JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): Join me as I explore a conquering force
unlike anything the world has ever seen. Genghis Khan's Mongol hoard. In fewer than 70 years, they
created the largest land empire ever in human history. How was Genghis Khan's army able
to achieve military domination on such a grand scale? And what ultimately became
the Great Empire of the Huns? To find out, I'll build a
ger in the Mongolian Steppe, fire arrows from horseback
like a Mongolian warrior, and use DNA science to
trace the genetic legacy of military genius Genghis Khan. We're digging for the truth,
and we're going to extremes to do it. [theme music] Eight centuries ago, the
Central Asian Steppe witnessed the birth of an empire. One of the greatest the
world has ever seen. Hi, I'm Josh Bernstein. I've come here to Mongolia to
explore the history and legacy of the great Mongol horde and
their infamous ruler, Genghis Khan. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Located on the Steppe of Central Asia, Mongolia
is a small nation of 2.5 million people. For most of the 20th century,
Mongolia was a satellite state of the Soviet Empire. And the Soviets actively
discouraged national pride in Genghis Khan. Today, Mongolia is an
independent nation. Walking around the
capital city, Ulaanbaater, I can see the respect
they have for him. The name and image of
Genghis Khan is everywhere. On everything from buildings,
to beer bottles, to bills. They even put his face
on the side of a mountain. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
For Westerners, the terror of Genghis Khan's
Mongol hoards is legendary. In the 13th century, they
surged out of Mongolia and descended like locusts
on the civilized world. They slaughtered
indiscriminately, raped and pillaged. They were said to be
primitive barbarians. Illiterate, without
art or agriculture. Heathens. At least, that's what
many of us always heard. To explore the truth
behind the legends I've arranged to meet Mongol
historian, Dr. Chris Atwood, on the face of Genghis again. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Chris. I'm Josh. Good to meet you. Yeah, you picked a
great spot for a meeting. And we're standing
in the face of-- is it Genghis Khan
or Chinggis Khan? I've heard both. It's Chinggis Khaan. In the late 18th century,
when French scholars began studying him through
Persian manuscripts, they misread his name. They turned it from Chinggis
Khaan into Jengis Khan. And then later on people
began calling it Genghis Khan. Ah. But that's not right. - No Genghis.
- Stick with Chinggis. OK. So who was Genghis Khan? Well, he was a builder of the
largest land empire in world history. There've been lots of empires
over the past 800 years. There's nothing quite
like the Mongol Empire. The Roman Empire at its
height was one fourth the size of the Mongol Empire
at its height. The empire of Alexander
the Great with one half the size of the Mongol
Empire at its height. I mean, this was in terms
of scale off the map. And all of that was built
within less than 70 years. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
The Mongolian Empire stretched from the Pacific
Ocean to the Black Sea, including most of present
day Russia and China. A phenomenal 14
million square miles. The largest contiguous
land empire ever. They overcame the most
technologically advanced civilizations of their day. The Chinese, Persians,
and Europeans. It's easy to see why modern
Mongolians revere him. He's the person who
founded their nation. He's the person who took
them from being isolated, scattered tribes, to being
a nation, and moreover, a nation that was
ruling Eurasia. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Khan is really more of a title than a name. It means universal leader. When he was born in 1162
A.D, he was named Temujin. At that time, five tribes
dominated the Steppe. Each with its own Khan. They existed in a state
of perpetual anarchy. Unrelenting power struggles
between Khans created a shifting landscape of
tribal alliances and nearly constant violence. When Temujin was
nine, his own father was poisoned by a rival tribe. Temujin thought all the nomads
should be united under one Khan and confront their enemies
outside the Steppe Lands. He was driven by an
ancient tribal legend. [non-english] JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Like the five tribes, there were five sons who fought
bitterly among themselves. Their mother stopped them. And said, each of you,
take an arrow and break it. Then she said, now try to
break these five arrows bound together. [grunting] If you would be as a bundle
of arrows you'd be invincible. Temujin's dream was
to unite the tribes and to then take advantage
of the unique abilities of a unified, nomadic people. What Genghis Khan
and his armies achieved was nothing short of amazing. What was so special about
these ancient Mongols that allowed them to so
comprehensively defeat their enemies? JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): To find out, I've come to the National
University of Mongolia to meet archaeologist
Dr. Tumen Dashtseveg. Dr. Tumen led an archaeological
expedition that in 2004 made the amazing discovery of
seven ancient graves marked by a single stone. TUMEN DASHTSEVEG: OK. Get door open. Please, come in. What's inside? JOSH BERNSTEIN: Skulls?
