![]() "For the Mongol warrior, there was no such thing as individual honor in battle if the battle was lost. His great mission was simple yet audacious: "Unite the whole world in one empire." But, as he said, " calling is high, the obligations incumbent on me are also heavy." Using the unparalleled biography Genghis Khan: and Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford as our guide, let us see how Khan–in his own words–managed to accomplish this great work and what he felt those obligations were. So while other conquerors died violent, early deaths, Khan died an old man surrounded by his loving family. Then they focused on building peace with equal intensity. Victory was their aim and they did whatever it took to get it. The Mongols found no honor in fighting–only winning. (When United States forces captured Baghdad they were the first successful invaders to take the city since Khan.) Yes, he was violent and war-like, but never for its own sake. He was also the greatest conqueror and general who ever lived, ruling a self-made kingdom of nearly 12-million square miles which lasted in parts for nearly seven centuries. For starters: he abolished torture, embraced religious freedom, united disparate tribes, hated aristocratic privilege, ran his kingdoms meritocratically, loved learning and advanced the rights of women in Mongol society. ![]()
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