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Genghis Khan Genghis Khan originally known as Temüjin was born in the north eastern area of today’s Mongolia, around 1167 A.D. Temüjin was born on the banks of the Onon river. At the age of nine, Temüjin became an orphan. His father had died in a battle with the Tatars, another tribe in that area that had defeated the Mongols. Temüjins’ mother had been abandoned by her husbands followers, because another tribe had wishes to prevent Temüjin from succeeding to his fathers position. This pressure made bringing up her family a hardship. At a young age, in his teens, Temüjin was taken prisoner by the clan who tried to keep him from taking up his fathers position, the Taichi’uts. Temüjin escaped, and soon after became the apprentice of a leader of a central Mongolian Christian tribe, the Kereits. The leaders name was Toghril. Toghril and a young chieftain, Jamuka, helped Temüjin rescue his recently married wife from the Merkits. Around the time that Jamuka and Temüjins’ friendship came to a halt, the name that would stick with Temüjin for the rest of his life was given to hi