0:00:07 > 0:00:14In 1162, deep in the heart of Asia, a child was born.
0:00:14 > 0:00:21He was clutching a blood clot, a sign from heaven that he was destined to be a great warrior.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24His life was to become a legend.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25His name...
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Genghis Khan.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Many believe his story is simple,
0:00:32 > 0:00:39that he was the incarnation of evil, a brutal barbarian who butchered millions.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47But the real character of Genghis Khan is far more intriguing.
0:00:49 > 0:00:56How did this illiterate outcast turn the feuding tribes of Mongolia into a powerful nation?
0:00:58 > 0:01:04And how did he transform the Mongol hordes into a ruthless and disciplined fighting machine?
0:01:04 > 0:01:09An army that, ultimately, stood poised to conquer Europe.
0:01:15 > 0:01:22And why, on his death bed, did he believe his divine mission remained unfulfilled?
0:01:22 > 0:01:27- TRANSLATION: - Soon I will know death, but I will never know my destiny.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32Shortly after his death, his heirs gathered their memories into an epic account of his life.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36They called it The Secret History Of The Mongols.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Evidence from Chinese and Persian sources, the work of leading scholars
0:01:42 > 0:01:50and The Secret History allow this to be the most complete television portrait of Genghis Khan ever made.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54The characters are all real historical figures.
0:01:54 > 0:02:00And the words of Genghis Khan are rooted in the great speeches of The Secret History.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06This is the story of how that tiny fist turned to iron
0:02:06 > 0:02:12and came to rule the largest land empire ever known to man.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37The boy who would become Genghis Khan was called Temujin.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40He was the son of a tribal warrior chief.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54When he was only nine years old, he received news that was to change his life.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15TRANSLATION FROM MONGOLIAN:
0:03:20 > 0:03:23HE CRIES
0:03:23 > 0:03:28'My father had been poisoned by a rival tribe.
0:03:33 > 0:03:40'My mother told me my father's enemies were forever the enemies of my own heart.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43'From that day,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45'I would never be a child again.'
0:04:00 > 0:04:05As the eldest son, Temujin grew up to lead what was little more than an extended family.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14And on the Steppes, a small tribe was weak and vulnerable.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21To survive, Temujin knew he must forge links with other tribes.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24And there was only one way he could do that.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36'Her name was Borte.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42'We were betrothed when we were children.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49'There were only two things to know about my marriage.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56'She was a woman of beauty.
0:04:56 > 0:05:03'And the sable fur they gave us was worth a thousand of the swiftest horses.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29'Borte was mine. And so was her tribe.'
0:05:54 > 0:06:00The great tribes of Mongolia were locked in a spiral of murderous vendettas.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02There was only one law on the Steppes...
0:06:04 > 0:06:08If a man wanted something, he took it.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12Now Temujin had something another man wanted.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39The Merkit tribe had feuded with Temujin's father.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Now Temujin himself was in danger.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48And especially vulnerable was his new wife.
0:07:00 > 0:07:01Temujin!
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Temujin!
0:07:12 > 0:07:19The Secret History recalls what Temujin, the man who would one day be Genghis Khan, did next.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22'They've taken my wife.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24'I knew what I had to do.'
0:07:24 > 0:07:27What Temujin had to do was to escape.
0:07:29 > 0:07:36'Only a fool fights a battle he knows he cannot win.'
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Wife-stealing was common on the Steppes.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Borte knew she had no choice but to submit...
0:08:07 > 0:08:09..if she wanted to live.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28HE SHOUTS ANGRILY
0:08:33 > 0:08:37'I had just one friend I could trust.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39'Jamuka.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48'As children, we had sworn the vow of "anda".
0:08:48 > 0:08:51'It was the most sacred vow of all.
0:08:53 > 0:08:54THEY WHOOP
0:08:54 > 0:08:56HE SPEAKS IN MONGOLIAN
0:08:59 > 0:09:02'We were blood brothers.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09'The bond that joined our lives as one.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23'But to take revenge,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26'I needed more than just my blood brother.'
0:09:29 > 0:09:35Temujin and Jamuka sought an audience with the one man they thought could help.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43He was a khan. The leader of an uneasy alliance of tribes.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50His name was Toghril.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Many years before, he had fought alongside Temujin's father.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59TRANSLATION FROM MONGOLIAN:
0:09:59 > 0:10:03HE SPEAKS IN MONGOLIAN
0:10:03 > 0:10:09'I reminded the khan he was once my father's blood brother.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14'I told him he was as a father to me.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27'A man who seeks power needs friends who have power
0:10:27 > 0:10:31'and there was only one thing I had to offer.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34'The sable fur.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48'His judgement would decide my future.'
