The Mongols
The Mongol Empire of Chinggis
Khan
• Mongols epitomized nomadic society and
culture: survival depended on herds, riding
horses essential (boys and girls learned
young), basic unit was the tribe, which was
divided into kin-related clans, with leaders
elected by the free men of the group
• Leadership skills= courage in battle, ability to
forge alliances
The Making of a Great Warrior: The
Early Career of Chinggis Khan
• Mongols earlier had enjoyed moments of power and had
carved out kingdoms in northern China in 4th and 10th
centuries. 12th century Kabul Khan (Chinggis’ grandfather)
defeated Qin attack against them
• Temujin (Chinggis Khan) born in the 1170s and came to
power as a teenager when his father was poisoned. Other
chiefs did not want to follow him, so they didn’t and his
encampment was attacked by a rival tribe, who took him
prisoner in 1182. He escaped and banded together with a more
powerful Mongol chieftain.
• He avenged the insults against him and rose to be a powerful
warrior and then others wanted to join him
• 1206- at a kuriltai (meeting of all Mongol chieftains) was
elected the khagan- supreme ruler of all Mongol tribes (united
Building the Mongol War Machine
• Men of the tribe natural warriors. Short bows- most
devastating weapon- could fire arrows with accuracy and
speed without breaking horse’s stride and arrow could hit a
distance 400 yards away
• Khan brought organization and discipline. Old clan rivalries
superseded by devotion to the khagan
• Mongol forces divided into tumens, each with 10,000
warriors. Each tumen divided into units of 1000, 100, and 10
warriors
• Messenger units, map units
• By 13th century they were best trained, most experienced,
most mobile soldiers in the world
Conquest: The Mongol Empire under
Chinggis Khan
• Saw his people with destiny to conquer the known world.
Loved battle.
• Began in 1207. First conquered Tangut kingdom of Xi Xia in
northwest China and then the Qin Empire. Mongol armies
quickly adapted to new setting in China and used captured
Chinese artisans to perfect new weapons like battering rams,
catapults that hurled explosive balls, and bamboo rockets that
spread fire
• Typically devastated all towns it came into contact with.
Some people sold into slavery. Some towns which
surrendered were required to pay tribute.
First Assault on the Islamic World:
Conquest in China
• 1219 annexed the Kara Khiai (an earlier Mongol
empire)
• Next attacked Khwarazm Empire of Muhammad Shah
II, who at first didn’t believe in the strength of the
Mongols but was quickly overpowered
• Common strategy: attack, fake defeat to bring out
enemy forces, attack again
• Khan brought thousands of Turkic horsemen under
his rule
• 1227 Khan dies but had established an empire from
eastern Persia to North China Sea
Life Under the Mongol Imperium
• Astute and tolerant rulers
• Khan, though illiterate, like to learn from
people he conquered
• Established new capital at Karakorum
• Religious tolerance
• Peace and prosperity throughout the empire
The Death of Chinggis Khan and the
Division of the Empire
• 1226- turned east to complete conquest of
China, fell ill and died in August 1227
• Empire divided between three sons and Batu,
a grandson of son of Jochi
• Ogedei, 3rd son, elected grand khan. Good
diplomat. Directed conquest westward towards
Russia, Europe and paid the price for peace
within the empire
The Mongol Drive to the West
• Golden Horde, under leadership of Batu, began
invasion of Russia in 1236
• 1236-1238 and later in 1240s (Tatars or Tartarspeople from hell) carried out the only successful
winter invasions in Russia. Took down everyone
except for Novgorod and Kiev. Russia weak and not
united, which made invasion easy
• 1240 Kiev devastated (only spared the Saint Sophia
cathedral) Novgorod spared again
Russia in Bondage
• 2 and ½ centuries of Mongol dominance in Russia
• Peasantry in bad position because they had to give crops and
labor to princes and Mongol overlords
• Some cities benefited- esp. Moscow, which became a tribute
collector and after 1328 used its status to eventually become
the defender of Russia and launched an attack on Golden
Horde at the Battle of Kulikova, which they won
• Turning point in Russia’s history: changes in Russian military
organization, political style of Russian rulers, status of
Moscow, cut off from key developments in western Europe
like the Renaissance and Reformation
Mongol Incursions and the Retreat
from Europe
• Early on Christian leaders in Europe happy about Mongol
dominance because Christians under Muslim rule were worse
off. Mythical Prestor John- story of a monarch cut off from
Europe by Muslims and was returning to power
• Rulers slow to realize the threat of Khan
• 1240 Hungarians surrender under the leadership of King
Henry of Silesia and this opens way to dominate Adriatic Sea
region in the south to Poland and German states in north
• Death of Ogedei makes Batu flee back to Karakorum in
preparation for struggle for succession, so Europe spared large
Mongol invasion
The Mongol Assault on the Islamic
Heartland
• Hulegu, another grandson of Chinggis Kahn
and ruler of Ilkhan portions of the Empire.
