Tolui was the youngest son of Genghis Khan and Börte. A prominent general during the early Mongol conquests, Tolui was a leading candidate to succeed his father after his death in 1227 and ultimately served as regent of the Mongol Empire until the accession of his brother Ögedei two years later. Tolui's wife was Sorghaghtani Beki; their sons included Möngke and Kublai, the fourth and fifth khagans of the empire, and Hulagu, the founder of the Ilkhanate.
Depiction of Tolui from a 14th-century manuscript of Rashid al-Din's Jami al-tawarikh
The walls of the city of Merv, which never recovered from the Mongol conquests; the tomb of Ahmad Sanjar can be seen through a gap in the ruined fortifications.
The mausoleum of Attar of Nishapur, a Persian poet who was killed during the sack of Nishapur, was built during the Timurid Renaissance in the 15th century.
Early 15th-century miniature of Genghis Khan advising his sons on his deathbed, taken from Marco Polo's section of the Livre des merveilles manuscript.
Genghis Khan, also Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire, which he ruled from 1206 until his death in 1227; it later became the largest contiguous empire in history. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongol tribes, he launched a series of military campaigns, conquering large parts of China and Central Asia.
Reproduction of a 1278 portrait taken from a Yuan-era album – National Palace Museum, Taipei
1908 edition of the Secret History of the Mongols
15th-century copy of the Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid al-Din Hamadani
The Onon River, near which Temüjin was born, pictured here in Khentii Province, Mongolia