30. the decline of the mongol empire

8/12/2019 30. the Decline of the Mongol Empire

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The Decline of the Mongol Empire

Even good empires collapse. Some would say no empire has ever been good

since empires arise through the expansionist policies of conuerors! but nearly all

empires have brought some good. " few have brought great good. Even the bloody and

brutal expansion of the Mongol Empire led ultimately to peace and trade over the largestcontiguous land mass ever controlled by one people and to what one historian has called!

the ma#ing of the modern world. The vision of $enghis %han! however! was not to

last. &is desire to create a universal culture of pure Mongol living dissipated during thereign of his immediate successor! 'gedei. The Mongol Empire! li#e all empires!

collapsed through overexpansion and the tragic flaws of its original culture. The uestion

is still debated whether or not the Mongols were merely a scourge to which civili(edpeople said! $ood riddance! or #ey global visionaries without whom our modern world

would be impossible.

'gedei sought to create a lasting symbol of the Mongol Empire)s wealth and

power so he ordered *hinese builders to create the largest structure in Mongolia! the

+alace of Ten,Thousandfold +eace. The palace sat atop an earthen mound measuring-/ by -0 feet and had a tiled roof and floors as well as statues and frescoes on the

walls. " hint at one Mongol tragic flaw! however! is evident in the description of acurious fountain in the midst of the palace1

"t its roots are four lions of silver! each with a conduit through it! and all belchingforth white mil# of mares. "nd four conduits are led inside the tree to its tops!

which are bent downward! and on each of these is also a gilded serpent! whose

tail twines round the tree. "nd from one of these pipes flows wine! from another

cara cosmos! or clarified mare)s mil#! from another bal! a drin# made with honey!

and from another rice mead! which is called terracina2 and for each liuor there

is a special silver bowl at the foot of the tree to receive it.

Mongols! in other words! dran# themselves to death individually and as an empire. There

is some comfort in the fact that a people used to slaughtering hundreds of thousands of

innocents could not do it and stay sober. 3ew Mongol rulers lived beyond the age of 4/!a fact that created instability in succession.

Success also brought a troubling cultural dilemma. Mongol rulers lived in great

opulence amidst great treasures in heated palaces while most Mongols could not get usedto living within walls. 'rdinary Mongol families set up their yurts and lived outside

capital cities in the many divided %hanates with their horses! cattle! and sheep. Most

Mongol citi(ens of the empire refused to become farmers! and the conuered people

refused to ta#e up Mongol ways. Stagnation set in as Mongols lost the lust for militaryconuest. "s in 5ome! the Mongol armies were increasingly made up of mercenaries and

soldiers drafted from conuered peoples. These events led to what seemed impossible!

the first defeat of a Mongol army in -67/. 8ronically! an army of Egyptians from theculture that created the world)s first empire ended the expansion of the world)s largest

contiguous empire. 9ithout continued aggressive military expansion the Mongol Empire

began to lose its cohesiveness and thereafter declined swiftly.


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5eligious factors hastened the collapse. The pure Mongol culture was eroded by

the conversion of the Mongols in the Middle East to 8slam and of those in *hina to

:uddhism. The religious toleration advocated by $enghis %han was undone. Thesereligious commitments led the Mongols to sub;ugation of especially the *hinese who

clung to *onfucian ideals. 8n the Middle East! :uddhism and the traditional Mongol

shamanism were both purged along with *hristianity in favor of 8slam. So! MuslimMongols purged :uddhists and others while :uddhist Mongols persecuted *onfuciansuan! had been established by $enghis %han)sgrandson! %ublai %han in -6?@. 8n ;ust a few decades the new dynasty was in trouble in

regard to the Mandate of &eaven. "part from the conscription of *hinese wor#ers! heavy

taxation! and the removal of weapons and even iron tools! #nives! and horses from

*hinese farmers! earthua#es and floods caused discontent. Sei(ure of land for pasturingMongol animals touched off widespread famine. "s this discontent grew! more and more

of the Mongols had abandoned the life of warriors and ta#en up farming with slaves.

This alien lifestyle left the army wea# and many Mongol plantation owners destitute

because of their ignorance of how to wor# the land.Then something even worse happened. 9hen we thin# of the :lac# Death we

commonly associate the plague)s furor with its impact in Europe and forget that itoriginatedin "sia! in the south of *hina. The curious story of how the Mongols spread

the plague is another seeming punishment on them for the abandonment of the culture

thought best by $enghis %han. 9hile nomadic! Mongols were impervious to the plague.The fleas that carry the plaue bacterium li#ed neither the taste of human blood nor the

smell of horses so Mongols on the move did not contract the horrible disease. 5ats don)t

live in yurts. 9hen Mongols settled down in cities! however! and opened up trade routes

across "sia! the :lac# Death saw its chance Aif diseases were sentient beings! that isB.The fleas stowed away on rats in food shipments! inhabited marmot colonies in the $obi

Desert! and then made it to urban areas in *hina by -CC-! #illing @/ of the people in

&opei +rovince. :y -C04 it reached the capital of the $olden &orde and bro#e out in theMongol army laying siege to the *rimean port city of %affa. The Mongol ruler called off

the siege and retreated! but not before the disease too# hold in the city Asome reports say

by Mongol plague victims) bodies being catapulted over the city wallsB. 3rom there! ratsboarded ships bound for 8taly and


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%ara#orum from the face of the Earth. The Mongols living there fled bac# north to the

steppe.

