The Mongols and the Black Death

The Mongols

  • Pastoral Moment: The Mongols exemplify the recurring theme of pastoral societies reshaping the world.
  • Lack of Formal State Structure: Like other semi-nomadic societies, they relied on kinship for social order.
    • Familial ties mattered more than location.
    • Wealth was measured in livestock, not land.
  • Simple Material Culture: Limited inequality, as most people had similar possessions.
  • Decentralized Political Power: Clan chiefs from noble lineages were subject to other lineage heads, elected, and lacked absolute authority.
  • Oral Culture: Rich in oral traditions due to the absence of writing.
  • Women's Rights: Women had more rights compared to neighboring settled societies.
  • Persistent Vulnerability: Scarce resources led to frequent violence between communities.
  • Permanent Militarization: All able-bodied adult men were trained warriors, ready for battle with their own equipment.
  • Raid Mentality: Valued theft of cattle and people as symbols of masculinity and bravery.
  • Warrior Ethic: Violence was considered noble if performed appropriately.

Temujin (Genghis Khan)

  • Unlikely Leader: Temujin's early life didn't suggest greatness; he was abandoned and enslaved after his father's murder.
  • Gifts: Skilled warrior and diplomat, excelling at convincing people to join him.
  • Unification: By 1206, united all Mongol clans and was named Genghis Khan (universal chief).
  • Universal Empire: Dreamed of a world where all people submitted to him, like a new Caesar.
  • Initial Ambitions: Primarily wanted to raid China.
  • Protection Request: A caravan of Muslim traders asked for his protection in 1218.
  • Massacre & Rage: The massacre of the caravan by a kingdom in Uzbekistan led to Genghis Khan's brutal campaign in Central Asia.
  • Diplomacy: Offered cities the choice to submit and share power or face complete destruction.
  • Conquests: By his death in 1227, he had forced submission and tribute from Northern China to Eastern Iran.
  • Tribute, Not Rule: Demanded tribute but had no interest in governing.

Succession

  • Rewriting Succession Rules: Genghis Khan circumvented traditional Mongol succession laws due to his prestige.
  • Division of Conquests: Divided his conquests among his sons.
  • Ogedai: His third son, Ogedai, was designated as the Great Khan.
  • Ogedai's Conquests: Brought Russia, China, Hungary, and Poland under Mongol control.
  • Ogedai's Ambition to Rule: Inspired by societies mixing Mongolian and Chinese traditions, Ogedai implemented a hybrid system with a Chinese-style bureaucracy.
  • Death & Election: Ogedai's death spared Western Europe and led to a ten-year succession struggle before his nephew Monk became Great Khan.
  • Monk's Error: Reallocated Mongol territories, enraging Genghis Khan's other descendants.
  • Division into Khanates: By December, the Mongol Empire split into four distinct states.
    • Yuan Dynasty (Mongolia and China)
    • Ilkhanate (Western Asia)
    • Chagatai Khanate (Central Asia)
    • Golden Horde (Eastern Europe)

Cultural Assimilation

  • Dilemma: Mongols wanted to remain culturally Mongol while ruling diverse civilizations.
  • Eastern Asia (Yuan Dynasty): Mongols assimilated into Chinese culture but discriminated against and favored non-Chinese subjects.
    • Government style leaned towards the Tang style.
    • Trade and Buddhism were encouraged.
    • Women had more social rights than under Confucian rulers.
    • Religious tolerance flourished, linking eastern and western religious traditions.
    • China became integrated into the global economy, spreading Chinese goods and technology.
  • Western Asia (Ilkhanate): Early Ilkhans refused to assimilate into Islamic culture and tried to ally with European Christian monarchs.
    • Conquests caused environmental and economic harm.
    • Minorities, particularly Nestorian and Armenian Christians, benefited initially.
    • By 1300, the Ilkhans converted to Islam, built a capital, and patronized Islamic culture.
    • Traditionalist Mongol elite hated the assimilation, leading to faction fighting.
    • The Ilkhanate collapsed in 1353.
  • Eastern Europe (Golden Horde): Mongols never adapted to settled society, despite converting to Islam.
    • Administered through local Russian princes.
    • The Russian Orthodox Church benefited from religious tolerance.
    • Severed the Russian Orthodox Church from the Greek Orthodox Church, allowing for the development of a distinct Russian Christianity.

Significance of Pastoral Peoples

  • Adaptation and Innovation: The Mongols adapted to arid environments and showed a creative alternative to agriculture.
  • Women's Freedom: Greater freedom for women compared to patriarchal civilizations.
  • Challenge to Civilizations: Empires (Xiongnu, Arab, Turk, Almoravid, Mongol) challenged agricultural civilizations.
  • Mongol Empire: Largest and last of the pastoral incursions into the world of civilizations.
  • Unification and Integration: Conquered and united China, devastated Persia but were converted to Islam, and dominated Russia politically and economically.
  • Global Network: Brought much of Eurasia into a single network of exchange, facilitating movement of people, technologies, cultures, and diseases.