TUMEN DASHTSEVEG: Yeah. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
She pulls out one of the boxes to show me. It's the skull of a woman. And Dr. Tumen says she has
the rest of the skeleton already laid out
in the next room. It's one of the rare
skeletons that have been found in Mongolia in the Middle Ages. The nomads left most of their
dead unburied for animals to devour. Only the elite were buried. Dr. Tumen tells me that this
royal burial has already revealed valuable clues about
life in the age of the Khans. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Do we
know when she lived? Same time as Genghis. So it is possible that
she knew Genghis Khan? - Maybe.
- Maybe. Right?
Yeah? That's exciting. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
There is some evidence to support this Dr. Tumen shows
me some of the treasures that were found buried
with the woman, including gold plated armor
and a gold ring with the image of a falcon.
- No. Look, there's a little falcon.
Look and see. You can see that
little bird in there. The falcon was the
image of Genghis? Yeah. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): The ring may mean that this woman
was related to Genghis. But in what way is a mystery. It's possible she
was one of his wives. He was said to have had 36. But the falcon wasn't
the only animal to accompany Mongol
Royalty into the afterlife. You said there was something
else buried with her. - A horse-- a horse skeleton?
- Yeah Horse was underneath her? Next to her? Same level.
Really? That whole horse. Do you have the horse? Yeah. Yeah. OK. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Yeah. But not just the head,
the whole skeleton? TUMEN DASHTSEVEG: Yes.
JOSH BERNSTEIN: Buried with her? Was it common for these people
to be buried with their horses? JOSH BERNSTEIN: Every
single human had a horse? Yeah. Because you'd
think that they'd be buried with their
most precious objects? Yeah. So they're buried with gold. But to be buried
with their horses-- TUMEN DASHTSEVEG: Yeah. They valued their
horses that much? JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
If ancient Mongolians buried horses alongside their
royalty, then they clearly held this animal in high regard. I know they rode the horse into
battle, but so did Napoleon, and he wasn't
buried with a horse. What made the Mongolian horse
so important to the empire of the Hun? I'm on a quest to
reveal the secrets behind the devastating power
of Genghis Khan's Mongol hordes in the 13th century. I've learned that the
Han Royalty were buried with their horses. By exploring this
relationship further, I may be able to uncover how
the Mongols were able to conquer half of Eurasia
in only 70 years. So I'm leaving the capital
city of Ulaanbaatar and heading out to the
surrounding Steppe. I want to get a closer look at
the descendants of the horses that the people of the
Huns era valued so highly. He said, turn off
the road and look for the guy with the horses. That'll be me. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Enkhi Shagdargentev is a Mongolian
interpreter and guide. He's offered to show me the
countryside from the Mongolian perspective, on horseback. Enkhi. ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV:
Hey, Josh. - How are you?
- Good. How are you doing? So welcome to Mongolia.
- Thank you. Good to see you. You weren't kidding. Were really out here, huh? It's a good place to be a horse.
- Oh, Yeah. Hey, guy. How are you? They're smaller than
I was expecting. They're right here, right? JOSH BERNSTEIN:
But beefy looking. Stockier looking, you know?
Very robust. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Grasses?
ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV: Yeah. So they don't need
any supplemental grain? ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV:
No, it's all. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Just grass? ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV:
Yeah, totally. We can go for a ride? JOSH BERNSTEIN: Enkhi tells
me that in Mongolia horses outnumber people 13 to 1. I've always wanted to ride
one, since I've heard they can be a challenge to handle. Most of the time, they run
free in the wide open Steppe and the nomads round them
up when they need them. This lifestyle
makes them unruly. So far, so good. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER): They
proved true to their reputation when Enkhi's horse gets a
little too close to mine. ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV: Hey!
JOSH BERNSTEIN: Ha ha. [shushing] [groaning] JOSH BERNSTEIN: That was-- that was something, huh? Gee. OK. So I don't really
know what happened. I don't know if I was
thrown off or just twisted off, but the
horse, it seemed to be-- it clearly wasn't happy. But you know what they say,
when you get thrown off a horse, get back on. So let's-- all right. So let's go, my friend.
