Transcript the Mongols - cloudfront.net

WARM-UP
Please take the Mongols notes-packet off
the back shelf
In your journal … write about what
impressions you have about the Mongols.
Examine the image of Kublai Khan (12151294), who completed Genghis Khan’s (his
grandfather) conquest of China,
establishing the Yuan Dynasty.
When you hear the word “Mongols” what
comes to mind?
Read the primary source
quotations about Mongols
that appear. Then answer
the questions which
follow.
Answer the 2 questions below:
■ Do the image and quotations support your initial impressions of the Mongols?
■ Has the information presented here changed your ideas about the Mongols?
The Mongols
Creating an Empire
The Mongols
• Mongols were pastoral nomads who lived in north
China steppe (area of dry grassland) along with Huns,
Turks, & other tribes;
• Mongols used horses & raised cattle & sheep; were
excellent warriors
Chinese Steppe
The Mongols
• Around 1200, a Mongol clan leader
named Genghis Khan (“universal
ruler”) unified the Mongols under
his leadership.
• For the next 21 years, he conquered
much of Asia.
Genghis Khan
• Genghis Khan led a
campaign of terror
throughout Central Asia,
destroying cities and
slaughtering people.
Genghis Khan
• 3 factors that contributed to his success:
• Well-organized army with experienced fighters.
• Genghis Khan was able to outthink & outwit his enemies.
• Used cruelty as a weapon. It convinces others to
surrender without a fight.
Genghis Khan
• He died in 1227, but his successors continued to
expand the empire.
• Under Genghis’s son and grandsons the Mongols
conquered:
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China
parts of Korea
Russia
threatened Eastern Europe
WOW!! The Mongol Empire is huge!!
The Mongol Rulers
• In 1260, the empire was divided into 4 areas called
khanates:
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Mongolia and China
Central Asia
Persia
Russia
The Mongol Rulers
• The rulers of these areas gradually adopted the
culture of the people they ruled. (examples: West
became Muslim, China took on Chinese culture)
• This contributed to the splitting of the empire.
Mongol Rulers
• Tolerant rulers in times of peace.
• Rarely imposed their beliefs on others.
• Imposed stability, law and order across Eurasia.
Pax Mongolica
• Means “Mongol Peace”
• The Mongols guaranteed safe passage for trade
caravans, travelers, and missionaries throughout their
empire.
• Trade between Europe and Asia was extremely active.
• Many Chinese innovations reach Europe for the 1st time.
Pax Mongolica
• Some historians also believe that the bubonic plague
that devastated Europe in the 1300s was first spread
by the Mongols through trade.
Kublai Khan
• Grandson of Genghis
Khan, Kublai Khan,
took power in 1260.
• In 1279, Kublai Khan finally
defeated the Chinese army
and became the first
foreigner to gain complete
control of China.
Kublai Khan
• He founded the Yuan dynasty that ruled China for
about 100 years.
• His dynasty united China for the first time in several
hundred years and opened China to trade with the
west. (Making him one of China’s greatest emperors.)
Kublai Khan
• The Mongols did not disrupt
Chinese government or
culture, they adopted it.
• Kublai Khan built a new
capital city in Beijing. He
enjoyed living the luxurious
life of a Chinese emperor.
• “I have heard that one can conquer the empire on
horseback, but one cannot govern it on horseback.”
• - Kublai Khan’s Chinese Advisor
Kublai Khan’s Empire
• Mongols had little in common with their Chinese
subjects.
• The Mongols kept separate identities, lived apart from
the Chinese and obeyed different laws.
Kublai Khan’s Empire
• Most high government positions went to Mongols or
foreigners.
• The Mongols believed that foreigners were more
trustworthy since they had no local loyalties.
Marco Polo
• The most famous European foreigner to visit China
during this time was a young Venetian trader ,
Marco Polo.
Marco Polo
• He arrived at Kublai Khan’s court around 1275 and
Polo ended up serving the Khan for 17 years.
• Kublai recognized his “merit and worth” and sent him
on special missions around the empire.
Marco Polo
• Polo returned to Venice in 1292.
• During a war in Venice he was later
captured and imprisoned. In prison, he
told the full story of his travel and
adventures in China.
• Fellow prisoners recorded his tales,
workings of Kublai’s government and
aspects of Chinese life in his book, The
Travels of Marco Polo.
Marco Polo
• Polo described China’s fabulous cities, it fantastic
wealth, and strange things he saw there.
• His book was an instant success in Europe, but many
didn’t believe a word of it.
End of Mongol Rule
• In the last years of Kublai Khan’s rule weakness began
to appear.
• His armies and navies suffered defeats in their expansion
efforts.
• Heavy spending on wars, public works, and luxuries
created resentment among the overtaxed Chinese.
End of Mongol Rule
• Kublai Khan died in 1294. After his death the Yuan
dynasty began to fade.
• Succession issues caused conflict, 4 Khans in 8 years.
• Rebellions broke out in many parts of China.
• Economic problems and official corruption
End of Mongol Rule
• The Chinese rebels finally overthrew the Mongols in
1368.
• The Chinese founded the new Ming dynasty
Kublai Khan’s Legacy
• Kublai Khans’ Legacy:
• Rebuilt the Grand Canal.
• Because of the Pax Mongolica, foreign trade increased,
which took Chinese products like printing, gun powder,
paper money, the compass, and playing cards to Europe.
• He invited foreign merchants to visit China.