The Mongols and the Silk Road: History, Travel, and Exchange

Vocabulary flashcards covering the Mongol Empire, Silk Road exchange, trans-Eurasian travel narratives, and Song China.

Chinggis Khan (c. 1162–1227)

Born Temüjin, he united the Mongol and neighboring steppe peoples, was proclaimed Chinggis Khan at the quriltai of 1206, and founded an empire whose unity enabled Eurasian travel.

Khubilai Khan (1215–1294)

Grandson of Chinggis Khan and son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki; founder of the Yuan dynasty (1271) who conquered the Southern Song (1279) and served as Marco Polo's patron.

Bukhara

A major Muslim city of learning in Transoxiana and part of the Khwarazmian empire that was captured by the Mongols in 1220 following the Otrar incident.

Samarkand

The capital of Khwarazmshah Muhammad II in Transoxiana; it fell to the Mongols in 1220, after which its artisans were deported to work for the Mongol Empire.

Silk Roads

A network of overland and sea routes connecting China, the steppe, Central Asia, India, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, unified largely under Mongol rule in the 13th century.

The Secret History of the Mongols

An anonymous mid-13th-century Mongolian chronicle of Chinggis Khan's life and lineage; the sole major surviving account written by the Mongols themselves, preserved via a Ming-era Chinese transcription.

Airagh (kumiss)

Fermented mare's milk; a mildly alcoholic steppe beverage central to Mongol feasts, rituals, and daily nomad life.

Ger (yurt)

A circular, portable felt tent used by nomadic steppe herders, designed for disassembly and transport during seasonal migrations.

Tenggeri (Tengri)

The supreme sky deity ('Eternal Blue Sky') of traditional Mongol religion, from whom the Khan claimed a mandate to rule.

Börte

Temüjin's principal wife from the Onggirat people, whose abduction by the Merkits and subsequent rescue raised Temüjin's standing and led to questions about Jochi's paternity.

Ong Khan (Toghril)

Ruler of the Kereyit and sworn brother (anda) of Yesügei; an early patron of Temüjin who later became his rival and was defeated by him in 1203.

Jamukha

Temüjin's anda (blood brother) and primary rival, elected gurkhan by opposing tribes in 1201 before being defeated and executed around 1205.

Jasagh (Yasa)

A legal code and collection of decrees attributed to Chinggis Khan governing administration, conduct, and military discipline.

Decimal Military Organization

The Mongol army structure dividing forces into units of 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000 (tümen), integrating men from various tribes to dismantle traditional clan loyalties.

Ögedei (r. 1229–1241)

Chinggis Khan's third son and chosen successor as Great Khan, who oversaw the conquest of the Jin dynasty (1234), walled Karakorum (1235), and initiated invasions of Russia and Eastern Europe.

Quriltai (khuriltai)

An assembly of Mongol princes, leaders, and nobles convened to elect Great Khans and deliberate on major military campaigns.

Jochi

Chinggis Khan's eldest son whose paternity was disputed; allocated the western territories north of Khwarazm, his lineage through his son Batu founded the Golden Horde.

Chaghadai (Chagatai)

Chinggis Khan's second son, known as a strict enforcer of the Jasagh, who was granted the Central Asian oases and towns that formed the Chaghadai Khanate.

Tolui

Chinggis Khan's youngest son who inherited the Mongolian homeland and core army by steppe custom; father to Möngke, Khubilai, Hülegü, and Ariq Böke.

Karakorum (Khara Khorum)

The imperial Mongol capital in the Orkhon valley of Mongolia, enclosed by walls under Ögedei in 1235 and visited by European travelers such as William of Rubruck in 1254.

Yelü Chucai (1189–1243)

A Khitan statesman educated in Confucian traditions who persuaded Ögedei to tax agrarian North China rather than turn it into pasture, establishing regular administrative and tax systems.

Güyük (r. 1246–1248)

The third Great Khan, son of Ögedei and Töregene; his enthronement was witnessed and documented by the papal envoy John of Plano Carpini.

Möngke (r. 1251–1259)

The fourth Great Khan, whose election transferred power to Tolui's line; he instituted imperial census and tax reforms and dispatched Hülegü west and Khubilai into China before dying in Sichuan.

Hülegü (c. 1217–1265)

Son of Tolui who captured the Ismaili strongholds (1256), sacked Baghdad (1258), ended the Abbasid caliphate there, and founded the Ilkhanate in Iran.

Ismailis (Nizari Ismailis)

A Shi'i community known for mountain fortresses like Alamut in Iran; defeated by Hülegü in 1256, inspiring Marco Polo's account of the 'Old Man of the Mountain.'

Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258)

The Sunni Islamic caliphate seated in Baghdad until Hülegü sacked the city and executed Caliph al-Musta'sim in 1258, after which a figurehead line continued under Cairo's Mamluks.

Ibn Battuta (1304–1368/69)

A Moroccan legal scholar whose extensive travels between 1325 and 1354 covered Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, and China, recorded in his Rihla.

Shangdu (Xanadu)

Khubilai Khan's summer capital in Inner Mongolia, originally founded as Kaiping in 1256, featuring combined Chinese and nomadic steppe architectural layouts.

Battle of Ayn Jalut (1260)

A battle in Palestine where Egyptian Mamluk forces led by Qutuz and Baybars defeated a Mongol contingent commanded by Ket-Buqa, halting Mongol westward advances toward Egypt.

