Genghis Khan Is Remembered for His Vast Empire and Fearsome Warriors. This Exhibition Explores His Cultural Legacy

The Royal Armouries Museum will show nearly 250 rare artifacts—from saddles to early paper money—that reveal a side of the Mongol Empire that’s often neglected

Michele Debczak | Correspondent

June 29, 2026 4:19 p.m.

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Eight hundred years after he ruled the largest contiguous land empire the world had ever seen, Genghis Khan is the star of an exhibition in England. “Genghis Khan: How the Mongols Changed the World” at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds explores the life and legacy of the prolific ruler, going beyond his brutal reputation to highlight his lasting legacy on science, politics and the arts.

Roughly 250 rare Mongolian artifacts are making their United Kingdom debut as part of the exhibition. “For the first time, we have objects coming directly from Mongolia and not from other museums, because they are starting to recreate their own history with objects they found in archaeological excavations,” historian Marie Favereau, the show’s curator and author of The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World, tells BBC News’ Julia Bryson.

The exhibition, which is divided into six chapters, traces the Mongols’ spread from Asia into Central Europe, leading to historic levels of cultural and commercial exchange across continents. Noteworthy artifacts on display include saddles, ceramics, tablets that served as early passports and paper currency that predates Europe’s first notes.

Favereau highlights the silk deel, a type of robe worn by the empire’s nomadic elite.

“It’s what men and women actually used to wear to ride horses, to live their life as herders,” she tells BBC News. “It is really exceptional to, you know, to feel the person almost inside the tunic.”

In addition to seeing historical artifacts within the halls, guests will also be treated to live demonstrations of Mongol-style horse riding and archery skills in the museum’s jousting courtyard throughout the summer.

Born under the name Temüjin around 1162 C.E., Genghis Khan grew up in a time when the Mongols were fragmented into nomadic tribes. As a military leader, he succeeded in unifying these tribes, which enabled him to build a powerful army and conquer 9 million square miles of land throughout the 13th century.

The vast majority of historical accounts of Genghis Khan come from non-Mongol sources, and they often place emphasis on the destruction the ruler and his army left in their wake. Yet the Mongols also left behind a cultural legacy that’s received less attention.

“The Mongols deliberately opened the world to a new commerce not only in goods, but also in ideas and knowledge,” anthropologist Jack Weatherford writes in Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. “They brought a metal worker from Paris to build a fountain on the dry steppes of Mongolia, recruited an English nobleman to serve as interpreter in their army, and took the practice of Chinese fingerprinting to Persia. They financed the building of Christian churches in China, Buddhist temples and stupas in Persia, and Muslim Koranic schools in Russia. The Mongols swept across the globe as conquerors, but also as civilization’s unrivaled cultural carriers.”

The Royal Armouries exhibition explores some of the Mongols’ surprisingly modern innovations, such as promoting based on skill rather than lineage. It also tells stories of the powerful Mongol women, including Genghis Khan’s daughter Alaqai Beki, who helped rule the empire.

“Cutting across ethnic, cultural and religious distinctions, Genghis Khan forged a new political and military force, the like of which had never before been seen,” Nat Edwards, director general and master of the armouries, says in a statement. “Today, the epic story of the Mongol Empire, brought into life through these amazing treasures, feels like something to which we should all pay attention.”

“Genghis Khan: How the Mongols Changed the World” is on display at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England, through November 1.

Michele Debczak | Read More

Michele Debczak is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. She appears in seasons four through six of History Channel’s “The Food That Built America,” and her work has been featured in Mental Floss, IndieWire, Eater and Vice.