1 00:00:06,339 --> 00:00:10,036 1162, deep in the heart of Asia, 2 00:00:10,210 --> 00:00:11,768 a child was born. 3 00:00:12,412 --> 00:00:15,813 He was clutching a blood clot - a sign from Heaven 4 00:00:15,982 --> 00:00:18,314 that he was destined to be a great warrior. 5 00:00:19,352 --> 00:00:21,877 His life was to become a legend. 6 00:00:22,622 --> 00:00:25,113 His name: Genghis Khan. 7 00:00:28,361 --> 00:00:30,522 Many believe his story is simple: 8 00:00:31,097 --> 00:00:33,122 that he was the incarnation of Evil, 9 00:00:33,299 --> 00:00:36,530 a brutal barbarian who butchered millions. 10 00:00:41,441 --> 00:00:45,673 But the real character of Genghis Khan is far more intriguing. 11 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,807 How did this illiterate outcast 12 00:00:49,983 --> 00:00:54,579 turn the feuding tribes of Mongolia into a powerful nation? 13 00:00:55,855 --> 00:00:58,756 And how did he transform the Mongol hordes 14 00:00:58,925 --> 00:01:02,019 into a ruthless and disciplined fighting machine? 15 00:01:03,263 --> 00:01:06,994 An army with revolutionary tactics and ingenious weapons 16 00:01:07,167 --> 00:01:10,364 that, ultimately, stood poised to conquer Europe. 17 00:01:14,140 --> 00:01:15,664 And why, on his death bed, 18 00:01:15,842 --> 00:01:20,108 did he believe his divine mission remained unfulfilled? 19 00:01:20,313 --> 00:01:22,042 Soon I will know death, 20 00:01:22,215 --> 00:01:25,275 but I will never know my destiny. 21 00:01:25,452 --> 00:01:26,749 Shortly after his death, 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,720 his heirs gathered their memories into an epic account of his life. 23 00:01:30,924 --> 00:01:33,791 They called it The Secret History Of The Mongols. 24 00:01:36,029 --> 00:01:38,520 Evidence from Chinese and Persian sources, 25 00:01:38,698 --> 00:01:42,099 the work of leading scholars and The Secret History 26 00:01:42,368 --> 00:01:45,599 allow this to be the most complete television portrait 27 00:01:45,772 --> 00:01:48,070 of Genghis Khan ever made. 28 00:01:49,409 --> 00:01:52,037 The characters are all real historical figures. 29 00:01:52,846 --> 00:01:58,409 And the words of Genghis Khan are rooted in the great speeches of The Secret History. 30 00:01:59,986 --> 00:02:04,013 This is the story of how that tiny fist turned to iron 31 00:02:04,190 --> 00:02:09,492 and came to rule the largest land empire ever known to man. 32 00:02:20,206 --> 00:02:24,267 In 1215, the Mongol warrior Genghis Khan 33 00:02:24,444 --> 00:02:28,210 led his army to Beijing, capital of Northern China. 34 00:02:29,549 --> 00:02:31,574 After fighting his way across Asia, 35 00:02:31,751 --> 00:02:33,719 the city stood before him. 36 00:02:38,458 --> 00:02:41,655 But Beijing was protected by formidable defenses. 37 00:02:42,028 --> 00:02:44,861 Surrounding it was a wall twelve meters high 38 00:02:45,031 --> 00:02:46,862 and 30 kilometers long. 39 00:02:47,534 --> 00:02:51,300 And behind the wall was one of the world's most advanced armies. 40 00:02:56,009 --> 00:02:58,500 First Genghis Khan besieged the city. 41 00:02:59,078 --> 00:03:01,672 Then he ordered an audacious attack. 42 00:03:02,382 --> 00:03:05,283 He forced enemy prisoners to fill his front line. 43 00:03:08,388 --> 00:03:11,323 He built new weapons to attack the city's defenses. 44 00:03:16,029 --> 00:03:19,487 Finally, having endured the Chinese arrows and bombs, 45 00:03:19,666 --> 00:03:22,863 he commanded his Mongol warriors to scale the walls. 46 00:03:23,403 --> 00:03:26,702 Genghis Khan sensed victory was within his grasp. 47 00:03:27,607 --> 00:03:29,768 Beijing was fighting for its life. 48 00:03:32,712 --> 00:03:35,442 A poor nomad from the Mongol steppe. 49 00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:40,151 Genghis Khan had made an extraordinary journey. 50 00:03:41,588 --> 00:03:45,854 The boy who would become Genghis Khan was called Temujin. 51 00:03:46,492 --> 00:03:48,983 He was the son of a tribal warrior chief. 52 00:03:49,796 --> 00:03:51,525 When he was only nine years old 53 00:03:51,698 --> 00:03:54,360 he received news that was to change his life. 54 00:03:56,436 --> 00:03:57,334 Temujin. 55 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,936 My father had been poisoned by a rival tribe. 