IMPACT OF MONGOLS ON CONQUERED PEOPLES AND THE-------- -------------ENVlRONMENT--- ------- ------ ----

"I~ the early days of the empire, ar.~~CI..!1Scaptured m the course of a campaignusually were sent back to the Mongol homeland and made the slaves of princes andmilitary commanders .... Realizing their economic and military value, the Mongolsalways took c~r~ to separate the craftsmen before putting the general population tothe sword." (Allsen, p. 213)

"No one with a usable skill was overlooked. All of the Mongols' subjects, from theAlan metal workers who produced chain mail for the army to the Chinese physicianswho tended Hulegu's health when he came west, were required to place their[t>a.rtirnl::q:abilities at the disposal of the empire " (AU~en,p. 215)

"The qans of the early Mongol Empire can be divided into two distinct groupings onthe basis of their general policy orientation. In one category are those -tansChinggis Oan, Chaghadai, and Guyug whom [scholars] describe as steppetraditionalists, the enemies of agriculture and city life. who pursued policies

- uniformly detrimental to their sedentary subjects; on the other are those rulersOgeidei, Mongke, and Qubilai-wham [scholars] regard as champions of centralizedimperial authority and. advocates of some measure of accommodation with thesedentary population under their control. " (Allsen, o. 221 )

"East Iran never recovered entirely from the Mongol hurricane. Some towns stillshow signs of the Mongol destruction; they were unable to regain their formerposition as centers of Islamic civilization:' (DeHartog, p. 131 )

"[Ogeidei] had been impressed by the life that he had seen in Samarkand and hebegan to establish Karakorum as a worthy capital for his empire. The city wasextended, public granaries and warehouses were built and a regular system of food ---supply was organized whereby five hundred wagonloads of food were· brought into] t:the city every day.L in the hall of his new palace he erected a gold fountain made inthe shape. of elephants, tigers, and horses "{Chambers, po. 57-58)

"The Mongols entered the besieged city and put almost the entire population ofNin xia to the sword." (Hoan, .22)

__"Mongol warfare followed the steppe tradition. Peoples who resisted wereexterminated; others were enslaved, the men were forced to serve in the Mongolforces;-ilie-dties -were-plundered -arid then -abandonedlt--(Ratclinevskv, -ii. 169) -----------

-

"Theeffect of the Mongol conquest upon ... China has been disputed. Beyond doubt,it knit together the greater empire that endured until the ~E!~qE!tll century. It alsoincreased vastly the contact of this new empire with southern and mid-Asia. Theheavy trade of the Yuan (Mongol) period continued into the Mi.ng~ the Mongolshad Dthrown open the courts and schools to nearly all languages and religions. _ Others ,hold "thatthe shock of me "Mongol conquest exhausted the Chinese spirit" ... [and "itbecame] imitative, fearful of new invasion (Lamb. pp. 308-9)

"Partial coalescence [in China] between mercantile and official outlooks reached its~~:.=~:.~'~~;!e~~q;~:qW'~~~~&:$~:=f~~~~ ~~, =::. Sonly one of many foreign merchants whom Kublai appointed as tax collectors and toother key administrative posts in his empire." (McNeill,Pursuit, p.42)

"The fortresses refused the surrender always demanded by the Mongols at thebeginning of a siege. They were therefore vigorously [attacked] and taken by assault II Awlth the help of modern devices such as smokeand fires hips.... IV l-

"The Mongol invasion had also brought about certain ethnic changes (Spuler,Ipp, 13. 59)

"Once the Mongols began to live in the country they were subject to manners,modesof dress, and religious beliefs foreign to their tribal mode of life. The force andcontinuity of Iranian civilization worked to alter their very character. The feudal ('system of government was retained. Persians were soon named to the highest \)administrative posts, and the 11 Khans became patrons of literature and the arts."(Wilber . 51 )

'The condition of the peasants at this time was appalling, for they were subject toanything from fifteen to thirty different kinds of tax and tribute .... It was during theMongol period that the peasants became in fact slaves of the soil, a positionpreviously unheard of in the Islamic world under Islamic law, which regardsworkers of the land as freemen. ... towards the end of the thirteenth century thesevarious systems of taxation had fumed whole regions into dust. ...

"The towns destroyed by the invasion were slow to revive. The attempts of theMongols to rebuild these towns or create new ones were largely unsuccessfuL .. the Cmarkets were no longer being supplied with farm produce from the neighborhood.... tthey dwindled in size.... the townspeople were burdened with taxes and otherobligations .... All this led to a decline in the country's productivity.i.. .

