The Mongols

By 1206, the Mongols were using Uighur script to write their language. This shows their connection to central Asian groups that had interacted with China. The Mongols were primarily pastoral nomads.

The Mongols believed in nature spirits. Certain people called Shamans, could intercede with these gods. Shamans also used oracle bones.

Families of chiefs formed a privileged group from which all future rulers were chosen. The Mongols had slaves which were often captured in Battle. Taxes were periodically collected it was based on how many animals a person had. The Mongols lived in felt tents that could be set up and dismantled quickly. Women were in charge of packing up tents and moving them.

Women had much more equality in Mongol societies than in other sedentary civilizations.

The Mongols relied on settled peoples for grain and textiles like silk or cotton. They also traded metal for knives daggers and spears.

Temujin when he was a teenager forged alliances with other Mongol leaders and began defeating other Mongol tribes. By the time he was 39, he united all the Mongol tribes, and they called him Chinggis Khan or Genghis Khan.

Chinggis reorganized the populations to weaken group loyalties. Every man was required to fight between the ages of 15-70. The Mongol forces population reached several hundred thousand.

The Mongols were excellent at riding horses from a young age. Their goal was to conquer as much territory as possible in a short amount of time. The Mongols viewed all plunder as their due, and would limit their take to 1/10 of the property of the conquered, if they submitted.

The Mongols conquered the Jin Dynasty in China and the city of Beijing in 1215.

A Mongol governor was called a darughachi, whose main responsibility was to collect taxes. They taxed herds, agriculture and commercial transactions.

When Genghis Khan died, a khuriltai decided that his son Ogodei would take over all the territories of the realm.

In the 1230s, the Mongols attacked Russia repeatedly. In 1241 the Mongols attacked Poland and crossed the Danube, a few miles from Vienna. The Mongols stopped conquering Europe because of the death of Ogodei.

During the time of the Mongols in Eurasia, the postal relay system was developed. These were fixed routes every 30 miles so messages could be relayed from one side of the empire to the other. One of Genghis Khan’s generals was able to travel 1200 miles on horseback in one week.

The postal relay system stops guaranteed safety to traveling envoys and government agents.

For the first time in world history, it became possible for individual travelers to move safely across Eurasia.

The capital of the Mongols was Khara Khorum, it had a small international population.

When the Mongols conquered an area they identified the skilled workers as warfare engineers, or workers to be sent back to build the capital city of Khara Khorum. The Mongols were willing to learn from their captives. This promoted extensive cultural exchange.

The Mongols designated some Central Asian merchants as commercial agents who would convert their plunder into money and then buy goods. The Mongols greatly valued textiles because they were portable.

There was no universal language in the Mongol lands. Local languages were always used for government purposes. The vast Mongol territory declined with Mongke’s death in 1259.

Mongke’s brother Hulegu, led the Mongols to sack Baghdad in 1258 putting an end to the Abbasid caliphate. 800,000 people died. Hulegu also tried to conquer the Mamluks in Egypt was defeated at the Battle of Ain Jalut.

The Mongols had a hard time fighting in hot climate.

There was no Mongol unity after 1260, but the 4 Mongol Khanates were put into place

Successor States in Western Asia 1263-1500 p. 415-418 Hansen Book

In the western sections of the Mongol territories there were 3 Khanates, each ruled by a different Mongol prince, and when that prince died, the territory was divided among his sons.

The Mongols continued the tradition of learning from other peoples’ cultures as they previously had, most of the ruling families converting to Islam.

Hulegu called himself the Il-khanate which meant subordinate. When Hulegu’s great grandson took the throne in 1295, he had announced his conversion to Islam. The other Mongols followed suit. The Mongols of the Il khanate, taxed the people of Iran heavily and caused great impoverishment they also introduced paper money which failed completely. The Il khanate broke up when the last of Hulegu’s decedents died by 1335.

In the Qipchaq Khanate, the Mongols had converted to Islam by 1312. They ruled the lower middle Volga river valley. Ibn Battuta remarked on the status of women in these areas.

Before the Mongols conquered Russia in the 1230s, the decedents of Prince Vladimir had governed the various Russian areas. (They were also Eastern Orthodox Christian, which the Mongols allowed). Many Russian areas surrendered to the Mongols, Kiev was hit particularly hard.

The Principality of Muscovy was the successor to Kiev. (Moscow). The Muscovites were better able to pay their tribute money to the Mongols, so gained favor with the leaders. Ivan III became the most powerful Russian to rule Moscow, and he also collected taxes for the Mongols. The Russians decided to stop submitting tribute to Mongols in 1480 and broke free of the Mongols by 1500. Ivan III controlled a lot of land.

The Chaghatai Khanate was in Central Asia. These Mongol people had converted to Islam by 1260s. Most of the people here were nomadic herders or traders on overland trade routes. Around 1350 a Turkish speaking Mongol called Timur the Lame took over the territory. He was able to conquer large amount of territory in Iran, Afghanistan, India and Turkey. Samarkand became a beautiful city. By 1500 this Mongol Khanate had also declined due to the practice of tanistry.

The Ottomans p. 419-422

The Ottomans were Turkish Muslims from central Asia /Anatolia. The Mongols generally did not venture into Anatolia. By 1300 a leader of the Turks named Osman conquered different sections of Anatolia. Ibn Battuta reported on the Ottomans fighting the Byzantine Empire from the city of Bursa as early as 1331. The Ottomans had conquered almost all lands surrounding Constantinople by the 1350s. They even professed loyalty to the Byzantine emperor. The Ottomans faced defeats at the hands of Timur the Lame, but continued conquering after his death in 1405.

The Ottomans collected taxes on agriculture and used the tax money on roads (to move troops more quickly). They had fair tax policies and promoted commerce in their territories. When Ottomans captured Christians, they would force them to become slaves called Janissaries. These slaves were soldiers who eventually converted to Islam. The Janissaries were required to be celibate, and some Christian families wanted their children to become Janissaries. The Ottomans also started using gunpowder by the 1400s.

In 1453 the Turk, Mehmed the Conqueror led the attack against the Byzantine emperor and conquered it after fifty-three days.

The behavior of the Ottomans contrasted greatly with the sacking of Constantinople during the 4^th crusade in 1204. The ottomans turned churches into mosques including the Hagia Sophia. It was now called Istanbul, which means the city in Greek.

Istanbul became a cultural center under Mehmed. Islamic schools were established. Scholarly works were published in many different languages.