Mongol Civilized over Barbaric Dbq Essay

During 1200s, the eastern hemisphere of the world witnessed the rise of the Mongol empire. The

Mongols, who had been previously living in the Steppes mountains and divided into multiple different

tribes were united by Genghis Khan into one nation. With their increased numbers, the Mongols

conquered all the land from China to Eastern Europe, creating the largest contiguous land empire

the world has ever had. The Mongols were civilized because of their military structures, and their

social systems, however their military, and society also showed traits of Barbarism.

The Mongols had an organized and well structured military. As John of Plano Carpini explains in

Document 2, the Mongol army was divided into units called Tumens. Their were different levels of

power a person had in the military, for example a person could be a captain of ten, a captain of a

hundred or a captain of a thousand, although two or three chiefs had command of the whole army.

Mongols had a very common battle tactic. They first sent a small force to fight the enemy, then the

small force pretended to be defeated and retreats. The enemy therefore thinking they have won chases

them but are ambushed by the Mongol's main army. This tactic had been used before, by other

civilizations and the Mongols used it often sometimes on the same enemy but it was effective. If a city

or a town decided to give up without a fight the Mongols would recruit soldiers from there to be in their

army. The Mongols sometimes used psychological warfare to trick their enemies into giving up or to

making themselves vulnerable, and when they are few in numbers they put figures of men in horses to

intimidate the enemy or to sow that they still had more men to fight for them(document 3). The

effectiveness of the Mongol army can be seen on the map provided by document 1, which shows that

the Mongols had conquered more land than any empire before or after them. The military conquests by

the Mongols led to a larger social population than before.

Because the Mongols had conquered land all over Europe, Middle East and Asia, they had a diverse

society. The main religion practiced by the Mongols was Shamanism, however, according to William

Rubruck, Mongol's believed in religious tolerance therefore there were many different religions

practiced in the empire and Mongol rulers often converted to these religions. Women in Mongol society had large amount of freedom. Women were allowed to be in the street anytime and even though they

didn't go to the front lines, they went to war with the men. When their husbands were not home, women

ran their homes. Women were also spared from foot binding. John of Plano Carpini states that men

were allowed to marry many wives, including concubines and relatives. This statement could have

been exaggerated because it was wrote by a European during the time Mongols were conquering

Europe. Paul Ratchnevsky explains how, although the Mongols were violent and hateful towards

outsiders, there were a lot of trust and friendship among the Mongols. He also states that there were no

locks in Mongol homes and Mongols also left many pack animals unattended outside, because of the

strictness of Mongol law against theft. As document 6 describes the Mongols protected the trade routes,

improving trade as well as promoting the merchant class, and the popularity of some occupations like

wine making and the silk industry. After Marco Polo lived in the Mongol empire for many years, he

wrote about how the Yams helped the spread of messages across the empire as well as creating new

jobs. Mongol society thrived in population and diversity under the military conquests in Europe,

Middle East and Asia.

Although Mongol's achieved significant advancements in their military and social systems, they

showed traits of barbarism. During the time when the Mongol military was conquering land and

expanding the empire, they killed many people. In Ata-Malik Juvaini account of the destruction of

Nishapur in, he talks about how the Mongols burned down the entire city and piled the severed heads

of men, women and children. This was written by a Persian, therefore it could have been altered to

make the Mongols seem like inhuman people. The fact that the Mongols were tolerant of different

religions and cultures was only true if a society was to survive the Mongol holocaust. The Mongol

themselves were not technologically advanced but stole the ideas of people they conquered. The

Mongols did not really defeat some societies as they gave up because of all the negative rumors they

have heard about the Mongols. As a manuscript from the “The Shah Namah” shows, Mongols had a

barbaric way of killing their enemies like burying them upside down or shooting arrows into people who have already been shot. This text might have been exaggerating because it was wrote by a Persian

whose society was being conquered. Mongol society was not advanced and the people who they

conquered did not have much to learn from them. Mongol lifestyle revolved around a nomadic style,

which had been neglected by many societies before. The Mongols also neglected the need for education

to get a high status in society , for example stopping the civil service exams in China. The Mongols

preferred people who were brave in battle than people who were well educated. Mongol military and

society lacked the advancements that other societies had achieved.

The Mongols took on Europe, Middle East and Asia by surprise, conquering as much land as the

Roman empire did, in just 25 years. During their short reign the Mongols increased trade throughout

different parts of the eastern hemisphere and introduced different cultures to each other. All the

provided documents were written by non-Mongols, but a Mongol point of view would have helped to

identify how Mongols acted in their society and how Mongols thought about the people that non-

Mongols. The Mongols were civilized in their military structures, and their social systems however

they showed traits of barbarism in the way they acted, as well as their lack of achievements and

technology.