1 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:08,080 In 1162, 2 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:10,080 deep in the heart of Asia, 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:11,760 a child was born. 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,800 He was clutching a blood clot - a sign from Heaven 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,320 that he was destined to be a great warrior. 6 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:21,880 His life was to become a legend. 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,120 His name: Genghis Khan. 8 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,520 Many believe his story is simple: 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,120 That he was the incarnation of Evil, 10 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,520 a brutal barbarian who butchered millions. 11 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,680 But the real character of Genghis Khan is far more intriguing. 12 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,800 How did this illiterate outcast 13 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,560 turn the feuding tribes of Mongolia into a powerful nation? 14 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,760 And how did he transform the Mongol hordes 15 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,000 into a ruthless and disciplined fighting machine? 16 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,000 An army with revolutionary tactics and ingenious weapons 17 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,360 that, ultimately, stood poised to conquer Europe. 18 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:15,680 And why, on his death bed, 19 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,120 did he believe his divine mission remained unfulfilled? 20 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,040 Soon I will know death, 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,280 but I will never know my destiny. 22 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:26,760 Shortly after his death, 23 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,720 his heirs gathered their memories into an epic account of his life. 24 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,800 They called it The Secret History Of The Mongols. 25 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,520 Evidence from Chinese and Persian sources, 26 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,080 the work of leading scholars and The Secret History 27 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,600 allow this to be the most complete television portrait 28 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,080 of Genghis Khan ever made. 29 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,040 The characters are all real historical figures. 30 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:58,400 And the words of Genghis Khan are rooted in the great speeches of The Secret History. 31 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,000 This is the story of how that tiny fist turned to iron 32 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:09,480 and came to rule the largest land empire ever known to man. 33 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,280 In 1215, the Mongol warrior Genghis Khan 34 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,200 led his army to Beijing, capital of Northern China. 35 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:31,560 After fighting his way across Asia, 36 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:33,720 the city stood before him. 37 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,640 But Beijing was protected by formidable defences. 38 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,880 Surrounding it was a wall twelve meters high 39 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:46,880 and 30 kilometres long. 40 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,320 And behind the wall was one of the world's most advanced armies. 41 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,520 First Genghis Khan besieged the city. 42 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,680 Then he ordered an audacious attack. 43 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,280 He forced enemy prisoners to fill his front line. 44 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,320 He built new weapons to attack the city's defences. 45 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,480 Finally, having endured the Chinese arrows and bombs, 46 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,880 he commanded his Mongol warriors to scale the walls. 47 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,720 Genghis Khan sensed victory was within his grasp. 48 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:29,760 Beijing was fighting for its life. 49 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,440 A poor nomad from the Mongol steppe. 50 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,160 Genghis Khan had made an extraordinary journey. 51 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,840 The boy who would become Genghis Khan was called Temujin. 52 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,000 He was the son of a tribal warrior chief. 53 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:51,520 When he was only nine years old 54 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,360 he received news that was to change his life. 55 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:57,320 Temujin. 56 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,920 My father had been poisoned by a rival tribe. 57 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,360 My mother told me my father's enemies 58 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,920 were forever the enemies of my own heart. 59 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,720 From that day, I would never be a child again. 60 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,720 As the eldest son, Temujin grew up to lead 61 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,520 what was little more than an extended family. 62 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:02,800 And on the Steppes, 63 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,680 a small tribe was weak and vulnerable. 64 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:08,480 To survive, Temujin knew 65 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:10,920 he must forge links with other tribes. 66 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:13,360 And there was only one way he could do that. 67 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,440 Her name was Borte. 68 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,960 There were only two things to know about my marriage. 69 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,400 She was a woman of beauty... 70 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:38,080 ...and the sable fur they gave us was worth a thousand of the swiftest horses. 71 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,720 The great tribes of Mongolia were locked in a spiral of murderous vendettas. 72 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,400 There was only one law on the steppes: 73 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,800 If a man wanted something, he took it. 74 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,320 Now Temujin had something another man wanted. 75 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,680 The Merkit tribe had feuded with Temujin's father. 76 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,320 Now Temujin himself was in danger. 77 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,480 And especially vulnerable was his new wife. 78 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:32,760 Temujin. 79 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:41,800 Temujin! 