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JENGHIZ KHAN (1162-1227)
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JENGHIZ See also:KHAN (1162-1227) , Mongol See also:emperor, was See also:born in a See also:tent on the See also:banks of the See also:river Onon. His See also:father Yesukai was absent at the See also:time of his See also:birth, in a See also:campaign against a Tatar chieftain named Temuchin. The See also:fortune of See also:war favoured Yesukai, who having slain his enemy returned to his encampment in See also:triumph. Here he was met by the See also:news that his wife Yulun had given birth to a son. On examining the See also:child be observed in its clenched fist a See also:clot of coagulated See also:blood like a red See also: Against this See also:chief he now led his troops, and in one See also:battle so completely shattered his forces that Kushlek, the successor of Polo, who was See also:left dead upon the See also: See also:Complete success attended all three expeditions. The right wing advanced as far as Honan, and after having captured upwards of twenty-eight cities rejoined headquarters by the great western road. Hochar made himself See also:master of the See also:country as far as Liao-si; and Jenghiz ceased his triumphal career only when he reached the cliffs of the Shantung, promontory. But either because he was weary of the strife, or because it was necessary to revisit his Mongolian empire, he sent an See also:envoy to the Kin emperor in the See also:spring of the following See also:year (1214), saying, " All your possessions in Shantung and the whole country See also:north of the Yellow River are now mine with the solitary exception of Yenking (the See also:modern See also:Peking). By the See also:decree of See also:heaven you are now as weak as I am strong, but I am willing to retire from my conquests; as a See also:condition of my doing so, however, it will be necessary that you distribute largess to my See also:officers and men to appease their fierce hostility." These terms of safety the Kin emperor eagerly accepted, and as a See also:peace offering he presented Jenghiz with a daughter of the See also:late emperor, another princess of the imperial See also:house, 500 youths and maidens, and 3000 horses. No sooner, however, had Jenghiz passed beyond the Great Wall than the Kin emperor, fearing to remain any longer so near the Mongol frontier, moved his See also:court to K'ai-feng Fu in Honan. This See also:transfer of See also:capital appearing to Jenghiz to indicate a hostile attitude, he once more marched his troops into the doomed empire. While Jenghiz was thus adding See also:city to city and province to province in China, Kushlek, the fugitive Naiman chief, was not idle. With characteristic treachery he requested permission from his See also:host, the Khitan khan, to collect the fragments of his army which had been scattered by Jenghiz at the battle on the Irtysh, and thus having collected a considerable force he leagued himself with Mahommed, the shah of Khwarizm, against the confiding khan. After a See also:short but decisive campaign the See also:allies remained masters of the position, and the khan was compelled to abdicate the throne in favour of the late See also:guest. With the power and See also:prestige thus acquired, Kushlek prepared once again to measure swords with the Mongol chief. On receiving the news of his hostile preparations, Jenghiz at once took the field, and in the first battle routed the Naiman troops and made Kushlek a prisoner. His See also:ill-gotten See also:kingdom became
an apanage of the Mongol Empire. Jenghiz now held sway up opening its See also:gates to the See also:Mongols. At this point of his victo the Khwarizm frontier. Beyond this he had no immediate
See also:desire to go, and he therefore sent envoys to Mahommed, the shah, with presents, saying, " I send thee greeting; I know thy power and the vast extent of thine empire; I regard thee as my most cherished son. On my See also:part See also:thou must know that I have conquered China and all the See also:Turkish nations north of it; thou knowest that my country is a See also:magazine of warriors, a mine of See also:silver, and that I have no need of other lands. I take it that we have an equal See also:interest in encouraging See also:trade between our subjects." This peaceful See also:message was well received by the shah, and in all See also:probability the Mongol armies would never have appeared in See also:Europe but for an unfortunate occurrence. Shortly after the despatch of this first See also:mission Jenghiz sent a party of traders into Transoxiana who were seized and put to death as spies by Inaljuk, the See also:governor of Otrar. As See also:satisfaction for this See also:outrage Jenghiz demanded the See also:extradition of the offending governor. Far from yielding to this See