Yeah? Round two. Let's try this again. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): Well, I think I have more respect now
for Mongolian horses and nomads who ride them. I'm looking forward to meeting
Enkhi's nomadic friends, who he says are only
a short distance away. They could be miles away, and
I'd happily ride there even on a temperamental horse. The landscape is like
nothing I've ever seen. A plane of grass and
rivers stretching out to the gently rolling
hills on the horizon. It's endless and Mongolians
take full advantage of it. So all of this,
this Steppe, you can put it wherever you want. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Half the population of Mongolia, over a million people,
still live the way Genghis did, in traditional gers,
what many people in America call yurts. Enkhi's friends are just ahead,
dressed in ceremonial clothes to greet us as their guests. ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV:
[non-english].. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Enkhi introduces me to [inaudible] and [inaudible]. They've been living in this
spot for about a month. And will stay here until
it starts to get cold. After welcoming
me to their home, they show me how
their gers are built. ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV:
So they're setting up a ger for you. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Very nice. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): No shelter balances grace, beauty, comfort,
and mobility like a ger. The two posts in the middle
aren't a structural necessity, but are of symbolic
importance, a kind of highway for the spirits, connecting the
center hearth to the heavens. JOSH BERNSTEIN: And this
becomes what you see inside. Basically, they're wallpaper. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Then comes the insulation. Wool from their sheep has
been felted, combed, soaked, and pressed into
sheets like batting. ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV:
[non-english].. It's almost perfect. OK. If we going to do this
the way Genghis did it-- - Yes.
- Is there any difference? Wow. It's looking nice. ENKHBAYER
SHAGDARGENTEV: Oh, yeah. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Yeah. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Traditionally, the inside of a ger was fairly
dark, with a single hole in the dome for light. They were also filled with
smoke from their fires, burning the primary fuel source
on the barren Steppe, animal dung. The gers of today's nomads
are structurally the same, but have a few
aesthetic improvements. JOSH BERNSTEIN:
This is beautiful. ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV: Yeah. JOSH BERNSTEIN: People
sleep in here, too? JOSH BERNSTEIN: Look. They have electricity. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Mongolian custom dictates that guests are
offered food and drink. ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV:
Yes, it is. It's like beer for us. Mare's milk?
ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV: Yes. - Oh, from a horse.
- Yeah. Horse, mare.
Yeah. Yeah.
The first time. How do you like it? It's tangy. It's like tangy fermented milk. It's good. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Let milk go almost spoiled and add a splash of light beer,
that's what it tasted like. Yeah, maybe. Wow. JOSH BERNSTEIN: After
a drink and food, there's another custom, snuff. ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV:
That's the snuff ball. Snuff?
ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV: Yeah. Just snuff it. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Snuff it? Yeah, snuff. [sniffing] Wow. OK. Good morning. [laughter] JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Outside, we watched the kids roundup some of their horses. JOSH BERNSTEIN: These
guys are good riders. ENKHBAYER
SHAGDARGENTEV: Oh, yeah. They are. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Even their 5-year-old can handle a horse with ease. And this is how everyone
grows up out here? Yeah. On horseback just
riding the range? Yeah, they ride horse even
before they start walking. Really? Yeah. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): Enkhi tells me that their
skill as horsemen was one of the things Genghis
Khan was able to use to build an empire. But there were
obstacles to overcome. Mainly the incessant raiding
and fighting between the tribes. When he was still
simply Temujin, he discovered a way
of breaking this cycle and uniting the nomads. He rejected the supremacy of the
tribe with family groups each loyal to their own local clan. Temujin promoted
those most brave in battle, rather than
his own relatives. When he defeated a tribe he
would spare the lower members. He'd invite them to join
his tribe as equals. One story relates how he
congratulated an enemy soldier for wounding his cheek and
gave him position of honor. In this way, Temujin destroyed
old bonds and a rivalries at their core. He went out of his way to
utterly destroy any family that opposed him. [yelling] A favorite way of
executing leaders was said to have been breaking
their spine across a sphere. [yelling] By 1206 A.D he stood
unchallenged on the Steppe and was publicly
proclaimed Genghis Khan, ruler of all the nomads. The five tribes were then
called by the tribal name of the Han, Mongol. With the tribes united, a
major power was created. His territory was already
the size of Western Europe. But he didn't stop there. Bringing together so
many men under one banner gave the Steppe
dwellers a chance to look out to the
rich civilizations beyond their borders. For most of my travels, I've
had to look under the earth to discover the past. But here in Mongolia,
it's right on the surface. The Mongolian nomads
are living history. The family cooks a
traditional meal, meat boiled in a hide with hot rocks. The nomads eat mostly
meat and dairy, relying on their animals, not agriculture,
to feed themselves. At the time of Genghis Khan
this reliance on animal protein set them apart from
their neighbors. The agrarian civilization
surrounding the Mongols supported huge populations
with their efficient grain production. Vastly outnumbering the nomads. The Mongols numbered only
around two million people. How could their small
army conquer the territory of 100 million? ENKHBAYER SHAGDARGENTEV: Yeah.
