More than 200 items linked with Genghis Khan and his descendants went on display at the Dutch National Military Museum on Friday to show the history of the Mongol empire that ruled most of Eurasia throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, and the multiple facets of its mysterious founder.

It illustrates his life from his birth in 1162 into the Borjigid clan of the Mongol tribe as a bizarre baby "born with a clot of blood the size of a knucklebone clutched in his tiny fist", which symbolizes courage and power in Mongol legends. The exhibition chronicles his ascension as the "great Khan" in 1206 and his campaigns, which expanded his empire from China to the Caspian Sea. It shows that his rule exhibited impressive vision and strategic brilliance.

With horse gears, armor, weapons, seals, imperial decrees, utensils, clothes and jewelry on display, the exhibition also states that one of the best-known figures in world history made groundbreaking developments in military equipment, strategies and tactics. He endorsed tolerant religious and social policies, established a legal code and sparked a new era of exchange and interconnection between East Asia and Europe.