Contents

1 Mongol invasions and conquests 11.1 Central Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 West Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.3 East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.4 Southeast Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.5 Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.6 Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.9 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.9.1 Primary sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.10 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 Siege of Baghdad (1258) 72.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.2 Hulagu’s expedition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.2.1 Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.2.2 Early campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.3 Capture of Baghdad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82.3.1 Hulagu’s march to Baghdad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82.3.2 Siege of the city . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.4 Destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.4.1 Comments on the destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.4.2 Causes for agricultural decline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.5 Aftermath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102.7 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.9 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3 Society of the Mongol Empire 123.1 Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123.2 Food in the Mongol Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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3.3 Economy of the Mongol Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.3.1 Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.4 Trade routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.4.1 Marco Polo’s observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143.4.2 Appanage system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3.5 Domestic animals in the Mongol Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163.5.1 Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163.5.2 Cattle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163.5.3 Camels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163.5.4 Sheep/goats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3.6 Traditional Mongolian clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173.7 Tools of warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173.8 Kinship and family life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183.9 Women of the Mongol Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193.10 Mongol dwellings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203.11 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213.12 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213.13 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4 Mongol military tactics and organization 234.1 Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4.1.1 Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234.1.2 Training and discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244.1.3 Cavalry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.2 Logistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254.2.1 Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254.2.2 Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.3 Costume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264.4 Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.4.1 Mongol bow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274.4.2 Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274.4.3 Fire weapons and gunpowder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274.4.4 Catapults and machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.5 Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284.5.1 Intelligence and planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284.5.2 Psychological warfare and deception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.5.3 Inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4.6 Ground tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.6.1 Flanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304.6.2 Encirclement and opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304.6.3 Feigned retreat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

CONTENTS iii

4.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304.9 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314.10 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5 Destruction under the Mongol Empire 335.1 Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.1.1 Terror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335.2 Demographic changes in war-torn areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345.3 Destruction of culture and property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355.4 Foods and disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355.5 Tribute in lieu of conquest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355.6 Environmental impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365.9 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

6 Mongol invasion of Europe 376.1 Invasions and conquest of Rus’ lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376.2 Invasion into Central Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

6.2.1 Invasion of fragmented Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386.2.2 Invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386.2.3 Invasion of the Kingdom of Croatia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406.2.4 Impact on Romanian principalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

6.3 Tactical failure against Western Europeans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416.4 Mongol diffusion of Chinese gunpowder to Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416.5 End of the Mongol advance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

6.5.1 Mongol infighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426.6 Later campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

6.6.1 Against Poland (1259 and 1287) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436.6.2 Against Byzantine Thrace (1265, 1324 and 1337) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436.6.3 Against Bulgaria (1241, 1242, 1271, 1274, 1280 and 1285) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446.6.4 Against Hungary (1285) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446.6.5 Against Serbia (1291) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.7 Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456.8 Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456.9 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456.10 Footnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456.11 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476.12 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476.13 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

7 Division of the Mongol Empire 48

iv CONTENTS

7.1 Disunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487.1.1 Dispute over succession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487.1.2 Civil war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487.1.3 Disintegration into four khanates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

7.2 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507.3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517.4 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

7.4.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527.4.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537.4.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Chapter 1

Mongol invasions and conquests

Mongol invasions and conquests progressed through-out the 13th century, resulting in the vastMongol Empire,which, by 1300, covered much of Asia and Eastern Eu-rope. Historians regard the destruction under the MongolEmpire as some of the deadliest conflicts in human his-tory. In addition, they brought the bubonic plague alongwith them, spreading it across much of Asia and Europeand helping cause the massive loss of life in the BlackDeath.[1][2][3][4]

The Mongol Empire emerged in the course of the 13thcentury by a series of conquests and invasions through-out Central and Western Asia, reaching Eastern Europeby the 1240s. In contrast with later empires such as theBritish, which can be defined as 'empires of the sea', theMongol empire was an empire of the land, fuelled by thegrass supporting their cavalries and cattle.[5] Thus, mostof their conquering and plundering took place during thewarmer seasons, when there was sufficient grass for theirherds.[5]

Tartar and Mongol raids against Russian states contin-ued well beyond the start of the Mongol Empire’s frag-mentation around 1260. Elsewhere, the Mongols’ terri-torial gains in China persisted into the 14th century un-der the Yuan dynasty, while those in Persia persisted intothe 15th century under the Timurid Empire. In India,the Mongols’ gains survived into the 19th century as theMughal Empire.

