Genghis Khan (Chinggis Khaan)
“Surely, it is widely assumed, the grave of the ruler of half Eurasia would rival that of Tutankhamun. In fact, the search is not just for one grave but for a whole necropolis, a Mongolian Valley of the Kings, where Genghis’s Family and heirs, including Khubilai must lie buried, along with wives, concubines, slaves, horses and Eternal Heaven knows what else of gold, jewellery, costumes and weapons the imagination can conjure up”.
“If the grave exists and if it were ever found, it would create a revolution in archeology, scholarship, cash-flow and – since China claims Genghis as its own - international relations”.
- John Man, ‘Genghis Khan life, death and resurrection,’ Bantam Press, 2004.
An 800 Year Old Secret
Genghis Khan died in his bed in the summer of 1227 near the Liupan mountains of northern China. Throughout his rule, he had introduced an alphabet and central currency, united a kingdom of warring tribes, and had conquered the majority of the known world. His influence stretched from Poland to Japan, leaving a legacy of unsurpassed proportions.
It is widely believed that Genghis Khan’s body would have been returned to its homeland in the Northeastern region of today’s Mongolia for burial, however this has never been confirmed as the region was deemed “forbidden” by the emperor’s guards following his death, and later in the 20th century by a strict Russian occupation. Open discussions of Genghis became punishable by death due to fears of nationalistic revival and potential aggression1. Thus the truths of the events surrounding his life and death remain as much a mystery today as they did eight hundred years ago. Today his tomb remains undiscovered, a time capsule into the days of birth of the modern world.
1. Jack Weatherford, ‘Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World’. Crown Publishers,2004.
