1. Chapter 17: Turks & Mongols
Periodization:
Regional & Transregional Interactions
600 CE – 1450 CE

2. Turks & Mongols Both groups were nomads
Roots go back to hunter-gatherers
This chapter represents interrelations between settled and nomadic peoples.

3. Nomadic Society Domesticated animals, but not farmers
Lack of rain in central Asia doesn’t support large-scale agriculture
Migratory patterns to follow
pastureland
Turks lived in Yurts
Rudimentary artisan achievements
Reliance on trade for manufactured
goods

4. Nomadic Society Two social classes: nobles & commoners
Governance basically clan-based
Charismatic individuals become nobles, occasionally assert authority
Unusually fluid status for nobility
Hereditary, but could be lost through incompetence
Advancement for meritorious non-nobles

5. Military Organization
Large confederations under a khan
Authority extended through tribal elders
Exceptionally strong cavalries
Mobility
Speed

6. Nomadic Religion Early religion revolved around shamans
Supernatural powers
Communicated w/gods & nature spirits

7. Nomadic Religion
By sixth century adopted Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Islam, Manichaeism
Conversion to Islam in tenth century due to Abbasid influence
Turks responsible for spread of Islam into Anatolia and India.

8. Turkish Empires Saljuq Turks Ghaznavid Turks Persia & Anatolia
Afghanistan & Northern India

9. Turkish Empires Saljuq Turks
From 8th – 10th centuries lived on border of Abbasid Persia
By late 10th century large numbers served in Abbasid army & lived in Persia
Turkish leaders came to dominate Abbasid caliphs.
Saljuq leader Tughril Beg recognized as sultan

10. Turkish Empires Saljuq Turks Turks begin migrating into Anatolia
Saljuq Turks defeat Byzantine army in 1071
Ottoman Turks conquer Constantinople in 1453

11. Turkish Empires Ghaznavid Turks
Mahmud of Ghazni invades northern India
(remember from Ch. 14?)
At first for plunder, later to rule
Turkish rule led to the Sultanate of Delhi in 13th & 14th centuries.

12. Why are they historically significant?
Mongols
“The Mongols made no technological breakthroughs, founded no new religions, wrote few books or dramas”
Why are they historically significant?

13. The Mongols and Eurasian Empire
Built the largest empire in history stretching from Poland to China
13.8 million square miles
100 million people
Chinggis/Genghis Khan 13

14. The Mongol Empire at its height – 1320s

15. Who were the Mongols? From the steppes of eastern central Asia
Nomadic peoples
United under the leadership of Temujin a.k.a Chinggis Khan

16. Steppe
Inner Eurasia
Outer Eurasia

17. From Temujin to “Universal Ruler”
Born 1167, Orphaned at 10
“Mastered the art of steppe diplomacy”
Personal courage, loyalty
United Mongol tribes into a single confederation
1206 made Chinggis Khan
Chinese depiction of Chinggis
Khan

18. Political & Military Organization
Formed military units that broke down tribal loyalties
Awesome archers
Large, quickly moving armies
Effectively used psychological warfare

19. The wisdom of Chinggis Khan:
“Man’s greatest joy is in victory:
to conquer one’s enemies,
to pursue them, to deprive them of their
possessions,
to make their beloved weep,
to ride on their horses,
and to embrace their wives and daughters…”

20. Mongol Rule
Nomadic invasions and migrations tested the military and administrative strengths of settled societies.
When Mongols collapsed a government, they often adapted the existing administration structures to their purposes.

21. Chronology of the Mongol Empire
Reign of Chinggis Khan
Conquest of northern China
Conquest of Persia
Conquest of Russia
1258 Capture of Baghdad
Conquest of southern China

23. Strong Equestrians and Archers
The Mongols were oriented around extreme mobility. They carried their houses with them, drank their own horse's blood to stay alive, and could travel up to 62 miles per day.
They had an elaborate priority-mail-system which allowed orders to be transmitted rapidly across Eurasia.
Mongol archers were very deadly and accurate
Their arrows could kill enemies at 200 meters (Over 600 feet)

24. Shortly after Chinggis Khan’s death, his empire split
into four Khanates

25. China: the Yuan Dynasty 1279-1368
Most famous ruler: Khubilai Khan
Government administered by Mongols and non-Chinese advisors
Allowed religious freedom but dismantled Confucian exam system
Prohibited Chinese from learning the Mongol language.
Khubilai Khan

26. Other Mongol Rule Golden Horde Persian Ilkhanate
Didn’t occupy Russia
hegemony in Russia until mid-fifteenth century
Persian Ilkhanate
Massacred over 200,000
poor administrators
Over time assimilated into the culture
Except in their own homeland, they were out of power in about 90 years

27. Societal Advances
While Mongol warfare was awesome, let’s not get completely carried away with that.
They were responsible for increased interaction among peoples of different societies, which resulted in Eurasian lands being more directly connected than before.

28. “Pax Mongolia?”
Under the Mongols, there was unprecedented long-distance trade
Mongols encouraged the exchange of people, technology, and information across their empire
Weatherford: the Mongols were “civilization’s unrivaled cultural carriers…”
Marco Polo en route to China

29. How did Japan resist Mongol invasion?
The Mongols attempted to invade Japan twice [1274 and 1281]
Twice they were repelled by typhoons
“Kamikaze” or “divine wind”

30. Inspiration for WWII “kamikaze”

31. Tamerlane the Conqueror
Collapse of Mongol states left power vacuum
Chinggis Khan was model
weakened the Golden Horde, sacked Delhi, and launched campaigns in southwest Asia and Anatolia
By 1370 extended authority throughout Chaghatai khanate

32. Tamerlane’s Empire, ca. 1405 C.E.