Mongols

Please post Main Ideas and your Questions
 * 1) CEconomic
 * 2) **Mongols were nomadic traders, taking from the west and east, taking what they need from sedantary civilizations**
 * 3) They were herders, sheeps and goats
 * 4) food = meat and milk + grains and vegetables through trade with sendentary farmers
 * 5) hides + dairy product for jewelry, weapons, and cloth in urban centers.
 * 6) handicraft stolen from other civilizations were gathered into the mongol empire to expand economic influence and allowed artistic creativity.
 * 7) after a civilization is crushed and taken over, the Mongols forced payment abd bondage on the peasent class, to provide food and crops and labor to lords.
 * 8) Even though conquered nations had to pay tribute to the Mongols, their prescence still provided a rebuilt society with more advanced network of trade that often were greater than the tributes they were bond to pay,, such as moscow which developed to be an opposing force of the Mongol empire.
 * 9) Social
 * 10) road on strong combat ponies
 * 11) little kids were expected to ride as soon as they get to age. + boys and girls were allowed
 * 12) Women had influence of families and right of political voice but men were still the dominating force
 * 13) Mongols commanders and rulers were really tolerant and open to new ideas and commited to expanding the mongol empire.
 * 14) enslaved people were either sold into slavery or slaughtered/made to pay taxes
 * 15) tribal divisions
 * 16) politics
 * 17) they were a tribe divided into kin-ship groups and were normally in contact with each other most of the time.
 * 18) When threatened by others, mongols created confederations connecting different tribes and based on teh skills o the leader the confederations could be held longer and longer.
 * 19) Mongols focused on the protection of their clans and survival
 * 20) It was during the **kuriltai** that Ghenggis Khan was elected as teh **khagan** of the entire Mongol tribe, because of military skills and ability to lead a strong military force.
 * 21) GK brought unity, discipline, and organization.GK was the ruler of 1-2 million noamds + the half a million warrios 1227 1206
 * 22) GK said it was his pleasure to make war.
 * 23) divivded into **tumens** or basic fighting units ea with divisions of 1000,100,10 warriors and commanders were responsible for the training and discipline.
 * 24) Calvry units, scouting units, heavy calvarly units formed the main military force.
 * 25) There was also the use of messenger units and special units to send messages back and forth and to draw maps of enemy territory.
 * 26) GK put the capital of **karakorum** on the steppes and discussed with scholars on how to rule china., muslims for seige weapons, and to improve trade -> adviso
 * 27) Interactions
 * 28) **The Mongol interactions were brought through retribution for assults against the kingdom, and with that they attempted to take over most of Eurasia, and they did, bringing peace,religious tolerance, and expanding trade.**
 * 29) **What are the similiarities of Mongolian expansion and Abbasid expansion into the European world.**
 * 30) Some of their interactions were brought out from revenge, aka the city of Gurganj of the Khwarazm Empire due to attacking the Mongol caravan.
 * 31) they contributed to cross-cultural exchange and human advance
 * 32) after the took Guganj, the artisans were set free and were brought to mongol cities to work, the capital Karakorum
 * 33) These workers helped advance manufacturing and commerce
 * 34) Helped exchange and connected resources from the Chinese to the Europeans and Middle East
 * 35) in GK's rule, they conquered over the northern chiense region, and then attacked the Jin Empire.
 * 36) empire had fortified cities, but with chinese technology, they created seige weapons such as batterin rams, catapults, and bamboo rockets
 * 37) Mongols fought for retribution and usually spared no one except for scholars or artisans. They sold every city into slavery or slaughtered them all.
 * 38) In 1220 the Mongols wanted to conquer the rest of china as well and with 180,000 warrios they attacked the kingdom of xixia yellow river tangut warrios
 * 39) and there after an injury GK died.
 * 40) and his third son, Ogedei was elected b/c of hs embition and manipulative skills.
 * 41) in 1220, the russians were attacked by **Batu,** GK's grandson, and because Russia was divided and would not fight united, tartars overturned teh russian empire.
 * 42) As the Russians grew stronger, the Mongols grew weaker.
 * 43) at the battle of kulikova, the Russians defeated the Golden Horde and effectively started to break mongol control over Russia in the next 20 years.
 * 44) After the Russians, Buta lead an army to West Europe to conquer over those that didn't believe that the mongols were any more than ragtag strugglers looking for easy plunder, and because of that the Mongols felt the need to conquer Germany and Normandy but halted at that because GK's son died and Buta was content with the empire he had.
 * 45) Religious
 * 46) G. Khan was the only one who allowed free tolerance of religions from all the captive countries in his rule, ranging from Christians to Buddhists -> more aceptance into the empire + free practice of religion
 * 47) Intellectual
 * 48) From birth, mongol warriors were treated to fight and taught to be natural warriors.
 * 49) Men were to show their courage in military as a traditional form of showing self-esteem
 * 50) But they also executed a warrior for leaving their tribe.
 * 51) By 1227 The Mongols ruled an empire from eatern Peria to North China sea, at teh death of GK
 * 52) Technological
 * 53) **Mongols developed technology for the advancement of warfare through stealing from other civilizations.**
 * 54) **How did the development of tech differ from Mongol society to Chinesein the contribution towards the political structure**
 * 55) They had plenty of weapons within their arsenal, the lances, hatchets, maces, and short bows, and horses.
 * 56) With the mongol's expanded network of spies and informers they often were up to date with new weapons.
 * 57) Siege techonology overtook fortified strucutres

