On 18 August 1227, Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, died. Several stories have been put forward on what caused the ruler’s death, but a group of researchers now believe that he was a victim of the bubonic plague.
The team of Australian and Italian researchers makes their claim in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. They examined that records that detailed Genghis’ death, which took place in present-day northern China during a campaign against the Tangut kingdom of Western Xia.
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Various sources have offered explanations for his death, including a fall from his horse, being stabbed by a Tangut princess, dying in battle against the Chinese, or as Marco Polo explained, dying of an infection after an arrow struck him in the knee. However, the researchers write, “all these legends were most likely created at a later stage and failed to take into account – or even willingly ignored – an accepted historical fact, namely that Khan’s family and followers were instructed to keep Khan’s death as their most hidden secret, since it happened at the wrong time when the Mongols were at the vital stage of their desired conquest of Western Xia, the empire against which they had been fighting for over 20 years (1205–1227).”
Instead, they point to two pieces of evidence. First, a report that Yelü Chucai (1190–1244), a Chinese official who was an advisor to Genghis Khan, had to treat thousands of Mongol troops during this campaign in the previous year – apparently they were suffering from the plague and Yelü Chucai used rhubarb as part of their medical treatment. This suggests that the plague was present among the Mongols.
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The second piece of evidence is the report of the Khan’s death in The History of Yuan (Yuanshi), which stated that Genghis was feeling unwell with fever between 18–25 August, and this ultimately killed him within eight days after the disease’s onset. The Persian historian Atâ-Malek Juvayni (1226–1283) added the Mongol ruler “was overcome by an incurable disease arising from the insalubrity of the climate.” While some have interpreted this statement to suggest typhoid fever as the cause, the researchers doubt this could be the case because there is no mention of symptoms such as abdominal pain and vomiting.
The researchers write:
Instead of spectacular, highly sophisticated or even more logically acceptable interpretations of Genghis Khan’s cause of death, the reported clinical picture and the duration of the disease, particularly given the general circumstances of the disease gripping his army as early as 1226, suggest a more reasonable conclusion and retrospective diagnosis, that of plague, a most ancient, history-changing and still present disease.
They add that the lack of detail about the cause of Genghis’ death could be explained by the Mongol leadership wanting to keep the situation as secret as possible, in order not to jeopardize the current military campaign.
The article, “Genghis Khan’s death (AD 1227): An unsolvable riddle or simply a pandemic disease?,” by Wenpeng You, Francesco M. Galassi, Elena Varotto and Maciej Henneberg, appears in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Click here to read it.
On 18 August 1227, Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, died. Several stories have been put forward on what caused the ruler’s death, but a group of researchers now believe that he was a victim of the bubonic plague.
The team of Australian and Italian researchers makes their claim in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. They examined that records that detailed Genghis’ death, which took place in present-day northern China during a campaign against the Tangut kingdom of Western Xia.
Various sources have offered explanations for his death, including a fall from his horse, being stabbed by a Tangut princess, dying in battle against the Chinese, or as Marco Polo explained, dying of an infection after an arrow struck him in the knee. However, the researchers write, “all these legends were most likely created at a later stage and failed to take into account – or even willingly ignored – an accepted historical fact, namely that Khan’s family and followers were instructed to keep Khan’s death as their most hidden secret, since it happened at the wrong time when the Mongols were at the vital stage of their desired conquest of Western Xia, the empire against which they had been fighting for over 20 years (1205–1227).”
Instead, they point to two pieces of evidence. First, a report that Yelü Chucai (1190–1244), a Chinese official who was an advisor to Genghis Khan, had to treat thousands of Mongol troops during this campaign in the previous year – apparently they were suffering from the plague and Yelü Chucai used rhubarb as part of their medical treatment. This suggests that the plague was present among the Mongols.
The second piece of evidence is the report of the Khan’s death in The History of Yuan (Yuanshi), which stated that Genghis was feeling unwell with fever between 18–25 August, and this ultimately killed him within eight days after the disease’s onset. The Persian historian Atâ-Malek Juvayni (1226–1283) added the Mongol ruler “was overcome by an incurable disease arising from the insalubrity of the climate.” While some have interpreted this statement to suggest typhoid fever as the cause, the researchers doubt this could be the case because there is no mention of symptoms such as abdominal pain and vomiting.
The researchers write:
Instead of spectacular, highly sophisticated or even more logically acceptable interpretations of Genghis Khan’s cause of death, the reported clinical picture and the duration of the disease, particularly given the general circumstances of the disease gripping his army as early as 1226, suggest a more reasonable conclusion and retrospective diagnosis, that of plague, a most ancient, history-changing and still present disease.
They add that the lack of detail about the cause of Genghis’ death could be explained by the Mongol leadership wanting to keep the situation as secret as possible, in order not to jeopardize the current military campaign.
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