13th Century Mongols Barbaric Dbq

The Mongols used brutal tactics and strategies to gain their territory. Throughout the reign of terror they prompted, the Mongols were anything but judicious when invading cities. While conquering Persia, an account from Juvaini, a Persian chronicler wrote, “The Mongols now descended from the walls and began to slay and plunder… not even cats and dogs should be left alive” (Document 4). In the written entry, he speaks to the panic that was inflicted during this dire event. Another piece of this entry states that the Mongols “severed the heads of the slain from their bodies and heaped them up in piles” (Document 4). The fact that they severed heads from the corpses is despicable. Another account on the Mongols brutal war tactics was by John of Plano Carpini,

The Mongol Empire had many impacts on modern day Asia and other parts of the world. Genghis Khan led an empire from the steppes of Asia during the 13th century, called the Mongols. They conquered a lot of land, from to Korea to Poland, and also from Vietnam to Syria. Because they ‘terrorized’ much of Asia, they were known as barbarians. They were thought to live beyond civilization, and known as evil. The Mongolians of the Asian Steppe had a negative impact on the world during their rule of the Asian continent from 1206 to 1368 by influencing violence, destruction, and the falling of cities.

The Mongols used well planned military tactics that undoubtedly lead them to victory time and time again. The soldiers were very obedient and listened to the appointed chiefs well. One tactic they used to beat there enemy and expand their empire was this; the prince appoints an officer to every ten men, one to every hundred, one to every thousand, and one to every ten thousand, as stated in the book, and document 1 and 4. Another tactic used by the Mongols was as follows; the Mongol army would pretend to retreat, therefore making the rival believe they had won, when in reality that was just the start. The Mongols would then turn and fire arrows at there opponents, killing them and conquering there land that strengthened as well as add growth to their empire.

The next topic in a few of the documents(4,8, and 9) directly relate to the previous paragraph. The warfare techniques used by the Mongolians and devised by the Khans and the commanders. In doc.4 Juvaini, a former historian for the Mongols and later governor of Baghdad, wrote about how the army was arranged. It is arranged in such a manner that there are groups of ten with one of them being commander of the other nine. Ten groups of ten equal a larger squad with one of the hundred being the leader. Then 1,000 and the last rank 10,000 is called a tümen. Documents 8 and 9 are simply a letter from the Pope Innocent IV to Genghis Khan and a reply. The Pope basically saying that he has invaded many countries and does not spare anyone. His reply is to use Eternal Heaven as his excuse for killing. These two documents show that Genghis Khan was infamous and believed in a God, making him religious. He is like the Islamic people that fight for Allah. Pope Innocent IV believes that Genghis Khan is being irrational with all his killings and rages because he does not spare anyone. He is a reliable source due to his being a Pope and how influential a Pope is.

In the dictionary the definition of the Mongols is “a native or inhabitant of Mongolia” (Webster). Mongols are much more than just inhabitants of Mongolia. They were great conquerors but brutally barbaric. The Mongol empire ruled from the 13th century to the mid 14th century (McDougal Littel). Genghis Khan and his descendants accomplished a lot, but the civilians faced many hardships. It seems as if they came and left in a matter of only a couple of years. The legacy of the Mongols should be evaluated based on positive and negative contributions to society. Positively, the conquerors were quite successful as they acquired land all throughout Eurasia. Negatively, they ferociously harmed people and valuables in the process.

(Document 1) The Mongols had great battle tactics and the were and overall great army. Document 4 had explained in just how long it took for the Mongols to conquer a Persian city, Nishapur. This shows us how great the army was exactly and just how fast it took for them to conquer a city with three thousand crossbows waiting in action. Document 3 is written about the battle tactics of the Mongols. It gave us a very detailed explanation on what it looks like before they start the battle and what it looks like after, and the ending just so happens to be the Mongols taking control. The Mongols were a ruthless army who basically won every war and

The Mongols were constantly conquering new lands of insanely large sizes. They acquired land masses as big as 4,860,000 square miles all around. (document one) They were like terrorists to another persons home and another mans land with their crude actions and constant killing. Genghis Kahn alone conquered the largest amount of land, in fact being 4,860,000 square miles. Thats bigger than the body of the United States alone, and there’s no way that this man acquired all this land just by marching in and asking if he could take over. He just took over with the complex army he’d formed. Their army was just as hardcore and serious as they were. The faults of one man could result in the death of ten. The act of ten men could result in the death of 100

The Mongols had a very skilled and strong arming and never lost battles outnumbered. They would travel by horse and split into small groups to surround the enemy to trap them. They were also falsely retreat the attack. To have a skilled and strong army they must have a great which was Genghis Khan. [From The Mongols Movie Worksheet and Document 2]

Understanding the Mongol’s culture is the key to comprehending their strength in numbers. Their leader was Chinggis Khan, a man who was obsessed with combining empires into one world ruled with his power. In order to do it, he needed a loyal army that would follow his commands into battle. Eventually he found men who believed in him and his mission. The dedication of his soldiers became exactly the right kind of army he needed to conquer other empires. “If we disobey your command during battle, take away our possessions, our children, and wives” (489). He treated his soldiers with respect. Happy soldiers meant a dedicated army to follow command and succeed in battle. He understood the importance of his soldiers and said, “I consider the people my children, and take an interest in talented men as if they

Although the Mongols were sometimes very brutal they were not barbarians. The Mongols were able to come up with very complex battle tactics like no other military in their era. In document three “ History of the Mongols” recorded by John of Plano Carpini he, states “they make figures of men and set them on horses. They do this

Though the mongols were seemingly barbaric in the way which they conquered their territory, the empire they established was advanced in how its society and culture were organized and developed.

The Mongols were barbaric because of how they lived. This tribe lived in a manner as if they were outside the reach of civilization which is a definition of the word “barbarian”. For example, in the backround essay, it writes, “They knew little about mining and cared nothing about farming. They were nomadic people who lived off the meat, milk and hide of horses, and the meat and wool of sheep,” (119). This evidence shows that the Mongols did not focus on the building of civilization or long term living but on surviving now and hunting animals for what they need.

Despite however civilized some thought the Mongols were, they were barbaric for three distinct reasons: they used psychological warfare to manipulate the minds of their enemies; even worse, they caused mass destruction to many cities/countries in the Eastern Hemisphere during leader Genghis Khan’s rule; however, most catastrophic of all, they killed about 40 million people throughout their reign (Andrei). According to the online dictionary, barbaric can be defined as savagely cruel and/or exceedingly brutal. If destroying innocent people’s homes and killing tens of millions of people is not barbaric, nothing is.

Although the Mongols may seem barbaric through their military strategies, the imperial values of their economic and cultural characteristics exceed the barbarity of their military strategies.

The Mongol army swept across societies of Eurasia due to brutal violence, which allowed for their rapid spread of influence because of the fear that they established through destruction. Through the fear that came from the violence that Chinggis Khan was interested in, they were able to exterminate any enemies who stood in their way to force societies to gain their rule. The Mongols’ brutality became a key factor in the speed of their conquest when their enemies saw the violence occurring in a neighboring region or city, and they surrendered long before contact with the Mongols ever happened. “The Mongols looked to create the expectation of coming violence; people surrendered to the Mongols sometimes purely on the basis of rumors; being psychologically incapable of fighting back even before the battle begun” (Snapshot Reader, pg 24). Even the Mongols knew that because of their violent methods, people were afraid of them and may have even had a sense of an oncoming threat before the