Genghis Khan, Law Giver, Free Trader And Diplomat, Is Back With A New Image

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 7-11-2006 | Richard Spencer - Ulan Bator

[blam]

Genghis Khan, law giver, free trader and diplomat, is back with a new image

By Richard Spencer in Ulan Bator

(Filed: 11/07/2006)

The Mongolian capital has been swamped with images of its former potentate, Genghis Khan, in honour of the anniversary of his unification of the nation in 1206.

At the climax of celebrations in Ulan Bator yesterday, soldiers in traditional uniform and bearing yaks' tail standards heralded the unveiling of an enormous statue of the Great Khan in the main Sukhbaatar Square.

The monument in which it is set contains earth and stones from the holy and historic places in Mongolia associated with his rule.

Nambaryn Enkhbayar, the president, addressing a crowd of onlookers and dignitaries, including the Duke of York, said: "May the spirit of the great Genghis Khan inspire the future of the Mongolian people and lead it once again to prosperity."

Genghis has always had his cultish admirers, those on the remote steppe who believe that he will return 800 years after his death to rescue the world from decay. But the reverence in which he is held by mainstream Mongolians comes as a shock to visitors from the West, where his name is associated with bloodshed and terror.

To those who still think of themselves as his people, he is a unifying symbol when Mongolia is emerging from 70 years of repression by the Soviet Union.

"People know his military side but they do not know his philosophy," said Nomch P Davaanyam, a 30th-generation descendant who is trying to revive the sky-worshipping rituals Genghis performed. Mr Davaanyam is not alone in his assessment. In a radical reshaping of Genghis's popular reputation, historians are increasingly taking the Mongolian side.

"The West was blinded by his conquests," said Jack Weatherford, an American anthropologist and author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. "They overlooked his great impact on law and commerce. He outlawed the kidnapping of women, guaranteed diplomatic immunity to ambassadors and granted religious freedom to all people."

Historians also point to the introduction to the West of inventions such as gunpowder and paper that his empire made possible.

"He was an advocate of free trade and a flat tax system," President Enkhbayar told a gathering of journalists. "He changed the whole world."

Mr Enkhbayar, who was educated at Leeds University, was previously head of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, the former communist party that is now overseeing a nervous transition to democracy. Genghis's monument is replacing a Soviet-style mausoleum containing the body of Sukhbaatar, the revolutionary leader after whom the square is named. He ensured Mongolia's freedom from China in 1921 but also introduced communism and has now been buried elsewhere.

The monument remains half-finished because of squabbles over building contracts and Mr Enkhbayar unveiled it beneath scaffolding and concrete slabs.

The ceremony was timed to coincide with the beginning of Naadam, the annual festival when Mongolian men and boys compete in the three "manly sports" of wrestling, archery and horse-racing.

Visitors can also watch Genghis Khan - the Rock Opera in the state theatre. On the steppe outside Ulan Bator, 500 members of the armed forces are re-enacting the campaigns of the Khan's hordes.

Despite the money being spent on the monument and the celebrations, which some feel could have been better used in patching up the crumbling infrastructure, most Mongolians seem to appreciate the effort to reinvigorate the memory of Genghis Khan.

Tumurbat Altanmur, 16, said: "I think he was very cruel and tough. But without cruelty his kingdom would not have stood."

Recent studies based on mass DNA testing have suggested that 16 million men living in Eurasia are descended from a single figure in the early 13th century, presumed to be Genghis.

President Enkhbayar said: "That shows he is not just Mongolia's; he is the world's."

[LeoWindhorse]

Genghis Khan ....where is he when we need him?

[freema]

I thought he was in Vietnam?

[The Lion Roars]

Mongolia is an important ally. They are a valuable partner in our contain China policy.

[ClaireSolt]

Tear down the cities to make the world one great pasture for the horses.

[tomzz]

If you had to pick the very last person who ever lived that you'd ever want to **** with......

[TWohlford]

Gosh... Maybe there's hope for Joe Stalin now?

[Enchante]

"Recent studies based on mass DNA testing have suggested that 16 million men living in Eurasia are descended from a single figure in the early 13th century, presumed to be Genghis."

..... and just think of the genetic imprint that Bill Clinton will have over the next 700+ years and beyond..... talk about the Spawn of Satan!!

[Tribune7]

[Dreagon]

Now there was a guy who knew how to deal with Iraqi insurgents.

Nothing like a few skull pyramids in front of deserted towns to convince the rest of the towns to divest themselves of insurgents.

[StJacques]

"Genghis Khan ....where is he when we need him?"

He definitely had a successful strategy for dealing with radical Islamic resistance in what is now present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan, didn't he?

An excerpt on the revolt in Herat, Afghanistan following Genghis Khan's edict of religious toleration, which was universally opposed throughout modern-day Afghanistan and the western Indus River valley, all under Mongol control.

". . . But here as elsewhere, the Mongol tsunami brought disaster (1221 C.E.). Herat surrendered after a short siege, and the Mongols contented themselves with slaughtering the garrison while sparing the populace. A few months later, however, the city rose in revolt. The Mongols returned in force under the personal command of Ghengis Khan, and this time the entire population was put to the sword; contemporary accounts speak of more than a million and a half corpses. The network of irrigation canals was destroyed, the whole region devastated, and desolation reigned for decades along the Hari Rud. . . ."

There are times when I wonder if Genghis Khan was the only one who ever understood how to deal with Islamic fanatics.

[gotribe]

They didn't have metrosexuals back then.

[txzman]

Khan was brilliant in growing his domain - he gave almost full rights to conquered lands if they swore loyalty to him and his people. Those who reneged on the oath, or refused, he buried.

The trade, communication and protection he offered usually far outweighed being on the outside of the Mongol world, regardless of wether you were Chinese or Persian.

There were very intelligent reasons he conquered the known world at the time.

[wouldntbprudent]

paging John F Kerry!

[LeoWindhorse]

There are times when I wonder if Genghis Khan was the only one who ever understood how to deal with Islamic fanatics.

ditto

[Ax]

During my last diplomatic reception on 4 Jul 1997 at the U S Diplomatic Mission in Havana, I was standing near the bar, "working the crowd." An oriental gentleman came up next to me and introduced himself as the Ambassador from Mongolia. I'd never met anyone from that country before and was somewhat surprised to be speaking Spanish with a Mongolian. It was his third Spanish-speaking country so his Spanish was about as good as mine. We were having a very interesting conversation. He was explaining to me how difficult it was to get in and out of Ulan Bator. It's not much easier now than it was in Jengis Khan's day. Our conversation was interrupted when the Russian Ambassador broke in and took it over. Boorish and crude, the only way to describe His Excellency, dressed in a guayabera, drinking straight vodka and smoking a big Cohiba.

[PzLdr]

That would be his grandson, Hulegu, founder of the Il-Khanate of Persia, destroyer of the Abassid Caliphate, sacker of Baghdad, creator of the non-fertile crescent, destroyer of the Assassins.

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Note: this topic is from 2006. Blast from the Past. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[blam]

Y-DNA Haplogroup of Genghis Khan:

C

Y-DNA Haplotype of Genghis Khan: DYS393 DYS390 DYS19
DYS391 DYS425 DYS426 DYS434 DYS435 DYS436 DYS437i
13 25 15 10 12 11 11 11 12 8
DYS438 DYS439 DYS388 DYS389i DYS389ii DYS392
10 10 14 10 26 11

[SunkenCiv]

Too little, too late. ;’) ;’) ;’)

Found this while hunting through the millionfold helix of FR, and, uh, a search for my handle came up blank. :’D