Among the notable figures who died in that year were:
Genghis Khan (1), regarded by the Tatars as the supreme sultan and the forefather of their present kings, to whom they all trace their lineage. Whenever anyone extols “the Qaghan,” it is this (2) ruler they mean. He is the one who set down for them the yasa (3)—the code to which they submit their disputes and by which they govern—most of which is at odds with the revealed laws and scriptures of Allah. It was something he invented himself, and they simply followed him in it. His mother used to claim that she conceived him (4) from a ray of the sun; for that reason no father is known for him, and it appears that his ancestry is in fact unknown.
I have seen a volume compiled in Baghdad by the vizier ʿAlaʾ al-Din al-Juwayni devoted to his biography. In it he recounts Genghis Khan’s life and what it contained (5) of political (6) acumen, generosity, courage, sound administration of the kingdom and its subjects, and prowess in war (7).
He relates that, at the beginning of his career, Genghis Khan was especially favored by King Uzbek Khan. At that time he was a handsome youth, and his original name was Temurjin (8); when he achieved greatness, he styled himself Genghis Khan. The king had brought him close and honored him, but the grandees envied him and maligned him to the king until they turned the king against him. Still, the king did not kill him, nor could he find any charge on which to seize him.
While matters stood thus, the king grew angry with two young mamluks; they fled from him and sought refuge with Genghis Khan, who honored them (9) and treated them well. They then informed him that King Uzbek Khan intended to kill him (10). He therefore took precautions, withdrew from the king and his realm, and groups of Tatars (11) rallied to him.
(1) Bibliographic references: the biography “Genghis Khan” in Al-ʿIbar, vol. 5, p. 98; Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalā’, vol. 22, p. 243; Al-Wāfi bil-Wafayāt, vol. 11, pp. 197–199; Al-Nujoom al-Zāhirah, vol. 6, p. 268; Tārīkh Ibn al-ʿAbrī, p. 426; Shudhurāt adh-Dhahab, vol. 7, p. 199; Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyyah, vol. 12, p. 379.
(2) Manuscripts A and B read: “they claim descent from him and accept it on account of the prestige of the Khan”; this is the preferred reading.
(3) In the Ṭ edition: “al-Siyāsa.” A marginal note explains that al-Siyāsa derives from siʾ (“three”) and yasaʾ (“order”), later Arabized as siyasah. Manuscript A reads “al-Yasāq,” while manuscript B omits it here. See Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyyah, vol. 12, p. 392.
(4) In the Ṭ edition: “and his mother claimed that she had borne him.”
(5) In manuscripts A and B, under the heading “His Biography,” he combines the account of his life with all its details.
(6) In manuscript A: “al-fiʿl” (the verb).
(7) He is ʿAṭā Malik b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Juwaynī (ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn), who governed Iraq for twenty-one years and ten months and died at the end of 681 AH, according to the most reliable sources (Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 15, p. 454). I know of no Arabic work by him on Genghis Khan’s life, but he did author the famous Persian biography Jahan Kosha'i (the World Conqueror), which has been translated into English and Arabic in our time. It is unclear whether Ibn Kathīr refers to him or another; perhaps he drew this information from Ibn al-Saʿī, who was his contemporary. (Bashar)
(8) In Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalā’, Al-ʿIbar, and Shudhurāt adh-Dhahab the name appears as “Tamrījīn,” whereas in Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyyah it appears as “Tamwajīn.”
(9) In manuscript B: “And this king had honoured them.”
(10) In manuscript A: “min qatalihi walhamuhu bihi” (“from killing him and implanting it in him”).
(11) In the Ṭ edition: “wa taḥayyara bidawlah wa-ittabaʿahu” (“and he was perplexed by the rule and followed him”), a reading that differs from manuscript A.