Captured and destroyed Baghdad in 1258.
Murder of Abbasid caliph ended the dynasty
that ruled Islamic world for 8 centuries
• 1260 defeated by armies of Mamluk, slave
dynasty of Egypt
• Hulegu stopped when his cousin Berke, new
leader of Golden Horde, converted to Islam
The Mongol Interlude in Chinese
History
• Assault on southern Song dynasty led by Kubilai Khan, grandson of
Chinggis
• Hard place for Mongols to conquer 1235-1279 constantly on the march.
1260 Kubilai assumed title of great khan (despite cousins in other empires).
1271 changed the name of his Mongol regime to Chinese dynastic titleYuan. Kubilai then ruled most of China
• Kubilai passed laws to preserve distinction between Mongol and Chineseno intermarriage, no friendships, scholars couldn’t learn Mongolian
language
• BUT Kubilai fascinated by Chinese civilization. Capital at Tatu (present-day
Beijing). Surrounded himself with Chinese advisors
• New social structure- Mongols on top, then central Asian nomadic and
Muslim allies , then north Chinese, then ethnic Chinese and minority people
of the south
Gender roles and Convergence of
Mongol and Chinese Culture
• Mongol women strong, riders, hunters,
wouldn’t submit to Chinese culture
• Chabi- wife of Kubilai- exemplifies this
strength and independence. She advised her
husband often
Mongol Tolerance and Foreign
Cultural Influence
• Cosmopolitan couple attracted many
foreigners- esp. Muslims, Persians, and Turks,
which made many advancements in China
• Welcomed travelers and emissaries in court
(Marco Polo from Venice has most famous
account of this)
Social Policies and Scholar-Gentry
Resistance
• Most of scholar-gentry still viewed Khan as a Mongol
overlord, who was an uncouth barbarian, who
endangered Chinese tradition
• Also, he promoted the artisans and merchants, which
further alienated the scholar-gentry class
• Amazing navy
• Cities flourished, trade flourished, art flourished (The
Romance of the West Chamber- famous Chinese
dramatic work)
• Favorable policies towards peasants
The Fall of the House of Yuan
• Slow erosion of Mongol military power- defeats by
Japanese and later Vietnam and Java
• Kubilai’s successors lacked capacity for leadership
• By 1350s signs of decline present: banditry, piracy,
famine, secret religious sects
• Led to rise of Ming dynasty under the leadership of a
man from a poor peasant family: Ju Yuanzhang
Aftershock: The Brief Ride of Timur
• Turks
• Timur-i Lang (Timur the Lame) interesting personalityhighly cultivated on the one hand and vicious on the other
• Began conquests in Persia, Fertile Crescent, India, and Russia
in 1360s from base in Samarkand
• Smaller than Mongols but more ferocious – pyramids of
skulls
• His rule did not bring increased trade, peace, nor crosscultural exchanges
• 1405- died and successors fought for power and his empire
was pulled apart
Reflection
In the end, is Ghengis Khan a hero or villain?
How barbaric were the “barbarians”?