56 00:04:28,167 --> 00:04:31,364 My mother told me my father's enemies 57 00:04:31,704 --> 00:04:34,935 were forever the enemies of my own heart. 58 00:04:36,142 --> 00:04:40,738 From that day, I would never be a child again. 59 00:04:50,990 --> 00:04:53,720 As the eldest son, Temujin grew up to lead 60 00:04:53,893 --> 00:04:56,521 what was little more than an extended family. 61 00:05:01,701 --> 00:05:02,793 And on the Steppes, 62 00:05:02,969 --> 00:05:05,665 a small tribe was weak and vulnerable. 63 00:05:06,673 --> 00:05:08,470 To survive, Temujin knew 64 00:05:08,641 --> 00:05:10,939 he must forge links with other tribes. 65 00:05:11,277 --> 00:05:13,370 And there was only one way he could do that. 66 00:05:16,449 --> 00:05:19,441 Her name was Borte. 67 00:05:21,054 --> 00:05:23,955 There were only two things to know about my marriage. 68 00:05:26,526 --> 00:05:30,394 She was a woman of beauty... 69 00:05:30,963 --> 00:05:38,096 ...and the sable fur they gave us was worth a thousand of the swiftest horses. 70 00:05:47,180 --> 00:05:51,708 The great tribes of Mongolia were locked in a spiral of murderous vendettas. 71 00:05:52,085 --> 00:05:54,417 There was only one law on the steppes: 72 00:05:55,221 --> 00:05:57,781 if a man wanted something, he took it. 73 00:05:59,258 --> 00:06:02,318 Now Temujin had something another man wanted. 74 00:06:07,533 --> 00:06:10,696 The Merkit tribe had feuded with Temujin's father. 75 00:06:12,071 --> 00:06:14,301 Now Temujin himself was in danger. 76 00:06:17,009 --> 00:06:19,477 And especially vulnerable was his new wife. 77 00:06:31,557 --> 00:06:32,751 Temujin. 78 00:06:40,633 --> 00:06:41,793 Temujin! 79 00:06:43,469 --> 00:06:46,370 The Secret History recalls what Temujin - 80 00:06:46,539 --> 00:06:49,030 the man who would one day become Genghis Khan - 81 00:06:49,409 --> 00:06:50,706 did next. 82 00:06:51,444 --> 00:06:53,275 They had taken my wife. 83 00:06:53,746 --> 00:06:55,338 I knew what I had to do. 84 00:06:55,581 --> 00:06:58,414 What Temujin had to do was to escape. 85 00:07:01,621 --> 00:07:07,218 Only a fool fights a battle he knows he cannot win. 86 00:07:20,039 --> 00:07:22,633 Wife stealing was common on the Steppes. 87 00:07:23,943 --> 00:07:27,242 Borte knew she had no choice but to submit. 88 00:07:30,817 --> 00:07:33,342 I had just one friend I could trust. 89 00:07:34,253 --> 00:07:35,584 Jamuka. 90 00:07:40,460 --> 00:07:44,726 children, we had sworn the vow of 'Anda'. 91 00:07:45,498 --> 00:07:48,126 It was the most sacred vow of all. 92 00:07:56,275 --> 00:07:57,742 We were blood brothers. 93 00:08:03,549 --> 00:08:06,677 The bond that joined our lives as one. 94 00:08:11,791 --> 00:08:14,191 With my sworn bother Jamuka, 95 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,296 my power had been increased by Heaven and Earth. 96 00:08:36,382 --> 00:08:39,476 At the Merkit camp in the mountains of northern Mongolia, 97 00:08:39,752 --> 00:08:41,879 Temujin went looking for his wife. 98 00:08:50,963 --> 00:08:52,191 Temujin. 99 00:09:12,184 --> 00:09:13,276 We made the Merkits 100 00:09:13,452 --> 00:09:15,010 pay for their deed. 101 00:09:16,022 --> 00:09:20,823 We destroyed their families and emptied their breasts. 102 00:09:23,129 --> 00:09:28,761 Temujin - the man who was to become Genghis Khan - was barely twenty 103 00:09:29,001 --> 00:09:32,437 and he'd already eliminated one of Mongolia's great tribes. 104 00:09:39,011 --> 00:09:44,574 In those early days, Temujin and Jamuka shared the leadership of the tribe. 105 00:09:47,486 --> 00:09:50,785 Yet even as they celebrated the victory over the Merkits, 106 00:09:50,957 --> 00:09:53,391 there was a hidden tension between them. 107 00:09:57,330 --> 00:10:00,356 At the root was a fundamental question. 108 00:10:00,866 --> 00:10:03,096 How to measure a man's worth. 109 00:10:03,869 --> 00:10:07,566 Both Temujin and Jamuka were the sons of tribal leaders - 110 00:10:07,740 --> 00:10:09,708 Mongolian aristocrats. 111 00:10:10,476 --> 00:10:14,674 But only Temujin had experienced a childhood of real adversity 112 00:10:14,847 --> 00:10:16,644 and learned from it. 113 00:10:19,318 --> 00:10:23,345 Now I cared only for the strength in a man's heart. 114 00:10:24,523 --> 00:10:30,325 A warrior does not win a battle by virtue of his birth. 115 00:10:34,934 --> 00:10:38,301 Temujin rewarded ability and loyalty alone. 