The Mongols

The Eastern Hemisphere Before the Mongol Invasions

Chinggis Khan

• What was to become the Mongol Empire resulted from the rise of Chinggis Khan and the unification of the Mongol and Turkic people.

• Nomadic people – trading with goods from their animals – clan organization – women trained as riders, etc. – HORSES!!!!!!

• No written language – hundreds of thousands of Mongols throughout the steppes of Asia.

• 12th century Mongol leader – KABUL KHAN – led a united Mongol army and defeated an army of the Qin – but after his death the fragile Mongol alliance fell apart. His great-grandson was Chinggis Khan!!

• Chinggis Khan was born Temujin and later given the title KHAN or ruler. KHANATES – kingdoms of the Mongols

• Born about 1162 C.E., Temujin rose from a position of isolation and abuse to one of leadership among the Mongol tribes. In 1206, at a meeting of the Mongol chieftains – KURILTAI – he was elected KHAGAN or supreme ruler.

• He ruled 500,000 Mongols and was overlord of over 1 million nomads of other ethnic groups.

• The Mongol warriors were expert archers and horsemen – manning a cavalry that moved with tremendous speed. Chinggis Khan established a special force of cavalry messengers to connect him with his empire.

• After consolidation power among the Mongol tribes – Temujin – now known as Chinggis Khan – turned his attention toward conquering his southern neighbors – the Tanguts Western Xia (Xi Xia) Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty of the Manchurian Chinese.

• Chinggis Khan believed that the Xi Xia would not be able to count on the protection of the larger Jin Dynasty for support if attacked.

• The Mongols attacked Xi Xia and the Jin Dynasty did fail to support them – the Xi Xia fell to the Mongols in 1209.

• The Mongols then turned on the Jin Dynasty and forced the emperor to abandon his capital of Yanjing (now Beijing).

• 1215 – the Mongols controlled the northern half of the lands of the Jin Dynasty

Mongol Movement West

• Kuchlug had been Khan of the Naiman until defeated by Chinggis Khan and brought into the Mongol nation.

• Kuchlug left the Mongols and moved west where he defeated the khan of Kara Khitai and established himself as khan.

• Chinggis Khan decided to move against his one time vassal and the Kara Khitai.

• As the Mongols were tired form years of fighting in China, Chinggis Khan sent only a small force led by his general Jebe, known as “The Arrow”

• 1218 – the Mongols had defeated the Kara Khitai Khanate and set their eyes farther west – at the lucrative lands of the Khwarezmia.

Kara Khitai Khanate – Chinggis Khan moved against a Mongol Empire – the Kara Khitai

Mongol attack on the Khwarezmian Empire

• In 1218, Chinggis Khan sent ambassadors and a 500 man caravan to establish relations with the shah of the Muslim empire of Khwarezmia. Turkic Muslims.

• Rather than treat the Mongols as equals, the caravan was slaughtered at the city of Otrar.

• Chinggis Khan sent special ambassadors to the MUHAMMAD SHAH II in order to explain the situation – the shah had all but one of the ambassadors beheaded.

• 200,000 Mongols marched on the Khwarezmian Empire

• The city of Otrar was taken and the governor who had attacked the initial caravan was executed by having molten silver poured into his eyes and ears.

• Mongol numbers, brutality and internal Khwarezmian problems – all led to the Mongol conquest of the empire in 1220.

• The Mongols defeated the last Abbasid caliph – 800,000 killed in Baghdad. Muslim historians viewed the Mongols as one of the great catastrophes in the history of Islam.

• Stopped moving farther west by BAIBARS – the commander of the Egyptian forces – Baibars got cooperation from the Christians in Jerusalem to attack the Mongols.

Mongol Imperium – capital at KAARAKORUM

• After defeating the Khwarezmia, Chinggis Khan divided his forces into two large armies

• Chinggis Khan moved his forces into Afghanistan and northern India – eventually returning to Mongolia

• The other Mongol forces moved into Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and defeated the Kievian Russians.

