I think that when most people hear the name Genghis Khan, they immediately think to the Mongols, the world's largest empire, and last but not least, the blood that was shed to acquire such land.
To really determine if Genghis Khan was insane or not, I think that we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. We have to look at the time and place this happened. He didn't live in 21st America where the things that he did would take him to death row right away. He would be enjoying his last meal before his empire began to form. But this is not the present, this is the past.
If you think back to where he lived and when he lived. Everything that he did is understandable. Looking at the environment that he was raised in, the question of nature vs. nurture comes forward. Human nature: we all think that everyone has deep rooted moral standards and if they don't... they at least have some sort of moral code they follow. I'm sure Genghis had a moral compass as well but I can imagine that it was way different that what mine is. His own clan left him and his family to fend for themselves after the death of his father. That betrayal must have broken something in him. Even now friendships, relationships, basically anything can be broken by betrayal. Everybody has a tinge of revenge hidden in them that strikes out when they feel a wrong has been done to them. It't the same thing. He was betrayed and he wanted revenge, or at least to get back the clan.
You might say, "oh, but wait, remember when he killed his half-brother over a fish?". To that, I say yes I do remember but think of the horrible things that happen in the world even today over silly disputes. Back then, that's how they settled things I guess. Although he was at times cruel and barbaric, he believed deeply in diplomacy. So you can say that at least he tried to keep peace at first.
Everybody does wrong. Great leaders that people venerate have murdered people. Think of all the army generals and war presidents who we all admire so much? Are they insane? And it's not Genghis, himself, killed each and every person who was killed. He did kill but so did his soldiers. And if that's the criteria for being insane, then I suppose George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were insane too. And although he did do some torture and other such things, there have been terrible torture methods that took place in America, not even a hundred years ago. Even now, protesters are injured and harmed.
Genghis Khan is human. He makes mistakes. He does things wrong. Everybody does.
He is just another human being. Not insane.
And in the end, whose to say what's normal and what's not? Whose to say who's insane or mentally stable? Does anybody have the right and ability to judge those things? I think not.
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