Transcript Mongols - Nutley Public Schools

Do Now: Mongol Empire
“The Mongols made no technological
breakthroughs, founded no new religions,
wrote few books or dramas”
So why are they historically significant?
Pre-Mongol Eurasia
The Mongol Empire at its height
Impact of the Mongols
• “The Mongols created a single economic, cultural,
and epidemiological world system”
“for several centuries, Inner Eurasia was a pivot for world
history”
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Mongol Exchange
New methods of warfare
Trade from Venice to Beijing and beyond
Demographic change via the plague and major population
shifts
– Altered the political histories of Russia, China, Europe
– Unparalleled cultural diffusion
Chronology of the Mongol Empire
• 1206-1227
Reign of Chinggis Khan
• 1211-1234
Conquest of northern China
• 1219-1221
Conquest of Persia
• 1237-1241
Conquest of Russia
• 1258
Capture of Baghdad
• 1264-1279
Conquest of southern China
The Mongols and Eurasian Empire
• Built the largest
empire in history
stretching from
Poland to China
• 13.8 million square
miles
• 100 million people
Chinggis/Genghis Khan
The Mongol Empire at its height
Who were the Mongols?
• From the steppes of
eastern central Asia
• Nomadic peoples
• United under the
leadership of Temujin
a.k.a Chinggis Khan
• “Courage Cultures”
Inner Eurasia
Steppe
Outer Eurasia
Mongol Conquests (1206-1258)
• Temujin (TEH-moo-jeen)
• Declared himself: Genghis
Khan (b. 1162; r. 12061227)
• Really: Чингис Хаан,
Chinggis Khaan = “Ocean
King”
– United Mongol tribes
– Used Tengri - the SkyGod - to justify his rule
The Mongol Art of War
• Great horsemen and archers
• Large, quickly moving armies
• “cutting edge weapons”
• Masters at psychological
warfare
• Combined various types of
armed force: mounted archers,
lancers, engineers, rockets,
and smoke.
Rulers of the Mongol Empire
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1206–1227: Chinggis Khan
1227–1241: Ogedei Khan
1246–1248: Guyuk Khan
1251–1259: Mongke Khan
1260–1294: Khubilai Khan (Partially
recognized)
China: The Yuan Dynasty
1279-1368
• Most famous ruler:
Khubilai Khan (12651294)
• Government administered
by Mongols and nonChinese advisors
• Allowed religious freedom
but dismantled Confucian
exam system
Khubilai Khan
Yuan Dynasty: Effects of the Mongols
• Mongol domination caused various effects
in East Asia:
– Recentralization of China, trade, and
government
– Prosperity in the cities, poverty in the
countryside
– Extraction of wealth for benefit of Mongol
khans
How did Japan resist Mongol
invasion?
• The Mongols
attempted to invade
Japan twice
[1274 and 1281]
• Twice they were
repelled by typhoons
• “Kamikaze” or
“divine wind”
Mongol Empire’s Impact on Eurasia
• Movement of peoples, trade, ideas across Eurasia
• New innovations and ideas reached Europe (without the military
devastation); increased European interest in the East
• Brought new peoples to power: rise of Turkic dominance in the
Muslim world (Ottomans, Delhi Sultanate), and new elites in the Slavic
world
• Created the first (and only) foreign dynasty in China
• Opened the path for the plague
The nominally independent Khanates ~1300 CE
Discussion Question: For you, which of the
following was the most important contribution of
the Mongol Empire to world history?
a.
They constructed the largest Eurasian empire to date.
b.
They destroyed a series of well-established empires.
c.
They fostered trade, the spread of disease, and the
exchange of crops and technology across Eurasia.
d.
The disruption of trade caused by the collapse of their
empire provided an important incentive for Europeans to
take to the seas in an effort to secure sought-after Asian
goods.
Pre-Mongol Eurasia
Discussion Question: Regarded as a
whole, was the Mongol impact on world
history more positive or negative?
a. The Mongol impact on world history was
more positive than negative.
b. The Mongol impact on world history was
more negative than positive.