1.1 Central Asia

Main article: Mongol invasion of Central AsiaGenghis Khan forged the initial Mongol Empire inCentral Asia, starting with the unification of the Mongoland Turkic confederations such as Merkits, Tartars, andMongols. The Uighur Buddhist Qocho Kingdom surren-dered and joined the empire. He then continued expan-sion of the empire via conquest of the Qara Khitai[6] andthe Khwarazmian dynasty.Large areas of Islamic Central Asia and northeastern Iranwere seriously depopulated,[7] as every city or town thatresisted theMongols was subject to destruction. Each sol-dier was required to execute a certain number of persons,

Battle of Vâliyân against the Khwarazmian dynasty.

with the number varying according to circumstances. Forexample, after the conquest of Urgench, each Mongolwarrior – in an army group that might have consisted oftwo tumens (units of 10,000) – was required to execute24 people.[8]

Against the Alans and the Cumans (Kipchaks), the Mon-gols used divide and conquer tactics by first telling theCumans to stop allying with the Alans and after theCumans followed their suggestion the Mongols then at-tacked the Cumans[9] after defeating the Alans.[10] Alanswere recruited into theMongol forces with one unit called“Right Alan Guard” which was combined with “recentlysurrendered” soldiers, Mongols, and Chinese soldiers sta-tioned in the area of the former Kingdom of Qocho and inBesh Balikh the Mongols established a Chinese militarycolony led by Chinese general Qi Kongzhi (Ch'i Kung-chih).[11]

During the Mongol attack on the Mamluks in the MiddleEast, most of the Mamluks were made out of Kipchaksand the Golden Horde’s supply of Kipchaks replen-ished the Mamluk armies and helped them fight off theMongols.[12]

Hungary became a refuge after the Mongol invasions forfleeing Cumans.[13]

The de-centralized stateless Kipchaks only converted toIslam after the Mongol conquest unlike the centralizedKarakhanid entity made out of the Yaghma, Qarluqs, andthe Oghuz who converted to world religions.[14]

1

2 CHAPTER 1. MONGOL INVASIONS AND CONQUESTS

The Mongol conquest of the Kipchaks led to a mergedsociety with the Mongol ruling class over a Kipchakspeaking population which came to be known as Tatarand which eventually absorbed other ethnicities on theCrimean peninsula like Armenians, Italians, Greeks, andGoths to form the modern day Crimean Tatar people.[15]

1.2 West Asia

Siege of Baghdad in 1258.

Main articles: Mongol invasions of the Levant, Anatolia,Persia, and Siege of Baghdad (1258)

The Mongols conquered, either by force or voluntarysubmission, the areas today known as Iran, Iraq, Syria,Caucasus and parts of Turkey, with further Mongol raidsreaching southwards as far as Gaza into the Palestine re-gion in 1260 and 1300. The major battles were the Siegeof Baghdad (1258), when the Mongols sacked the citywhich for 500 years had been the center of Islamic power;and the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, when the MuslimKipchak Mamluks were for the first time able to stop theMongol advance at Ain Jalut in the southern part of theGalilee. One thousand northern Chinese engineer squadsaccompanied the Mongol Khan Hulagu during his con-quest of the Middle East.[16][17]

1.3 East Asia

Main articles: Mongol invasions of Korea, China, Japan,and Mongol conquest of TibetGenghis Khan and his descendants launched numerousinvasions of China, subjugating the Western Xia in 1209before destroying them in 1227, defeating the Jin dynastyin 1234 and defeating the Song dynasty in 1279. Theymade the Kingdom ofDali into a vassal state in 1253 afterthe Dali King Duan Xingzhi defected to the Mongols andhelped them conquer the rest of Yunnan, forced Korea tocapitulate through invasions, but failed in their attemptsto invade Japan.

Battle of Yehuling against the Jin dynasty.

Mongol warrior on horseback, preparing a mounted archeryshot.

The Yuan dynasty created a “Han Army” ( ) out of de-fected Jin troops and army of defected Song troops calledthe “Newly Submitted Army” ( ).[18]

The Mongol force which invaded southern China was fargreater than the force they sent to invade the Middle Eastin 1256.[19]

The Mongols’ greatest triumph was when Kublai Khanestablished the Yuan dynasty in China in 1271. Thetop-level government agency Bureau of Buddhist and Ti-betan Affairs was established to govern Tibet, which wasconquered by the Mongols and put under Yuan rule. TheMongols also invaded Sakhalin between 1264 and 1308.Likewise, Korea (Goryeo) became a semi-autonomousvassal state and compulsory ally of the Yuan dynasty forabout 80 years. The Yuan dynasty was eventually over-thrown during the Red Turban Rebellion in 1368 by theHan Chinese who gained independence and establishedthe Ming dynasty.

