One of my Papa’s greatest revelations to me was that my paternal bloodline is directly descended from the great Mongolian -- Tatar himself, the Genghis Khan. It was also quite funny when Papa got mad at me, which was not that often, and took this bloodline into account. He’d call me tatarskaya morda in Russian which meant the muzzle of the Tatar. It was my special endearment and I would giggle under my breath every time I heard it. I still do.

Papa told me, “The bloodline on my side of the family descended from the Tatars and the great Mongolian himself - Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan lived a long time ago, back in the 1200’s. The Khan was powerful, and united many tribes that roamed all over Asia and eventually Russia. He had a lot of children and they inter-married with the Russians when they attempted to conquer them during the raids they launched. This is the blood runs through your veins -- remember this.”

Papa could have told me more, but, apparently he wasn’t paying attention when my Grandfather was giving him the specifics.

I surmise that this genetic relationship is entirely possible, since the Khan fathered thousands of children and it would certainly account for my high cheekbones and my fiery temper. Even my B positive blood type makes sense genetically considering this fact: this blood type is very common in Asians.

Had I lived in the time of Genghis Khan, male or female, I would have amassed a large number of skulls and tied them to the saddle of my horse as a warning to those who dared to cross me. Thankfully, I’ve mellowed a bit nowadays, and prefer peace to strife.

Who was Ghenghis Khan, anyway? From all historical accounts, he was born in the twelfth century, circa 1162, and lived until 1227. He was a powerful military leader credited with starting the Mongolian nation by uniting the many Mongolian tribes that roamed that geographic region of the world.

Afterwards, the ruthless and bloodthirsty Ghenghis Khan focused on expansion, like any good leader would do, and sought to expand his empire to include the known world at the time. This expansion included Russia and his armies marched through the Caucasus to conquer parts of Russia.

Russia feared the Mongolian or Tatar tribes: it was a heavy yoke for them to bear. The Tatars demanded gifts and tributes as well as bowing down to the Khans and their gods. It appeared as if the Tatars would be the end of Rus or early Russia and for 250 years they remained a presence all over the land.

Finally, in 1480 during the reign of Prince Ivan the Third, on the shores of the river Ugra after a stalemate of many months, the Mongolians retreated. It was the beginning of the end of the Russian subservience to the Tatars but the intermingled bloodlines and genetics remain to this day.