80 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,360 The Secret History recalls what Temujin - 81 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,040 the man who would one day become Genghis Khan - 82 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:50,720 did next. 83 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:53,280 They had taken my wife. 84 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:55,320 I knew what I had to do. 85 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,400 What Temujin had to do was to escape. 86 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:07,200 Only a fool fights a battle he knows he cannot win. 87 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,640 Wife stealing was common on the Steppes. 88 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,240 Borte knew she had no choice but to submit. 89 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,360 I had just one friend I could trust. 90 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:35,600 Jamuka. 91 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,720 Children, we had sworn the vow of 'Anda'. 92 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,120 It was the most sacred vow of all. 93 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:57,760 We were blood brothers. 94 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,680 The bond that joined our lives as one. 95 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,200 With my sworn bother Jamuka, 96 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,280 my power had been increased by Heaven and Earth. 97 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,480 At the Merkit camp in the mountains of northern Mongolia, 98 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:41,880 Temujin went looking for his wife. 99 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:52,200 Temujin. 100 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:13,280 We made the Merkits 101 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:15,000 pay for their deed. 102 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,840 We destroyed their families and emptied their breasts. 103 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:28,760 Temujin - the man who was to become Genghis Khan - was barely twenty 104 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,440 and he'd already eliminated one of Mongolia's great tribes. 105 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:44,560 In those early days, Temujin and Jamuka shared the leadership of the tribe. 106 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,800 Yet even as they celebrated the victory over the Merkits, 107 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,400 there was a hidden tension between them. 108 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,360 At the root was a fundamental question. 109 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:03,080 How to measure a man's worth. 110 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,560 Both Temujin and Jamuka were the sons of tribal leaders - 111 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:09,720 Mongolian aristocrats. 112 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,680 But only Temujin had experienced a childhood of real adversity 113 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:16,640 and learned from it. 114 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,360 Now I cared only for the strength in a man's heart. 115 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:30,320 A warrior does not win a battle by virtue of his birth. 116 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,320 Temujin rewarded ability and loyalty alone. 117 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,560 One of his most promising warriors was Subodei - 118 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:44,800 the son of a humble herdsman. 119 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:55,120 But this attitude flew in the face of Mongol tradition. 120 00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:59,600 Jamuka's noble birth led him to believe 121 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,720 that high rank should be reserved only for Mongol aristocrats. 122 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:09,560 But now, his blood brother was throwing out the old ways. 123 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:18,720 The gulf between Temujin and Jamuka widened still further, 124 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:21,280 until the prophesy of the Mongol holy man 125 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:23,960 brought their relationship to a crisis. 126 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,920 The shaman said he had ascended into Heaven in the holy trance 127 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:31,400 where the Supreme God told him 128 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:39,120 that he would give to me and to my sons the whole surface of the world. 129 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:43,480 For the tribe and for Jamuka, 130 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:45,560 it was a decisive moment. 131 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:57,800 We've been in this land too long. We must move on. 132 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:06,080 Jamuka, this is our native land. We should stay. 133 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:10,480 Men who are sworn brothers share one life, 134 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:15,600 but I began to question whether Jamuka was truly my blood brother 135 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,040 for all eternity. 136 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:25,080 We are like two rival tribes. 137 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:31,760 We might as well fight each other. 138 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,360 If our two tribes do fight, 139 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:39,880 it won't be my fault but yours! 140 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:02,680 It was not right that our differences should force a feud, 141 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,600 but my wife stopped me from going after him. 142 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,000 She warned that, one day, 143 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,880 my blood brother would ride against me. 144 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,640 For Temujin, this feud brought back 145 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,240 the darkest memory of his childhood. 146 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,680 I knew where a war between brothers would lead. 147 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:36,680 Even when we were starving, 148 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,360 my brother Beckter had betrayed us. 149 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,760 He refused to share the spoils of a hunt. 150 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,080 He died of his wounds. 151 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:01,360 Jamuka split the tribe. 152 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:05,720 Two years would pass before they would hear from him. 153 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,760 High on the plateau of central Mongolia 154 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:18,360 is a place known as Dalan Bhalzhut. 155 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,880 It was here that Borte's prophesy would be fulfilled. 156 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,560 Jamuka ambushed Temujin's tribe. 157 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,800 Temujin, the man who would be Genghis Khan, 158 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,800 led an army that was unprepared, outnumbered 159 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:39,560 and outwitted. 