1
00:00:11,267 --> 00:00:29,178
"Laurie, I got you something to celebrate your first horseback riding lesson," Grandpa announced, meeting Laurie at the top of the stairs. "Mongolian boots!"

2
00:00:29,179 --> 00:00:38,652
"Wow! They're pretty. But why Mongolian?" Laurie said, holding up the decorative orange and turquoise boots.

3
00:00:38,653 --> 00:00:44,111
"Because the Mongols have a history of being excellent horse riders!

4
00:00:44,112 --> 00:00:53,090
Back in the 1200s, when their empire was the mightiest in the world, they had riding skills even your instructor would envy.

5
00:00:53,091 --> 00:00:59,220
They could eat, sleep, and pick up an arrow from the ground without ever getting off their horses!"

6
00:00:59,221 --> 00:01:01,774
Laurie raised her eyebrows.

7
00:01:01,775 --> 00:01:08,143
"Not only that, but they have an amazing history too," Grandpa continued.

8
00:01:08,144 --> 00:01:10,778
"Would you like to hear a bit?"

9
00:01:10,779 --> 00:01:13,516
"Okay," Laurie answered.

10
00:01:13,517 --> 00:01:22,342
"Come on in," he said, and Laurie followed him into the study.

11
00:01:22,343 --> 00:01:29,545
"Mongolia," Grandpa began, "is a country in Asia, between Russia and China.

12
00:01:29,546 --> 00:01:36,335
Its land is a mix of mountains, grasslands, and the driest desert in the world.

13
00:01:36,336 --> 00:01:43,160
Because Mongols live in such rough environments, they have become pretty tough themselves.

14
00:01:43,161 --> 00:01:47,390
But they love their land and feel deeply connected to it.

15
00:01:47,391 --> 00:01:57,149
The Mongols, you know, believe their people were created when a blue wolf and a female deer traveled to a sacred mountain in Mongolia.

16
00:01:57,150 --> 00:02:02,794
There the two animals mated and the deer later gave birth to a human.

17
00:02:02,795 --> 00:02:07,428
This human was the first ancestor of the Mongols."

18
00:02:07,429 --> 00:02:13,458
Grandpa paused to lift a furry hat off the bookshelf and place it on his head.

19
00:02:13,459 --> 00:02:25,884
"The early Mongols," he continued, "were nomads who lived in tents and migrated seasonally with their large herds of sheep, camels, yaks, and horses.

20
00:02:25,885 --> 00:02:29,780
In summer they lived in the high steppes.

21
00:02:29,781 --> 00:02:36,284
In winter they traveled to warmer, lower lands, in search of new grass for their animals.

22
00:02:36,285 --> 00:02:42,674
To the Mongols, land was sacred, so they would not plow it or settle on it.

23
00:02:42,675 --> 00:02:48,454
Water was sacred, so they would not bathe in it or dirty it with any of their waste.

24
00:02:48,455 --> 00:02:58,474
And the sky was sacred, so they climbed to the tops of mountains to be closer to their greatest god, known as Eternal Blue Heaven.

25
00:02:58,475 --> 00:03:03,370
For many years the Mongols existed as separate tribes.

26
00:03:03,371 --> 00:03:10,816
Even though the Mongol tribes shared a common culture and way of life, they fought often.

27
00:03:10,817 --> 00:03:17,200
At one point the fighting was so intense, it looked like they might all destroy each other.

28
00:03:17,201 --> 00:03:22,604
But then in the twelfth century, a great leader united them.

29
00:03:22,605 --> 00:03:27,362
He built a mighty empire that connected the East and the West forever."

30
00:03:27,363 --> 00:03:31,846
"Who?" Laurie blurted out. "Was he a Mongol?"

31
00:03:31,847 --> 00:03:35,925
"Yes. He was a Mongol named Temujin.

32
00:03:35,926 --> 00:03:41,142
According to legend, he was born holding a blood clot in his fist.

33
00:03:41,143 --> 00:03:47,035
This was either a sign of danger or a sign that he would be a great warrior.

34
00:03:47,036 --> 00:03:51,375
Temujin turned out to be a strong, brave warrior.

35
00:03:51,376 --> 00:03:57,061
After many battles he became the khan, or leader, of his tribe.

