Ap World History Compare and Contrast

During the post-classical time period, both the Umayyad and Mongol empires rose to the height of their power through many similarities and differences. For example, both dynasties expanded by militaristic advances, but a single man was responsible for the rise of the Mongols and they also supported all faiths unlike the Umayyad. The Mongol founder, Genghis Khan, conquered surrounding nomadic tribes and brought them under his rule through extensive military conquest. Over the entire rise of the Mongols, they gained Asia, Russia, the Middle East and parts of Europe all as territories. In fact, the land Genghis had obtained was so vast that it had to be broken up into to four kingdoms upon his death. To conquer new lands, the Mongols were experts on horseback and were known for their cruel and barbaric torturing rituals, such as “drawn and quartered.” Similarly, the Umayyad prevailed against people groups from Saudi Arabia all the way West to Morocco in Northern Africa. Unlike later Islamic dynasties, the Umayyad were mostly concentrated on power and the conquering of land by their brutal military tactics. With their capital at the central location of Damascus, in Syria, they were able to govern and expand their large Islamic kingdom effectively. Overall, both the Mongol and Umayyad empires expanded through military conquest during their rise to power. The Umayyad dynasty was formed from a clan of prominent Meccan merchants in Arabia. From their established reputations and connections throughout the region, they were able to rise to power and stabilize the Islamic community. Unlike the Umayyad, the Mongols rose to power from one man, Temujin, who is better known as Genghis Khan. At the age of twelve he was orphaned and began to form alliances with other boys his age. Then, over time he had his own army that began to conquer nomadic tribes. Little by little, he began to capture what would soon be his entire Mongolian empire. Not only were the Mongols created by a single man, but they were also accepting of all faiths. They did not persecute any specific religion; in fact they often adopted the native religions of the land because the Mongols had no strong religious influence. This allowed an easier rode to power because the conquered people felt less pressure to revolt on the Mongols. The Umayyad did the exact opposite in their empire since they were the rulers of the dar-al-Islam, or the house of Islam. They had substantial religious ties and favored Islamic people. Many times Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and Buddhists were taxed heavily; this was called jizya. Also, people of different religions could not access wealth and positions of authority in the empire, which created an overall resentment of the Umayyads and a resistance to their rule. The Mongol and the Umayyad empires both had influential effects during the years of 500 to 1000 A.D and rose to power through many similarities and differences in their strategies. Overall both empires depended heavily on their military to expand territory, but they differed in the way they treated the conquered people. Both of these played a role in how each came to power, and also the total effect they left on the world.