1.4 Southeast Asia

Main articles: First, Second Mongol invasion of Burma,Mongol invasions of Vietnam, and JavaKublai Khan’s Yuan dynasty invaded Burma between1277 and 1287, resulting in the capitulation and disin-tegration of the Pagan Kingdom. However, the invasionin 1301 was repulsed by the Burmese Myinsaing King-dom. The Mongol invasions of Vietnam (then known as

1.6. TIMELINE 3

The Battle of Bạch Đằng against Vietnam.

Đại Việt) and Java resulted in defeat for the Mongols, al-though much of South Asia agreed to pay tribute in orderto avoid further bloodshed.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26]

1.5 Europe

Main article: Mongol invasion of EuropeThe Mongols invaded and destroyed Volga Bulgaria

The Battle of Legnica took place during the first Mongol invasionof Poland.

and Kievan Rus’, before invading Poland, Hungary andBulgaria, and others. Over the course of three years(1237–1240), the Mongols destroyed and annihilated allof the major cities of Russia with the exceptions ofNovgorod and Pskov.[27]

Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, the Pope’s envoy to theMongol Great Khan, traveled through Kiev in February1246 and wrote:

They [the Mongols] attacked Rus, wherethey made great havoc, destroying cities andfortresses and slaughtering men; and they laidsiege to Kiev, the capital of Rus; after theyhad besieged the city for a long time, they tookit and put the inhabitants to death. When wewere journeying through that land we came

The Mongol invasion in the 13th century led to construction ofmighty stone castles, such as Spiš Castle in Slovakia.

across countless skulls and bones of dead menlying about on the ground. Kiev had beena very large and thickly populated town, butnow it has been reduced almost to nothing, forthere are at the present time scarce two hun-dred houses there and the inhabitants are keptin complete slavery.[28]

The Mongol invasions induced population displacementon a scale never seen before in central Asia as well as east-ern Europe. Word that the Mongol hordes were comingwould spread terror and panic.[29]

1.6 Timeline

Main article: Timeline of the Mongol Empire

• 1205, 1207–1208, 1209–1210, 1225–1227 inva-sion of Western Xia

• 1207 conquest of Siberia

• 1211–1234 conquest of Jin dynasty

• 1216–1220 conquest of Central Asia and EasternPersia

• 1216–1218 conquest of the Qara Khitai• 1219-1220 conquest of Khwarazm

• 1220-1223, 1235–1330 invasions of Georgia andthe Caucasus

• 1220–1224 invasion of the Cumans

• 1222–1327 Mongol invasions of India

• 1223–1236 invasion of Volga Bulgaria

• 1231–1259 invasion of Korea

4 CHAPTER 1. MONGOL INVASIONS AND CONQUESTS

• 1235-1279 conquest of Song dynasty

• 1222, 1236–1242 Mongol invasion of Europe

• 1236–1242 invasion of Rus• 1237-1238 invasion of eastern and north-ern Rus’

• 1239-1240 invasion of southern andwestern Rus’

• 1238-1239 invasion of North Caucasus• 1238-1240 invasion of Cumania and Alania• 1241 invasion of Poland and Bohemia;

• 1241 Battle of Legnica• 1241 invasion of Hungary

• 1241 Battle of Mohi• 1241 invasion of Austria and Northeast Italy• 1241–1242 invasion of Croatia• 1242 invasion of Serbia and Bulgaria

