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| 15421870826 | The World of Pastoral Societies: Small populations on large amounts of land | Pastoralists were less productive than settled agriculturalists, resulting in smaller populations that required larger expanses of land. They specialized in making a living off unproductive land. These grasslands could not sustain humans, but they could sustain their herds of animals. Thus, the pastoralists lived off meat, milk, and blood rather than grains. | 0 | |
| 15421870827 | The World of Pastoral Societies: High levels of social and gender equality | With low population density and relatively simple social structures, these societies enjoyed much greater social equality than their settled neighbors. Women engaged in most of the same tasks as men in terms of raising the herd and riding. | 1 | |
| 15421870828 | The World of Pastoral Societies: Mobile but in contact with settled agriculturalists | While they were a mobile population that lived off their animals, they still needed the products of settled societies. Thus, even though they might distain the agriculturalists, they were frequently in conduct with them and exchanged their animals products for the manufactured goods of the towns and cities. | 2 | |
| 15421870829 | The World of Pastoral Societies: Tribal alliances and military power of horsemen | Without urban centers, it was very difficult to sustain a state system. A few charismatic individuals, such as Genghis Khan, could forge alliances, but the strength of the union was dependent on wealth coming in and would fall apart when their economic fortuned turned. | 3 | |
| 15421870830 | Before the Mongols:Pastoralists in History: Modun of the Xiongnu (r. 210-174 B.C.E.) | This leader united a diverse group of tribes from Manchuria and Central Asia. He engaged in revolutionary change of the military and forced the Han Chinese to negotiate with the Xiongnu as equals. | 4 | |
| 15421870831 | Before the Mongols:Pastoralists in History: Bedouin Arabs and the rise of Islam | These nomadic Arabs made an alliance with the urban-based merchants led by Muhammad and served as the main military power for the prophet. They also helped to spread Islam as they moved about the Arabian Peninsula. | 5 | |
| 15421870832 | Before the Mongols:Pastoralists in History: Turkic nomads versus China, Persia, and Byzantium | A variety of Turkic speaking peoples came out of the steppes of Central Asia and threatened these settled agricultural empires. Soon aspects of Turkic culture influenced the Northern Chinese court. The Seljuk Turks fought a series of wars with Byzantium but it was the Ottoman Turks that finally overthrew the last vestige of Rome in 1453. The Ottomans then became a very urban society and culture. | 6 | |
| 15421870833 | Before the Mongols:Pastoralists in History: Berbers and the Almoravid Empire | In Northwest Africa, the Berber people converted to Islam but were superficial in their practice. After 1039, Ibn Yasin, a scholar who turned from the Hadj, launched a reform campaign to make the practice of the faith more orthodox. Soon the movement became an expansionist state that moved into Spain and controlled much of present-day Morocco. Like other examples, the Almoravids became urbanized and enjoyed impressive art and architecture. | 7 | |
| 15421870834 | From Temujin to Chinggis Khan:The Rise of the Mongol Empire: Desperate and poor childhood | After his father was murdered, his resourceful mother led the immediate family through a marginal existence. But as he won a series of battles and forged alliances based on loyalty and not kinship, Temujin steadily built up a powerful force. | 8 | |
| 15421870835 | From Temujin to Chinggis Khan:The Rise of the Mongol Empire: Generous to friends, ruthless to enemies | In this process, he gained a reputation for destroying his enemies but rewarding those loyal to him. He also incorporated warriors from defeated tribes into his army. | 9 | |
| 15421870836 | From Temujin to Chinggis Khan:The Rise of the Mongol Empire: Supreme leader of a Great Mongol Nation, 1206 | A tribal assembly made him the great leader and gave him the title of Chinggis Khan. | 10 | |
| 15421870837 | From Temujin to Chinggis Khan:The Rise of the Mongol Empire: Started five decades of expansionist wars, 1209 | To build more power but also to hold the Mongol alliance together, he started a series of expansionist wars that eventually conquered China and Central Asia. The empire was only checked in Eastern Europe, the Levant, the jungles of Southeast Asia, and the Sea of Japan. He set in motion the building of the world's largest land based empire and it was run by a population of only 1,000,000. | 11 | |
| 15421870838 | Explaining the Mongol Moment: No plan or blueprint | Like the Romans, but growing much bigger much faster, the Mongols created objectives, strategy, and ideology as they expanded. They were only checked when they turned around in Eastern Europe, were defeated in the Levant and the jungles of Southeast Asia, or hit by typhoons when invading Japan. | 12 | |
| 15421870839 | Explaining the Mongol Moment: Weak enemies and a strong army | The Mongols were lucky in that both the Chinese and Arab empires were in a weak and divided condition when they attacked. They also succeeded by organizing a superior army with a clear command and control structure. | 13 | |
