0:00:07 > 0:00:10Genghis Khan.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12The world's most famous warrior.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20He rose from abject poverty to rule most of the known world.
0:00:23 > 0:00:30It is claimed that one in every 200 men alive today is descended from him.
0:00:32 > 0:00:37History records him as a brutal butcher.
0:00:37 > 0:00:43But, for centuries, his true story lay buried, forgotten in Chinese archives.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49Who was the real man behind the legend?
0:00:49 > 0:00:53And how did he inspire his successors from beyond the grave
0:00:53 > 0:00:58to conquer the largest land empire the world has ever seen?
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Written nearly 800 years ago,
0:01:04 > 0:01:10an extraordinary text reveals the Secret History Of Genghis Khan.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Europe, in the year 1241.
0:01:35 > 0:01:41Although Genghis Khan had been dead for more than a decade, his legacy lived on.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Priests prophesied a coming apocalypse,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52as Mongolian hordes approached the borders of the Holy Roman Empire.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58The whole continent watched and waited in terror.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Drawing from the Book of Revelations,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06they saw the invaders as the armies of Satan.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Their fears would soon be realised.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21The Mongol army descended like a storm.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33The knights of Europe faced warriors the likes of which they had never seen before.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Fearless in battle,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48moving at lightning speed on highly-trained horses,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51armed with bows able to penetrate the strongest armour,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Mongol warriors had yet to be defeated.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03And they were now within striking distance of the very heart of Europe.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07Genghis Khan was no longer alive.
0:03:09 > 0:03:15But his legacy, passed on through the pages of the Secret History Of The Mongols,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17was all too real.
0:03:30 > 0:03:3414 years earlier, just after Genghis Khan's death,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38the heads of the Mongol tribes gathered together.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46They were preparing for the fulfilment
0:03:46 > 0:03:50of Genghis's grand strategy, sketched out just before he died -
0:03:50 > 0:03:54nothing less than the conquest of the entire world.
0:03:57 > 0:04:03In the midst of this tribal gathering was the Khan's adopted son, known as Shigi the Blessed.
0:04:06 > 0:04:12He was recording for the Secret History the events surrounding the great Khan's extraordinary life.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17"In the Year of the Rat, they came all together,
0:04:17 > 0:04:24"the nobles of the right wing, the princes of the left wing, and the leaders of the thousands."
0:04:26 > 0:04:30But the Secret History Of The Mongols was not to be an ordinary history book.
0:04:32 > 0:04:38The inspiration for future leaders, it was a blueprint for power.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42We have to bear in mind always that the Secret History
0:04:42 > 0:04:45is a history written in order to educate.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49This is essentially a mirror for princes,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51a manual of statecraft.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56The original manuscript has never been found.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59But over 500 years after it was written,
0:04:59 > 0:05:04a Chinese copy came to light, hidden away in private archives.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11It was not a straightforward history of the Mongol Empire.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13It was far more personal than that.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20Genghis's rise is the real subject of the Secret History.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23How he puts this into effect in the actual creation of the empire
0:05:23 > 0:05:25is of less interest.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27This is not a military history at all.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36Genghis Khan's story begins in the middle of the 12th century.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41His father, a powerful Mongolian general,
0:05:41 > 0:05:47returned to camp after a successful raid on a neighbouring tribe.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52He was spurred on by good news.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57His wife had given birth to a son.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03"As he was born, he emerged clutching a blood clot
0:06:03 > 0:06:07"the size of a knucklebone dice in his right hand.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12"To this boy, they gave the name Temujin."
0:06:16 > 0:06:19The shamans interpreted the blood clot as a sign from heaven,
0:06:19 > 0:06:25a sign Temujin, the future Genghis Khan, would become a fierce warrior.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31In the legend that grew up around Genghis in later centuries,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34he was meant to be not the child of an ordinary person,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36but the child of the sun himself.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40So there's room for the belief
0:06:40 > 0:06:45that his birth was supernatural and that heaven presided over his birth,
0:06:45 > 0:06:52and that his destiny as a world conqueror was a heavenly, ordained destiny.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Temujin was born into a family of noble descent.
0:07:12 > 0:07:18His father was a respected warrior who had increased his clan's wealth and land.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32He brought up Temujin to ride and hunt from an early age -
0:07:32 > 0:07:37skills essential for survival in the vastness of Central Asia.
