19 Mongol Study Guide

# 19 Mongol Study Guide WHY DID THE MONGOLS COME TO POWER?
The Mongols came to power under the rule of Chinggis Kahn due to Chinggis partnering up with a more powerful nomad group who owed his tribe a favor. With the aid of another group, he sought revenge on the tribe who enslaved him. After winning several attacks, Chinggis began gaining a good reputation which culminated into multiple groups appointing him the khagan, supreme leader, over the Mongols in 1206, which led to the Mongols uniting under one ruler and proceeding to conquer nation after nation.
HOW DID THEY DEFEAT THEIR ENEMIES? They used strategic battle tactics to make their prey think that they were retreating, causing them to move out of their proper formation, and then once they had “retreated”, they attacked the discombobulated forces and dominated them with their archers as well as their foot soldiers. Also, often times when they attacked a city, they gave them the option to surrender, if they chose not to, then the Mongols slaughtered everyone there, save artisans and administrators.
HOW DID THEY CHANGE THOSE THEY CONQUERED? “They have 1) generated major population movements, 2) sparked social upheavals, and 3) facilitated critical cultural and economic exchanges across civilizations. “In addition to (the Mongols) importance to Moscow and the Orthodox Church, Mongol contacts led to changes in Russian military organization and tactics and in the political style of Russian rulers. Also Mongol example may have influenced the desire of Russian princes to centralize their control and reduce the limitations placed on their power by the landed nobility, clergy, and wealthy merchants.” While the Mongols had some positive influence on other countries, in the case of the Mongol dominance over the Muslim world, they had a far more negative influence. “It is understandable that Muslim historians treated the coming of the Mongols as one of the great catastrophes in the history of Islam. The murder of the caliph and his family left the faithful without a central authority. The sacking of several cities from central Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean shook the Islamic civilization’s foundation.” Also, the influence of the Mongols on other nations influenced how different religions interacted with each other. The total dominance the Mongols held over much of China and Europe led people to compromise in order to defeat the Mongols. “Christian support demonstrated how far the former crusader states had gone in accommodating their more powerful Muslim neighbors, in order to win.”
Also, “They taught new ways of making war and impressed on their Turkic and European enemies the effectiveness of gunpowder. 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.”
HOW DID THOSE THEY CONQUERED CHANGE THEM? Chinese civilization intrigued Kubilai Khan and thus he surrounded himself with Chinese advisors as well as incorporated the Chinese calendar throughout his empire. Also the Mongol’s religious tolerance allowed Moscow to regain strength and form alliances with other Russian vassals, which eventually broke off the rule the Mongols had over Russia, thus undermining the rule of the Mongols. Also, the artisans and administrators that the Mongols took from different parts of Eurasia influenced the Mongol’s rule. While they did make the Mongol empire last longer, for the Mongols lacked a strong, centralized government, they also contributed to the breakdown of their empire which was quite apparent by the 1350s.
WHY DID THEIR EMPIRE NOT LAST? Due to their empire being such a vast empire, and not having a strong central body governing over the many diverse people within it, it’s easy to understand how internal “threats” led to the dissolving of the Mongol Empire. The uprising of the Song loyalist, the declining of Kublai’s dominant ruling, and the overall decline of the ruling class, and the administrators taken from other nations who began to pad their own pockets with the taxes from the peasants, all led to the decline of the Empire.