The Mongols History Channel: Barbarians Themes: leadership qualities, role of kinship/tribe, geography/environment, (political) military tactics, religion,

social structure/gender, economy Opening: Empire is twice the size of Rome; longer lasting than Napoleons empire and as good as Alexander the Greats empire. End of the twelfth century Geography: Eurasian steppes; 90 degrees below zero Tatars and Mongols were nomadic tribes 1175: Tatars feud with the Mongols; Chinese against the Mongols; Jin empire Genghis Khan Temuchin (Iron Worker) Father poisoned by the Tatars His mother: Seek Revenge Son of a leading chieftan he was abandoned (compare this to Muhammad significance of clan; how fortunate Muhammad was not to be abandoned) 1196 Genghis Khan rose up and unified the tribe (compare again to Muhammad consider leadership qualities) 1206 He was the Khan great leader At age 40 compared to Alexander the Great, and Hitler Horse tactics: feigned retreat, enveloping the enemy Reorganization of society (compare this to the Inca who also organized society into various groups by multiples of 10) The Mongols were vastly outnumbered, but mobile; they created a disturbing presence and appeared ubiquitous as they overwhelmed their enemies. Housing: yurts Religion Ground, river, heaven sacred: social structure was based on this Eternal god heavenly destined lineage (compare this to the Mandate of Heaven, possibly why the Mongols were able to rule China through a dynasty) NATURAL VIDEO BREAK Review and fill in the chart

1206 Genghis Khan declared universal leader rose from obscurity to become the khan. Yurt Description (this provides detail on his background) Hole at the top; doorway faces south, felts on the floor, walls; permeated with smoke; burned animal dung Social structure/gender: women received shares in the wealth. 1211: The Mongols invaded China the Song Dynasty saw them as crude and savage. Copied Chinese seize technology; beat drums; carried prisoners and used them to breach the city walls; slaughtered every living thing (psychological warfare) Yam communication system; pony express two messengers, horses at post stages every 25 miles, carried message rolls. (communication) 1218: annexed kingdoms no resistance or no mercy Kwarazm, Uzebekistan Silk Road (economic connection this is an important place to point out the positive effects of the Mongols.) Sultan Muhammed massacred Mongol envoy Mongols retaliate The Mongol Catastrophe NATURAL VIDEO BREAK 1219: Take on the Kwarazm Empire Mobility and surprise allow the Mongols to be successful (military tactics) Otrar: 5 month siege; destroyed all in their path Proverb: return what people give you 1220: Three-pronged attack east, west, and north; Mongols retreated and would return (military tactics Feint/skirmishes) Constant hail of arrows. Samarkand fell in 10 days Environmental impact: Persia - destroyed fields by sowing salt and cut down orchards. Pax Mongolica first sustained peace in 1000 years; allowed safe travel from Rome to China along the Silk Route. (economic impact) 1227: Died on the march to China victim of a freak riding accident; buried in secrecy Anyone met along the way was killed. His tomb has never been excavated.

NATURAL VIDEO BREAK Legacy: Golden Horde (took over southern Russia) (direct students to this on their charts) Persia (Ilkhanate conversion to Islam) (direct students to this on their charts) There were not enough Mongols perhaps 100, 000. By the mid-fourteenth century the empire fell apart this is the end of the Postclassical period and the end of the nomadic threats across Eurasia. Tamerlane (Timur i Lang) 1300s emir, master chess player. Of Turkish descent. Legitimized his claims by marrying wives descended from Genghis Khan Persian minatures (artwork of the area) Samarakand transported artisans to the area, gardens through irrigation, 50 foot tall entryway Timur was merciless; 1385 sacked Persia; 1398 leads into Northern India and destroys Delhi. He piled heads into heaps (psychological warfare) He spared the artisans and engineers. 1402 Ottoman Turks Ankara NATURAL VIDEO BREAK 1402 Ottoman Sultan Bayazid Timur lays siege to Ankara Bayazid retreats Weary troops destroyed by Mongols a whole regiment defects Bayazid captured Stopped Islam from taking Constantinople Timurs empire nearly matches Genghis Khans in size. He died in 1405 laid to rest in an ornate tomb in Samarkand. Set a curse upon it. June 22, 1941 Soviets opened his grave. Hitler attacked Russia. 20 million Russians died. Mongols fade away but their impact: Opened China to the west Spurred the age of discovery Shattered China and Persia Isolated Russia from Western developments