In the West, the name Genghis Khan conjures a collective memory of ravaging hordes, devastation and destruction. Indeed, when the Mongols swept through Russia, Hungary, and Poland in the 13th century, and began attacking the feudal principalities of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, some believed the invaders were sent by God as punishment for Europe’s sins. Because some of these armed horsemen called themselves “Tatars,” rumor spread among the terrified populace that they were not human; they were a demon army sent by God from Tartarus — from hell.

But in Mongolia, Genghis is the founding father of the nation: the hero who rose from a humble herding family to unite the tribes of Mongolia and in his lifetime conquer much of China, Central Asia and Persia. Subsequent generations of khans created the largest empire our world has ever known, encompassing all of China, south to Burma and Vietnam, Tibet, the top half of India, all of Siberia and Central Asia, Persia, the Caucasus, Russia, the better part of the Balkans, Eastern and Central Europe. To mark the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Mongol Empire, Mongolia constructed the world’s largest equestrian statue: a 40 meter (120 feet) tall, glittering, stainless steel monument of Genghis Khan on his horse. Standing in the middle of a vast green valley, 54 km outside of Ulaan Bataar, the capital, I found the statue simply awe inspiring.

The Genghis Khan monument sits on top of a circular base with 36 pillars, signifying the linear of 36 khans who ruled the Mongol Empire. The European design elements in the base are also deliberate, such as the Corinthian and Ionian columns. These signify the Mongolians’ brief conquest of Europe in the 13th century.

Today, Mongolia is considered a small country. Geographically, it’s twice the size of Texas, but with a population of only 3 million wedged in betweeen Russia and China, its global significance is mostly as a source of minerals (copper, coal, uranium) and as a buffer between those two Asian giants. Fully half the population lives in Ulaan Bataar, and so the rest of this vast land seems as empty as it always was, even back in the days of the khans.

It may seem strange that in Genghis’ time the Mongols were massively outnumbered by the peoples they conquered. Indeed, the story of how Genghis Khan and the Mongols transformed Asia — and Europe — is both fascinating and woefully unknown to most of us, including me. I did some reading prior to our visit to Mongolia, and this book in particular, by historian Jack Weatherfield, opened my eyes:

Most of Mongolia is as vast and empty today as it was in the time of the Khans.

In a nutshell, Genghis Khan’s early life was filled with cruelty and hardship —the murder of his father by a rival tribe, the kidnapping (and rape) of his wife…all too common in those days. He killed his older brother to become leader of his household, and then gradually consolidated control, despite many powerful enemies and the betrayal of some of his closest allies and friends. His biography is preserved in a document known as The Secret History of the Mongols, which was written shortly after his death.

By his mid-forties, Genghis had united Mongolia, and then set his sights on the riches of China. Perhaps a life of constant warfare made him thirsty for more conquest. Whatever the motives, the ferocity, tactics and strategy of the steppe horsemen made the Mongol army an invincible force. Prosperous but complacent kingdoms were no match for them. His early successes convinced Genghis that God wanted him to unite and rule the world. And that is what he set out to do.

The extent of the Mongol Empire

The Mongols’ modus operandi was quite rational: When they approached a new city or kingdom, they would send emissaries, explaining the Mongol mission of global conquest. If the city surrendered, it would be required to pay tribute and contribute to the growing Mongol army, but otherwise left alone. If the leaders resisted, the city would be destroyed and stripped of riches. The aristocracy would be killed, and the citizens enslaved. Many cities responded to this choice by executing the emissaries. Sometimes the Mongols sent two or three parties to patiently explain what was going to happen. But in the end, it came down to slaughter, sack, enslave — again and again and again.

Kievian Rus was one such kingdom that killed the emissaries. Kiev was sacked, and for some 250 years the Mongol “Golden Horde” ruled a region that extended from Ukraine to Siberia — the first Russian empire. The Russian Orthodox Church decamped from Kiev, and set up a new national headquarters at a remote northern vassal state called Moscovy. In 1480, as the horde fell apart, the Rus aristocracy in Moscovy threw off the “Tatar yoke” and established a new Tsarist Russia. But, they kept many of the features of the Mongol’s asiatic administrative state, which helps explain the social and political differences between Russia and Europe today.

As the Mongol Empire expanded, riches flowed from the sacked cities and tribute-paying towns back to Mongolia. Imagine what the transformation must have been like for the herding, tent-dwelling tribes that stayed home. Suddenly, they were swamped with silks from China, jewels from India, riches beyond measure from Persia.

In the mountains near the Genghis Khan Monument is an outdoor museum that replicates 13th century mongol encampments, including this one, of Genghis Khan. No palaces for the Khans!

Despite their new luxuries, the Mongols resisted changing their lifestyle, preferring their mobile tents to palaces. When, under Genghis’ grandson, Kublai Khan, the Jin Empire of China was finally conquered, he built a new northern capital Beijing, close to the steppes. Within the captial he built a Forbidden City for the Mongol overlords. Behind these high walls were wide, empty courtyards, where the Mongols erected their tents and kept their own animals for milk and meat — so that they could maintain their nomadic lifestyle while ruling from the city.

What derailed the Mongols from their conquest of Europe? A family feud. A fight for succession brought the sons of Genghis back from Europe to Mongolia. Much wrangling ensued. The Europeans took advantage of the lull to stop their own squabbling, build better castles, and prepare to defend themselves. As a result, except for Ukraine and Russia, Europe staved off Mongol rule.

Luckily for Europe, subsequent generations of Mongol rulers lost interest in conquest and turned to trade. Throughout the 14th century, the Mongol Peace reigned throughout Eurasia. Trade routes flourished. When Marco Polo went to China, he did so along the Mongol-made Silk Road, staying at well-appointed Mongol trading stations all along the way. (In China, he worked for Kublai Khan). It was a time of incredible prosperity, as goods from Asia flowed west into Europe, and goods from Europe flowed east.

What brought the end to the Mongol Peace? A foe more powerful than either the Mongols or Europeans: a tiny flea. More specifically, a bacteria that lived in the flea. When infected fleas bit humans, they died fast and in great agony. The spreading infection turned the blood beneath the skin black, and so the illness became known as the Black Death. The plague originated in China (sound familiar?), but the global trade network of the Mongols enabled it to spread quickly all the way to Europe. The plague devastated populations everywhere. It weakened the pan-Asian Mongol Empire. Eventually it fell apart — though various genetic and cultural descendants of the khans would continue to rule parts of Central and South Asia for centuries more.

In 1921, when Mongolia was invaded by Russia and became a Soviet satellite state, the memory of Genghis Khan and the conquest of Russia by the Golden Horde was expunged. So, in 1991, when Mongolia emerged as a new, democratic state, the people reclaimed Genghis Khan as an important part of their history and their national identity.

I climbed the stairs inside of the Genghis Khan monument to emerge on the silver mane of his horse, together with a dozen or so Mongolian school kids. I got it that the country needed such a big statue to impress upon the next generation the story of the man who made Mongolia a nation, and in so doing, shaped the modern world.

BY Tim Ward, Mature Flâneur

Author, communications expert and publisher of Changemakers Books, Tim is now a full time Mature Flaneur, wandering Europe with Teresa, his beloved wife.