![]() In misfortune and adversity they are free from dissension and opposition. “In time of action, when attacking and assaulting, they are like trained wild beasts out after game, and in days of peace and security they are like sheep, yielding milk, and wool, and many other useful things. “What army in the whole world can match the Mongol army?” marveled a 13th-century Persian historian. As a force borne from a lifetime spent in saddleback, every Mongol hunter, herdsperson, and trapper could be counted upon as a trained soldier in times of war. The Mongol armies had, in many senses, a natural advantage over infantry armies levied from agricultural nations such as Persia, China, and Kievan Russia. Īlthough Chinggis was not the first unifier amongst the tribes of Central Asia-Attila and others had come before-his Empire proved an unstoppable force against its rivals to the south and west. “If you want to favor me, then let me die quickly and you’ll be at peace with your heart.” With Jamugha’s execution, Temujin was poised to name himself Chinggis Khan-the supreme, unquestioned ruler of the Mongol people. ![]() “Now that the world is ready for you, what good would I be as an ally?” asked Jamugha upon his capture, sensing the magnitude of his rival’s accomplishments. After a long and bloody war against his own sworn brother and closest ally Jamugha, Temujin had brought all the “people of felt tents”-the nomads of the North Asian steppes-into one nation. Despite (or, perhaps, as a result of) constant betrayal, Temujin rose to become a charismatic and powerful warlord, uniting disparate tribes beneath one banner where they had seldom seen unity before. Together with his banished siblings and mother, Temujin joined forces as a sworn vassal of a powerful khan, winning loyal soldiers to his banner and slowly eclipsing his would-be allies. Since his birth, likely in 1162, Temujin had endured violence, hunger, and exile by his father’s tribe amidst the hard landscape of the Mongol steppes. In the year 1206 CE, a Mongol chieftain named Temujin took up the title and mantle of Chinggis (often spelled Genghis) Khan before a vast assembly comprised of his loyal followers. “What army in the whole world can match the Mongol army?” In the most recent set, and in many of the planes of Magic’s universe, we can see reflections of our world’s past, which is written in flame and struggle every bit as much as the fate of Tarkir. The cultures and armies of Tarkir inspired this column-A Planeswalker’s Guide To Earth-as a way to explore our own world through the Multiverse of Magic. ![]() Although without the ragesingers of the Mardu horde, the vast behemoths of Abzan caravans, and the sun-bleached bones of dragons, our own world’s history resembles the plane of Sarkhan’s birth.
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