Temuchin - Physical Appearance

Physical Appearance

No accurate portraits of Genghis Khan exist today, and any surviving depictions are considered to be artistic interpretations.

Persian historian Rashid-al-Din had never met Genghis Khan but had recorded in his Jami' al-tawarikh ( written in 14th century ) that the legendary "glittering" ancestor of Genghis Khan was tall, long-bearded, red-haired, and green-eyed. Rashid al-Din also described the first meeting of Genghis and Kublai Khan, when Genghis Khan was surprised to find that Kublai had not inherited his red hair. According to al-Din Genghis' Borjigid clan legend involving their origins: It began as the result of an affair between Alan-ko and a stranger to her land, a glittering man who happened to have red hair and bluish-green eyes. Modern historian Paul Ratchnevsky has suggested in his Genghis biography that the "glittering man" may have been from the Kyrgyz people, who historically displayed these same characteristics. However, these traits can be found among modern Mongolians where they have a predominate Mongoloid appearance and with frequent occurrence of blue eyes, green eyes and red hair. A certain number of Mongols, particularly the Oirat tribe in western Mongolia tend to exhibit lighter features such as fair skin, blue or green eyes, varying shades of brown hair, and sometimes even red or blonde hair. Some Mongols today with predominate Mongoloid appearance exhibit slight Caucasoid features most likely stem from historical intermixing with ancient Central Asian and Siberian Europoids, as opposed to recent intermixing with Slavics and other Europeans. Controversies aside, the closest depiction generally accepted by most historians is the portrait currently in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.

Intermixing between the Mongoloid and Europoid population in Northern Mongolia have existed during the Xiongnu period long before the time of Genghis Khan. Skulls of the well preserved Xiongnu and pre-Xiongnu tomb were examined and were found to have been an hybrid population with physical appearance of predominately Mongoloid with some Europoid admixture. Genghis Khan was identified to have been Haplogroup C-M217, a common mongoloid paternal marker among Tungusic males. Genetic testing of ethnic Mongolians mtDNA in Xinjiang, China were found to have 14.3% west Eurasian mtDNA, which shows Caucasoid maternal contribution into the Mongolian mtDNA gene pool. Historically, the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang was home to many ethnic groups, including some of East-West admixture, such as the people of the Xiaohe Tomb complex.