0:11:36 > 0:11:42Temujin's reaction to being accepted by the khan is written in The Secret History.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47'With the friendship of Toghril and my sworn bother Jamuka,
0:11:47 > 0:11:51'my power had been increased by heaven and earth.'
0:12:12 > 0:12:18At the Merkit camp in the mountains of northern Mongolia, Temujin went looking for his wife.
0:12:27 > 0:12:28Temujin!
0:12:42 > 0:12:43Aaagh!
0:12:47 > 0:12:51'We made the Merkits pay for their deed.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56'We destroyed their families and emptied their breasts.'
0:12:58 > 0:13:05Temujin, the man who was to become Genghis Khan, was barely 20
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and he'd already eliminated one of Mongolia's great tribes.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29Nine months after the raid, Temujin's wife gave birth to a son.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34But no-one would ever know who was the true father...
0:13:34 > 0:13:39Temujin or the tribal leader who had captured his wife.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43But Temujin treated the child as one of his own.
0:13:43 > 0:13:49SHE HUMS
0:13:51 > 0:13:58In those early days, Temujin and Jamuka shared the leadership of the tribe.
0:14:00 > 0:14:06Yet even as they celebrated the victory over the Merkits, there was a hidden tension between them.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17At the root was a fundamental question.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20How to measure a man's worth.
0:14:21 > 0:14:27Both Temujin and Jamuka were the sons of tribal leaders, Mongolian aristocrats.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34But only Temujin had experienced real adversity
0:14:34 > 0:14:36and learned from it.
0:14:39 > 0:14:45'After my father was murdered, our tribe deserted us.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49'Men are loyal only to a strong leader.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57'They'd left us with nothing.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01'We had no friends but our own shadows.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15'Like the wolf, we endured.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18'And from hardship,
0:15:18 > 0:15:20'I grew strong.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23EAGLE CRIES
0:15:23 > 0:15:27'Now I cared only for the strength in a man's heart.
0:15:27 > 0:15:33'A warrior does not win a battle by virtue of his birth.'
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Temujin rewarded ability and loyalty alone.
0:15:42 > 0:15:48One of his most promising warriors was Subodei, the son of a humble herdsman.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55HE SPEAKS IN MONGOLIAN
0:15:55 > 0:15:59But this attitude flew in the face of Mongol tradition.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Jamuka's noble birth led him to believe
0:16:03 > 0:16:08that high rank should be reserved only for Mongol aristocrats.
0:16:08 > 0:16:14But now, his blood brother was throwing out the old ways.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17HE YELLS
0:16:17 > 0:16:23The gulf between Temujin and Jamuka widened still further,
0:16:23 > 0:16:28until the prophesy of the Mongol holy man brought their relationship to a crisis.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32'The shaman said he had ascended into Heaven in the holy trance
0:16:32 > 0:16:40'where the Supreme God told him that he would give to me and to my sons
0:16:40 > 0:16:43'the whole surface of the world.'
0:16:43 > 0:16:49For the tribe and for Jamuka, it was a decisive moment.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54One that made Jamuka determined to bring the question of leadership into the open.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20'Men who are sworn brothers share one life,
0:17:20 > 0:17:27'but I began to question whether Jamuka was truly my blood brother for all eternity.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11'It was not right that our differences should force a feud,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14'but my wife stopped me from going after him.
0:18:15 > 0:18:22'She warned that one day my blood brother would ride against me.'
0:18:27 > 0:18:32For Temujin, this feud brought back the darkest memory of his childhood.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42'I knew where a war between brothers would lead.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47'Even when we were starving, my brother Bekter had betrayed us.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51'He refused to share the spoils of a hunt.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08'He died of his wounds.'
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Jamuka split the tribe.
0:19:15 > 0:19:21Now the very thing that Temujin feared most, disunity, had happened again.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46Two years would pass before they would hear from Jamuka.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55He accused a member of Temujin's tribe of stealing horses.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Jamuka's revenge was brutal.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03But this was only the beginning.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12High on the plateau of central Mongolia
0:20:12 > 0:20:14is a place known as Dalan Bhalzhut.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21It was here that Jamuka's men ambushed Temujin's tribe.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23It had been a catastrophic defeat.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28CROWS CALL
0:20:34 > 0:20:39'My army was unprepared, outnumbered and outwitted.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44'The earth was soaked with the blood of my warriors.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54'But worse was to come.'