116 00:10:39,205 --> 00:10:42,572 One of his most promising warriors was Subodei - 117 00:10:42,742 --> 00:10:44,801 the son of a humble herdsman. 118 00:10:51,083 --> 00:10:55,110 But this attitude flew in the face of Mongol tradition. 119 00:10:57,123 --> 00:10:59,591 Jamuka's noble birth led him to believe 120 00:10:59,759 --> 00:11:03,718 that high rank should be reserved only for Mongol aristocrats. 121 00:11:04,930 --> 00:11:09,560 But now, his blood brother was throwing out the old ways. 122 00:11:14,373 --> 00:11:18,707 The gulf between Temujin and Jamuka widened still further, 123 00:11:19,245 --> 00:11:21,270 until the prophesy of the Mongol holy man 124 00:11:21,447 --> 00:11:23,972 brought their relationship to a crisis. 125 00:11:24,750 --> 00:11:28,914 The shaman said he had ascended into Heaven in the holy trance 126 00:11:29,088 --> 00:11:31,386 where the Supreme God told him 127 00:11:31,557 --> 00:11:39,123 that he would give to me and to my sons the whole surface of the world. 128 00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:43,468 For the tribe and for Jamuka, 129 00:11:43,636 --> 00:11:45,570 it was a decisive moment. 130 00:12:07,460 --> 00:12:10,486 Men who are sworn brothers share one life, 131 00:12:10,896 --> 00:12:15,595 but I began to question whether Jamuka was truly my blood brother 132 00:12:15,768 --> 00:12:18,032 for all eternity. 133 00:12:57,943 --> 00:13:02,676 It was not right that our differences should force a feud, 134 00:13:02,948 --> 00:13:05,610 but my wife stopped me from going after him. 135 00:13:07,820 --> 00:13:09,981 She warned that, one day, 136 00:13:10,422 --> 00:13:13,880 my blood brother would ride against me. 137 00:13:19,031 --> 00:13:21,659 For Temujin, this feud brought back 138 00:13:21,834 --> 00:13:24,234 the darkest memory of his childhood. 139 00:13:30,442 --> 00:13:33,673 I knew where a war between brothers would lead. 140 00:13:35,314 --> 00:13:36,679 Even when we were starving, 141 00:13:36,849 --> 00:13:39,374 my brother Beckter had betrayed us. 142 00:13:39,652 --> 00:13:42,746 He refused to share the spoils of a hunt. 143 00:13:51,363 --> 00:13:54,093 He died of his wounds. 144 00:13:59,071 --> 00:14:01,369 Jamuka split the tribe. 145 00:14:02,575 --> 00:14:05,738 Two years would pass before they would hear from him. 146 00:14:12,218 --> 00:14:14,778 High on the plateau of central Mongolia 147 00:14:15,554 --> 00:14:18,352 is a place known as Dalan Bhalzhut. 148 00:14:20,259 --> 00:14:23,888 It was here that Borte's prophesy would be fulfilled. 149 00:14:24,697 --> 00:14:27,564 Jamuka ambushed Temujin's tribe. 150 00:14:30,202 --> 00:14:33,797 Temujin, the man who would be Genghis Khan, 151 00:14:33,973 --> 00:14:37,807 led an army that was unprepared, outnumbered 152 00:14:37,977 --> 00:14:39,569 and outwitted. 153 00:14:45,584 --> 00:14:48,348 It had been a catastrophic defeat. 154 00:14:51,924 --> 00:14:53,687 But there was worse was follow. 155 00:14:59,131 --> 00:15:01,531 Jamuka took the generals he had captured 156 00:15:01,700 --> 00:15:04,965 and subjected them to the cruelest of punishments. 157 00:15:11,443 --> 00:15:14,139 He boiled them alive. 158 00:15:37,636 --> 00:15:39,661 When Temujin learned of the atrocity - 159 00:15:39,838 --> 00:15:41,567 he made this vow: 160 00:15:42,374 --> 00:15:43,932 By the power of Heaven, 161 00:15:44,109 --> 00:15:46,907 I swore to gain my vengeance. 162 00:15:47,079 --> 00:15:50,515 Never again would I be defeated, 163 00:15:50,716 --> 00:15:53,651 nor my loyal warriors so dishonored. 164 00:16:01,961 --> 00:16:05,055 It was now that Temujin started a revolution. 165 00:16:10,069 --> 00:16:13,835 They say that the Mongols were descended from the wolf. 166 00:16:15,341 --> 00:16:22,247 Like the wolf, we were famous for our ferocity and courage. 167 00:16:22,848 --> 00:16:24,406 But to win a battle, 168 00:16:24,583 --> 00:16:26,642 we had to fight fiercely. 169 00:16:27,186 --> 00:16:29,381 Not as individual warriors, 170 00:16:29,555 --> 00:16:32,023 but as parts of a whole. 171 00:16:50,142 --> 00:16:53,737 Temujin formed an elite officer training corps 172 00:16:53,912 --> 00:16:55,106 the Kashik. 173 00:16:55,948 --> 00:16:58,576 He was building a professional fighting machine 174 00:16:58,917 --> 00:17:00,680 from top to bottom. 