• 1240-1241 invasion of Tibet

• 1241–1244 invasion of Anatolia

• 1244-1265 invasion of Dali Kingdom

• 1251–1259 invasion of Persia, Syria andMesopotamia

• 1253-1256 invasion of Yunnan

• 1257, 1284, 1287 invasions of Vietnam

• 1258 invasion of Baghdad

• 1258–1260 invasion of Galych-Volhynia, Lithuaniaand Poland

• Sack of Sandomierz

• 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut

• 1260 Mongol raid against Syria

• 1264–1265 raid against Bulgaria and Thrace

• 1264–1308 invasion of Sakhalin Island

• 1271 raid against Syria

• 1274, 1281 invasions of Japan

• 1274 raid against Bulgaria

• 1275, 1277 raids against Lithuania

• 1277 battle of Abulustayn

• 1277 invasion of Myanmar

• 1281 invasion of Syria

• 1284–1285 invasion of Hungary

• 1285 raid against Bulgaria

• 1283 invasion of Khmer Empire

• 1287 invasion of Myanmar

• 1287–1288 raids against Poland

• 1293 invasion of Java

• 1299 invasion of Syria

• 1300 Mongol invasion of Myanmar

• 1300 Mongol invasion of Syria

• 1303 Invasion of Syria

• 1307 Mongol invasion of Gilan

• 1312 Mongol invasion of Syria

• 1324, 1337 Mongol raids against Thrace

• 1337, 1340 Mongol raids against Poland

1.7 See also• Mongol Empire

• Timeline of the Mongol Empire

• Battle of Ain Jalut

• Battle of the Kalka River

• Political divisions and vassals of the Mongol Empire

• Division of the Mongol Empire

• List of Tatar andMongol raids against Russian states

• Mongol and Tatar states in Europe

• Mongol invasion of Europe

• Mongol military tactics and organization

• Tatar invasions

• Total war and the Mongol Empire

1.8 References[1] Robert Tignor et al. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart A His-

tory of the World: From the Beginnings of Humankind tothe Present (2nd ed. 2008) ch 11 pp 472-75 and map p476-77

[2] Vincent Barras and Gilbert Greub. “History of biologicalwarfare and bioterrorism” in Clinical Microbiology andInfection (2014) 20#6 pp 497-502.

[3] Andrew G. Robertson, and Laura J. Robertson. “Fromasps to allegations: biological warfare in history,”Militarymedicine (1995) 160#8 pp: 369-373.

1.9. FURTHER READING 5

[4] Rakibul Hasan, “Biological Weapons: covert threats toGlobal Health Security.” Asian Journal of Multidisci-plinary Studies (2014) 2#9 p 38. online

[5] New Yorker

[6] Sinor, Denis. 1995. “Western Information on the Ki-tans and Some Related Questions”. Journal of the Ameri-can Oriental Society 115 (2). American Oriental Society:262–69. doi:10.2307/604669.

[7] World Timelines - Western Asia - AD 1250-1500 LaterIslamic

[8] "Central Asian world cities", University of Washington.

[9] SINOR, DENIS. 1999. “THE MONGOLS IN THEWEST”. Journal of Asian History 33 (1). HarrassowitzVerlag: 1–44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41933117.

[10] Halperin, Charles J.. 2000. “The Kipchak Connection:The Ilkhans, the Mamluks and Ayn Jalut”. Bulletin ofthe School of Oriental and African Studies, University ofLondon 63 (2). Cambridge University Press: 235. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1559539.

[11] Morris Rossabi (1983). China Among Equals: The Mid-dle Kingdom and Its Neighbors, 10th-14th Centuries. Uni-versity of California Press. pp. 255–. ISBN 978-0-520-04562-0.

[12] Halperin, Charles J.. 2000. “The Kipchak Connection:The Ilkhans, the Mamluks and Ayn Jalut”. Bulletin ofthe School of Oriental and African Studies, University ofLondon 63 (2). Cambridge University Press: 229–45.http://www.jstor.org/stable/1559539.

[13] Howorth, H. H.. 1870. “On the Westerly Drifting of No-mades, from the Fifth to the Nineteenth Century. Part III.The Comans and Petchenegs”. The Journal of the Ethno-logical Society of London (1869-1870) 2 (1). [Royal An-thropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Wi-ley]: 83–95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3014440.

[14] Golden, Peter B.. 1998. “Religion Among the Q1pčaqs ofMedieval Eurasia”. Central Asiatic Journal 42 (2). Har-rassowitz Verlag: 180–237. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41928154.

[15] Williams, Brian Glyn. 2001. “The Ethnogenesis of theCrimean Tatars. An Historical Reinterpretation”. Journalof the Royal Asiatic Society 11 (3). Cambridge UniversityPress: 329–48. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25188176.

