CHAPTERS 14-15
CHAPTER 14
The Mongol empire
Rise of the Mongol empire
Rise of the Mongol empire
• Foremost, the Mongols produced a charismatic leader,
Genghiz Khan, who united the Mongol tribes in a dream of
conquest and expansion.
• Mongol tactics focused on speed and mobility. If a city quickly
surrendered, they were lenient, but if it resisted, they were
ruthless.
• When necessary, the Mongols were willing to co-opt needed
talent. For instance, when they needed to lay siege to a city,
they would rely on Chinese siege engineers to lay siege to
Baghdad.
Advantages of the Mongol armies
• Their horses allowed them to stay out of reach of the enemy,
while their composite bows allowed them to rain down
accurate fire.
• Mongols were extremely disciplined and organized and could
carry out complex plans involving encirclements, flanking
maneuvers, and feigned retreats.
• The Mongols were extremely mobile. Soldiers had three or four
horses each, allowing them to keep up a sustained movement
rate far faster than any other armies of their time.
The spread of the Mongol empire and
its divisions
khanate of the great
khan
Khanate of
the golden
horde
ilkhanate
Trade under the Mongols
Trade under the mongols
• The Mongols always favored trade. Their nomadic way of life
caused them to recognize the importance of trade from the
very earliest times.
• Items and inventions such as mechanical printing, gunpowder,
and the blast furnace made their way west from China.
• Other commodities, such as silk, could be purchased at lower
prices as the travel and security costs decreased.
• Artistic ideas, knowledge of history, geography, and sciences
such as astronomy, agricultural knowledge and medicinal
ideas also traveled east to west and returned.
Mongol postal system
Mongol postal system
• Mongols were wanderers by nature, so efficient
communication between their leaders and officers was both
vital and extremely difficult. They solved this issue by
inventing an incredibly efficient postal system called Yam (or
Örtöö, meaning “checkpoint”).
• It was a vast collection of postal stations, with dedicated
messengers delivering mail, intelligence reports, and
important news from station to station.
• These stations were about 24–64 kilometers (15–40 mi) apart,
and were kept constantly staffed. At one point, there were at
least 1,400 stations in China alone, and the messengers had
50,000 fresh horses at their disposal.
Mongol decline
• In all three regions of their great 13th-century empire,
Mongol power ends or declines during the 14th century. In
Persia the last Il-Khan dies in 1335. In China the Yüan dynasty
is replaced by the Ming in 1368.
• In Russia the Golden Horde begins to lose its dominant
position in the last quarter of the century. The grand prince of
Moscow defeats the horde in a battle on Kulikovo Plain in
1380; Timur destroys the city of Sarai Berke in 1395.
CHAPTER 15
The west and the changing world
balance
Ottomon turks
Rise of ottoman empire
• The Ottoman Empire began its ascent to power with the rule
of Osman I in 1300. He began to build the empire. His
successors were able to build on these early foundations and
increase the empire through alliances, purchase, and
conquest.
• The Ottomans were a strong military force. Much of this can
be attributed to their use of modern weaponry. As new
technology became available, the Ottomans replaced their
archers with musket carrying soldiers. The early use of these
new technologies, such as gunpowder and cannons, gave the
Ottomans the advantage of might when attacking neighboring
rulers.
Indian ocean trade
Indian ocean trade
• The Indian Ocean trade routes connected Southeast
Asia, India, Arabia, and East Africa. From at least the third
century BCE, long distance sea trade moved across a web of
routes linking all of those areas as well as East Asia
(particularly China). Long before Europeans "discovered" the
Indian Ocean, traders from Arabia, Gujarat, and other coastal
areas used triangle-sailed dhows to harness the seasonal
monsoon winds. Domestication of the camel helped bring
coastal trade goods - silk, porcelain, spices, slaves, incense,
and ivory - to inland empires, as well.
Technological innovations
Lateen sails
astolabe
rudders
compass