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4. The Mongol Moment and the Remaking of Eurasia

Breakout of the Mongol Empire

Pastoral societies

Mongol invasions were latest of long but intermittent series of incursions into agricultural civilizations by pastoralists from Eurasia and Africa

for 2000 years before Mongols, pastoralists had major role in Afro-Eurasian history

standing challenge to, influence upon agrarian civilizations

able to repeatedly build powerful empires despite numbers due to lifestyle

herding animals in regions where farming was difficult or impossible

embraced horseback, camel riding

foundation for mounted warfare based on mobility

Varieties of Pastoral Societies

Varieties of Pastoral Societies

Region and peoples

Peoples

Primary animals

Features

Inner Eurasian steppes

Xiongnu

Yuezhi

Turks

Uighurs

Mongols

Huns

Kipchaks

horses; also sheep, goats, cattle, Bactrian (two-humped) camel

domestication of horse by 4000 BCE

horseback riding by 1000 BCE

site of largest pastoral empires

Southwestern and Central Asia

Seljuks

Ghaznavids

Mongol il-khans

Uzbeks

Ottomans

sheep and goats; also horses, camels, donkeys for transport

close economic relationship with neighboring towns

pastoralists provided meat, wool, milk products, hides

received grain, manufactured goods

Arabian and Saharan deserts

Bedouin Arabs

Berbers

Tuareg

Dromedary (one-humped) camel; sometimes sheep

camel caravans made long-distance trade possible

camel-mounted warriors central to early Arab/Islamic expansion

Grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa

Fulbe

Nuer

Turkana

Masai

cattle; also sheep and goats

cattle were chief form of wealth, central to ritual life

little interaction with wider world until 19th century

Subarctic Scandinavia, Russia

Sami

Nenets

reindeer

reindeer domesticated only since 1500 CE

many also fished

Tibetan plateau

Tibetans

yaks; also sheep, cashmere goats, some cattle

supplied yaks as baggage animals for overland caravan trade

exchanged wool, skins, milk with valley villagers

received barley

Andean Mountains

llamas and alpacas

Andean pastoralists in a few places relied on herds

supplemented with horticulture and hunting

There are no rows in this table

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Mongol breakout

13th century

rise to largest land-based empire in human history

Pacific coast of Asia to Eastern Europe

joined pastoral inner Eurasia with settled agricultural outer Eurasia

brought major Eurasian civilizations into far more direct contact

Europe

China

Islamic world

Rise

Temujin

1162-1227

later known as Chinggis Khan (aka Genghis Khan)

Mongols were unstable, fractious collection of tribes, clans

reduced from earlier, more powerful position

Early life

not promising

father was minor chieftain of noble clan but murdered by tribal rivals before he turned ten

family soon deserted by other members of clan

family forced to abandon pastoralism, live by hunting, fishing, gathering wild foods

Temujin’s magnetism, courage, reliance on trusted friends rather than ties of kinship allowed him to build small following, ally with more powerful tribal leader

received boost from Chinese patrons who wanted to keep pastoralists divided

soon Temujin was recognized as chief in own right

Rise to power

surprising to everyone

took place amid shifting alliances/betrayals

mounting string of military victories

indecisiveness of enemies

reputation as leader generous to friends, ruthless to enemies

incorporation of warriors from defeated tribes into own forces

1206: Mongol tribal assembly recognized Temujin as Chinggis Khan, supreme leader of now-unified Great Mongol Nation

Setbacks

Chinggis Khan’s army did not have a common task

surely would dissolve into quarrels and chaos

did not have external resources to reward followers

hard-pressed to maintain supreme position

had to expand for more wealth (particularly to China)

Mongol world war

1209: first major attack on settled agricultural societies south of Mongolia

military campaigns

massive killing

empire building without precedent

Chinggis Khan, sons, grandsons (Ogodei, Mongke, Khubilai) constructed empire that contained China, Central Asia, Russia, much of Islamic Middle East, parts of Eastern Europe

Limits

due to various setbacks

withdrawal from Eastern Europe (1242)

defeated at Ain Jalut, Palestine to Egyptians (1260)

failure to invade Japan due to typhoon (1281)

difficulty of penetrating tropical jungles of Southeast Asia

Mongol Empire

grew of own momentum, no grand scheme or blueprint for world conquest

each victory brought new resources for making war, new threats or insecurities that seemed to require further expansion

Chinggis Khan saw career as universal mission

How

seemingly overwhelming odds

China alone outnumbered Mongols 100 to 1, had incomparably greater resources

Mongols did not have technological superiority over adversaries

good timing in encounters with China and Islamic Middle East

China: divided between Song dynasty in south, pastoral Jurchen people in north

Middle East: Abbasid caliphate shrunk to fraction of earlier size

Successful army

better led, organized, disciplined

social structure: military units of 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000 warriors

allowed for effective command and control

conquered tribes broken up, members scattered

imperial guard recruited across tribal lines

Discipline and loyalty to leaders

discipline reinforced by idea that deserters were subject to death penalty

loyalty cemented by leaders’ willingness to share hardships of men

made encirclement, retreat, deception possible

flow of wealth from conquered benefited all Mongols, but not equally

even ordinary Mongols could dress in linens/silks, own slaves, greater opportunities to improve social position

Conquered peoples

compensation for Mongols’ small population

mostly Mongol, Turkic pastoralists conscripted into calvary

settled agricultural peoples supplied infantry, artillery

acquired Chinese techniques, technology of siege warfare

1,000 Chinese artillery crews took part in invasion of Persia

demanded that conquered people were laborers

built roads, bridges

ferried supplies over long distances

artisans, craftsmen, skilled people identified, spared, sent to distant regions

Ruthless brutality

“Whoever submits shall be spared, but those who resist, they shall be destroyed with their wives, children and dependents...so that the others who hear and see should fear and not act the same”

chose to annihilate an entire population if it appeared too troublesome to govern

psychological warfare

inducement to surrender for those who knew of Mongol terror