In the year 1219, after uniting the tribes of Mongolia, Genghis Khan dispatched 450 men to the town of Otrar, in present-day Kazakhstan, to trade. The local governor Inalchuq executed the group, and later beheaded Khan’s ambassador, sent to request an apology. Khan’s response was to raise an army and embark on the most brutal and successful military campaign in history. Inalchuq was executed by the application of molten silver to his ears and eyes.
