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Secondary sourcePaintingc. 1430

Temujin Proclaimed Genghis Khan in 1206

Sayf al-Vahidi · c. 1430

A fifteenth-century Persian manuscript painting depicting the assembly where Temujin took the title Genghis Khan in 1206.

Depicts the founding moment of Genghis Khan's rule, when Temujin was proclaimed khan in 1206.

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Painted miniature of a seated, crowned man on a cushioned throne under a green canopy with a red band, a bird perched on top. Robed attendants in blue, green, red and brown stand on both sides, and a kneeling man in blue holds a tray. A blue-and-white vase and a golden ewer sit on a low table. Trees with blossoms and white banners frame the scene against a blue sky.
Sayf al-Vahidi, from the Jami' al-tawarikh, Herat, c. 1430.

About this source

What it is

This miniature painting comes from a manuscript of the Jami' al-tawarikh made around 1430 in Herat by the artist Sayf al-Vahidi. It shows the moment Temujin was proclaimed Genghis Khan at an assembly in 1206, an event central to his rise to power.

Why it matters

Although painted more than two centuries after the event, this illustration shows how later Persian chroniclers and artists preserved and imagined the founding moment of the Mongol Empire, when Temujin united the Mongol tribes under his new title.

Look closer

  • What symbols of royal power, such as the throne and canopy, do you notice?
  • Why might an artist working centuries later still depict this moment with such formality?
  • What parts of this scene are likely imagined rather than historically recorded?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Genghis Khan on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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