- Thank you. OK. JOSH BERNSTEIN: I'd
like to stay longer. But now that I've had a glimpse
of Genghis Khan's routes, I want to find
out his next step. I've seen up close how much
the Mongols on the Steppe today still live like the nomads
did at the time of the Hans. People sleep in gers and depend
on the horse for transport and food. Temujin, later
called Genghis Khan, somehow tapped into the
strengths of the nomadic people and their lifestyle. I've come to the National
Museum of Mongolian History to find out what turned these
nomadic hunters into world conquering warriors. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Renowned Mongolian archeologist, Dr.
Bira Shagdar, is here to help me find the answers. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): Dr. Bira tells me that in the
Mongols shamanistic religion the banners carried the
warrior's destiny and his soul when he died. They worshipped
the god of the sky. And Genghis Khan believed
that the sky god told him he should rule the world. So it sounds like his vision
for empire was much broader than the other-- than the
typical Khan's vision. Him. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): Genghis Khan thought his destiny
was ordained by God. He didn't care about
class, status, or blood ties. If you followed his
way, he rewarded you. If you stood in his
way, he destroyed you. [music playing] JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER): As
soon as he unified the tribes, Genghis Khan forbade
raiding within Mongolia. With his God given charge to
unite the world under his rule, Genghis had the
motive for conquest. But his army of
typically 30,000 men was small compared to that
of any of his neighbors. The Chinese could call
on vast numbers of men. The Mongols were often
outnumbered more than two to one. So how could Genghis
Khan defeat his enemies? In Ulaanbaatar I meet up again
with Doctor Chris Atwood, who says he can help
answer my question. The first thing to understand
is the Mongols choice of weapon. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Never would
have picked this spot. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): We've come to meet Batmunkh
who makes bows and arrows in the traditional way. A skill that's been maintained
through the centuries. JOSH BERNSTEIN: How many
people in the country still know how to do this? I think three. Two in Ulaanbaatar and
one of the country side. This is traditional, he says. I mean, this goes
back for generations. His father, his grandfather,
they were all bow makers just like him. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): The bows are a composite of three
materials, horn, wood, and sinew. This gives it strength
and flexibility. His bows are then covered
with a veneer of birch bark. Batmunkh says that at
the time of Genghis Khan most warriors made
their own bows. That flexes a lot, huh? The way this-- look at this. Watch this. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
The shape makes this a recurve bow, with the tips
curving away from the archer. It adds much more force to the
draw than a simple C shape, like a longbow. That's what
makes it so strong. OK. I want to give
this thing a shot. [music playing] JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER): At
a range just outside the city, archery lives on
as a popular sport. Genghis Khan was famous for
promoting people on merit. I wonder if I can make the
grade as a Mongol warrior? Historian, Peter Marsh, is
going to help me check out the artillery of the
great Mongol horde. But first, I want to
practice shooting this bow without a horse. Just to get a feel for it. So Joshua, I'd like to
introduce you to Ganbaatar [inaudible],, one of
Mongolia's leading archers. Yeah, he's a-- JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): Ganba was very interested in my bow
and asked if he could try it out. PETER MARSH:
[non-english speech] [non-english speech]. [non-english speech] [laughing] JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
I didn't get the joke then, but I was about to find out. He gives me a piece of
horn to protect my thumb, and a quick lesson on
archery, Mongolian style. Like this? And then you can pull-- GANBAATAR GOMBUSUREN:
[non-english] That's different. So it's not-- we're not pulling
with these fingers here. PETER MARSH: Right.