**MI:The Mongol interactions were brought through retribution for assults against the kingdom, and with that they attempted to take over most of Eurasia, and they did, bringing peace,religious tolerance, and expanding trade.**

**MI: Mongols developed technology for the advancement of warfare through stealing from other civilizations.**

**Q:What are the similiarities of Mongolian expansion and Abbasid expansion into the European world?**

**Q:How did the development of tech differ from Mongol society to Chinese** **in the contribution towards the political structure?**

Intell ectu al Main Idea: **There was less significance placed on intell** **e** **ctual aspects of the Mongol empire due to the fact that there was more focus on miltary values** but we still have to consider the fact that CK took shcolars from conquered nations to advancetechnology and their intellectual sphere was diverse b/c they took from Chinese,Muslims,and the west -> examples? Question:why //Why was it that the Mongols were able to take from other cultures intellectual knowledge but never able to create their own?// their intellectual sphere was never developedb/c they already took from somany civilizations and there was no way they could synthesize all the ideasas their own. + they hadno set religion that was able to expand achitecture or infrastructure

Religion Main Idea: **Though Buddahism had influence on the the Mongol empire there was still freedom of religion that impacted the Mongol Empire as well.** How were they influenced by Buddhist ideas? They just had free tolerance of religion because they had no defined religion. Question: **Since the Mongol Empire conquered so many places during their rei** **g** **n what would have happened if for instance they spread one singular religion Islam during this time instead promoting freedom of religion? would history have changed?** **If only one religion had been tolerated then the Mongol Empire wouldn't have lasted as long due to social revolts and unrest. The i** IIslam would have directectly influenced the major aspects of life of people under Mongols rule, because they would have develeloped similar to the Arbas. Russia for example would have become Islamic vesus Orothodox Christianity. If the Mongols had tried to spread one religion, there may have been more resistance from the lands they tried to conquer. The Monfrom the lands they tried to conquer. The Mongols gave people the freedom of religion on orderfrom the lands they tried to conquer. The Mongols gave people the freedom of religion on order Economics: MI:The Mongols originallyoriginally depended on herding as the major driving force behind their economy, until conquered lands helped expand free, long distance trade and would act as a similar manner as the modern day internet, creating a sense of global community.

Were there levy taxes on a large scale at this time, and if there weren't, why was the concept of free trade as offered by Genghis Khan so appealing? Genghis Khan lowered taxes from the lands he took over. Free trade was so appealing becuase it helped wealth distrubution throughout a kingdom, more people were able to benefit from it.

Main Idea: *Mongolians interconnected military aspects with the developement of the society as a whole by focusing on gaining control of - Is this the political MI? Question:In what ways did early political aspects affect later conquests and development of the Mongolians?

Although the mongols began under family-based clan systems, they quickly proved that under strong leadersihp that it was possible to become a powerful empire and achieve many conquests, as exemplified by Kabul Khan, who conquered the Qin kingdom. In fact, mongol politics were based around the tribal leader to a degree that it was expected that weak leaders would be quickly betrayed when they grew old and feeble, and the strongest (most likely to aid the Mongol survival, whether through conquest or allliance) would gain power.

Social: The Mongols originally lived in a society of multiple clan based kin tribes, however over time they united under the rule of Chinggis Khan and became a warrior, war like culture. Socially, men assumed all leadership positions, while women prominent in the home and trained in combat. What about social structure? I believe women took politic position at some points,and women had a political voice, such as Vietnam(kevin) Question:What are the similarties and differences between the unit of the Arabs and the Mongol? This question seems a little vague - Think about a more targeted q Arabs culture was more targeted towards religion while the Mongols culture was taken from the lands the conquered.