0:07:45 > 0:07:52As he grew, Temujin became friendly with a boy from a neighbouring clan called Jamuka.
0:07:52 > 0:07:58Following Mongol tradition, as the two became closer, they swore vows to be friends for life.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06Becoming sworn friends was, if you like, the glue, the political glue, of Mongol society.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11In this very flexible society, loyalty was the key political virtue.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14To break it was one of the most serious of crimes.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21As the two boys exchanged arrows as a symbol of their promise,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25they forged a bond that should have lasted forever.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34Instead, Temujin would learn a harsh lesson about betrayal.
0:08:46 > 0:08:52When Temujin was just eight years old, his father took him to find a bride.
0:08:58 > 0:09:04As was Mongol tradition, his marriage would cement an alliance with a neighbouring tribe.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13In a world of inter-tribal feuding, there was security in numbers.
0:09:13 > 0:09:20On arrival at their camp, Temujin's eyes were drawn to a graceful girl named Borte.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34This would turn out to be much more than just a typical Mongolian arranged marriage.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37It would become a bond of love.
0:09:43 > 0:09:50In a rare romantic moment, the Secret History lapses into poetry to describe the betrothal.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54"She had light in her eyes, she had fire in her eyes.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57"He was pleased with her."
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Genghis could be seen as a bit of a romantic.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05He absolutely adored Borte.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09They were said to have been united in the light of the moon.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Contrary to his reputation as a womaniser,
0:10:12 > 0:10:18the Secret History reveals that she would be his one great love.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23The Secret History portrays Genghis in a much fuller sense than we're used to in the West.
0:10:23 > 0:10:24He was a very soft man
0:10:24 > 0:10:31who cared for and looked after his mother and his wife and his children,
0:10:31 > 0:10:36and was incredibly loyal to those alliances that he built up.
0:10:36 > 0:10:43Later, as Khan, Genghis would take more wives, as tradition demanded.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47But it would be Borte's children who would rule the empire after his death.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Shortly after his betrothal to Borte, a messenger brought news
0:11:04 > 0:11:08that would, for a time, tear the two children apart.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17In an act of revenge, Temujin's father had been poisoned
0:11:17 > 0:11:21by the tribe he had been raiding at the time of his birth.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23The boy had to return to his people.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28And to an uncertain fate.
0:11:30 > 0:11:36In a defining moment in the future Khan's life, he, his mother and seven siblings,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38were abandoned by their own tribe,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41left to fend for themselves.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49"All the people had gone away, leaving only the mother and her sons.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52"She was borne of great courage.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56"With a stick in her hand, she fed them by digging up roots."
0:12:02 > 0:12:07This was a woman who needed quite exceptional strength of character
0:12:07 > 0:12:11to save herself and her five boys.
0:12:11 > 0:12:17So I think her role in his upbringing was absolutely crucial.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22We have to bear in mind just what sort of environment Mongolia might have been.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26This is one of the coldest places in the world,
0:12:26 > 0:12:31with temperatures in winter that go down to 80 below zero.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36If you don't have an alpha male looking after you, you've had it.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42Without the guidance of a father, and with supplies scarce,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Temujin began to fall out with his half-brother, Begter.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54As they jockeyed for food and power, the conflict turned to violence.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00The future Khan had yet to learn the importance of family ties.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09"Begter sat in the clearing, watching the family's horses grazing.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17"Temujin and his other brother crept up from behind, drawing their arrows to shoot.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25"Begter said, "How can you treat me like some dirt in your eye,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28"like something that's keeping the food from your mouth?
0:13:28 > 0:13:33"How can you do this when there's no-one to fight but our own shadows?"
0:13:47 > 0:13:53Temujin doesn't declare that he's just killed his brother Begter, but his mother can see it.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56She says she can see it from his face as he enters through the doorway.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59And then she starts violently berating her son.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07The Secret History describes his mother's reaction in graphic detail.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11She compares him to a ravening dog.
0:14:11 > 0:14:17She tells him that he's like a panther, a lion, a jackal, a monster, a pike.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22Temujin was not proud of what he had done,
0:14:22 > 0:14:27but he had learnt a harsh lesson, one that he was keen to pass on.
