Impact of the Mongolians

1. "The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters." Genghis Khan Impact of the Mongolians Alans Brodnikis Bulgars Keraits Khazars Kipchaks Merkits Mongols Naimans Oghuz Reindeer People Tatars Urians Uighurs (Tartar) Solangs Bouriats Samoyeds Khoshods Kansou Postclassical Era Middle Ages in transition

2. How were the Mongolians able to create such a vast empire? • Chinggis Khan ("universal ruler") • Unified Mongol tribes by alliance, conquests • Merged into empire • Mongol political organization • Organized new military units • Broke up tribal affiliations • Chose officials based on talent, loyalty • Capital at Karakorum • Towns which resisted were used as examples • Later towns simply surrendered • After conquering an area or town they would make all of the engineers, scientists, artisans work for them • They made the merchants spy for them

3. What were the military tactics of the Mongolians? • Mongol warriors (about 200,000) • Excellent horsemen • Raised in the saddle and able to hunt as children • Accomplished archers • Mongol armies • Entirely cavalry • Depended on speed and mobility in assaults • Chinggis Khan reorganized the tribal armies • Units called tumens containing 10,000 men • Each unit (ordas or hordes) command by separate leaders and reorganized from the clans • Special units called kashiks (later “Russian Cossaks) created for advanced guard duties • Communication by flag, drum • Able to cover vast distances in one day • Based on the hunting formations of the Mongols • Each army divided • Into heavy cavalry, light cavalry • Lightly armored scouts preceding the main forces • Strict discipline • Tactics • deflect rivers into enemy cities, use smoke screens and fire rocket barrages into enemy formations • Slaves were often impressed into service as decoy units, shock troops, auxilliary infantry or simply barriers against oncoming troops • Soldiers that deserted the enemy were considered untrustworthy and slain. Soldiers that surrendered were too much of a threat to be left behind, and thus slain. Only those nations and peoples who allied or were employed with the Mongols outright, or became their vassal states, were pressed into the armies as auxilliaries. • Spies and informers produced information, maps • Later Mongol forces used gunpowder, artillery

4. How were the Mongolians able to hold together such a vast empire? • Chose officials based on talent, loyalty • Capital at Karakorum • Mongol rule was generally tolerant. • Capital of his empire at Karakorum • Summoned intellectuals from his conquered kingdoms • Offered religious toleration to Confucians, Buddhists, Daoists, and Muslims • Administrators drawn from examples in Islamic and Chinese worlds • Formulated a legal code intended to end tribal and clan divisions • Trade and cultural exchange flourished. • Exacted Tribute from the areas they conquered • Mongol heirs divide into four regional empires

5. Secret agreements • In 1221, Subedei Bahadur negotiated a secret treaty between Venice and the Mongol Empire, securing a source of intelligence on the Western Kingdoms for a trade monopoly to Venice. * • The Mongol's Mandarin administrators made detailed maps and census' of Hungary, Poland, Silesia, Bohemia and Russia, and set up a spy network in the eastern cities for their later invasion in 1236. * • Bohemond, ruler of the Latin state of Antioch, signed a secret document with Mongol ambassadors in 1256 and became a vassal of Hulegu, Ilkhan of Iran, and the Mongolian Empire.

6. What were some of the knowledge and skills that the Mongol Empire spread across Eurasia? How did the Mongols integrate different cultural and intellectual traditions? • The Mongols shared information from one end of Eurasia to another. • Scientific and technological knowledge, such as astronomy, mathematics, metallurgy, and gunpowder were only a few of the advances disseminated under Mongol control. • They funded projects in engineering, astronomy, and mathematics, hiring Middle Eastern Muslims to oversee projects, for example, the construction of an observatory and institute for astronomical studies. • They encouraged the integration of Chinese and Middle Eastern mathematics and encouraged publication of same. • The sharing of medical knowledge between the Muslim Middle East and China is also significant, especially the sharing of medical texts. • There were many connections to warfare, such as metal casting for cannon and explosives. Shipping and navigation were also important.

7. Mongol troops had a decided technological advantage over their enemies. What were some of the components of this technological advantage and how did they enabled the Mongols to conquer such an enormous territory? • Transmission of knowledge and skills allowed Mongols to adapt a broad range of advances to their needs. • Examples include • metallurgy, in the form of ironworking and cast bronze for cannon • the Mongol bow, which could shoot farther than other bows of the same period • the catapult • Pharmacology • Engineering • and applications of advanced mathematics.

