Archaeologists Unearth Tomb Of Genghis Khan
Dear friends,
I have always been very interested in historical subjects, and Genghis Khan was one of the icons whom I have always had deep interest in. He was a great warrior and a highly intelligent man, he lead his armies through wars and had gained victories in countless wars that he has had. Even up till this day, people still read about him and look up to him for his great strength and courage. I hope you enjoy the article.
Tsem Rinpoche
Archaeologists Unearth Tomb Of Genghis Khan
Öndörkhaan | Construction workers employed in road building near the Onon River in the Khentii province of Mongolia, have discovered a mass grave containing the remains of many dozens of human corpses lying upon a large rudimentary stone structure. Forensic experts and archaeologists were called on the site, which was revealed to be a Mongolian royal tomb from the 13th century that the scientists believe to be Genghis Khan’s.
The team of scientists affiliated with the University of Beijing, has concluded that the numerous skeletons buried on top of the structure were most likely the slaves who built it and who were then massacred to keep the secret of the location. The remains of twelve horses were also found on the site, certainly sacrificed to accompany the Great Khan in death.
A total of 68 skeletons were found buried together, almost directly over the top of a rather crude stone structure.
The content of the tomb was scattered and badly deteriorated, presumably due to the fact that the site was located beneath the river bed for hundreds of years, until the course of the Onon river changed in the 18th century. The remains of a tall male and sixteen female skeletons were identified among hundreds of gold and silver artefacts and thousands of coins. The women are presumed to have been wives and concubines of the leader, who were killed to accompany the warlord in the afterlife.
The amount of treasure and the number of sacrificed animals and people, have immediately led the archaeologists to consider that the site was certainly the burial site of a really powerful Mongol warlord. After realizing an extensive set of tests and analysis, they were able to confirm that the body belonged to a man aged between 60 and 75, who died between 1215 and 1235 AD. Both the age, the date, the location and the opulence of the site seem to confirm that the tomb does indeed belong to Genghis Khan.
The simple rock dome discovered by the archaeologists, was presumably buried beneath the Onon river for centuries.
The incontestable historical importance of Genghis Khan makes this new discovery one of the most important in the history of archaeology. Born Temüjin (which means “of iron”), he was the founder and Great Khan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his demise. He is known for uniting the warring tribes of Mongolia and merging them into one before launching a series of military campaigns in China, Central Asia, the Middle East and even Eastern Europe. He conquered more than 31 million square kilometers of land during his lifetime.
His legacy has taken many forms besides his conquest and can still be found today, making him one of the most influential men in the history of mankind. He connected the East and the West through the creation of the Silk Route, a trade route that would become and remain for centuries, the main network of trade and cultural transmission in Eurasia, opening long-distance, political and economic interactions between the civilizations.
Genghis Khan also has an incredible number of descendants, as some genetic studies have shown that he could be the direct ancestor of 1 human out every 200 who are alive today. In Mongolia alone as many as 200,000 of the country’s 2 million people could be Genghis Khan descendants.
Source: http://www.boopow.com/mongolia-archaeologists-unearth-tomb-of-genghis-khan/
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The great Protector Manjushri Dorje Shugden depicted in the beautiful Mongolian style. I hope many Mongolians will print out this image and place in their houses to create an affinity with Dorje Shugden for greater blessings. To download a high resolution file: https://bit.ly/2Nt3FHz
The powerful Mongolian nation has a long history and connection with Manjushri Dorje Shugden, as expressed in the life of Venerable Choijin Lama, a State Oracle of Mongolia who took trance of Dorje Shugden among other Dharma Protectors. Read more about Choijin Lama: https://bit.ly/2GCyOUZ
Reading articles on history of famous people like Genghis Khan was my favourite subjects during my school days. Genghis Khan was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history . He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. Fantastic even in his passing for so many hundreds of years yet it was still remembered by so many. Genghis Khan was the greatest conqueror the world has ever known. Surprisingly , archaeologists managed to unearth the Tomb Of Genghis Khan after so hundreds of years. It was the construction workers employed in road building that discovered a mass grave and later forensic experts , archaeologists and even scientists has confirmed that to be a Mongolian royal tomb of Genghis Khan. That was a great discovery.