160 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,360 It had been a catastrophic defeat. 161 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:53,680 But there was worse was follow. 162 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,520 Jamuka took the generals he had captured 163 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,960 and subjected them to the cruellest of punishments. 164 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:14,120 He boiled them alive. 165 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:39,680 When Temujin learned of the atrocity - 166 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:41,560 he made this vow: 167 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:43,920 By the power of Heaven, 168 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:46,920 I swore to gain my vengeance. 169 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,520 Never again would I be defeated, 170 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,640 nor my loyal warriors so dishonoured. 171 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,040 It was now that Temujin started a revolution. 172 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,840 They say that the Mongols were descended from the wolf. 173 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:22,240 Like the wolf, we were famous for our ferocity and courage. 174 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:24,400 But to win a battle, 175 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,640 we had to fight fiercely. 176 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,400 Not as individual warriors, 177 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,040 but as parts of a whole. 178 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,720 Temujin formed an elite officer training corps 179 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:55,120 the Kashik. 180 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,560 He was building a professional fighting machine 181 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:00,680 from top to bottom. 182 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:06,760 The Mongol's universal instrument of battle was the bow. 183 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,040 Made from wood and animal bone, 184 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:11,880 it had a shooting range of 500 metres. 185 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,800 Training in archery and horsemanship was made compulsory for all - 186 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:20,560 even children. 187 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:22,080 They learned to release their arrows 188 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,520 at the exact moment the horse's hooves were off the ground, 189 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:27,320 for maximum accuracy. 190 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,040 Temujin had thrown out the old tribal divisions. 191 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:38,520 This was a meritocracy. 192 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,040 This was a modern army. 193 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,000 Now he was ready. 194 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:54,520 In the summer of 1204, 195 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,880 Temujin rode west to confront his blood brother. 196 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:04,120 The outcome would be decisive for the future of the Mongol people. 197 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,840 In the foothills of the Khangai Mountains, 198 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:12,200 on the eve of battle, Temujin called his generals to him. 199 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:27,720 I told them 'one tribe is like a single arrow - 200 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:29,320 easily broken. 201 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,640 But many tribes together would be strong. 202 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,200 They could never be broken.' 203 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,360 But Temujin didn't just rely on inspirational speeches, 204 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,160 he practiced psychological warfare. 205 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,480 I knew Jamuka's scouts would be watching 206 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:06,960 as my men prepared for battle. 207 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,560 I ordered each man to light not one, 208 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:13,840 but five fires. 209 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:18,800 Jamuka's scouts reported that Temujin's army was so large 210 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,040 they had more fires than there were stars in the sky. 211 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:42,920 At daybreak Jamuka led his army 212 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,160 onto the heights of chakirma'ut. 213 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,680 And this was the sight that confronted him. 214 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,880 I saw the man who had been my friend, 215 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:07,160 who had sworn the sacred vow of anda. 216 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:11,920 But he had broken that vow. 217 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:16,720 Jamuka was about to become the first commander 218 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:18,560 to face an army that would eventually 219 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,600 conquer twelve million square miles. 220 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,040 We advanced in silence, 221 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,080 saving our battle cries to the last. 222 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:14,960 When the enemy came within reach, 223 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,640 my archers released a storm of arrows. 224 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,440 And my cavalry attacked without mercy. 225 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:12,160 According to The Secret History, 226 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,000 each tactic was meticulously planned 227 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:17,000 and ingenious. 228 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,760 Temujin held squadrons and weapons in reserve. 229 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,720 Then, with the enemy in disarray, they regrouped 230 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:27,480 and charged. 231 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:42,400 One of Temujin's cavalry squadrons 232 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:44,440 suddenly fled the battlefield, 233 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:47,240 Jamuka's men chased them down, 234 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,840 but they were being lured into a trap. 235 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:15,840 In the heart of the battle, 236 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,480 Jamuka saw his army destroyed 237 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:20,240 and he ran. 238 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,160 Across the battlefield 239 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:43,120 I saw the bodies of Jamuka's men lying together 240 00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:46,000 like felled logs in the forest. 241 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,960 Following the defeat, Jamuka fled into the mountains of Tannu. 242 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,480 He hid throughout the winter of 1204. 