Mongols Before Genghis Khan

Mongols Before Genghis Khan

The Mongol tribes emerged from an area which had been inhabited by humans as far back as the Stone Age, over 100,000 years ago. The peoples there went through the bronze age and iron age, then forming tribal alliances and beginning to battle with China. By the 3rd century BC, there was evidence of a nomadic culture, comprising Turkic peoples in tribes which battled with each other and neighboring cultures. They were subdued temporarily by the growing strength of the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the 7th century. Over the next few hundred years, the Chinese subtly encouraged warfare among the Mongol tribes, as a way of keeping them distracted from invading China. In the 12th century, the Mongol Genghis Khan was able to unite or conquer the warring tribes, forging them into a fighting force which went on to create the largest contiguous empire in world history.