[16] Josef W. Meri (2005). Josef W. Meri, ed. Medieval Is-lamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Psychology Press. p.510. ISBN 0-415-96690-6. Retrieved 2011-11-28. Thiscalled for the employment of engineers to engaged in min-ing operations, to build siege engines and artillery, and toconcoct and use incendiary and explosive devices. Forinstance, Hulagu, who led Mongol forces into the Mid-dle East during the second wave of the invasions in 1250,had with him a thousand squads of engineers, evidently ofnorth Chinese (or perhaps Khitan) provenance.

[17] Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach (2006). Josef W. Meri,Jere L. Bacharach, ed. Medieval Islamic Civilization: L-Z, index. Volume 2 of Medieval Islamic Civilization: AnEncyclopedia (illustrated ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 510.ISBN 0-415-96692-2. Retrieved 2011-11-28. This calledfor the employment of engineers to engaged in mining op-erations, to build siege engines and artillery, and to con-coct and use incendiary and explosive devices. For in-stance, Hulagu, who led Mongol forces into the MiddleEast during the second wave of the invasions in 1250,had with him a thousand squads of engineers, evidentlyof north Chinese (or perhaps Khitan) provenance.

[18] Hucker 1985, p.66.

[19] Smith, Jr. 1998, p. 54.

[20] Taylor 2013, p. 120.

[21] Taylor 2013, p. 103.

[22] ed. Hall 2008, p. 159.

[23] eds. Dutton & Werner & Whitmore 2013 .

[24] Gunn 2011, p. 112.

[25] Embree & Lewis 1988, p. 190.

[26] Woodside 1971, p. 8.

[27] History of Russia, Early Slavs history, Kievan Rus, Mon-gol invasion

[28] The Destruction of Kiev

[29] Diana Lary (2012). Chinese Migrations: The Movement ofPeople, Goods, and Ideas over Four Millennia. Rowman& Littlefield. p. 49.

1.9 Further reading• Boyle, J.A. The Mongol World Enterprise, 1206-

1370 (London 1977)• Hildinger, Erik. Warriors of the Steppe: A Military

History of Central Asia, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1700

• May, Timothy. TheMongol Conquests in World His-tory (London: Reaktion Books, 2011) online re-view; excerpt and text search

• Morgan, David. The Mongols (2nd ed. 2007)• Rossabi, Morris. The Mongols: A Very Short Intro-

duction (Oxford University Press, 2012)• Saunders, J. J. The History of the Mongol Conquests(2001) excerpt and text search

• Smith, Jr., John Masson (Jan–Mar 1998). “Review:Nomads on Ponies vs. Slaves on Horses”. Journalof the American Oriental Society. American Orien-tal Society. 118 (1): 54–62. doi:10.2307/606298.JSTOR 606298.

• Turnbull, Stephen. Genghis Khan and the MongolConquests 1190-1400 (2003) excerpt and text search

6 CHAPTER 1. MONGOL INVASIONS AND CONQUESTS

1.9.1 Primary sources

• Rossabi, Morris. The Mongols and Global History:A Norton Documents Reader (2011),

1.10 External links• Worldwide death toll

• The Destruction of Kiev

• Battuta’s Travels: Part Three - Persia and Iraq

• Central Asian world cities?

• The Tran Dynasty and the Defeat of the Mongols

Chapter 2

Siege of Baghdad (1258)

The Siege of Baghdad, which lasted from January 29until February 10, 1258, entailed the investment, cap-ture, and sack of Baghdad, the capital of the AbbasidCaliphate, by Ilkhanate Mongol forces and allied troops.The Mongols were under the command of HulaguKhan (or Hulegu Khan), brother of the khagan MöngkeKhan, who had intended to further extend his rule intoMesopotamia but not to directly overthrow the Caliphate.Möngke, however, had instructed Hulagu to attack Bagh-dad if the Caliph Al-Musta’sim refused Mongol demandsfor his continued submission to the khagan and the pay-ment of tribute in the form ofmilitary support forMongolforces in Iran.Hulagu began his campaign in Iran with several offensivesagainst Nizari groups, including the Assassins, who losttheir stronghold of Alamut. He then marched on Bagh-dad, demanding that Al-Musta’sim accede to the termsimposed by Möngke on the Abbasids. Although the Ab-basids had failed to prepare for the invasion, the Caliphbelieved that Baghdad could not fall to invading forcesand refused to surrender. Hulagu subsequently besiegedthe city, which surrendered after 12 days. During the nextweek, the Mongols sacked Baghdad, committing numer-ous atrocities and destroyed the Abbasids’ vast libraries,including the House of Wisdom. The Mongols executedAl-Musta’sim and massacred many residents of the city,which was left greatly depopulated. The siege is consid-ered to mark the end of the Islamic Golden Age, duringwhich the caliphs had extended their rule from the IberianPeninsula to Sindh, and which was also marked by manycultural achievements.[7]

