In Perspective, Genghis Khan by Peter Khan Zendran

The name alone inspires fear, awe, and fascination. Genghis Khan, Kha’agan of Mongolia, conqueror of most of Asia and Eastern Europe, ruler of the largest empire the world has ever seen. A man history is always changing its views on and who is perceived differently by different people in different lands. Throughout Asia how Genghis Khan is perceived by different cultures varies in extremes. In Iran and in parts of Central and Western Asia Genghis Khan is perceived as a destructive barbarian. Looking at the facts and the legacy he left one sees that this is a distorted perception.

The late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in which Genghis Khan lived were very turbulent times where force was the final arbiter. Genghis Khan was simply the most efficient user of force at that time. The legend that he was some super tough warrior who kicked everyone’s ass is simply that, a legend for as a young man he had to flee from many encounters when he found himself on the losing side, had placed himself under the protection of the Keriat ruler, known to history through the legend of Prester John, when a young man, and even was scared of dogs as a child. The myths about Genghis Khan being a destroyer of cultures are just that, myths. If Genghis Khan wanted to wipe out the cultures he would not have employed Iranian and Chinese historians, physicians, and artisans. Nor would he have tolerated Zoroastrians, Christians, Manicheans, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and members of other religions alongside the Shamanist Mongols.

True, the military force that Genghis Khan commanded was known for a string of victories and Genghis Khan never lost a battle as ruler of the Mongols. His military was famous for inflicting massive casualties as happened at Bamiyan in 1221. People do not realize the reasons behind this. That reasoning was that anybody in an area occupied by an enemy force who either fought the Mongols, who did nothing to assist the Mongols, or possessed no skills of value were considered enemy targets. When Genghis invaded any territory with his army those who refused to fight, immediately surrendered, or offered assistance to his military forces would be treated well by Genghis Khan. Anyone who fought the Mongols, be it man, woman, child, dog, cat, or mouse, was slaughtered or put to involuntary use. At the time of the invasion of Genghis Khan Iran was ruled by the Turanian Muhammad II, known to history as Khwarazm-Shah. In all reality Genghis Khan had no real desire to invade Iran since he was preoccupied with the conquest of China, the traditional Mongol enemy. It was the murder of Mongol citizens and troops which sparked the Mongol invasion of Iran by Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan also received reports from Iranians who were restive under Khwarazm-Shah, that the people of Iran did not like Khwarazm-Shah and would rise up at the first opportunity, which gave Genghis Khan the hope of an easy victory and war of liberation. However, Khwarazm-Shah respected Iranian culture and provided Iranians with order and stability so when the Mongols invaded most of the Iranians resisted the Mongols. They would regret this since the Mongols thought they had been duped and fought with no mercy against Iranians they encountered who resisted them, as they had with other Turanian and Chinese who had resisted Genghis Khan. Therefore, the Iranians who resisted and were killed, be it at Bukhara, Samarkand, Nishapur, and other locations were the victims of their own respect for authority as much as the Mongol invasion.

Genghis Khan, despite his invasion, would prove himself an ardent admirer of Iranian culture. Genghis Khan, as was normal for Mongol rulers, incorporated Iran into his empire and allowed its people tolerance and great personal freedom as long as they obeyed Mongol laws. Much to the surprise of the Iranians Mongol laws were found to be as just as those created by Kurush. Yet the admiration of Iranian culture went beyond tolerance. He adopted Farsi as the official Mongol court language and employed Iranians as historians, personal physicians, jurists, soldiers, and other prominent positions in the Mongol society. Mongol rule would create the largest free trade zone in history and would create an information exchange of cultures that would not be seen again until the twentieth century. The heirs of Genghis Khan in Iran and parts of Central Asia would even voluntarily convert to Islam and intermarry with ruling dynasties and tribes in Iran, among them the Ak-Konolyu’s and the dynasty which would rule Iran as the Safavids. Despite this the Mongols and many heirs of Genghis Khan were still hated in Iran. Sure, the Mongols were destructive, but they maintained order and were interested in the cultures of the people they subjugated. Despite this it was by bashing his heritage that Ismail founded the ruling Safavid dynasty of Iran and a descendant of Genghis rode popular acclaim to rule Iran not as a Mongol conqueror like Hulegu and his Il-Khan descendants that ruled Iran but as an Iranian leader.

Even today Genghis Khan and his heirs are bashed by Iranians, despite the fact that they are revered in Russia, China, Korea, and Central Asia. This is mainly because the peoples of these regions understand that despite the destructiveness of Mongol encounters that the Mongols brought order and stability and respected and admired the cultures of the peoples they conquered. Many heirs of Genghis Khan in these lands, among them Kublai Khan, Altan Khan, Fydor Rostopchin, Felix Yussopov, would be admired in their adopted lands. Even in today’s multiethnic world being a descendant of Genghis Khan is the ultimate in historic heritage, as I can testify from firsthand experience, for having him as an ancestor makes you a citizen of many ethnicities had heritages by being related to one who respected so many different peoples. Yet in places of Asia that include Iran, India, and Afghanistan the heirs of Genghis Khan tend to be looked down on. Never mind that Timur-I-Lenk, Shah Rukh, Uzun Hasan, and Ismail brought order and stability to Iran and Western Asia, the Mongols continue to be looked down on as barbarians. Even today most historic texts on Iran gloss over or omit the fact that Ismail, founder of the Safavid dynasty, could trace his ancestry back to Genghis Khan. The sooner Iranians begin to take a long hard look at Genghis Khan and his heirs, picking out the myths and looking at the facts, the sooner we will include a part of our heritage and the richer our heritage will become.