also:summons, however, Mahommed beheaded the chief of the Mongol envoys, and sent the others back without their beards. This insult made war inevitable, and in the spring of 12r9 Jenghiz set out from See also:Karakorum on a campaign which was destined to be as startling in its immediate results as its ulterior effects were far-reaching. The invading force was in the first instance divided into two armies: one commanded by Jenghiz's second son Jagatai was directed to See also: With the remnant of his host Mahommed fled to See also:Samarkand. Meanwhile Jagatai marched down upon the Syr Daria (Jaxartes) by the pass of Taras and invested Otrar, the offending city. After a See also:siege of five months the citadel was taken by See also:assault, and Inaljuk and his followers were put to the See also:sword. The conquerors levelled the walls with the ground, after having given the city over to pillage. At the same time a third army besieged and took See also:Khojent on the Jaxartes; and yet a See also:fourth, led by Jenghiz and his youngest son Tule, advanced in the direction of See also:Bokhara. See also:Tashkent and Nur surrendered on their approach, and after a short siege Bokhara See also:fell into their hands. On entering the See also:town Jenghiz ascended the steps of the See also:principal See also:mosque, and shouted to his followers, " The See also:hay is cut; give your horses See also:fodder." No second invitation to See also:plunder was needed; the city was sacked, and the inhabitants either escaped beyond the walls or were compelled to submit to infamies which were worse than death. As a final See also:act of vengeance the town was fired, and before the last of the Mongols left the See also:district, the great mosque and certain palaces were the only buildings left to See also:mark the spot where the " centre of See also:science " once stood. From the ruins of Bokhara Jenghiz advanced along the valley of the Sogd to Samarkand, which, weakened by treachery, surrendered to him, as did also See also:Balkh. But in neither See also:case did submission See also:save either the inhabitants from slaughter or the city from pillage. Beyond this point Jenghiz went no farther westward, but sent Tule, at the See also:head of 70,000 men, to ravage See also:Khorasan, and two flying columns under Chepe and Sabutai Bahadar to pursue after Mahommed who had taken refuge in See also:Nishapur. Defeated and almost alone, Mahommed fled before his pursuers to the See also:village of See also:Astara on the See also:shore of the See also:Caspian Sea, where he died of an attack of See also:pleurisy, leaving his empire to his son Jelaleddin (Jalal ud-din). Meanwhile See also:Tula carried his arms into the fertile province of Khorasan, and after having captured Nessa by assault appeared before See also:Merv. By an act of atrocious treachery the Mongols gained See also:possession of th;, city, and, after their manner, sacked and burnt the town. From Mery Tule marched upon Nishapur, where he met with a most deter-See also:mined resistance. For four days the See also:garrison fought desperately on the walls and in the streets, but at length they were over-powered, and, with the exception of 400 artisans who were sent into See also:Mongolia, every See also:man, woman and child was slain. See also:Herat escaped the See also:fate which had overtaken Mery and Nishapur by torious career Tula received an See also:order to join Jenghiz before Talikhan in See also:Badakshan, where that chieftain was preparing to renew his pursuit of Jelaleddin, after a check he had sustained in an engagement fought before See also:Ghazni. As soon as sufficient reinforcements arrived Jenghiz advanced against Jelaleddin, who had taken up a position on the banks of the See also:Indus. Here the See also:Turks, though far outnumbered, defended their ground with undaunted courage, until, beaten at all points, they fled in confusion. Jelaleddin, seeing that all was lost, mounted a fresh See also:horse and jumped into the river, which flowed 20 ft. below. With admiring gaze Jenghiz watched the desperate venture of his enemy, and even saw without regret the dripping horseman See also:mount the opposite See also:bank. From the Indus Jenghiz sent in pursuit of Jelaleddin, who fled to See also:Delhi, but failing to See also:capture the fugitive the Mongols returned to Ghazni after having ravaged the provinces of See also:Lahore, See also:Peshawar and Melikpur. At this moment news reached Jenghiz that the inhabitants of Herat had deposed the governor whom Tula had appointed over the city, and had placed one of their own choice in his See also:room. To punish this act of See also:rebellion Jenghiz sent an army of 8o,000 men against the offending city, which after a siege of six months was taken by assault. For a whole See also:week the Mongols ceased not to kill, See also:burn and destroy, and 1,600,000 