World History:The Earth and its Peoples

Chapter 12Western Eurasia,1200 - 1500 C.E.

Objectives

• Be able to account for the magnitude and speed of the Mongol conquests.

• Be able to describe the benefits that resulted from the integration of Eurasia in the Mongol Empire.

• Be able to compare and contrast the effects of Mongol rule on Russia and the lands of Islam with the effects on East Asia.

• Be able to identify points of continuity and discontinuity in the transition from Mongol to Ming rule of China.

The Rise of the Mongols

Genghis Khan - 1206– supreme leader– Temujin

• early learnings– charisma of personal strength– religious tolerance– no mercy– versatility

Mongols– nomads from steppes of C.Asia– key to movement

• long-term trends• pressures

The Rise of the Mongols

Nomadism - 1000 CE– way of life forced by scarcity of

resources• pastures, water• slavery and tribute

– labor and currency– traits

• superb horsemen– shooting arrows– replacement of chariots

• centralized decision-making– decision ratification

• arranged marriages / alliances– women

» negotiation / management

• alliance building

The Rise of the Mongols

Trade and Communication– great cultural diversity– spread of religious ideas

• shamanism• politics / religious association

– universal rulership• legitimate conquests• claim superiority over religious

leaders– iron

• bridles, stirrups, wagons, bridges– settled agriculturalists

• mutual dependence• conflict vs. trade relations

Mongol Conquests

Genghis Khan - 1206-1227– C. Asia, Middle East, Russia

• tribute• Batu

– Russia• Ogodei

– Tanggut and Jin– 1241

Reasons for Success– horsemanship; superior bows

• Mamluk forces– flaming arrows; catapults– threat of slaughter– inclusive armies

Mongol Empire

Overland Trade

Textile Manufacture– silk

• westward expansion• Eastern motifs to West

– Mongol trade route control• merchants, missionaries• political ambassadors

– paisa– travel literature

• insights to Eurasia– Marco Polo– ambition for Asian routes

• image of inexhaustible wealth– plague

• great pandemic (1347-1352)

Fall and Rise of Islam, 1260-1500

Il’khan– Mesopotamia and Iran– little Muslim exposure

• Buddhist

Golden Horde– southern Russia– allied with Muslim Turks

• Batu conversion - 1260

Issues– Abbasid caliph - 1258– Caucasus

• Western alliance• Ghazan conversion - 1295

– forced conversion

Islam and the State

Il-khan Economic Goal– peaceful, maximum tax revenue– tax farming

• tax-collecting contracts• short-term

– good: minimum overhead• long-term

– bad:land bankruptcy– govt. land appropriation

» shrinking tax base

• Ghazan– new method of management

• paper money• no Middle East confidence• depression

• Rise of C. Asian Timurs

Art and Science in Islamic Eurasia

Ilkhans and Timurids– intellectual developments

• Iran to China• shared artistic trends; politics

– strong effects on Europeans• Juvaini

– 1st to write history of Mongols• Rashid al-Din

– Il-khan prime minister– attempt at world history

• Europe and China• Nasir al-Din

– algebra and trigonometry– astronomy; planetary revolution– Nicolas Copernicus

Maraga– world center for eclipse

prediction– amass astronomical data from

entire empire• Spain, Byzantine, India, China• European numeral transition

– adaptation of Indian numeral system

– fractions idea from China• precise pi calculation

Art and Science in Islamic Eurasia

Regional Definition In Response to the Mongols

Mongols Affected Regions– cities vs. countryside

Russia– Batu (1230 CE)

• rule from Crimea– successful winter campaigns– no united resistance

• Russian Orthodox Church– granted great privileges

• reconciliation– distance = church survival– church = Russian identity

• independence

• Russian Princes– tax collectors / census

takers– Alexander Nevskii

• better to submit

Moscow– dominant political center– destruction of Kievan

countryside• Ivan III

– prince of Moscow (1462-1505)

– tsar (1480)

Regional Definition In Response to the Mongols

Centralization in Europe and Anatolia

Papacy vs. Holy Roman Emperor• Western Europe

– Holy Land question– Frederick II (Hohenstaufen)

• 1212-1250• Eastern Europe

– Hungary / Poland defense– Teutonic Knights

• Christianization• colonization

– Lake Chud• end of northern Crusades

– multinational force• 1241 CE

Centralization in Europe and Anatolia

Trade Routes– replace terror with awe– inexhaustible wealth

• Technology– gunpowder; coal mining– metallurgy; bronze cannons– mathematics; diplomatic

passports

Negatives– plunder of the countryside– spread of the plague

Rise of the Ottoman Turks– conquest of Constantinople

(1453)