Bea Diaz Period 2 WHAP 11.28.

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Chapter 14-The Last Great Nomadic Challenges: From Chinggis Khan to Timur C. Focus Questions 1) What was the nature of the military organization established by Chinggis Khan?
Chinggis Khan established an efficient military organization with psychological warfares. He ensured equality among his men for the distribution of spoils from the war. But, his men were brutal. Mercy was not an option. If the opposing forces chose not to surrender they were all slaughtered and I mean ALL.

2) What was the nature of the administration of the Mongol empire under Chinggis Khan?
The Mongols were barbaric and fierce when they attacked others. They moved swiftly and attacked when unexpected. The Mongols had a barbaric, rough image, but when they take someone over, the Mongols were peaceful and understanding. The Mongol empire under Chinggis Khan encouraged different religions and backgrounds, instead of one uniform culture. Chinggis Khan was interested in learning the religions of the land he took over. He was open to new ideas and preferred an empire that has differences from each other. Chinggis Khan used many Islamic and Confucian scholars to create his law code, and bureaucracy.

3) What was the impact of the Mongol conquest of Russia and of the Islamic heartlands?
The Mongols destroyed the Russian armies, and forced the Russian princes to submit as vassals of the khan of the Golden Horde and pay tribute. The demands of the Mongols were mostly paid for by the Russian peasants. The peasants had to give their crops to the princes and the Mongols. As a result, many peasants fled to other remote areas to get away from the Mongols or became serfs for the higher class to gain protection from the Mongol raids. Moscow benefitted greatly from the Mongol control of Russia. The tributes were given to the Mongols in Moscow. Moscow became the tribute collector for towns, and other towns started to become annexed because they were falling behind in tribute payment. The Islamic empires resisted the rule of the Mongols, so many of them were slaughtered. The other Islamic empires did not struggle with the Mongols, but they traded with them and obeyed whatever they wanted. The Islamic empires traded food, tools and ideas with the Mongols. The biggest impact the Mongols had on the Islamic empires was unintentional. On their conquests, the Mongols carried the Black Death with them into the Islamic heartlands and unleashed the fatal epidemic onto the Islamic empires killing more than 50% of the people.

4) What was the impact of the Mongol conquest on Chinese society and political structure?
The Mongols took control of Tatu and diffused into Chinese culture. The Mongols concentrated on trying to capture South China during their rule of north China. Like Chinggis Khan, the leaders of the Mongols were very tolerant of foreign ideas and thinking. They showed fascination in learning about new cultures especially the Chinese culture. The Mongols let the Chinese rule the local governments, but they changed the rights of women, and let them have a little bit of more freedom instead of a strict ruling like the Chinese.

5) What were the positive aspects of the Mongol conquests?

One of the major positive impacts of the Mongol conquests was that they brought peace throughout their kingdom. The Mongols were very tolerant and understanding people, so they would not get offended if you had different beliefs than them. They united much of the world and controlled much land. They also expanded the global network and treated the surrendered people as their own. The Mongols left a lasting influence of peace upon their territory.

6) How did the conquests of Timur-I Lang contrast with those of the Mongols?
He was the most brutal and barbaric ruler compared to the Great Khans. He slaughtered thousands of people. Timur-I was from a noble landowning clan, not a tribal herding background. In contrast to the mongols conquest, his rule brought neither increased trade and cross-cultural exchanges nor internal peace.

D. In Depth Essay: The Eclipse of the Nomadic War Machine

Nomadic peoples and their periodic expansions have affected global history by generating major population movements, sparking social upheavals, facilitating critical cultural and economic exchanges across civilizations, and by destroying polities and whole civilizations. The Mongols had much advantage in their armies. Their armies were much stronger, trained, intelligent, and had some technological innovations such as the harness and stirrup. The Mongol Empire fell so rapidly because the sedentary states were becoming more centralized and the Black Death had nearly depleted the nomadic populations.