Mongols
The Mongols were a pastoral, nomadic group from the central Asian steppe (modern-day Mongolia). These nomadic herders’ lives revolved around their camels for transportation, their horses for mobility, and their sheep, goats, and yaks for food, clothing, and shelter. Their clan-based society was organized around bloodlines. The man born Temujin, later renamed Genghis Khan, successfully united the various Mongol tribes and created history’s largest contiguous land empire.
The Mongols’ greatest strength was their mobility. During wartime, every male from 15 years old to 70 years old had to serve. Each soldier was rewarded with captured goods and slaves. The Mongols’ military strategy was also extremely effective; they were masters at psychological warfare and at feigning retreats. The Mongols were also skilled at using diplomacy to play enemies off one another and to weaken anti-Mongol alliances.
Once his troops were united, Genghis Khan led them into Central Asia, Tibet, Northern China, and Persia. In 1215 C.E., the Mongols attacked and destroyed Zhongdu (modern-day Beijing). The Mongols had relatively few defeats, but they failed to invade the Delhi Sultanate and Japan.
In 1227 C.E., the Great Khan died. While regional control was divided among his four sons in the form of khanates, supreme authority passed to his son Ögedei. However, by 1259 C.E. infighting over succession to the position of Great Khan led to civil war and then fragmentation of the Mongol Empire. In total, the Mongol conquests were the fourth deadliest span of warfare in human history, with conservative estimates placing the death toll at 30 to 40 million people, roughly ten percent of the world's population at the time.
Mongol Rule in China: The Yuan Dynasty
In 1279 C.E., Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, conquered the Southern Song dynasty. For the first time, China was under foreign rule. Kublai Khan created a Chinese-style dynasty, taking the name Yuan, and maintained a fixed and regular tax payment system and a strong central government. Foreigners, not Chinese, were employed in most bureaucratic positions and the civil service exam was no longer used. The Chinese were subject to different laws and were consciously separated from the Mongols.
In time, overland and maritime trade flourished. Though the Mongols were not directly involved in the trade, they welcomed merchants and foreigners. Merchants converted their foreign currency into paper money when they crossed into China. Under Mongol rule, China prospered and the Mongol capital Khanbaliq developed into a flourishing city.
The Mongol rulers only achieved a limited level of popularity among their Chinese subjects, due to both their discriminatory practices and high taxes. The Red Turban Rebellion (1351–1368 C.E.) would see the Chinese overthrow their Mongol conquerors. Zhu Yuanzhang, a peasant turned Red Turban commander, would found the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 C.E.).
Mongol Rule in Korea
When the Mongols conquered Korea in the thirteenth century C.E., the Koryo dynasty maintained their local rule, with Korean kings marrying Mongol
princesses. However, by the 1350s, with Yuan dynasty destabilizing, the Koreans expelled Mongol
garrisons.
After the Mongols were overthrown in China, the Koryo dynasty lost power in Korea and the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897 C.E.) emerged.
Mongol Rule in the Middle East: The Ilkhanate
In 1258 C.E., Kublai’s brother Hülegü Khan defeated the Abbasid Caliphate, conquered Mesopotamia and Persia, and burned the city of Baghdad, destroying its famed House of Wisdom. Over time, these Mongols converted to Islam and began to mix with their conquered populations. The conquered populations’ local rulers were permitted to rule, as long as they delivered tax revenue and maintained order. Though the Mongols did not support agriculture, they did facilitate trade.
As the Mongols continued west, they were defeated in 1260 C.E. by the armies of the
Mamluk dynasty (also known as the Slave dynasty) in Egypt.
Mongol Rule in Russia: The Golden Horde
During the centuries before the Mongol invasion, Russia was dominated by feudalism. The princes of Kiev, which also controlled the Russian Orthodox Church, ruled according to the legal principles that the Byzantine emperor Justinian had created.
When the Mongol ruler Batu Khan conquered and ruled Russia, he created the Mongol khanate called the Golden Horde. Batu Khan allowed many local rulers to keep their power, and Russian bureaucrats collected peasants’ taxes, which were heavy during this time. Batu Khan’s Mongol descendants constituted the upper social classes of the Golden Horde.
The Russian rulers of Muscovy, a territory north of Kiev, gained more control during Mongol rule by closely associating themselves with their Mongol rulers. The Mongols maintained control until Prince Ivan III effectively ended their rule in 1480 C.E. and formed the Russian state.
Pax Mongolica
Although Mongol invasions initially interfered with trade and peace, a period called the Mongol Peace (or Pax Mongolica) lasted during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries C.E., when vast areas of Eurasia were under Mongol rule. For about a century, Mongol rule united two continents and eliminated tariffs, which allowed for relatively safe trade and contacts between vastly different cultures.
During this period, the Silk Road trade reached its peak. Paper money—a Chinese innovation—was used in many parts of the Mongol Empire. The Mongols often adopted or converted to local religions, or at least maintained religious tolerance.
Mongol Decline
In 1274 C.E. and 1281 C.E., the Mongols tried to expand their empire again by invading Japan. However, typhoon winds destroyed their fleets both times. The Japanese believed that the kamikaze, or “spirit winds,” had protected them.
Despite great military accomplishment, the Mongol Empire lasted for only three or four generations. The Mongols were successful conquerors but poor administrators. Overspending led to inflation in different regions of the empire, and after the death of Kublai Khan, leadership was weak and ineffectual. Rivalry among the great Khan’s potential successors further destabilized the empire, and the vast domain was divided among various generals. By 1350 C.E., most of the Mongols’ vast territory had been reconquered by other armies and the Mongols had largely assimilated into the societies that they had invaded.