Exactly. You're playing with the
thumb, which is protected with this little device here. Uh, we'll say. We'll give it a shot. OK. Ah, wow. [groaning] JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
I'm a competent archer, but between the thumb
ring and the bow strength, it's a real challenge.
- Sorry. [laughter] Much stronger bow
than the archer. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
The draw weight of this bow is 100 pounds. That hurts so much. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): Which hurts if it snaps
against your fingers. [groaning] Better. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Getting a little suspicious of how Ganba does it. Oh.
Oh. [laughing] I'm going to shoot
with this bow, OK? I want to work with this bow. Let me get the arrows. I'll be right back. OK. Make me start-- start on
the 100 pound powerful bow. And he's shooting
a much lighter bow. I think these
Mongolians are having a good laugh at my expense. Falling off horses,
using 100 pound bows. I'll try this with Ganba's bow. It's OK, Yeah? Ah. Yes. Very nice. OK. GANBAATAR GOMBUSUREN:
[non-english] Ope. No, but this is like a
world of difference here. Much nicer. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Mongolian warriors were able to fire
up to 350 yards. 100 yards farther than
the longbow or crossbow of most of their enemies. So they had to get all
this plus keep their horses under control? JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
I know from past experience that putting the two together
is the real challenge. Hey! JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
It's time to see if I have what it takes to be
a Mongol warrior. [non-english] JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): It's not easy. MEN: Hey! JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
But in skilled hands, it was a deadly combination. The warriors could stand in
their stirrups at full gallop and shoot in any direction. The two pieces, horse and
bow, are a perfect fit, but don't fully account
for the Mongols success. Asian cultures had been shooting
recurve bows from horseback for at least 1,000 years. What they lacked was
the military genius of Genghis Khan. He took the twin strengths
of the nomads, great archery and great horsemanship,
and added a new element, organization. Genghis Khan invented a
new and efficient hierarchy for his army. Warriors were grouped
in units of 10, then 100, then
1,000, then 10,000. The entire army was
on horseback, unique in the ancient world. And each rider had at
least two or three horses. This gave them
unprecedented mobility on and off battlefield. They could move 70 miles a day. Other armies
struggled to move 10. Genghis Khan knew how to use
the advantages of the horse. Their neighbors
may have called them primitive barbarians,
but on the battlefield, Genghis Khan and
his Mongol horde were centuries
ahead of their time. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): And the proof was written in the blood
of their neighbors. The first to fall was the
Chinese empire of the Jin to the south. In seasonal campaigns
beginning in 1206 A.D, the Mongols conquered
over 800,000 square miles. They raided the countryside
and demanded surrender of the cities. Then in 1221, the assault
against the Persian empire began, which some say may have
killed six million people. A favorite Mongol tactic
was the faint retreat, drawing the defenders to
chase them sometimes for days, then turning on them. They never lost a battle. If a city resisted his army,
he would utterly destroyed it and all who lived there. They earned the
reputation barbarian. His sons followed in
his murderous footsteps, eventually extending the
empire from the Pacific in the east to the
Black Sea in the west and putting more than 100
million people under Mongol control. It's hard to imagine,
looking at Mongolia today. JOSH BERNSTEIN: So if
this was the largest land empire in the world, you
have to wonder, where is it? What's left of it? To find out, I've left
Ulaanbaatar and I'm heading to Mongolia's first capital,
the city of Karakorum JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
I'm here in Mongolia to learn how the 13th century
Mongol hordes created a land empire that was the largest
the world has ever known. I've discovered that part of
the secret behind the Mongols military success was their
brilliant horsemanship combined with the power of
the recurve bow and the organizational genius
of their leader Genghis Khan. Now I'm heading toward Karakorum
the capital of the empire, to see how the so-called
barbarians governed 100 million people. Today the city is an
archaeological site 230 miles southwest of Ulaanbaatar. Many people say
the Mongols never intended to create an empire. They just wanted to live
their nomadic lifestyle and raid and pillage the
cities of sedentary people. But they were so successful
in destroying their opponents that eventually they were forced
to build a city of their own. I meet up again with
Dr. Chris Atwood. By the walls of a
16th century monastery that was built where
Karakorum once stood. But, you know, it
was built with stones from the ancient
site of Karakorum. So the real site-- It's over there. - Yeah?
- Right over there. - Can we go look at it?