175 00:17:03,522 --> 00:17:06,753 The Mongol's universal instrument of battle was the bow. 176 00:17:07,226 --> 00:17:09,023 Made from wood and animal bone, 177 00:17:09,194 --> 00:17:11,890 it had a shooting range of 500 meters. 178 00:17:14,666 --> 00:17:18,796 Training in archery and horsemanship was made compulsory for all - 179 00:17:19,538 --> 00:17:20,562 even children. 180 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:22,064 They learned to release their arrows 181 00:17:22,241 --> 00:17:25,506 at the exact moment the horse's hooves were off the ground, 182 00:17:25,711 --> 00:17:27,303 for maximum accuracy. 183 00:17:32,751 --> 00:17:36,050 Temujin had thrown out the old tribal divisions. 184 00:17:36,522 --> 00:17:38,513 This was a meritocracy. 185 00:17:39,758 --> 00:17:42,022 This was a modern army. 186 00:17:46,198 --> 00:17:47,995 Now he was ready. 187 00:17:52,204 --> 00:17:54,502 In the summer of 1204, 188 00:17:55,140 --> 00:17:58,871 Temujin rode west to confront his blood brother. 189 00:18:00,045 --> 00:18:04,106 The outcome would be decisive for the future of the Mongol people. 190 00:18:05,517 --> 00:18:07,849 In the foothills of the Khangai Mountains, 191 00:18:08,020 --> 00:18:12,184 on the eve of battle, Temujin called his generals to him. 192 00:18:21,967 --> 00:18:27,701 I told them 'one tribe is like a single arrow - 193 00:18:28,073 --> 00:18:29,301 easily broken. 194 00:18:30,275 --> 00:18:33,642 But many tribes together would be strong. 195 00:18:34,246 --> 00:18:36,180 They could never be broken.' 196 00:18:53,966 --> 00:18:57,367 But Temujin didn't just rely on inspirational speeches, 197 00:18:57,536 --> 00:19:00,164 he practiced psychological warfare. 198 00:19:01,073 --> 00:19:04,474 I knew Jamuka's scouts would be watching 199 00:19:04,643 --> 00:19:06,941 as my men prepared for battle. 200 00:19:08,013 --> 00:19:11,574 I ordered each man to light not one, 201 00:19:11,750 --> 00:19:13,843 but five fires. 202 00:19:14,553 --> 00:19:18,785 Jamuka's scouts reported that Temujin's army was so large 203 00:19:18,957 --> 00:19:22,051 they had more fires than there were stars in the sky. 204 00:19:40,379 --> 00:19:42,904 At daybreak Jamuka led his army 205 00:19:43,081 --> 00:19:45,174 onto the heights of chakirma'ut. 206 00:19:47,586 --> 00:19:50,680 And this was the sight that confronted him. 207 00:20:00,666 --> 00:20:03,897 I saw the man who had been my friend, 208 00:20:04,136 --> 00:20:07,162 who had sworn the sacred vow of Anda. 209 00:20:09,474 --> 00:20:11,908 But he had broken that vow. 210 00:20:13,979 --> 00:20:16,709 Jamuka was about to become the first commander 211 00:20:16,882 --> 00:20:18,577 to face an army that would eventually 212 00:20:18,750 --> 00:20:21,583 conquer twelve million square miles. 213 00:20:48,013 --> 00:20:50,038 We advanced in silence, 214 00:20:50,215 --> 00:20:53,082 saving our battle cries to the last. 215 00:21:12,804 --> 00:21:14,965 When the enemy came within reach, 216 00:21:15,340 --> 00:21:18,639 my archers released a storm of arrows. 217 00:21:29,187 --> 00:21:32,452 And my cavalry attacked without mercy. 218 00:22:10,529 --> 00:22:12,156 According to The Secret History, 219 00:22:12,331 --> 00:22:14,993 each tactic was meticulously planned 220 00:22:15,167 --> 00:22:16,998 and ingenious. 221 00:22:18,036 --> 00:22:20,766 Temujin held squadrons and weapons in reserve. 222 00:22:22,541 --> 00:22:25,738 Then, with the enemy in disarray, they regrouped 223 00:22:25,911 --> 00:22:27,469 and charged. 224 00:22:40,892 --> 00:22:42,416 One of Temujin's cavalry squadrons 225 00:22:42,594 --> 00:22:44,425 suddenly fled the battlefield, 226 00:22:45,230 --> 00:22:47,255 Jamuka's men chased them down, 227 00:22:47,432 --> 00:22:49,832 but they were being lured into a trap. 228 00:23:14,393 --> 00:23:15,826 In the heart of the battle, 229 00:23:15,994 --> 00:23:18,485 Jamuka saw his army destroyed 230 00:23:18,663 --> 00:23:20,221 and he ran. 231 00:23:35,180 --> 00:23:37,171 Across the battlefield 232 00:23:37,349 --> 00:23:43,117 I saw the bodies of Jamuka's men lying together 233 00:23:43,355 --> 00:23:46,017 like felled logs in the forest. 234 00:24:00,505 --> 00:24:04,942 Following the defeat, Jamuka fled into the mountains of Tannu. 235 00:24:07,312 --> 00:24:10,475 He hid throughout the winter of 1204. 