0:14:27 > 0:14:35Temujin at the time was 13, and was in no position, really, to judge himself. But later he was.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37And that was why he regarded it as so important
0:14:37 > 0:14:41that the rest of his tribe should know that this had been a great crime.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50But as a springboard for power, strong family ties were not enough.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57The Secret History said the future Khan's path to leadership was preordained.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03To make the point, it tells of several narrow escapes
0:15:03 > 0:15:06where ordinary men would not have survived.
0:15:08 > 0:15:15It describes how, as a boy, Temujin and his family were constantly hunted by his father's old enemies.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27One day, unable to escape his pursuers,
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Temujin was captured, bound and brought to the camp of an enemy clan.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39He faced living the rest of his life as a slave.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48Humiliated and ridiculed, he was forced to serve his tormenters.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59But one of his captors, Sorkhan Shira, sensed in the young man
0:15:59 > 0:16:06a potential future leader, even as the others continued in their efforts to break his will.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08THEY LAUGH MOCKINGLY
0:16:10 > 0:16:15But with heaven on his side, all was not as hopeless as it seemed,
0:16:15 > 0:16:20for Temujin was already showing that he was an astute judge of character.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33One night, whilst lashed to a yoke, he overcame his guard.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48Realising that he had no chance of escaping on foot, he headed for the river.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58"If I run for the woods, they will spot me," he thought to himself.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02"So he went to the river, using his yoke as a float."
0:17:09 > 0:17:12He should have been quickly recaptured,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16but, in the Secret History, nothing happens by chance.
0:17:16 > 0:17:23It was Sorkhan Shira, the captor who had seen in him a future leader, who found him.
0:17:23 > 0:17:30"As Sorkhan Shira passed by the river, he saw Temujin lying there and spoke to him quietly.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37"It's because you're a clever young man that they are afraid of you.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39"Just stay where you are.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41"I won't tell them I've seen you."
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Temujin shows himself to be a remarkable judge of character.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50He sees instantly the sort of person who is going to help him.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55He is able to choose the character, to choose his allies, and to then build on this,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58and it's going to be the basis for his political career.
0:18:14 > 0:18:21The Secret History has many gaps, lost years in the life of the young Genghis Khan.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28It is years later before Shigi takes up the story again.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40His youth behind him, Temujin emerged as an imposing man,
0:18:40 > 0:18:45a man now in command of a small army of Mongol warriors.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Having been reunited with his childhood love, Borte, now his wife,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Temujin became ever more ambitious.
0:19:01 > 0:19:07But the Secret History tells us that there was more to his path to power than simple brute force.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13Instead, Temujin set about recruiting allies.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20He set his sights on the most powerful warlord in all Mongolia,
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Toghril Khan, leader of the Kereits.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28He would give him his most precious possession.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38"In the old days, you and my father were blood brothers.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40"You were like my father.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48"I've just married a woman, and I've brought the wedding gift to you."
0:19:53 > 0:19:57He had a knack for getting people on board.
0:19:57 > 0:20:03He simply gives him the most valuable object he has.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06And, without asking for a favour in return,
0:20:06 > 0:20:11he throws it entirely before this ruler whom he wants to impress.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14And his bread comes back to him on the waters.
0:20:14 > 0:20:22A year later, Toghril comes to him and says, "I have not forgotten that coat, that sable coat you gave me.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27"And I inscribed my promise to help you under my own heart.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30"And now I will help you."
0:20:36 > 0:20:41As his influence continued to grow, eager and enterprising young men
0:20:41 > 0:20:46were soon drawn to Temujin's side, where they were trained as warriors.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51As an incentive for loyalty,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54he promised them raids and rich rewards.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02His riders were trained in a very special skill -
0:21:02 > 0:21:07to fire their arrows at their enemies while riding away at full gallop.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11It was a manoeuvre that would help make them the greatest army on earth.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20The archer gallops towards the enemy lines.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24At the last moment, pivots, swings round in the saddle,
0:21:24 > 0:21:28and looses, in quick succession, up to six arrows.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32And the damage that this does has to be seen to be believed.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36It is a fearsome bow.
0:21:36 > 0:21:42I think we would need to forget the idea of a bow altogether and think of a rifle
0:21:42 > 0:21:47if we wanted to get some idea of the toll that these bowmen took.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55But before Temujin and his men faced the armies of the West,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59they would be forced to contend with enemies closer to home.
