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The Mongols. Chapter 14. Mongol Culture. Nomadic pastoralists Goats, sheep Tribal - divided into clans Temporary confederations Leaders elected Law code - Yassa , meaning "order" or "decree“ nobility shared much of the same hardships as the commoners severe penalties for crime.
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The Mongols Chapter 14
Mongol Culture • Nomadic pastoralists • Goats, sheep • Tribal - divided into clans • Temporary confederations • Leaders elected • Law code - Yassa, meaning "order" or "decree“ • nobility shared much of the same hardships as the commoners • severe penalties for crime
The Mongol Empire - largest contiguous empire in world history • 2nd largest empire in world history • (1st) British Empire • Emerged from the unification of Mongol and Turkic tribes in modern day Mongolia
Chinggis Khan • Created alliances among Mongols clans • 1206 - elected khagan (supreme ruler) • The Mongol War Machine • Mounted warriors • Flanking maneuvers • Tumens -10,000 troops • Messenger force • Adopted gunpowder & cannons • Conquest: 1207 – East –China; West Islamic world • Muhammad Shah II defeated • Xi-Xia kingdom and Qin Empire destroyed
Military strategies • rockets - disrupt enemy formations • Smoke - confused enemy forces & to isolate portions of an enemy force • Mongol army's discipline distinguished - trained, organized, & equipped for mobility / speed • Mongol soldiers lightly armored • Mongol army functioned independently of supply lines - sped up army mvmt
Chinggis Khan’s rule • Capital - Karakorum • Shamanistic - tolerated other religions • Commerce thrived • Forbade looting / raping of enemies w/out permission • Divided the spoils to Mongol warriors & their families instead of giving all to the aristocrats
Ögedei’s rule • 1227 - Division of Empire after death of C.K. • -Three sons & one grandson • -Ogedei - third son - Elected great khan • Initially there were few formal places of worship • Sponsored several building projects in Karakorum - palaces, schools & houses of worship for the Buddhist, Muslim, Christian & Taoist followers • Any resistance to Mongol rule was met with massive collective punishment -- Cities destroyed / inhabitants slaughtered if Mongol orders defied • 13th C attempts at a Franco-Mongo alliance • Military collaboration w/European Christians in the Holy Land – Mongol support during the Ninth Crusade in 1271
Golden Horde – Mongols control Russia • Russia in the 1200s - Many kingdoms • Mongols (Tartars) invade – 1236 – led by Batu (grandson of Chinggis Khan) • 1240 - Kiev sacked; Novgorod spared • Russians in vassalage to Golden Horde • Commerce benefits • Moscow thrives • Kulikova – 1380 - Golden Horde defeated Ogedei Khan
Virgin of Vladimir • Head of Orthodox church – led Russian resistance against Mongols • During the devastating Tatar invasion, the Virgin icon became the rallying point for Russia • Many miraculous accounts - sparing Russian people from fires & devastations. • 1395 – brought to Moscow – the Russian political capital - as a gesture of gratitude for protection against the invasion of Timur i Lang
Mongol Empire in Europe • Hungary conquered - 1240 • Batu’s forces reached the gate of Vienna - Received news of Ogedei’s death • Custom in Mongol military tradition - all princes had to attend the kurultai to elect a successor. • Ogedei’s widow, Toregene took over the empire • Purged her husband’s Khitan and Muslim officials • Built palaces, cathedrals and social structures on an imperial scale, supporting religion / education. • Toregene / most Mongol aristocrats support Ogedei's son - Guyuk • Batu refused to come to the kurultai • 4+ years - sudden power vacuum led to decline of the Mongol unity • The western Mongol army withdrew from Europe the next year
Mongols in the Middle East • Hulegu - Grandson of Chinggis Khan – led assault on Islamic world • West to Mesopotamia & north Africa • 1258 - Baghdad sacked • 1260 - stopped by Sultan Qutuz of (Egyptian Mamluks) • 1335 - death of Abu Said Bahatur Khan • Mongol rule in Persia fell into political anarchy • The Ilkhanate was divided between Persian warlords
Rabban Bar Sauma - ambassador of Great Khan Kublai and Ilkhan traveled to Rome, Paris & Bordeaux; met w/ major rulers of the period in 1287-1288
Yuan dynasty • Kubilai Khan - Grandson of Chinggis Khan • 1271 - defeated Song Dynasty • Capital at Tatu (Beijing) • Convergence of Mongol & Chinese Cultur • Mongol women retain liberties • Chabi, wife of Kubilai, influential • Mongol rule – tolerant – patronage of scholars, artists • Religious toleration • Buddhists, Nestorians, Latin Christians, Daoists, Muslims • Marco Polo - visited Yuan court
Chinese resistance • Ethnic Chinese resist • Especially scholar-gentry • Kubilai • Protects peasant lands • famine relief • Tax & labor burden lessened • Death of Kubilai • Dynasty already weakened • Song revolt • 1274/1280 - Mongols attack Japan - Fail • By 1350s- territory lost • Ju Yanzhang - founds Ming dynasty
Aftershock: The Brief Ride of Timur • Timur-i Lang - Turkish • Base at Samarkand • 1360s – conquered Persia, Fertile Crescent, India, Russia • 1405 – death - Empire dissolves • End of steppe nomad conquests • Enduring impact of Mongols – Black Plague • Early 1330s - deadly bubonic plague occurred in China. • Bubonic plague mainly affects rodents, but fleas can transmit the disease to people. • Once people are infected, they infect others very rapidly. Plague causes fever and a painful swelling of the lymph glands called buboes, which is how it gets its name. The disease also causes spots on the skin that are red at first and then turn black. • Since China was one of the busiest of the world's trading nations, it was only a matter of time before the outbreak of plague in China spread to western Asia and Europe. • October 1347, several Italian merchant ships returned from a trip to the Black Sea, one of the key links in trade with China. When the ships docked in Sicily, many of those on board were already dying of plague. Within days the disease spread to the city and the surrounding countryside. An eyewitness tells what happened: • "Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them, the people quickly drove the Italians from their city. But the disease remained, and soon death was everywhere. Fathers abandoned their sick sons. Lawyers refused to come and make out wills for the dying. Friars and nuns were left to care for the sick, and monasteries and convents were soon deserted, as they were stricken, too. Bodies were left in empty houses, and there was no one to give them a Christian burial." • The disease struck and killed people with terrible speed.