Genghis Khan's death (AD 1227): An unsolvable riddle or simply a pandemic disease?

Wenpeng You; Francesco M. Galassi; Elena Varotto; Maciej Henneberg

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2020.12.089

Genghis Khan's death (AD 1227): An unsolvable riddle or simply a pandemic disease?

Wenpeng You, Francesco M. Galassi, Elena Varotto, Maciej Henneberg

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The article examines Genghis Khan's death from the historico-medical perspective. Although several etiologies have been proposed over the years, most of these at a closer look appear to be later inventions by historians. A reassessment of the available evidence suggests instead bubonic plague as the most likely clinical scenario. Genghis Khan's death is also a reflection on the impact of pandemic diseases on leadership in ancient times as well as nowadays.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	347-348
Number of pages	2
Journal	International Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume	104
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.12.089
Publication status	Published - Mar 2021

Keywords

Genghis Khan
History of medicine
Infectious diseases
Military medicine
Paleopathology
Pandemic
Plague

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KW - Military medicine

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Genghis Khan's death (AD 1227): An unsolvable riddle or simply a pandemic disease?

Abstract

Keywords

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