Chinggis Khan grew up under privileged and disadvantaged in an extremely hierarchical society of the steppes in the second half of the 12th century. His birth name was Temujin. It was only in his 40s, a rather old age for the times, he managed to create alliances involving other underprivileged individuals. He picked up individuals from different families, knit them into units, and assigned the units military tasks. These formations were exceedingly successful against the normal family based military systems of those times. Within a few years he had been acknowledged as the khan-- the chief-- of Mongols. Then he switched his attention to conquering the land as far as the eye could see and beyond. By the time of his death two decades later, he had crafted one of the largest empires on earth that encompassed most of Asia and almost all of Europe. His descendants were able to consolidate their hold over Asia. Bharat desh, the land across the Himalayas, was one part of the world that did not succumb to their control. Chinggis Khan has been a national hero for the people of Mongolia. His statue, riding a horse, was opened to the public in 2008. It is on the bank of the Tuul River at Tsonjin Boldog, near the capital city of Ulan Bator. Made of steel, it is about 130 feet tall.
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