Historical Developments

Empires collapsed in different regions of the world and in some areas were replaced by new imperial states, including the Mongol khanates. (GOV)

The expansion of empires—including the Mongols—facilitated Afro-Eurasian trade and communication as new people were drawn into their conquerors’ economies and trade networks. (ECN)

Interregional contacts and conflicts between states and empires, including the Mongols, encouraged significant technological and cultural transfers. (CDI)

Technological and cultural transfers:

• Transfer of Greco– Islamic medical knowledge to western Europe

• Transfer of numbering systems to Europe

• Adoption of Uyghur script

Pastoral People

Pastoral peoples in Eurasia built powerful and distinctive empires that integrated people and institutions from both the pastoral and agrarian worlds.

• less productive economies + need for large grazing areas = small populations than agricultural societies

• highly mobile - followed seasonal changes

• linked to and dependant upon agriculture neighbors

• encampments of kinfolk

• clans had common ancestry

• offered women higher status & greater role in public life

  • Mongol women could initiate divorce

Pastoral Nomads

• alternative to agricultural way of life - but few could live from the products of their animals

• sought foodstuffs and luxury goods from agricultural societies

• lacked surplus wealth for  professional armies and bureaucracies

• fierce loyalties/independence made unity difficult

• Still had military advantages - drew on horseback and hunting skills practiced from childhood

• mastered environments unsuitable for agriculture

The Mongol Empire

• left only a modest cultural impact

• never tried to spread their faith among subject peoples

• religion based on rituals involving ancestors

• majority of those conquered by Mongols were simply defeated, subordinate, and exploited

• today Mongol culture is mainly only in Mongolia, even though their territory was so vast

• In contrast, the Turks conquered a lot of land and their language and culture far from Turkish homeland

Genghis Khan / Temujin

• spelled many different ways (Chinggis Khan) - it means “universal ruler”

• Genghis Khan united the warring tribes with his personal magnetism & courage

• without a common task, they might dissolve into warring tribes again - needed something to do and awards to give followers

• 1209 - first major attack began half a century of Mongol world war

In 2003 a groundbreaking historical genetics paper reported results which indicated that a substantial proportion of men in the world are direct line descendants of Genghis Khan. By direct line, it means that they carry Y chromosomes which seem to have come down from an individual who lived approximately 1,000 years ago. As Y chromosomes are only passed from father to son, that would mean that the Y is a record of one’s patrilineage. Genghis Khan died ~750 years ago, so assuming 25 years per generation, you get about 30 men between the present and that period. In more quantitative terms, ~10% of the men who reside within the borders of the Mongol Empire as it was at the death of Genghis Khan may carry his Y chromosome, and so ~0.5% of men in the world, about 16 million individuals alive today, do so.

China and the Mongols - the Yuan Dynasty

• China was most difficult of Mongol conquests - lasted 70 years from 1209 to 1279

• United the north (which was ruled by various dynasties of nomadic origin) and Southern China which was under the control of the Song Dynasty

• Uniting China was an ideal valued by educated Chinese, so they assumed the Mongols had the Mandate of Heaven.

• Mongols made use of Chinese administrative practices (taxation, postal service)

• Gave themselves a dynastic title: the Yuan & moved capital to Beijing

• Khublai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan) had policies similar to those of benevolent Chinese emperors

  • improved roads, built canals, lowered taxes, patronized scholars and artists

• Even so, Mongol rule was harsh, exploitative, foreign, and resented

• Ignored Chinese examination system and used foreigners to fill bureaucratic positions

• Few Mongols learned Chinese & Mongol laws discriminated against Chinese

• Mongols forbade intermarriage and prohibited Chinese scholars from learning Mongol script

Russia and the Mongols

• Rolled over Russia between 1237 and 1240

• Devastation was worse than what happened to the Persians or the Chinese

• Used catapults and battering rams (adopted from the Chinese) to take city after city

• Survivors from the cities (usually laborers and craftsmen) were deported to other Mongol lands or sold into slavery

• Became the “Khanate of the Golden Horde”

• Did not occupy Russia as they had China and Persia b/c Russia had little to offer - no garrisoned cities, permanently stationed administrators, or Mongol settlements

• Lots of steppe lands allowed Mongols to keep their nomadic way of life and yet still have easy access to Russian cities, if needed → could dominate and exploit Russia from the steppes

• Russian princes were forced to send tribute to the Mongol capital

• Heavy taxes were levied

• Russian Orthodox Church flourished under Mongol tolerance & was exempt from many taxes

• Indirect rule meant that the Mongols were far less assimilated or influenced by Russian culture than their counterparts in China or Persia

Persia and the Mongols

• Mongol takeover in Persia was more abrupt than the extended process of conquering China

• First invasion (1219-1221) was led by Chinggis Khan himself followed by second assault 30 years later

• More destructive than conquest of Song dynasty

• Mongols were infidels in Muslim eyes, so Mongol victory was a shock to Muslims

• Sacking of Baghdad in 1258 put an end to the Abbasid caliphate

• Massacre of 200,000 people

• Damage to Persian and Iraqi agriculture - Mongols turned much into pasture

• Heavy taxes pushed peasants off their land

• Wine production increased b/c Mongols liked alcohol - silk production increased

• Mongols in Persia were transformed more than in China

• Made use of Persian bureaucracy

• Rebuilt damaged cities and public works

• Most importantly, Mongols who conquered Persia became Muslims (not seen in China or Russia!!)

• When dynasty collapsed, they were not forced out as in China, they assimilated into Persian society

All in all, the influence of the Mongols was very big in terms of the world we know today. For example. they secured routes of transport and communication - which caused the spread of black death with these increased trade routes.