1. Mongol Eurasia and Its Aftermath, 1200 - 1500

2. I. The Rise of the Mongols
Steppes and Nomadism
A. Nomadism in Central and Inner Asia
Impact of nomads
Power of khan
Role of slaves
Importance of tribute
Political federations – importance of marriage, women
Females couldn’t directly succeed – tried to get position for sons
Families had believers in two or more religions: Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam
Impact of shamanism
Religious role played by a khan and Sky/Heaven God

3. B. The Mongol Conquests, 1215 – 1283
1206 – Genghis Khan – tribute and conquests of early 13th c.
1236 – grandson Batu - Russia/Eastern Europe
1258 – death of Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad
Pursuit of territory under Ogodei
Mongol Empire united until 1265
1241 – death of Ogodei and succession
Khubilai declared himself khan in 1265, descendents of Jagadai didn’t accept him
1271 – Khubilai emperor of Yuan Empire (China)
Yuan destroyed Southern Song
Invaded Vietnam – made them give tribute, unsuccessful attacks on Java and Japan
Military technology/techniques
Choices: resist and be massacred/starve, or surrender and live – then contribute soldiers to Mongol army

5. C. Overland Trade and the Plague
Commercial integration affected east and west
Silk, porcelain
Venetian Marco Polo (1254 – 1324)
BUBONIC PLAGUE in southwestern China since the Tang period
Spread of plague in China through trade/military
Animals infected – then people
Caravan traffic infected oasis towns
Prevented Mongol army from capturing city of Kaffa in Crimea in 1346 – plague remained, then reached Europe/Egypt by ship
More diseases (typhus, smallpox, influenza) accompanied plague
Cause of great pandemic of 1347 – 1352?

7. II. The Mongols and Islam, 1260 – 1500
A. Mongol Rivalry
1260 – IL – KHAN state controlled much of Middle East
Khanate of the GOLDEN HORDE – Southern Russia
Religious tension between Mongols and Muslims (practices)
Cause of conflict between Il-Khan and Golden Horde
Alliances between Il-Khan/Pope and Mamluks/Golden Horde – impact on the Crusades
Il-khan ruler, Ghazan declared himself a Muslim
Blend of Sunni/Shi’ite theology

10. B. Islam and the State
Methods of taxation; enterprises funded
Problems with taxation and decline of agriculture
Ghazan – financial problems, failure to lessen tax burden
Paper money and depression
Fighting among Mongol nobility for revenue
Mid – 1300s – Mongols from Golden Horde moved into western Il-khan region
New power in the east – Khanate of Jagadai
Leader Timur launched campaigns into western Eurasia, India, and against Ottoman sultan
Groundwork of Muslim Mongol-Turkic regime, the Mughals in the 1500s

11. C. Culture and Science in Islamic Eurasia
Accomplishments of historian Juvaini (1283)
Rashid al – Din – first history of the world
Ibn Khaldun
Shi’ite scholar Nasir al – Din Tusi and Mongol interest in Muslim science
Math and cosmology
Greek/Ptolemaic understanding of universe
Nasir al – Din proposed model of small circles rotating within a large circle = moon around the earth
Nicholas Copernicus
Under Il – khans: predicted eclipses, astrolabes, three – dimensional quadrants
Spread of information on astronomy/mathematics into Byzantium, Western Europe, India, and China
Mathematician Ghiyas al – Din Jamshid al – Kashi and decimal fractions
Al – Kashi and pi

12. III. Regional Responses in Western Eurasia
A. Russia and Rule from Afar
Golden Horde and smaller Mongol states
Trade routes
Role of Orthodox Church
Politics of language
Golden Horde got Russian Princes to act as tax collectors/census takers
Russian Princes, tax collection, and currency shortages
Alexander Nevskii, growth of Moscow, decline of Kiev/Ukraine
Question of Mongol impact on Russian interaction with the West
Traditional structure of local government survived Mongols along with Russian princes, competed with each other
Tsar Ivan III (Late 15th/early 16th centuries)

13. B. New States in Eastern Europe and Anatolia
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II
Teutonic Knights
Mongol armies international – Mongols, Turks, Chinese, Iranians, some Europeans
More information about Mongols reached Europe
Europeans learned about: passports, coal mining, moveable type, high temperature metallurgy, mathematics, gunpowder, casting and use of bronze canon
Outbreak of plague in 1340s
14th century – Lithuania and Balkans
Serbian King Stephen Dushan
Origins of Ottoman Turks
Il-khans influenced eastern Anatolia
Decline of Byzantine state and appeal of Muslim jihad
Sultan Mehmet II captured Constantinople
Ottomans took advantage of decay of Mongols – religious/linguistic identity

14. IV. Mongol Domination in China
Yuan Empire
Synthesis of Mongol & Chinese cultures
Khubilai Kahn
Beijing
Lamas
Mongols as a unifying force
Racial ranking
Administration similarities with Il-khan
Impact of trade on economy
Prestigious merchant class
Impact on society
Cottage Industry
Destruction of agrarian lifestyle
Massive population decrease – causes?

15. Cultural exchange – Il-kahn & China Medical developments
Fall of the Yuan Empire – 1340s
Mongol princes
Zhu Yuanzhang & the Ming
Return to Mongolia – power base established
Importance of Mongol identity
Tribute to Ming, but only as a facilitator of trade
Did the Mongols retard or stimulate political & economic change?

16. V. Early Ming Empire 1368-1500 Zhu Yuanzhang = Hongwu (r.1368-1398)
Nanjing
Shift from Buddhism to Confucianism
Anti-Mongol ideology
Economically unsound
Military service
Stability: recognized Yuan as legitimate rulers
Yongle (r )
Return to Yuan practices; Beijing, trade, aggression
Zheng He
Achievements
Why didn’t seafaring become more important?

17. Innovation versus advancement
Agriculture
Peace
Japan
Metals
Shipbuilding
Examination system
Weaponry
Technology gap
Achievements
Literature
Porcelain

18. VI. Centralization and Militarism in East Asia, 1200 - 1500
A. Korea
Need to choke off sea trade
Mongol conflict 1231 – 1258
Koryo/Mongol rule
Ended isolationism; cultural, scientific, agricultural
Rise of new landed & educated class
Loyal to Mongol, Ming forced recognition
Yi Kingdom
Rejected Mongol period, yet continued practices
Confucianism
Advances in technology; printing, literacy, agriculture
Strong defensive navy (gunpowder)

19. 1281 – Second Mongol invasion
B. Japan
1274 – Mongol invasion
Mongol threat unified the decentralized Shogunate administrative structure
Defensive structure required
Movement of resources from east (imperial) to west
1281 – Second Mongol invasion
Again weather intervenes – kamikaze
Major economic & social impact of Mongol threat; strengthen warrior class, national infrastructure
Ashikaga Shogunate – 1336
Regional independence restored, rise of power of warlord
Trade resumed following fall of Yuan
Shogun Yoshimasa – cultural impact, Zen Buddhism
Break down of power – warlords, Onin War, scramble for power – 1400s

20. Annam and Champa rivalry Relationship with Tang and Song
C. Vietnam
Annam and Champa rivalry
Relationship with Tang and Song
Mongol required submission & tribute, but little cultural
Ming control for 30 years
Mongol threat to Ming
By 1500 Annam controlled Champa
Key elements of society
Confucian administration
Distinct Amman legal codes
Mahayana Buddhism