The Mongol Empire was special but it wasn't the first time steppe peoples organized and created a huge empire. The Chinese had been fighting Mongol-ancestors and Turks for at least a thousand years before Ghengis appeared and recorded them in their histories.
I always hear about conquerors trying to legitimize their conquests by comparing themselves to previous empires, but I haven't read if any Turkic or Mongol conquerors did that. Maybe the attitude of steppe peoples towards written records has something to do with it?
Prior to archaeology and history becoming a scientific discipline, did the Mongols, Manchurians, Turks, and other related peoples have any memory of previous people like the Xianbei? Did anyone ever make comparison to Ghengis and Modu Chanyu?
I always hear about conquerors trying to legitimize their conquests by comparing themselves to previous empires, but I haven't read if any Turkic or Mongol conquerors did that.
The Mongols held a particular reverence for the old Uyghur Khaganate that came before them; Genghis Khan set up his capital about seven miles from the ancient Uyghur kingdom and the Mongols would later adapt the Uyghur script for Mongolian.