Mr. Snell HRHS

  China prospering in the Song Dynasty  Mongols to the North gaining power.  Horseback Skills, discipline, ruthlessness, courage  Violent Conflict transformed Europe/Asia forever. Setting the Stage

  Steppe – Vast belt of dry grassland.  Trading route between east/west  Home to nomads who swept down on neighbors. Nomads of the Asian Steppe

  Receives very little rain  More in West though  Dramatic temperature changes  Modern Mongolia  Winter – -57* F  Summer – 96* F  People usually migrated West/South. More Steppe

  Pastoralists – nomads who herded domesticated animals.  Followed a season pattern vs. wandering.  Land Battles  Asian nomads had total dependence on horseback for…  Food, housing, clothing  Yurts – portable felt tent Asian nomads lived in. Nomads?

 Mongolian Yurts

  Clans – Kinship groups who traveled together  Descend from common ancestor.  Multiple clans can unite for power purposes.  Society: Steppe Nomads vs. Settled Society  Peaceful trading  Nomads were tough  Nomads were tempted by richness and land.  Sometimes took what they wanted by force.  Settled people lived in fear of raids. Nomadic Family

The Great Wall of China Chinese built and rebuilt the Great Wall in an attempt to keep out nomadic invaders (Mongols).

 The Rise of the Mongols  Mongol clan leader Temujin sought unity around  Fought and defeated rivals 1 by 1.  1206 – takes title Genghis Khan, or “Universal Ruler” of the Mongol Clans.

 Conquests  China – Jin Empire  Lured to Islamic region west of Mongolia.  Campaign of Terror across Central Asia.  1225 – All of Central Asia controlled by Mongols.  Genghis the Conqueror:  Brilliant Organizer  Gifted strategist  Used cruelty as a weapon

  Genghis Khan dies from illness in  The Mongols created the largest unified land empire in all of history.  Sons and grandsons continued with the empire’s expansion.  Conquered Northern China, invaded Korea.  Leveled Kiev in Russia ( became Khanate of the Golden Horde)  Sets eyes on Persia The Mongol Empire

 Mongol Empire

  Invaded areas usually never recovered.  Ancient Irrigation systems destroyed.  Ferocious in war, tolerant in peace.  Sometimes adopted cultures of conquered people. Mongols as Rulers

  Pax Mongolica – Mongol Peace  From the mid-1200s to the mid-1300s, the Mongols imposed stability and law and order across much of Eurasia.  Safe passage for trade caravans, travelers, missionaries from the edges of the Empire.  Chinese gunpowder would reach Europe.  Bubonic plague theory The Mongol Peace

  Grandson to Genghis Khan  Assumed title Great Khan in 1260  Completed the conquest in China.  Yuan Dynasty – lasted 100 years  In China:  K.K. united China for the first time in 300 years.  Opened to foreign contacts and trade.  Moved capital from Mongolia. Kublai Khan

  In 1274 & 1281 – both fail.  Force Koreans to build, sail, and provide provisions for boats.  Expensive task that nearly ruined Korea.  2 nd fleet was 150,000 strong.  Largest seaborne invasion fleet until WWII.  53 days Japanese held off the Mongols  Typhoon Wave swept across Sea of Japan.  Kamikaze – “divine wind” Failure in Japan

 Destruction in Japan

  Mongols and Chinese had little in common.  Mongols maintained a separate identity.  Lived apart from Chinese under different laws.  Isolated Chinese rulers to at most, local level.  Foreign trade increased under Kublai Khan.  Mongol Peace routes encourage trade, travel.  Marco Polo – Venetian trader and most famous European to travel to China. Mongol Rule in China

  Armies began to suffer humiliating defeats.  Heavy spending on war, luxury, public works.  Overburdened treasury & overtax of Chinese.  Kublai Khan died in 1294, Yuan Dynasty overthrown.  Rest of the Empire began to crumble  Ivan III led Russia to independence from Mongol rule in Mongol Decline