Transcript Random Notes of Doom

Random Notes of Doom
Okay, really this is about the Mongols
and Africa
Mongols
• Pastoral nomads
• Steppes of Central Asia
• Great horsemen
– Used shortbow
– Stirrup (allowed you to use your
bow on a horse)
– Chinese introduced them to
• Catapult, gunpowder, cannons, flaming
arrows, and battering rams
• Needed veggies to supplement
meat and milk so….
• Kept trade going between East
and West
– Spread Bubonic Plague along trade
routes
Organization
• Basic unit was tribe
– If war, joined together
in confederation
• Temujin was the first
to unite the Mongols
(1206)
– Renamed Chinggis
(Genghis) Khan
(ultimate ruler)
Grrr… I’m so mean….angry…
Conquerors
• 13th C. took over Song
Dynasty
• By 15th C Were dominate
– Conquered China, Persia, and
Russia
– Largest empire in history
• Tolerant toward religions
• More interested in tribute
than territory
Eurasia on the Eve on Mongol Conquest
Expansion to Russia
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Russians called Mongols Tartars
Cities that resisted were massacred
Mongols set up tribute called the Golden Horde
Serfdom rose; peasants gave up land for protection
Moscow became major center because Tribute collected there
Mongol rule kept Russia isolated from the rest of Europe
Mongols in Persia
• Mongols took Baghdad
in 1258
• Ended the Abbasid
Empire
• Mongols also defeated
the Seljuk Turks
• Stopped by the Mamluks
in Egypt
Mongols in China
• Mongols took over
Song
• Under leadership of
Kublai Khan (1271)
– Kublai was Genghis’
grandson
• The Mongol dynasty
was called the Yuan
Dynasty from 12711368
Impact in China
• Chinese forbidden to learn
Mongol writing
• Intermarriage was outlawed
• No civil service exam
• Religious toleration
• Brought in scholars and
artisans from other societies
• Marco Polo visited,
increased European interest
in Asia
• Merchants gained status
Impact on Eurasia
• ***Facilitation of
Trade***
• Pax Mongolica
(Mongol Peace)
• Spread the Bubonic
Plague (Black Death)
– Up to 25,000,000 died
in China
– 1/3 the population of
Europe died
Kuriltai
Bantu Migration
(which doesn’t have anything to do with Mongols!)
• 2000 BCE people in
Western Africa began
migrating east
– Probably due to population
– Continued until 1500 CE
• Spread knowledge of:
– Cattle raising
– Farming the edge of
rainforest
– ironworking
Africanity
• Bantu migration also spread
Bantu language
• Syncretic language:
– Swahili: mix of Arabic, Indian, and
Bantu
– Still major language today
• Animistic religion
• Oral traditions preserved by
Griots (storytellers)
• All property communal
• Society organized into age grades
– Age group that shared
responsibilities
Modern Griot