 Burkhan Khaldun was also greatly important to Genghis Khan because of his origins near there and because he escaped from Merkit enemies on the mountain in the late 1100s; he pledged at the time to honor the mountain from then on with sacrifices and prayer every morning.It is not known whether he really was buried there, but the Mongols took several steps to give the impression that he was.The area, already made difficult to reach by a series of mountains covered in thick forest, was declared sacred, and off limits to everyone except family members and the Darkhad, a group of elite warriors and their families, who were given the task of ensuring that no one else entered under penalty of death.