• The Mongols had established an empire from Europe to the Pacific – from the Indian Ocean to Siberia. Conquered territories paid taxes and tribute to the Mongols.

• 1226 – Chinggis Khan began to move once again against the Xi Xia and the Jin – who during the Mongol move west – had allied in an attempt to overthrow Mongol control as overlords.

• The Xi Xia and the northern Jin again came into line as Mongol vassals.

• 1227 – Chinggis Khan died and the Mongol empire was eventually divided among his sons and grandsons.

• The Mongol Empire was united under YASSA – a series of Mongol laws that directed personal, religious, and political behavior.

Mongol Empire at Chinggis Khan’s death 1227 – this does not include Mongol

tributaries

Ogedei Khan• EMPIRE OF THE GREAT KHAN• The third son of Chinggis Khan,

Ogedei continued the expansion of the Mongol Empire as he inherited the largest part of his father’s empire. He was recognized by his brothers and nephews as the Great Khan – even as they may have rule over parts of the empire.

• He began the wars against the Jin and Song Dynasties in China – wars that eventually brought all of China under the control of the Mongols.

• While he was the Great Khan, attacks as far west as Poland and Hungary were made – as well as power consolidation in Persia.

• When news of his 1241 death reached Mongol warriors nearing Vienna – they stopped the advancement and returned to Mongolia

The Golden Horde

• After the death of Chinggis Khan, his lands in south eastern Russia and Kazakhstan were given to the sons of his eldest son, who had recently died.

• Batu – was given the lands known as the Blue Horde

• Orda – was given the lands known as the White Horde

• The lands of the Russian steppe were collectively called the Golden Horde in 1378 when the Blue and White Hordes were ruled by the same khan

The Golden Horde – Principality of Moscow in light yellow

• 1235 – Batu moved his forces west – attacking the Volga Bulgarians, the Ukrainian steppes, the Russians, and defeated the Poles and Hungarians at the Battles of Legnica and Muhi before returning to Mongolia after the 1241 death of the Great khan Ogedei in order to settle succession claims

• The lands known as the Golden Horde were ethnically a mixture of Turkish and Mongol peoples – over time the Mongols became the warrior upper class while Bulgars, Tatars, etc became the majority of the population. The culture became more Turkish than Mongol over time. Europeans and Russians often referred to the populace of the Horde as Tatars.

• The khan of the Golden Horde was selected from descendants of Batu by a ruling council.

• Golden Horde ministers were known as viziers.• The Golden Horde made tributary states of;

Russia, Armenia, Georgia, the Crimean Greeks, and the Crimean Goths.

• There is a strong possibility that the Horde and Russians allied themselves against the expansion of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights.

The death of the Golden Horde

• The power of the Golden Horde was diminished by internal divisions, attacks from Lithuania, the warrior Tamerlane/Timur (see Ottoman Empire PowerPoint), the devastation of the Black death, and the growth of the tributary states.

• By the 1440s, the Golden Horde was divided into separate khanates:– Qasin Khanate, Khanate of Kaza, khanate of

Astrakhan, Kazakh Khanate, Uzbek Khanate, and the Khanate of Crimea

• The khans had evaluated the rulers of Moscow to the level of princes in order to divide the Russians (between Kiev and Moscow) for easier subjugation.

• By 1480, the Muscovite Russians were stronger than any of the divided khanates and established independence from the Horde.

• The Russians began a centuries long process of conquering the khanates and absorbing them into the Russian Empire.

• The Crimean Khanate was the last influential remnant of the Horde, as it became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire in 1475 and received protection from the empire.

• 1783 – Catherine the Great’s forces defeated and annexed the Crimean Khanate.

Kubilai Khan• 1215-1294• Grandson of Chinggis Khan –

succession battle between him and a brother led to the end of a united Mongol Empire

• Kubilai established control of the Chinese lands of the Mongol Empire and established the YUAN DYNASTY.