- Yeah. Sure. Let's take a look. Right here, these are
the best preserved remains of the real old Karakorum
of the 13th century. JOSH BERNSTEIN: So these are
where some of the capitol buildings were? CHRISTOPHER ATWOOD: Yeah. These big pillars here, these
were bases for buildings. But there are
still discoveries yet to be made about this capital? Lots of discoveries. Look here. This is probably
from one of the tiles on the roof of this
palace, or temple, or whatever it
was that was here. - During the Khans?
- During the time of the Khans. Really? You are holding a piece
of 13th century green glazed ceramic. This, too. CHRISTOPHER ATWOOD:
Yeah, that too. They're everywhere.
CHRISTOPHER ATWOOD: Yeah. Must have been an amazing roof. Think I'll leave it here. CHRISTOPHER ATWOOD: Yeah. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Pillar stumps and roof tiles are all that's left
on the surface today. But in the 13th century,
a Flemish missionary named William of Rubruck, wrote about
his travels to Central Asia on a failed attempt to
convert the Mongols. He described
Karakorum in detail. It was built primarily by
Genghis Khan's son, Ogedei Khan. It was small, covering an area
of only a couple square miles. and surrounded by a suburb of
gers There were four markets. One at each city gate. It was home to
about 10,000 people. There were 12 houses of worship,
all different religions. A kind of religious diversity
that was unparalleled in the medieval world. The palace of Ogedei
was the gem of the city, with intricate relief work and
a roof a green and red tiles. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Why would
these nomadic basically herdsmen, why would they need
a palace structure at all? Well, this was a city
for storing all the riches that the Mongols
had accumulated. But it wasn't so
much material riches. The Mongol Khan's, when
they got material riches, they just gave them away. The main riches with the
artisans and the experts, all the people from
the various countries that they brought
into their entourage. Many of them were Chinese. They were Persian. There was Europeans, Russians. All kinds of people. In the empire that were
working for the Mongol princes, but they couldn't
live on the Steppe. They just weren't
adapted to that. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): Genghis himself, when he
visited the city, would live outside
the walls in a ger. As his empire grew, he
proved to be more than just a brilliant warrior. He was an innovative
administrator and statesman. CHRISTOPHER ATWOOD: And what
Genghis Khan did with he joined East to West, took
these very civilizations of the Middle East, and forced
them to learn from each other. And there's this free exchange
of ideas and techniques, and the Chinese are
talking to the Persians and the Persians are
talking to the Europeans. Right? You know Copernicus? The star charts he worked
from where star charts made under the patronage
of the Mongols. Because the Mongols,
they didn't want to hear about how Middle
Eastern astronomy was the best, or Chinese astronomy
was the best. What they wanted was
the best of everything. So they told the Chinese and
the Middle Eastern astronomers, get together, make the
best charts you can. So this was in many ways a
melting pot of all the cultures across the empire. Exactly. It was a melting pot in
the middle of the Steppe. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Genghis Khan created his empire through death and destruction,
then went on to radically alter world culture. He brought about the first
contact between Europe and China and encouraged a
dramatic increase in trade throughout the empire. He guarantee the
safety of camel trains. He invented the
first pony express. He pioneered the idea
diplomatic immunity. And he outlawed torture. Some barbarian, huh? So what happened
to Genghis Khan? Chris tells me
that when he died, he was buried secretly
in an unmarked location. Some Mongolian chronicles
tell the stories. They just say he died. They don't say anything
about where he's buried. But there is
travelers tales that say Genghis Khan was buried. And those who buried
him were killed. And then those who killed
them were also killed. And they would trample
horses over the spot, so that it would look like as if
nothing had been there in order to keep it absolutely secret. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
As for Karakorum, it existed for only
about 50 years. After Genghis Khan's
death and 1227 A.D, the empire began to fracture
into smaller Khanates. In 1274, his
grandson, Kublai Khan, moved the capital south to
China and created the city of Beijing. Karakorum the city in The
Steppe, had no function and wasted away. They say that history is
written by the winners. But in this case, history
was written by the victims. To the Persians, the
Chinese, and the Europeans, the hordes were
demonic murderers. And that's how they're
often remembered today. But not in Mongolia. Exactly 800 years after Genghis
Khan unified the Steppe tribes, the Mongols brief stint as
empire is a source of pride. I've discovered that
the so-called barbarians of 13th century Mongolia,
