage was set for
Temuchin to be elected "Genghis Khan", over all of the Mongolian tribes, in
1206. In 1209, the Uighurs submitted to Genghis, leaving him free to concentrate
on the Chin and to refuse to pay tribute to them. Eventually, after many battles
and even a withdrawal to Mongolia, Genghis destroyed Zongdu in 1215. This was
the Chin capital (later to become Beijing), so the Chin capital moved south to
Nanking (Kaifeng).
Treacherously, and somewhat stupidly, soldiers of Sultan Muhammad of Khwarazm
killed ambassadors from Genghis, forcing him to declare war on that Islamic
empire in 1219. Genghis won in 1221. His Empire stretched from the Korean
peninsular almost to Kiev, and south to the Indus. It was the largest land
empire ever seen. Genghis was thus now able to focus his time on establishing an
effective administration of the Mongol Empire, whilst keeping internal strife
under check and setting his succession in place.
He died in August 1227 (the cause is not certain), having named one of his
sons Ogodei Khan his principal successor. Ogodei is remembered by history as
probably the most principled of the sons, explaining Genghis' choice.
Legacy to Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan has become a symbol of a Mongolia trying to regain its identity
after many long years of Communism. Genghis Khan's face appears on Mongolian
banknotes and vodka labels.
Battle of Indus
The Battle of Indus was fought at the river Indus in today's Pakistan in the year 1221 between Jelal ad-Din Mingburnu, the sultan of the Khwarezmid Empire and his only remaining forces of five thousand, and the Mongolian horde of Genghis Khan.
Jelal ad-Din Mingburnu was fleeing to India with his men together with thousands of refugees from Persia, following the Mongol sacking of several cities, including Bukhara and Samarkand, the latter being the Khwarezmian capital. After having won the Battle of Parwan, near the city Ghazna (Ghazni) in eastern Persia, Mingburnu headed for India to seek refuge together with his army of some fifty thousand men and several thousand refugees. However, the horde of Genghis Khan caught up with him when he was about to cross the river Indus, the border of India. The sultan posted most of his men in the way of the Mongols to let him and the refugees pass the river in safety. When the army who awaited the enemy was busy fighting the Mongolian vanguard, Genghis Khan led the main force towards the sultan who was trapped between the Mongols and the river.
The sultan engaged the Mongols with his five thousand men against the Mongols' over ten thousand. This attempt failed however and the soldiers were soon separated from the refugees who were brutally slaughtered. When the sultan realised he was doomed, he and his closest followers crossed the river into India. Only a few of the refugees and probably none of the soldiers made it to the other side alive. Jelal ad-Din Mingburnu spent three years in exile in India before returning to Persia.
