Daily Curiosityby Erudico

Same year · Question

In 1215, the Magna Carta was signed in England. Which Mongol leader was expanding his empire at the same time?

Answer

Genghis Khan

The story behind the answer

Genghis Khan is correct. Proclaimed Great Khan in 1206, he was rapidly expanding the Mongol Empire by 1215—famously capturing and sacking Zhongdu (present-day Beijing) from the Jin dynasty that very year. While English barons forced King John to seal the Magna Carta at Runnymede, Genghis was transforming the steppe confederation into history’s largest contiguous empire.

The other options came later: Ögedei (his son) became Great Khan in 1229; Kublai (his grandson) ruled from 1260 and founded China’s Yuan dynasty; Tamerlane lived

More to discover

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