243 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:17,560 In the spring 244 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,800 he reappeared - escorted by two of his own generals 245 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,000 who thought they knew where their best interests lay. 246 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,160 They delivered Jamuka to Temujin. 247 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:05,280 The generals expected a reward for betraying their leader 248 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,680 and delivering him into the hands of his enemy. 249 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:13,080 And I saw they got their reward. 250 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,680 Execute them! 251 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:22,640 Unbind him. 252 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,680 My old friend. 253 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:50,680 I will always have faith in you. 254 00:25:55,120 --> 00:26:00,880 My lord, you know that honour is not in Jamuka's nature. 255 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,760 Join me again. 256 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,480 I can find forgiveness. I'll forget the past. 257 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:21,480 Just as ther is one sun in the sky, there should be one lord on earth. 258 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:32,040 My friend, give me a noble death. Spill no blood. 259 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:47,840 Take him away. 260 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,000 Temujin granted his blood brother his final wish. 261 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:13,400 And broke his back. 262 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:30,240 The defeat and death of Jamuka 263 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,080 led to a sight never before seen in the history of Mongolia. 264 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:44,320 The recognition of one man as the leader of all the Mongol tribes. 265 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,360 In the Mongol world there had never been such a figure. 266 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,960 And in 1206, a new title was created to honour him. 267 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:00,720 Universal King. 268 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:02,880 Ruler Of All Men. 269 00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:05,640 Genghis Khan. 270 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:20,120 But my destiny, the destiny of the great Mongol people, 271 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,640 was still unfulfilled. 272 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,280 Genghis Khan had forged a nation. 273 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,520 But now he faced a new and more potent threat: 274 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:30,760 China. 275 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,320 He knew the Chinese would not tolerate such a powerful leader as him 276 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:35,840 on their border. 277 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:42,560 So, he took the fight to them. 278 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,200 In a campaign that was to last six years, 279 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,000 he led his army of 50,000 Mongols 280 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,600 on one of the most audacious military actions in history. 281 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:05,720 He crossed the Gobi Desert. And invaded northern China. 282 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,200 On hearing that the Mongol army was approaching, 283 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,440 the emperor of north China sent this message: 284 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,920 "Our empire is as vast as the sea, 285 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,360 yours is but a handful of sand. 286 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:25,960 How can we fear you?" 287 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,720 The Chinese had spent centuries perfecting their defences. 288 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:36,160 But Genghis Khan solved the problem posed by China's biggest border defence - 289 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:39,640 the Great Wall - by one simple expedient: 290 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:41,560 They went around it. 291 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:49,000 The Chinese were the richest and most civilised people in the East. 292 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,240 But they also knew how to fight a dirty war. 293 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,760 Iron spikes, like Mediaeval minefields, 294 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,000 were buried in the path of the oncoming Mongol armies. 295 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,840 The Chinese could afford to employ people to fight for them. 296 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:33,360 In the borderlands, the Mongols met a force of heavily armed mercenaries. 297 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,880 Who were loyal as only mercenaries could be. 298 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:58,280 Warriors of the great Genghis Khan, welcome! 299 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:03,960 We surrender to Genghis Khan, and offer ourselves in his service. 300 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:17,640 Reinforced by the mercenary troops, 301 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:21,040 they marched into the fertile plains of northern China. 302 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,960 Few of the Chinese villagers had seen a Mongol warrior before. 303 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,720 And few of the Mongols would have journeyed this far into China. 304 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:05,640 It was the clash of two alien cultures. 305 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:11,720 There was only one certainty: 306 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:14,280 The Chinese would never forget them. 307 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,000 The Mongols plundered without mercy 308 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,360 and from each conquest Genghis Khan took his own reward: 309 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:54,400 A highborn wife from the vanquished. 310 00:32:55,040 --> 00:33:00,000 The greatest fortune a man can have is to conquer his enemy, 311 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:04,160 steal his riches, ride his horses 312 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:06,360 and enjoy his women. 313 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,680 Further east, lay an even greater prize. 314 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,760 With a population of 350,000, 315 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:17,960 13th Century Beijing 316 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,840 was one of the most sophisticated cities on Earth. 317 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,360 Capital of the northern Chinese empire, 318 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,520 famous for its grand palaces, gilded temples 319 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:31,080 and markets overflowing with silks and spices. 320 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,120 In his quest to take these riches for himself, 321 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,720 Genghis Khan faced one huge problem. 