NOMADIC INVASIONS11th – 15th Centuries

Another MIGHTY FINE Presentation of Janet Pareja, Signature School, Evansville, IN

11 – 1511 – 15thth Centuries Centuries• Nomadic tribesNomadic tribes TRANSFORMEDTRANSFORMED Eurasia Eurasia

– Persia– Anatolia– India– China

Turkic-speaking Peoples

• Loosely structured heterogeneous tribes – Not centralized – clan/tribe loyalty– Strongly Patriarchal – Simple & fluid society – passage betw. classes– Nomads: No agriculture or manufacturing; -– Trading partners for settled societies– Long distance trade networks– Shamanism

Turks Unify, Expand…1. Saljuk Turks

• Drawn to Abbasids by trade opportunities• 1055 – Tughril Beg named Sultan• Expansion caliph became puppet• Battle of Manzikert (1071) Fall of Byzantine Empire

2. Ghaznavid Turks: Mahmud of Ghazni

– Afghanistan

– Plunder– N. India– Temples– Islam

“KHAN”

Military Leader

for a group of unified tribes

We now interrupt this Turkish Invasion to bring you…

The MONGOL INVASIONS

Imagine…

“…that you live in a village that lies in the path of an advancing Mongol horde. You’ve heard stories. If you put up a fight, they’ll pummel you. If you retreat to your house, they’ll burn it. If you organize resistance at your place of worship or city center, they’ll level it. You’ve heard that if you just give in, they might spare you and your city, but they also might not. Your only real choice if you stay alive may be to give in. What would you do?”

“ “ I am the flail of God. If you had I am the flail of God. If you had not committed great sins, not committed great sins, God would not have sent a God would not have sent a

punishment like me upon you.”punishment like me upon you.”

Genghis Khan, 1219Genghis Khan, 1219 Bukhara, Central AsiaBukhara, Central Asia

“ “ The accursed The accursed of God”of God”

Muslim opinion of the Mongols

“Piercing the solid rocks of the Caucasus, they poured forth like

devils from the hell of Tartarus. They swarmed locust-like over the face of

the earth and brought terrible devastation to the eastern part of

Europe, laying it waste with fire and carnage.”

Matthew Paris

European Christian Chronicler of the Mongols

““The greatest joy a man can know is to The greatest joy a man can know is to conquer his enemies and drive them conquer his enemies and drive them before him. To ride their horses and before him. To ride their horses and take away their possessions. To see take away their possessions. To see the face of those who were dear to the face of those who were dear to

them bedewed with tears, and to clasp them bedewed with tears, and to clasp their wives and daughters in his their wives and daughters in his

arms.”arms.”

- Attributed to Genghis Khan

“Resist and die, or surrender and live.”

…(maybe)

-Common Mongol ultimatum Common Mongol ultimatum (also general practice of the era)(also general practice of the era)

Mongols• Life style of Turkic

Nomads Nomadic herdersHorses!

Life on the Steppes

Have YURT will travel…

The Mongolian Dairy Council wants you to… Drink More Koumiss!Drink More Koumiss!

“It’s naturally fermented!”

Social Structure

• Patriarchal• Place of Women:

– Inferior to men, but highly valued as advisors

– Marriage - passage to adulthood

– Each wife with own yurt• First wife’s yurt faced East; all other faced

West

– Few widows remarried - cared for by sons

Art, Architecture, Intellectual Advancement…?

NOT ABOUT CULTURE!!

TRADE & CONQUEST: • Horseback - speed & maneuverability:

Romans covered 25 mi/day; Mongols 90.

• Highly organized units (decimals)-Scouts, light & heavy cavalrySpies & disinformation, tricky strategies.

• No supply lines necessary.

• Motivation – traitors punished, courage rewarded – swiftly.

TechnologyMounted Warfare• Stirrups• Bows • Specially trained

horses

Stirrups

Mongol Composite Bow– Could shoot 300 yards while on horseback– Incredibly strong composite material– Tightly strung

Genghis Khan

1. Unification of clans – Stopped in-fighting

– Directed energy to

conquest…

"Those who were adept and brave I have made military commanders. Those who were quick and nimble I have made herders of horses. Those who were not adept I have given a small whip and sent to be shepherds."

-CHINGIS KHAN

…On the reorganization of his followers. A brilliant statesmen and a master of efficient government, his reorganization of steppe society contributed to the Mongols' success.

Legacies of Genghis Khan:Legacies of Genghis Khan:

2. PAX MONGOLICA– Support of Trade & Crafts

• Artisans redistributed throughout Empire• Conquered women

– Trade TAXED – Silk Road– Safe passage

• Roads patrolled by Mongols

– Post houses- • Pony Express

3. Vast Movement of People!!!

• Conquest

• AvoidingAvoiding conquest! conquest!

(RUuuuuun!)(RUuuuuun!)

• RedeploymentRedeployment – Persian

Administrators • Did not trust

Chinese!!