Mongols rulers began to disappear across the Empire. 'ne of the last Mongolrulers of +ersia! $ha(an! had instituted sharia law and imposed 8slam ma#ing enemies of

:uddhists as well as ews and *hristians. $ha(an even banned $enghis %han)s $reat

>asa! the traditional law code of the Mongols. The last Mongol ruler of +ersia diedwithout an heir in -CC4. %orea bro#e free and returned its peninsula into the hands of its

own native dynasty as had the *hinese who were so glad to be rid of the Mongols that

they had abolished paper money! burned all their ocean,going vessels and built new wallsto close off *hina from the world.

The last gasp of the Mongol Empire might be said to exist in the dubious claim of

Timur the Fame that he was a descendant of $enghis %han. Timur was a Tur#ish,

spea#ing Mongol who had grown wealthy from banditry and set out to model himselfafter his supposed ancestor. &e sought to conuer the $olden &orde but only managed to

attac# his Mongol brothers from the east while the 5ussians began attac#ing them from

the west. "ll this war accomplished was to destroy the old Mongol capital on the Golga

5iver and allow the 5ussian princes to free themselves form Mongol rule completelyAone of the good things 8van the Terrible didB.

Timur the Fame set out to ensure that his lineage would contain the blood of$enghis %han by having his family intermarry with some of $enghis %han)s true

descendants. &e did not follow $enghis %han)s ways! however. Timur slaughtered

people without reason and found perverse pleasure in torturing and humiliating hisprisoners. 9hen he conuered Tur#ey and sei(ed the Sel;u# sultan! he forced the sultan)s

wives and daughters to serve him dinner na#ed while the defeated ruler watched. &e also

forced the sultan to watch his sexual assaults on these women and to pull Timur)s royal

chariot harnessed li#e a draft animal. Timur displayed the sultan in a cage. 'n anexpedition in -0/4 to conuer *hina! however! Timur died and his empire uic#ly

disintegrated. The Mongol Empire had vanished.

Descendants of Timur! and thus of $enghis %han! did become another group in along line of outside invaders that too# over 8ndia. These Tur#ish,Mongol conuerors

established what was #nown as the Mogul Dynasty of 8ndia in -4-@. The height of this

Empire came under "#bar! the grandson of its founder and -4 generations removed from$enghis %han. "t last the genius of the founder of the Mongol Dynasty reappeared in

this descendant who ruled until -7/? Athe year amestown! Girginia was foundedB. "#bar

had $enghis %han)s gift for administration and he favored trade and tolerance. &e

abolished a tax on non,Muslims and instituted a civil service based on merit. ust asMongols in their prime had made *hina a manufacturing and trade capital! "#bar)s 8ndia

was the world)s greatest manufacturing and trading nation. &e even raised the status of

women. 9hile he wanted to establish one religion under one god and one emperor! henever uite solved the MuslimH&indu division that had become 8ndia)s own tragic flaw.

Even the :ritish who conuered the Moguls in 8ndia had no solution for this rift.

Spea#ing of 8slam! while it converted many Mongols it was altered dramaticallyand fundamentally. &aving survived the threat of *hristian *rusaders and Mongols

uniting against its forces in +alestine! its adherents were emboldened. The *hristians and

Mongols never united! which proved the undoing of the *rusader impulse. Tur#ish

peoples of central "sia had migrated west under Mongol rule and conuered large areas


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of the Middle East! "sia Minor! and southeastern Europe thus founding the 'ttoman

Empire. 9ith this power base! 8slam was positioned to inspire one of the great

civili(ations of the world. Mongols! however! conuered several +ersian cities and whatis today the 8rai city of :aghdad. This defeat ended the philosophical achievements of

8slam in these urban centers! slowing advances in science! mathematics! and astronomy.

"n ideology thus under assault went on the defensive! and 8slam became stricter!permitting no dissent and expelling foreign beliefs altogether.

8n *hina! the Ming used the unification and administration accomplished by the

>uan to launch the modern nation of *hina as you will see. "s you have seen in 5ussia!the *(ars emulated the absolutism of their Mongol oppressors to establish total control of

the state. Echoes of $enghis %han)s vision thus could be heard in 5ussia at least through

the totalitarianism of the Soviet Inion! perhaps beyond. The Soviets! though! disallowed

any attempt to ideali(e $enghis %han. The *ommunist +arty forbade 5ussians in -@70!to place the bloodthirsty barbarian $enghis %han on a pedestal as a historically

progressive personage. *hinese communists countered this Soviet propaganda by

saying 5ussians should revere $enghis %han because he gave them their first opportunity

to get acuainted with a higher culture. These comments reflect the immenselycomforting reali(ation that 5ichard Jixon was the first "merican president to see! that

Soviet and *hinese communists did not get along! much to our relief."s to Mongolia itself! $enghis %han)s homeland still contains many people who

live as nomadic herdsman even though the country itself was divided between the Soviets

and the *hinese. There has been some industriali(ation in the last century there! butmuch of the area is forbidden to outsiders! especially along the 'non 5iver! $enghis

%han)s ancient homeland. " traveler in -@C/ reported that1

To this day the Mongols preserve and reverence the 9hite :anner of the Sulde!which is the same! they believe! that led the armies of *hingis,%han from victory

to victory. They believe the soul of the great Emperor has itself entered thesulde

banner! and that he has himself become the guardian,genius of his glorious clan!which to this day governs the Mongols.

3or all the romance of that notion! the echoes of millions of dead voices would declare$enghis %han a beast. *ommunist authorities confiscated the white banner! and by the

-@7/s it disappeared. Many assume that they destroyed thesuldein a spiteful act of

vengeance on the memory or the soul of $enghis %han! but some still hope that it will

one day be brought out to lead the Mongols to victory again. 8s it possible that Mr.Senter agrees with communists that the world is better off without that relic= Tell no one!

if so.

30. the decline of the mongol empire

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