236 00:24:16,555 --> 00:24:17,544 In the spring 237 00:24:17,722 --> 00:24:20,816 he reappeared - escorted by two of his own generals 238 00:24:20,992 --> 00:24:23,984 who thought they knew where their best interests lay. 239 00:24:30,802 --> 00:24:34,169 They delivered Jamuka to Temujin. 240 00:25:01,533 --> 00:25:05,264 The generals expected a reward for betraying their leader 241 00:25:05,437 --> 00:25:08,668 and delivering him into the hands of his enemy. 242 00:25:11,109 --> 00:25:13,077 And I saw they got their reward. 243 00:27:04,623 --> 00:27:07,990 Temujin granted his blood brother his final wish. 244 00:27:11,896 --> 00:27:13,386 And broke his back. 245 00:27:28,079 --> 00:27:30,240 The defeat and death of Jamuka 246 00:27:30,482 --> 00:27:34,077 led to a sight never before seen in the history of Mongolia. 247 00:27:39,624 --> 00:27:44,323 The recognition of one man as the leader of all the Mongol tribes. 248 00:27:48,199 --> 00:27:51,362 In the Mongol world there had never been such a figure. 249 00:27:53,405 --> 00:27:57,967 And in 1206, a new title was created to honor him. 250 00:27:59,244 --> 00:28:00,711 Universal King. 251 00:28:01,379 --> 00:28:02,869 Ruler Of All Men. 252 00:28:04,115 --> 00:28:05,639 Genghis Khan. 253 00:28:15,193 --> 00:28:20,130 But my destiny, the destiny of the great Mongol people, 254 00:28:20,298 --> 00:28:22,630 was still unfulfilled. 255 00:28:23,301 --> 00:28:26,270 Genghis Khan had forged a nation. 256 00:28:26,438 --> 00:28:29,532 But now he faced a new and more potent threat: 257 00:28:29,708 --> 00:28:30,766 China. 258 00:28:30,942 --> 00:28:34,309 He knew the Chinese would not tolerate such a powerful leader as him 259 00:28:34,479 --> 00:28:35,844 on their border. 260 00:28:40,118 --> 00:28:42,552 So, he took the fight to them. 261 00:28:43,788 --> 00:28:46,188 In a campaign that was to last six years, 262 00:28:46,357 --> 00:28:49,019 he led his army of 50,000 Mongols 263 00:28:49,194 --> 00:28:52,595 on one of the most audacious military actions in history. 264 00:29:00,572 --> 00:29:05,703 He crossed the Gobi Desert. And invaded northern China. 265 00:29:09,781 --> 00:29:12,181 On hearing that the Mongol army was approaching, 266 00:29:12,350 --> 00:29:15,444 the emperor of north China sent this message: 267 00:29:17,255 --> 00:29:19,917 "our empire is as vast as the sea, 268 00:29:21,159 --> 00:29:23,354 yours is but a handful of sand. 269 00:29:24,062 --> 00:29:25,962 How can we fear you?" 270 00:29:27,866 --> 00:29:31,734 The Chinese had spent centuries perfecting their defenses. 271 00:29:31,970 --> 00:29:36,168 But Genghis Khan solved the problem posed by China's biggest border defense - 272 00:29:36,341 --> 00:29:39,640 the Great Wall - by one simple expedient: 273 00:29:39,944 --> 00:29:41,571 they went around it. 274 00:29:45,283 --> 00:29:48,980 The Chinese were the richest and most civilized people in the East. 275 00:29:49,354 --> 00:29:52,255 But they also knew how to fight a dirty war. 276 00:29:54,492 --> 00:29:57,757 Iron spikes, like Mediaeval minefields, 277 00:29:57,962 --> 00:30:00,988 were buried in the path of the oncoming Mongol armies. 278 00:30:22,654 --> 00:30:25,851 The Chinese could afford to employ people to fight for them. 279 00:30:29,027 --> 00:30:33,361 In the borderlands, the Mongols met a force of heavily armed mercenaries. 280 00:30:48,513 --> 00:30:51,880 Who were loyal as only mercenaries could be. 281 00:31:15,540 --> 00:31:17,633 Reinforced by the mercenary troops, 282 00:31:17,809 --> 00:31:21,040 they marched into the fertile plains of northern China. 283 00:31:45,203 --> 00:31:48,969 Few of the Chinese villagers had seen a Mongol warrior before. 284 00:31:55,513 --> 00:31:58,710 And few of the Mongols would have journeyed this far into China. 285 00:32:02,921 --> 00:32:05,651 It was the clash of two alien cultures. 286 00:32:10,028 --> 00:32:11,723 There was only one certainty: 287 00:32:11,896 --> 00:32:14,262 the Chinese would never forget them. 288 00:32:44,729 --> 00:32:46,993 The Mongols plundered without mercy 289 00:32:47,632 --> 00:32:51,363 and from each conquest Genghis Khan took his own reward: 290 00:32:51,869 --> 00:32:54,394 a highborn wife from the vanquished. 