persons are said to have been massacred within the walls. Having consummated this act of vengeance, Jenghiz returned to Mongolia by way of Balkh, Bokhara and Samarkand. Meanwhile Cbepe and Sabutai marched through Azerbeijan, and in the spring of 1222 advanced into See also:Georgia. Here they defeated a combined force of See also:Lesghians,, Circassians and Kipchaks, and after taking See also:Astrakhan followed the retreating Kipchaks to the See also:Don. The news of the approach of the mysterious enemy of whose name even they were ignorant was received by the See also:Russian princes at See also:Kiev with dismay. At the instigation, however, of Mitislaf, See also:prince of See also:Galicia, they assembled an opposing force on the See also:Dnieper. Here they received envoys from the Mongol See also:camp, whom'. they barbarously put to death. " You have killed our envoys," was the See also:answer made by the Mongols; " well, as you wish for war you shall have it. We have done you no harm. See also:God is impartial; He will decide our See also:quarrel." In the first battle, on the river Kaleza, the Russians were utterly routed, and fled before the invaders, who, after ravaging Great See also:Bulgaria retired, gorged with See also:booty, through the country of Saksin, along the river Aktuba, on their way to Mongolia. In China the same success had attended the Mongol arms as in western See also:Asia. The whole of the country north of the Yellow river, with the exception of one or two cities, was added to the Mongol rule, and, on the death of the Kin emperor Suan Tsung in 1223, the Kin empire virtually ceased to be, and Jenghiz's frontiers thus became conterminous with those of the Sung emperors who held sway over the whole of central and See also:southern China. After his return from Central Asia, Jenghiz once more took the field in western China. While on this campaign the five See also:planets appeared in a certain See also:conjunction, which to the superstitiously minded Mongol chief foretold that evil was awaiting him. With this presentiment strongly impressed upon him he turned his See also:face homewards, and had advanced no farther than the Si-Kiang river in Kansuh when he was seized with an illness of which he died a short time afterwards (1227) at his travelling See also:palace at Ha-lao-tu, on the banks of the river See also:Sale in Mongolia. By the terms of his will Ogotai was appointed his successor, but so essential was it considered to be that his death should remain a See also:secret until Ogotai was proclaimed that, as the funeral procession moved northwards to the great ordu on the banks of the Kerulen, the escort killed every one they met. The See also:body of Jenghiz was then carried successively to the ordus of his several wives, and was finally laid to See also:rest in the valley of Kilien. Thus ended the career of one of the greatest conquerors the See also:world has ever seen. Born and nurtured as the chief of a See also:petty Mongolian tribe, he lived to see his armies victorious from the China Sea to the banks of the Dnieper; and, though the empire which he created ultimately dwindled away under the hands of his degenerate descendants, leaving not a wrack behind, we have in the presence of the Turks in Europe a consequence of his rule, since it was the advance of his armies which drove their Osmanli ancestors from their See also:original See also:home in northern Asia, and thus led to their invasion of See also:Bithynia under See also:Othman, and finally their advance into Europe under Amurath I. See See also:Sir H. H. Howorth, The See also:History of the Mongols; Sir See also:Robert K. See also:Douglas, The See also:Life of Jenghiz Khan. (R. K. D.) JENKIN, See also: His See also:influence among the Edinburgh students was pronounced, and R. L. See also:Stevenson's well-known Memoir is a sympathetic See also:tribute to his ability and See also:character. The meteoric See also:charm of his conversation is well described in Stevenson's See also:essay on " Talk and Talkers," under the name of Cockshot. Jenkin's interests were by no means confined to engineering, but extended to the arts and literature; his See also:miscellaneous papers, showing his See also:critical and unconventional views, were issued posthumously in two volumes (1887). In 1882 Jenkin invented an automatic method of electric transport for goods—" telpherage "—but the completion of its details was prevented by his death on the 12th of See also:June 1885. A telpher See also:line on his See also:system was subsequently erected at Glynde in See also:Sussex. He was also well known as a sanitary reformer, and during the last ten years of his life he did much useful work in inculcating more enlightened ideas on the subject both in Edinburgh and other places. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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