State · 1206 CE
Genghis Khan unites the Mongols
Source of the Onon River, Khentii (Mongolia)
In 1206 an assembly (kurultai) at the source of the Onon River proclaimed the Mongol chief Temüjin Genghis Khan, ruler of the united steppe peoples. He went on to force the Western Xia to submit, captured the Jin capital Zhongdu (modern Beijing) in 1215 and destroyed the Khwarazmian Empire in Central Asia from 1219, dying on campaign in 1227.
Why it mattered
His heirs built the largest contiguous land empire in history, about 23.5 million km² by 1294, whose 'Pax Mongolica' carried goods, technologies and ideas across Eurasia.
Related
- The world in 1200: On the Eve of Genghis chapter
- Mongol conquests (1206–1260) 1206 – 3 September 1260
- Angkor Wat and the Khmer Empire previous moment · c. 1113–1150 CE
- Magna Carta next moment · 15 June 1215 CE