Genghis Khan built the largest contiguous land empire in history. He died on campaign in August 1227. The cause and burial location were both unusual. What do we actually know?
Genghis died in August 1227 aged about 65 while campaigning against the Tangut Xi Xia state in northwestern China. Ancient sources offer at least four candidate causes: a fall from a horse, an unidentified fever, wounds from an arrow, or complications from a battle injury. The burial was deliberately concealed — by tradition the funeral cortege killed every witness it met en route to the burial site, and a herd of horses was driven over the grave to obliterate it. The location has never been found despite substantial 20th- and 21st-century archaeological efforts.
Read the full facts →The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous land empire in history, founded by Genghis Khan in 1206 and reaching its greatest extent under his successors by 1279. It controlled, at peak, approximately 24 million square kilometres of central and eastern Eurasia and approximately 110 million people.
Related questions
- The Mongol Empire under Kublai Khan reached its greatest extent around 1279, stretching from the Pacific to the Black Sea. By territory, where does it rank in the all-time list of land empires?
- In what year was Temüjin acclaimed Genghis Khan, founding the Mongol Empire?
- Roughly how large was the Mongol Empire at its 1279 peak — and what was its distinction in world history?
- Who killed Archimedes during the Roman sack of Syracuse in 212 BC?