Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan (1206—1260) was the largest contiguous land empire in history, stretching 33 million km² from the Pacific to the Danube. Temüjin — son of a murdered chieftain, survivor of slavery and exile — was proclaimed Genghis Khan at a kurultai by the Onon in 1206 and forged scattered tribes into the most disciplined army of its age. He destroyed Western Xia, took Beijing in 1215, and crushed Khwarazm. In 1240 Batu took Kyiv; Hulagu sacked Baghdad in 1258. Only the Mamluks at Ain Jalut in 1260 finally halted the Mongol advance.