The Mongols & Eurasian
Migrations
1200-1500
John Ermer
AP World History
Miami Beach Senior High
Happening Now
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Americas
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1325: Aztecs found Tenochtitlan
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1438-1533: Inca Empire
Europe
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1215: Magna Carta signed in England
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1337-1453: Hundred Years War
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1454: Gutenberg Bible printed
Middle East
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1258: Mongols attack Baghdad, end Abbassid Caliphate
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1453: Ottoman Turks conquer Constantinople
Africa
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1324-25: Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca
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1499: Vasco da Gama rounds Africa
Rise & Rule of The Mongols
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Mongols: Turkic speaking pastoral nomads of Central Asia/Mongolia
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Superb horsemen, herders, and hunters
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Slave labor, tribute clans
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Interfamily alliances + interfaith marriage= political federations
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Self-sufficient with meat/milk, traded for iron
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Khans spoke to and for God, shamanism
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Mongol women give great respect and freedom relative to village women
1206-1227: Genghis Khan, Temüjin, becomes Mongol leader
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Promotes religious tolerance, cultural diversity and exchange, and harsh
punishment for enemies
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1206-1221: Empire stretches from China to Iran
1227-1241: Reign of Great Khan Ögödei
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Established capital at Karakorum
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Tanggut and Jin China destroyed, replaced with Mongol governors
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1236-1241: Batu conquers Kievan Russia, Moscow, Poland, and Hungary
1265: Family unity breaks down when Khublai declares himself Khan
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1271: Moves capital to Beijing, founds Yuan Empire in China
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Other Mongols establish Islam in Central Asia, maintain inter-Turkic relations
Genghis’s Family of
Khans
Genghis Khan
r. 1206-1227
Jagadai
Jochi
r. 1227-1242
Jagadai Khanate
Ögödei
Tolui
r. 1227-1241
Batu
r. 1224-1255
Güyük
Möngke
Golden Horde of
Russia
r. 1246-1248
r. 1248-1257
Khubilai
Hülegü
r. 1265-1294
r. 1256-1265
Yuan Emperor
Il-khan Emperor
Mongol Domains, 1300
Mongols & Islam
 Islamic culture destroyed with Mongol invasion of Baghdad
 Cultures difficult to reconcile
 Il-Kahn state founded by Hülegü in Persia
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Shortly allied with Western European Crusader states in
Palestine, Lebanon
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Convert to Islam in 1295
 Khanate of Jagadai North Central Asia
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Allied with Muslim Mamluk Turks, convert
 Mongols adapt Muslim urbanism, tax system, science
 Timur, commands Khanate of Jagadai, invades Middle East
and India
Responses in Western Eurasia
 Russia
 Golden Horde rules from Sarai in south
 Granted privileges to Orthodox Church
 Russian language dominates
 Russian princes = Mongol gov’t officials
 Alexander Nevskii favored by Mongols
 Novgorod & Moscow become trade centers
 Power and population shifts north
 Late 1400s, Ivan III, Prince of Moscow, is tsar
 Anatolia and Eastern Europe
 Independent Eastern European kingdoms
emerge (Lithuania, Serbia)
 Ottoman Turks establish sultanate in Anatolia
 1453: Mehmet II conquers Constantinople,
renamed Istanbul
Mongols In China
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Great Khan Ögödei heavily taxes China, Khubilai Khan continues
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Yuan successes:
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Secure transportation & communication
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Eurasian cultural & population exchange
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Transmission of information, ideas, and skills
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Acceptance of Chinese religion and culture
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Tibetan Buddhist lamas become influential
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Reunified China, Jin capital of Beijing established as great city
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Mongol Social Structure: Mongols, Central Asians, Middle Easterners,
Northern Chinese, Southern Chinese
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Merchants enjoyed higher status than under traditional Chinese dynasties
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Mongol infighting and Chinese farmer rebellion replaces Yuan Empire
with Ming Dynasty
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Independent clans still in control of Mongolia welcome Yuan refugees,
new sense of Mongol unity established
Ming China
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Buddhist Rebel Zhu Yuanzhang becomes Emperor Hongwu
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Reestablishes traditional Chinese culture
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Some Mongol ideas linger (provinces, prof)
Establishes Ming capital in Nanjing
Espouses Confucian view of imperial power
Declares war on “barbarians”
Closes relations with Mid. East & Central Asia
Silver replaces paper money
Emperor Yongle (1403-1424) reintroduces Mongol ideas
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Returns capital to Beijing, improves Forbidden City
Reopens relations with rest of Asia
Funds maritime exploration (Zheng He)
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Ming China not as innovative as Song China
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Return of civil exam system discourages merchant class growth
East Asia & The Mongols
 Japan and Annam escape Mongol rule
 Mongol threat forces centralization
 Korea conquered, local traditions thrive
 Under Mongols, heavy Yuan influence
 After Mongols, Korea est. Yi kingdom and
trade, move capital to Seoul
 Renew study of Confucian classics
 Breakthrough in printing technology
Japan and Annam
 Decentralized Japan inadequate against Mongols
 Kamakura Shogunate centralizes, builds coastal
defenses and communication/trade infrastructure
 Ashikaga Shogunate decentralize power to local
warlords, est. market towns, economy grows, Zen,
urbanization, tech and artistic advancement
 Annam
 After Mongol rule, Annam conquers Champa
 United Annam is foundation of modern Vietnam