Genghis khan cause of death

During the Mongol invasions and conquests , which began under Genghis Khan in —, the Mongol army conquered most of continental Asia , including parts of the Middle East , and parts of Eastern Europe , with further albeit eventually unsuccessful military expeditions to various other regions including Japan , Indonesia and India. The efforts of Mongol troops and their allies enabled the Mongol Empire to become the contemporarily largest polity in human history.

Today, the former Mongol Empire remains the world's largest polity to have ever existed in terms of contiguous land area and the second-largest polity overall, behind only the British Empire. Each Mongol soldier typically maintained 3 or 4 horses. When one horse became tired, the rider would dismount and rotate to another. By letting a tired horse keep up with the rest of the herd without a load, the strategy preserved mobility without overburdening the animal.

The Mongols protected their horses in the same way as they did themselves, covering them with lamellar armor. Horse armor was divided into five parts and designed to protect every part of the horse, including the forehead, which had a specially crafted plate which was tied on each side of the neck. Lamellar armor was worn over thick coats.

The armor was composed of small scales of iron, chain mail, or hard leather sewn together with leather tongs and could weigh 10 kilograms 22 lb if made of leather alone and more if the cuirass was made of metal scales.

Genghis khan height

The leather was first softened by boiling and then coated in a crude lacquer made from pitch, which rendered it waterproof. Helmets were cone shaped and composed of iron or steel plates of different sizes and included iron-plated neck guards. The Mongol cap was conical in shape and made of quilted material with a large turned-up brim, reversible in winter, and earmuffs.

Whether a soldier's helmet was leather or metal depended on his rank and wealth. Mounted archers were a major part of the armies of the Mongol Empire, for instance at the 13th-century Battle of Liegnitz , where an army including 20, horse archers defeated a force of 30, troops led by Henry II , Duke of Silesia, via demoralization and continued harassment.

The primary weapon of the Mongol forces was their composite bows made from laminated horn , wood, and sinew. The layer of horn is on the inner face as it resists compression, while the layer of sinew is on the outer face as it resists tension.