The Mongol Empire Hit its Peak Not Under Genghis Khan, but His Successor
Ogedei (1185 – 1241) was Genghis Khan’s third son and unexpected successor. In his reign, the Mongol Empire reached its greatest territorial extent. His two older brothers, Jochi and Chagatai, were ahead of him in the line of succession but had developed a bitter enmity. Jochi claimed the right to inherit as the eldest. Chagatai countered that Jochi, whose parentage was questionable because their mother had been kidnapped by an enemy of Genghis in the year before Jochi’s birth, was a bastard. That made Chagatai the eldest true born son. When it became clear that the empire would descend into civil war if either inherited, Ogedei was selected as a compromise heir.
Ogedei realized that he was not Genghis Khan’s military equal. He nonetheless became even more powerful than his father had been because he recognized his limitations, and was open to wise counsel. He relied on capable subordinates who greatly expanded the frontiers of the Mongol Empire to its greatest southward and westward extents. From his capital in Mongolia, he directed simultaneous campaigns on multiple fronts separated by thousands of miles. He employed field generals who acted independently within their theaters, but remained subject to Ogedei’s orders, relayed via a swift horse relay courier network.