E . Very Mighty Ruler), a celebrated Mongol conqueror, born near Lake Baikal, the son of a Mongol chief; his career as a soldier began at the age of 13, an age at which he boldly assumed the reins of government in succession to his father; by his military skill and daring example he gradually raised his people to a position of supremacy in Asia, and established by means of them a kingdom which, at his death, stretched from the Volga to the Pacific, and from Siberia to the Persian Gulf; he regarded himself as commissioned by Heaven to conquer the world, a destiny which he almost fulfilled (1162-1227).