Was Genghis Khan really as bad as history says he was?

Answer 1

Genghis Khan was a ruler that killed anyone in his way. From what I've heard, he had built pyramids made of skulls of enemies he and his army have slain and raped as he plundered. So in some eyes he was a hero but for most of the world he was like a dictator, worse than Stalin even. To answer your question Yes i would consider him an evil guy but of course there are people who may disagree.

The above answer was, for a long, time, the accepted view of G. Khan in most of the western world ( and the Orient, for that matter). This can be traced to one particular anomaly of the era of the Mongolian conquests. In opposition to the way most history is written (by the victors), the time of the Mongol Horde was documented by their victims, more or less. The Chinese, and to a greater extent, the Christian West, were not overly laudatory towards the tribes that subjugated them for the better part of three centuries. The European literati (e.g., the Church) was especially jaundiced in their view of the "armies of the Anti-Christ". So for many hundreds of years, what the world knew of Genghis Khan was what the European, Russian, and Chinese subjects wrote about him and his people, which was, of course, not very complimentary.

I'm not saying that he would shoulder aside Mother Teresa for the Nobel Peace Prize - I'm saying that, until the manuscript of "The Secret History of the Mongols" was found, translated and disseminated, we may not have had an unbiased view of him. Yes, he was a ruthless general. Yes, his armies murdered thousands, if not millions of innocent civilians. That behavior, in itself, was no different than most other empire builders, whether they be Greco-Roman, Moghul, Inca or whatever. But, he also united the tribes that later became the nation of Mongolia, his descendants ruled China, India, Persia and the Middle East for a dozen generations, and he, unlike many rulers, not only tolerated ALL religious beliefs, he welcomed ambassadors from all the major courts to his capital. He encouraged craftsmen, artisans, thinkers and men of science and learning to share their knowledge.

His empire was the first to meld the West and East. Trade, knowledge, and literature flowed between the British Channel and the Sea of Japan, and from Siberia to Ceylon.

On balance, perhaps he and his empire were not as 'evil' as many once thought.