Chinggis Khan

""Chinggis Khan (c.1162-1227) was perhaps the most influential man of the last millennium, and although often criticised as a mass-slaughterer, pillager, and arch-enemy of Islam, his monumental impact upon the Muslim world, past and present, is impossible to deny." "In this new perspective, Michal Biran stresses that aside from death and destruction, Chinggis Khan's constructive influence upon Islam was also considerable. Covering Chinggis Khan's early career, his conquests, and the enduring power of his descendents, Biran shows how Chinggis and his heirs contributed to booming international trade, cultural and scientific exchange, as well as new forms of legitimacy and law, thereby shaping the new ethnic map of Eurasia. No less fascinating is the subsequent story of the ongoing reinvention of the image of Chinggis Khan in Islamic and non-Islamic historiography." Jacquette."
"In this novel perspective on a much-maligned figure, Michal Biran explains the monumental impact Chinggis Khan has had upon the Islamic World, both positive and negative. Often criticized as a mass-slaughterer, pillager, and arch-enemy of the faith, Biran shows that his constructive influence upon Islam was also considerable - his legacy apparent in Central Asia even today. Covering Chinggis Khan''s early career, his conquests, the enduring power of his descendents, and the numerous ways he is presented in different Muslim contexts, this accessible book provides a fascinating insight into one."@en