291 00:32:55,039 --> 00:32:59,999 The greatest fortune a man can have is to conquer his enemy, 292 00:33:00,178 --> 00:33:04,171 steal his riches, ride his horses 293 00:33:04,349 --> 00:33:06,374 and enjoy his women. 294 00:33:07,885 --> 00:33:10,683 Further east, lay an even greater prize. 295 00:33:13,424 --> 00:33:15,756 With a population of 350,000, 296 00:33:15,927 --> 00:33:17,952 13th Century Beijing 297 00:33:18,129 --> 00:33:20,859 was one of the most sophisticated cities on Earth. 298 00:33:22,233 --> 00:33:24,360 Capital of the northern Chinese empire, 299 00:33:24,535 --> 00:33:27,504 famous for its grand palaces, gilded temples 300 00:33:27,672 --> 00:33:31,073 and markets overflowing with silks and spices. 301 00:33:32,276 --> 00:33:35,109 In his quest to take these riches for himself, 302 00:33:35,279 --> 00:33:37,713 Genghis Khan faced one huge problem. 303 00:33:37,882 --> 00:33:41,978 Standing between him and the conquest of the city was a wall. 304 00:33:46,491 --> 00:33:49,289 12 meters high and 30 kilometers long, 305 00:33:49,460 --> 00:33:51,519 with nine hundred guard towers. 306 00:33:52,430 --> 00:33:53,522 To a nomadic army, 307 00:33:53,698 --> 00:33:55,632 used to fighting on the open steppes, 308 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,701 these fortifications seemed impregnable. 309 00:33:58,870 --> 00:34:02,203 I'd trained my men to attack with the speed of the wind, 310 00:34:02,373 --> 00:34:06,070 now they had to learn the guile of the wolf. 311 00:34:06,944 --> 00:34:11,813 His first tactic was straightforward. He waited. 312 00:34:12,016 --> 00:34:14,246 The Mongols set up camp outside the city 313 00:34:14,419 --> 00:34:16,853 and stopped supplies from getting in. 314 00:34:18,956 --> 00:34:21,220 From Chinese engineers who had defected, 315 00:34:21,392 --> 00:34:23,758 his generals learned to build catapults, 316 00:34:23,928 --> 00:34:26,396 portable defenses and battering rams: 317 00:34:26,564 --> 00:34:28,657 the tools of siege warfare. 318 00:34:39,210 --> 00:34:41,201 The Mongols were in no hurry. 319 00:34:41,546 --> 00:34:44,242 They feasted on the supplies they captured. 320 00:34:50,922 --> 00:34:54,119 Genghis Khan turned Beijing into a prison. 321 00:34:55,726 --> 00:34:59,162 Within the walls, thousands starved to death. 322 00:35:06,237 --> 00:35:08,865 The survivors resorted to cannibalism. 323 00:35:19,083 --> 00:35:23,452 Finally, Genghis Khan's army was ready to attack. 324 00:35:30,027 --> 00:35:33,622 All who surrender would be spared. 325 00:35:34,499 --> 00:35:42,167 Those who did not surrender, but opposed with struggle and dissention, would be annihilated. 326 00:35:45,276 --> 00:35:49,178 Despite enduring months of starvation, the commander of the Chinese army 327 00:35:49,347 --> 00:35:52,748 still controlled a formidable garrison with thousands of men 328 00:35:52,917 --> 00:35:54,612 and a powerful array of weapons. 329 00:36:19,410 --> 00:36:20,775 Genghis Khan knew 330 00:36:20,945 --> 00:36:24,039 that few in the first wave of the attack would survive. 331 00:36:24,849 --> 00:36:26,942 So he forced captured enemy prisoners 332 00:36:27,118 --> 00:36:29,985 to wheel the siege engines forward into the killing zone. 333 00:36:31,756 --> 00:36:36,159 It is said that each of his own warriors was given a silk shirt. 334 00:36:38,763 --> 00:36:42,392 If the arrow penetrated the body, it took the silk with it, 335 00:36:42,767 --> 00:36:44,428 making it easier to draw the arrow out 336 00:36:44,602 --> 00:36:46,194 and minimizing the wound. 337 00:37:27,011 --> 00:37:30,242 But despite the Mongols' attempts to master siege warfare, 338 00:37:30,414 --> 00:37:34,646 the Chinese were still much more advanced in their military technology. 339 00:37:36,153 --> 00:37:40,613 They responded by filling bombs with crude oil, molten metal, 340 00:37:40,791 --> 00:37:43,624 chemicals and excrement. 341 00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:57,699 Despite the ferocious bombardment, 342 00:37:59,410 --> 00:38:02,106 Genghis Khan ordered his men to advance to the walls. 343 00:38:03,648 --> 00:38:06,879 Once again, Chinese prisoners were in the front line. 344 00:39:10,848 --> 00:39:16,252 As the city fell, the Chinese commander had just one option. 