Genghis Khan

Temujin united the warring tribes of the Mongolian steppe and in 1206 was proclaimed Genghis Khan, founding the Mongol Empire. Through a highly mobile and disciplined army he conquered vast territories across Asia, from northern China to Central Asia and Persia. His campaigns built the largest contiguous land empire in history but were extraordinarily destructive, with the sack of cities and mass killings that depopulated whole regions. He reformed Mongol law and organisation and established a system that his descendants, including his grandson Kublai Khan, extended into the largest empire the world had known. His birth year and burial place are not firmly established.