How Barbaric were the Barbarians? You be the judge.

Who were they? A small tribe from the grasslands of central Asia Created one of history’s largest empires Conquered 4,860,000 square miles in total Genghis Khan

How barbaric were they? In total killed around 40 MILLION people throughout Empire’s rule estimate that they killed a full three-fourths of the Khwarezmid Empire’s population Genghis Khan was ruthless and used extreme battle tactics

Document 3 – Carpini on Battle Tactics Used children and women to give enemy the idea that their numbers were larger Used captive men as front line Surrounded fortresses, letting no one enter or leave Never stopped fighting, divided up forces and took turns fighting, this would wear their enemies down with sleep deprivation Burned human fat as Greek fire (Napalm) and catapulted it onto enemy

Document 4 Plundered Persian city Killed everyone Placed served heads in piles

Document 5

However… Along with their barbaric ways, the Mongols were - very influential in spread culture and interacting with others -cultured society -open to religion -booming international trade, the empire thrived

You be the judge! How barbaric do you think the Mongolians were? Write a few sentences.. -summarizing the brutality of the Mongols -Do you think that for a total empire take over these brutal acts were justified? Did they do more bad than good? - What about their cultural influences and tolerance?