• His capital was at TATU (Beijing). He adopted some Confucian and Doaist ideals – but refused to use the civil service system. He used a new social system with Mongols supreme, Asian nomads and Muslims loyal to the Mongols second, north Chinese third, and finally ethnic Chinese. Ethnic Chinese were allowed to run local affairs – but the high places of imperial bureaucracy were off limits.

Chabi

• The power of Mongol women may be seen in the life of CHABI – wife of Kubilai Khan.

• She was one of his most influential advisors – promoting Buddhism, tried to reconcile the ethnic Chinese to the Mongols, she stopped a plan to turn the ancient gardens of the capital into pasture land for the Mongol horses.

Yuan Dynasty 1271-1368

• Kubilai Khan claimed rights over Mongol territories far west – and used the title khan – but his descendants did not press such claims and used the title Emperor of China

• Perhaps initially fearful of loosing China, in the early days of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols plundered widely – but recognized the money found through trade and encouraged the use of the Silk Road and the transfer of Chinese technology west.

• It was during his reign that the Italian Marco Polo visited China.

• The ethnic Chinese never accepted Mongol rule – most of the scholar/gentry viewed the Mongols as barbarians who would destroy Chinese civilization.

• Kubilai Khan also upset centuries of social structure by advancing the artisan and merchant classes as he was promoting trade. Traditionally, the merchant class was viewed as parasitic.

• The Mongols also developed a powerful navy – pirates.

• A plan was developed to educate the peasantry.

• Attempts by the Mongol Yuan to integrate with the Han Chinese proved to be ineffective as they were also trying to maintain a unique Mongol identity.

• Weak Yuan emperors and a belief by other Mongols that the Yuan had become Chinese (something the Han Chinese disputed) led to the downfall of the dynasty. The dynasty was eventually forced from its capital (Beijing) by the Ming Dynasty.

• Problems for the Yuan included:– WHITE LOTUS SOCIETY – 1300s – a secret religious sect designed to

overthrow the Mongols– Song loyalists– Failure to invade Japan– Dissolute lifestyle– Graft and corruption – High peasant taxes

• Remnants of the Yuan moved north and established a weak Northern Yuan kingdom – eventually controlled by the Manchu.

• Impact of the Mongol Yuan on China:– Development of drama, novels and the written

vernacular– Re-establishment of Confucian government

policies as a way to unite China– Religious toleration– Advances in science and the continued

development of the Grand Canal– Transfer of information and trade with the

west

Mongols/Moghul (in Persian)/Mughal in India

• Babur 1483-1531 – a descendant of the warrior Tamerlane/Timur paternally and Chinggis Khan maternally.

• Babur represented cultural diffusion at its best – his tribe was Mongol, he embraced Turkic and Persian culture and was a Muslim.

• Babur’s conquest of India established the Mughal dynasty.

Mughal India

• From Babur to the last Mughal emperor – who was exiled after the 1857 Indian Mutiny against the British (although the emperor’s rule was reduced to merely the area around the city of Delhi) – the Mughals brought Islamic and Persian influences to India.

• During the rule of Akbar, he attempted to unite India through a religion that blended Islam, Zoroastrianism, Jainism and Christianity – known as Din-i-llahi or Faith of God. This was rejected by Islamic clerics.

• The Shah/Emperor Jahan is best known for building the Taj Mahal – the supreme symbol of Mughal architecture – which blended Persian/Islamic influences with traditional Indian.

TIMUR

• The last great outburst of nomadic upheaval in Asia was from a Turkic leader – Timur-i Lang.

• Timur the Lame – cultured and cruel.

• 1360s – from his capital at Samarkand he moved his armies against Persia, Fertile Crescent, India, and Southern Russia

• Pyramids of skulls• His death saw the end of the

last challenge by the steppe nomads.

Timurid Dynasty