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One of the most characteristic aspects of Genghis Khan was certainly the deepest sense of honor, a particular that saw its climax with a question: “How did you leave your Khan?”
The only thing that matters
In Genghis Khan‘s Mongolia, an incredibly hard and sparsely populated place, the sense of honor was the only thing that held together the complex nomadic galaxy, otherwise dispersed without order in space. The expectation of not seeing another human being for months, made fidelity the first real characteristic to judge a man, a rock to hold on to not fear a return.
The Khan of the Khan, in particular, will make this characteristic truly essential for the life or death of his subjects, who, once they decided to join Temüjin, were asked a fundamental question: “How did you leave your Khan?”
“How did you leave your Khan?”
If the answer satisfied Genghis Khan, he granted them all good, otherwise, however, the order of death fell suddenly on the heads of the petty. The valid ones were the most varied, the wrong ones, however, all had in common the characteristic of betrayal. Wanting to surround himself with faithful men, in fact, anyone who betrayed their Khan to join Temüjin’s cause, received an instant death.
It doesn’t matter if they had betrayed him by killing him, abandoning him in the desert or bringing the Conqueror of the Worlds tent to the front; Unless they put him in the best condition for saving his life, everyone would fall under the sword of justice. Exemplary the case of a family who, knowing this, decided to free their previous sovereign, receiving the graces of the Great Khan for this. The modalities, of course, were brutal, but this allowed the Mongols to have in a short time one of the most cohesive armies in the world, capable, shortly thereafter, of victories in every corner of the globe.
The information from this Mongolian week is mostly taken from “Secret History of the Mongols“.Do you want to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Ibn Battuta? Find out how to do it here; starting from March 1st. Follow us on our facebook page, Spotify, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, or on our Telegram channel. Any like, sharing or support is welcome and helps us to devote ourselves more and more to our passion: telling the Middle East.
