2.2 - The Mongol Empire & The Modern World

key terms/events and significance

Mongol Empire

• Definition: Multiple clans of pastoral nomads who herded goats and sheep and who were also hunter-foragers

• Significance: 

  • One of the largest and most powerful empires to ever exist

  • Crucial for facilitating trade, helped it flourished, and caused cultural exchange (trade routes are controlled under a central power / distributed scholars or engineers to other countries to study or share knowledge)

  • Prompted unity for subjugated lands

Genghis Khan

• Definition: 

  • Born as Temuji in 1162 / ruthless but efficient ruler

  • Elected as the king of Mongolian Kingdom after uniting them

• Significance:

  • United Mongol and made them a powerful empire with egregious victories

  • Trade prospered under their rule

Khanate

• Definition: A word for kingdom in Mongolian

• Significance: 

  • Genghis Khan’s kingdom reached from the North China Sea to eastern Persia

  • The Mongols had big territories control and many successful conquest

Pax Mongolia

• Definition: Mongolian peace / Genghis Khan way of governing the conquered land

• Significance: 

  • Freedom of religion and no forced conversion

  • Implant scholars / engineers to different lands to study and share knowledge → cultural & intellectual exchange

The Golden Horde

• Definition: The army led by Batu (Khan’s oldest son) to conquer small Russian kingdoms 

• Significance: 

  • Marked the recurrent expansion of the Mongols

  • Batu forced the conquered people to pay tribute and did not have much religious freedom or promotion of trade 

  • Prompted Russia’s unity and development (military, centralized government, distinct culture, tight bond with Western Europe…)

Yuan Dynasty

• Definition:

  • Kublai Khan (Genghis Khan’s grandson) endeavored to conquer China from 1235-1271

  • Ruled by adhering to Chinese traditions and is skilled at governing

• Significance:

  • Brought prosperity to China (improved trade and cultural exchange) & religious tolerant

  • Began to lose power (distressed the Civil Service Exam, keeping Chinese and Mongolians separate…) & lost in conquest

Ming Dynasty

• Definition: 

  • Zhu Yuanzhang (Buddhist monk from a peasant family) overthrew the Yuan dynasty

• Significance: Marked the decline in power of the Mongol Empire

Explain how the expansion of the Mongols influenced trade and communication over time.

The Mongols protected merchants and travelers by punishing the bandits. This made the routes safer to travel and thus increased trade. Additionally, the Mongols also dispersed scholars and engineers into different region, prompting cultural exchange.

Explain the significance and impact of the Mongol Empire.

The Mongols helped to facilitate trade, prompted cultural exchange, set precedent for the development of their conquered land, set as an example of a successful ruling, and spread the bubonic plague. They played a crucial role in global interactions and helped to nurture trade.