The Mongols

1. The Mongols

2. Mongols • The Choice is made! Whoa! Ho! Ho! Whoa-oa! The Traveller has come! Nobody choose anything! Did YOU choose anything? No. Did YOU? My mind is totally blank. I didn't choose anything. I couldn't help it. It just popped IN there. What? What just popped in there? I... I... I tried to think... LOOK! No! It CAN'T be! What is it? It CAN'T be! What did you do, Ray? It's the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man

3. Mongols • Ghostbusters • When the evil time traveler comes to destroy earth.

4. Mongols • Who were they? • Nomads • Herded livestock • Generally acknowledged with coming from the area of Eurasia open plains of Central Asia • Mongolia • Also called Tartars • Expert horsemen • Excellent archers and conducted most warfare on horseback

5. Mongols • Class Question • What was so important about the Mongols conducting warfare on horseback at this time? • What effect did it have on their enemies? • What psychological effect did/does horseback or mobilized warfare have?

6. Mongols • Who were they? • Often seen as bloodthirsty and most times were ruthless to their adversaries but they did have a somewhat complex society • They did have • Laws • Religious practices • Advanced military technology • Saddle • Stirrups • Didn’t have • Most Mongols were illiterate

7. Mongols • Who were the Mongols • The Mongols are seen as borrowers not creators • As we will see that while the Mongols will not produce a Golden Age and they will not impact the world with their own culture they will diffuse other cultures and unite cultures

8. Mongols • The Fear • It was generally known that if the Mongol Horde was heading towards your town, village, city you did not have many options • Fight and be crushed and lose your life • Retreat to you homes or houses of worship and be burned alive • Or give in an hope that you and your people would be saved-this did not always happen!

9. Mongols • Warriors and Warfare • While the Mongols were brutal they were not without organization • They could cover 25 miles in a day • Horsemen could cover 90 miles • Their bows were effective at up to 300 yards-even on horseback • Mongol horses were very hardy and could endure traveling great distances • The army numbered 80,000 to 100,000 men

10. Mongols • Warriors and Warfare • Armies were divided into • Units • Light and heavy cavalry • Scouting units • spies • Men were rewarded for bravery and punished for cowardliness

11. Mongols • Warriors and Warfare • The goals of the Mongols prior to a battle was to • Know their enemy • Know the land • The goals of the Mongols during the battle were • Win • The goals of the Mongols after the battle • Destroy those who resisted • This ensured that future villages, towns and cities did not resist in the future

12. Mongols • Genghis Khan • In the 1100’s and beginning of the 1200’s the Mongols were involved in clan wars • The Mongols lacked a sense of unity • Mongols fought themselves more then they fought their enemies • There were approximately 30 tribes and about 1.5 to 3 million Mongols

13. Mongols • Genghis Khan • Born between 1155 and 1162 • His family had been disgraced in a clan war however Genghis became an important clan leader • Genghis had tremendous military and organizational skills • This allowed Genghis to organize and united the Mongols and then turn them on the world

14. Mongols • Quick notes about Genghis Khan • You should know that he is also known as • Temujin (original name) • Chingiz Khan • Jenghiz Kahn • Chinggis Khan • Genghis Khan’s adopted name means • Genghis-”limitless strength” • Khan-ruler

15. Mongols • On to China • Once Khan had unified the Mongols he turned towards China • In 1211 the Mongols invaded China • By 1215 the Mongols had crossed the Great Wall and seized the Jin (Jurchen) capital of Beijing • By 1218 the Khwarazm Empire home of the Silk Road and the trade city of Samarkand had be captured • By 1219 the city of Heart in Afghanistan had been captured • By 1223 the Mongols had defeated and absorbed the Jin • Genghis Khan and the Mongols now turned to the west and Russia

16. Mongols • Genghis Khan • In 1227 Genghis Khan dies • This became the end of the first expansion of the Mongols • Genghis’ sons carried out the second wave of conquest • Genghis’ third son Ogodei or Ugedei became the great Khan

17. Mongols • What the Mongols had done so far • The now controlled key points of the Silk Road-which means they had a great source of wealth • They had learned new technology especially from China-siege warfare that would be useful in their conquest of Russia • Their small but effective army was able to conquer large amounts of land and bigger empires in a short period of time • 1209-1227

18. Mongols • Ogodei’s Empire • The Mongols did not stop when Genghis Khan died • Ogodei’s armies moved into China and by 1234 the Mongols were at the doorstep of the Song Empire • Korea was forced into a tributary system • Ogodei’s real goal however was the Mongol expansion into the west

19. Mongols • In 1236 the Mongols were ordered west • 150,000 to 200,000 troops Lead by Batu (nephew to Ogodei) known as the Golden Horde moved into eastern Europe

20. Mongols • Europe • From 1237 to 1240 most of Russia and Ukraine were captured • From 1240 to 1242 Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Poland fell under Mongol occupation • The Mongol invasion had caused great fear and panic in eastern Europe • However in 1241 Ogodei died and Batu returned to Mongolian homeland

21. Mongols • Class Questions #1 • The Mongols pushed into eastern Europe and China in a relatively short period of time 1209-1242 • What do you see as a major problem of this for the Mongols? #2 • The Mongol push into Europe stopped short of what is today Austria and Germany because of two thing • What two things would have stopped the Mongols in this area

22. Mongols • Europe • By 1242 the Mongols were overextended from China to eastern Europe especially with having such a small army • Hard to keep supplied • Hard to maintain control of territory conquered • In Eastern Europe the Mongols were unfamiliar with fighting in forest and against castled cities • Mongols were better equipped to fight on open plains and flat grasslands

23. Mongols • Pax Mongolica • In the 1240’s and 1250’s the Mongols continued to expand their empire mostly in the east and south • The Mongols moved further into China putting pressure on the Song Empire • Tibet was controlled by the Mongols • The Mongols moved into the Middle East destroying the Abbasid Caliphate and now controlled • The Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Turkey, Persia, and Syria

24. Mongols • The Empire • The created a single system of government for the areas they controlled • They imposed laws • Encouraged economic growth • Mostly for their tribute system

25. Mongols • The Empire • They created safe routes of travel for people to move about and trade • Silk Road • Traders from the East could meet with and exchange goods and ideas with those from the west

26. Mongols • Pax Mongolica • This era of peace was called Pax Mongolica • It was created in two ways • Fear • Fear of or the use of force by the Mongols • Administratively • The Mongols used the Turkic language as their adopted language • The Mongols created a system of codes or laws (yasa) mostly borrowed from the Chinese • Adopted the use of paper currency • Adopted and allowed for religious tolerance • Accepted Buddhism and Islam • Created a postal system to keep news flowing from one end of the empire to the other

27. Mongols • Pax Mongolica • The Empire • The Empire was divided into smaller independent empires or hordes • The Mongols began to assimilate into the cultures they had conquered

28. Mongols • Class Question • A Chinese proverb says • “One can conquer an empire on horseback, but one cannot govern that empire from horseback” • What does this mean and what will it mean for the vast empire of the Mongols?

29. Mongols • The Empire Breaks Apart • In 1260 civil war breaks out among the Mongol leaders to see who will become the next great Khan • The nephews and grandsons of Genghis Khan begin to break up the empire into small independent states called Khanates

30. Mongols • The Khanates • The Golden Horde-Russia and Eastern Europe (Kipchak Khanate) • Domain of the Great Khan-Mongolia Homeland • The Jagadai (Chaghadai) Khanate-Central Asia and lands to the west • Il-Khan-Middle Eastern

31. Khubilai Khan • One great leader does rise out of the battle for the empire • Khubilai Khan • By 1271 Khubilai Khan had conquered and united all of China • In 1279 the Song Dynasty feel to the Mongols