"One important aspect of the Mongol conquest is that for the first time Persia andother large parts of the Muslim world found themselves governed ... by non-Muslimrulers ... ~~q ignored dtfferences of ~igi911S belief ~9P.g $~ ~l1Pj~c:~····it hasbeen remarked by some scholars that despite the terrible devastation that it broughtwith it, Mongolrule did provide certain virtues. such as the reunification of largeareas, safety of travel, the establishment of new trade routes......"(Bausani,.pp. 114-16)

"Ghazanconverted to Islam, built an Islamic state, [\-vith] himself the autocrat.... His 0nuroose was to live in ace and develo the caravan trade ...." (Lamb. .311) 0

"North China was subjected to a series of destructive campaigns over a period oftwenty-five years.i.. the Mqn.gqis seriously considered wiping out the wholepopulation ... to turn the land over to pasture (according to one story) .... Transoxaniaand more particularly eastern Persia had to endure something that must have seemto approximate very nearly to attempted genocide The figures __for the numbers ofpeople massacred are, .--.-t600,(XXY:-: ~-at-ilie--sack of Haratand i,747,Oo:Yat"Nlsliapur.,j(Mor an, .74)

"The Persian plateau is largely lacking in great rivers. Consequently agriculture is... dependent on a locally devised form of artificial irrigation, the qanat--an~4~~~4 ~~~ c:h~~~ that bangs m~water ~9where it Is ~~~ ~m~ of thesewere destroyed during the invasions and without effective irrigation ... much of theland would soon revert to desert. But a more long-term consideration is that qanats,even if not actually destroyed, quickly cease to operate if they are not constantlymaJDraln-eci"_--Lirid -wolii"if -iiiffer-1iieIJucibIe -da-ma-gp-thIoiigh -negiect -of the' 'qanats.With their pasture-oriented minds, the Mongols were not the people to do anything toremedy this." (Morgan, pp. 80 81)

"The Muslims of western Asia . . . were prepared to learn from the Chinese. Themq~tvisually HtHqp.gexample of rm~[s to be fQ@.q ill f~t~!<lp.m!nj<lmr~ Q;:!inqgg ofthe period. The rocks, the trees and the douds frequently have a very Chinese lookabout them. But . . . there are no Persian motifs in the Chinese arts of the YuanRie1,~Jr;ht~~~~(~M6ri1n:-;i~5r~~_~y ~~ q~-~~~~~... f~~ •.. t~~~;c~~~~~

"There were a great many European merchants in the Mongol Empire, aconsiderable number of missionaries. and some ambassadors." (Mor an, . 198)

"Qubilai . . . did not appoint Chinese to the great offices of state, and the old fexamination system for entry into the dvil service ... was not revived." (Morgan, p.110)

"Mongol conquests facilitated trade between the civilizations at each end of Eurasia,making possible the exchange of foods, tools, and ideas on an unprecedented scale .... fPerhaps -the greatest long-term. impact of the Mongol drive to the west was ... that ./the Mongol conquests played a key role in transmitting the fleas that carriedbubonic plague from central Asia to Europe and the Middle East." (Stearns et al.,p.462)

"Kubilai promulgated many laws to preserve the distinction between Mongol andChil1ese::-= ------------.-- ---- ------ -.--------- - - --- ------------- -------- --------- ---

"Kubilai modeled much at his capital and court at Tatu after Chinese precedents. Hispalace was laid out like those of Chinese emperors .._ The upper levels of thebureaucracy were organized and run ... along Tang-Song lines.... His generous Dpatronage drew to his .splendid court scholars, artists, artisans, and office seekers \from many lands .... Kubilai displayed a strong interest in all religions and insisted ontoleration-in his domains." (Stearns et al., pp.-245, 246,247)

I,._--II

I

4

"Mongol communications had another important effect. r--.Iotonly did largenumbers of persons travel very long distances across cultural and epidemiologicalfrontiers; they also traversed a more northerly route than had ever been intensivelytraveled before. The ancient Silk Route between China and Syria crossed the desertsof central Asia, passing from oasis to oasis. Now, in addition to this old route,caravans, soldiers ~q P9~~ riders rode across the open grasslands, Tl1~Ycreated aterritorially vast human web that linked the Mongol headquarters at Karakorumwith Kazan and Astrakhan on the Volga, with Caffa in the Crimea, with Khanbaliq inChina and with innumerable other caravanserais in between,

~~:~~- ~~ooc:~!~~~i~t:~~:~~~~~~ ·~~e;~I~:.~¥os;~~~~ec~~~ ~contacts between Europeans and peoples from those areas that had long beensoutfiernizedi.,'." .. -.__ _.- .._._- _- - --_._ - - .. _..- _ _ _- .