322 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:41,960 Standing between him and the conquest of the city was a wall. 323 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,280 12 meters high and 30 kilometres long, 324 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:51,520 with nine hundred guard towers. 325 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:53,520 To a nomadic army, 326 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:55,640 used to fighting on the open steppes, 327 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,720 these fortifications seemed impregnable. 328 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:02,200 I'd trained my men to attack with the speed of the wind, 329 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:06,080 now they had to learn the guile of the wolf. 330 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:11,800 His first tactic was straightforward. He waited. 331 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,240 The Mongols set up camp outside the city 332 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,840 and stopped supplies from getting in. 333 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:21,200 From Chinese engineers who had defected, 334 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:23,760 his generals learned to build catapults, 335 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,400 portable defences and battering rams: 336 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:28,640 The tools of siege warfare. 337 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,200 The Mongols were in no hurry. 338 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,240 They feasted on the supplies they captured. 339 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,120 Genghis Khan turned Beijing into a prison. 340 00:34:55,720 --> 00:34:59,160 Within the walls, thousands starved to death. 341 00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:08,880 The survivors resorted to cannibalism. 342 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:23,440 Finally, Genghis Khan's army was ready to attack. 343 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,640 All who surrender would be spared. 344 00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:42,160 Those who did not surrender, but opposed with struggle and dissention, would be annihilated. 345 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:49,160 Despite enduring months of starvation, the commander of the Chinese army 346 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,760 still controlled a formidable garrison with thousands of men 347 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:54,600 and a powerful array of weapons. 348 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:20,760 Genghis Khan knew 349 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,040 that few in the first wave of the attack would survive. 350 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:26,960 So he forced captured enemy prisoners 351 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:30,000 to wheel the siege engines forward into the killing zone. 352 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:36,160 It is said that each of his own warriors was given a silk shirt. 353 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,400 If the arrow penetrated the body, it took the silk with it, 354 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:44,440 making it easier to draw the arrow out 355 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:46,200 and minimising the wound. 356 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,240 But despite the Mongols' attempts to master siege warfare, 357 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:34,640 the Chinese were still much more advanced in their military technology. 358 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:40,600 They responded by filling bombs with crude oil, molten metal, 359 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:43,640 chemicals and excrement. 360 00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:57,680 Despite the ferocious bombardment, 361 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,120 Genghis Khan ordered his men to advance to the walls. 362 00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:06,880 Once again, Chinese prisoners were in the front line. 363 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:16,240 As the city fell, the Chinese commander had just one option. 364 00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:38,960 Genghis Khan was so confident of victory, 365 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:41,760 that he left his army to capture the city. 366 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:52,640 The final command to his generals 367 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,080 was to fulfil his prophecy. 368 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:59,440 He ordered total annihilation. 369 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:04,760 For one month his army plundered, 370 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:06,440 burned and raped. 371 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:12,000 A year later, visiting foreign ambassadors described the streets 372 00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:15,200 as 'slippery with human fat'. 373 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:18,440 They also recorded that, beyond the walls, 374 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:22,160 stood an entire mountain of bones. 375 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:25,080 Genghis Khan's fearsome reputation 376 00:40:25,240 --> 00:40:29,640 grew from the destruction and carnage he practiced in Beijing. 377 00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:33,760 But what he now created at Karakorum in central Mongolia 378 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:36,360 revealed an entirely different nature. 379 00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:45,760 Genghis Khan wanted Karakorum 380 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:48,720 to be a great trading and cultural centre. 381 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:53,000 Here, in stark contrast to his nomadic origins, 382 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:56,000 he began to establish a permanent capital. 383 00:40:56,840 --> 00:41:00,400 And he wanted his people to benefit from his conquests. 384 00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:06,560 My people are as numerous as the trees in a forest. 385 00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:10,080 I wanted them to feed on tender meat, 386 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:12,440 live in beautiful tents 387 00:41:12,720 --> 00:41:15,800 and pasture their horses on rich soil. 388 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:19,320 To achieve this, he imported knowledge. 389 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,760 He learnt the technology of the Chinese military. 390 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:28,440 He established a medical corps trained by Chinese physicians. 391 00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:39,840 He ordered his followers to create a record of all his rules and all his judgements. 392 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:44,840 It was forbidden for any man to own a Mongol slave. 393 00:41:46,720 --> 00:41:50,040 And each tribe was granted its own land. 394 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:54,320 It was the beginning of a legal system. 395 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:57,560 The Mongols could neither read nor write 396 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:01,360 but Genghis Khan understood the power of the written word. 397 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,360 Above all, he wanted his legacy recorded. 