This document provides information about various nomadic groups including the Xiongnu, Arabs, Masai, Turks, Mongols and compares their social and political structures to settled agricultural civilizations. It discusses how nomadic groups like the Mongols were able to conquer large empires, noting that they promoted merit-based promotion, had superior organization and tactics, and were able to unite tribes. The document also summarizes the Mongol conquests in China, Persia, and Russia, how the Yuan Dynasty changed Chinese political and social structures, and the factors that led to the decline of Mongol rule.

1. TURKS

2. Xiongnu

3. Arabs

4. Masai

5. Nomads
Pastoral Societies
 How are they similar to hunter-gatherers?
 Nomadic Social & Political Structures not urban
 How are the different than hunter-gatherers?
 Animals! More contact with settled civs.
 How are they different from settled
agricultural civilizations?
 Population density was less
 Social Class Structure was more equitable and less stratified
 Political Structure was often clan or tribe based

6. Nomads
 How were the Xiongu, Mongols, Arabs, and
Turks able to kick so much civilized butt?
 TRIBES / CLANS united (at least for a while)
 Nomads are like an army already

7. MONGOL CONQUESTS
What allowed the Mongols to conquer and
build a huge empire? (5,6,7)
 Give 5 reasons/characteristics that allowed the
Mongols to dominate?
 Incorporated conquered people into the Mongol
military
 Promoted officers based on merit, not family ties
 Superior organization
 Superior tactics (retreat, deception,
encirclement)
 United the Mongol tribes

8. Mongol Empire
 What allowed the Mongols to CONTROL a huge
empire?
 Religious tolerance
 Fewer taxes as merchants crossed fewer borders
 Incorporated conquered people into lower-
level and advisory positions of government
 Encouraged trade/spread of cultures and ideas
 Moved skilled artisans, government workers,
and craftsmen to different parts of the empire.

9. Mongols in CHINA – the Yuan Dynasty
Mongol rule in China: the Yuan Dynasty (8,9)
How did the Yuan Dynasty change the Chinese
political structure?
 Mongols had the mandate! United a divided
China.
 Scholar-officials out / Non-Chinese in
How did the Mongols change Chinese social
structure?
 Non-Chinese, Merchants, & Women’s status

10. Mongols in CHINA – the Yuan Dynasty
How did the Mongols change Chinese culture?
 They didn’t (at least not much).
 Buddhists gained some power
How did the Mongols / Yuan Dynasty fall?
 Typhoons destroyed the Mongol military as they
attempted to invade Japan
 Mongols fought each other
 Disease epidemics and inflation
 Rebellions by Chinese peasants

11. Kamikaze Wind

12. Mongol IMPACT
MONGOLS in CHINA, PERSIA, & RUSSIA
 Which region was defeated by Mongol armies?
 In which region were the Mongols MOST destructive?
 In which regions did the Mongols build new cities (after
destroying them)?
 In which regions did the Mongols use the existing
bureaucracy?
 In which regions were the native princes allowed to rule
as long as they sent tribute to Mongol rulers?
 In which region did more Mongols assimilate into
society after the fall of the Mongol empire?

13. Mongol IMPACT
MONGOLS in CHINA, PERSIA, & RUSSIA
 In which region was agriculture nearly destroyed?
 Which region was not directly occupied by the
Mongols?
 In which region did the Mongols support Daoism,
Buddhism, and Confucianism?
 Which Mongol invasion was LEAST destructive?
 Why was W. Europe never conquered by the
Mongols?

16. TEST REVIEW – Write on a half sheet of
paper…
Give a similarity and a
difference between the
Mongols and the following
civilizations …
 Tang and Song China
 Islamic Empire (Arab Muslim)