Genghis Khan: The Culture of a Nomadic Empire I read The Conquest of Genghis Khan, written by Alison Behnke, which was about how Genghis Khan grew to power, and changed the world forever. Genghis Khan’s culture is obviously vastly different from mine. Genghis Khan was the founder and undisputed leader of the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Empire ruled with an iron fist in Asia through the 13th and 14th centuries. The Mongols were the largest contiguous land empire in history. Most people think that the Roman Empire was the largest and most powerful in history, but under Genghis Khan’s leadership the Mongols were twice the size of the Romans.

Genghis Khan’s formula to obtain power was brutally simple -- he and his men murdered millions of people. It was also interesting to read that Khan was not just a cold-blooded killer. Many people think Khan was just a brutal warrior. While a lot of the things he did were awful, he actually welcomed a wide range of people and their beliefs., “In ruling over his empire, he exhibited an unusual tolerance of such differences for his era, yet his forces killed millions of people” (Behnke p. 6). He probably did this because he needed to build a huge army of warriors. Khan’s empire started in Mongolia, which resided in east central Asia, north of China and south of Russia.

Khan’s home, way of life and entire culture were different than mine and most of the rest of the students in our class, “Among the Mongols themselves were many