What do you know about the military achievements of Genghis Khan?

Answer

Genghis Khan died in 1227, having spent most of his life in military combat. His military achievements were astounding and they were largely a result of his ability to innovate and transform different aspects of steppe combat into extremely effective military strategies.

The horse-riding skills of the Mongols and the Turks provided speed and mobility to the army: their abilities as rapid-shooting archers from horseback were further perfected during regular hunting expeditions which doubled as field manoeuvres.

The steppe cavalry had always travelled light and moved quickly, but not it brought all its knowledge of the terrain and the weather to do the unimaginable: they carried out campaigns in the depths of winter, treating frozen rivers as highways to enemy cities and camps. Nomads were conventionally at a loss against fortified encampments but Genghis Khan learnt the importance of siege engines and naphtha bombardment very quickly.

His engineers prepared light portable equipment. Which was used against opponents with devastating effect.

Sponsor Area

'If history relies upon written records produced by city- based literati, nomadic societies will always receive a hostile representation.' Would you agree with this statement?

Does it explain the reason why Persian chronicles produced such inflated figures of casualties resulting from Mongol campaigns ?

Keeping the nomadic element of the Mongol and Bedouin societies in mind, how, in your opinion, did their respective historical experiences differ?
What explanations would you suggest account for these difference ?

What do you know about the military achievements of Genghis Khan?

Some More Questions From Nomadic Empires Chapter

Mention the estimated extent of Mongol Destruction.

Who was Juwaini?

Why was trade so significant to the Mongols ?

Why did Genghis Khan feel the need to fragment the Mongol tribes into new social and military groupings ?

What do you know about the "Great wall of China".

How do later Mongol reflections on the yasa bring out the uneasy relationship they had with the memory of Genghis Khan?

Describe the military system of Genghis Khan.

Keeping the nomadic element of the Mongol and Bedouin societies in mind, how, in your opinion, did their respective historical experiences differ?
What explanations would you suggest account for these difference ?