Genghis Khan's birthday in 2024

When is Genghis Khan's Birthday

The birthday of Genghis Khan (Chinggis Khaan) is a public holiday in Mongolia on the first day of winter based on the lunar calendar.

It is a holiday that honours the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.

History of Genghis Khan's Birthday

Due to the lack of written historical records the exact birth date of Genghis Khan is unknown. It is generally accepted that he was born in 1162, in the north of modern-day Mongolia, not far from Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.

Named Temüjin, he was born to a tribal leader. Temüjin proved himself to be an excellent politician, diplomat and warrior and achieved the  impossible - uniting the nomadic tribes on the Central Asian plateau.

The skill of the Mongols with the horse and arrow had been honed over centuries of hunting on the steppes of Asia, making them formidable opponents on the battlefield. Combine this with Genghis Khan's reputation as one of the world's great generals and his appetite for conquest and Eurasia was faced with a military force that was seemingly unstoppable.

By the second decade of the 13th century, while Europe was an ever-changing patchwork of small feudal states, Genghis Khan was ruling over a vast empire that would eventually span the breadth of Asia, making it the largest contiguous empire in history - in just fifty years, a third of world's land surface had fallen under Mongol control.

Did you know?

Genghis Khan had 500 wives. A 2003 genetics study found that one in 200 of the male population (16 million men) are directly descended from Genghis Khan.

Genghis Khan died in August 1227 at the age of 65. The exact cause of his death is unknown with many, including the famous explorer, Marco Polo, speculating on the reason.

The Mongol Empire continued to grow after Genghis Khan's death, with his dynasty ruling until the middle of the 14th century.

In Mongolia, Genghis Khan remains a revered figure, seen as the symbol of Mongolian culture. During the communist period in Mongolia, he was seen as a reactionary nationalist symbol and acknowledgement of Genghis Khan was suppressed. Since the end of communist rule, the memory of Genghis Khan has seen a revival with his image appearing on bank notes and airports being named after him.

In 2012, the Mongolian President issued a decree Genghis Khan's birthday as a national holiday on the first day (new moon) of winter under the Mongolian lunar calendar.

On the morning of this holiday, the president, speaker of Parliament, prime minister, and key representatives from the government, the military, sports, arts, and herders will pay tribute to the statue of Genghis Khan.

Later in the day, the Order of Genghis Khan will be awarded to a Mongolian national who has made a significant contribution to Mongolian development, politics, arts, sports, or other sectors.