398 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,480 He looked to the west to build on his conquests - 399 00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:24,840 not through war, but through trade. 400 00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:27,720 He sent ambassadors to Persia. 401 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:29,480 And established a network of routes 402 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:33,120 linked by staging posts 40 kilometres apart. 403 00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:40,400 A messenger could travel two hundred kilometres in a single day. 404 00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:46,400 It was a mediaeval pony express. 405 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:53,360 In the summer of 1218, one messenger sent back to Genghis Khan 406 00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:55,680 from Persia carried a package. 407 00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:59,320 A package that would change the course of history. 408 00:43:06,720 --> 00:43:09,800 It was the head of Genghis Khan's ambassador. 409 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:16,440 The Sultan had fundamentally misjudged Genghis Khan's character. 410 00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:30,560 Genghis Khan sent an army 200,000 strong to invade Persia. 411 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:39,760 It was a campaign of extreme savagery. 412 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:46,360 I was not the instigator of these tribulations. 413 00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:50,600 God grant me the strength to exact vengeance. 414 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:59,160 On his order, every Persian town that did not submit 415 00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:00,920 was burned to the ground. 416 00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:04,040 When they had finished, over a million men, 417 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:06,320 women and children were dead. 418 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:13,840 After the conquest of Persia, Genghis Khan ordered a small army 419 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:17,440 to see how far west they could penetrate before they were stopped. 420 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:19,600 And they weren't stopped at all. 421 00:44:21,240 --> 00:44:23,760 This was the Mongols' first raid into Europe: 422 00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:26,400 It would not be their last. 423 00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:31,280 His empire was now four times the size of Alexander the Great's, 424 00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:34,320 and twice the size of the Roman Empire. 425 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:41,080 But even this was not enough to satisfy the desire of Genghis Khan. 426 00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:42,920 He wanted something more, 427 00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,160 something his army could not give him. 428 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:47,520 Which is why, in 1222, 429 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:51,000 this man travelled towards Genghis Khan's court. 430 00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:53,960 He was a revered Taoist monk. 431 00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:57,440 From him Genghis Khan sought just one thing. 432 00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:08,240 I told him how my life was a divine mission. 433 00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:13,560 I'd been sent to Earth to conquer the world. 434 00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:20,800 I spoke of the prophecies, the battles, my ambitions, 435 00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:22,400 my age. 436 00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:25,760 I asked what medicine he had brought 437 00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:28,480 to prolong my Earthy existence. 438 00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:32,760 It was only then the monk realised 439 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:37,680 Genghis Khan was asking for the secret elixir of eternal life. 440 00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:43,760 Unfortunately, the monk could only offer him advice 441 00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:47,120 about prolonging life through sexual abstinence. 442 00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:49,000 But not immortality. 443 00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:56,000 There is nothing to indicate that Genghis Khan took 444 00:45:56,200 --> 00:45:57,800 the monk's advice. 445 00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:00,240 Recent scientific evidence suggests 446 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:03,200 that perhaps one in two hundred men alive today 447 00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:06,720 can trace their genetic lineage to Genghis Khan. 448 00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:15,440 Four years later, he embarked on one more campaign of conquest; into China. 449 00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:53,520 According to legend, 450 00:46:53,720 --> 00:46:56,520 these were the last words of Genghis Khan. 451 00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:05,320 I have conquered for you a large empire, 452 00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:11,600 but my life was too short to take the whole world. 453 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:15,480 That I leave to you. 454 00:47:17,720 --> 00:47:22,080 He appointed his son, Ogodei, to succeed him as Khan. 455 00:47:26,040 --> 00:47:31,120 Genghis Khan died without having achieved what he believed was his destiny - 456 00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:34,240 to conquer the entire world. 457 00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:39,800 In the years after his death, his sons carried out his wish, 458 00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:42,240 doubling the size of the empire. 459 00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:45,640 They returned to Europe and invaded Russia, 460 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:47,560 Poland and Hungary. 461 00:47:48,600 --> 00:47:51,080 But in 1242, approaching Vienna, 462 00:47:51,240 --> 00:47:52,880 the new Khan died. 463 00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:56,320 Mongol law decreed that all chiefs return 464 00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:58,160 to elect a new leader 465 00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:01,560 and Europe was spared the Mongol terror. 466 00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:09,440 A century later, his mighty empire began to crumble. 467 00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:12,680 His reputation has made him 468 00:48:12,840 --> 00:48:14,800 one of history's immortals - 469 00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:20,120 a reputation enhanced by the mystery of his burial. 470 00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:28,480 It is said that every witness to his funeral cortege was executed 471 00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:31,120 to keep the site of the tomb a secret. 472 00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:34,960 Today, almost eight centuries later, 473 00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:39,520 the burial place of Genghis Khan remains undiscovered. 474 00:48:40,240 --> 00:48:44,520 This is no grave, no mausoleum, no monument 475 00:48:44,680 --> 00:48:46,680 to this bloodthirsty conqueror - 476 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:51,440 the most successful military commander the world has ever known.