Mongol Conquests and Empire

1200s - 1300s

Mongol Conquests and Empire1200s - 1300s

From nomads to world conquerors

The Mongols created the largest land-based empire in human history.

Mongols and other Central Asian Nomads characteristics

• Social Classes – based on abilities • Women had greater status than in most settled

regions.• Leaders were “elected” by the free men of the

clan, tribe, or confederation.

(Kuriltai-Meeting of all Mongol Chieftains)

Quote of the Day

“The greatest happiness is to scatter your enemy, to see his cities reduced to ashes, to see those who love him shrouded in tears, and to carry off his wives and daughters.”  

Temujin

(a.k.a. Chinggis Khan)

(a.k.a. Genghis Khan)

According to many perspectives in different times, the Mongols:

• were destroyers of civilizations

• were ruthless uncivilized barbarians

• were evil forces against Christians, Buddhists, Confucians, or Muslims

Generally speaking, the Mongols:

• Had few technological breakthroughs

• Spread no new religions

• Wrote few books and plays

• Brought no new crops or agricultural methods

• Left few artifacts and buildings

• Didn’t hold on to an empire very long

Conquests• Under the leadership of

Chinggis Khan, the combination of Mongol discipline, technology, strategy, and ruthlessness helped the Mongols take control of Central Asia, then Northern China.

• By Chinggis Khan’s death in 1220s, Mongol armies had moved west into the Islamic lands and Central Europe.

THE MONGOL EMPIREs• Each KHANATE or kingdom then

worked to add territory and tributary states to the empire which continued under later Mongol leaders.

• Mongol control eventually spread into Western Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and all of China.

• The ruling class who survived often continued to control aspects of their territory under the “supervision” of Mongol rulers.

Conquests• After Chinggis Khan’s death, the

Mongol Empire was divided in four parts controlled by 3 sons and a grandson.

• Khanate of the Golden Horde• Ilkanate • Djagatai (Chagtai)• Khanate of the Great Khan (and

Yuan China)

IMPACT of the MONGOLS• Death & Destruction! • But then . . . THE MONGOL PEACE

A period of “peace” and stability in many areas of Eurasia led to economic and cultural development (for about 100 years).

Trade & InfrastructureMongol rulers . . .

• protected travel and trade routes in the Empire

• “caused” people to move to new places for Mongol government and military posts

• ordered construction of roads & BRIDGES, & extended the Grand Canal in China

• set up post offices/trading posts

SILK ROADs REVIVED!

• Chinese goods and ideas flowed!

• East and West were more connected

• Plants and crops circulated

“Mongol rule allowed an “exchange of food, tools, goods, and ideas [that] was unprecedented.”

Those dirty Mongols!• Spread the use of gunpowder in military uses

• Destroyed empires, governments, & towns (& killed millions)

• Spread the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) beginning in the 1330s and lasting for several decades.

(and Mongol culture didn’t have a major cultural impact on the culture of settled civilizations)

MARCO . . . POLO Venetian merchant who traveled and lived in Mongol territory for 20 years including almost 17 years working for Kublai Khan – the Mongol ruler of China.

MARCO . . . POLO writes about the Central Asia Nomads

• Write a SOAP analysis in your notebook for Marco Polo.– Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose– WHAT CAUSED Marco Polo to have the point of view he had on

the Mongols?

• Analyze similarities between the Mongols and other civilizations and write them in your notebook.

For example: Both the Mongols and Arabs were nomadic.

• Write the most unusual characteristics of the Mongols as reported by Marco Polo.

MARCO . . . POLO writes about the Central Asia Nomads

• Marco Polo wrote this account many years after his trip so his recollections may not be completely accurate after years. He may exaggerate certain elements to make a better story.

• The many details that Marco Polo uses in his description show that his point of view is based on a long period of living with and interacting with the Mongols.

• Marco Polo’s purpose in telling his story was simply to record the events he remembered for other European elites. This probably caused him be as accurate as possible. He may, however, have focused on things that he thought might impress Europeans who read the journal.