Genghis Khan: A Life From Beginning To End (One Hour History Military Generals Book 3) by Henry Freeman

Author:Henry Freeman [Freeman, Henry]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2016-04-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

United They Stand

In examining the far reaches of Mongolian history, if you find that that there is not much unity involved in the war torn story of the country, you are probably right. Until Genghis Khan unified the battling tribes through the force of his own strong arm, Mongolia was known mostly as either a no man’s land or at the very least a nomad’s land, a place where the few people who dared to eke out their existence in it’s cold expanse lived as perpetual migrants who never settled down, with only their own family members serving as any sort of government.

The neighboring Karaits, who were distant relatives to the Mongols, were much more civilized than the Mongols ever were, thanks to their walled-in cities. One of Khan’s main benefactors that lived behind these walls, Toghrul, was known as a sort of Prester John of the East.

Toghrul was a great friend of Khan’s father. Genghis could have requested assistance from this leader at any time, but wishing to bargain with this benefactor from a position of strength rather than one of weakness, Khan kept Toghrul as the ace up his sleeve for years that he struggled to consolidate his own power.

After the death of the Teb Tengri, Genghis was ready to play that card. Meeting up with the great leader, Khan told him, “Without your assistance, oh my father, I cannot survive unmolested. You too cannot live in peace without my firm friendship. Your false brothers and cousins would invade your land and divide your pastures between them. Your son hath not wisdom to see this at present, but he would be denied of power and life if your enemies prevail. Our way to keep our security and survive is through friendship nothing can shatter. Were I your son also, matters would be settled for both of us.”

The old leader understood the request and gave his agreement to the terms of Genghis Khan. This was a bond that would last for as long as the two both lived in the area. Even though Toghrul was the one that had been made foster father and potential supporter of Khan at the demise of his father, it was actually Toghrul and his people that needed Khan’s help.

Ever since the rise of Islam, Muslim forces had been pushing further and further east, forcibly converting anyone that came across their swords. The Karits had become predominantly Christian by 1000 CE, which meant that Toghrul and his people were all either Christians or practitioners of ancestral shamanism and were being routinely threatened by the Islamic advance.

According to legend, the conversion happened in dramatic fashion. The chieftain of the Karaits was lost somewhere in the wastelands of Central Asia near the end of his life, and he was supposedly contacted by some supernatural entity. This being told him he would survive and be able to find his way home if only he would only put his faith in Christ. According to the story, he was then somehow instantaneously transported back to his camp.

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