Genghis Khan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Genghis Khan. Born Temujin in the 12th Century, he was cast out by his tribe when just a child and left to struggle for survival on the harsh Steppes of what is now Mongolia. From these beginnings he went on to become Genghis Khan, leader of the greatest continuous land-based empire the world has ever seen. His conquered territories stretched from the Caspian Sea to the borders of Manchuria, from the Siberian forest to what is now Afghanistan.He was a charismatic commander and a shrewd military tactician. He was swift to promote those who served him well, ignoring race or creed, but vengeful to those who crossed him, killing every inhabitant of resistant towns, even the cats and dogs. Generally regarded as barbarians by their enemies, the Mongol armies were in fact disciplined and effective.So how did Genghis create such an impressive fighting force? How did he draw together such diverse peoples to create a wealthy and successful Empire? And what was his legacy for the territories he conquered?

→ Listen on BBC Sounds website

Guests

• Peter Jackson No other episodes
  Professor of Medieval History at Keele University
• Naomi Standen 3 episodes
  Lecturer in Chinese History at Newcastle University
• George Lane No other episodes
  Lecturer in History at the School of Oriental and African Studies

Related episodes

• The Battle of Talas
  
  9 Oct, 2014 950 History of Asia
• The Mughal Empire
  
  26 Feb, 2004 950 History of Asia
• The Arab Conquests
  
  26 Jun, 2008 950 History of Asia
• Ibn Khaldun
  
  4 Feb, 2010 900 History
• The Ming Voyages
  
  13 Oct, 2011 950 History of Asia
• The Volga Vikings
  
  11 Nov, 2010 940 History of Europe
• The Great Wall of China
  
  4 May, 2010 950 History of Asia
• The Abbasid Caliphs
  
  2 Feb, 2006 900 History
• Byzantium
  
  19 Jul, 2001 940 History of Europe
• Ashoka the Great
  
  5 Feb, 2015 950 History of Asia

Experimental. For more related episodes, visit the visual explorer.

---

Programme ID: b00773mr

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00773mr

Auto-category: 950 (Asian history)

Hello (First sentence from this episode)

Hello, today we're talking about Genghis Khan.