0:21:01 > 0:21:08Jamuka took the generals he had captured and subjected them to the cruellest of punishments.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17He boiled them alive.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37PRISONER SCREAMS
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Aaargh!
0:21:56 > 0:22:01When Temujin learned of the atrocity, he made this vow...
0:22:01 > 0:22:06'By the power of Heaven, I swore to gain my vengeance.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09'Never again would I be defeated,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13'nor my loyal warriors so dishonoured.'
0:22:21 > 0:22:24It was now that Temujin started a revolution.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29HE SPEAKS IN MONGOLIAN
0:22:29 > 0:22:34'They say that the Mongols were descended from the wolf.
0:22:34 > 0:22:35'Like the wolf...
0:22:35 > 0:22:37THEY CHANT
0:22:37 > 0:22:42'..we were famous for our ferocity and courage.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46'But to win a battle, we had to fight fiercely.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51'Not as individual warriors, but as parts of a whole.'
0:23:09 > 0:23:15Temujin formed an elite officer training corps, the Kashik.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20He was building a professional fighting machine from top to bottom.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25The Mongol's universal instrument of battle was the bow.
0:23:25 > 0:23:31Made from wood and animal bone, it had a shooting range of 500 yards.
0:23:33 > 0:23:40Training in archery and horsemanship was made compulsory for all, even children.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42They learned to release their arrows
0:23:42 > 0:23:46at the exact moment the horse's hooves were off the ground, for maximum accuracy.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Temujin had thrown out the old tribal divisions.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58This was a meritocracy.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02This was a modern army.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04THEY CHEER
0:24:04 > 0:24:07Now he was ready.
0:24:11 > 0:24:19In the summer of 1204, Temujin rode west to confront his blood brother.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23The outcome would be decisive for the future of the Mongol people.
0:24:24 > 0:24:31In the foothills of the Khangai Mountains, on the eve of battle, Temujin called his generals to him.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36HE SPEAKS IN MONGOLIAN
0:24:45 > 0:24:47'I told them,
0:24:47 > 0:24:52' "One tribe is like a single arrow, easily broken.
0:24:52 > 0:24:57' "But many tribes together would be strong.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59' "They could never be broken." '
0:25:06 > 0:25:10THEY CHEER
0:25:16 > 0:25:21But Temujin didn't just rely on inspirational speeches,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24he practised psychological warfare.
0:25:24 > 0:25:31'I knew Jamuka's scouts would be watching as my men prepared for battle.
0:25:31 > 0:25:37'I ordered each man to light not one, but five fires.'
0:25:37 > 0:25:42Jamuka's scouts reported that Temujin's army was so large
0:25:42 > 0:25:45they had more fires than there were stars in the sky.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08At daybreak, Jamuka led his army onto the heights of Chakirma'ut.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15And this was the sight that confronted him.
0:26:23 > 0:26:30'I saw the man who had been my friend, who had sworn the sacred vow of anda.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36'But he had broken that vow.'
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Jamuka was about to become the first commander
0:26:40 > 0:26:45to face an army that would eventually conquer 12 million square miles.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16'We advanced in silence, saving our battle cries to the last.
0:27:36 > 0:27:42'When the enemy came within reach, my archers released a storm of arrows.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56'And my cavalry attacked without mercy.'
0:28:33 > 0:28:41According to The Secret History, each tactic was meticulously planned and ingenious.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Temujin held squadrons and weapons in reserve.
0:28:46 > 0:28:51Then, with the enemy in disarray, they regrouped and charged.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08One of Temujin's cavalry squadrons suddenly fled the battlefield.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11Jamuka's men chased them down.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13But they were being lured into a trap.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42In the heart of the battle, Jamuka saw his army destroyed...
0:29:42 > 0:29:43and he ran.
0:29:59 > 0:30:00'Across the battlefield,
0:30:00 > 0:30:04'I saw the bodies of Jamuka's men
0:30:04 > 0:30:09'lying together like felled logs in the forest.'
