Reign Check: Abundant Rainfall May Have Spurred Expansion of Genghis Khan’s Empire

The Mongol hordes led by Genghis Khan carved out the largest contiguous land empire history has ever witnessed, reaching at its apex from Asia's Pacific coast to eastern Europe and down into Persia and southeastern Asia. Although conventional wisdom suggests drought may have pushed them across the steppe to conquer more bountiful lands, ancient, long-dead trees discovered in a forbidding lava field in Mongolia give evidence that unprecedented rains might actually have helped fuel their expansion. [More]

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Reign Check: Abundant Rainfall May Have Spurred Expansion of Genghis Khan’s Empire