2.1 Background

Baghdad had for centuries been the capital of the AbbasidCaliphate, the third caliphate whose rulers were descen-dants of Abbas, an uncle of Muhammad. In 751, the Ab-basids overthrew the Umayyads and moved the Caliph’sseat from Damascus to Baghdad. At the city’s peak, itwas populated by approximately one million people andwas defended by an army of 60,000 soldiers. By themiddle of the 13th century, however, the power of theAbbasids had declined and Turkic and Mamluk warlords

often held power over the Caliphs. Baghdad still re-tained much symbolic significance, however, and it re-mained a rich and cultured city. The Caliphs of the12th and 13th centuries had begun to develop links withthe expanding Mongol Empire in the east. Caliph an-Nasir li-dini'llah, who reigned from 1180–1225, mayhave attempted an alliance with Genghis Khan whenMuhammad II of Khwarezm threatened to attack theAbbasids.[8] It has been rumored that some Crusader cap-tives were sent as tribute to the Mongol khagan.[9]

According to The Secret History of the Mongols, Genghisand his successor, Ögedei Khan, ordered their generalChormaqan to attack Baghdad.[10] In 1236, Chormaqanled a division of the Mongol army to Irbil,[11] whichremained under Abbasid rule. Further raids on Irbiland other regions of the caliphate became nearly annualoccurrences.[12] Some raids were alleged to have reachedBaghdad itself,[13] but these Mongol incursions were notalways successful, with Abbasid forces defeating the in-vaders in 1238[14] and 1245.[15]

Despite their successes, the Abbasids hoped to come toterms with the Mongols and by 1241 had adopted thepractice of sending an annual tribute to the court of thekhagan.[13] Envoys from the Caliph were present at thecoronation of Güyük Khan as khagan in 1246[16] andthat of Möngke Khan in 1251.[17] During his brief reign,Güyük insisted that the Caliph Al-Musta’sim fully sub-mit to Mongol rule and come personally to Karakorum.Blame for the Caliph’s refusal and for other resistance of-fered by the Abbasids to increased attempts by the Mon-gols to extend their power was placed by the khagans onChormaqan’s lieutenant and successor, Baiju.

2.2 Hulagu’s expedition

2.2.1 Planning

In 1257, Möngke resolved to establish firm authority overMesopotamia, Syria, and Iran. The khagan gave hisbrother, Hulagu, authority over a subordinate khanateand army, the Ilkhanate, and instructions to compelthe submission of various Muslim states, including the

7

8 CHAPTER 2. SIEGE OF BAGHDAD (1258)

caliphate. Though not seeking the overthrow of Al-Musta’sim, Möngke ordered Hulagu to destroy Baghdadif the Caliph refused his demands of personal submissionto Hulagu and the payment of tribute in the form of a mil-itary detachment, which would reinforce Hulagu’s armyduring its campaigns against Iranian Ismaili states.In preparation for his invasion, Hulagu raised a largeexpeditionary force, conscripting one out of every tenmilitary-age males in the entirety of the Mongol Empire,assembling what may have been the most numerousMon-gol army to have existed and, by one estimate, 150,000strong.[18] Generals of the army included the Oirat ad-ministrator Arghun Agha, Baiju, Buqa Temür, Guo Kan,and Kitbuqa, as well as Hulagu’s brother Sunitai and var-ious other warlords.[19] The force was also supplementedby Christian forces, including the King of Armenia andhis army, a Frankish contingent from the Principalityof Antioch,[20] and a Georgian force, seeking revengeon the Muslim Abbasids for the sacking of their cap-ital, Tiflis, decades earlier by the Khwarazm-Shahs.[21]About 1,000 Chinese artillery experts accompanied thearmy,[22] as did Persian and Turkic auxiliaries, accordingto Ata-Malik Juvayni, a contemporary Persian observer.

