Mongols
Overview
The Mongol Empire can be considered to be one of the most impressive empires of all time. Under the guidance of Genghis Khan, they burst out of Mongolia in 1206 and would go on to conquer nearly a quarter of the world’s land surface. Their exploits took them as far wide as Poland and Japan, and brought them into battle against as far ranging enemies as the Teutonic knights of Germany and samurai warriors of Japan, two sets of soldiers who didn’t know each other existed, representing how vast the Mongol Empire became.[1] Characterised by their nomadic way of life they used their skills to cope with the constant movement needed for expansion, masterfully learning new skills along their way. This tribal culture however may have eventually been a key factor in their downfall, with loyalty often given to the tribe, meaning any loyalty beyond there was hard leading to division and fragmentation.[2] More division derived through disagreements over how best to run the areas captured, with many Mongols reluctant to leave their traditional nomadic values.[3] Such splits eventually led to the split of the Empire into 4 sectors, with these sectors often having conflicts. In such a situation, the empire was destined to fall all together. Despite the eventual break-up of the empire, the achievements of the Mongols are still highly impressive, often receiving praise and admiration to the modern day.
Economy
The main aim of the Mongols economically was to establish trade relationships with merchants, meaning they utilised the trade routes a lot.[4] They created trade between themselves and neighbouring states, meaning the more land they controlled, the more trade could occur. Trade routes were maintained to ensure trade could flow easily with specifically the silk road being vital to the Mongol economy, as it ran from China all the way through to Constantinople, running right through the Mongol Empire. Along with this, all merchants and ambassadors with proper documentation were protected within the Empire, ensuring trade ran smoothly.[5] They also capitalised on the land they gained through gaining extra taxes, meaning the larger the empire grew, the more taxes that were received. The Mongols however did not have a focus on economy as other empires may have done, merely allowing it to grow as was needed to support their army. Their nomadic way of life ensured such a focus was not needed, although naturally the economy needed to be strong. Effectively, they utilised the lands they captured to give them the economy they needed through taxes and through a growth in the numbers of merchants they could trade with. This proved very effective and helped rebuild the Silk Road which was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, trade route in the world.
Military
The Mongol army is regarded as one of the best in history, combining mobility and firepower to devastating effects. Organisation within the armies was precise as a decimal system was implemented. This decimal system made it so that everything was built up in numbers of 10, with no man commanding more than 10 men. Such a system allowed for great communication, a key factor in a successful army. Another key factor in why the Mongol army was so impressive is the fact that, unlike western armies of the time, the Mongol armies consisted of highly professional soldiers whereas most other armies drew on peasants. [6] The source of this professionalism is in the Mongols nomadic way of life, in which skills needed for the military were constantly used and practised, skills such as archery and horsemanship. A Mongol became so good at these skills through simply his way of life that he was already highly trained for the army. This benefitted the Mongols greatly. The benefits of a nomadic lifestyle did not stop here, as the Mongol armies were capable of covering up to 100 hundred miles a day due to their ability to live off the land, as well as each soldier maintaining 4 horses at a time, so they were constantly able to be on the move. [7]Effectively, the nomadic way of life made it possible to cover such large portions of land, something so many other empires were simply not capable of. All of these factors would have counted for nothing however if it wasn’t for the Mongols ability in battle, with their tactics very effective. In hand to hand battle, the Mongols were not at their strongest, but knowing this they used tactics to avoid these situations as much as possible. This involved using archers on horseback to constantly ride up to the front line of the enemy, firing their arrows, and then riding back. Such a tactic ensured the enemy was a safe distance away whilst still significantly damaging them. The skills of archery and horsemanship easily lent themselves to this tactic. It was incredibly successful, conquering many armies. As with any military, the Mongols did have their weaknesses, with areas that couldn’t support the grazing of animals and a nomadic way of life proving big obstacles. For example northern India proved a step to far, as the dense jungles proved uninhabitable to the Mongols, meaning they never added this area to their empire. Overall the strengths of the Mongol army far outweigh the weaknesses of it, as it can easily be considered one of the most impressive armies in history.