345 00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:38,965 Genghis Khan was so confident of victory, 346 00:39:39,443 --> 00:39:41,775 that he left his army to capture the city. 347 00:39:50,654 --> 00:39:52,645 The final command to his generals 348 00:39:52,823 --> 00:39:55,087 was to fulfill his prophecy. 349 00:39:56,460 --> 00:39:59,452 He ordered total annihilation. 350 00:40:02,333 --> 00:40:04,767 For one month his army plundered, 351 00:40:04,935 --> 00:40:06,425 burned and raped. 352 00:40:08,372 --> 00:40:12,001 A year later, visiting foreign ambassadors described the streets 353 00:40:12,176 --> 00:40:15,202 as 'slippery with human fat'. 354 00:40:16,147 --> 00:40:18,445 They also recorded that, beyond the walls, 355 00:40:18,616 --> 00:40:22,143 stood an entire mountain of bones. 356 00:40:23,287 --> 00:40:25,084 Genghis Khan's fearsome reputation 357 00:40:25,256 --> 00:40:29,659 grew from the destruction and carnage he practiced in Beijing. 358 00:40:30,094 --> 00:40:33,757 But what he now created at Karakorum in central Mongolia 359 00:40:33,931 --> 00:40:36,365 revealed an entirely different nature. 360 00:40:43,741 --> 00:40:45,766 Genghis Khan wanted Karakorum 361 00:40:45,943 --> 00:40:48,707 to be a great trading and cultural center. 362 00:40:49,380 --> 00:40:53,009 Here, in stark contrast to his nomadic origins, 363 00:40:53,184 --> 00:40:55,982 he began to establish a permanent capital. 364 00:40:56,821 --> 00:41:00,382 And he wanted his people to benefit from his conquests. 365 00:41:01,892 --> 00:41:06,556 My people are as numerous as the trees in a forest. 366 00:41:06,730 --> 00:41:10,063 I wanted them to feed on tender meat, 367 00:41:10,401 --> 00:41:12,426 live in beautiful tents 368 00:41:12,736 --> 00:41:15,796 and pasture their horses on rich soil. 369 00:41:16,474 --> 00:41:19,307 To achieve this, he imported knowledge. 370 00:41:20,010 --> 00:41:22,774 He learnt the technology of the Chinese military. 371 00:41:24,582 --> 00:41:28,450 He established a medical corps trained by Chinese physicians. 372 00:41:34,225 --> 00:41:39,857 He ordered his followers to create a record of all his rules and all his judgments. 373 00:41:41,565 --> 00:41:44,830 It was forbidden for any man to own a Mongol slave. 374 00:41:46,737 --> 00:41:50,036 And each tribe was granted its own land. 375 00:41:51,842 --> 00:41:54,333 It was the beginning of a legal system. 376 00:41:55,212 --> 00:41:57,544 The Mongols could neither read nor write 377 00:41:58,148 --> 00:42:01,379 but Genghis Khan understood the power of the written word. 378 00:42:02,419 --> 00:42:05,354 Above all, he wanted his legacy recorded. 379 00:42:18,836 --> 00:42:21,498 He looked to the west to build on his conquests - 380 00:42:21,672 --> 00:42:24,835 not through war, but through trade. 381 00:42:25,576 --> 00:42:27,703 He sent ambassadors to Persia. 382 00:42:27,945 --> 00:42:29,469 And established a network of routes 383 00:42:29,647 --> 00:42:33,139 linked by staging posts 40 kilometers apart. 384 00:42:36,587 --> 00:42:40,387 A messenger could travel two hundred kilometers in a single day. 385 00:42:43,694 --> 00:42:46,390 It was a mediaeval pony express. 386 00:42:48,866 --> 00:42:53,360 In the summer of 1218, one messenger sent back to Genghis Khan 387 00:42:53,537 --> 00:42:55,698 from Persia carried a package. 388 00:42:55,873 --> 00:42:59,331 A package that would change the course of history. 389 00:43:06,717 --> 00:43:09,811 It was the head of Genghis Khan's ambassador. 390 00:43:12,189 --> 00:43:16,455 The Sultan had fundamentally misjudged Genghis Khan's character. 391 00:43:25,903 --> 00:43:30,567 Genghis Khan sent an army 200,000 strong to invade Persia. 392 00:43:36,981 --> 00:43:39,779 It was a campaign of extreme savagery. 393 00:43:42,553 --> 00:43:46,353 I was not the instigator of these tribulations. 394 00:43:46,523 --> 00:43:50,584 God grant me the strength to exact vengeance. 395 00:43:55,699 --> 00:43:59,157 On his order, every Persian town that did not submit 396 00:43:59,336 --> 00:44:00,928 was burned to the ground. 397 00:44:01,572 --> 00:44:04,040 When they had finished, over a million men, 398 00:44:04,208 --> 00:44:06,335 women and children were dead. 399 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:13,839 After the conquest of Persia, Genghis Khan ordered a small army 400 00:44:14,018 --> 00:44:17,454 to see how far west they could penetrate before they were stopped. 