Establishing the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire ever, Chinggis surely deserves his place among the great warriors of history, but in according him this place, we should not make him into a god. Neither god nor devil, Chinggis Khaan was, as various chronicles show, simply human. Very little is actually known about the early years of Chinggis Khaan. We can not even be sure of when he was born.
Several dates are plausible.
The most commonly accepted one in Western scholarship is probably 1167, although the Mongols themselves, and the Yuan shih, the official dynastic history of the Mongol rule of China, gives 1162 as the year of his birth. Written mostly probably in either 1228 or 1240, with later amendations, the Secret History must be approached with caution. It was probably written by someone who knew Chinggis Khaan personally, and was intended as a sort of imperial history. Yet, without knowing more about the Altan Devter, lost to history, our caution must remain, as we can not be sure that it was not just a version of the Secret History. With these caveats in mind, let us examine briefly the life and accomplishments of Chinggis Khaan.