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The Rise of Temujin From a Nobody to History’s Greatest Conqueror

Khalid Elhassan April 28, 2025 20 min

9. Destroyer of Empires…

Temujin - A medieval illustration depicting Chinggis' invasion of the Khwarezmian Empire — A medieval illustration depicting Chinggis’ invasion of the Khwarezmian Empire. Wanderer Sink

When operating deep in enemy territory, Chinggis preferred to leave no enemies, actual or potential, behind. Making few distinctions between combatants and noncombatants, he frequently ordered the killing of all who were encountered. Chinggis was chillingly methodical in his atrocities. He did not torture or unnecessarily abuse his victims, but had them killed quickly. Specific units were given the task of butchery, soldiers were assigned quotas of victims, and the massacres were carried out swiftly. In short order, Chinggis reduced Khwarezm from a prosperous empire to a depopulated wasteland. At the central mosque in the once thriving but now smoldering Khwarezmian city of Bukhara, he told the survivors that he was the Flail of God, and that: “If you had not committed great sins, God would not have inflicted a punishment like me upon you“.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.