Mongolian Empire

Mongols

• Nomadic tribes that lived north of China• Needed land for their large herds of horses• Lived in yurts• Turn to page 68

yurt

Two things made the tribes combine and become a great empire

1. The climate cooled and resulted in less food for their horses

2. Birth of Chinggis Khan

Chinggis Khan

Chinggis Khan

• Became the supreme ruler over all of the Mongol tribes

• Chinggis Khan means “great ruler”

Chinggis Khan

How did he unify the Mongols?

1. Divided the people into groups and chose trusted followers to lead these groups

2. Wrote a law code called the Great Yasa3. Trained military

• Used the Mongols horsemanship skills to build a well-trained army

• Also trained archers• They were ruthless and deadly

How did they attack towns?

1. Siege warfare – The Mongols fired arrows into city for weeks and

cut off all the food going into the city

2. Pretend retreat– The Mongols would pretend to be defeated and

appear to leave their camp. When the townsmen came out to plunder the camp, the Mongols would attack

Seige

Kublai Khan

• One of Chinggis’s grandsons• He became ruler over all China and began the

Yuan Dynasty• This was the first foreign dynasty in China

Kublai Khan

Kublain Khan tries to take Japan

• Kublai Khan tries to take Japan twice1. He sent 30,000 men to invade, but a storm

destroyed the fleet and Japanese pushed back the ones that did land

2. He then sent 140,000 men to invade, but there was another storm. Japan gave credit to a kamikaze (divine wind) for protecting Japan

Mongols vs. Samarais

Batu Khan

• Another grandson of Chinggis Khan• Led Mongol troops and defeated Russia,

Hungary and Poland• His empire is known as the Golden Horde

Batu Khan

Buta Khan Empire

Battle of Liegnitz

• During reign of Batu Kahn• Against the Poles, Czechs and Germans• Mongols won

Battle of Liegnitz

Religion in Mongol Empire

• Polytheism – believed that good and evil spirits controlled the world

• Believed in a supreme being, Tengri (the great god of heaven) who ruled the spirits

shamans

• Believed certain men had power over the spirits

• Christianity spread as far as China• For a time the Mongols practiced religious

tolerance, but it was short lived.

Islam

• Islam spread throughout the Mongol empire and became dominant

• Christians and Jews were persecuted• Read page 72

Trade in Mongol Empire

• Mongols did not manufacture beyond what they needed (felt, harnesses, carts)

• As the empire grew, trade also grew• Mongols gave up their nomadic ways and

settled in towns. Their zeal for conquest faded• It didn’t last and the Mongols closed down

trade with the East.

Mongol end in China

• Mongols began fighting with one another again.

• The Chinese were able to get rid of the Mongols

• The Ming Dynasty was established

Tamerlane

• Timur had an injured leg and was lame…so he was called Timer the Lane or Tamerlane

• His empire reached from Turkey to India• More concerned with getting treasures rather

than building a well-ruled empire• It collapsed shortly after his death

Tamerlane

Tamerlane’s tomb

Mughal Dynasty

• The last Mongol empire• Akbar was one of the rulers of this dynasty• His empire extended over most of India• They were peaceful• Taj Mahal was built during this Dynasty

Akbar

Mungal Dynasty

Taj Mahal

Mongolia today