Ilkhanate (1256/58–1335)

The southwestern Mongol khanate encompassing Persia and Iraq, established by Hülegü with its capital at Tabriz; it converted to Islam under Ghazan in 1295.

Rabban Sauma (c. 1220s–1294)

A Turkic monk of the Church of the East from Khanbaliq sent by Ilkhan Arghun in 1287 as an envoy to European leaders to negotiate an anti-Mamluk alliance.

Francesco Balducci Pegolotti

A Florentine merchant who authored La pratica della mercatura (c. 1340), noting that commercial overland trade routes between Tana and Cathay were safe by day and night.

Ariq Böke

Khubilai's younger brother who claimed the title of Great Khan in 1260, triggering a civil war that lasted until his surrender in 1264 and fractured the unified empire.

Rustichello of Pisa

An author of Arthurian romances imprisoned with Marco Polo in Genoa who transcribed Polo's travels into Franco-Italian around 1298.

Khanbaliq (Daidu / Cambaluc)

The capital of Khubilai Khan's Yuan dynasty, founded in 1267 on the site of modern Beijing.

Xiangyang

A strategically vital Southern Song fortress city on the Han River besieged by the Mongols from 1268 to 1273, whose capture using counterweight trebuchets breached the Song defenses.

Hangzhou (Quinsai / Lin'an)

The capital of the Southern Song dynasty, described by Marco Polo as the finest city in the world; its name 'Quinsai' derives from xingzai ('temporary residence').

Zaytun (Quanzhou)

A thriving commercial seaport in Fujian noted for massive spice shipments, housing diverse foreign merchant diasporas, and serving as Marco Polo's departure port from China.

'Phags-pa script

An alphabetic script designed in 1269 by the Tibetan lama 'Phags-pa on Khubilai Khan's orders to transcribe all the languages of the Yuan realm phonetically.

Sorghaghtani Beki (d. 1252)

A Kereyit Christian princess, widow of Tolui, and mother of Möngke, Khubilai, Hülegü, and Ariq Böke, renowned for political diplomacy and religious patronage.

Yam

The extensive Mongol imperial postal relay system composed of supply depots, fresh horses, and stations facilitating rapid communication and travel across Eurasia.

Paiza (gerege)

A metal tablet carried by envoys and high-ranking officials granting authorized access to the yam postal stations, food supplies, and imperial protection.

Sergamoni Borcan

Marco Polo's name for Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), derived from the Mongolian Śākyamuni Burqan, described in his chapters on Ceylon.

Barlaam and Josaphat

A medieval Christian tale concerning Prince Josaphat's conversion by the hermit Barlaam, stemming from the legend of the Buddha and incorporating him into Christian saint veneration.

Ferdinand von Richthofen

The German geographer who popularized the geographic term 'Silk Road' (Seidenstrasse) in 1877.

Zhang Qian

A Han dynasty envoy dispatched west by Emperor Wu around 138 BCE to ally with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu, initiating Chinese engagement with Central Asia.

Yuezhi

A nomadic group originally in the Hexi Corridor driven westward by the Xiongnu into Bactria during the 2nd century BCE, whose descendants founded the Kushan Empire.

Kushan Empire (1st–3rd centuries CE)

An empire founded by Yuezhi descendants bridging Bactria and Northern India that patronized Buddhism, fostered Gandharan Greco-Buddhist art, and connected overland trade routes.

Sogdian merchants

Iranian-speaking commercial traders from Sogdiana (around Bukhara and Samarkand) who dominated overland Silk Road commerce from roughly the 4th to the 8th centuries CE.

Uighurs

A Turkic people whose steppe empire (744–840) adopted Manichaeism; their script was adopted by the Mongols, and they served as key scribes and administrators across the empire.

Zheng He (1371–1433)

A Muslim eunuch admiral under the Ming dynasty who led seven extensive maritime tributary expeditions across the Indian Ocean between 1405 and 1433.

Dunhuang

An oasis crossroad in the Hexi Corridor containing the Mogao Caves and a sealed Library Cave housing thousands of manuscripts, including the printed Diamond Sutra of 868 CE.

Huchuang (胡床)

A folding stool imported into China from Central Asian steppe nomads during the Han period, which gradually transformed Chinese domestic seating habits from floor mats to chairs.

Pax Mongolica

The era of relative commercial and political security across Eurasia under Mongol dominance during the 13th and 14th centuries, though tempered by initial conquest violence and internal civil wars.

Battle of Talas (751)

A military engagement near the Talas River where Abbasid forces defeated Tang armies under Gao Xianzhi with assistance from the Qarluq Turks.

Qara-Khitai (Western Liao)

A Central Asian state established by Yelü Dashi and Khitan refugees after the fall of the Liao; its defeat of Seljuk Sultan Sanjar at Qatwan in 1141 fueled European Prester John legends.

Keshig

The elite imperial bodyguard and household guard of the Mongol Khans, consisting of approximately 10,000 men that also served as a political training academy for future military administrators.

John of Montecorvino (1247–1328)

A Franciscan missionary who arrived at Khanbaliq in 1294 and became the first Latin Catholic archbishop of the city in 1307.

Maabar

The Coromandel coast of southeastern India described by Marco Polo as exceptionally wealthy, known for its pearl fisheries in the Gulf of Mannar and the shrine of Saint Thomas.

Jingkang Incident (1126–1127)

The capture of the Northern Song capital Kaifeng by Jurchen Jin forces and the abduction of Emperors Huizong and Qinzong, compelling the Song dynasty to reestablish itself in the south.