That was his title, his name was Temüjin,
which means “of iron” or “blacksmith.” He was the Great Khan and
founder of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest
contiguous empire in history after his death. First Khagan (Great
Kahn) of the Mongol Empire and Supreme Khan of the Mongols, the
King of Kings.
Between 1206 and his
death in 1227, the Mongol leader Genghis Khan conquered nearly
12 million square miles of territory, more than any individual
in history. He was responsible for the deaths of as many as 40
million people.
He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of
Northeast Asia. After founding the Empire and being proclaimed
"Genghis Khan," he launched the Mongol invasions that conquered
most of Eurasia.
The Mongol Empire ended up ruling, or at least briefly
conquering, large parts of modern day China, Mongolia, Russia,
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan,
Turkmenistan, Moldova, and Kuwait. Many of these invasions
repeated the earlier large-scale slaughters of local
populations.