Q 01/05

What was Genghis Khan's birth name?

A) Yesugei

B) Temüjin

C) Toghrul

D) Subutai

Answer · why

B) Temüjin

Temüjin was the name of an enemy chief his father had just captured, and the Secret History says the newborn was named after him to mark the victory.

Q 02/05

Genghis Khan was born into which clan of the Mongols?

A) Tayichiud

B) Jadaran

C) Borjigin

D) Olkhonud

Answer · why

C) Borjigin

Borjigin princes outlasted the empire by centuries: the clan was still supplying rulers in Mongolia in the 20th century, some 700 years after Genghis ...

Q 03/05

According to the most prominent legend, what was Genghis clutching in his hand when he was born?

A) A blood clot

B) An arrowhead

C) A lock of hair

D) A stone

Answer · why

A) A blood clot

A blood clot in a newborn's fist was read by the Mongols as an omen, and storytellers took this one as the sign that the boy was born to be a warrior.

Q 04/05

Genghis's father was poisoned while accepting a meal from members of which tribe?

A) Tatars

B) Oirats

C) Kereit

D) Naimans

Answer · why

A) Tatars

The Tatars recognised him as an old enemy when he stopped to share their meal on his ride home, and slipped poison into his food; he reached his own c...

Q 05/05

What did Genghis Khan's clan do after his father's death?

A) Crowned him chief

B) Abandoned his family

C) Avenged his father

D) Married off his mother

Answer · why

B) Abandoned his family

Abandoned his family: the clan had no use for a child chief and rode off, leaving his mother to keep the children alive on roots, nuts, fish and small...