| 15421870840 | Explaining the Mongol Moment: Discipline, loyalty, and charisma ... and loot! | The army faced severe discipline, including the death penalty for desertion, but loyalty was greatly rewarded. Chinggis Khan had great charisma, eating and fighting with his troops. The Mongol people also became very wealthy from the loot of the empire. | 14 | |
| 15421870841 | Explaining the Mongol Moment: Incorporation of useful conquered people | The Mongols made good use of conquered people who had skills, such as artisans and technicians. | 15 | |
| 15421870842 | Explaining the Mongol Moment: Ruthless and terrifying | When attacking or taking revenge against an insult, the Mongol army was ruthless and engaged in huge massacres and the enslavement of women and children. This had a clear psychological impact on cities faced with a coming Mongol horde. | 16 | |
| 15421870843 | Explaining the Mongol Moment: Strong administration and systematic taxation | Despite their ruthlessness in battle, the Mongols showed excellent administrative skills after the conquest. With a system of riders for communication and well-organized taxation, the Mongol Empire had the resources and infrastructure to govern itself. | 17 | |
| 15421870844 | Explaining the Mongol Moment: Favorable conditions for merchants | Recognizing the value of a vibrant economy, the Mongols ensured profits and safe conduct for merchants. | 18 | |
| 15421870845 | Explaining the Mongol Moment: Religious toleration | With no interest in religious imperialism, the Mongols tolerated various religions and even improved the conditions of some minorities such as Christians. | 19 | |
| 15421870846 | China and the Mongols: 70 years of conquests, 1209-1279 | China was the main target of the Mongols and in 1209, Chinggis Khan launched an attack on this wealthy and prosperous region. After a series of campaigns lasting some seven decades, the Mongols were victorious. While the Mongols were brutal and destructive in the north of China, they were much more accommodating in the south. | 20 | |
| 15421870847 | China and the Mongols: Yuan Dynasty and Kublai Khan (r. 1271-1294) | The Mongols did adopt some aspects of Chinese statecraft in order to rule the region more effectively and withdraw as much wealth as possible. They went so far as to establish a Chinese-style dynasty. Kublai Khan, the grandson of Chinggis Khan, listened to the council of his favorite wife Chabi and adopted policies that encouraged agricultural production in order to generate more wealth. The Mongols adopted some aspects of Chinese ancestor veneration and built roads, canals, and other forms of infrastructure to promote commerce. | 21 | |
| 15421870848 | China and the Mongols: A foreign and exploitative occupation | While the Mongols did try to accommodate their Chinese subjects, they were foreign occupiers who were there to extract as much wealth as possible and were thus resented by the Chinese. Mongols' disregard of the exam system and their reliance on foreigners such as Muslims from Central Asia and the Middle East to administer the empire irked many. The Mongol elite kept many of their traditional practices such as sleeping in tents even when in the capital. | 22 | |
| 15421870849 | China and the Mongols: Collapse of Mongol rule and rise of the Ming Dynasty | Factionalism among the Mongols, rising prices, and a series of natural disasters weakened the their hold on power and allowed some space for rebels to challenge their authority. The Yuan Dynasty was overthrown in 1368, and the new Ming Dynasty sought to eliminate the memory of the Mongols. | 23 | |
| 15421870850 | Persia and the Mongols: Chinggis Kahn (1219-1221) and Helugu (1251-1258) | Two brutal attacks brought down the Persian Empire, falling much faster than China. These attacks were much more intense and devastating than earlier assaults from Turkic invaders. They were also more psychologically devastating, because unlike the Turks, the Mongols were not Muslims but pagan barbarians. | 24 | |
| 15421870851 | Persia and the Mongols: Damage to agriculture | Out of a lack of respect for agriculture and because of the damage caused by the Mongols' herds, there was serious damage to the region's farmland. Important underground irrigation systems fell apart, leading to desertification of some areas. | 25 | |
| 15421870852 | Persia and the Mongols: Persian civilization of barbarian Mongols | The Persians had a much more significant impact on the Mongols than the Chinese did. The invaders quickly realized the importance of the Persian bureaucracy and used it for their own purposes. They also began to rebuild damaged cities and road systems. When the dynasty fell in the 1330s, the Persians did not expel the Mongols but rather assimilated them into Persian culture. | 26 | |
| 15421870853 | Russia and the Mongols: Brutal invasion of a disunited Kievan Rus (1237-1240) | Using technology such as catapults and battering rams gained from campaigns in China and Persia, the invasion of the Kievan Rus was an impressive assault on a weak and disun | 27 | |
| 15421870854 | Russia and the Mongols: Khanate of the Golden Horde | This was the Russian term for Mongol rule. | 28 | |
