The Mongols, 1200-1500

Rise and Expansion

Arabs and Turks

• Importance of Individuals
• Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan)
• Able to unite a fractious group of tribes/clans behind his charismatic leadership
• Militarily powerful

• 1209-Begin process of conquering other areas
• Incredibly successful

• How does a confederation of 700,000 people accomplish this feat??

Xiongnu

• Arabic nomads (e.g. Bedouins)
• Better saddles for camels
• Camel nomads as "shock troops" for Islamic expansion

• Turkic-speaking nomads
• Very diverse
• From Mongolia and southern Siberia
• Convert to Islam
• Initially slaves within Abbasid Empire
• Then take over (rule as sultans)
• Responsible for taking Islam to India

Governing an Empire

• Lived in the Mongolian steppes north of China
• Xiongnu Confederacy (3rd and 2nd centuries BCE)
• Led by Modun
• More centralized, hierarchical
• Forced China to pay tribute

Overview

• How have other empires we've studied been governed?
• How the Mongols do it...
• Keep Mongols happy (spread the wealth)
• Fear
• Elaborate census process (for taxes)
• Religiously tolerant
• Relay stations
• Again, horses are important!
• Allow merchants to use these
• Pax Mongolica

And now....the Mongols

Masai

• Largest land-based empire in human history

• Sets up networks of exchange and communication b/t diverse groups of people

• Destructive process of conquest

• Small cultural impact
• No new religion
• Never tried to spread their faith

• Last major empire of the pastoral groups

• No large states or chiefdoms emerge amongst East African nomadic tribes
• Bind each other together through common cultural traditions
• Circumcision
• "Age-grades"
• Pastoralism viewed as far superior to farming

Explaining the Mongol Empire

Mongols in China

• MUCH smaller population; no educational or technological advantage over opponents
• Why are the Mongols able to conquer the world?

• Timing
• Most of the empires they conquered were in decline

• Mongol Army
• Loyal
• STRICT discipline
• Very effective tactics in battle

• Reputation for harsh punishment of those who did not submit to them

• 1209-1368; move from North to South

• Mongols want to get $$$$ out of China
• Adopt Chinese administrative practices, taxation, and postal system
• Move capital from Karakorum to Beijing
• Began referring to their rule as the Yuan dynasty
• Khubilai Khan

• Not well-loved by the Chinese
• Mongols maintained much of their culture (tents)
• Didn't learn Chinese
• Largely ignored exam system
• Harsh and exploitative at times

Russia and the Mongols

Creating a World Economy

• Promoted commerce (so it could be taxed)
• Secured trade routes

• Conquered, 1237-1240

• Russia was not unified (even in face of Mongol attack)

• Most devastating of all Mongol conquests
• Now have catapults and battering rams
• Artisans enslaved and shipped out to other Mongol areas

• Exploit Russia financially (no direct rule)
• EO Church thrives (tax exempt)

Questions to Consider

Pastoral Nomads

Persia and the Mongols

• Very quick conquest relative to China
• Incredibly destructive
• 1258: Sack Baghdad (ends Abbasid caliphate)
• Devastating to infrastructure, agriculture
• Adopted some Persian customs
• Bureaucracy
• Converted to Islam in 1295 (this is unique)

• Often overlooked by historians (why?)
• Standard Features of Pastoral Societies:
• Needed large grazing areas
• Importance of animals (esp. horses)
• Usually less productive than ag. societies
• MUCH smaller populations
• Kinship based clans
• More egalitarian than sedentary societies
• Women often had more rights
• Fewer restrictions
• More public role
• Involved in productive labor

• How have pastoral peoples been significant in world history?

• C&C the Mongol empire with other empires we have studied.

• How did Mongol rule impact other empires?

Connections with Agricultural Neighbors

Cultural Diffusion

• Generally a high degree of interaction
• Occasionally adopt cultural traditions of ag. societies
• i.e. religion in inner Eurasia
• Forming a full nomadic state was challenging, though there are examples of this:
• Xiongnu
• Arabs and Turks
• Masai
• And, of course.....
• The Mongols

• Diplomatic Exchange

• Forcibly moved craftsmen throughout the empire

• Religious tolerance=lots of different houses for worship throughout empire

• Technological Exchange
• Especially advantageous for Europeans

• Black Death

The Mongols, 1200-1500