Yet the reputation of Genghis Khan as an utterly ruthless warrior may be worse than the reality. Much of our information comes from chroniclers of the time who often exaggerated the tales of cruelty so that the Mongols appeared more frightening to their enemies.
In the city of Nishapur, a chronicler wrote that the Mongols were brutal to the extent that even the city’s dogs and cats were killed. ”There’s no question that there was a great deal of destruction,” says Mongol expert Morris Rossabi. “[But] not all the cities were butchered.”
The Secret History of the Mongol, an account of Genghis Khan’s early life and the oldest surviving literary work in the Mongolian language, may also have bent the truth so as to enhance his reputation. “It is full of myths and legends,”says historian Larry Moses, although “some of it can be [supported by] Chinese sources.”