August 18, 1227

The Secret History of the Mongols, [is] said to have been written by Genghis Khan's adopted son, ...[and] reveals a very different man to the brutal butcher of Western legend. Not just a womaniser, but a devoted husband. Not just a warrior, but a politician. Not just a conqueror, but a legislator. A man who wanted the lessons he had learnt - good and bad - to be passed onto his successors. Within its pages lies the inside story of how an illiterate nomad inspired his successors to conquer the largest land empire the world has ever seen.

Well, anyway,  that is the BBC blurb. And here are some words of the supposed mother of this Khan, distraught at the destruction her children accomplished.

Like the qasar [wild] dog gnawing on its own afterbirth,
like a panther attacking on a rocking mountain,
like a lion unable to control its anger,...
like a gerfalcon attacking its own shadow,...
like a male camel biting the heel of its young,...
thus you have destroyed!
Apart from our shadows we have no friends,
Apart from our tails, we have no fat.

Genghis Khan is said to have died on August 18, 1227. People still hunt for his tomb.