0:30:30 > 0:30:35Following the defeat, Jamuka fled into the mountains of Tannu.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40He hid throughout the winter of 1204.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48In the spring he re-appeared,
0:30:48 > 0:30:54escorted by two of his own generals who thought they knew where their best interests lay.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04They delivered Jamuka to Temujin.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35'The generals expected a reward for betraying their leader
0:31:35 > 0:31:38'and delivering him into the hands of his enemy.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43'And I saw they got their reward.'
0:33:54 > 0:33:59Temujin granted his blood brother his final wish.
0:34:02 > 0:34:03And broke his back.
0:34:12 > 0:34:13SNAPPING
0:34:25 > 0:34:29CHANTING
0:34:29 > 0:34:36The defeat and death of Jamuka led to a sight never before seen in the history of Mongolia.
0:34:41 > 0:34:47The recognition of one man as the leader of all the Mongol tribes.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53In the Mongol world, there had never been such a figure.
0:34:55 > 0:35:01And in 1206, a new title was created to honour him.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Universal King,
0:35:04 > 0:35:05Ruler Of All Men.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08Genghis Khan.
0:35:29 > 0:35:34'But my destiny, the destiny of the great Mongol people,
0:35:34 > 0:35:37'was still unfulfilled.'
0:35:37 > 0:35:40Genghis Khan had forged a nation.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44But now he faced a new and more potent threat...China.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49He knew the Chinese would not tolerate such a powerful leader as him on their border.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57So he took the fight to them.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00In a campaign that was to last six years,
0:36:00 > 0:36:07he led his army of 50,000 Mongols on one of the most audacious military actions in history.
0:36:14 > 0:36:19He crossed the Gobi Desert and invaded northern China.
0:36:23 > 0:36:29On hearing that the Mongol army was approaching, the emperor of north China sent this message.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35"Our empire is as vast as the sea.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37"Yours is but a handful of sand.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39"How can we fear you?"
0:36:41 > 0:36:45The Chinese had spent centuries perfecting their defences.
0:36:45 > 0:36:51But Genghis Khan solved the problem posed by China's biggest border defence, the Great Wall,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55by one simple expedient - they went around it.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03The Chinese were the richest and most civilised people in the East.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06But they also knew how to fight a dirty war.
0:37:08 > 0:37:15Iron spikes, like Medieval minefields, were buried in the path of the oncoming Mongol armies.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17HORSE WHINNIES IN PAIN
0:37:36 > 0:37:39The Chinese could afford to employ people to fight for them.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47In the borderlands, the Mongols met a force of heavily armed mercenaries...
0:38:02 > 0:38:06..who were loyal as only mercenaries could be.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23MERCENARIES CHANT
0:38:23 > 0:38:25MONGOLS CHANT
0:38:29 > 0:38:35Reinforced by the mercenary troops, they marched into the fertile plains of northern China.
0:38:58 > 0:39:03Few of the Chinese villagers had seen a Mongol warrior before.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12And few of the Mongols would have journeyed this far into China.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20It was the clash of two alien cultures.
0:39:22 > 0:39:28There was only one certainty. The Chinese would never forget them.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59The Mongols plundered without mercy
0:39:59 > 0:40:03and, from each conquest, Genghis Khan took his own reward.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07A highborn wife from the vanquished.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12'The greatest fortune a man can have is to conquer his enemy,
0:40:12 > 0:40:18'steal his riches, ride his horses and enjoy his women.'
0:40:19 > 0:40:22Further east lay an even greater prize.
0:40:25 > 0:40:32With a population of 350,000, 13th century Beijing was one of the most sophisticated cities on Earth.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40Capital of the northern Chinese empire, famous for its grand palaces,
0:40:40 > 0:40:44gilded temples and markets overflowing with silks and spices.
0:40:54 > 0:41:00In his quest to take these riches for himself, Genghis Khan faced one huge problem.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08Standing between him and the conquest of the city was a wall.
0:41:13 > 0:41:1940 feet high and 10 miles long with 900 guard towers.
0:41:19 > 0:41:25To a nomadic army, used to fighting on the open Steppes, these fortifications seemed impregnable.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29'I'd trained my men to attack with the speed of the wind.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33'Now they had to learn the guile of the wolf.'
0:41:34 > 0:41:37His first tactic was straightforward.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39He waited.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41The Mongols set up camp outside the city
0:41:41 > 0:41:44and stopped supplies from getting in.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48From Chinese engineers who had defected,
0:41:48 > 0:41:54his generals learned to build catapults, portable defences and battering rams.
