Make a list of words to

describe a barbarian.

Journal 03/25/04

The Yassa:Law Code of the Mongols 

1. An adulterer is to be put to death without any regard as to whether he is married or not.

2. Whoever is guilty of rape is also to be put to death.

3. Whoever intentionally lies, or practices sorcery, or spies upon the behavior of others, or intervenes between the two parties in a quarrel to help the one against the other is also to be put to death.

4. Whoever urinates into water or ashes is also to be put to death.

5. Whoever takes goods (on credit) and becomes bankrupt, then again takes goods and again becomes bankrupt, then takes goods again and yet again becomes bankrupt is to be put to deathafter the third time.

6. Whoever gives food or clothing to a captive without the permission of his captor is to be put to death.

Genghis KhanGenghis Kahn

The Work of Genghis Khan

Controlled The Silk Road Across Asia

Terrorized towns and Villages

Skilled Horsemen

015A

                   

Well Organized

Sally Student 03/03/03

“The Mongols are Not Barbarians”1.

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I feel the Mongols are/are not barbarians because...

Mongol Mania Introduction

This site is a tutorial that focuses on the Mongols as a group with wide-spread influence in world history. In class, you have already read traditional discussions of this culture, where the Mongols are depicted as savages and destroyers of civilization. This tutorial will broaden your understanding, as

it explores the Mongols’ society, empire, and influence. As you read this tutorial and experience the photos of traditional Mongolians, consider how

this series of sites contradicts what you have already learned. Remember, students are to reading for facts that contradict the concept of

the Mongols as barbarians. Take notes, (eight word limit, in your own words), on facts that disprove the belief in Mongols as savages.

Get ready!

You’re about to enter the world of the Mongols

Climate and Environment

• Most of Mongolia is a harsh environment. There are five harsh months of winter. The land varies with mountain ranges, severe deserts, thick forests, and vast areas of grassy plains.

Subsistence• The Mongol tribes relied on horses,

goats, camels, yak, sheep, and cattle for supplies. According to one source, wealth was measured in the number of animals owned, especially in horses (Brill 14). In general due to the harsh living conditions, as discussed by Judy Humphrey, the people were poor and stole whenever they could (17). Due to the nomadic nature of their lives, the Mongol tribes traded their animals, fur, meat, and wool in order to gain grain, tea, cloth, corn, and iron.

Horses and Culture

• Horses were the key to Mongolian culture. Horses provided food and transportation for these nomadic people. According to The MongolConquests, Mongolia was populated with wild horses that roamed in herds of 10,000 or more (21). One source stated, Mongolian horses were different than their European counterparts, as they could withstand the extreme steppe environment; they were also smaller and more sturdy than European horses (Brill 25). The people had also adapted to life on horseback. The Mongols were a short people with an average height of 5’6”, and were also bow-legged from life on horseback (Humphrey 16). From an early age, children were taught to ride. Some parents even tied toddlers to the backs of horses before the children could even walk.

Mongol Soldiers• Horses provided valued nutrition to the Mongol citizens and soldiers. If

food was scarce, a rider would slit a vein to drink the blood of a weak horse. Each soldier traveled with at least three mounts and would change horses as they tired. Bertold Spuler states, when on the move, Mongol soldiers could stay two days and nights or more on horseback without dismounting (176). Soldiers would hunt while riding and eat and cook animals without dismounting; they would also carry and drink mare’s milk for nutrition. As stated in The Mongol Conquests, Mongols sometimes would kill and eat a weak horse when food was needed, yet a horse that had been used in battle could never be eaten (21). Mongol soldiers were trained to fight and travel on horseback. Also according to The Mongol Conquests, they were renown for their ability to shoot on horseback at a full gallop, while standing in the stirrups (12). A soldier could be any adult male from 17 to 70. They wore leather armor and tunics and carried leather shields, bow and arrows, lasso, swords, and sometimes spears.

Mongol Soldiers

Army Organization • The army of Genghis Khan was unique for its organization. The cavalry squads were in groups of 10

men. 10 squads made a squadron. 10 squadrons made up a quran, and 10 qurans made up a tuman of 10,000 riders (Humphrey 52 - 53). With large numbers and organization, the Mongol army could easily charge and overcome an enemy. Mongol soldiers had a high degree of loyalty to their khan and to each other. Humphrey also stated that a wounded soldier was never abandoned and others would quickly move to assist him (66). As stated by David Morgan, Mongol soldiers also paid contributions, called qubchur, to pay for disabled or poor soldiers (90).

Army Tactics

• The Mongol army was known for its intelligent use of strategy. According to Humphrey, the Mongol army seldom used the same patterns of movement in the same campaign; they would use dual frontal attacks, rear attacks, and even fake retreats to overcome an enemy (68). Horsemen would fire arrows and move to the rear to reload while fresh archers would move to the front lines. Morgan also discussed the tactics of encirclement, the use of surprise, appearing by an unexpected route, and by synchronizing distant forces (91). They would also use dummies on the spare horses to increase the apparent size of the army.

Army Tactics• Genghis Khan and his army were known for their use of psychological warfare. They used

spies to spread rumors of slaughter and to make it known that the army was lenient to those who surrendered. It is commonly known that Genghis Khan’s army slaughtered those who resisted, even women and children, but it is not well-known that those who offered no resistance, were very rarely treated in a harsh manner. Humphrey also stated the Mongol army was well-prepared at attacking cities, and even drilled in scaling walls and using oversized shields (71).

Army Tactics• Mongol legend even relates a story of Genghis Khan’s cunning. Humphrey

related that in an attempted siege of Volohai, Genghis was afraid his men would desert if he lost. He made a deal with the city leaders to call off the attack if they gave him 1,000 cats and 1,000’s of swallows. The city complied. Genghis ordered his men to tie pieces of cloth to the animals and to set them afire. The scared and hurting animals returned to their old homes in the city, setting it on fire. It allowed Genghis to keep the morale among his men and to get revenge on the city for resisting (70).

Women's Roles• Women played an essential role in

Mongol society. As all adult males could be called upon to be a part of the army, women had to manage the family’s flocks and herds. In Mongol society, as stated by Humphrey, women were not allowed to marry within their own clan (20). This meant that finding wives was difficult and raiding and kidnapping were common. Because women were essential partners within the families, they had many rights that their European and Asian counterparts did not. Mongol women could buy, sell, or trade their husband’s possessions, because they were trusted and obedient to the family.

Gender Roles• Women raised the children. They

also were in charge of milking the herd, as milk was the staple of the Mongol diet. One source related that in the families, men were responsible for maintaining their weapons. Women made sure their husbands’ sheepskin cloaks, felt socks, and leather boots were always clean and ready. Wives also kept saddlebags filled with dried meat and milk curds (Humphrey 68). Women also churned butter, made cheese and yogurt, and sewed the clothes.

Homes and Clans• Mongols lived in

patriarchal clans. When a young man acquired land, animals, and retainers, he would break from a clan to form his own as its lord. Within the clans, the people lived in felt tents, called gers (or yurts, the Westernized pronunciation).

Genghis Khan• Genghis Khan was the first man to ever unit

the fractured Mongol tribes and clans into one empire. He named himself the khakan, king of all khans in 1206. He would later command an empire that contained over two million people (Humphrey 57). In his empire, Genghis Khan enslaved tribes when they were defeated. Those who offered the most resistance were slaughtered. As he rose to power among the Mongol people, those who resisted were killed and the women and children were captured and brought into his own tribe. Later, he would not be as merciful to non-Mongol people. For non-Mongols, all were slaughtered when resistance was mounted. Genghis rewarded the loyal and severely punished the disloyal.

Messengers The Mongol Empire was important in opening a closed medieval world to communication

and trade. The Mongols created an early version of the “Pony Express.” According to Morgan, messengers could relay messages across more than 200 miles a day (106). When they exhausted their horse, a fresh one had to be provided by anyone nearby. There were also Yam communication stations erected every 25-30 miles (Morgan 105). Riders wore bells to alert the Yam relay stations of their arrival, so a fresh horse could be ready. Humphrey also wrote of these horsemen, who were known by their wrappings. Cloth bandages covered them from head to toe to protect the riders from the wind that battered them as they rode for days and slept in the saddle (67). Due to their nomadic lifestyle, the Mongols were skilled and intelligent at these tasks. They had a highly honed memory to travel and navigate for miles without instruments. As Humphrey stated, they remembered the positions of trees, stars, flights of birds, and stones to navigate (15).

Uniting and Writing

• Before Genghis Khan united them, the Mongols were largely illiterate. When Genghis Khan was introduced to writing after the capture of a literate tribe, he recognized the importance of writing. Genghis spared the chieftains of this culture to serve him. As stated by Humphrey, one of these men was Tatatungo, who’s job became the recording of all of Genghis Khan’s words and actions. Tatatungo was the official scribe and was ordered to teach all of the Khan’s children and the children of the nobles how to read and write (57).

Religion and Culture• The Mongol’s religious beliefs were animistic based on their close connection with the

natural world for their subsistence. According to The Mongol Conquests, the people believed there were powerful spirits that lived in fire, running water, wind, and animals; they also worshipped ancestors and gods (13). In their empire, the Mongols allowed conquered people to keep their native beliefs, and religious toleration was the norm of the Mongol empire. For people in Russia, India, China, and portions of the Middle East, local religion, art, education, and government were relatively unchanged by Mongol rule.

Mongol Law

• One of the most important impacts of the Mongol Empire was Genghis Khan’s standardized law code. It incorporated what was learned from the people who had been conquered and also provided one standard for all of the Mongol tribes. This law code stressed high moral standards and respect for resources and each other. One source stated that honor was stressed, theft, murder, violent robbery, adultery almost disappeared throughout the empire, and those who committed crimes frequently turned themselves in (Humphrey 64). Some of the laws’ prohibitions included crimes such as: spying, lying, adultery, theft, bearing false witness, disobedience of royal command, fouling running water, and using magic. There were also codes established for the army, prisoners, women, intertribal relations, and inheritance.

Outside Influences• The Mongols learned from the

people that they conquered. They also changed tactics. In capturing Russia, Korea, North China, and Manchuria, the Khan used taxation instead of destruction, contradicting their destructive reputation. Sometimes Mongols would settle with the conquered people and become a part of their culture, especially after Genghis Khan’s death. Learned individuals from captured areas were welcomed into the service of the Khan, and many of the Khan’s administrators were Chinese or Islamic officials, doctors, and scholars.

Importance• Finally, why were the Mongols so important? What makes them relevant in our study of world history

and interactions? While Mongols destroyed a great deal, they opened great roads that had been closed since the fall of the Roman Empire. Free trade was encouraged and land routes were well-maintained and safe day or night. As stated by Humphrey, this expansion of trade allowed technology to flow into Europe from the more advanced civilizations in Asia, such as the technique of printing, the compass, and firearms (89). According to the Encyclopedia of Asian History, there were four great arteries of the Mongol Empire: 1. a sea route from South China to the Persian Gulf 2. the Old Silk Road from West China to Northern Iran 3. Lower Volga in Russia to West China 4. a Siberian route down to Beijing

This allowed a greater spread of culture across diverse regions (28).

Importance The Mongol Empire was the largest continuous land empire in history. They allowed diverse people to have contact with each other, despite different cultures, religion, and development, to exchange goods across Asia and into Europe: furs came in from Siberia, silk; porcelain, herbs, and mirrors were traded from China; Muslim and Chinese civilizations exchanged physicians and astronomers; Persians translated great Chinese works; Mongols identified and encouraged craftsmen and artists; and seeds from India and China were tested (Embree 29). All of this spread of ideas, laws, and goods helped to open the world and set the stage for a new age of trade and later of imperialism. All

thanks to a culture that is still believed to be “barbaric.”

LinksEmpires Beyond the Great Wall

This site shows over 200 treasures from the Mongolian steppe that were displayed at the Royal British Columbia Museum. It is a valuable resource for viewing artifacts. The Mongol Empire This site includes a biography of Genghis Khan, a timeline of the empire, and maps. It includes basic information complied from encyclopedias and with many good links.

Mongolia photo album With three photo tours, this site shows modern and traditional Mongolians. The photos were all taken by a professor who spent 4 1/2 months in the country.

National Geographic: Genghis Khan National Geographic includes many links, sources, facts, and classroom ideas on this site. A high quality site with valuable information.

O yunbilig’s Great Mongol Home Page This site shows many photographs and works of art with information on modern culture, history, politics, religion, lifestyle, and people.

Virtual Mongol This site contains wonderful images of traditional and modern Mongolians. The photos are grouped in categories of nature, people, religion, and history, with links.

BibliographyBrill, Marlene. Mongolia. Enchantment of the World. Chicago, Children's Press, 1992. Embree, Ainslie, ed. Encyclopedia of Asian

History. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988. 23-33. Humphrey, Julie. Genghis Khan. World Leaders: Past and Present. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. Krieger, Larry, Kenneth Neill, and Dr. Edward Reynolds. World History: Perspectives on the Past. 5th ed. Evanston: McDougal Littell,

1997. The Mongol Conquests: Time Frame A.D. 1200 - 1300. Alexandria: Time-Life Books, 1989. Mongolia. Cultures of the World. New York: Times, 1999. Morgan, David. The Mongols. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986. Spuler, Bertold. History of the Mongols. Trans. Helga and Stuart Drummond. New York: Dorset Press, 1968.