Historical Perspective

  • Past Negative Image: Pastoralists were viewed negatively in history books as threats to established civilizations.
  • Bias: Sources came from biased observers in adjacent agricultural civilizations.
  • Shift in Perspective: Recent historians present a more balanced picture, emphasizing achievements and contributions.
  • Productive Unification: The Mongols are viewed as productive in uniting east and west, encouraging religious toleration and trade.

The Black Death

  • Global Cooling: In the early 1300s, a period of global cooling called the Little Ice Age caused a contraction in food production.
  • Black Death: A deadly disease, likely bubonic plague carried by fleas and rats, struck in the late 1340s.
  • No Immunity: Western Afro-Eurasia had no previous experience with the disease.
  • Mongol Origin: The plague spread from Central Asia with the Mongol expansion along the Silk Roads and via rats on ships.
  • Devastation: Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia were infected, with millions dying.

Responses to the Black Death

  • Christian Response: Viewed the Black Death as divine punishment for humanity's sins; emphasized atonement and targeted minorities, especially Jews.
  • Muslim Response: Did not see the plague as divine punishment but either as a pandemic or God's will; emphasized acceptance and did not scapegoat Jews.

Aftermath

  • Economic Impact: Western Asia and Northern Africa were more economically developed, so the Black Death was more devastating; Europe's underdevelopment proved beneficial.
  • Social Changes in Europe: Labor shortages led to serfs demanding concessions and artisans bargaining for wage increases; the nobility and church suffered.
  • Rise of Oligarchs: Merchants and bankers became powerful, and monarchs allied with them.
  • Military Revolution: Monarchs built standing armies with professional soldiers, invested in new military technology, and centralized their states.
  • Emergence of National Monarchies: England, France, Spain, and Portugal became defined national monarchies.

Post-Mongol Empires

  • Ottomans and Mamluks: These Turkish warrior aristocracies adapted to new circumstances and achieved longevity after the fall of Baghdad.
  • Mamluks of Egypt: Turkish slave soldiers seized power and defeated the Mongols, traded in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean.
  • Ottoman Empire: Osman led an expanding confederation into modern-day Turkey, cultivated support from Byzantine Christians, and transformed into a settled state ruled by a Muslim Sultan.
    • Replaced Ghazis with Janissaries.
    • Conquered Byzantine territory.
    • Governed religiously diverse populations with a mix of religious freedom and conscription (Devshirme).
    • Conquered Constantinople in 1453 and transformed into an absolute empire.
  • West African Empires: The Mali Empire adopted Islam, and Timbuktu became a center for Islamic scholarship; the Songhai Empire rose and traded with the Mamluks and Ottomans.

Ming China

  • Fall of the Yuan Dynasty: The Mongol Yuan were overthrown by a peasant revolt, leading to the rise of the Ming dynasty in 1368.
  • Hongwu's Rule: A peasant turned general, Hongwu, resurrected traditional Chinese rule as a populist autocrat and staunch Confucianist.
    • Reinstituted civil service exams for political indoctrination.
    • Returned to patriarchal control of women and the practice of foot binding.
  • Traditionalist Policies: The Ming emperors turned their backs on the outside world, forbidding foreign trade.

The Renaissance

  • Rebirth of Classical Learning: The Renaissance, originating in 14th-century Italy, was a revival of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, art, and literature facilitated by the Crusader States and the Reconquista.
  • Humanism: Humanists combined classical learning with Christian piety and civic responsibilities.
  • Changes in Lifestyle: New habits of luxurious living diverged from the Christian ethic of frugality.
  • Economic Shift: Diminishing trade profits led Italian merchants to banking and finance, supporting Atlantic voyages.
  • Luxury Goods Production: Italy became the primary producer of luxury goods, surpassing the Islamic world.
  • Shift in Attitudes Towards Money: Frugality gave way to spending and consumption in art and architecture.
  • Role of the Arist:s and merchants with personal vanity blurred with civic pride.
  • Urban Environment: Renaissance intellectual ferment thrived in cities, celebrating civic roles and duties.
  • Visual Arts Revolution: Renaissance artists exuded confidence in human capability, developing techniques like perspective.
  • Leonardo da Vinci: He exemplified genius as a painter, architect, sculptor, engineer, mathematician, and inventor.

Global Transformations

  • Global Relationships: Europeans forged global relationships, linking regions previously unconnected, marking the beginning of the modern age.
  • Features of the Modern Age: Global empires, a global economy, global cultural exchanges, global migrations, global disease, and wars characterized this era.
  • Industrialization: The emergence of new human societies included accelerated technological innovation, energy consumption, and scientific outlooks.
  • Controversies: Sorting out gains and losses during this transformation remains a subject of debate.