0:41:54 > 0:41:55The tools of siege warfare.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09The Mongols were in no hurry.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11They feasted on the supplies they captured.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21Genghis Khan turned Beijing into a prison.
0:42:22 > 0:42:27Within the walls, thousands starved to death.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36The survivors resorted to cannibalism.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51Finally, Genghis Khan's army was ready to attack.
0:42:56 > 0:43:01'All who surrender would be spared.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03'Those who did not surrender,
0:43:03 > 0:43:09'but opposed with struggle and dissention, would be annihilated.'
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Despite enduring months of starvation,
0:43:15 > 0:43:18the commander of the Chinese army still controlled a formidable garrison
0:43:18 > 0:43:21with thousands of men and a powerful array of weapons.
0:43:46 > 0:43:52Genghis Khan knew that few in the first wave of the attack would survive.
0:43:52 > 0:43:58So he forced captured enemy prisoners to wheel the siege engines forward into the killing zone.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02It is said that each of his own warriors was given a silk shirt.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10If the arrow penetrated the body, it took the silk with it,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13making it easier to draw the arrow out and minimising the wound.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57But despite the Mongols' attempts to master siege warfare,
0:44:57 > 0:45:02the Chinese were still much more advanced in their military technology.
0:45:03 > 0:45:11They responded by filling bombs with crude oil, molten metal, chemicals and excrement.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25Despite the ferocious bombardment,
0:45:25 > 0:45:30Genghis Khan ordered his men to advance to the walls.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Once again, Chinese prisoners were in the front line.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05HEAVY THUD
0:46:06 > 0:46:09HEAVY THUD
0:46:37 > 0:46:43As the city fell, the Chinese commander had just one option.
0:47:02 > 0:47:09Genghis Khan was so confident of victory that he left his army to capture the city.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20His final command to his generals
0:47:20 > 0:47:23was to fulfil his prophecy.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26He ordered total annihilation.
0:47:28 > 0:47:34For one month, his army plundered, burned and raped.
0:47:35 > 0:47:43A year later, visiting foreign ambassadors described the streets as "slippery with human fat".
0:47:43 > 0:47:50They also recorded that, beyond the walls, stood an entire mountain of bones.
0:47:50 > 0:47:56Genghis Khan's fearsome reputation grew from the destruction and carnage he practiced in Beijing.
0:47:56 > 0:48:03But what he now created at Karakorum in central Mongolia revealed an entirely different nature.
0:48:11 > 0:48:16Genghis Khan wanted Karakorum to be a great trading and cultural centre.
0:48:18 > 0:48:23Here, in stark contrast to his nomadic origins,
0:48:23 > 0:48:25he began to establish a permanent capital.
0:48:28 > 0:48:33And he wanted his people to benefit from his conquests.
0:48:34 > 0:48:40'My people are as numerous as the trees in a forest.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43'I wanted them to feed on tender meat,
0:48:43 > 0:48:49'live in beautiful tents and pasture their horses on rich soil.'
0:48:52 > 0:48:55He imported knowledge.
0:48:55 > 0:49:00Captured Chinese citizens were brought here to teach the great secrets of their culture.
0:49:00 > 0:49:07He established a medical corps trained by Chinese physicians.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14He learned the technology of the Chinese military.
0:49:25 > 0:49:26BOOM!
0:49:31 > 0:49:35Above all, Genghis Khan wanted to leave a lasting legacy.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40It was not only the sword he wished to be remembered by.
0:49:42 > 0:49:49The Mongols could neither read nor write, but Genghis Khan understood the power of the written word.
0:49:49 > 0:49:54He ordered his Imperial Court to create a record of all his judgements.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56It was the beginning of a legal system.
0:49:59 > 0:50:05The death penalty was introduced for crimes such as rustling and kidnapping.
0:50:05 > 0:50:09It was forbidden for any man to own a Mongol slave.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14And each tribe was granted its own land.
0:50:14 > 0:50:19Genghis Khan had been born into a world of betrayal and eternal feuding.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Now he wanted order.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27He looked to the west to build on his conquests.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30Not through war, but through trade.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33He sent ambassadors to Persia.
0:50:34 > 0:50:39And he established a network of routes linked by staging posts 25 miles apart.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47A messenger could travel 125 miles in a single day.
