Mongolia will celebrate the 860th anniversary of the birth of Chinggis Khaan and the pride day of Mongolia on 24 November. It is a holiday that honours the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.

Named Temuujin, he was born to a tribal leader. Temuujin proved himself to be an excellent politician, diplomat and warrior and achieved the  impossible – uniting the nomadic tribes on the Central Asian plateau. By the second decade of the 13th century, while Europe was an ever-changing patchwork of small feudal states, Chinggis Khaan was ruling over a vast empire that would eventually span the breadth of Asia, making it the largest contiguous empire in history – in just fifty years, a third of world’s land surface had fallen under Mongol control.

The Khaan died in August 1227 at the age of 65. The exact cause of his death is unknown. In Mongolia, Chinggis Khaan remains a revered figure, seen as the symbol of Mongolian culture.

In 2012, the Mongolian President issued a decree Chinggis Khaan’s birthday as a national holiday on the first day (new moon) of winter under the Mongolian lunar calendar.

On this day, the President, speaker of Parliament, prime minister, and key representatives from the government, the military, sports, arts, and herders will pay tribute to the statue of Chinggis Khaan.

Later in the day, the Order of Chinggis Khaan will be awarded to a Mongolian national who has made a significant contribution to Mongolian development, politics, arts, sports, or other sectors. However, this year, the Order of Chinggis Khaan, the country’s highest state award, will be awarded to American author Jack Weatherford for his contribution to the studies of Chinggis Khaan. Weatherford, who is well known for his book released in 2004, ‘Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World’, to become the first foreigner who received this order.