East Meets West

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East Meets West

• The Mongols

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Temuchin's Rise

• Born ca. 1162, d. 1227
• After long period of tribal conflict and
  intrigue, succeeded in unprecedented feat of
  unifying all Mongols.
• Declared Khan of Khans and given name Genghis
  Khan, 1206.
• Conquest of North (Kin) China 1211-1214

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War with Persia 1218-1222

• War started after Persians put Mongol emissaries
  to death.
• War of annihilation on both sides.
• Mongol detachment sent to pursue Shah across his
  own empire.
• Following conquest of Persia, Mongol troop
  circled Caspian.

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The Legend of Prester John

• A Christian King David ruled a great land in the
  East
• His son, Prester John, would come and rescue
  Europe from the Islamic threat
• Many Mongols were technically Christians of the
  Nestorian sect
• Rumors of Mongol attack on Moslems reinforces
  belief in the legend

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Mongol Battle Tactics

• Constant practice in riding, archery.
• Travelled very light.
• Extraordinary endurance.
• Extremely ruthless in battle.
• Extraordinary military discipline.
• Practical, readily assimilated advanced siege
  technology.

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Mongol Battle Tactics

• Remarkable ability to coordinate armies separated
  by great distances.
• Mobility unheard of by armies of the time--up to
  100 miles/day.
• Mongol combination of mobility and communication
  probably not equaled again until W.W. II.

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Rule in conquered territories

• Ruthless annihilation of resistance (terror
  tactics).
• General benevolence when no resistance.
• Cities generally left under native governors.
• Religious tolerance important in consolidating
  rule, gain support of minorities oppressed by
  Moslems.
• Administration commonly more benign, less corrupt
  than pre-Mongol government.

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Positive qualities of Mongols

• Discipline, obedience to own laws
• Sense of honor and loyalty, respect for these
  qualities in others, even opponents
• High status of women
• These qualities attested even by European
  observers who generally detested the Mongols

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Genghis Khans Value Statement

• The greatest joy a man can know is to conquer
  his enemies and drive them before him. To ride
  their horses and take away their possessions. To
  see the faces of those who were dear to them
  bedewed with tears, and to clasp their wives and
  daughters in his arms.

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After Genghis Khan

• Empire splits into three functionally independent
  realms
• China and Mongolia
• Russia
• Persia
• In principle the rulers of Russia and Persia were
  regents for the Khan in China

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Mongols in Europe

• Mongols conquer Russia, 1236-1242
• A nomadic tribe, the Kumans, asked king of
  Hungary for asylum
• Mongols attack Hungary, 1241, when king refuses
  to relinquish the Kumans
• Within three months, Mongols obliterate all
  military resistance in Eastern Europe
• Mongols break off attack when Khan dies, never
  return

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Mongols in the Middle East

• Mongol-ruled Persia goes to war against the
  Caliph
• Mongols capture, sack, obliterate Baghdad, 1258
• Canal system of Iraq destroyed
• Psychological blow from which Islam never
  recovered
• Egypt saved by battle of Ayn Jalut, 1259 Mongols
  fight Mongols for first time

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Mongols in China

• Raid North China 1211 - 1214
• Full conquest of North China 1225-1230
• Final Conquest of South China 1269 - 1279
• Failed invasions and Expeditions to
• Vietnam
• Burma
• Indonesia
• Japan

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Mongols in Japan

• Invasions in 1279 and 1281
• Mongols unable to advance beyond beachheads
• Japanese unable to drive invaders out
• Both times, a typhoon wrecked the invasion fleet
• Led to Japanese notion of the Divine Wind -
  Kamikaze

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Trans-Eurasian Contact

• First European accounts by John of Piano Carpini
  (1240s) and William of Rubruck (1250s)
• Marco Polo 1271-1291
• By early 1300s, over two dozen diplomatic
  missions from Europe to China
• Francesco Pegolotti, La Practica della Mercatura,
  1340
• Mongol rule in China ends, 1368