– Craftsmen from Everywhere

Religion(Shamanism )(Shamanism )

ToleranceTolerance •Encouraged & supported religious leaders- ie: tax relief

•Some conversion to Islam, Nestorian Christianity•Legend of Prester John•Pope’s missions to Mongols

3. YASA3. YASALegal Code–Brought unity & order–General moral injunctions- honesty, etc. –Hefty & immediate punishment

From “Mongol,” the movie:

“Mongols need laws… I will make them obey...

Even if I have to kill half of them.

Our laws will be simple: - Don't kill women or children. Don't kill women or children. - Don't forget your debts. Don't forget your debts. - Fight enemies to the end. Fight enemies to the end.

- - And never betray your And never betray your khankhan. ”. ”

4. Expansion!

If you are not growing, you are dying…

Legacies of Ghengis Khan

5. First Written Mongol Language– Based on Uyghur script

“With Heaven's aid I have conquered for you a huge empire. But my life was too short to achieve the conquest of the world. That task I leave for you.”

-CHINGGHIS KHAN

What art genre?

"Perhaps my children

will live in stone houses

and walled towns …

Not I." - CHINGHISS KHAN

Genghis Khan remained a nomad all his life. His grandson Khubilai Khan, however, converted to sedentary life

and some said he became more Chinese than Mongol.

Largest CONTINUOUS LAND EMPIRE in history

One of most multicultural, multiethnic in history

Mongol Hordes1. Great Khanate – China

Kublai Khan

YUAN Dynasty of China

2. Ilkhanate – Persia –Especially virulent conquest due to insult of shah–Assimilated into Persian culture & Islam…

3. ChagataiTrue to nomad heritage, lived on horseback

4. Golden Horde – Russia Kept Russia from developing

Europeanizing

Kublai Khan

Great Khanate: Yuan Dynasty

• Kublai Khan – China – Yuan Dynasty (1271)

– Kanbaliq (Beijing) - Capital– Xanadu – summer palace– Marco Polo

• NON ASSIMILATION POLICY!!– Replaced Chinese bureaucrats with Persians– No intermarriage!! Slave women from conquered peoples. – Chinese not allowed to learn the Mongol language– Incorporated conquered peoples “who lived in felt tents” into military

Yuan Dynasty• Repaired Infrastructure Promote economic

growth:– Rebuilt the Grand Canal, Repaired public buildings, Extended highways

• Paper currency re-introduced, but inflation made this an economic disaster….

• Religious tolerance

• Continued Conquest - Yunan and Korea, Southern Song and Northern China….

• Accepted court visits by Europeans,– Notably Marco Polo in the 1270’s – (Xanadu)

The Mongols were better conquerors than administrators:

• Factions & in-fighting civil wars, imperial assassinations• Constant policing of conquered people, esp. in China• Financial difficulty: Paper money debacle• Failure to conquer Japan, Vietnam, etc.• Death of Kublai Khan’s favorite wife Kublai gets gout.• Discontent of Chinese peasants rebellions from 1340 on

“You can win an empire on horseback, but you cannot rule from there.”

And th en…

Bubonic / Black PlagueBubonic / Black Plague

Began in Began in 1330’s -1340’s1330’s -1340’s– Spread west with merchantsSpread west with merchants– Disrupted economies & Disrupted economies &

societies:societies:• Sometimes killed Sometimes killed over half of a

population.

• Trade ground to a halt ground to a halt

• Labor shortages, , orphans.orphans.• India largely untouched.India largely untouched.

End of the Mongol Empire

• 1368 • Mongols in China returned to the

steppes…• Ilkhanate of Persia fell before the

Plague…• Golden Horde dominated

western Russia and Caucasus until mid 16th c.!

• Khanate of Chagatai prevailed in Central Asia until the 18th c.!

Legacy of the Mongols

• World trade, cultural diffusion & awareness grew thanks to Pax Mongolica. The world would never be disconnected again!

• Europeans fell in love with Chinese products and would never do without these goods again, no matter the cost!

• Because Chinese were not allowed to Mongolize, they didn’t – kept their identity which made it easy to continue the Chinese way of life with Ming upon departure of Mongols.

• Russia did not unify or develop as quickly as Europe to the West.

And now, the conclusion of …

“The Turkic Conquest”

After the collapse of the Mongols…

3. Timur the Lame – “Tamerlane”• Modeled after Genghis Khan• Massive conquest – late 14th c:

– Dominated Chaghatai Khanate– Weakened Golden Horde– Defeated & ended the Delhi Sultanate– Invaded China

• CONQUEROR, NOT ADMINISTRATOR!• Empire fell apart upon his death• Inspired rise of Mughal, Safavid, Ottoman

Empires

4.Osman Bey • Late 13th c• Most powerful and long-lasting of

Nomadic Empires

OTTOMANEMPIRE

Group Discussion Time

• What did the Asian nomads really want?

• What did they accomplish?

• What is their significance to world history?