Genghis Khan: Barbarian Conqueror or Harbinger of Democracy

Genghis Khan: Barbarian Conqueror or Harbinger of Democracy

Paper given by Morris Rossabi

Given at Penn Museum, on December 2, 2015

The world has generally viewed Genghis Khan as a barbaric conqueror whose troops raped and murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people and pillaged and often destroyed villages, towns, and cities throughout Asia and Europe. However, several popular writers have recently portrayed him as an advocate of democracy, international law, and women’s rights. Morris Rossabi, Senior Research Scholar, Queens College, Columbia University, offers this illustrated lecture, which seeks to provide a balanced depiction of Genghis Khan and to explain the reasons for the myths that have developed about the man and the Mongolian people who established the largest contiguous land empire in world history.

Dr. Morris Rossabi is the Senior Research Scholar at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University