Genghis Khan unites the Mongols

After uniting rival tribes, Temujin was proclaimed Genghis Khan at a great assembly. He built a disciplined army and a legal code, and his successors expanded the Mongol Empire across Asia.

Context

Temujin was born around the 1160s to a minor noble family on the steppe, and his early life was marked by hardship after his father's death. Over decades of alliances and wars he defeated rivals such as the Tatars, Merkits and Naimans, and the exact year of his birth is uncertain.

In 1206 a kuriltai, an assembly of Mongol leaders, gathered near the Onon River and confirmed him as Genghis Khan, a title whose meaning is debated, often rendered as universal or strong ruler. He then reorganized the army into units of tens, hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands, appointing commanders by loyalty and merit rather than tribe alone.

The legal and administrative framework later associated with him is often called the Yasa. Details of its content are known mostly from later accounts. He died in 1227, and his sons and grandsons extended the empire to China, Central Asia, Persia and eastern Europe, creating the largest contiguous land empire in history.

His birth name, Temujin, is generally accepted, and the biography known as The Secret History of the Mongols, written after his death, is a major but partly legendary source.