0:22:05 > 0:22:11The Mongols were surrounded by other powerful tribes who were a constant threat.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16Through the Secret History, Temujin's successors learnt that, away from battle,
0:22:16 > 0:22:21heaven's chosen leader should always put his own safety first.
0:22:24 > 0:22:30The point was made as his family made camp during a hunting expedition.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35"The camp was at the Kerulen river's source,
0:22:35 > 0:22:42"when one morning, just before dawn, his mother's servant woke the camp with a startling cry.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53"Mother, mother, get up, the ground is shaking.
0:22:53 > 0:22:54"I hear it rumble."
0:22:58 > 0:23:01An enemy tribe had spotted them.
0:23:02 > 0:23:09With his warriors too far away to help, Temujin and his family were forced to flee for their lives.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16But there were not enough horses for everyone.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29In what looked like a selfish act, Temujin took a horse for himself.
0:23:30 > 0:23:38Then ordered his mother to take the only remaining one, abandoning his wife to certain capture.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41But there was method to his madness.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46Temujin might have been seen as a coward here, just leaving his wife behind,
0:23:46 > 0:23:52but he knew that she would be strong enough to be able to cope with this, and that she would be able to gather
0:23:52 > 0:23:57crucial information about the inner workings of the Merkit for him when he went to retrieve her later on.
0:24:00 > 0:24:07With his wife now acting as his spy, to assure his own safety, Temujin fled into the hills.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16"Yet again," Shigi wrote, "the heavens had spared him from death."
0:24:18 > 0:24:25The future Khan started to believe that his destiny was ordained.
0:24:25 > 0:24:31He escaped once again from his pursuers and began to realise, saw for the first time,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35that perhaps he was being saved for a particular purpose.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38It was, if you like, a revelation of divine backing.
0:24:38 > 0:24:44It seems that he wished his followers to believe that he had always had divine backing,
0:24:44 > 0:24:49and that what was happening was a mere working out of the divine will.
0:24:53 > 0:25:00With his wife rescued, it was now that Genghis first emerged as the brutal mass murderer of history.
0:25:02 > 0:25:09Still barely 20 years old, he was gaining the reputation the shamans had forecast at his birth.
0:25:13 > 0:25:19As news of his successes spread, more and more men joined him.
0:25:19 > 0:25:26He was now strong enough to take on the Tatars, a blood feud that spanned the generations.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34"Now is the time of our revenge.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39"We will kill every Tatar man taller than the lynchpin on the wheel of a cart.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44"We will kill them until they're destroyed as a tribe."
0:25:47 > 0:25:51On his way to power, he trod on corpses. There's no question.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55"Return what people give to you," he said.
0:25:55 > 0:26:01He paid back the Tatars by measuring every one of their people
0:26:01 > 0:26:04against the axle of a dog cart.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Anyone taller than the axle was exterminated.
0:26:09 > 0:26:14Generations of inter-tribal anger were unleashed.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22Here, the Secret History offers a terrible lesson.
0:26:22 > 0:26:28The battle was more than a skirmish to avenge a death, steal a bride or loot.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32This was to be the complete destruction of an entire tribe.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43All surviving Tatar men were beheaded.
0:26:45 > 0:26:51Only children and potential concubines were spared, taken as slaves.
0:26:55 > 0:27:01But Temujin's successes began to cause tensions, even amongst his own allies.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13The most powerful, Jamuka, his sworn friend from childhood,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17was now also a successful general in his own right.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22But there could not be two leaders.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27The ambitious Jamuka was about to change from friend to foe.
0:27:29 > 0:27:35The Secret History records a powerful message on the dangers of betrayal.
0:27:38 > 0:27:44Jamuka called upon his tribes to desert Temujin and ride with him instead.
0:27:47 > 0:27:53Their childhood vow of lifelong friendship turned into bitter hatred and jealousy.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57This is betrayal at a very high level.
0:27:57 > 0:28:03And we're supposed to believe from the Secret History that this was done easily by Jamuka.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08The Secret History is trying to set up Jamuka as the anti-hero to Genghis.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13Genghis remains true, he remains loyal to his oath.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Jamuka betrays him, and this is a very important theme now,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18from now on in the Secret History.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Jamuka's betrayal did not end there.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33In a conference between the three supposed allies,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37he sought to turn Temujin's sworn friend Toghril against him as well.