8. The Mongols presided over a vast cultural exchange across geographic and religious borders. What were the important intellectual developments that Europe owed to Mongol influence? • Southern European cities enriched themselves by participating in trade with the Mongol territories. • By means of trade, as well as communications through Constantinople, Europe learned of Asian advances in gunpowder and guns, astronomy, mathematics, pharmacology, history, and geography. • The threatened Mongol invasion of Europe provoked a period of religious questioning and created new avenues of transmission, including the Black Death.

9. What were the economic foundations of the Mongol Empire, and their relationship to revenues? • Maximizing revenues was the central goal of Mongol leaders, and tax farming was the method devised toward that end.

10. What are the effects of Mongol domination on Russia how did it shaped Russia’s history. • There are different historical opinions regarding Mongol influence in Russia. • Some historians claim that the Mongols cut Russia off from Western European development and isolated Russia. • These historians refer to the “Mongol yoke” and postulate a sluggish economy and dormant culture under the Mongols. • Others state that the Kievan economy was already in decline before the Mongols, and that the influence of Byzantium was what insulated Russia from Western Europe. Kievan princes had already stopped printing money. • That Russian taxes were paid in silver suggests an economy with regular surpluses. • Additionally, the tax burden was increased by the Russian princes acting as tax collectors for the Mongols.

11. What were the changes in technology during the Ming Empire, in the areas of agriculture, warfare, and transportation? • Ming technological innovation slowed after 1400, though the economy continued to grow. • The slowing of technological development was widespread, occurring first in mining and metallurgy. Japan eclipsed China in steel and weapons production. Shipbuilding, printing, and agricultural technology all stagnated. • The causes of the slow-down were complex, but the growth in population, resulting decline in cost of labor, scarcity of metals for the building of new machines, and relative lack of technological challenge from military enemies were all contributing factors.

12. In what ways did the Mongols affect Korea? How did they adapt and shape the Eurasian knowledge imported by the Mongols, including the role of Korean printing? • The Mongols shared information and facilitated the spread of technologies and knowledge to Korea. • They brought the philosophical ideas of Yuan China to Korea as well as knowledge of astronomical observation, mathematics, and the calendar. • The Mongols’ role as intellectual facilitators also led to the rise of the educated class in Korea. • The Yi kingdom rejected Mongol domination while adopting many of its practices. • Different literary demands led away from block printing to movable type, bringing about a very high rate of literacy in Yi Korea. • Cash crops were common, particularly cotton, which led to watermills and a textile export industry. • After the fall of the Mongols and the subsequent establishment of the Yi ruling family in Korea, scholars and military leaders in Korea outwitted Ming attempts to prevent the spread of knowledge of gunpowder and cannon. Korean innovations in military technology made possible a formidable navy with armored ships and mounted cannon.

13. What influence did Mongol invasions—or threat of invasion—have on Japanese development? • There are two Mongol invasions of Japan as both are unsuccessful for the Mongolians their weaknesses are perceived having immediate effects but also include the fact that Japanese leaders considered the threat of Mongol invasion to be permanent. • Japanese unity against the invader, both during the invasions and after, should be stressed. • Consolidation of the social position of the Japanese warrior elite was also important. • National trade and communication networks were a major consequence of the Mongol threat.

14. On his deathbed, Genghis Khan reportedly announced, “If you want to retain your possessions and conquer your enemies, you must make your subjects submit willingly and unite your diverse energies to a single end.” Explain how this principle was applied in the expansion of the Mongol Empire. • Genghis Khan and the Mongols devoted significant energies to the expansion of their empire. • They combined technological advances in their bows with outstanding horseback ability and innovative military tactics. • Peaceful periods following the Mongol wars of conquest allowed for the movement of people, knowledge, and skills across the empire, from Korea to Poland, and from Siberia to Burma. • The Mongols helped retain their possessions through their tolerance of many religions and their attempts to gain the support of all religious leaders. • Rather than fall to extreme Mongol ruthlessness, many rulers submitted peacefully, becoming incorporated into the empire.

15. Great Exchange during Mongolian Hegemony (Pax Mongolica)