1. AIM: How did the MONGOLS BUILD AN EMPIRE?
Unit Essential Question: How did China’s culture develop and influence its neighbors in East and Southeast Asia?
Do Now: If you were setting out on a career of conquest, aiming to create an empire, which of the following would you most want to have? Which would you be most willing to do without (not want)? Explain your reasoning.
~A larger army than that of the people you are planning to attack
~A better trained, more obedient army than that of your opponents
~Charismatic (inspired, forceful) leadership
~Ideological (religious or other) support for aggression
~A stronger economy or more wealth than your opponents have
~Technological superiority in military hardware
~Safe, fast supply lines to your
homeland
~Current, detailed intelligence
about your opponents
~First-rate communications
within your own army
~Something not on this list --what?
Write each in your notebook with the explanation.
Have students share their choices and their reasons for them.
Ask them to arrive at a consensus on what are the five most important factors in building a successful empire.
List them on the board.
Now we’re going to see how the Mongol Empire embodied some of these traits and how it lead them to become the largest contiguous land empire in world history.

2. The Mongols What do we already know about the Mongols?
What does this political cartoon imply?
Who’s perspective do you think this cartoon is representing?
Conquered early Russia, Arabic Empires, Spread Black Death
At the end of today we’ll see how perspectives shape how we view Empires.

3. The Mongol Empire – key terms
Steppes – vast, treeless plains of Central Asia
Genghis Khan – “universal ruler”
Dominated – ruled or controlled with power

4. Mongols – Big Concepts
Mongols live pastoral-nomadic lifestyle in Central Asia
Mongols advance into China 1 1 5
1279
1100s
1200s
Mongols began conquest on Asia and Europe.
Yuan dynasty
is created

5. Marco Polo
Left vivid accounts in writing of wealth and splendor of China

6. Reading Like a Historian
The Mongols declared: “We wish to make you khan”, and they swore the following oath of allegiance: “When you are khan, Temuchin, we will ride as your spearhead against multitudinous enemy and bring back their beautiful women and maidens and their ceremonial tents; and from the foreign tribes we will bring comely women and maidens, also their fine- limbed horses at a trot, and present them to you. When we hunt the wild animals, we will be in the van of the hunters and will give you the slaughtered animals. We will drive the steppe animals towards you in such numbers that their bellies touch, the mountain animals in such numbers that their romps touch. If, on the day of battle, we do not obey your commands, separate us from our belongings, from our wives and our women and throw our black heads away on the empty steppe. If, in time of peace, we break our word to you, separate us from our servants, from our women and children and banish us to a leaderless land.” Having sworn this oath they made Temuchin Khan, naming him Genghis Khan.
**Video: Could Ghengis Khan have multiple descendants
Context: the speakers are two members of Genghis Khan’s clan. Temuchin was the name given to Genghis Khan at his birth.
Multitudinous – numerous. Comely – attractive.
1. What inferences can you make from this oath about the way of life of the Mongols?
2. Do you think that people actually swore this oath to Genghis Khan? Explain.
3. How would you describe the attitude of the Mongol clans toward Genghis Khan? Use examples from the oath to support your answer.

7. Genghis Khan Activity Personal Characteristics
Leadership Characteristics
Have students list the personal and leadership characteristics of Genghiz Khan. Have student put them on board. Through these characteristics I’d like you to give an overall statement about Genghiz Khan. Should be 1-2 sentences max. If you had to tell someone who he was in one sentence and convey just how important he was to the domination of the Mongols what would you say?
Identification of Genghis Khan:_____________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

8. List the modern names of the countries which were included in the Mongol Empire at the end of the 13th century.
Think about some of the difficulties that an army of nomadic people would face in the creation of this empire which stretched from Korea to eastern Europe.
Brainstorm some of the challenges and difficulties involved in conquering this vast land area. (Record on chalk board)

11. Barbaric Stereotypes Group Work
Groups will each have a persepective and should use boards to identify it. Each group will have 10 minutes to discuss and about 1 minute to share.
As a class we will decided last discussion question.
Which of the descriptions would you be most willing to accept as accurate? Which would you be least willing to accept as accurate? Why?

12. Exit
Using information from this unit, pretend you are telling a neighbor about the effects of Mongol rule on your people as though you were one of the following:
A Muslim merchant
A Persian peasant
A Persian bureaucrat at the court of the Mongol ruler
A northern Chinese artisan
A pastoral nomadic Mongolian woman