Analysis Of Morris Rossabi's NovelKhublai Khan And Mongols

Throughout the 13th century world, the Mongols constantly showed displays of continuous violence, drinking, brutality and unfair treatment. They were considered to be savages, and people who lived far beyond what we would know as a “civilized world.” They single handedly became one of, if not the most powerful empires to have existed, building their empire through violent and barbaric manors. The Mongols were very barbaric people, for they portrayed many inhumane and mannerless actions while their empire lasted, causing death destruction and the downfall of all of the land they took over.

In this trial we witnessed how the Mongol empire affected the lives of people in Eurasia. As a jury member of the trail of Genghis Khan, I have decided that the mongols were civilized due to the religious tolerance, advancements and stimulation of trade.

In 1271, Kubilai, a Mongol leader, put a new legal system for the Mongols into place, reducing the capital crimes by half. This was only one of the many things that the Mongols did to keep their civilization organized, and to protect their people. The Mongols were a group of nomadic peoples during the thirteenth century who competed with other people for land and animals. They had armies that went all across the world, conquering different people and land on horseback with giant, powerful weapons. They were strong and organized, and their massive army conquered most of the known world and the civilization and people in it. The word barbaric means people who were cruel, unsophisticated, and brutal. The Mongols were not barbaric. Two reasons that they are not barbaric are because within their civilization, the Mongols cared about and protected their people, and they made laws and had codes of conduct to help everyone be treated with kindness and respect.

One of the ways that the Mongols were able to conquer so much land was through extreme brutality when invading. For instance, document 2 clearly demonstrates their cruelty: “these Tatars [Mongols] spared none, slaying women and men and children, ripping open pregnant women and killing unborn babies.” In addition, document 4 reports the incomprehensible number of deaths from several

Kublai Khan sprung the Mongol Empire’s dominance because he established a steady civilization. A strong transportation system was built which lead to the increase of trade. Yuan (Kublai Khan) constructed roads that connected with the nerve center, which allowed traders to walk through the whole empire. “Kublai Khan had enormous ships built to improve the trade across the seas,” (Foreign Trade, The Mongol Empire). Kublai Khan also made an efficient postal system which transmitted messages between Tatu and the provinces.

The Mongols were barbaric they way they treat other it wasn’t fair.John of Plano Carpini explains in Carpini on Battle Tactics telling that they will kill the people who were overweight they will used that fat and melt it to make them into a fair ball they believed the fat of fireball was inextinguishable(Document 3).Also John of Plano Carpini say in the military if few people ran way the people in that group will put to death but if one group decide to ran away the rest of the groups will put to death(Document 2). It's not fair that

think.The way i look at the barbarians they weren’t barbaric at all. The important reason

The mongol’s sack of Baghdad in 1258 was a turning point in history due to the loss of

at 3,036,885 square miles) Genghis Khan conquered (Document A), after conquering a land mass, they seemed to have been civil to people they lived alongside. In Russia and the Golden Horde, by Charles J. Halperin states, “Their [the Mongols] economic interests coincided with those of the native peoples, and the Mongols, after the destruction of the initial conquest, promoted diversified economic development,” (Document J). Not only did the promote the development of the economy, but they also got rid of, “Adultery and theft. War, strife, bodily harm or murder do not exist, robbers and thieves on a grand scale are not to be found among them . . . because of the severity of (Mongol) laws against theft,” (Document K). Though these conquered land masses were now under Mongol rule, they seemed to have been treated with the same decency and respect the Mongol citizens/ visitors were. Marco Polo, an ambassador of Kublai Khan— the man who in 1271 put a, “New legal system in place; reduces capital crimes by half,” (Document H), wrote an article on the messenger system in the Mongol empire. Polo states, “The whole organization is so stupendous and so costly that it baffles speech and writing,” (Document L). Marco Polo applauded the Mongols in their organizational skills and their way of doing things. In religion aspects, they were civilized there as well; William of Rubruck stated, “We Mongols believe that there is but one God, by who we live and by who we die and towards him we have an upright heart,” (Document M). In their social lives, they had, “Two codes of conduct that guided Mongol life. One of these was the yasa, usually referred to as Mongol law. The second was the bilik, which was a set of rules to live by,” (Document N). These rules set in place were to keep the people in line, and keep their empire organized and entitled to the highly respected

