The Mongols : Mongols Barbarians

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,

I do not believe that the Mongols were uncivilized Human beings. As stated during the trial the Mongols, Genghis Khan, in particular, was not raised as the people of the great empires were, so what may have seemed as civilized to the Mongols was deemed as barbaric by others. In today's society if a person from a higher class was to go visit a third world country, some of the customs may seem as uncivilized, but to the resident of the country these “barbaric” customs are the norm. While the Mongols did murder, pillage, and rape people, they also brought advanced technologies and a safer trade system for the people. Genghis Khan globalized the world, expanded trade and made trade safer. Through trade cultures, techniques and ideas spread. Not only were the empires that were already incorporated with the trade systems positively affected, but specifically Europe benefited the most from the trade that was facilitated by the Mongols. While the murders was a definite loss for the people the great advancements had a greater long-term positive effect. At the cost of human lives came centuries

Powerful both militarily and culturally, the Mongols were a fearless and influential group who dominated Asia and Eastern Europe during the thirteenth century. Their success in acquiring land was no doubt the result of their domination on the battlefield. The Mongols often fought on horseback and surrounded their enemies, an incredibly efficient battle tactic. In his text, Genghis Khan: The History of the World Conqueror, Ata-Malik Juvaini states that the Mongols invaded the land and destroyed villages and that they would not let a single living creature live, even if it were the purest of cat or dog (Doc 4). Their battle techniques, as well as their severe punishments, and ability to conquer vast amounts of land gave the

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.

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]

The world has viewed the Mongols as destructive barbarians; however, the Mongols viewed themselves as soldiers. The perception of themselves is important because they did not believe it was destructive to unite a world empire. They believed that because they were soldiers, anyone in their path could be taken down by force. The nations that defined Mongols as destructive are the same people that resisted joining their empire. The Mongol’s obsession with power, dedication to their leader, and their need to possess land is why I believe they should not be remembered as destructive barbarians. Instead, I think they should be known as the empire that failed to unite the world.

Jack Weatherford in Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, describes Mongol empire as egalitarian and destroying local hierarchies. He argued against the Western imagination of Mongol empire been horrible and destructive. Mongol empire promoted

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

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.

How Barbaric Were The “Barbarians”? Historians like to very much think that the “Barbarians” were not actually barbaric at all, but given all the information and history on them, and how they moved from province to province, slaughtering men, women,children, even their own kind, and reduced settlements to nothing but ash and dust, it's hard to believe that these “Barbarians” were not actually, in terms with these historians, barbaric, because they indeed were very murderous and barbaric people. To say that these Mongols were not barbaric in not true, civilizations like Greece called them barbarians because they were uneducated, primitive, and out of civilization(introduction paragraph 3, line 4-7), however this is not the case, the Mongols were actually very smart in terms of military skill and tactics demonstrated by their use of horses, siege weapons, tricking the enemy, and denying the enemy rest(Document D, The Second Wave: Russia and Eastern Europe paragraph 1, line 10-12, The Third Wave: The Middle East and South China paragraph 2, lines 2-6). The Mongols may not have had religion or civilization, but they had tribes in which they eventually united to go and conquer(The Secret History of The Mongols).

Third, the Mongols had a very organized military structure which also provided a good social structure, since the Mongol’s lifestyles revolved around their warriors. The Mongol warriors held a ruthless mindset which aided in their rapid expansion. Chingis Khan’s subordinate Jebe killed the retreating soldiers of Cathay, and Jurchin and Khara Khitan fighters “slaughtering them…so that their bodies lay piled up like rotten logs” (Doc 1). Chinggis Khan completely wiped out the entire tribe of Tangqut people who rebelled against him (Doc 7). The Mongols did not discriminate based on religion, nor did they spare any based on sex or age (Doc 8).

Although the Mongols were brutes they were brilliantly intelligent. When people think of the Mongols they think of them in a cynical way however sources show that they weren’t simply brutes. They were politically strategic through the strength and effectiveness of their military, incredibly tolerant, and quite simply more effectively cruel than other civilizations. The Mongols were so much more than cruel barbarians. The Mongols were able to expand not because they had an exceptional government but because they had an exceptional military.

Barbarians are classified as a group of people who are evil or savage. Contrary to popular belief, the Mongols were definitely not barbaric. First, the Mongol Empire experienced much cultural diversity. At the height of Mongol rule, they controlled most of Asia, Russia, and the Middle East specifically because of the 4,680,000 square miles of land conquered by their first leader, Genghis Khan. By having conquered so much land, the Mongols had control over a wide variety of people with different religions, goods, and living styles.

How Barbaric Were the Barbarians? When it comes to world conquering, the Mongols were the best. In the grasslands of Central Asia during the 13th century the mongol Empire rose too overwhelming power under the rule of Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan, which translates to “Universal Ruler,” united the Mongol clans under one leadership and then proceeded to conquer much of the known world. There is no doubt that they were barbaric, but when you put put all of the good and bad the Mongols did on a scale, which way would it tip?

The Mongols were first off very brutal people whose only focuses were to kill people to get what they wanted, land. One reason why the Mongols were so brutal was because their brutal leaders who told them what to do and go for. According to the background essay on the Mongols “Numerous chinese cities fell, including where Mongol slaughter was so great the streets were said to be greasy with flesh.” This was all done under the leadership of Genghis Khan who launched this army. Therefore, Khan led this army