s, the Empire acquired its greatest
extent, and art and poetry reached their highest point.[10] The Empire
of Jenghis Khan (died 1227) was considerably greater, and contained a
great part of China; but Jenghis Khan was a foreign conqueror. Jenghis
and his generals, starting from Mongolia, appeared as conquerors in
China, India, Persia, and Russia. Throughout Central Asia, Jenghis
destroyed every man, woman, and child in the cities he captured. When
Merv was captured, it was transformed into a desert and 700,000 people
were killed. But it was said that many had escaped by lying among the
corpses and pretending to be dead; therefore at the capture of Nishapur,
shortly afterwards, it was ordered that all the inhabitants should have
their heads cut off. Three pyramids of heads were made, one of men, one
of women, and one of children. As it was feared that some might have
escaped by hiding underground, a detachment of soldiers was left to kill
any that might emerge.[11] Similar horrors were enacted at Moscow and
Kieff, in Hungary and Poland. Yet the man responsible for these
massacres was sought in alliance by St. Louis and the Pope. The times of
Jenghis Khan remind one of the present day, except that his methods of
causing death were more merciful than those that have been employed
since the Armistice.

Kublai Khan (died 1294), who is familiar, at least by name, through
Marco Polo and Coleridge; was the grandson of Jenghis Khan, and the
first Mongol who was acknowledged Emperor of China, where he ousted the
Sung dynasty (960-1277). By this time, contact with China had somewhat
abated the savagery of the first conquerors. Kublai removed his capital
from Kara Korom in Mongolia to Peking. He built walls like those which
still surround the city, and established on the walls an observatory
which is preserved to this day. Until 1900, two of the astronomical
instruments constructed by Kublai were still to be seen in this
observatory, but the Germans removed them to Potsdam after the
suppression of the Boxers.[12] I understand they have been restored in
accordance with one of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. If
so, this was probably the most important benefit which that treaty
secured to the world.

Kublai plays the same part in Japanese history that Philip II plays in
the history of England. He prepared an Invincible Armada, or rather two
successive armadas, to conquer Japan, but they were defeated, partly by
storms,