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The Mongols

The mongols were a nomadic group that lived in vast open grasslands of Eurasia, also known as the Steppe. From 1206 to 1368 they became the largest contiguous empire in world history, thanks to a single man's leadership and brilliance, Genghis Khan. This empire spread like wildfire, ruling from the islands of Japan, all the way to Asia, Eastern Europe, China, Russia, Hungary, Iran, the Middle East, Mongolia, and Indochina. Genghis's goals from the start were to conquer all of the Mongolian tribes which had never before come together as one, and that goal he achieved for one hundred and sixty two years.
Among the tribes that held power in Mongolia were the Xiongnu, a confederated empire that warred with the young Chinese state for centuries before dissolving in 48 CE. The Khitan ruled in Manchuria and North China, where they established the Liao dynasty (907–1125) and formed an alliance with a little-known tribal confederacy known as All the Mongols. After the fall of the Liao, the Tatars—a Mongol people but not members of the league—appeared as allies of the Juchen, the Khitan’s successors.
During this time Genghis Khan (1162–1227) came to power within the All the Mongols league and was proclaimed khan in 1206. He skillfully gained control over the Mongols outside the league. Between 1207 and 1227 he undertook military campaigns that extended Mongol domains as far west as European Russia and as far east as northern China, taking Beijing in 1215. He died on campaign against the Xi Xia in northwest China. By this time the Mongol empire stretched over an immense swath of Asia between the Caspian Sea (west) and the China Sea (east), and Siberia (north) and the Pamirs, Tibet, and central China (south). The amazing military achievements of the Mongols under Genghis Khan and his successors were largely due to their armies of mounted archers, who possessed great speed and mobility.