Notes on Yuan Dynasty: The Mongol Interlude in China:
 * 1) Mongol Interlude in China
 * 2) After conquering the Southern Song Dynasty and the Northern Xi Xia and Jin Dynasties in 1279, Kubilai Khan upheld distinctions amongst the Mongols and Chinese to preserve and to advocate Mongol Dominance
 * 3) The social Hierarchy went Mongols > Allies > Muslims > North >South > Ethnic
 * 4) North and Southern Chinese officials ruled regional and local government but only the Mongols were permitted to hold power at the top
 * 5) Mongols were forbidden to marry the Chinese. High ranking mongols were to marry nomadic women. + no friendships either
 * 6) Gender Roles and the Convergence of Mongol and Chinese Culture
 * 7) Compared to other civilizations the Mongol females were treated with greater freedom. They were allowed to own property, to hunt, have political voice, and would not retain Chinese indecency of the Women culture.
 * 8) Mongol women refused to footbind
 * 9) had rights to property and control in house + more freedom to move
 * 10) such as Kubilai's cousin's daughter who lead hunts and would not marry until a man would be able to beat her in a wrestling match
 * 11) Chabi was wife of Kubilai and promoted Buddhism in the top elite + controlled politics
 * 12) Mongol Tolerance and Foreign Cultural Influence
 * 13) Mongols accepted foreign influence rather than neglect it, the benefits of the knowledge from the other civilizations had helped to increase the productivity of the political system.
 * 14) Muslim designed the imperial city, and proposed new system of tax
 * 15) persian astronomers imported middle eastern astronomical products
 * 16) Muslim doctors were head of hospitals
 * 17) Religious tolerance of Buddhists, Nestorian, Christians, Daoists.
 * 18) Social Policies and Scholar-Gentry
 * 19) With the Mongols in power, Chinese social hierarchy and Scholar-Gentry system completely flip-flopped to put the higher class down below while promoting the powers of the less important people.
 * 20) Even though he added an extensive chinese bureaucracy and used chinese rituals, the confucian leaders thought that the Mongols were mere barbarians thus would ddestroy the chinese culture
 * 21) Kubilai would not let the shcolar-gentry system ome back alive
 * 22) He switched up the Artisan class and the Merchant class and gave them higher status and rank rather than
 * 23) expanded the supply and use of paper money
 * 24) seafaring played an important role b/c of conquest over islands on the coast + to put down pirates
 * 25) even though reading and art died down, plays and drama flourished such as the **The Romance of the West Chamber**
 * 26) Mongol leaders promoted reverance in the peasentry class, they wanted to give them all an education, reduce tax, support flood/famine relief, gave them more land, and support them.
 * 27) The Fall of the House of Yuan
 * 28) The Fall of the house was mostly raised because of the upsurptions by the retribution of previous chinese bureaucrats and b/c of corrupt pratices by barbaric forces.
 * 29) Song loyalists raised rebellions and hostilities at dominating Mongol officials.
 * 30) Mongols no longer felt invincible because of the 1274 and 1280 loss to the Japanese
 * 31) Also the death of his wife and son further weakened the political force of Mongol ruling class.
 * 32) Yuan officials were not watched carefully and were open to corrupt politics and greed. which angered peasentry class
 * 33) 1350 **White Lotus Society** were a bandit group who said that they had powers to heal their followers, thus gaining a lot of peasentry appeals.
 * 34) and in the end a peasent rose up **Ju Yuanzhang** to rule the Ming Dynasty.
 * 35) Aftershock: The Brief Rise of Timur
 * 36) Nomadic uprisings kept the nomadic societies and the killing spree up rather than allow for it to decease, but eventually came to the end in 1405
 * 37) second nomadic outbrek caused by the **Timur-i Lang. cultured + loved arts + architecture but ruthless and indifferent to human suffering.**
 * 38) in 1360 he ordered his troops to conquer the Fertile crescent, India, Russia
 * 39) ferocity > size
 * 40) 1405, bad friendnemies + enemies wanted retribution.

continuities: fall and rise of empires >Han China fell + Roman empire fell b/c of incapable leaders, rise of the Tang + Song, rise of Byzantium + rise of Islam > fall of all b/c of mongols black plague + fall of islamic empires trading between religion and cultural exchanges >buddhism >christianity >islam empires depended on the silk road to fuel economy > chinese horses spices tea jade porceline europeans bought > european spices gold goods chinese sold changes: different empires fell and rised > after the fall of the roman empire, western europe and byzantium started to trade along to the silk road >Islamic civilizations traded/revived >islamic merchants spread the idea of Islam through india and into china >Mongols expanded trade between india and China network of routes/ > china integrated paper money + use of occasional tavernas and inns to provide economic support > it started out as a small route used for trade, silks and chinese porcelian as luxury goods to be exported to the Europeans who's desire for strange objects and possessions of extravagent items was prominent in the trading zones. as the luxury goods continued to spread from india as well as china, the european leaders started to decline b/c of corruption and b/c of the innate desire to purchase these lavish goods thus killing the roman empire. as well as the chinese Han who's golden age revolved around trade and thenforth dissolved b/c of inconsistent trade amongst the Romans leading to peasentry revolt and land issues. It changed into soon major source of intellectual cultural and political exchange amongst seperate nations and became a leading trading route as well. Islamic merchants now traded as soon as they came into power and the mongols wanted to take part as well as teh byzantines and western europe thus creating new civilizations in between, such as the mongols did to secure the peace needed without being attacked, even thuogh we can see that Islam and other civilizations despised the prescence of the Mongols, leading to this tension of warlike interaction striking the fuse for the mongols to attack the Islamic empire conquering Baghdad, and then the same for the Western europeans and the Song dynasty in China. By 1450 the silk road was a route in which the nomadic herds of mongol invaders had brought on the black bubonic plague striking severe casualties in and out of nations. different goods were traded >spices -> plague major trading route of goods -> major trading route of cultural exchange btw ideas, desiease, goods w/o missionaries but with merchants