"In the seventeenth century _.. Francis Bacon singled out three technologiesin particular that 'have changed the whole face and state of things throughout theworld," These were an Chi.ries-e-fIf\lehtidiis":":"'lh.e-tdmpass~·priIit1Iig;'and gunpowder. A1lthree were first acquired by Europeans during this time of hemispheric

.- reorganization [thirteenth centurv]:'(Shaffer.pp.16, 17,18)

"From an epidemiological point of view, this northward extension. of the caravantrade net had one very significant consequence. Wild rodents of the steppelandscame Into touch 'with' the carriers 'of diseases,' among -them.Jri allprobability;" --bubonic plague.... ~ \~"... the bacillus ... proceeded to penetrate almost all of Europe and the Near East..;"(McNeilr;Plajtiies,- pp.133·-34~lASr· ..- - _ _ -. --_ -.._ _._._ .. -_._ -.

HOW DID THE MONGOLS CREATE THEIR EMPIRE?

"The Mongol conquests began with Genghis Khan's unification of the steppe '(:X) \,\.he., Snomads in the first quarter of the thirteenth centu (Curtin, p. 120)

"All the men in the Mongol Empire over the age of 20 except physicians, priests of ~ k L. _ .any religion or those who washed the bodies of the dead. were liable for military 'W"-J~ervite:"-(Chainbe:ts···p. 67)·.-.·· ..-.- - -._-. .. . """ .- .

"The removal ~~~ a ~~~ of ~~~ of military ag~ ~a~ a ~Y~~~~ ill the M.~~g~lmethod of warfare that was rigorously applied, The method was adoubJ.e-.edged sword; lL I h-. ~.that part of a town's population capable of resistance was removed, to be employed as v G.,"", "\

a terror weapon against the next town.... This absolute form of terror sometimesresUlted iii'ciiisbiil"alfwill"to'fesisC'(De Harto', ···.'E1)" . .

"By the ~Q!:q m: l;?y Wl?lQID4<:Y,through ~~Qr or ~r~P.-4~iQg, T("'m!!j~g {~("'ggbi~Khan) had subdued or enslaved a hundred peoples ....

"~~g~~ Khan practiced ~ strategy of systematic intimidation Cl.Il4 terror. Too few ~in number to fight on several fronts, arid having little stomach for a long-drawn-ourguerrilla war, the Mongols often. employed methods that were bloody in. the highest~~~~ ....

"When they occupied a city or a land they had conquered they separated families,scattered the inhabitants, taking many into their service ... as if they were intent onbI'eakliig" the' 'sthictili'e's'oniii"(~ntfre'sodetY~ n' {Hoang;pp:20;794; 797)'" .. . .

"The M9~g9~~' tactical supremacy ~s achieved through frequent exercise thattook the form of immense hunting parties in which the army participated as units.Coordination was accomplished in various ways: careful plans were made anddistributed among the participants; communications were maintained between. unitsby varioiis means, for example, "specialmessengers orwhfstling 'arrows;a:n(fIlna1iy~perhaps most important discipline in the Mongol armies was exceedingly strict. Noexcuse was accepted for failure to carry out one's part of the plan.... ~ [O(lD"Manpowerjeconomlcresoiirces, 'or' technological 'kric:iwliow'available in one part of n1tlthe domain could promptly be mobilized and deployed to meet a need in some otherpart of the far flung empire. Hulegu's campaign in western Asia ... can be used toillustrate·this'poiIit.-Ttoops for' ursassaurronme 'Assassii:rs--an:d·~bbas1d.s camefromMongolia. Turkestan. Iran. the Transcaucasus, and the Golden Horde. Food.to sustainthese armies came from Armenia, Georgia, and central Asia. Technical spedalists tooperate the catapults and siege equipment were sent from China (Allsen, pp. 6, 21920)

"Genghis Khan was from a nation of hunters and he shared his people's love of the 5~,P lP h.Jhunt. 'As soon as the children are two or three years old ... they begin to ride ... and ",-,v,", Jthen a small bow, suitable in size to their, ge; is given to them and they are taught toiliObe "'(RatthneVSK)'-;P~ 154)"" ..?::----:-:-: '" : """ '" .. '"

"The same techniques that were necessary for survival in a herding andhunting environment were, with very little adaptation, ¢.()SE: used in warfare.i.

