Robert W. Strayer
First Edition
CHAPTER 12
Pastoral Peoples on the Global Stage:
The Mongol Moment
1200–1500
Copyright © 2009 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

Xiongnu
The empire effected a revolution in nomadic life transforming—a more centralized and hierarchical political system in which power was concentrated in a divinely sanctioned ruler and differences between junior and senior clans became more prominent
The Xiongnu Empire created—a model that later Turkic and Mongol empires emulated. Although it subsequently disintegrated, various nomadic or seminomadic peoples played a role in the collapse of already weakened classical
Chinese and Roman empires and the ensuing rebuilding of those civilizations.
Arabs
Arabs, Berbers, Turks, and Mongols created—the largest and most influential empires of the postclassical millennium.
The most dramatic Arabian development was—the development of a reliable camel saddle that allowed nomadic Bedouins to fight effectively from atop their camels.
With this new military advantage---they came to control the rich trade routes in incense running through Arabia.
Camel nomads served as—the shock troops of Islamic expansion, providing many of the new religion’s earliest followers and much of the military force that carved out the Arab Empire.
Turks
A major turning point and new role in
Turkic history occurred—with their conversion to Islam between the 10 th and 14 th centuries. This extended process represented a major expansion of the faith and launched the Turks into a new role as the third major carrier of
Islam, following the Arabs and the
Persians.
In the Seljuk Turkic Empire---of the
11 th and 12 th centuries, centered in
Persia and present-day Iraq, Turkic rulers began to claim the Muslim title of sultan rather than kaghan. Although the
Abbasid caliph remained the formal ruler, real power was exercised by
Turkic sultans
In Anatolia---formerly ruled by
Christian Byzantium, they brought both
Islam and a massive infusion of Turkic culture, language, and people, even as they created the Ottoman Empire, which by 1500 became one of the great powers of Eurasia.

Looking Back and Looking Around: The Long
History of Pastoral Nomads

Break-Out: The Mongol Empire

Encountering the Mongols:
Comparing Three Cases

The Mongol Empire as a Eurasian Network

Chapter 12
Pastoral Peoples on the Global Stage:
The Mongol Movement, 1200–1500
• Map 12.1 The Mongol Empire (p. 342)
• Map 12.2 Trade and Disease in the Fourteenth Century (p. 355)
• Spot Map 12.1 The Xiongnu Confederacy (p. 338)
• Spot Map 12.2 The Masai of East Africa (p. 340)
• Chinggis Khan at Prayer (p. 332)
• The Scythians (p. 336)
• The Masai (p. 341)
• A Mongol Warrior (p. 346)
• Marco Polo and Khubilai Khan (p. 349)
• Mongol Russia (p. 352)
• The Plague (p. 357)

Chapter 12: Pastoral Peoples on the
Global Stage: The Mongol Moment, 1200–
1500 iClicker
Questions

Comparison: Which of the following is NOT an attribute that pastoral societies generally exhibit in comparison to settled agricultural peoples?
a. They generally offer women a lower status with no roles at all in public life.
b. They are far more mobile.
c. They live in smaller more widely scattered groups.
d. They rely more heavily on their animals.

Change: Compared to earlier pastoral empires, in what way were the Mongols something new?
a. Their goal was to extract resources from settled societies rather than conquer territory.
b. They constructed highly mobile armies more based on the horse than any earlier pastoral empire.
c. They had less of a cultural impact on the societies that they conquered compared to many other pastoral empires.
d. Unlike other pastoral empires, their initial confederation was brought together by a charismatic leader.

Connection: Which of the following developments associated with pastoral societies did NOT strengthen connections between cultural regions of the Eastern Hemisphere?
a. The emergence of the Islamic World b. The construction of the Mongol Empire c. The conquest of North India by Turkic peoples d. The conquest of equatorial West Africa by Berber tribesmen

Discussion Starter: Do you think that the modern image of Mongols a. is warranted given their history?
b. is partially warranted given their history?
c. is misleading because they were little different from other pastoralists in world history?
d. is the product of the peoples that they conquered writing their history?

Discussion Starter: For you, which of the following was the most important contribution of the Mongol Empire to world history?
a. They constructed the largest Eurasian empire to date.
b. They destroyed a series of well-established empires.
c. They fostered trade, the spread of disease, and the exchange of crops and technology across Eurasia.
d. The disruption of trade caused by the collapse of their empire provided an important incentive for Europeans to take to the seas in an effort to secure sought-after Asian goods.

Discussion Starter: Regarded as a whole, was the Mongol impact on world history more positive or negative?
a. The Mongol impact on world history was more positive than negative.
b. The Mongol impact on world history was more negative than positive.

Answer Key for Chapter 12
1. Answer is A
2. Answer is C
3. Answer is D