0:28:39 > 0:28:45The Secret History tells us that, although Genghis relied on the notion of sworn brotherhood,
0:28:45 > 0:28:51he was a little bit naive about these alliances, and it often took the insights of his mother or his wife
0:28:51 > 0:28:54to point out that these were very fragile alliances
0:28:54 > 0:28:56that could be betrayed.
0:29:00 > 0:29:06Jamuka whispered to Toghril that Temujin was seeking new alliances behind his back.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12"Temujin is sending messages back and forth to the Naiman.
0:29:12 > 0:29:18"While his mouth is saying words like "father" and "son," his actions speak otherwise.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20"How can you trust such a man?
0:29:20 > 0:29:23"If you don't stop him now, who will save you?
0:29:23 > 0:29:28"If you attack Temujin now, I'll pledge to attack him from the rear."
0:29:35 > 0:29:41Jamuka and Toghril combined forces and attacked Temujin together.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53It was a bitter battle,
0:29:53 > 0:29:58for all knew the winner would be the most powerful force on the Mongolian steppe.
0:30:18 > 0:30:25After a lengthy and close-run campaign, a year later, the fighting finally came to an end.
0:30:33 > 0:30:40Despite the odds, and having stared defeat in the face, Temujin emerged victorious.
0:30:43 > 0:30:50His former lord, Toghril, was now dead, and Jamuka, his arch rival, was on the run.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Having once commanded tens of thousands of warriors,
0:30:59 > 0:31:05Jamuka now had to hide in the mountains with only a handful of followers.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08But Jamuka was not Temujin.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12He was incapable of inspiring the loyalty the future Khan had.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25Jamuka's men had learnt to their cost that he was not to be trusted.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32He had proved himself a traitor.
0:31:32 > 0:31:39Disillusioned, his followers hatched a desperate plan, a plan they believed would save their own lives.
0:31:59 > 0:32:05Bound, Jamuka was delivered to Temujin by his former comrades in arms.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15The men expected gratitude from Temujin for delivering his enemy.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29But in a powerful lesson in loyalty and allegiance,
0:32:29 > 0:32:33the Secret History makes it clear that they were gravely mistaken.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39Temujin turned on them in disgust.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44"How can we allow men who lay hands on their own lord to live?
0:32:46 > 0:32:50"Who should trust people like this?
0:32:50 > 0:32:54"Such people should be killed, along with their descendants."
0:32:56 > 0:32:58Although Jamuka had betrayed him,
0:32:58 > 0:33:02Temujin still believed in the strength of the sworn childhood bond.
0:33:08 > 0:33:13He proposed to Jamuka that they bury their rivalries and join forces once again.
0:33:21 > 0:33:26Jamuka refused, seeking only an honourable death.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30"My blood brother, if you want to favour me,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34"then simply see that my life is ended without shedding my blood."
0:33:36 > 0:33:39His wish was granted.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43But the Secret History would exonerate Genghis from blame.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48The story of Jamuka's death is a story with a moral.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51For Genghis himself
0:33:51 > 0:33:56to wield the knife is a desecration of blood brotherhood.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58How do we get round this?
0:33:58 > 0:34:01We get round it, I think, in a Stalinist way,
0:34:01 > 0:34:07with a show trial and a grovelling confession by the villain,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10in which he begs for a merciful death.
0:34:10 > 0:34:16Jamuka asks for his own death in order to exonerate Genghis himself.
0:34:21 > 0:34:27In 1206, Temujin received the greatest honour ever given to a Mongol warrior.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35At the age of 44, he was proclaimed Supreme Commander,
0:34:35 > 0:34:40the Khan of all Mongols, by a grand assembly of tribes.
0:34:43 > 0:34:48He determined to apply all the lessons he had learned throughout his life.
0:34:48 > 0:34:55The importance of loyalty, allegiance, and total control, backed up by brutality.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03Most of all, a real sense of divine mission and assured success.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11But this was not to be the summit of his career, merely the beginning.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22"Temujin, if you'll be our Khan, we'll search through the spoils
0:35:22 > 0:35:25"for the beautiful women and virgins.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35"If we disobey your command during battle, take away our possessions,
0:35:35 > 0:35:40"our children and wives. Leave us behind in the dust,
0:35:40 > 0:35:45"cutting off our heads where we stand, and letting them fall to the ground."