36
00:03:57,062 --> 00:04:06,317
Once he had conquered all the neighboring tribes, he was called Genghis Khan, which means oceanic or universal leader.

37
00:04:06,318 --> 00:04:17,435
Under Genghis Khan's leadership, the Mongol Empire expanded to include most of Asia, much of the Middle East, and a large part of modern-day Russia.

38
00:04:17,436 --> 00:04:23,248
It was the largest empire ever established by one man."

39
00:04:23,249 --> 00:04:30,150
"Wow. Really?" Laurie remarked. "What made him such a great leader?"

40
00:04:30,151 --> 00:04:35,662
"Well, Genghis Khan understood what is needed to keep a stable empire:

41
00:04:35,663 --> 00:04:43,222
a common written language, law and order, good communication, and a strong, loyal army.

42
00:04:43,223 --> 00:04:47,260
He made sure the Mongols had all these things.

43
00:04:47,261 --> 00:04:56,931
The Mongols never had a written language, so he chose the alphabet of one of the conquered tribes and made it the official Mongolian script.

44
00:04:56,932 --> 00:05:06,529
Then he ordered the Mongolian cultural and social rules to be written in a book and demanded that people be punished if they disobeyed them.

45
00:05:06,530 --> 00:05:18,440
And—at a time when there were no postal systems—he built a messenger system that could quickly carry messages on horseback across long distances.

46
00:05:18,441 --> 00:05:23,446
But perhaps his greatest ideas had to do with the army.

47
00:05:23,447 --> 00:05:31,765
He separated soldiers from their fellow tribesmen so that they would be more loyal to him than to their fellow soldiers.

48
00:05:31,766 --> 00:05:36,750
And he promoted them based on their skill rather than their social position.

49
00:05:36,751 --> 00:05:40,344
This was a revolutionary idea at the time.

50
00:05:40,345 --> 00:05:45,257
Genghis Khan also had the reputation of being one of his people.

51
00:05:45,258 --> 00:05:53,614
That means he wore the same clothes they wore, ate the same food they ate, and rode the same horses they rode.

52
00:05:53,615 --> 00:05:57,013
He didn't treat himself like a king or an emperor.

53
00:05:57,014 --> 00:06:04,836
This made him popular. When he died in 1227, a great funeral was held for him.

54
00:06:04,837 --> 00:06:11,777
He was buried at the mountain where the blue wolf and the deer created the first Mongol so many years ago.

55
00:06:11,778 --> 00:06:23,552
But the exact location has never been found because after the funeral, eight hundred horsemen rode over the spot to destroy any sign of a grave."

56
00:06:23,553 --> 00:06:29,239
"Whoa . . . Eight hundred horseback riders?" Laurie asked.

57
00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:36,741
"Well, important men get impressive funerals, and Genghis Khan was a very important Mongol.

58
00:06:36,742 --> 00:06:43,138
Under his leadership, the Mongol Empire left a huge impact on the world.

59
00:06:43,139 --> 00:06:49,980
After being abandoned for some time, the Silk Road reopened under Genghis Khan's rule.

60
00:06:49,981 --> 00:06:56,983
The Mongols helped promote the transfer of goods, ideas, and culture between Asia and Europe.

61
00:06:56,984 --> 00:07:06,363
The Silk Road brought so many interesting items from the East to the West that Westerners became extremely curious about Asia.

62
00:07:06,364 --> 00:07:13,615
In the late thirteenth century, the famous Italian explorer Marco Polo traveled to China.

63
00:07:13,616 --> 00:07:22,323
He lived in the palace of Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan's grandson who had become the emperor of China.

64
00:07:22,324 --> 00:07:30,701
Marco Polo's adventures inspired Christopher Columbus to sail around the world in search of a faster route to Asia.

65
00:07:30,702 --> 00:07:35,611
I'd say the Mongol Empire was pretty important, wouldn't you?"

66
00:07:35,612 --> 00:07:43,456
"Yes." Laurie pulled on the boots. "But more importantly, these boots are beautiful.

67
00:07:43,457 --> 00:07:46,587
I hope Mom lets me wear them to school.

68
00:07:46,588 --> 00:07:54,021
Thanks, Grandpa! Giddyap!" she cried, galloping out of the study.