0:50:49 > 0:50:54It was a mediaeval pony express.
0:50:56 > 0:51:03In the summer of 1218, one messenger sent back to Genghis Khan from Persia carried a package.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07A package that would change the course of history.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17It was the head of Genghis Khan's ambassador.
0:51:19 > 0:51:24The Sultan had fundamentally misjudged Genghis Khan's character.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28'I was not the instigator of these tribulations.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32'God, grant me the strength to exact vengeance.'
0:51:32 > 0:51:38Genghis Khan sent an army 200,000 strong to invade Persia.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42It was a campaign of extreme savagery.
0:51:42 > 0:51:48On his order, every Persian town that did not submit was burned to the ground.
0:51:48 > 0:51:53When they had finished, over a million men, women and children were dead.
0:51:58 > 0:52:03The extent of the bloodshed in Persia was without precedent.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08'I am the punishment of God.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11'If you had not committed great sins,
0:52:11 > 0:52:16'God would not have inflicted a punishment such as me upon you.'
0:52:30 > 0:52:32After the conquest of Persia,
0:52:32 > 0:52:38Genghis Khan ordered a small army to see how far west they could penetrate before they were stopped.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41And they weren't stopped at all.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45This was the Mongols' first raid into Europe.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48It would not be their last.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52His empire was now four times the size of Alexander the Great's
0:52:52 > 0:52:55and twice the size of the Roman Empire.
0:52:56 > 0:53:02But even this was not enough to satisfy the desire of Genghis Khan.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06He wanted something more, something his army could not give him.
0:53:06 > 0:53:12Which is why, in 1222, this man travelled towards Genghis Khan's court.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14He was a revered Taoist monk.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18From him, Genghis Khan sought just one thing.
0:53:24 > 0:53:29'I told him how my life was a divine mission.
0:53:29 > 0:53:34'I'd been sent to Earth to conquer the world.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38'I spoke of the prophecies,
0:53:38 > 0:53:43'the battles, my ambitions, my age.
0:53:43 > 0:53:50I asked what medicine he had brought to prolong my earthly existence.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53It was only then the monk realised
0:53:53 > 0:53:59Genghis Khan was asking for the secret elixir of eternal life.
0:54:01 > 0:54:07Unfortunately, the monk could only offer him advice about prolonging life through sexual abstinence.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09But not immortality.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18There is nothing to indicate that Genghis Khan took the monk's advice.
0:54:18 > 0:54:24Recent scientific evidence suggests that perhaps one in 200 men alive today
0:54:24 > 0:54:27can trace their genetic lineage to Genghis Khan.
0:54:29 > 0:54:36Four years later, he embarked on one more campaign of conquest, into China.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51HE SHOUTS IN MONGOLIAN
0:55:12 > 0:55:17According to legend, these were the last words of Genghis Khan.
0:55:21 > 0:55:26'I have conquered for you a large empire,
0:55:26 > 0:55:32'but my life was too short to take the whole world.
0:55:33 > 0:55:35'That I leave to you.'
0:55:38 > 0:55:43He appointed his son, Ogodei, to succeed him as Khan.
0:55:46 > 0:55:52Genghis Khan died without having achieved what he believed was his destiny,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54to conquer the entire world.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00In the years after his death, his sons carried out his wish,
0:56:00 > 0:56:04doubling the size of the empire.
0:56:04 > 0:56:09They returned to Europe and invaded Russia, Poland and Hungary.
0:56:09 > 0:56:14But in 1242, approaching Vienna, the new Khan died.
0:56:14 > 0:56:19Mongol law decreed that all chiefs return to elect a new leader
0:56:19 > 0:56:22and Europe was spared the Mongol terror.
0:56:25 > 0:56:30A century later, his mighty empire began to crumble.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35His reputation has made him one of history's immortals.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40A reputation enhanced by the mystery of his burial.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47It is said that every witness to his funeral cortege
0:56:47 > 0:56:52was executed to keep the site of the tomb a secret.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56Today, almost eight centuries later,
0:56:56 > 0:57:00the burial place of Genghis Khan remains undiscovered.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04There is no grave, no mausoleum,
0:57:04 > 0:57:07no monument to this bloodthirsty conqueror.
0:57:07 > 0:57:12The most successful military commander the world has ever known.
0:57:25 > 0:57:30Subtitles by Chris Boyd BBC Broadcast 2005
0:57:30 > 0:57:34E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk