...written by Giovanni Carpini. Sent by Pope Innocent IV Giovanni had the important task of converting the Khan to Christianity as well learning all he could about the Mongols after which he would take back the information to the Europeans. Pope Innocent IV was responding to the massive Christian killings that had taken place in Western Europe and the need to address the new threat which was the Mongols. In his mission Giovanni was to account for everything and this he did through the literature referred to as “History of the Mongols Whom We Call the Tartars.” His manuscripts were very essential on educating the Europeans about the Mongol culture which they knew little about. He covered important social political and economical aspects of the Tartars as well as their religious beliefs and practices; he even went ahead to try and construct the genealogy of the Khans . The Europeans held various beliefs of the Mongols which were not entirely true as Giovanni pointed out. Thus, his works were very important for Europe and especially for history. The paper analyzes his book concerning his perspectives possible biasness and instances of his preconceptions about the Mongolian kingdom and how he addressed these issues in his book. European Myths about the Mongols Before they invaded Europe little was known about the Mongols, in fact the Europeans had many misconceptions about the...
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...Mongol leader Genghis Khan (1162-1227) rose from humble beginnings to establish the largest land empire in history. After uniting the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian plateau, he conquered huge chunks of central Asia and China. His descendents expanded the empire even further, advancing to such far-off places as Poland, Vietnam, Syria and Korea. At their peak, the Mongols controlled between 11 and 12 million contiguous square miles, an area about the size of Africa. Many people were slaughtered in the course of Genghis Khan’s invasions, but he also granted religious freedom to his subjects, abolished torture, encouraged trade and created the first international postal system. Genghis Khan died in 1227 during a military campaign against the Chinese kingdom of Xi Xia. His final resting place remains unknown. Temujin, later Genghis Khan, was born around 1162 near the border between modern Mongolia and Siberia. Legend holds that he came into the world clutching a blood clot in his right hand. His mother had been kidnapped by his father and forced into marriage. At that time, dozens of nomadic tribes on the central Asian steppe were constantly fighting and stealing from each other, and life for Temujin was violent and unpredictable. Before he turned 10, his father was poisoned to death by an enemy clan. Temujin’s own clan then deserted him, his mother and his six siblings in order to avoid having to feed them. Shortly thereafter, Temujin killed his older half-brother and took over...
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...During the post-classical era, the Mongol empire was civilized because it had an extensive system of organization for its processes and its promotion of trade & arts its region. However, it was also uncivilized because the Mongol empire, during its conquests, had slaughtered many people needlessly. The Mongol empire was civilized because of an organized system of processes. The Mongol military was organized based on the decimal system. “History of the Mongols,” by John of Plano Carpini, says “…in such a way that over 10 men should beset one man and he is what we call a captain of ten over ten of these should be placed one, named a captain of a hundred; at the head of ten captains is placed a soldier called a captain of a thousand….” Carpini was a European missionary who came between 1245 and 1247, suggesting that Mongol battle tactics may have changed after his departure, making his writings unreliable. This shows that the Mongol military was very flexible in many situations, since it had an intimate level of organization. They also had advanced battle tactics, based on deception and encirclement. In “Carpini on Battle Tactics,” by John Carpini, “The chiefs or princes of the army do not take part in the fighting, but take up their stand some distance away facing the enemy, and they sometimes make figures of men and set them on horses. They do this to give the impression that a great crowd of fighting men is gathered there.” This shows that Mongols were well organized, since it would...
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...place to place to find the supplies they needed to survive. Later, the Mongols became an enormous stationary empire, lasting from 1206-1368. Most of their men and some women became a part of their military which is known as ferocious and powerful, and their violent ways of conquering people and seizing land are infamous to the world today. In their short time of being an Empire, they captured 4,860,000 square miles of land according to Size of World Conquests chart (Doc 1), which is over one million more square miles then the US owns today. Because the Mongol Empire was so massive, in order to be a successful, they needed to...
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...During the 13th century, a small tribe from the grasslands of Asia conquered much of the world. The mongols lived in moveable houses called yurts and knew little about mining, though they didn’t care for farming. Their reputation is not well among others. The mongols were very barbaric because they continually conquered a lot of land, killed people in large amounts, and treated prisoners poorly. To start off, the mongols were barbaric because they conquered a large amount of land. According to document 1, conqueror Genghis Khan (1162-1227) conquered the most land of 4,860,000 square miles. That’s bigger than the size of the United States. Following that, another large amount of land that was conquered was 2,180,000 square miles by conqueror...
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...many new territories and formed the massive Mongol empire. It is very debated, however, if the Mongols were civilized or not in the way they expanded their power. Some people claim his sometimes brutal ways made him an uncivilized conqueror. Despite this claim, Chinggis Khan and his descendents did rule civilized by being very tolerant, helping places grow and prosper, and by reserving his cruel tactics until it was necessary to use them. Throughout the world, there were many different religions that people followed, according to their own beliefs, like in today’s society. The world wasn’t confined to one religion that everyone followed, so while the Mongols were expanding and conquering, they ran into many different religions people practiced. Once an area was under Mongol rule, they were not forced to convert to the Mongol religion, or any other religion. The Mongols were tolerant about many religions, as the defense stated in their opening statement. They were like this because you can’t convert to the Mongol religion because it is only for Mongols, and the Mongols...
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...Epic Hero The Hero of the epic would definitely be Chingis Khan aka Genghis Khan because he was the one who united all of the nomadic tribes into the great Mongol Empire. However, he did it with great cunningness and cleverness by betraying his close enemies and manipulating his friends. Since Temujin was his birth given name Genghis Khan (universal ruler) would be his greatest epithet along with many other titles as he conquered other enemy tribes. He embodies Mongolian cultural values such as extreme loyalty to one’s family. For example his main priority is his family’s well being just like when he announces Ogodei as his successor for when he dies. In addition, he is extremely strong, courageous, and unmerciful when facing enemy tribes during battles. He would executed all the male captives and give the women and children to the nobility as slaves and servants. Sensational Descriptions “When Temujin came back to the camp he ordered that the nobles of the Chinos clan be boiled alive in seventy iron kettles. Then he cut off the head of their chief, Chaghagan Uua, tied it to the tail of his horse, and dragged it behind him. I like this passage because it shows how the Mongols were very cruel and heartless towards near by tribes. It’s hard to believe that they were daring enough to do such a thing without any conscious thoughts they think will haunt them later on. Comparison to Gilgamesh • Comitatus Theme- During certain moments of Genghis Khan’s rise to power, he befriends...
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...Starting off as a nomadic group of people from the steppes of Central Asia, the Mongols contrived the largest empire in the world, conquering more land in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In the 12th century, Mongol tribes wandered the lands of Mongolia and later rose as a formidable tribe. These horseback-riding men exploited the fear tactic of heinous and merciless violence towards those they conquered, as well as using manipulation and force on those who defied their regulations. With their devotion and organization techniques in their army, influence on other regions, and virtues that their actions were based on, the Mongols prospered in conquering most of Eurasia. Although these conquests have been viewed as stereotypically barbaric...
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...Mongol Empire In 1206 the mongol empire started and started its legacy. Durring their reign they conqured a lot of territorry and killed lots of people.They took over all of china and parts of other countries and ruled for hundreds of years. The mongol empire had a negitive effect because they had a lot of violence,war, and lacked culture. One reson why the mongol empire was negitive because they didn’t do many good things for china exept for destroying things. The monols used violence against other inicent people. According to document 1, Genghis Khan conquered over 4 million Square miles of territory while he ruled china. Also another ruler, Alexander the great Conquered over 2...
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...The Mongols were a scandalous and rebellious, which they were known for. Mongols also took over Asia and Europe and also hurting many people while doing that. The Mongols were barbaric because they killed many, strict army rules, and unnecessary executions. In document 3, it says “ sometimes, they even take the fat of the people they kill and, melting it, throw it on to the houses, and wherever the fire falls on this fat it is almost inextinguishable”. What this is basically saying is when Mongols took over the land they took, they killed the people that were on that land before them in a tragic way. These acts were unnecessary and cruel to the people that owned the land before. They took something that wasn't theirs and wrongfully hurt the...
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...Around 1205 CE, Chinggis Qahan and the Mongols defeated the Naimans and the Merkits, who were part of the Mongolian empire. Qahan conquered his very own people because they called for his execution. Jamuga, a Naiman survivor and brother to Qahan, became a robber after the conquest of his people and climbed the Tanglu Mountains with five companions. His companions then turned on him and took him to Chinggis Qahan. The exchange between Jamuga and Quahan was recorded by an anonymous author and was written in The Secret History of the Mongols, which is the oldest surviving Mongolian text. The Secret History of the Mongols gives insight into the relationship between Jamuga and his brother, Quahan. In the beginning of the text, Jamuga...
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...Thesis: At times, the Mongols could be described as barbaric, but in other areas the Mongols could be described as a very well organized and tolerant people, but they were never barbaric or non barbaric in any area such as war. In war there were areas where they would be barbaric but they had other qualities that made their armies’ non barbaric such as their organization. Mongol Military: Most certainly, most people would say that warfare is one of the most barbaric aspects of the Mongols but really it also had some none barbaric traits such as an organized military as claimed in the video, Genghis Khan, which also mentioned that Genghis also selected his generals by skill and ability rather than birthright. But a person could fairly claim that the Mongols were barbaric in other aspects of war such as an example from Document 5 which shows the Mongols executing prisoners in very horrifying and gruesome ways such as can shot by arrows in close range and...
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...During the process of this trial not only did I have fun acting with the class, but also I thought it helped us learn about the mongols more and the people that interacted with them. I felt the two witnesses on the other side of the case that presented the most convincing evidence were Ryota who played the Caliph of Baghdad and Victoria who played a Chinese Confucian scholar. Ryota presented specific arguments for why the Mongols were uncivilized in the attack of his city. He said that during the sacking, the Mongols destroyed many of the city’s most valuable possessions and murdered many of the innocent citizens that inhabited it. These statements were true. According to accounts the Grand Library of Baghdad that contained numerous important books and historical documents, along with the philosophers, scholars, and scientists who wrote them. Different sources estimate that the deaths totaled in the hundred thousands that included women and children. As Ryota explained many times, the Mongols made the Caliph of Baghdad watch his own citizens murdered, all but one of his sons were murdered, and he was rolled up in a rug and then trampled...
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...The Mongols helped bridge a connection between the east and west in numerous ways. They did not only impact Europe, but Asia as well. To add on, they did not only have positive effects, but they had negative effects as too. They set the base for Eurasian history by using commercial, political, and artistic relations among Chinese, Islamic, Russian, and European civilizations. Workers such as craftsmen and missionaries traveled across the continents. In addition, culture, technological, and culinary diffusion took place. Originally, China was a Confucius society but then the Mongols exposed Tibetan Buddhism, which attracted several Ming and Qing dynasties and their people. Economically, during the Mongol era, the increase in commerce greatly benefited merchants and consumers. Agriculture remained the same, but the European demand for Asian products encouraged a way to find a less hazardous and more efficient means of transportation. Politically, the Mongols brought about many power changes and reforms in Russia and China. The Mongols used terror tactics as a form of governing and destroyed cities and forms of government rule. Eventually, the Khans will rule both states. Chinggis Khan, or better known as Ghengis Khan was one of the greatest leaders. He was very successful when it came to conquering because he had brilliant military strategy and organization for that he was famous and known for. He trained each and every troop to specialize in a certain field and he also had...
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...Mongolian forces were, they were not without their costly disadvantages. First and foremost, the Mongols were “land-based fighters” (Grousset 291). They fought well on practically any terrain, but they needed open space in order to ride and use their bows effectively. Small, confined spaces were death traps for them as their primary method of fighting was to keep their enemies at range. Following this, they did not have much use or need for maritime fields, opting instead to use sailors and ships from the areas they had conquered, namely China and Korea. Ships, especially “seafaring vessels for open water, were expensive to produce and the Mongols often opted for using cheap Chinese riverboats for their nautical excursions, the attempted invasions of Japan being notable here,” as stated in the book The Cambridge History of...
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