Person
Genghis Khan
Чингис хаан
Eight books by seven travelers mention Genghis Khan between 1245 and 1943. Here is what each of them saw, in the order they were there.
- 1245–1247
The Voyage of John of Plano Carpini
Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, from whose sons and grandsons all the ruling dukes Carpini names are descended. Carpini collects an early, half-legendary version of his conquests and laws.
…tribes then paid tribute, were much indignant at the elevation of Zingis; but their great emperor had lately died, leaving the authority divided among his sons,…Listen from here · chapter 9, 1:06…the whole earth under their authority, as they were commanded by Zingis-khan, and they have only abstained from this intention of late, on account of the death of…Listen from here · chapter 29, 1:51 - 1253–1255
The Journal of William of Rubruck
Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, whose grandsons Batu and Möngke ruled the lands Rubruck crossed. Rubruck records garbled tales of his rise from among the Tartar herdsmen.
…one day when drunk, he said to his people, that being of the race of Zingis as well as Baatu, whose brother or nephew he was, he thought himself entitled to feed his…Listen from here · chapter 27, 0:38…are poor; yet they must all betake themselves to some employment, as Zingis established a law that none was to be free from service till so old as to be unable for…Listen from here · chapter 38, 1:50 - 1870–1882
Among the Mongols
The conqueror whose lineal descendants, the book notes, still claimed the right to feast with the emperor in Peking. Gilmour finds it 'scarcely possible to believe' that the placid herdsmen he knows descend from the riders of that 'wild career of bloodshed.'
…the present Mongols are the descendants of those who rode behind Genghis Khan in his wild career of bloodshed and slaughter.…Listen from here · chapter 19, 14:27…capital rests on the fact of their being the lineal descendants of Genghis Khan, and that as such they are admitted to feast with the emperor.Listen from here · chapter 32, 5:14 - 1884–1943
Under a Lucky StarRoy Chapman Andrews
Founder of the Mongol Empire, whom Andrews invokes as the colossus of Mongolia's heroic past — the conqueror whose horsemen rode from the Gobi to the gates of Europe.
…the Mongol of today is just as good a man as were the warriors of Genghis Khan.…Listen from here · chapter 16, 1:41…a thousand years old, for this method of warfare was a heritage from Genghis Khan.…Listen from here · chapter 19, 9:33 - 1893–1929
Larson, Duke of Mongolia
Founder of the Mongol Empire, who united the steppe tribes into the largest contiguous land empire in history — the heroic measure against which Larson sees the Mongols he knew.
…descendants of Batu the son of Juchi, who was the first-born son of Genghis, had become so weakened that they lost their governmental power in South Central Asia and…Listen from here · chapter 8, 25:18…earlier, and which is thought by some scholars to be the tomb of Genghis Khan, disputing sites in the northeast corner of Ordos and on Bogda-Ol for this distinction.Listen from here · chapter 11, 8:41 - 1902
Journeys in Mongolia
Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, whose homeland — the Kerulen valley and the Kentei mountains — the author crosses. Born and buried in this eastern heartland of Mongolia.
…and some wooden huts, which is said locally to mark the “remains” of Jinghis; but this appears to be a merely local belief at variance with all the earlier records.Listen from here · chapter 11, 5:42…wrote seventy or eighty years after the death of Jinghis), says that Jinghis was buried “sur l'une des montagnes qui forment la chaine du Bourcan-Caldoun, d’ou…Listen from here · chapter 11, 6:04 - 1919–1920
Across Mongolian PlainsRoy Chapman Andrews
Founder of the Mongol Empire, who united the steppe tribes and launched the conquests that, under his successors, created the largest contiguous land empire in history. Andrews treats him as the towering figure of Mongolia's heroic age.
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the great Genghiz Khan and his illustrious successor Kublai Khan "almost in a night" erected the greatest empire…Listen from here · chapter 2, 0:26Perhaps it was not quite as in the days of Genghis Khan, for we had three high-wheeled carts of a Russian model, but they were every bit as…Listen from here · chapter 9, 0:18 - 1920–1921
Beasts, Men and Gods
Founder of the Mongol Empire, spelled Jenghiz Khan in this book. His ruined capital, his prophecies and the memory of his empire haunt every Mongol camp Ossendowski passes through.
…be but twenty-one years of age, be born in the heart of the lands of Jenghiz Khan and have on his chest the natural sign of the swastika — such Hutuktu would be honored by…Listen from here · chapter 33, 9:16…Tibetans in red coats with yellow epaulets bearing the swastika of Jenghiz Khan and the initials of the Living Buddha; and Chinese soldiers from their detachment in the…Listen from here · chapter 39, 7:34
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