17 Facts About Genghis Khan

1. Genghis Khan supported the Chinese Daoist sect leader Qiu Chuji and after personally meeting him in what is Afghanistan, gave him control of all religious affairs in northern China.

2. Genghis Khan is regarded as one of the prominent leaders in Mongolia's history.

3. Genghis Khan became one of the central figures of the national identity.

4. Genghis Khan had been revered for centuries by Mongols and certain other ethnic groups such as Turks, largely because of his association with Mongol statehood, political and military organization, and his victories in war.

5. Genghis Khan is credited with bringing the Silk Road under one cohesive political environment.

6. Genghis Khan put absolute trust in his generals, such as Muqali, Jebe and Subutai, and regarded them as close advisors, often extending them the same privileges and trust normally reserved for close family members.

7. Genghis Khan recalled Subutai back to Mongolia soon afterwards, and Jebe died on the road back to Samarkand.

8. Genghis Khan had left Muqali, one of his most trusted generals, in command of all Mongol forces in Jin China while he battled the Khwarezmid Empire to the west.

9. In the meantime, Genghis Khan selected his third son Ogedei as his successor before his army set out, and specified that subsequent Khans should be his direct descendants.

10. Genghis Khan ordered Subutai and Jebe to hunt him down, giving them 20,000 men and two years to do this.

11. Genghis Khan decided to conquer the Qara Khitai and defeat Kuchlug, possibly to take him out of power.

12. Genghis Khan organized his people, army, and his state to first prepare for war with Western Xia, or Xi Xia, which was close to the Mongolian lands.

13. Genghis Khan met Wahid-ud-Din in Afghanistan in 1221 and asked him if the prophet Muhammad predicted a Mongol conqueror.

14. Genghis Khan appreciated his honest reply and asked Qiu Chuji who it is that calls him eternal heavenly man, he himself or others.

15. Genghis Khan summoned and met the Daoist master Qiu Chuji in Afghanistan in 1222.

16. Genghis Khan was a Tengrist, but was religiously tolerant and interested in learning philosophical and moral lessons from other religions.

17. Genghis Khan died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia.