Mongols and Nomadic Invaders

1. Mongols and Nomadic Invaders Chandler Clark

2. Theme 1: Interaction Between Humans and their Environment • Mongols rode tough little ponies to round up herds, hunt, and make war • Very mobile (followed herds of animals from pasture to pasture, nomadic) • After the decline of the Yuan dynasty, many Mongols returned to central Asiaconsequence of interaction: transmitting of the fleas carrying the bubonic plague—the Black Death—from China and central Asia to the Middle East and Europe • Mongols brought the Muslim and European worlds new military knowledge, especially the use of gunpowder • Depended on environment to live (animals provided all the necessities for life)

3. Mobile Nomadic Mongol Warriors and Herders

4. Theme 2: Development and Interaction of Cultures • Mongol military forces: entirely cavalry • Mongol courage in battle, bravery in hunt • Mongol influence on Russia: military and political organization, isolated Russia from developments in western European civilization like the Renaissance and the Reformation • Great confederations of tribes were organized for defensive and offensive operations • Mongol battle tactic: cavalry feign defeat, flee, attack

6. Theme 2 continued • Mongols: tolerant leaders (once conquered people were subdued, Chinggis Khan took interest in their arts and learning) • Mongol tolerance drew scholars, artists, artisans, and office seekers from many regions • Yuan policy toward religion during Mongol occupation: like their ancestors, insisted on religious toleration • Script devised for Mongolian language • Kubilai was interested in all religions; Buddhists, Nestorian and Latin Christians, Daoists, and Muslims were all present at court • Welcomed foreign visitors(Venetian Marco Polo) • Scholar-gentry regarded Mongols as uncouth barbarians with policies endangering Chinese traditions. Resented refusal to reinstate the examination system • Mongols bolstered the position of artisans and merchants who previously not had received high status. Both prospered as the Mongols improved transportation and expanded the supply of paper money • Mongols developed a substantial navy that helped conquest and increased commerce • Urban life and artistic endeavors (musical drama) flourished in Yuan

7. Yuan Art

8. Theme 3: State Building, Expansion, and Conflict • Within decades, Mongols built empire that stretched from the Middle Eastern heartlands of Islamic world to China Sea • Early 12th century, Chinggis Khan's great-grandfather, Kabul Khan, led Mongol alliance that had won glory by defeating army sent by Qin kingdom north China • Chinggis Khan elected khagan (supreme ruler) of Mongol tribes

9. Chinggis Khan

10. Theme 3 continued • Mongols built up war force • New weapons(powerful short bows fired from horseback, gunpowder, cannons), military discipline • Armies, divided into fighting units of 10,000 (tumens), included both heavy and light cavalry, rode east and west in conquest in second decade of 13th century • Best armed and trained and most experienced, disciplined, mobile soldiers in world

11. Mongolian Army

12. Theme 3: Conquest in China • 1207: Mongols defeated the northwestern China Tangut kingdom of Xi Xia • Then attacked the Qin Empire established by the Jurchens in north China • Mongols developed new tactics for capturing fortified urban centers. Cities that resisted were utterly destroyed, while cities that submitted ensured their safety by paying tribute to Mongol conquerors. • Chinggis Khan's rule of Mongol empire: religious toleration, brought peace to much of Asia, promoted growth of trade and commerce, promulgated a legal code to end divisions and quarrels among Mongol clans • Mongol conquest of Song China: one of the toughest areas for the Mongols to conquer, taking from 1235-1279 to subdue • capital of Mongol empire under Chinggis Khan: Karakorum (consulted with Confucian scholars about how to rule China) • After China, they moved westward • Victory over Khwarazm brought many Turkic horsemen into Chinggis Khan's army • The Xi Xia kingdom and the Qin empire were destroyed. At the death of Chinggis Khan in 1227, the Mongols ruled an empire stretching from Persia to the North China Sea

13. Theme 3: Conquest in Russia • 13th century, Kiev was in decline and Russia was divided into many petty kingdoms, unable to unite before the Mongols (called Tartars by Russians) • Batu, Chinggis Khan's grandson, invaded in 1236 and defeated Russian armies. In 1240, Kiev was taken and ravaged. Novgorod was spared when its ruler, Alexander Nevskii, peacefully submitted • Russian resistance to Mongol invasion: princes of Russia refused to cooperate and were routed individually • Russians became vassals of the khan of the Golden Horde • As Moscow grew in strength, the power of the Golden Horde decline and defeat at Kulikova in 1380 • End of 14th century: Moscow was the center of political power in Russia

