Kubilai Khan's Society In The Travels By Marco Polo

helped with his wealth acquired by being a merchant. Godric used his wealth for good as a result one

Before Chinggis Khan become the well-known leader of Mongolia, he was known as Temujin and he was a son of a father that was murder. While growing up, he had to know to hunt and gather food for his family. Still, has an adult, Chinggis used this as a technique to conquer land in Eurasia. In the letter, Chinggis writes “[b]ut, I living in the northern wilderness, have not inordinate passions. I hate luxury and exercise moderation.” Since he grew up in the north, he knew the basic guidelines to survive. If he had never adopted the lifestyle of not wanting luxury, he would had never been able to conquer lands that stretched from the China, Persia, and even parts of Russia.

In 1271, Marco Polo’s father and uncle, both merchants from Europe, were requested to return to China for the second time by the Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan. The purpose of the request made by the Great Khan (Kublai) was to bring back to the Mongol court some holy oil from Jerusalem and “a hundred men of learning, thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the Christian religion” (Polo 7) to convince the Mongols to convert to Christianity. Marco Polo joined his father and uncle for this second journey to the East. As part of this journey, Polo traveled throughout regions of the Middle East and Central Asia before reaching the final destination. Further, while working for Kublai Khan in China, he was sent on many inspection tours which allowed him to explore most of the provinces of China. In all the regions that were visited along the way, and more so in the case of the Mongol Empire, there was a distinct disparity in the culture as compared to Polo’s native land. Moreover, Marco Polo’s religious disposition towards Christianity set him apart from the people of the region –the Tartars—who , according to the Kublai Khan, where worshippers of “evil spirits” (Polo 7). These factors placed Marco Polo in the position of an “outsider” as defined by Hage, i.e. “someone who does not experience either socio-cultural or political belonging. It is someone whose mental and bodily dispositions have evolved somewhere else and thus feels culturally ‘out of place’.

Had they not experienced this kind of exposure, they would be unfamiliar with Polo’s culture, and would not assimilate him into their culture the way that they did. Conversely, Polo encountered many different regions on his travels, giving him an open world view. Had he not, the merchant would have seen the Chinese in a negative, prejudiced light, but the trade routes allowed him to be more liberal. The Mongols appeared as another tolerant empire  during the Post-Classical Era. The Mongols were a group of nomads, united by Genghis Khan with a goal of conquest. By 1225, they had united most of central Asia. From the mid 13th century to the mid 14th century, the Mongols experienced a time of prosperity known as the Pax Mongolica. Abu’l Ghazi, a Muslim historian, described this peace as so vast that “a man might have journeyed from the land of sunrise to the land of sunset with a golden platter upon his head without suffering the least violence from anyone” (2). The Mongols, while vicious in conquering, imposed such a concord that from one of the empire to the other without befalling violence, even whilst carrying an item as precious as gold. Through

Next is the evidence provided by the works from their methodology. For The Travels of Marco Polo, the evidence for Polo’s conclusions are his own experiences while in China. Therefore, Polo’s work provided Europe a more unfiltered and objective view of China in all its extravagance to Polo and later the Europeans. This unfiltered view point meant that Polo was inaccurate in some of his information. When describing Kublai Khan’s palace, Polo remarked how large the walls are and how extravagant and magnificent it was. The palace itself was in fact just an enclosed royal park used as an encampment. Polo’s observations and vocabulary used to describe the palace showed that European’s viewed China and what they did in awe, even when the Chinese were acting similar to the Europeans in many aspects.

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.

Although Marco Polo started out as a humble merchant from Venice, he eventually developed a reputation as one of the world’s greatest explorers (“Marco Polo”). He was much more than just a trader however, providing the Western world with detailed accounts of the foreign society that was Medieval China under the Mongol conquest. These accounts would later become invaluable to historians for centuries to come.

Khubilai Khan, whose grandfather was Chinggis Khan, was the most skilled of Chinggis Khan’s descendants. Khubilai Khan was a ruthless attacker, helped make the lives of his people better, and promoted Buddhism while being lenient to other religions. He was known to be very generous and built vast roads, ruling the Mongol empire during its peak. He conquered all of China and established himself emperor of the Yuan dynasty. However, his success did not continue further, as he failed to conquer Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Java, and Japan.

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

The Mongols were a nomadic tribe that lived in Central Eurasia. Their first leader was Genghis Khan. Genghis unified the once nomadic mongols and built a powerful army used to conquest most of Eurasia in the upcoming decades. In order to expand his Empire, Genghis took over neighboring countries by using a tactic that used terror and fear. Before Khan became emperor, Mongol life was centered on herding animals and constantly searching for better pastures.

Jack Weatherford’s Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World provides a refreshing and insightful perspective on the Mongol Empire and their impact on history. Weatherford ardently dispels stereotypes often associated with Genghis Khan and the Mongols while highlighting their significant achievements that immensely induced them and the modern world. As Weatherford explained the history of Temujin, I found myself admiring how he overcame various hardships and created a destiny for himself. He not only created an empire, “he built a new and unique system based on individual merit, loyalty, and achievement.” (Weatherford xix)

After about a three and a half year journey, Marco noted that the Polos arrived in the court of Kublai Khan, the conqueror of China. The Great Khan ruled a vast empire of prosperous cities that had richer goods, services, and technology than any place in Europe that Marco had ever seen (Freedman 6). Kublai Khan was the grandson of the infamous Genghis Khan, the fearless Mongol who swept across Asia and the Middle East generations earlier. When the Polos arrived in Shangdu (the capitol of Kublai Khan’s empire), the Mongol empire stretched from China, to Russia and Iraq; the empire was at the pinnacle of its existence (Polo 26). Marco stated that he soon rose to a position of power in Kublai Khan’s court, because Mublai Khan was pleased by Marco’s knowledge and logic. Marco endeavored on confidential missions to “learn about all kinds of different matters in the countries he visited, in order to satisfy the curiosity of the Great Khan” (Hart 35). The Polos accumulated great wealth in jewels and gold, thanks to the generosity of Kublai Khan; however, they eventually grew homesick and began their

became the protector of the Roman people. His backbone of his power was his army but

Marco Polo was a 13th century Venetian merchant explorer who is said to have traveled with his father and uncle to the Far East lands of China, Mongolia, India, and others. During this time the Mongols, known as the Golden Horde, were in control of much of Asia. Although this power was beginning to dissolve by the time the Polos’ set off on this journey, it was seen clearly that the Mongols still held power in the region. The Mongol leader, Khubilai Kahn, was a glistening example of this power (Jackson, 1998). Polo is said to have served under him as an envoy for a time before his return to Venice. While in Venice, after being captured by the Genoese during a small conflict between the Genoese and the Venetians, Polo and his Ghostwriter, Rustichello da Pisa, wrote his memoirs, The Travels of Marco Polo. This manuscript is a

The following report will discuss the leadership qualities of Borjigin Temüjin and the organizational culture of his people, the Mongols. Readers might be confused on who Borjigin Temüjin is, he was the man known today as Genghis Khan. This paper will illustrate how Temüjin’s ability to lead developed by exploring his beginnings and how through his exceptional leadership skills he went on to create the largest contiguous empire in history. The first part of the paper will concentrate on Mongol culture in the 12th century, Temüjin’s upbringing in that culture and how he changed it through the consolidation of the many Mongol tribes. The second part will discuss the rise of Borjigin Temüjin to the post of Genghis Khan and