Mongol Invasion of Europe

What country was the main target of the Mongol invasion?

Hungary

What mountain range did the Mongols cross to get into Hungary?

Carpathians

What is the name of the flat land just west of the Carpathians in Hungary?

The Great Hungarian Plain

What was the decisive battle of the Mongol Invasion of Hungary? Who won? What year was it in

Battle of Mohi, Mongols, 1241

Which Mongol commander led the invasion of Europe in the 1240s, serving as the main military leader on the ground

Subutai

Who was the Hungarian king during the Mongol invasion?

Bela IV

What event back in Mongolia in 1241 caused the Mongol army to withdraw from Europe just as they seemed poised to push further west?

The death of Ogedi (the current Great Kahn)

What was the name of the Mongol khanate established in the western part of their empire, covering much of Russia and Eastern Europe, that Batu Khan founded following this campaign?

The Golden Horde

During the 1241 campaign, the Mongols split their forces to strike multiple targets at once. Besides Hungary, which other kingdom did a Mongol force invade — winning the Battle of Legnica

Poland

Who was Jochi? What were his ties to other members of the royal family?

He was the illegitimate son of Genghis Kahn, although Genghis raised him as he would have a legitimate son. Jochi was the father of Batu, the ruler of the westernmost Mongol territories (which were the predecessor to the Golden Horde)

What 4 states did the Mongol empire fracture into during the late 1200’s? Name one notable person from each

Golden Horde - Batu

Yuan Dynasty - Kublai Kahn

Chagatai Kahnate - Tamerlane

Ilkahnate - Ghazan Kahn

What river in Hungary did the Mongols find it difficult to advance across until it froze over?

Danube

Which son was chosen to succeed Genghis as Great Khan?

Ogedi

What was Genghis Khan’s birth name?

Temujin

What was the name of the extensive relay communication and supply network the Mongols built across their empire, which allowed messages and messengers to travel at remarkable speed?

Yam

What innovative military/administrative unit system did Genghis Khan use to organize his army — based on units of 10 — that also helped break down old tribal loyalties?

Decimal

What term is used for the Mongol legal code, reportedly instituted by Genghis Khan, that covered everything from military discipline to religious tolerance?

Yassa

The Mongols are often credited with (unintentionally) helping spread a devastating disease westward along trade routes in the 1300s, which went on to kill a huge portion of Europe’s population. What was this disease/event called?

Black Death

What was the traditional portable, felt-covered dwelling used by Mongol nomads — the structure you’d picture across the steppe?

yurt

What weapon did Mongol horse archers invent?

Compound recurve bow

What was the name of the great Mongol capital city, founded by Ögedei Khan, that served as the empire’s political center before Kublai Khan later moved the capital to Beijing (Khanbaliq)?

Karakorum

Which European traveler famously journeyed to Kublai Khan’s court in the late 13th century and wrote an account of his travels that became one of the most influential travelogues in European history?

Marco Polo

What was the historical compendium only for the eyes of the Great Khan?

Secret History of the Mongols

What Japanese word meaning “divine wind” was used to describe the typhoons that struck and devastated the Mongol invasion fleets in both 1274 and 1281, destroying huge portions of Kublai Khan’s ships and forcing withdrawal

Kamikaze

What dynasty did Kublai Khan overthrow? What was the name of his new dynasty? What dynasty eventually overthrew his?

Song, Yuan, Ming

What Muslim power did the Mongols defeat and what Muslim power later gave them trouble?

Abbasid Caliphate, Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt

What was the Umayyad capital and what was the Abbasid capital?

Damascus, Baghdad

What prominent Anatolian state was vassalized by the Mongols?

Seljuk Sultanate of Rum

What Ilkhanate leader defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Ankara?

Tamerlane