401 00:44:17,988 --> 00:44:19,580 And they weren't stopped at all. 402 00:44:21,225 --> 00:44:23,750 This was the Mongols' first raid into Europe: 403 00:44:24,528 --> 00:44:26,393 it would not be their last. 404 00:44:27,498 --> 00:44:31,264 His empire was now four times the size of Alexander the Great's, 405 00:44:31,902 --> 00:44:34,302 and twice the size of the Roman Empire. 406 00:44:36,340 --> 00:44:41,073 But even this was not enough to satisfy the desire of Genghis Khan. 407 00:44:41,545 --> 00:44:42,910 He wanted something more, 408 00:44:43,180 --> 00:44:45,171 something his army could not give him. 409 00:44:45,449 --> 00:44:47,508 Which is why, in 1222, 410 00:44:47,685 --> 00:44:50,984 this man traveled towards Genghis Khan's court. 411 00:44:51,889 --> 00:44:53,948 He was a revered Taoist monk. 412 00:44:54,358 --> 00:44:57,452 From him Genghis Khan sought just one thing. 413 00:45:03,767 --> 00:45:08,227 I told him how my life was a divine mission. 414 00:45:09,873 --> 00:45:13,570 I'd been sent to Earth to conquer the world. 415 00:45:15,345 --> 00:45:20,783 I spoke of the prophecies, the battles, my ambitions, 416 00:45:20,951 --> 00:45:22,418 my age. 417 00:45:23,387 --> 00:45:25,753 I asked what medicine he had brought 418 00:45:25,923 --> 00:45:28,483 to prolong my Earthy existence. 419 00:45:30,594 --> 00:45:32,755 It was only then the monk realized 420 00:45:32,930 --> 00:45:37,697 Genghis Khan was asking for the secret elixir of eternal life. 421 00:45:41,071 --> 00:45:43,767 Unfortunately, the monk could only offer him advice 422 00:45:43,941 --> 00:45:47,138 about prolonging life through sexual abstinence. 423 00:45:47,411 --> 00:45:49,003 But not immortality. 424 00:45:53,984 --> 00:45:56,009 There is nothing to indicate that Genghis Khan took 425 00:45:56,186 --> 00:45:57,813 the monk's advice. 426 00:45:58,288 --> 00:46:00,256 Recent scientific evidence suggests 427 00:46:00,424 --> 00:46:03,188 that perhaps one in two hundred men alive today 428 00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:06,727 can trace their genetic lineage to Genghis Khan. 429 00:46:09,333 --> 00:46:15,431 Four years later, he embarked on one more campaign of conquest; into China. 430 00:46:52,309 --> 00:46:53,537 According to legend, 431 00:46:53,710 --> 00:46:56,508 these were the last words of Genghis Khan. 432 00:47:00,951 --> 00:47:05,320 I have conquered for you a large empire, 433 00:47:06,056 --> 00:47:11,585 but my life was too short to take the whole world. 434 00:47:12,062 --> 00:47:15,463 That I leave to you. 435 00:47:17,701 --> 00:47:22,070 He appointed his son, Ogodei, to succeed him as Khan. 436 00:47:26,043 --> 00:47:31,106 Genghis Khan died without having achieved what he believed was his destiny - 437 00:47:31,815 --> 00:47:34,249 to conquer the entire world. 438 00:47:35,953 --> 00:47:39,787 In the years after his death, his sons carried out his wish, 439 00:47:39,957 --> 00:47:42,221 doubling the size of the empire. 440 00:47:43,460 --> 00:47:45,621 They returned to Europe and invaded Russia, 441 00:47:45,796 --> 00:47:47,559 Poland and Hungary. 442 00:47:48,599 --> 00:47:51,067 But in 1242, approaching Vienna, 443 00:47:51,235 --> 00:47:52,896 the new Khan died. 444 00:47:54,137 --> 00:47:56,332 Mongol law decreed that all chiefs return 445 00:47:56,506 --> 00:47:58,167 to elect a new leader 446 00:47:58,575 --> 00:48:01,567 and Europe was spared the Mongol terror. 447 00:48:05,515 --> 00:48:09,451 A century later, his mighty empire began to crumble. 448 00:48:11,421 --> 00:48:12,683 His reputation has made him 449 00:48:12,856 --> 00:48:14,790 one of history's immortals - 450 00:48:16,693 --> 00:48:20,129 a reputation enhanced by the mystery of his burial. 451 00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:28,469 It is said that every witness to his funeral cortege was executed 452 00:48:28,639 --> 00:48:31,107 to keep the site of the tomb a secret. 453 00:48:32,075 --> 00:48:34,942 Today, almost eight centuries later, 454 00:48:35,512 --> 00:48:39,539 the burial place of Genghis Khan remains undiscovered. 455 00:48:40,250 --> 00:48:44,516 This is no grave, no mausoleum, no monument 456 00:48:44,688 --> 00:48:46,679 to this bloodthirsty conqueror - 457 00:48:46,990 --> 00:48:51,450 the most successful military commander the world has ever known.