Who Were The Mongols: Were They Barbaric?

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.

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 were a group of barbaric people who lived in an uncivilized manner and considered savages due to their primitive actions and ways. The Mongols were barbarians, due to information from the resource packet, “The Mongols: How Barbaric Were The Barbarians?” From prior knowledge of the mongols, many videos that have been watched for educational purposes contain John Green speaking about how savage and barbaric these “people” were. This helps inference that many others think they were barbaric, but were they really? Many actions and evidence record savagery from them and claim to prove that they were barbaric indeed.

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.

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 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.

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 Mongols were a fearless and powerful group that dominated Asia and Eastern Europe during the 13th century. They did this through their battle tactics. The Mongols often fought on horseback and surrounded their enemies, which was an extremely efficient way to conquer. Their battle tactics portrayed them as barbaric and scary, enabling them to surround and conquer lands. Throughout the 13th century, the Mongols portrayed a barbaric image to the rest of the world due to their battle tactics, severe punishments, and their ability to conquer great amount of land.

Throughout history, various peoples have been considered harsh, violent, and uncivilized. One empire well known for its either barbaric or kind nature, are the Mongols. Based on the documents, the attitudes of various people towards the Mongols in Eurasia from the 13th century to the 14th century were positive, neutral, and negative.

They were ruthless and gory. The people of Nishapur, a city in Persia felt the raft of the Mongols. History shows that, “The Mongols now descended from the walls and began to slay and plunder… They then drove all the survivors, men and women, out onto the plain; and … it was commanded that the town should be laid waste … not even cats and dogs should be left alive”(Doc 4). This is where their barbaric qualities really begin to show. They killed all of the people in Nishapur. They did not want one single living, breathing thing to be alive. The Mongols had very strict army rules. History shows that, “... Two or three or even more out of a group of ten run away, all are put to death; and if a whole group of ten flees, the rest of the group of a hundred are all put to death, if they do not flee too”(Doc 2). In the Mongols’ eyes, the army was supposed to be one. They wanted everyone in a group to fight at the same time. If they did not get their way the group was executed. Even if one whole group of ten flees, ninety others are killed for no reason. They did not have any associations with the fleeing otherwise they would have left too. Many innocent lives were taken by the Mongols. Now one could say they were just trying to survive, however they took innocent people’s lives. Innocent people do not stand in the way of survival. They were gory and cold people. They were very barbaric with their rules and

The Mongols are barbaric by the way they treat others and how they make their laws and how they keep the order but the Mongols did not show barbaric when it come up about organizations they were good.

Although the Mongolians have killed many thousands of people, and most innocent, you have to put yourself in their shoes and try to understand why they did the things they did. For example in 1221 the Mongols attacked Nishapur, Persia, and they killed around 1,747,000 people (Doc 4), but how could anyone call them barbaric, if no one knows their reason, and we don’t even know it is the truth, all

During the 13th century, Central Asia was taken aback with a force that demanded to be reckoned with, the Mongols(later knowns as Khans), although astounding conquerors, were barbaric in their ways of gaining power. This can be seen through their military tactics, treatment of enemies, and casualties of war.

A barbarian decribes a crude person in a primitive state or someone who lacks education or refinement. During the 13th Century a small Asian tribe known as the Mongols conquered much of the known world linking Western and Easter Eurasia. The Mongols were a nomadic people until they acknowledged the supreme leader Genghis Khan in 1206. Most historians formulate an arguement based on the question “The Mongols: How Barbaric Were the “Barbarians”?” The Mongols were not very barbaric because they had a highly sophisticated military, lived by a code of conduct, and helped improve the lives of those they conquered.

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.