3. Turkic-speaking Peoples
• Loosely structured heterogeneous tribes
– Not centralized – clan/tribe loyalty
– Strongly Patriarchal
– Simple & fluid society – passage betw. classes
– Nomads: No agriculture or manufacturing; -
– Trading partners for settled societies
– Long distance trade networks
– Shamanism
4. Turks Unify, Expand…
1. Saljuk Turks
• Drawn to Abbasids by trade opportunities
• 1055 – Tughril Beg named Sultan
• Expansion caliph became puppet
• Battle of Manzikert (1071) Fall of Byzantine Empire
2. Ghaznavid Turks:
Mahmud of Ghazni
– Afghanistan
– Plunder
– N. India
– Temples
– Islam
8. Imagine…
“…that you live in a village that lies in the path of
an advancing Mongol horde. You’ve heard
stories. If you put up a fight, they’ll pummel you.
If you retreat to your house, they’ll burn it. If
you organize resistance at your place of worship
or city center, they’ll level it. You’ve heard that if
you just give in, they might spare you and your
city, but they also might not. Your only real
choice if you stay alive may be to give in. What
would you do?”
9. ““ I am the flail of God. If you hadI am the flail of God. If you had
not committed great sins,not committed great sins,
God would not have sent aGod would not have sent a
punishment like me upon you.”punishment like me upon you.”
Genghis Khan, 1219Genghis Khan, 1219
Bukhara, Central AsiaBukhara, Central Asia
10. ““ The accursedThe accursed
of God”of God”
Muslim opinion
of the Mongols
11. “Piercing the solid rocks of the
Caucasus, they poured forth like
devils from the hell of Tartarus. They
swarmed locust-like over the face of
the earth and brought terrible
devastation to the eastern part of
Europe, laying it waste with fire and
carnage.”
Matthew Paris
European Christian Chronicler of
the Mongols
12. ““The greatest joy a man can know is toThe greatest joy a man can know is to
conquer his enemies and drive themconquer his enemies and drive them
before him. To ride their horses andbefore him. To ride their horses and
take away their possessions. To seetake away their possessions. To see
the face of those who were dear tothe face of those who were dear to
them bedewed with tears, and to claspthem bedewed with tears, and to clasp
their wives and daughters in histheir wives and daughters in his
arms.”arms.”
- Attributed to Genghis
Khan
13. “Resist and die,
or surrender and live.”
…(maybe)
-Common Mongol ultimatumCommon Mongol ultimatum
(also general practice of the era)(also general practice of the era)
19. The Mongolian Dairy Council wants you to…
Drink More Koumiss!Drink More Koumiss!
“It’s naturally fermented!”
20. Social Structure
• Patriarchal
• Place of Women:
– Inferior to men, but highly valued
as advisors
– Marriage - passage to adulthood
– Each wife with own yurt
• First wife’s yurt faced East; all other faced
West
– Few widows remarried - cared for by
sons
26. "Those who were adept and brave I have
made military commanders.
Those who were quick and nimble I have
made herders of horses.
Those who were not adept I have given a
small whip and sent to be shepherds."
-CHINGIS KHAN
…On the reorganization of his followers.
A brilliant statesmen and a master of efficient government, his
reorganization of steppe society contributed to the Mongols' success.
27. Legacies of Genghis Khan:Legacies of Genghis Khan:
2. PAX MONGOLICA
– Support of Trade & Crafts
• Artisans redistributed throughout Empire
• Conquered women
– Trade TAXED – Silk Road
– Safe passage
• Roads patrolled by Mongols
– Post houses-
• Pony Express
28. 3. Vast Movement of People!!!
• Conquest
• AvoidingAvoiding
conquest!conquest!
(RUuuuuun!)(RUuuuuun!)
• RedeploymentRedeployment
– Persian
Administrators
• Did not trust
Chinese!!
– Craftsmen from
Everywhere
35. 3. YASA3. YASA
Legal Code
–Brought unity & order
–General moral injunctions- honesty, etc.
–Hefty & immediate punishment
36. From “Mongol,” the movie:
“Mongols need laws…
I will make them obey...
Even if I have to kill half of them.
Our laws will be simple:
- Don't kill women or children.Don't kill women or children.