.•All male Mongol adults below the age of sixty were liable for militaryservice ....

"It is the character rather than the size of the Mongol army which is crucial ...."According to 'one' story', 'the Invasionof China quickly revealeda serious' , ..,

weakness in Mongol military effectiveness: a cavalry force such as the Mongol armycould be supreme in the field, but it was not an adequate Instrument for the taking ofme' walledcitiesof Cfrina. '\V'e ate 'told'thaJ~ 'faced witha formidable ciryfortheflrst -.time. Chingiz Khan offered to raise the siege if he were given. 1,000 cats and 10,000swallows. These were duly handed over. Material was tied to their tails, and this wasser en 'fire~The a.:n1ma1S"~vere-i~le-a5ed'and-flea-l1ome,'s~tting 'me-dty'abhrze;-and 'inthe ensuing confusion the city was stormed.... .

"The Yam (the Mongol courier/communication system) impressed Europeanobservers. It was designed to facilitate the travels of envoys ... for the transportationof goods ... the speedy transmission of royal orders from one part of the empire toanother; and it provided a framework whereby the Mongols could receiveintelligence as quickly as possible." (Morgan, pp. 84,-85,88,65,103-4)

Mongol Yurts (Ger)

Mongol Adage: It is wise to never have more wives than yurts.~'-- .- When Genghis Khan was busy piecing together his Mongolian Empire during the

thirteenth century, the yurt was providing shelter for the average wanderingMongolian.The Mongol needed a home that was very portable, that could betransported on a single beast of burden, and that was easy to heat during theharsh Mongolian winters. The yurt was ideal at meeting all of these requirements.Although the yurt comes down to us from the Mongols, the name "yurt" comes tothe western world from Russian merchants, traders, and marauders of many yearsago. To the Mongol his home was known as a "ger", simply meaning "dwelling".

One advantage yurts have over standard tents .... large "smoke" openings in theroof and skirting on the sides that can be partially raised to provide adequateventilation .... hot air rises through roof, creates low pressure that pulls steadysupply of air through "vents" in sides ... sets up a convection flow that carriesstale air (induding carbon monoxide) out and pulls fresh air in.

As for safety ... the yurt is a "sacred" space - the hearth is at the center and assuch all who enter are aware that when one enters such "sacred space", one doesnot casually fling ones doak around .... consider, it was the death penalty for anyone who stepped on the "threshold" of a yurt (the dividing line between thesacred inner circle and the external consensus reality world.....).

When setting up the yurt the door is placed facing southeast. This was done sothat light coming in the roof ring during the day would light specific parts of theyurt at the proper time of the day. For example, by the end of the day, the lightwould fall on the kitchen area where dinner \VaS prepared. There was a man's sideand a woman's side to the yurt. In the center of the yurt is the hearth. Oppositethe door on the far side of the yurt is the altar. Clockwisefrom the door and.around the hearth there is seating for the man's guests, the honoured guest, theman, the woman, the woman's honoured guest, women's guests, until coming backto just right of the door (facing into the yurt) there is place for the children andservants. This is also the kitchen side of the yurt. On the women's side is also thebed. Also, the yurt is owned by the woman, whose job is to maintain the homeand hearth, and to raise the children and make the felt etc. The men own.theherds, and hunt and protect. A Mongol adage is to never have more wives thanyurts. The idea being that each wife had her own and there was no rivalrybetween Wives.

The cosmology:The earth, the hearth square, the yurt, the four corners of the earth, the earth, theuniverse. Thus all was linked with the home, and. the home being mobile wasalways part of the universe.

