The Earth and Its Peoples 3 rd edition Chapter 13 Mongol Eurasia and Its Aftermath, Cover Slide Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Ceramics manufacture Ming porcelain factories perfected a style of assembly-line manufacture. The techniques were well established in central coastal China, and woodblock-printed technical books such as this one (Tiangong Kaiwu) made the information widely available to technicians, investors, managers, and officials. This combination of industrial organization and printed information was later emulated in Korea, Japan, and Europe. (From Tiangong Kaiwu) Ceramics manufacture Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Depictions of Europeans in Rashid al-Din A Persian Jew who converted to Islam, Rashid al-Din (ca ) undertook to explain the great variety of cultures by writing a history of the world including a history of the Franks, illustrated here with images of Western popes (left) conferring with Byzantine emperors (right). (Topkapi Palace Museum) Depictions of Europeans in Rashid al-Din Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Early Persian anatomical text Illustrated Persian anatomical texts from the Il-khan and Timurid periods were based on ancient Greek ideas about the functions of the body. Here, the digestive and arterial systems are depicted together because it was assumed that heat generated by digestion forced circulation of the blood. The nervous system, which was not well understood, is not included. Diagrams such as these became very important in Europe a few centuries later, as European scientists continued to build on the anatomical and physiological knowledge of the Islamic world. (Bodleian Library, Oxford) Early Persian anatomical text Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Japanese warriors board Mongol ship When the Mongol warrior Kublai Khan became Emperor of China, he sent envoys to Japan demanding surrender under pain of invasion. The proud Japanese warriors rejected the Mongol challenge. The Japanese prepared for the second Mongol invasion by constructing a stone wall 10 feet high along the shore where the invaders were expected to strike. For seven weeks the line held. Then a violent typhoon--which became known as kamikaze, or "divine wind"--raged for two days, battering the Mongol armada. This illustration depicts the Japanese hero Suenaga boarding the Mongol ship to kill its leader. (Imperial Household Agency/ISEI) Japanese warriors board Mongol ship Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Mongol army attacking walled city Rashid-al-Din (ca ), a Jew from Persia, converted to Islam at the age of 30 and entered the service of the Mongol khan of Persia as a physician. He rose to government service and traveled widely. He later wrote a history of the world that was more comprehensive than any that had been previously written. This illustration, which accompanied one of his manuscripts, depicts the Mongol army- -complete with catapults--attacking a walled city. (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin/Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Photo: Ruth Schacht, 1979) Mongol army attacking walled city Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Navigation techniques of Zheng-He The navigational techniques that Zheng He and his crew used were well established and tested, as this manual Wubei zhi (records of military preparations), 1621, shows. Ships were precisely guided by reference to the Pole Star, and the routes to India, the Middle East, and East Africa were well known. The manual underscores that Zheng He's mission was not to explore but to carry out political and, if possible, economic mandates. (From Wubei zhi, 1621) Navigation techniques of Zheng-He Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Map: Korea and Japan, Korea and Japan, The proximity of Korea and of northern China to Japan gave the Mongols the opportunity for launching their enormous fleets. They were defeated by the warriors of the Kamakura Shogunate, which controlled most of the three islands (Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu) of central Japan. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Map: The Ming Empire and Its Allies, The Ming Empire and Its Allies, The Ming empire controlled China but had a hostile relationship with peoples in Mongolia and Central Asia who had been under the rule of the Mongol Yuan emperors. Mongol attempts at conquest by sea were continued by the Ming mariner Zheng He. Between 1405 and 1433 he sailed to Southeast Asia and then beyond, to India, the Persian Gulf, and East Africa. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Map: The Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire The creation of the vast Mongol Empire facilitated communication across Eurasia and led to both the spread of deadly plagues and the transfer of technical and scientific knowledge. After the death of Chinggis in 1227, the empire was divided into four khanates, ruled by different lines of his successors. In the 1270s, the Mongols conquered southern China, but most of their subsequent campaigns did not lead to further territorial gains. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Map: Western Eurasia in the 1300s Western Eurasia in the 1300s This map of the Mongol domains in the Middle East demonstrates the delicate balance of power that was upset by Ghazan's conversion to Islam in During the conflict between the ll-khans and the Golden Horde in the 1260s, European leaders hoped to ally themselves with the ll-khans against Muslim defenders in Palestine. These hopes were abandoned after Ghazan's conversion to Islam in 1295, and the powerful alliance between the Mamluks and the Golden Horde kept the ll-khans from advancing west. Europeans hoped to exploit the conflict by enlisting the ll-khans against the Mamluks, but realized the cause was lost after Ghazan became Muslim. The Mamluks and the Golden Horde remained allies against the ll-khans, which aided Europeans in retaining their lands in Palestine and Syria. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.