East Meets West
The Mongols
Temuchin's Rise
 Born ca. 1162, d. 1227
 After long period of tribal conflict and
intrigue, succeeded in unprecedented feat of
unifying all Mongols.
 Declared Khan of Khans and given name
Genghis Khan, 1206.
 Conquest of North (Kin) China 1211-1214
War with Persia 1218-1222
 War started after Persians put Mongol
emissaries to death.
 War of annihilation on both sides.
 Mongol detachment sent to pursue Shah
across his own empire.
 Following conquest of Persia, Mongol troop
circled Caspian.
The Legend of Prester John
• A Christian King David ruled a great land in
the East
• His son, Prester John, would come and
rescue Europe from the Islamic threat
• Many Mongols were technically Christians
of the Nestorian sect
 Rumors of Mongol attack on Moslems
reinforces belief in the legend
Mongol Battle Tactics
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Constant practice in riding, archery.
Travelled very light.
Extraordinary endurance.
Extremely ruthless in battle.
Extraordinary military discipline.
Practical, readily assimilated advanced
siege technology.
Mongol Battle Tactics
 Remarkable ability to coordinate armies
separated by great distances.
 Mobility unheard of by armies of the time-up to 100 miles/day.
 Mongol combination of mobility and
communication probably not equaled again
until W.W. II.
Rule in conquered territories
 Ruthless annihilation of resistance (terror
tactics).
 General benevolence when no resistance.
 Cities generally left under native governors.
 Religious tolerance important in
consolidating rule, gain support of
minorities oppressed by Moslems.
• Administration commonly more benign,
less corrupt than pre-Mongol government.
Positive qualities of Mongols
 Discipline, obedience to own laws
 Sense of honor and loyalty, respect for these
qualities in others, even opponents
 High status of women
• These qualities attested even by European
observers who generally detested the
Mongols
Genghis Khan’s Value Statement
“The greatest joy a man can know is to
conquer his enemies and drive them
before him. To ride their horses and
take away their possessions. To see the
faces of those who were dear to them
bedewed with tears, and to clasp their
wives and daughters in his arms.”
After Genghis Khan
• Empire splits into three functionally
independent realms:
– China and Mongolia
– Russia
– Persia
• In principle the rulers of Russia and Persia
were regents for the Khan in China
Mongols in Europe
• Mongols conquer Russia, 1236-1242
• A nomadic tribe, the Kumans, asked king of
Hungary for asylum
• Mongols attack Hungary, 1241, when king
refuses to relinquish the Kumans
• Within three months, Mongols obliterate all
military resistance in Eastern Europe
• Mongols break off attack when Khan dies,
never return
Mongols in the Middle East
• Mongol-ruled Persia goes to war against the
Caliph
• Mongols capture, sack, obliterate Baghdad,
1258
• Canal system of Iraq destroyed
• Psychological blow from which Islam never
recovered
• Egypt saved by battle of Ayn Jalut, 1259;
Mongols fight Mongols for first time
Mongols in China
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Raid North China 1211 - 1214
Full conquest of North China 1225-1230
Final Conquest of South China 1269 - 1279
Failed invasions and Expeditions to:
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Vietnam
Burma
Indonesia
Japan
Mongols in Japan
• Invasions in 1279 and 1281
• Mongols unable to advance beyond
beachheads
• Japanese unable to drive invaders out
• Both times, a typhoon wrecked the invasion
fleet
• Led to Japanese notion of the “Divine
Wind” - Kamikaze
Trans-Eurasian Contact
• First European accounts by John of Piano
Carpini (1240’s) and William of Rubruck
(1250’s)
• Marco Polo 1271-1291
• By early 1300’s, over two dozen diplomatic
missions from Europe to China
• Francesco Pegolotti, La Practica della
Mercatura, 1340
• Mongol rule in China ends, 1368