though brutal in warfare, ruled their empire with a
surprisingly tolerant bent. 800 years later, Mongolia
is a quiet country. But the impact that Genghis
Khan had on all of Eurasia is incalculable. It's not surprising Mongolians
are proud of their history. And nowhere is
that more evident than here in the capital, where
everyone has come together to celebrate and acknowledge
the 800th anniversary of the Mongolian state,
founded by Genghis Khan. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER): This
is the annual Naadam festival, where every year Mongolians
display two of the skills that brought them glory, master
horsemanship and archery. Their conquests led to a
complete change of life for the Mongol people. Almost overnight they
went from being backward nomads, mocked and ridiculed by
their more civilized neighbors, to being masters
of their universe. Genghis Khan put
Mongolia on the map. And today, Mongolians revere him
as a visionary founding father. The spirit of Genghis
Khan is alive and well in the hearts of Mongols today. But genetic scientists are now
discovering that his legacy may also be found in their blood. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER): I've
come to the Mongolian Academy of Sciences to meet some genetic
researchers who are tracking down the genes of Genghis Khan. Dr. Dashyam Bumbein's
team sampled the DNA of three million Asian men. JOSH BERNSTEIN: So this
is where it all happens. You took a sample
from across Asia? JOSH BERNSTEIN: Y chromosomes? JOSH BERNSTEIN: OK. So all the samples were men? Men. And I know that the
Y chromosome does not change from father to son. Yes. Typically. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
The Y chromosome determines a person's sex. Where women have
two X chromosomes, men have an X and
a Y chromosome. Since the son has exactly
the same Y chromosome as his father, geneticists
can isolate this chromosome and track it across
generations of male relatives. That's basically all it takes
to get a Y chromosome sample. That little swab is
then put into a vial. And that veil is sent off
to the lab, where they remove the DNA from the cotton
and create a Y chromosome sequence. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
From this data, Dr. Dashnyam discovered
that in Mongolia one branch of the
family tree is huge. The same Y chromosome
turned up again and again. He's calculated that it's the
Y chromosome of a man who lived sometime in the 13th century. - Somebody was very busy.
- Yes. - Right?
- Yes. Had a lot of kids. Yes. But how do you know that
this is Genghis's DNA? We don't know. We don't have a body. Yes. It could be someone else
living at the same time? How do you know that? So as he's
conquering the empire, he's sort of
starting another one. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
Genghis and his sons after him each had
hundreds of concubines and had made it a
mission to spread their seed throughout
the lands they conquered. A combination of
the massive death toll of the initial campaigns,
and this one family's breeding strategy, appears
to have born fruit. And so now, 800 years
later, the Naadam festival, drawing visitors from
all over Mongolia, is more than a
commemorative event. It's a huge family reunion. Looking around, how
many of the people I see could be Genghis
Khan's relative? It makes me wonder,
some of our crew is from this part of the world. Could one of them be a
descendant of the great leader? Everyone on the crew
contributed some DNA to find out, including myself. Here are my results. Each of these pairs
of numbers stands for a variation of a gene. In the first two pairs,
Genghis and I match, but not for the rest. JOSH BERNSTEIN: 13.
OK. DASHNYAM BUMBEIN: OK, yeah. So no. And no. Too many differences
across the pattern. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER): I
admit, it wasn't very likely, but here are the results-- JOSH BERNSTEIN:
--for all the members of the crew, including our local
fixers here, the people who help us handle the
logistics in this country. So let's line them up. JOSH BERNSTEIN (VOICEOVER):
One of the fixers is a match. And the winner is [inaudible]. Yay! JOSH BERNSTEIN: Is that good?
- Good. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Yeah.
Come here. I'll show you.
- I'm happy. JOSH BERNSTEIN: Almost every
single number is a match. Thank you. [inaudible] Khan. Yeah. [inaudible] Khan. JOSH BERNSTEIN
(VOICEOVER): It just goes to show that Genghis
Khan's progeny are everywhere in this country, something
Mongolians point to with pride. A lot of people can share
[inaudible] royal ancestry. Dr. Dashnyam has calculated
that across the lands they conquered 8%
of the population is descended from Genghis Khan. Worldwide, that's about
one in 200 people. The estimated size
of his current family is over 32 million. That makes him the most
successful patriarch in recorded history. He was a military genius unlike
any the world has ever known. And his blood continues to flow
through millions of people. His empire is ancient history,
but the legacy of Genghis Khan lives on in the genetic
fabric of our world.