0:35:50 > 0:35:57Temujin took a title nobody had ever been awarded before - Genghis Khan.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03The title Genghis was utterly unique to him,
0:36:03 > 0:36:09and nobody knows why it was chosen, and nobody's quite sure what it means.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15CHEERING
0:36:15 > 0:36:18The current thinking is that it's "fierce,"
0:36:18 > 0:36:21so that he comes over as the "Fierce Khan," the Fierce King.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28He set about putting into practice the lessons he had learnt
0:36:28 > 0:36:30during his rise to power.
0:36:33 > 0:36:38The Secret History recorded each innovation in meticulous detail.
0:36:38 > 0:36:44"Genghis Khan set the lives of all Mongolian peoples in order
0:36:44 > 0:36:46"and made this decree.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50"To reward those who fought with me to establish the nation,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54"I will make them leaders of a thousand."
0:36:56 > 0:36:59He began by radically restructuring the army.
0:36:59 > 0:37:05Disregarding tribal affiliations, he rewarded his most loyal followers
0:37:05 > 0:37:08with power over a thousand men each.
0:37:09 > 0:37:15Without regard to rank or status, he promoted according to ability alone.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21It's one thing to talk about a meritocracy,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25it's quite another to operate it. And here it was operated.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28Shepherds were indeed given generalships
0:37:28 > 0:37:35and leaders of vassal tribes were also given generalships, as well as Mongols.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38So this was the reward of loyalty.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51This is a new style of ordering large bodies of men.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57If a commander left a wounded Mongol on the battlefield,
0:37:57 > 0:38:01he would be executed. So "the buck stops here,"
0:38:01 > 0:38:05is what a Mongol commander might have had on his desk.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09And he paid for dereliction of duty with his own life.
0:38:13 > 0:38:19Genghis Khan now felt powerful enough to explore beyond the vastness of the steppe.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24He sent scouts in all directions.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Not just to find realms worthy of plunder,
0:38:28 > 0:38:32but whole nations to conquer on the far side of the great deserts.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Neither the Gobi nor the Taklamakan
0:38:41 > 0:38:44could stop Genghis Khan's faithful warriors.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51With astonishing endurance,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54they rode on through both freezing cold and burning heat.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05The scouts returned with good news.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08There was little obstacle to invasion.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12But the Secret History once again reveals
0:39:12 > 0:39:13that, contrary to Western legend,
0:39:13 > 0:39:20Genghis Khan knew that there was more to achieving his ambitions than mere brute force.
0:39:27 > 0:39:32Genghis Khan the warrior proved to be a wise statesman as well.
0:39:34 > 0:39:39From defeated administrators, he would take lessons in ruling a realm.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45Just as his military tactics are endlessly inventive,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48endlessly flexible and receptive to new ideas,
0:39:48 > 0:39:52so too when he saw what other people had to offer,
0:39:52 > 0:39:55he simply paid them and they did the job.
0:39:55 > 0:40:01So what the Mongols couldn't do themselves, they found someone else to do for them.
0:40:01 > 0:40:08Although illiterate himself, the Khan was quick to grasp the importance of the written word.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12The Secret History tells us how he overcame his own illiteracy.
0:40:12 > 0:40:18He told Shigi to adopt writing from one of his new vassal tribes, the Uyghurs,
0:40:18 > 0:40:24and that was the script that was taken on and taught to the princes, even while Genghis was still alive.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29"Let no man violate his word.
0:40:29 > 0:40:35"Strike fear in the hearts of thieves. Bring remorse to the tongues of liars.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38"Execute those whom custom has condemned to death.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42"Write everything in a blue book.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47"Let no-one change anything Shigi Khutukhu - after taking counsel with me -
0:40:47 > 0:40:50"has written on the white paper of his blue book."
0:40:55 > 0:40:59With reform of his troops and administration under way,
0:40:59 > 0:41:04Genghis Khan set his sights on his greatest neighbour, China.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09The traditional source of Mongol loot,
0:41:09 > 0:41:14it was a goal that would have universal support from his people.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19His army would do more than loot and run.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22This time, they would stay.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30It was an expedition fraught with risk.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35Genghis Khan consulted the oracle.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47The outcome would be determined by how the bones split.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59The charred bones split lengthwise.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12The omens were good.
