Before becoming the conqueror that history will remember, Genghis Khan, born Temüjin around 1160, was a member of the Borjigin clan. His destiny changes when an enemy clan, the Merkit, attacks him and his wife Börte. If Temüjin escapes from them, Börte is kidnapped. Devastated, he sets out to defeat the Merkit and save his beloved. Once his enemies were annihilated, he received the name Genghis Khan – literally “king of all”.
Under his command, the nomadic tribes of Mongolia united and gave birth to an empire covering Central Asia and parts of China, Persia and Russia. Genghis Khanis the founder of the nation, the father of all Mongolsrecalls anthropologist Jack Weatherford in the columns of National Geographic. He offered his people a nation, an alphabet and a set of laws.
The cause of his death in 1227 remains unclear. For centuries, rumors have circulated: falling from a horse, wound by arrow, plague or, for the most improbable versions, fatal castration. But the real mystery lies in the absence of a corpse. According to tradition, the remains would have been buried in secret, in order to avoid any desecration. “If you wanted to take someone’s land or power, all you had to do was destroy the tomb of their ancestors which contains their spiritual power“, explains National Geographic documentarian Albert Lin.
To find it, you must first ask yourself what the tomb of the founder of the Mongol Empire might look like. Again, just speculation. Some experts favor a wooden coffin buried in a remote area, such as on top of a mountain. This is not the opinion of Weatherford, for whom Genghis Khan “was wrapped in felt and buried in the earth“. It is also possible that the warrior was simply not buried.
The 21st century tomb hunt
Specialists nevertheless agree on the general resting place of Genghis Khan, at Burkhan Khaldun. This sacred mountain, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, embodies both Mongolian spirituality and identity. Problem: impossible for archaeologists to dig, the site is prohibited for spiritual reasons. To venture there, you need special authorization, granted only by the state to shamans and officials, according to Albert Lin.
In 2008, the latter launched a high-tech hunt: satellites, drones, ground-penetrating radars and electromagnetic induction. Enough to scan the mountain without disturbing the site. Albert Lin and his team discovered thousands of artifacts (tiles, charred wood and horse teeth) dating from the death of Genghis Khan and the following years. They also located “a mound» and a “giant shrine» at the top which could correspond to the object of their research. An intriguing detail: the Mongols, nomads, did not build permanent structures. The mountain would therefore have served as a ceremonial place, and not as a habitat.
So tomb or no tomb? Impossible to know without investigating the site. “At this point, it is no longer a technological barrier. It’s up to the Mongolian people to decide whether they want to know or not», says Albert Lin. And for the moment, the Mongolian population does not seem interested in the exhumation. She holds to an age-old belief that visiting a grave brings the spirit of the dead back among the living.
Nine centuries later, the mystery remains complete. Some researchers still dream of finding the tomb of the great conqueror. The opportunity to put an end to the life of one of the most controversial figures in history. While some remember him as the father of Mongolia, others describe him as a fearsome warrior who built his empire through blood and iron. Between myth and memory, Mongolia prefers to let its founding father rest in peace.