32. Khubilai Khan • Khubilai did several things for China • Rid China of the many warring factions and created the Yuan Dynasty • The Mongols adopted the Buddhism and rejected Confucianism • Mandarin became the official language of China and is still the official language • Expanded and secured the Chinese boarders with the strong Mongol troops • Forced most of China’s neighbors to pay tribute

33. Khubilai Khan • Internal Repairs • Rebuilt the roads which increased trade • Created a government bureaucracy • Built new cities for trade • Restored trade with the west • The Silk Road became the vital avenue of trade and cultural exchange

34. Khubilai Khan • Economy • Because of the increase in trade and the re-opening of the Silk Road China became a very wealthy country • The merchant class in China became very important

35. Yuan China • While the Mongols opened trade and increased their wealth they also increased the cultural diffusion of Europe? • Discuss how? • Could one say that the cultural diffusion under the Yuan and the Mongols was as if not more important than the cultural diffusion of the Crusades?

36. Marco Polo • In the 1270’s Marco Polo visited China • Polo spoke of the rich and glorious land of China • This further stimulated trade with China

37. Yuan China • After the death of Khubilai Khan China feel into disarray • In the early 1300’s China lost 30 to 40 percent of its population because of the bubonic plague • There was severe economic loss because of the loss of population and the plague

38. Yuan China • Civil Wars • China experienced a series of civil wars brought on by leaders trying to fill the role of Khan • In 1368 Zhu Yuanzhang finally ended the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty (China’s longest lasting Dynasty)

39. The Other Mongol Khanates • The Golden Horde • Established control over Russia • They did little to promote the advancement of Russia and contributed to the economic and social problems Russia would experience after the Mongols

40. The Golden Horde • In Russia the Mongols cut Russia off from Western European ideas of the times • The Russian did not incorporate any ideas from the Renaissance or Reformation into their society so Russia fell behind the western Europe • Because of the hard tariff system most of Russia remained poor and most people were serfs because of little money in the country. • Both of these problems will keep Russia behind western Europe

41. The Other Mongol Khanates • Il-Khans • Most Mongols in this area converted to Islam • Assimilated into the Islamic culture • Were attacked by fellow Mongols • Finally were displaced by the fast growing Ottoman Turks

42. The Other Mongol Khanates • Jagadai Khanate • Controlled Central Asia • Most converted to Islam • Controlled parts of the Silk Road • Jagadai warlord Timur tries to take back all the lands of Genghis Khan • Timur is a ruthless warrior • Attempts to take over • Russia, Persia, northern India, and parts of the Il-Khan in the Middle East • After his death his empire shrinks until the 1500’s when it finally falls apart

43. Impact of the Mongols • The Mongols did not advance cultures but instead diffused cultures • Mongols in some cases became assimilators like the Il-Khan • In areas where Islam was the primary religion they became Muslims • In other areas they reject the Mongol ways for the cultures of the conquered people • China • Khubilai Khan kept the Chinese from speaking Mongolians, forbid them from marry Mongols and reject Confucianism • China never became Mongolized

44. Impact of the Mongols • The expanse of the Mongol Empire • Because of the great expanse of the empire and trade routes cultures were able to interact • Europe and China • China and the Middle East • While the Mongols were brutal they expanded and empire that touched every major civilization in the world • The Mongols connected the world and this connection would last until today

45. Impact of the Mongols • Effects of Europe and Russia • Because the Mongols were illiterate the Mongols retarded cultural advancement in Russia • The forms of tribute weakened the Russian economy • Cities were destroyed • In Russia many Mongols became inhabitants of Russia and assimilated into the culture

46. Class Questions • Could one say that while the Mongols culturally diffused the areas they conqueror that they also caused problems in the world • What were some of the problems? • What major event probably would not have happened in Europe if not for the Mongols?