Genghis Khan

 Born Temujin; 1162-1227, also known as Genghis khan, was the founder and first Khagan of the mongal Empire, which later become the largest contiguous land empire in history. Having spent the majority of his life uniting the Mongol tribes, he launched a series of military campaigns which conquered large parts of China and central Asia.

Born between 1155 and 1167 and given the name of Temujin, he was the oldest child of Yesugei, a mongol chieftain of the Borjigin clan, and his wife Hoelum of the Okhonuds. Yesugei died when Temujin was eight, and his family was abandoned by their tribe in the mongol steppe. Temujin gradually built up a small following and allied with Jamukha and Toghral, two other mongol chieftains, in campaigns against other tribes. Due to the erratic nature of the sources, his period of Temujin's life is uncertain, he may have spent time as a servant of the Jin dynasty. The alliances with Jamukha and Toghrul failed completely in the early 13th century, but Temujin was able to defeat both and claim sole rulership of the mongol tribes. He formally adopted the titly Genghis khan at a Kurultai in 1206.

With the tribes fully united, Genghis set out on a campaign of conquest. Having vassalised the western Xia state by 1211, he then invaded the Jin dynasty in northern China, forcing the Jin emperor to abandon the northern half of his kingdom in 1214. Mongol forces annexed the Qara khitai khanate in 1218, allowing Genghis to lead an invasion of the neighbouring Khwarazmian Empire the following year. The invading mongols toppled the Khwarazmian state and devastated the regions of Transoxania and Kharasan, while an expedition penetrated as far as Georgia and the Kievan Rus. Genghis khan died in 1227 while besieging the rebellious western Xia, his third son and their Ogedel succeeded to the throne two years later.