0:42:16 > 0:42:21The greatest army Mongolia had ever seen was assembled.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25They would march south into the richest region in Asia,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28over 100,000 strong.
0:42:30 > 0:42:36As victory followed victory, the soldiers were accompanied by women, children and servants,
0:42:36 > 0:42:43well over 100,000 horses and vast herds of goats and sheep brought along for food.
0:42:47 > 0:42:53At the command of Genghis Khan, his entire palace yurt was placed on a platform on wheels,
0:42:53 > 0:42:55drawn by more than 20 oxen.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04They approached northern China not simply as invaders,
0:43:04 > 0:43:11but for the first time in Mongol history, with the intention of long-term occupation.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17I think Genghis was driven by his character.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19What he was doing, in psychological terms,
0:43:19 > 0:43:25was to create himself a security network that could never, ever be threatened.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31You create new frontiers, which then have to be defended,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34which then have to be extended, which create new frontiers, etc.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36It's a never-ending process.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48In 1211, the Mongol army first reached the walls of Beijing.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01As wave after wave of Mongols attacked the city,
0:44:01 > 0:44:07Genghis Khan continued his march northwards, leaving his generals to finish the job.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Victory would take four more years.
0:44:16 > 0:44:22Yet this astonishing military campaign barely rates a mention in the Secret History.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26Designed to reveal Genghis's character,
0:44:26 > 0:44:30details of his military campaigns were simply not important.
0:44:30 > 0:44:34His great conquests are by the by.
0:44:34 > 0:44:39Sure, he happened to capture Beijing. Sure, he happened to conquer Russia.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43Sure, he happened to conquer Iran, Iraq, on and on.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48But that is of no interest to the author of the Secret History.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50That is strictly a sideshow.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59Although Genghis Khan was now at the height of his power,
0:44:59 > 0:45:04the Secret History chooses to draw to a close, not on his military conquests,
0:45:04 > 0:45:10but on a final act of revenge against a former ally who had betrayed him.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17"The Tanghut people made a promise they didn't keep.
0:45:17 > 0:45:23"Genghis Khan has gone to war with the Tanghut a second time and has destroyed them.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25"Now this writing is finished,
0:45:25 > 0:45:29"in the seventh moon of the Year of Rat."
0:45:29 > 0:45:33To the very end, it is the lessons Genghis wished to pass on
0:45:33 > 0:45:37which are the real message of the Secret History.
0:45:38 > 0:45:45The importance of total control, gained through loyalty, allegiances, fairness and trust.
0:45:50 > 0:45:55The power of brutality to strike terror into the hearts of enemies.
0:45:55 > 0:46:00And the self-assurance that flows from a sense of divine support.
0:46:02 > 0:46:08The Secret History would teach these lessons, even if it meant exposing the Khan's own failings.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11I think that Genghis, in a way,
0:46:11 > 0:46:17allows himself to be almost like the guide throughout these teachings. So we see where he makes mistakes
0:46:17 > 0:46:20or where he succeeds, and future generations can see
0:46:20 > 0:46:24that this was actually a real person who had to confront real issues.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32For himself, Genghis Khan never claimed divinity.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37But after his death, the writer of the Secret History
0:46:37 > 0:46:41wanted his successors to believe that from the moment of the Khan's birth,
0:46:41 > 0:46:44they were destined to rule the world.
0:46:45 > 0:46:52Already it was becoming believed that Genghis himself and the whole empire was divinely ordained.
0:46:53 > 0:46:59So, for 150 years, his personality absolutely imbued the empire.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03I think this makes it something quite unique in history.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11Yet the manner of his death was only too human.
0:47:14 > 0:47:19In 1227, legend says that the founder of a nation of riders
0:47:19 > 0:47:23fell off his horse and died of his wounds.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29Shigi does not reveal where he was buried.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35It is said that a thousand horses were driven over his grave,
0:47:35 > 0:47:39until every last trace of Genghis Khan had vanished.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43But through the Secret History,
0:47:43 > 0:47:47he was able to pass on the lessons he had learned,
0:47:47 > 0:47:54on his way from illiterate nomad to one of the most powerful leaders the world has ever seen.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:48:22 > 0:48:25E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk