The Ancient and Medieval
World HST 108 The Mongols
| Temujin |
Turks |
Orkhon Steppe |
| Ögedei |
Marco Polo |
Yasaviyah |
| Tolui |
Bubonic Plague |
Borjigin Clan |
| Chagatai |
Berke Khan |
Borte Ujin |
| Jochi |
Ghazan |
Jin Dynasty |
| Khanate of the Golden Horde |
Timur |
ulus |
| Il-Khan Empire |
Transoxiana |
Mongke Khan |
| Yuan Empire |
khagan |
Turkification |
| Kublai Khan |
khuriltai |
Inju |
| Hülegü |
Yassa |
Khanate of Central Asia |
| Batu Khan |
Genghis-Khanid Legitimacy |
| Mongol Empire |
1206-1368 |
| Khanate of the Golden Horde |
1240s-1502 |
| Khanate of Central Asia (Chagatai) |
1225-1370 |
| Ilkhan Empire |
1265-1335 |
| Timurid Empire |
1370-1507 |
A. nomadic herders dominated the arid grasslands of the steppe in
central Asia [MAP]
B. conflict led to the formation of alliances for protection
C. they often raided or traded with nearby settled peoples
D. similar to tribal society in other areas of the world
E. occasionally, tribes united around a charismatic leader
e.g., Huns, Turks, Mongols
II. The Mongols
A. origins in eastern Mongolia [MAP]
B. housing (yurts)
C. diet (mostly animal products)
D. gender roles
1. men - hunting, fighting, construction
2. women - domestic tasks, driving carts, setting up yurts
E. marriage
1. people from the same clan couldn't marry each other
2. this led to the raiding of other clans
F. main weapon (composite recurve bow)
G. emergence as a superpower
1. colder climate meant lack of good pasture and that forced tribes to
look beyond the steppe for resources
2. the rise of Temujin (1162-1227)
III. Genghis Khan
A. rise to power
1. born in northern Mongolia
2. father was a minor chieftain who was poisoned by a rival
3. Temujin aligned with one of his father's allies
4. built an army by showing courage in battle and being generous to
his followers
5. ruthlessly conquered neighboring tribes
6. proclaimed Genghis Khan (great ruler) in 1206
B. conquests [MAP]
1. gave his army a non-tribal structure to ensure loyalty to him
2. south into China
a. cities and small states were quick to submit because those who
resisted were massacred
b. placed his family members in charge of conquered territory
3. west into Persia
a. one of the envoys sent to the Persian ruler was executed
b. Genghis Khan responded by attacking with a massive army
c. defeated the Persian army and sacked city after city
d. e.g., Samarkand
4. by his death in 1207, he controlled an area stretching from the
Caspian Sea to the Pacific Ocean [MAP]
5. his successors expanded into Europe
a. an army of 150,000 invaded in 1237
b. they returned to Mongolia in 1241 on the death of Ögedei Khan
IV. The Khanates [MAP: from Genghis Khan to the Khanates]
A. original divisions among Genghis Khan's sons
1. Ögedei became Great Khan and received the east
2. Tolui received a small territory around the Mongol homeland
3. Chagatai received central Asia
4. Jochi received western Asia and Europe
B. four main khanates form out of these divisions
1. Khanate of Central Asia (Chagatai's domain)
2. Khanate of the Golden Horde (Jochi's son Batu's domain)
3. Il-Khan Empire (Tolui's son Hülegü's domain)
4. Yuan Empire (Tolui's son Kublai Khan's domain)
(aka the Empire of the Great Khan)
C. the four khanates develop into separate, distinct states
1. Empire of the Great Khan
a. saw the Chinese as inferior and resisted assimilation
b. used their own language; usually didn't intermarry
2. the three western khanates did assimilate with local Turks
3. but differences remained
a. the Khanate of the Golden Horde was not centralized;
Russian princes retained local control
b. the Il-Khan Empire was very centralized;
rulers continued the tradition of the caliphate
V. The Spread of People, Goods and Ideas
A. movement of people
1. the Mongols welcomed merchants and allowed caravans to pass
through their territories
2. they recruited Uighurs to facilitate communication throughout
central Asia
3. western leaders sent representatives into the Mongol lands
B. Marco Polo (1254-1324) [MAP]
1. veracity of his reports questioned because he left out a lot
2. recent research shows that he definitely went to China, and despite
some exaggerations, his reports are pretty accurate
a. he reported on many things that no one in the west had written
about before, such as Chinese currency and salt production
b. he didn't mention the Great Wall because it was dilapidated and
irrelevant at the time
3. excerpt on paper money:
[The emperor] makes his money
after this
fashion. He makes them take of the bark
of a certain
tree, in fact
of the
Mulberry Tree,
the leaves of
which are the
food of the
silkworms,--these
trees being so
numerous that
whole
districts are
full of them.
What they take
is a certain
fine white
skin which
lies between
the wood of
the tree and
the thick
outer bark,
and this they
make into
something
resembling
sheets of
paper, but
black. When
these sheets
have been
prepared they
are cut up
into pieces of
different
sizes. The
smallest of
these sizes is
worth a half
tornesel
[European
silver coin];
the next, a
little larger,
one tornesel;
one, a little
larger still,
is worth half
a silver groat
of Venice
[large
European
silver coin];
another a
whole groat;
others yet two
groats, five
groats, and
ten groats.
