7. Genghis Khan was raised in a tough, unforgiving environment, and his ruthless streak was apparent from a young age as he even killed his own brother on his way to power
Genghis Khan wasn’t always a bloodthirsty warlord and military genius. As a young boy, he was named Temujin. But even then, he was ruthless, ambitious and willing to fight his own family in order to get what he wanted. While in the Mongol culture family always came first, the man who would be Khan was only too willing to fight – and even kill – his own brothers, even if in his early years, this was more a matter of survival than a question of naked ambition.
Born around 1162, Temujin was one of seven children. Their mother was required to raise them all alone after their father was expelled from their tribe. Times were tough and, according to the legend, shaped the young boy into the ruthless warrior he would become. Several accounts state that he murdered his own half-brother, shooting him in the heart with an arrow, in a dispute over food. What’s more, he showed not the slightest bit of remorse for the slaying.
Interestingly, however, the full brother of the murdered boy appeared to have borne no grudge. Indeed, he himself would go on to serve as a general in the vast army of Genghis Khan as it took over the known world. Since an estimated 40 million people were killed during Mongol conquests, whether directly in warfare or indirectly through forced famine, the warlord’s brief but bloody bout of sibling rivalry seems relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things.