Truth, War, and Mongols Essay

Some people would say the Mongols were a key development to civilization. However, the progress they made is nothing compared to their cruelty and the process they used to conquer the majority of Asia and parts of the Middle East. The Mongols were originally a small, nomadic tribe that originated from the steppes of Central Asia. The tribe placed little value on objects, considering they moved around in yurts and hardly settled. Led by Genghis Khan, they conquered land worth double the size of the Roman Empire. The Mongols were greedy, bloodthirsty barbarians who had little to no regard for human life. They went to unthinkable lengths to conquer land while destroying countless ancient cities.

During the early thirteenth century Chinggis Khan and his following successors helped forge various tribes in to a powerful alliance that built the largest empire the world has ever seen. The Mongolian empire reached great in size in such a short period of time. This was basically because of the sturdy Mongol army and many efficient policies the Khan family established. The Mongols were very knowledgeable in military tactics. There empire had a strong sense of unity, helping the empire get so great so rapidly. There allies also contributed to the Mongolian empire. By the time of Chinggis Khan's death in 1227, he had laid the foundation of a vast and mighty empire, which continued to grow with his tactics set in stone.

When the word “Mongol” is said I automatically think negative thoughts about uncultured, barbaric people who are horribly cruel and violent. That is only because I have only heard the word used to describe such a person. I have never really registered any initial information I have been taught about the subject pass the point of needing and having to know it. I felt quite incompetent on the subject and once I was given an assignment on the book, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern Age, I was very perplexed for two reasons. One I have to read an outside book for a class that already requires a substantial amount of time reading the text, and secondly I have to write a research paper in History. I got over it and read the book, which

Many historians have been interested in the ancient Mongols and the impact they have had on our life today. One of the big questions they have been exploring is if the Mongols had a positive or negative impact on the world during their rule in Asia. 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 the overrule of Asia, strict rules, and harshness.

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.

The Mongol Empire was the largest continuous land empire in history, taking control of many Afro-Eurasian societies in the thirteenth and fourteenth century. Not only were the Mongols militarily powerful, they were also administratively powerful. The Mongols had a major impact on societies of Afro-Eurasia during this time period because their conquests ruined cities, their cultural diverse population adopted controlling positions, and their administrative efficiency promoted economy.

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 were very harsh and brutal like no one else in their era but I believe that they are not barbarians. The Mongols had a strong dominating military that was almost always successful, they contributed to many of the ideas that are still around today, and made a very stern set of laws that kept their community civilized which is why I believe that the Mongols were not barbarians.

The Mongol Empire, founded in the early 13th century, was a pastoral empire over twice the size of the Roman Empire that dominated throughout Eurasia. After its founding, the Mongol Empire rose to be a massive superpower which, by the time of Genghis Khan’s death, reached from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea. It existed primarily throughout Period 3, 600 CE - 1450 CE, but declined within this time period. Despite this, parts of the Mongol Empire such as the Golden Horde persisted into Period 4, 1450 CE - 1750 CE. All of the following Mongolian Khans to be discussed ruled during Period 3.

As it turns out, the horses themselves should be of note to any who thinks of a tall, sleek, Arabian stallion flying across the steppe. What is now the domestic horse, is not what the Mongols rode. The horses of the Asian steppe were short legged and stocky in comparison to today’s horses. They were strong, agile, and could cover longer distances, and traverse more rugged terrain than European horses. In form they would look closer to a donkey or a large version of the modern “miniature horse.”

The Mongols were from the Central Asian steppe lands that were north of China. The steppe is an area of very dry grassland where there is very little rainfall, it is very windy, and where there are dramatic temperature differences. The steppe is not a suitable place for farming because of the harsh conditions, therefore the Mongols developed into nomadic pastoralists. Nomadic pastoralists are people who heard domestic animals, like horses, sheep, and goats, then migrate to areas with good pasture lands to feed their herds. The grass on the steppe lands was great for animals but the Mongols still needed to migrate anywhere from five to ten times a year.

In this book, Jack Weatherford starts by portraying Temujin and the numerous hardships he faced as a young boy, from his father’s death and Temujin’s upcoming rivalry with the Tatars to his sudden responsibility for his family following his half-brother’s murder. Weatherford then went on to explain the inception and evolvement of Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Empire. Subsequently, he illustrates the positive influences the Mongol Empire had over countries they gained control of ranging from advances in cultural communication to expansions in trade and religious freedom. In the final analysis, the story follows the Mongol Empire and the descendants of Genghis Khan following his death. Weatherford shows the different types of rulers the

Temüjin, better known as Chinggis Khan, was a Mongolian born in 1160’s, who later became the leader of the one of the most successful armies in the history of a mankind. Mongols under his leadership Mongols first conquered China relatively easily and then moved towards west, partly simultaneously. This essay examines the reasons for his success in conquering Iran and especially the reasons why the Muslims of Iran were not able to resist his army’s invasion. First this essay discusses Chinggis Khan’s army’s strength and superiority in general level, then shifting focus to the particular case of Iran. It becomes evident that Chinggis Khan was an extraordinary military leader and that besides that the army was extremely successful due to its

The Mongols were nomadic people that lived in tribes in Asia during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The joining of numerous tribes would eventually form one of the biggest empires in history. With the lack of rain though the region, the Mongols did not have wide spread agriculture, instead they would herd sheep, cattle, goats, horses, and camels that thrived on the grasses and shrubs of the steppe lands where they lived. The Mongol tribes would travel with their herds to lands with copious amounts of grasses so their animals could graze. When their herds exhausted the vegetation, they would migrate to a new area. The tribes were self-sufficient, they not only lived off the meat, milk, and