There is also
a kind worth
one Bezant of
gold [European
gold coin],
and others of
three Bezants,
and so up to
ten. All these
pieces of
paper are
issued with as
much solemnity
and authority
as if they
were of pure
gold or
silver; and on
every piece a
variety of
officials,
whose duty it
is, have to
write their
names, and to
put their
seals. And
when all is
prepared duly,
the chief
officer
deputed by the
Khan smears
the Seal
entrusted to
him with
vermilion [red
pigment], and
impresses it
on the paper,
so that the
form of the
Seal remains
printed upon
it in red; the
Money is then
authentic. Any
one forging it
would be
punished with
death. And the
Khan causes
every year to
be made such a
vast quantity
of this money,
which costs
him nothing,
that it must
equal in
amount all the
treasure in
the world.
With these pieces of paper, made as I have described, he causes all payments on his own account to be made; and he makes them to pass current universally over all his kingdoms and provinces and territories, and whithersoever his power and sovereignty extends. And nobody, however important he may think himself, dares to refuse them on pain of death. And indeed everybody takes them readily, for wheresoever a person may go throughout the Great Khan's dominions he shall find these pieces of paper current, and shall be able to transact all sales and purchases of goods by means of them just as well as if they were coins of pure gold.
4. excerpt on the Mongol capital of Hangzhou:
The city is beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world… Inside the city there is a lake…and all round it are erected beautiful palaces and mansions, of the richest and most exquisite structure that you can imagine, belonging to the nobles of the city. There are also on its shores many abbeys and churches of the idolaters [Buddhists]. In the middle of the lake are two islands, on each of which stands a rich, beautiful and spacious edifice, furnished in such style as to seem fit for the palace of an emperor… All the streets of the city are paved with stone or brick, as indeed are all the highways throughout Manzi [Southern China], so that you ride and travel in every direction without inconvenience… You must know also that the city of Kinsay [Hangzhou] has some 3000 baths, the water of which is supplied by springs. They are hot baths, and the people take great delight in them, frequenting them several times a month, for they are very cleanly in their persons. They are the finest and largest baths in the world; large enough for 100 persons to bathe together… Moreover, I must tell you that in this city there are…160 tomans of houses. Now I should tell you that the toman is 10,000, so that you can reckon the total as altogether 1,600,000 houses, among which are a great number of rich palaces.
C. both the east and west benefited from the increased trade
1. Europeans borrowed printing, gunpowder, compass, etc.
2. the Mongols received massive amounts of western gold and silver
D. the Mongol mail system
1. typically had outposts/relay stations every 25 miles
2. there were over 1000 relay stations
3. they utilized over 50,000 horses
VI. The Spread of Disease
A. Bubonic Plague (called the Black Death in Europe)
1. moved along the trade routes opened up by the Mongols
2. reached Europe by the mid-14th century
3. killed 1/3 to 1/2 of the European population (20-30 million)
4. had already devastated China, India and the Middle East
5. killed about 100 million people total
B. the cause of the plague
1. bacteria called Yersinia pestis
2. carried by fleas on rats
3. swollen glands in armpits and groin were called buboes
4. generally died within a few days
5. about 40% of people who got it survived
C. the impact of the plague
1. labor supply dropped
2. thus, wages and standard of living rose
3. elites tried to stop the rising wages
4. led to peasant revolts in various places
D. responses to the plague
1. prevention
a. bloodletting (adjusting bodily humors)
b. avoiding bad air
1. masks with flowers
2. fires to create smoke
3. no heavy breathing (avoid exercise, bathing, sex)
2. appease God
a. praying
b. going to church
c. donations to church
d. extreme methods, e.g., flagellants in Europe
3. flee
a. mainly only an option for the rich
b. hard to actually remove oneself from all human contact
4. carpe diem (seize the day) attitude
a. spend all your money
b. feasts, parties
c. buying the most expensive items
VII. The Mongols and Islam
A. the western Khanates
1. the Il-Khan Empire and the Khanate of the Golden Horde ruled
over a mostly Turkish Muslim population
2. the Mongols did have Muslims working for them
e.g., the Buddhist Il-Khan ruler had a trusted Shia advisor
3. Mongol conversion was a slow process because of cultural
difference
B. Mongol leaders convert
1. Berke Khan (r. 1257-1266)
a. leader of the Golden Horde
b. converted to Islam and facilitated conversion of his followers
c. as a Muslim, he wanted to avenge the defeat of the Abbasid
Caliphate
2. Ghazan (r. 1271-1304)
a. ruler of the Il-Khan Empire
b. converted to Islam in 1295
c. tension with the Golden Horde declined after this
C. Timur (Tamerlane), r. 1370-1405 [facial reconstruction]
1. Muslim of Turkish descent
2. took over Chagatai's forces in the Khanate of Central Asia
3. he wanted to reconquer everything that Genghis Khan had
conquered
4. he was able to defeat/conquer:
a. Il-Khan Empire
b. Khanate of the Golden Horde
c. Delhi Sultanate
d. Ottoman Sultan
5. he died before he could conquer China, but the Timurid Empire
was massive
6. his descendants couldn't hold it together