Thank you Rinpoche for this wonderful sharing.
What a discovery! To unearth the tomb of the infamous warlord on earth, Genghis Khan, who fought, defeated, conquered and united most part of Eurasia during his reign circa 12th century. Through this unification, Genghis Khan’s expanded the horizon of the multiple cultures across this vast lands and paved way for trades and communcations among the different cultures. Thank you for this sharing, Rinpoche.
The history and legacy of Genghis Khan is most fascinating and powerful. He was a prolific lover and his descendants are living in this planet amongst us till this day.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article. Genghis Khan was one of the greatest emperor and warrior in ancient China. Like Qin Shi Huang, he contributed a lot in the past to have today’s China. From the tomb that they discovered, like many of the great Emperor in the history, when they passed away, they would take many soldiers, maids, and even queen and the ladies to sacrifice to accompany the emperor. As I understand from Rinpoche’s previous blogs, and from Buddhism teaching, after we die, we can’t carry everything in life with us. We will be alone, in darkness, no lights, no map, no compass, no sign board, our yidam or protector is our greatest guide. So in this case, I think the emperors in the ancient China had very deep attachment in their luxury life and their power. They thought when they passed away, those who accompanied to buried with them will follow together. But in actual fact, it’s not. Pity those who died in vain, may they had good rebirth. _/\_
Genghis Khan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan
killed millions, including his own brother, as well as his former blood brother Jamukha who had betrayed him – then Jamukha’s generals who’d handed Jamukha over to Genghis for the crime of betraying their Lord. OK, he introduced the “Pax Mongolica”,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Mongolica
& a written form to the Mongolian language – despite being illiterate, and the world’s largest empire at the time, not bad for someone orphaned as a child, then growing up a slave.
Great book: Genghis Khan, Life, Death and Resurrection by John Man
I always love Archaeology type of articles.Love this wonderful write up about Gengis Khan.Genghis Khan is a great conqueror who undoubtedly rule a vast kingdom of Mongolia.The finding of Genghis Khan tomb proves that,
no matter how great leader or conquer youare, at the time of death, the material things that we have,the land that we rule cannot be taken with us. Genghis Khan played an important role in the unification of the tribe in Mongolia.Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting
article of the Great Genghis Khan.
I always love Archaeology type of articles. Love this wonderful write up about Gengis Khan.Genghis Khan is a great conqueror who undoubtedly rule a vast kingdom of Mongolia. The finding of Genghis Khan tomb proves that, no matter how great leader or conquer you are, at the time of death, the material things that we have, the land that we rule cannot be taken with us. Genghis Khan played an important role in the unification of the tribe in Mongolia.Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting
article of the Great Genghis Khan.
A common thread of ancient cultures is that there is a believe that the consciousness carries on to the next life or after life. So if they can they will make preparations for the next life.
That kind of thinking comes back to us as well, have we prepared for the countless future lives we will be having. If we are not, while we still draw breath now is a good time to prepare for such an eventuality.
It always me wonder that tombs of the ancient times, due to lack of understanding and knowing what comes after death, has so many sacrificial human, wealth and possession in the tombs, and especially for great leaders. Is it an offerings to this great leaders or is it the attachment that they have after this life?
This is an interesting article.
I know Genghis Khan via my history subject in my secondary school and he is the most successful father on earth.
Yes, ancient people gain their glory via war, the larger land they conquer the greater victories they achieved. Genghis Khan is the only man who successfully conquer the land from China to Middle East and Eastern Europe and united Eurasia into a world empire, spread technologies like paper, gunpowder, paper money, compass, trousers and etc.
Genghis Khan successfully shown us on a human’s ability in conquering the world and also how powerful he was during his time when he could sacrifice his wives and concubines to accompany him in the afterlife.
However, as a Buddhist I found that no matter how much we gained materially, we cannot take it with us at the time of death, the only thing which will follow us is our subtle mind, therefore we need to meditate to gain our subtle mind’s stability.
Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing.
Humbly with hand folded,
NgJesvin
Reading this article, apart from highlighting yet another who accomplished so much but is now just history for death is inevitable, what also stood out is the importance placed on religious tolerance/freedom by Genghis Khan which was a rather modern concept for its time. Interestingly, for someone who cut a ruthless path through Asia and Europe that left untold millions dead, Genghis Khan was very tolerant of other religions. In fact, religious tolerance/freedom was one of the core policies in his administration which has proven to serve him well in the governance of the territories he conquered. Genghis Khan’s deep respect for other religions heavily shaped the thinking of the Mongols to the point where religious tolerance/freedom wasn’t only an imperial policy, it was the way they lived. It was common for Mongol leaders to occasionally invite religious leaders to come and debate each other as a way of exploring and learning about the various religions under their rule. Genghis Khan and his descendants all kept this religious tolerance/freedom policy, even if they themselves converted to one religion or another. For example, Kublai Khan practiced Buddhism, but allowed all peoples he ruled to practice their own religion. Sadly, as seen with the Dorje Shugden ban, the importance of religious tolerance/freedom which even one labelled a bloodthirsty terror could understand, seemed to be lost to those who are supposed to be learned in Buddha’s teachings and/or those who professes to be Dharma practitioners.
Genghis Khan was indeed a great man. Even until now, those of the East and those of West knows his name and deeds. War is never equal, with one side winning and one side loosing, however it is the motivation behind that creates the difference. Genghis Khan had united the Mongolian warring factions and went on to conquer China, Central Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. From this the great silk road came which even to this day, many documentaries are still being made to reminisce the greatness of the past.
As many had commented, death comes calling no matter how powerful and mighty you may be. The horrors of tradition shows the afterlife is expected to emulate your present life, thus all the sacrifices of his wife, concubines, assistants, horses, etc and the wealth to be buried with Genghis Khan. However being a Buddhist we know that this is not so which means that many sentient beings had been killed to accompany the Great Genghis Khan, further creating the heavy negative karma for him to bear.
It is interesting to note that 1 in every 200 people bears his genetics. Gets me wondering if I carry any of his genes.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting article of the Great Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan is a great conqueror who undoubtedly rule a vast kingdom of Mongolia. The finding of Genghis Khan tomb proves that, no matter how great leader or conquer you are, at the time of death, the material things that we have, the land that we rule cannot be taken with us.
Genghis Khan played an important role in the unification of the tribe in Mongolia.
“In Mongolia alone as many as 200,000 of the country’s 2 million people could be Genghis Khan descendants.”
The land that the great Genghis Khan conquered was vast. He left a whole dynasty in China. So much influence, power and wealth. And, yet Death did not forget him. Though there were slaves and horses and treasures buried with him, the remains are still on this earth. Time and nature was not kind to his resting place though they tried to hide it from other humans as the “The content of the tomb was scattered and badly deteriorated”.
It cannot be denied that though the conquests were barbaric there were some good that came out of it. “He connected the East and the West through the creation of the Silk Route, a trade route that would become and remain for centuries, the main network of trade and cultural transmission in Eurasia, opening long-distance, political and economic interactions between the civilizations.”
As Rinpoche is always reminding us that whatever our station in life whatever we acquire, when we leave this world we leave everything behind we cannot take them with us. Whether rich or poor, our final resting place is a “hole in the ground”.
Genghis Khan was indeed a great conqueror and his empire has contributed a lot to various advancements to the modern world. These includes logistics, intelligence system, free trades, political secularity, religious coexistence, international law, and diplomatic immunity. People come, people go. Most importantly is the positive effects that they bring with them.
When we look at our history, it is not short of great leaders and men/women who have achieved amazing feat. But history also shows us no matter how great or how insignificant one was, we still share a common certainty in the end – death.
Genghis Khan was no doubt one of the greatest icons in history especially in the East. One thing that stood out for me when I read about discoveries of tombs belonging to ancient kings is that they were often buried with treasures and even entourage. What they had in life, it seemed they believed they could take to the afterlife.