Another sign that proves why the Mongols are not barbaric is how organized their society was and the strict laws and punishments that were in place, but also the tolerance that they showed to others. The Mongols showed tolerance to other religions by sitting leaders of Islam, Buddhists, and Christians all together and asking for them to explain why they believe their religion is the right way: “Here you are Christians, Saracens, and tuins[...] He therefore wishes you all to meet together[..] and each one is to write down what he says so that he can know the truth” (William of Rubruck). This primary source shows how the Mongols just wanted to live in harmony with others; although they wanted to rule over everyone they had no problem letting people continue with their existence. Period One described a barbarian as someone who is uncivilized and violent, and based off of this definition the Mongols are the exact opposite of a barbarian.

While the Mongol desire for power grew bigger and stronger, they conquered over 11 million contiguous square miles. The Mongols were a small tribe from the grasslands who were nomadic people. As the empire thrived in the 13th century, they successfully taken over Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. The powerful ruler, Genghis Khan, helped the Mongols emerge from the nomadic tribes. The empire grew rapidly under his leadership and also under his descendants. However, should the Mongols be considered barbaric or did they create a civilized society? Due to their strong military, tolerance for the different religions, and their positive principles in the community, the Mongol empire established a sophisticated society.

The Mongols. Barbaric, warlike invaders. They terrorized Asia for over a century, plundering cities, and destroying those who did not submit. But was there another side to the mongols? The same people who destroyed entire populations were the enforcers of punishment against wrongdoings. Plunderers who valued merchants. Conquerors who accepted religions of the places they conquered. Infact, “Barbarian” was deriver originally from the greek word “barbos” meaning Foreigner. Was mongol rule beneficial to Asia and eastern Europe? The Mongolians of the Asian Steppe had a positive impact on the world during their rule of the Asian continent from 1206 to 1368 by influencing China, Commerce, and Laws about marriage, drinking, and more.. Were the barbarians

8% of the mongol men living in the former empire were related to Genghis Khan. The Mongols would rape women and if they had a husband and kids they would make them watch their mom or wife get raped then kill everyone except the mother after. This is only the amount of women Genghis Khan raped there is no telling how many the other warriors raped all together. This was truly a ruthless way of showing strength and power. While the mongols ate dinner they had people suffocating underneath the table they were eating on. This is showing that the only rule the mongols lived by was eat sleep and kill. The poor people under the table are having their last breath while the mongol warriors are 3 inches away having the time of their life. They also killed 11.8% of the population in their period of ruling. That adds up to 1.8 million deaths of people per year from 1206-1227. This is in the top 5 for deaths in war and we have way more advanced technology today then they will have ever seen. If that isn’t bloodthirsty and merciless i can’t tell you what

Overall, this article holds significance because it demonstrates that even though the Mongols upheld and integrated foreign institutions into their Empire, that they remained in control. Morgan begins his argument by addressing the challenges of sources, especially because most of the sources pertaining to the Mongol Empire where documented by Persian and Chinese authors. Next, he goes onto discuss the three types of governmental institutions that I listed above in order to demonstrate the nature of the Mongol Empire. Later, he concludes that the reasons for these governmental implementations where to increase profits within the Empire, as well as gather military strength. Lastly, because of this information given, he is able to conclude that the Mongols overwhelmingly used the people that they the controlled to benefit their empire, and even though some individuals like Rashid Al-Din were given powerful positions, that they were never in charge of the military campaigns that the Empire was established upon and thus inferior.

The start of the Mongol Empire began as a system of nomadic pastoralists who were extremely well experienced horsemen and traveled with their flocks of sheep, goats, cattle, and horses over the vast steppes of the prairielands of Central Asia. At the start of the Mongols rise to supremacy was the formation of tribal coalition known as “All the Mongols” (Saunders 1971) While the early tribal coalition was successful at establishing itself as a power in Manchuria and North China, it wasn’t until the rise of a well-known figure did the Mongols ascend to a force to fear and respect. That