Quiz on Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan founded the empire of which nomadic people?

• Mongols ✓ (Correct answer)
• Huns
• Ottomans
• Vikings

Source: The Mongols numbered maybe a million people yet ended up conquering most of the known world.

Which modern country contains the homeland where Genghis Khan was born?

• Japan
• Mongolia ✓ (Correct answer)
• Turkey
• India

Source: Mongolia still celebrates him as a founding hero, putting his face on its banknotes and its main airport.

Genghis Khan is most famous for doing what to the scattered Mongol tribes?

• Uniting them ✓ (Correct answer)
• Exiling them
• Enslaving them all
• Converting them to Islam

Source: He welded dozens of feuding clans into a single war machine that long outlasted him.

Genghis Khan's army was most feared for its skilled use of which fighters?

• War elephants
• Heavy chariots
• Mounted archers ✓ (Correct answer)
• Naval marines

Source: Mongol horse archers could fire accurately while riding at a full gallop, a terror on the battlefield.

The Mongols are credited with helping reopen which great trade route?

• Silk Road ✓ (Correct answer)
• Trans-Saharan route
• Amber Road
• Suez Canal

Source: The Mongol-enforced peace made Silk Road travel safer than it had been for centuries.

Roughly when did Genghis Khan live and build his empire?

• Around 800
• Around 500 BC
• Around 1200 ✓ (Correct answer)
• Around 1700

Source: He died in 1227, having assembled the largest land empire in history in just two decades.

Genghis Khan set up a fast horse-relay network mainly used for what?

• Trading silk
• Racing for sport
• Sending messages ✓ (Correct answer)
• Religious pilgrimage

Source: The relay let riders cross the vast empire in days, centuries before the pony express.

Genghis Khan was known for granting what to conquered peoples of different faiths?

• Free land
• Roman citizenship
• Voting rights
• Religious freedom ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Mongol law protected priests of every religion, strikingly tolerant for its era.

The title 'Genghis Khan' is generally translated as which of these?

• Holy warrior
• Great horseman
• Sky father
• Universal ruler ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: It was a grand title meaning universal ruler, which he adopted only after rising to power.

Which grandson of Genghis Khan went on to rule China as emperor?

• Tamerlane
• Kublai Khan ✓ (Correct answer)
• Attila
• Saladin

Source: Kublai Khan founded China's Yuan dynasty and famously hosted the traveler Marco Polo.

Which famous Chinese structure failed to keep the Mongols out?

• The Forbidden City
• The Grand Canal
• The Great Wall ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Terracotta Army

Source: The Great Wall couldn't stop them, the Mongols simply rode around or through its gaps.

After his death, which dynasty did Genghis Khan's family establish in China?

• Ming dynasty
• Han dynasty
• Qing dynasty
• Yuan dynasty ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: His grandsons ruled China as the Yuan dynasty for nearly a century.

A famous genetic study suggested Genghis Khan may be an ancestor of how many men today?

• Millions ✓ (Correct answer)
• About ten thousand
• A few hundred
• Around fifty

Source: A 2003 study traced a Y-chromosome lineage in roughly 16 million living men back to his era.

The location of Genghis Khan's burial site is best described as what today?

• A famous museum
• Under Beijing
• Marked by a pyramid
• Still unknown ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: His grave was hidden so thoroughly that it has never been found, fueling treasure legends.

Genghis Khan's empire eventually reached its western edge near which region?

• Iberia
• Eastern Europe ✓ (Correct answer)
• Scandinavia
• British Isles

Source: Mongol armies stormed into Hungary and Poland before abruptly turning back east.

Genghis Khan notably promoted his officers based mainly on what?

• Merit and loyalty ✓ (Correct answer)
• Noble birth
• Family wealth
• Religious piety

Source: He rewarded talent over bloodline, a radical idea in a deeply feudal age.

Who directly succeeded Genghis Khan as Great Khan of the Mongol Empire?

• Jochi
• Ögedei ✓ (Correct answer)
• Chagatai
• Tolui

Source: He passed over his eldest son, choosing the steadier Ögedei to inherit the throne.

Genghis Khan's empire was divided among his heirs into units called what?

• Caliphates
• Khanates ✓ (Correct answer)
• Provinces
• Duchies

Source: It split into four khanates, each ruled by a separate branch of his family.

Before taking his famous title, what was Genghis Khan's birth name?

• Yesügei
• Toghrul
• Temüjin ✓ (Correct answer)
• Jamukha

Source: Born Temüjin, he claimed the grand title 'Genghis Khan' only after uniting the tribes.

Which of these was one of Genghis Khan's most brilliant and feared generals?

• Hannibal
• Belisarius
• Khalid ibn al-Walid
• Subutai ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Subutai directed campaigns across more than 20 nations, ranking among history's great strategists.