The fall of the Medieval world led the European to look in other directions – to the intellect and to overseas expansion. Before narrarting this phase of history, it is time to look at the wider world into which the European came.
A good place to start is with the Mongols, a loosely connected group of tribes from central Asia, centred on Mongolia; a people who forged an empire that stretched from the borders of Germany to Korea, from the Arctic Circle to the Persian Gulf.
BEFORE THE INVASIONS
Up to the 6th century the main tribe in the region were the Avars, but they were driven out by the Turks from Turkistan. Warlike, the Avars moved into eastern Europe in 568, forming an empire on the Danube, driving the Slavs into the Balkans and Lombards into Italy, not subjugated until Charlemagne.
Back in Asia, the Turks were the first to be converted to Islam, gaining control of Mesopotamia in the 11th century, going on to found the Ottoman Empire, settling in modern-day Turkey. Another tribe of the region was the Tatars, believed to have become the Cossacks, settling on the Russian Steppes.
MONGOL CULTURE
The Turks and Tatars made up a large proportion of what became the Mongol armies, along with the Mongols themselves. Nomadic peoples, they lived in portable felt huts and ate meat and milk. When expansion began, this meant they could carry what they needed and eat off the land, taking away the need for military supply trains.
Their religion was shamanic and animist, as with most nomads, but a form of ancestor worship had crept in, making the Mongols a strong force spiritually, with elements of God/King worship not usually evolving until settling down to agriculture.
This strong spiritual leadership, combined with their expertise in horsemanship and marauding cavalry tactics led to their success in battle. Ruthless, they struck terror into the people they were to fight.
GENGHIS KHAN
The tribes of Mongolia were brought together by Temujin, born about 1162. Subjugating neighbouring tribes, in 1206 he brought major Mongol leaders to an assembly where he was proclaimed ‘universal ruler,’ or Genghis Khan, based in his capital, Karakorum.
In 1211 he invaded northern China before turning west, reaching the Caucasus and the Black Sea, and finally heading into northern India. Dying in 1227, the future Great Khans were chosen from his descendants.
THE EXPANSION
His grandson Batu launched his winter campaign into Russia in 1237, reaching up to the Arctic Circle before sweeping into Poland and Hungary. In 1241 he defeated German, Polish and Hungarian armies, Europe facing its bleakest moment.
Luckily, in December there was a succession dispute and Batu returned to Mongolia, never to return to Europe again, although they retained Russia, now known as the Golden Horde.
Another grandson was Kublai Khan, who completed the invasion of China by 1259, moving the Mongol capital to Beijing. In 1245 another campaign had commenced led by Hulegu, sweeping into Mesopotamia, Baghdad falling in 1258.
In the following year another succession dispute came, Hulegu returning, leaving only a small army. In 1260 this was defeated by a Muslim army. This was a turning point, the Mongol invincibility gone. No more land was to be seized, especially as factions within the empire were by now beginning to fight amongst themselves.
THE EMPIRE
The Mongol Empire was one of the largest in history, and once conquest had been achieved, they survived because Genghis had realised that stability could be achieved by interfering as little as possible. Establishing the ‘Pax Mongolic’, he provided stability in peace, quickly learning from others.
For instance, the Mongols were terrible administrators. Hence, they employed Chinese officials to run the Empire, instituting a fair bureaucracy, tax system and code of law.
The Empire itself was split into four Great Khanates – the Golden Horde in Russia; the Il-Khan in Persia, Mesopotamia and the Caucasus; the Chagatai Khanate from the Atlai mountains to the borders of Persia; and the Empire of the Great Khan taking eastern Russia, Mongolia and China.
The Chinese administration allowed the Empire to remain until 1405, but in 1300 the Khanates had become independent, beginning destabilisation. The whole thing fell with Tamerlane, leader from 1369.
Declaring war on the Khanates, he went on to invade them, reaching as far as Delhi in India in 1398, his great grandson, Babur, founding the Mogul Empire. When Tamerlane died in 1405, so did Mongol stability, weakened by war. The Empire shrunk and self-exploded, the final territory lost in 1502.
© Anthony North, September 2007
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