Technology
In controlling such a vast area of land, the Mongols naturally ran across many ideas and information from a variety of cultures, and one of the key things they did was to try and share these ideas amongst cultures.[8] With integrating ideas, the Mongols achieved the advancement in knowledge in many areas including astronomy, mathematics, metallurgy, and gunpowder.[9] This new knowledge was not simply achieved by sharing ideas, as the Mongols also funded many projects to further knowledge such as the construction of an observatory and institute for astronomical studies.[10] As well as this they also shared knowledge of medicine from culture to culture, something which is key within societies. The best display of technological advancements can be seen through their military developments which aided them in their many battles. One major technology of note here is the Mongol longbow, which was much more powerful than any other of the period. They also developed the catapult and improved ironworks for weapon making. The key to the Mongols success’s in technology is their willingness to adopt ideas and share them, developing them with other ideas to achieve impressive developments knowledge. There is a lack of end product in terms of actually creating new things meaning they were not a great empire for technological advancement.
[1] Stephen, Turnbull, The Mongols (Osprey: Oxford, 1980), p. 3.
[2] http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/conquests/conquests_4.htm
[3] http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/conquests/conquests_4.htm
[4] http://www.welcome2mongolia.com/archives/economy-and-military-tactics/
[5] https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081204194851AANdZUv
[6] http://www.mongolia-web.com/1203-mongol-military-tactics-and-organization#Decimal_system
[7] http://www.mongolia-web.com/1203-mongol-military-tactics-and-organization#Decimal_system
[8] intra.burltwpsch.org/users/rlee/_private/ch%2013/teacher%20ppt.ppt
[9] intra.burltwpsch.org/users/rlee/_private/ch%2013/teacher%20ppt.ppt
[10] intra.burltwpsch.org/users/rlee/_private/ch%2013/teacher%20ppt.ppt
The Mongol Empire can be considered to be one of the most impressive empires of all time. Under the guidance of Genghis Khan, they burst out of Mongolia in 1206 and would go on to conquer nearly a quarter of the world’s land surface. Their exploits took them as far wide as Poland and Japan, and brought them into battle against as far ranging enemies as the Teutonic knights of Germany and samurai warriors of Japan, two sets of soldiers who didn’t know each other existed, representing how vast the Mongol Empire became.[1] Characterised by their nomadic way of life they used their skills to cope with the constant movement needed for expansion, masterfully learning new skills along their way. This tribal culture however may have eventually been a key factor in their downfall, with loyalty often given to the tribe, meaning any loyalty beyond there was hard leading to division and fragmentation.[2] More division derived through disagreements over how best to run the areas captured, with many Mongols reluctant to leave their traditional nomadic values.[3] Such splits eventually led to the split of the Empire into 4 sectors, with these sectors often having conflicts. In such a situation, the empire was destined to fall all together. Despite the eventual break-up of the empire, the achievements of the Mongols are still highly impressive, often receiving praise and admiration to the modern day.
Economy
The main aim of the Mongols economically was to establish trade relationships with merchants, meaning they utilised the trade routes a lot.[4] They created trade between themselves and neighbouring states, meaning the more land they controlled, the more trade could occur. Trade routes were maintained to ensure trade could flow easily with specifically the silk road being vital to the Mongol economy, as it ran from China all the way through to Constantinople, running right through the Mongol Empire. Along with this, all merchants and ambassadors with proper documentation were protected within the Empire, ensuring trade ran smoothly.[5] They also capitalised on the land they gained through gaining extra taxes, meaning the larger the empire grew, the more taxes that were received. The Mongols however did not have a focus on economy as other empires may have done, merely allowing it to grow as was needed to support their army. Their nomadic way of life ensured such a focus was not needed, although naturally the economy needed to be strong. Effectively, they utilised the lands they captured to give them the economy they needed through taxes and through a growth in the numbers of merchants they could trade with. This proved very effective and helped rebuild the Silk Road which was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, trade route in the world.
