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The great Genghis Khan was born as Temujin, an obscure plainsman in the Khentii Mountains of Mongolia. His mother, Hoelun, gave birth sometime in the summer of this year.
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Temujin was apprehended in a raid by the Tayichi'ud tribe. He was enslaved for a number of months until a sympathetic guard facilitated his escape. Two of his future generals, Jelme and Bo'orchu, joined forces with him following this escapade.
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Through the gradual amalgamation of followers (albeit from the lower classes) in line with his meritocratic and skill-based government system, Temujin was thrust into a position of real power.
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In a combined strike with the much-stronger Jin tribe, Temujin and his Mongols helped to remove the threat of the Tatar forces. For his actions, Temujin gained the respect and allegiance of many fresh warriors.
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By this point in his life, Genghis Khan had either subdued or absorbed the Merkits, Naimans, Mongols, Keraites, Tatars, and Uyghurs; at last, the Mongol Plains were united under a sole leader.
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Kuchlug, the deposed Khan of the Naiman confederation, controlled lands to the west of Temujin's growing empire. At Kuchlug's last stand, he was soundly defeated by the up-and-coming Khan's forces. Subsequently, Temujin earned his land and his empire expanded west to Lake Balkhash.
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After a life devoted to conquest, Temujin died in the summer heat of 1227. His cause of death remains a mystery, historians debate its true nature: Whether he died from battle wounds, fell off his horse while hunting, or an orchestrated assassination.