- Don't forget your debts.Don't forget your debts.
- Fight enemies to the end.Fight enemies to the end.
-- And never betray yourAnd never betray your
38. Legacies of Ghengis Khan
5. First Written Mongol Language
– Based on Uyghur script
39. “With Heaven's aid I have conquered for
you a huge empire. But my life was too
short to achieve the conquest of the
world. That task I leave for you.”
-CHINGGHIS
KHAN
What art genre?
40. "Perhaps my children
will live in stone houses
and walled towns …
Not I."
- CHINGHISS KHAN
Genghis Khan remained a nomad all
his life. His grandson Khubilai Khan,
however, converted to sedentary life
and some said he became more
Chinese than Mongol.
42. Mongol Hordes
1. Great Khanate – China
Kublai Khan
YUAN Dynasty of China
2. Ilkhanate – Persia
–Especially virulent conquest due
to insult of shah
–Assimilated into Persian culture
& Islam…
3. Chagatai
True to nomad heritage, lived
on horseback
4. Golden Horde – Russia
Kept Russia from developing
Europeanizing
44. Great Khanate: Yuan Dynasty
• Kublai Khan – China – Yuan Dynasty (1271)
– Kanbaliq (Beijing) - Capital
– Xanadu – summer palace
– Marco Polo
• NON ASSIMILATION POLICY!!
– Replaced Chinese bureaucrats with Persians
– No intermarriage!! Slave women from conquered peoples.
– Chinese not allowed to learn the Mongol language
– Incorporated conquered peoples “who lived in felt tents” into military
45. Yuan Dynasty
• Repaired Infrastructure Promote economic
growth
– Rebuilt the Grand Canal, Repaired public buildings, Extended highways
• Paper currency re-introduced, but inflation made this an
economic disaster….
• Religious tolerance
• Continued Conquest
Yunan, Korea, Southern Song and Northern China….
• Accepted court visits by Europeans,
– Notably Marco Polo in the 1270’s – (Xanadu)
46. The Mongols were better conquerors than administrators:
• Factions & in-fighting civil wars, imperial assassinations
• Constant policing of conquered people, esp. in China
• Financial difficulty: Paper money debacle
• Failure to conquer Japan, Vietnam, etc.
• Death of Kublai Khan’s favorite wife Kublai gets gout.
• Discontent of Chinese peasants rebellions from 1340 on
“You can win an empire on horseback,
but you cannot rule from there.”
48. Bubonic / Black PlagueBubonic / Black Plague
Began inBegan in 1330’s -1340’s1330’s -1340’s
– Spread west with merchantsSpread west with merchants
– Disrupted economies &Disrupted economies &
societies:societies:
• Sometimes killedSometimes killed over half of a
population.
• Trade ground to a haltground to a halt
• Labor shortages,, orphans.orphans.
• India largely untouched.India largely untouched.
49.
50. End of the Mongol Empire
• 13681368
• Mongols in China returned to the
steppes…
• Ilkhanate of Persia fell before the
Plague…
• Golden Horde dominated
western Russia and Caucasus
until mid 16th
c.!
• Khanate of Chagatai prevailed in
Central Asia until the 18th
c.!
51. Legacy of the Mongols
• World trade, cultural diffusion & awareness grew thanks
to Pax Mongolica. The world would never be
disconnected again!
• Europeans fell in love with Chinese products and
would never do without these goods again, no matter the
cost!
• Because Chinese were not allowed to Mongolize, they
didn’t – kept their identity which made it easy to
continue the Chinese way of life with upon departure of
Mongols. Ming
• Russia did not unify or develop as quickly as Europe
to the West.
52. And now, the conclusion of …
“The Turkic Conquest”
53. After the collapse of the Mongols…
3. Timur the Lame – “Tamerlane”
• Modeled after Genghis Khan
• Massive conquest – late 14th
c:
– Dominated Chaghatai Khanate
– Weakened Golden Horde
– Defeated & ended the Delhi Sultanate
– Invaded China
• CONQUEROR, NOT ADMINISTRATOR!
• Empire fell apart upon his death
• Inspired rise of Mughal, Safavid, Ottoman
Empires
