Name______Global Studies IR SG#38 The Mongol Empire

Genghis Khan. The Mongols had lived in Central Asia as a nomadic people, moving with the seasons to find pastures for their herds of livestock. They became great horsemen and expert fighters as they competed for scarce grazing land. Under their new leader, Genghis Khan, this pattern of living changed. Genghis Khan, or the “Universal Ruler,” took power in 1206, bringing together the Mongol people. He granted land and the people that worked on it to his generals, in return for their military cooperation. By combining his army’s military superiority with this new feudal system, Genghis Khan prepared to conquer most of Asia. The new leader called a gathering of the leaders of all the nomadic tribes, called a quriltai, where he laid down the laws, or yasa, calling for strict discipline.

The Rise of the Mongol Empire. Once he had united the Mongols, Genghis Khan moved to expand his empire. He first conquered the Tangut state in northwestern China, and then launched a campaign against the Jin dynasty. This campaign would end 23 years later with the total conquest of the Jin Empire. Meanwhile, by 1222, Mongol armies had conquered Turkistan and Afghanistan and had crossed into northern India, Persia, and Russia. Although Genghis Khan died in 1227, the expansion of the empire continued. His son, Ogodei, transformed the Mongol Empire from a military government to a centralized bureaucratic state, but also conquered other lands. Ogodei continued the invasion of China and conquered most of Persia. The Mongol armies also invaded Russia, Poland, and Hungary. Only Ogodei’s death stopped the Mongols from pushing farther into Europe. Next, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Mangu, took control. A strong leader, he also enforced religious tolerance, appointing Buddhists and Daoists to positions within his government. Mangu’s brother, Hulegu, finished the conquest of Persia, while other Mongol armies invaded Korea.

The Yuan Dynasty in China. Another of Mangu’s brothers, Kublai, succeeded him as great khan. Kublai moved to conquer the Song dynasty in southern China. After years of fighting, Kublai defeated the Song. He founded his own dynasty, the Yuan, in 1271. While ruling in China, the Mongols continued to expand into Korea and Vietnam. In the beginning, the Mongol takeover of China was extremely destructive. The Yuan removed Chinese bureaucrats and promoted many non-Chinese to important government posts. Later the Yuan begin to rebuild canals and roads, in order to encourage trade and to increase the wealth that China brought to them.

The Il-khans of Persia. While Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in China, Hulegu Khan and his Mongol successors, the Ilkhans, conquered Persia. They sacked Baghdad, then invaded Syria. In Egypt the Mongols were finally defeated by a vast Mamluk army at the Battle of ‘Ayn Jalut.Hulegu tried to destroy Islamic culture in his lands, but later his successors were more tolerant and stabilized their rule in Persia. The Il-khan Ghazan, who took the throne in 1295, converted to Islam and made it the official religion of the state. By the 1340s, however, disunity among Mongol princes had weakened the Il- khanid state. It finally collapsed, and local dynasties took control.

The Golden Horde. Mongols settling in Russia after Ogodei’s death became known as the Golden Horde. Like the Il-khans of Persia, they converted to Islam. Although the Mongols allowed the Russians to determine their own affairs to some extent, the Mongols demanded payment of tribute from them. They relied on the grand duke of Moscow to run the region and to gather the tribute from the other Russian states. Mongol domination wearied the Russians, and they rebelled in 1378, only to have the Mongols burn Moscow to the ground. By the late 1400s, however, Moscow threw off Mongol rule.

Answer the questions below in your own words and in complete sentence. Highlight your evidence. Also read pages 321-326 in your textbook

1. How did the Mongols’ way of life give them military advantages? ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

2. How did Genghis Khan change the form of Mongol government? ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

3. What changes did Mangu make during his reign of the Mongol Empire? ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

4. Once the Yuan conquered the Song dynasty, what improvements did they make, and why? ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

5. How did the Mongol Il-khanid state evolve in Persia? ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

6. What effect did the Golden Horde have on Russia? ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––