Military
The Mongol army is regarded as one of the best in history, combining mobility and firepower to devastating effects. Organisation within the armies was precise as a decimal system was implemented. This decimal system made it so that everything was built up in numbers of 10, with no man commanding more than 10 men. Such a system allowed for great communication, a key factor in a successful army. Another key factor in why the Mongol army was so impressive is the fact that, unlike western armies of the time, the Mongol armies consisted of highly professional soldiers whereas most other armies drew on peasants. [6] The source of this professionalism is in the Mongols nomadic way of life, in which skills needed for the military were constantly used and practised, skills such as archery and horsemanship. A Mongol became so good at these skills through simply his way of life that he was already highly trained for the army. This benefitted the Mongols greatly. The benefits of a nomadic lifestyle did not stop here, as the Mongol armies were capable of covering up to 100 hundred miles a day due to their ability to live off the land, as well as each soldier maintaining 4 horses at a time, so they were constantly able to be on the move. [7]Effectively, the nomadic way of life made it possible to cover such large portions of land, something so many other empires were simply not capable of. All of these factors would have counted for nothing however if it wasn’t for the Mongols ability in battle, with their tactics very effective. In hand to hand battle, the Mongols were not at their strongest, but knowing this they used tactics to avoid these situations as much as possible. This involved using archers on horseback to constantly ride up to the front line of the enemy, firing their arrows, and then riding back. Such a tactic ensured the enemy was a safe distance away whilst still significantly damaging them. The skills of archery and horsemanship easily lent themselves to this tactic. It was incredibly successful, conquering many armies. As with any military, the Mongols did have their weaknesses, with areas that couldn’t support the grazing of animals and a nomadic way of life proving big obstacles. For example northern India proved a step to far, as the dense jungles proved uninhabitable to the Mongols, meaning they never added this area to their empire. Overall the strengths of the Mongol army far outweigh the weaknesses of it, as it can easily be considered one of the most impressive armies in history.
Technology
In controlling such a vast area of land, the Mongols naturally ran across many ideas and information from a variety of cultures, and one of the key things they did was to try and share these ideas amongst cultures.[8] With integrating ideas, the Mongols achieved the advancement in knowledge in many areas including astronomy, mathematics, metallurgy, and gunpowder.[9] This new knowledge was not simply achieved by sharing ideas, as the Mongols also funded many projects to further knowledge such as the construction of an observatory and institute for astronomical studies.[10] As well as this they also shared knowledge of medicine from culture to culture, something which is key within societies. The best display of technological advancements can be seen through their military developments which aided them in their many battles. One major technology of note here is the Mongol longbow, which was much more powerful than any other of the period. They also developed the catapult and improved ironworks for weapon making. The key to the Mongols success’s in technology is their willingness to adopt ideas and share them, developing them with other ideas to achieve impressive developments knowledge. There is a lack of end product in terms of actually creating new things meaning they were not a great empire for technological advancement.
[1] Stephen, Turnbull, The Mongols (Osprey: Oxford, 1980), p. 3.
[2] http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/conquests/conquests_4.htm
[3] http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/conquests/conquests_4.htm
[4] http://www.welcome2mongolia.com/archives/economy-and-military-tactics/
[5] https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081204194851AANdZUv
[6] http://www.mongolia-web.com/1203-mongol-military-tactics-and-organization#Decimal_system
[7] http://www.mongolia-web.com/1203-mongol-military-tactics-and-organization#Decimal_system
[8] intra.burltwpsch.org/users/rlee/_private/ch%2013/teacher%20ppt.ppt
[9] intra.burltwpsch.org/users/rlee/_private/ch%2013/teacher%20ppt.ppt
[10] intra.burltwpsch.org/users/rlee/_private/ch%2013/teacher%20ppt.ppt