TIMELINE FOR MONGOLIAN HISTORY

j

-,TE EVENT DATE EVENT~

l.l25 Liao Dynast)' (Khitans) driven out of 1256 Hulegu takes Assassin castles in north Persianorth China by the Chin

1141 Saljuq sultan Sanjar defeated by 1257 Accession of Berke, Khan of Golden HordeQara- Khirai at Oatwan steppe

11677 Birth of Chingiz Khan 1258 Fall of Baghdad to Hulegu, Death of last'Abbasid Caliph

1200 Accession of 'Ala' al- Din Mvhammad ll, 1259 Death of MongkeKhwarazm- shah

1206 Chingiz Khain proclaimed supreme ruler 1260 Hulegu invades Syria, then withdraws, Battle ofof the tribes at quriltai in Mongolia 'Ayn jalur. Rival quriltais elect Qubilai and

.. Aric -boke as Great Khan: civil war ensues1209 Monzols invade Hsi-Hsia 1261-2 Outbreak of warfare between Hulezu and Berke1211 Mongols invade Chin Empire of north 1264 Qubilai victorious over Ariq- bake--- - ChIna'-' -- --- - .--- ----- . - -- - - -- -- - . - - ._--- -_._----- - - - -- .. - - ---

1215 Peking falls to Mongols 1265 Death of Hulegu, first Ilkhan, Accession ofAbaqa

1218 Mongol troops under jebel occupy 1266 Building begins at new Mongol capital of ChinaQara- Khitai empire Ta- tu (Peking)

1219 Chingiz Khan invades empire of the 1267 Death of Berke, Khan of Golden Horde. _. - Khwarazrrishah ...-....................... . -_.- -' ---_ .. '"

.' 0" _. __ ••• ____ • _ •• _ •••• ____ •••• _______

1221-3 journey of Ch'ang Ch'un from China (0 1271 Marco Polo, with his father and uncle, sets offHindu Kush for China (arrives 1271)

1223 R:erum of Chmztz Khan to Mongolia 1272 QtibiIil 'aaOPfS Chinese dynastic title Yuan1227 Death of Chingiz Khan . .Definitive '1274 First Mongol expedition against japan

conquest of Hsi- Hsia1229 Electionof Ogedeias Great Khan 1276 Hang- chou, capital of Sung Empire, falls to

Monzols1234 End of Chin resistance to Mongols 1279 End of Sunz resistance ro MongolsiZ35 Ogedeibuilds wallsof Qaraqorum,

••• _. - ••• _.__ 0"' •••• _._.' __

12.81 Second Mongol exped ition. against JapanMonzol imperial capital

12.37-42 Mongol campaigns. under Batu, in Russia 12.87 ~lJaI1 ~a.LlIIla.~Ilt t() Ell:()~ lJ.Y~ Ar~llIl. . .. -.. andeasternEurope .... _................. . .

1241 Battles of Liegnitz and River Sajo. Death 1294 Death of Qubilai. Arrial of john of MonteofOgedei· Corvino in China... ... -

1245-7 journey of John of Plano Carpini to 1295 Accession of Ghazan as Ilkhan. Mongols inMongolia Persia become Muslim

1246 ~~~~~ of Guyuk ~ Great !C-~~~ 1299- Major N.1~~g~~invasion of Syria; brtefly.. - ...

00 occupied by Ilkhanid forces1248 Death of Guvuk 1304 Death of Ilkhan Ghazan. Accession of Olieitu1250 M~~l~~ ~~~ Po.~e.!:!!}Egypf 1313 A<;<;e.~~!q!}qf ~Qe.g, ~nQ~!:~q~e. ~le. GqlQ~!}- - - . -

Horde becomes Muslim1251 Election of Monzke as Great Khan 1335 Death of Abu Sa'Id, last Ilkhan of line of Hulezt:

l~52-79 Conquest of Sung Empire of south China 1346 Outbreak of Black Death in Mongol forceby Mongols besieging Kaffa, in the Crimea: from there it

spreads to Europe~4~~-55 Journey of William of Rubruck to ~3S~-4 Major outbreak of disease in China

Mongolia1253 Hulezu's forces set off for Persia 1368 Mongols driven from China by Minz forces1255 Death of Batu, first Khan of Golden Horde 1370 Death in ~aqorum of Toehon Ternur, Last

I Yuan emperor

IIJ

III-II

II

Mongols' Impact on the March of History

#l-Prepare an impact to take back to your original group. Use the following questions asyour guidelines.

I. Categorize the information:Political, Economic, Military, etc.

2. How do the documents demonstrate how the Mongols could be successful?3. Who are the Mongols?4. How did the Mongols do what they did?5. What was their effect on their times, on the future?6. Each person should create an impact sheet which demonstrates by categories what

they think is important about the Mongols.

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