The Unified Mongol empire
In 1206 at the Great Khurildai (convention) of Mongol princes on the banks of the Onon river, the feudal nobility proclaimed Temujin supreme ruler of the unified Mongol state and conferred on him the title of Chinggis Khaan.
Genghis Khan attached great importance to law and traditions. On ascending to the throne of the unified Mongol state, Genghis Khan undertook several steps to strengthen state power by issuing a code of laws called Ikh Zasag and establishing a system of 95 myangats (units, each consisting of one thousand) that simplified the organization and administration of military and civil affairs; an optimal political system according to historians. The 95 myangats were divided into three areas with the central one under his own rule, while the right and left principalities were governed by Mukhulai and Boorchi.
Through these initial steps towards establishing a system of government of a vast empire, and strengthening and centralizing state power, Genghis Khan thus ensured the security of the northern and western boundaries of his state. Some neighbours, however, continued to pose a threat as their rulers opposed the unification of the Mongol tribes, considering them to be their own vassals.
In the autumn of 1209, Chinggis set out against the Tangud, emerging victorious and having conquered them. In 1211 Genghis Khan, accompanied by his sons Zuchi, Tsagaadai, Ugedei, Tului and brother Khasar, launched a campaign against the Chin dynasty and in 1215, conquered its capital, Beijing.
In 1216, the Khar Kidans were subdued and thus, the Mongol Empire occupied several states of Central Asia and Eastern Turks, its outlying areas reaching the borders of the Khorezm state. In 1218, as a sign of good-neighbourliness, Genghis Khan dispatched a caravan with ambassadors on a diplomatic and commercial mission to the capital city of the Khorezm state, Urgench, but at the frontier town of Otrar the caravan was pillaged and the ambassadors murdered. Furthermore, three Mongolian emissaries sent to Khorezm to investigate the incident were subjected to unprecedented humiliations. At the time the Royal court saw these acts as a blatant insult and a blow to the Mongol state's desire to develop normal trade and political relations between the two states. In the 13th century such a demarche was sufficient to enrage feudal rulers and force them into military confrontation. Accordingly, when invading Khorezm in 1221 after capturing Bukhara and Samarkand, the Mongol troops took Urgench. Genghis Khan's youngest son Tului led the Mongol troops into Afghanistan and northwestern India. The troops under the command of Zev and Subeedei invaded Georgia and Azerbaijan in 1221 and battled with Russian forces for the first time on the bank of the Kalka River. The Russians were defeated. After six years of warring the Mongol Empire expanded as far west as the Black Sea.
In the autumn of 1225, after six years of campaigning in the West the Great Khaan returned to his homeland. Genghis Khan then received the news that the rulers of the Tangud state of Si-Sya had entered into a secret alliance with the Chin dynasty and were undertaking hostile policies towards the Mongols. So, in 1226 another major campaign was launched against the Tangud and in 1227 its capital city Irgai was captured. In the same year Genghis Khan was wounded while out hunting and on 25 August, 1227, Genghis Khan, the Founder of the Mongol Empire, expander of its borders throughout Central Asia and Middle Asia, died.
