Genghis Khan
1162 – 1227
Mongol

Empire builder. He created the (for a time) invincible Mongol military machine and ruthlessly exterminated anyone who dared oppose him, even whole towns and peoples. He is reputed to have said that the greatest anyone could have was to defeat an enemy, take their belongings, to make their families cry, to ride their horses, and to make love to their wives and daughters.

Contemporaries
1130–1200Zhu Xi
1180–1249William of Auvergne
1137–1193Saladin
1184–c. 1292Sadi
1157–1199Richard I
1138–1204Moses Maimonides
1207–1273Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi
1098–1199St. Hildegard of Bingen
fl. 1200Gangesa
1182–1253John Carpini
1118–1170St. Thomas à Becket
1220–1292Roger Bacon
1126–1198Averroes