| 15421870855 | Russia and the Mongols: Exploitation without occupation | While the invasion was impressive and devastated some areas, the Mongols chose not to occupy the relatively poor and isolated Rus. Instead they settled nearby on the steppes and pastoral lands north of the Caspian and Black Seas. They put them within striking distance of the cities from which they extorted tribute. | 29 | |
| 15421870856 | Russia and the Mongols: Resistance and collaboration | Some cities chose to resist and faced brutal retaliation. Kiev, for example, was razed. Others collaborated and helped the Mongols collect tribute and taxes and wound up doing very well for themselves. | 30 | |
| 15421870857 | Russia and the Mongols: Rise of Moscow and expansion of the church | Moscow rose as the core of a new Russian state that adopted Mongol weapons, diplomacy, taxation, court system, and a draft. The Russian Orthodox Church enjoyed Mongol tolerance and tax exemption and spread its reach deeper into the countryside. | 31 | |
| 15421870858 | Toward a World Economy: Not producers or traders but promoters of commerce | While the Mongols did not make anything or engage in trade, they did promote production and commerce in the regions they controlled, providing tax breaks for merchants and sometimes paying high prices to attract commerce to their cities. | 32 | |
| 15421870859 | Toward a World Economy: Security on the Silk Roads | The most important contribution was an unprecedented security on the Silk Roads. This allowed for a dramatic increase in trade throughout Central Asia, with many individuals making the entire journey from west to east and back. Marco Polo was the most famous but many others used guidebooks on their trips. | 33 | |
| 15421870860 | Toward a World Economy: Connected to the larger world system | The Mongol trade circuit connected to other trade networks throughout the rest of Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Middle east, Africa, and Europe, doing much to forge a global economy. | 34 | |
| 15421870861 | Diplomacy on a Eurasian Scale: European envoys sent east | When the Mongols made their way into Eastern Europe in a 1241- 1242 campaign, they seemed poised to take the region. However, the death of Great Khan Ogodei required the Mongol leaders to return home. Aware of the threat the Mongols posed, European kings and the Pope sent emissaries east to negotiate with the Mongols. | 35 | |
| 15421870862 | Diplomacy on a Eurasian Scale: European discovery of the outside world | These missions provided the previously isolated Europeans with a wealth of knowledge about the rest of the world. | 36 | |
| 15421870863 | Diplomacy on a Eurasian Scale: Mongol linkage of China and Persia | As these two great empires were part of a larger Mongol system, communications between the two increased. Thus, the Mongols created an unprecedented level of international communication. | 37 | |
| 15421870864 | Cultural Exchange in the Mongol Realm: Forced population transfers and voluntary migrations | The Mongols forced some people, such as artisans and engineers, to move from one place to another where their skills were needed. Others moved freely as part of religious travel tolerated by the Mongols or as part of commercial activity encouraged by the Mongols. | 38 | |
| 15421870865 | Cultural Exchange in the Mongol Realm: Technology transfer and the spread of crops | Technology, especially from China, moved freely and quickly within the Mongol domain, as did medical knowledge. Various crops were carried from one region to another. | 39 | |
| 15421870866 | Cultural Exchange in the Mongol Realm: Europe gained the most | Poor, backwards, and isolated Europe gained the most from these exchanges. As it had the least to offer, it had the most to gain. This may have set Europe on the path toward expansion. | 40 | |
| 15421870867 | The Plague: An Afro-Eurasian Pandemic: The Black Death | A mutation of the Yersinia Pestis, or bubonic plague, spread quickly and killed large numbers in areas of dense populations. The death spread during the increase of trade, from fleas that lived on rats. | 41 | |
| 15421870868 | The Plague: An Afro-Eurasian Pandemic: China, 1331, Europe, 1347, and East Africa, 1409 | Starting in China, the disease followed the world trade routes and savaged cities across Afro-Eurasia. Some estimate that 50 percent of Europeans may have perished. | 42 | |
| 15421870869 | The Plague: An Afro-Eurasian Pandemic: The end of the world? | In a prescientific era of high religiosity, some in the Christian and Islamic worlds saw it as the end days. | 43 | |
| 15421870870 | The Plague: An Afro-Eurasian Pandemic: Social changes in Europe | With so many dead, there were labor shortages that provided new opportunities for skilled workers, women, and peasants. This mass death set in motion several important social changes. There was also a rise in labor- saving devices, spurring new technological innovations in Europe. | 44 | |
| 15421870871 | The Plague: An Afro-Eurasian Pandemic: Demise of the Mongol Empire | The biggest victim of the Black Death was the Mongol Empire itself. With trade disrupted, the economic heart of the empire failed. Mongol wealth decreased and rebellions increased. | 45 |
