“One can conquer the empire on horseback, but one cannot govern it on horseback.”

- Chinese Advisor to Kublai Khan

Nomadic Empires: The Mongols, 1200-1550

Bell Work: on handout.

BackgroundThe Mongols were nomads from the eastern steppe (fields) in loosely organized clans.

The Mongols

●Skilled horsemen●Courageous in battle●Disciplined and ruthless

Temujin accepts the title Genghis

Khan, or “universal ruler”

of the Mongol clans

Effect: His armies and those of his successors swept from Poland to Korea and struck fear in the hearts of people

●According to legend, Temujin was born with a blood clot in his fist. In his lifetime, his hands were covered with the blood of others. When Temujin was about nine, the Tatars, a rival clan, poisoned his father. When in manhood, he fought and defeated the Tatars, slaughtering every male taller than a cart axel.

Genghis the Conqueror

●Brilliant organizer●Gifted strategist●Adopted new weapons and technologies●Used cruelty as a weapon

“The greatest happiness is to scatter your enemy, to drive him before you, to see his cities reduced to ashes, to see those who love him shrouded in

tears, and to gather into your bosom his wives and daughters.”

Mongol Success

The Mongols were some of the most successful nomads in terms of land: they made the empire with the largest amount of land in history.It stretched from Europe to China.

More Tactics

●The Mongols also knew how to scare their enemies by using what is called psychological warfare●They let some victims escape and tell stories, and even threw the bodies of plaque victims over city walls to spread disease(biological warfare)

Mongol Warrior

The Mongol warrior was well-equipped and usually mounted. Their two main hand weapons were their sword and bow, in addition to the siege weapons they used on cities.

The Mongol Bow

The Mongols main weapon was their composite bows, which were both accurate, powerful, and small enough to fire from horseback

The Mongol Sword

This sword was shorter in comparison to many others, which made it easy to use on horseback.

Mongol armies developed a system of signal flags used during battle. The black and white flags transmitted orders to Mongol units who moved swiftly while confusing and overwhelming their disorganized opponents. At night, lanterns and flaming arrows were used in place of flags.

●Each Mongol soldier wore a long silk undershirt. When hit with an arrow, he could remove it by carefully pulling on the silk, which usually entered the wound with the arrow. Upon witnessing Mongols pulling arrows from their bodies, some became convinced that the Mongols were superhuman!

Mongol Siege Weapons

The Mongols targeted enemy cities, many of which were heavily guarded. The defenders had an advantage, but the Mongols made catapults and war machines to breach walls and gates.

Mongol soldiers often died of infection from battle wounds caused, in part, to poor hygiene. Mongol warriors rarely washed. When they did, they used urine from their horses. Their clothing was often worn until it literally rotted off.

IVast EmpireGenghis conquered Central Asia by 1225.The Mongols continued to conquer Asia.

After death of Genghis, the Mongols had divided their huge empire into four regions, or khanates.

A descendant of Genghis ruled each khanate.

As rulers: While ferocious in war, the Mongols were tolerant rulers.

In 1258, Mongols captured Baghdad, looted the city, executed the caliph, and massacred over 200,000 residents

The Middle East: The Ilkhanates

Mongols had a hard time adjusting to administering and governing society.

Hulagu Khan's army

attacks Baghdad,

1258.

● Local rulers kept in place as long as order was kept and sufficient tax revenues were delivered to Mongol authorities. ● Persians served as ministers, provincial governors, lower state officials.● Westward expansion into Africa was stopped in 1260 when they were halted by the Mamluks of Egypt.

The Middle East: The Ilkhanates

Mongols adopted Persian culture: Toleration of all religions, most

Mongols converted to Islam (1295).

● In 1237-1241, Mongols known as the Golden Horde overran Russia. ● They did not occupy Russia, just

extracted tribute from Russian cities.● Mongol conquerors kept many of the local Russian rulers in place.

Taxes on peasants were heavy, but they were collected by Russian

bureaucrats. Trade was also supported.

Russia: The Golden Horde

● Then in 1240, Mongol armies invaded Hungary and Poland● As news spread of the ferocity of the Mongols, Europe

trembled in anticipation of an attack that never came. ● In 1241 Ogodei Khan died, which forced the Mongol

armies to withdraw to Russia in order to elect a new khan.

● The Golden Horde weakened due to bubonic plague, civil wars, and

ineffectual rulers (between 1357 and 1370, eight khans ruled).

● It is even thought that bubonic plague spread to Europe after the Mongols laid siege to the port of Kaffa on the Crimean peninsula in 1346. After their own forces were stricken with plague, the Mongols catapulted their corpses over the walls into Kaffa. The ships that left Kaffa and

returned to Italy carried the disease.

Russia: The Golden Horde●Effect: Russia experienced a cultural decay and isolation

from Europe. Did not experience Renaissance.

Russians resented the Mongols for centuries of isolation

Kublai KhanA.Genghiz Khan’s grandson.-founded the Yuan dynasty in China-reserved gov’t jobs for Mongols. The Chinese resented this.

● Allowed for construction of churches, temples, shrines ● Toleration of all religions. Some Mongols began to convert to Buddhism.

China: The Yuan Dynasty 1279-1368

● Also unlike previous dynasties, the Yuan rulers fostered trade and bestowed merchants a higher social status ● Such government support for merchants, together with the peace imposed on much of Asia by the Mongols, resulted in the greatest expansion of commerce in Eurasian history.

Marco Polo, an Italian merchant, traveled to the Yuan Dynasty.

For a century, the continent of Asia was united under Mongol rule resulting in peace and an increase in trade and cultural interaction.

The benefit of this “peace” is debatable when contrasting it the loss of human life during the initial Mongol reign of terror.

The Pax Mongolia: The Mongol Peace

DeclineA.Lands were too large and diverse to govern effectively.

The Mongol Decline

●Despite great military accomplishments the Mongol Empire only lasted three to four generations.

●They were great conquerors, but horrible administrators.

●Overexpansion (as seen in the failed invasion of Japan) and over spending

●Rivalries among Mongol leaders ●By 1350, most Mongol territories

had been conquered by other armies.

Wait for it....The Mongols

●http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szxPar0BcMo