Mongol History, Rise of Genghis Khan and Impact on Civilization

Over the past weeks, it has been all about Egyptian tales and Greek stories. And last week, we have graced your feeds with stories from Classics period of the Mesoamerican civilization. For this week, we will take you to earth's largest and most populated continent, Asia.

First stop, Mongolia.

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The Mongols were a nomadic people living on the steppes of Central Asia during the 13th century. Under their great leader Genghis Khan they built the largest empire the world has ever seen.

As a matter of fact, Genghis’ empire was four times the size of Alexander the Great’s.

Mongol History and Social Structure

The Mongols were nomads who were primarily goat and sheep herders which they drove from pasture to pasture. They lived almost exclusively off of the animals for meat and milk but occasionally would trade with farmers for grains and vegetables. The lived in mobile housing called yurts.

The clothing was made from the animals that they had. All Mongols were superb horsemen. They were taught to ride as young as three years old.

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The basic political unit of Mongol society was the tribe, divided into kin-related clans whose members camped and herded together. Clan rivalries and feuds were very common. Leaders were chosen based on their courage in battle and their ability to forge alliances.

A leader could be changed at any time if the people lost confidence in him.

Rise of Genghis Khan and Expansion of Mongol Empire

Genghis Khan, originally named Temujin, was born in 1170 on the central Asian steppes. His father was murdered by a rival clan and his mother was abandoned by her clan. He was later forced into slavery for years but was able to escape. He then took upon himself to avenge the murder of his father.

From this point on, Temujin began to form alliances and conquer enemies until in 1206, a kurilitai, or meeting of all the Mongol chieftains was called, and Temujin was renamed Genghis Khan and elected Khagan, or supreme ruler of the Mongol tribes.

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He went on to expand his empire. The Mongol army was entirely cavalry so they moved rapidly. They were experts with the bow and could hit targets 400 yards away from under the belly of their horse, whereas the English foot soldier with a longbow had a range of only 250 yards. The Mongols, however, were also quick to use siege weapons when confronted by a fortified city. They would bring along Muslim engineers to help construct and maintain these weapons.

At its peak the empire stretched from china in the east to Eastern Europe in the west including all of Russia and the Middle East. Upon the death of Genghis, the empire was divided into four Khanates or kingdoms between his three sons and a grandson.

Positive Impact of Mongol Expansion

The Mongols are notorious for being killers and it’s not without reason. For example, in the Islamic Khwarazm Empire to the west, the Mongols killed 800,000 people. However, with the expansion of the Mongol Empire came many benefits. The Mongols were tolerant of all religions though having no official one themselves. They even brought in religious scholars to debate.

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They opened back up and made safe again the Silk Road which had been overrun by brigands. It was said you could walk from one end of the empire to the other with a gold plate on your head and be safe. They eased taxes on peasants.

Though creating no arts themselves, they were great patrons of the arts. They adopted and utilized technology such as siege weapons and gunpowder. This technology then eventually made its way to Europe. In China, the role of women was elevated and the Mongol women refused to adopt the practice of foot binding.

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The Mongol empire lasted from the early 13th century to the death of Timur Lane in 1407. The impact of the Mongols varies from civilization to civilization. In some areas, such as China, the people continued to develop and prosper and in others such as Russia development stagnated.

In this very short time they created the largest empire the world has ever seen while bringing peace and prosperity to a region that had not seen it in centuries.

Source(s)

_{A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century
The Life and Times of Chinggis Khan}

Check our posts about Mesoamerican civilizations for further reading.

_{Ancient Mayan Tools – Stone Working, Farming & Domestic Use
The Mayan Empire
The Fall of Tenochtitlan
People of the Sun - Aztecs' Religious Consumption
People of the Sun: Life in Tenochtitlan
The People of the Sun - The Aztecs}