14. Theme 3: Conquest in Europe • Christian western Europe initially: pleased by Mongol success against Islam; many west thought Mongol khan was Prester John • When the Mongols moved westward into Hungary, western Europeans were concerned, but then they withdrew • Satisfied with conquests in Asia and the Middle East, the Mongols never returned to Europe • Mongols did not pursue conquest of Western Europe because the death of KhaganOgedei in Karakorum precipitated struggle for succession involving the khan of the Golden Horde

15. Theme 3: Conquest in the Islamic Heartland • Hulegu (grandson of Chinggis Khan) moved westward against Mesopotamia and North Africa • Baghdad was destroyed in 1258 • Mongol assault resulted in: end of Abbasid dynasty at Baghdad (Islam had lost its central authority and thus much of its civilization was devastated) and decline of Seljuk Turks (defeated 1243)  opened Asia Minor to conquest by the Ottoman Turks • Mongol advance halted in 1260 when the Mamluks of Egypt defeated the Mongols • Hulegu, faced with threats to his rule, including conversion of the khan of Golden Horde to Islam, did not resume campaign

16. Theme 3: Conquest in China (again) • Kubilai Khan (grandson of Chinggis Khan) mid-13th century led the Mongols against the Song • 1271, Kubilai's dynasty became the Yuan • Kubilai attempted to preserve the distinction between Mongols and Chinese • Chinese were forbidden from learning the Mongol script and intermarriage was prohibited • Mongol religious ceremonies and customs were retained. Kubilai refused to reestablish exams for the civil service • Despite the measures protecting Mongol culture, Kubilai was fascinated by Chinese civilization • Kubilai adopted much from Chinese culture into his court; the capital at Tatu (Beijing) was in Chinese style

17. Kubilai Khan’s Court

18. Theme 3: Decline of Yuan and Founding of Ming • Revolt, failed expeditions, defeat, and a corrupted Yuan administration led to the decline of the Yuan dynasty • Peasant leader JuYuanzhang founded the Ming dynasty • Turk Timur-i Lang brought new expansion to Eurasia • Conquests in Persia, the Fertile Crescent, India, and southern Russia • Barbaric destruction of conquered lands—his campaigns outdid even the Mongols in ferocity • Rule did not increase commercial expansion, cross-cultural exchanges, or internal peace. • After his death in 1405, Timur's empire fell apart, and last great challenge of the steppe nomads to Eurasian civilizations ended

19. Theme 4: Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems • Turkic expansion covered less territory than Mongol expansion, failed to increase trade, and provided no internal peace • Mongols: nomadic society and culture • Survival depended on well-being of herds of goats and sheep • Staple foods: meat and milk from herds, trade for grain and vegetables with sedentary farmers • Traded hides and dairy for jewelry, weapons and cloth made in urban centers • Russian cities (esp. Moscow) benefitted from increased commercial possibilities brought by Mongol rule • Mongol rule made Trade and cultural contact between different civilizations throughout Eurasia much easier

20. Theme 5: Development and Transformation of Social Structures • Basic unit of Mongol society: tribe, divided into kin-related clans • Change in administration of China under Mongols: Mongols discontinued use of examination system to keep the scholar-gentry from gaining too much power • Leadership in Mongol society: leaders were elected by free males and held office for as long as they could keep it • Men dominated leadership positions • Women exercised influence within the family and had right to be heard in tribal councils • Mongol women remained aloof from Confucian Chinese culture. • Refused to adopt foot binding and retained rights to property and control in the household, and freedom of movement • Some Mongol women hunted and went to war • Freedom of women declined under Kubilai’s successors

21. Theme 5 continued • Yuan social order: Muslims and central Asian allies ranked below the Mongols • After Chinggis Khan's death, administration of empire: • Territory divided into four regional kingdoms (khanates) ruled by sons & grandsons • Chinggis Khan's third son, Ogedei: chosen as grand khan, presided over further Mongol conquests for nearly a decade • After Russian invasion by Mongols: • Many peasants sought protection by becoming serfs major change in rural social structure: serfdom, which endured until the middle of the nineteenth century • New social structure emerged in China under Kubilai Khan: • Mongols at top, their nomadic and Islamic allies directly below them. Both dominated highest levels of administration. Beneath them: north Chinese, then ethnic Chinese and peoples of south. • Kubilai’s policies initially favored the peasantry • Their land was protected from Mongol cavalrymen, and famine relief measures were introduced • Tax and labor burdens were reduced • A revolutionary change was formulated—but not enacted—for establishing elementary education at the village level

22. The End