Mongols 3 case studies

Mongols in China Yuan Dynasty: 1280-1365 -decided not to make Northern China into pasture (!) -harsh in Northern China, less harsh in Southern China

Yuan Dynasty -peasants given tax breaks/food in famines but also forced into hard labor -merchants better off financially -Confucian scholars needed for admin but Mongols didn’t trust- brought in Muslim and Christian advisers to keep an eye on them

Khubilai Khan and Yuan Accommodated Did not accommodate Ancestor worship Confucian rituals Built roads/canals/limited torture Prevented ponies from grazing on farmland (!) No intermarriage with Chinese Scholars forbidden from learning Mongolian script Steppe grass and wondering animals in Forbidden city in Capital Yurts preferred When dynasty fell- 1000s of Mongols kicked back out to steppe

Two views of women: Mongol v. Chinese

Mongols in Persia Harsher than in China (especially Southern China) Destroyed agriculture Ponies/sheep grazed Knocked out irrigation

Qanats: Irrigation system Quanat pictures today

Mongols in Persia Mongol accommodation Intermarried Converted to Islam (somewhat paradoxically) increased wine output Some turned to farming Learned some Persian When empire fell, no one went back to the steppe-

Mongols in Russia Golden Horde: 1237-1502) (golden tent or central camp) harshest conquest Longest lasting

Mongols in Russia Mongols saw Russia as lower value compared to China and Persia Lived in the steppe close by- remained nomadic took slaves and huge ransoms Took artisans and used them throughout empire

Mongols in Russia Put local princes in power and had them do the tax collection Russian princes adopted Mongol dress and traditions Eastern Orthodox Church expanded under Mongol religious tolerance

Mongols in Russia Mongols intermarried with the Turkic peoples who were on the steppe– by the time Mongol rule ended in Russia, they had lost much of Mongol identity