MONGOL EMPIRELargest Land Empire in Human

History

Origin Genghis Khan

united the nomadic tribes into a unified force

Located in the Russian Steppes

Law and Governance Code of Law – Yassa Under Yassa, chiefs and generals were

selected based on merit, religious tolerance was guaranteed

Central assembly, called Kurultai, in which the Mongol chiefs met with the Great Khan to discuss domestic and foreign policies.

Religion Very tolerant of religions and sponsored

several at the same time Ghenghis Khan was Shamanist Most of the major Mongol leaders

adopted the religion of the conquered territories

Social Clan based Nomadic Lived in Yurts

Mongol Military Tactics Well Organized into 10,000 man, 100

man, and 10 man units Gifted Strategist – feint a retreat,

dummies to make army appear bigger New Weapons – cavalry had stirrups,

crossbow, and silk. Each cavalryman had 3 horses

Cruelty as a weapon

Mongol invasion of Central Asia

Mongol Invasion of central Asia In this brief war, lasting less than two

years, not only was a huge empire destroyed utterly, but Genghis Khan introduced the world to tactics that would not be seen again until the Germans used them so well in World War II - indirect attack, and complete and utter terror and slaughter of populations wholesale as weapons of war.

Population of Area went from 2,500,000 to 250,000

Increased Expansion After death of

Ghenghis, his son Ogadai returns with more expansion and conquers Middle East and Kievian Russia

Conquered areas were put under virtual slavery and required to pay heavy taxes

Pax Mongolica

Pax Mongolica – 13th and 14th Centuries

Pax Mongolica facilitated cultural exchange and trade between the East, West, and the Middle East in the period of the 13th and 14th centuries. The Mongol Empire established commercial and political connections between the Eastern and Western areas of the world

Travels of Marco Polo It was said that a virgin carrying a sack of

gold could ride unharmed from one border of the empire to the other.[1

Death of Ogadai - 1241 Mongol Empire is

divided into four large khanates

Khanate of the Great Khan – Mongolia and China

Khanate of Chagatai –Central Asia

Ilkhanate – Persia Golden Horde -

Russia

Kublai Khan Grandson of Genghis Khan Conquered all of China Established Yuan Dynasty

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Mongol_Empire_History.jpg

Decline Inter-family rivalry compounded by the

complicated politics of succession Mongols began to adopt and integrate

into local cultures Two-weeks for messages to reach capital

of Karakorum Capital of Karakorum is moved to Beijing

and this weakens moral

Legacy Unified Mongols and allowed for the

formation of Mongolia Reunited China Moscow rose to prominence Europe gained greater knowledge of the

known world because of Pax Mongolica Some think the Mongols brought the

plague to Europe