2.2.2 Early campaigns

Hulagu led his army first to Iran, where he success-fully campaigned against the Lurs, the Bukhara, andthe remnants of the Khwarezm-Shah dynasty. Aftersubduing them, Hulagu directed his attention towardthe Ismaili Assassins and their Grand Master, Imam'Ala al-Din Muhammad, who had attempted the mur-der of both Möngke and Hulagu’s friend and subordi-nate, Kitbuqa. Though Assassins failed in both attempts,Hulagu marched his army to their stronghold of Alamut,which he captured. The Mongols later executed the As-sassins’ Grand Master, Imam Rukn al-Dun Khurshah,who had briefly succeeded 'Ala al-Din Muhammad from1255-1256.

2.3 Capture of Baghdad

2.3.1 Hulagu’s march to Baghdad

After defeating the Assassins, Hulagu sent word to Al-Musta’sim, demanding his acquiescence to the terms im-posed by Möngke. Al-Musta’sim refused, in large partdue to the influence of his advisor and grand vizier,Ibn al-Alkami. Historians have ascribed various mo-tives to al-Alkami’s opposition to submission, includingtreachery[23] and incompetence,[24] and it appears that helied to the Caliph about the severity of the invasion, assur-ing Al-Musta’sim that, if the capital of the caliphate wasendangered by a Mongol army, the Islamic world wouldrush to its aid.[24]

Although he replied to Hulagu’s demands in a mannerthat the Mongol commander found menacing and of-fensive enough to break off further negotiation,[25] Al-Musta’sim neglected to summon armies to reinforce thetroops at his disposal in Baghdad. Nor did he strengthenthe city’s walls. By January 11 the Mongols were close tothe city,[24] establishing themselves on both banks of theTigris River so as to form a pincer around the city. Al-Musta’sim finally decided to do battle with them and sentout a force of 20,000 cavalry to attack the Mongols. Thecavalry were decisively defeated by the Mongols, whosesappers breached dikes along the Tigris River and floodedthe ground behind the Abbasid forces, trapping them.[24]

2.3.2 Siege of the city

Persian painting (14th century) of Hülegü's army besieging a city.Note use of the siege engine

On January 29, the Mongol army began its siege of Bagh-dad, constructing a palisade and a ditch around the city.Employing siege engines and catapults, the Mongols at-tempted to breach the city’s walls, and, by February 5,had seized a significant portion of the defenses. Realiz-ing that his forces had little chance of retaking the walls,Al-Musta’sim attempted to open negotiations with Hu-lagu, who rebuffed the Caliph. Around 3,000 of Bagh-dad’s notables also tried to negotiate with Hulagu butwere murdered.[26] Five days later, on February 10, thecity surrendered, but the Mongols did not enter the cityuntil the 13th, beginning a week of massacre and destruc-

2.4. DESTRUCTION 9

tion.

2.4 Destruction

Hulagu (left) imprisons Caliph Al-Musta’sim among his treasuresto starve him to death. Medieval depiction from Le livre desmerveilles, 15th century

Many historical accounts detailed the cruelties of theMongol conquerors.

• The Grand Library of Baghdad, containing count-less precious historical documents and books onsubjects ranging from medicine to astronomy, wasdestroyed. Survivors said that the waters of theTigris ran black with ink from the enormous quan-tities of books flung into the river and red from theblood of the scientists and philosophers killed.

• Citizens attempted to flee, but were intercepted byMongol soldiers who killed in abundance, sparingneither women nor children. Martin Sicker writesthat close to 90,000 people may have died.[27] Otherestimates go much higher. Wassaf claims the lossof life was several hundred thousand. Ian Frazier ofThe New Yorker says estimates of the death toll haveranged from 200,000 to a million.[28]

• The Mongols looted and then destroyed mosques,palaces, libraries, and hospitals. Grand buildingsthat had been the work of generations were burnedto the ground.

• The caliph Al-Musta’sim was captured and forced towatch as his citizens were murdered and his treasuryplundered. According to most accounts, the caliphwas killed by trampling. The Mongols rolled thecaliph up in a rug, and rode their horses over him,as they believed that the earth would be offendedif it were touched by royal blood. But the Venetiantraveller Marco Polo claimed that Al-Musta’sim waslocked in a tower with nothing to eat but gold and“died like a dog”.[29]

• All but one of Al-Musta’sim’s sons were killed, andthe sole surviving son was sent to Mongolia, where

Mongolian historians report he married and fatheredchildren, but played no role in Islam thereafter (seeThe end of the Abbasid dynasty).

• Hulagu had to move his camp upwind of the city,due to the stench of decay from the ruined city.

Baghdad was a depopulated, ruined city for several cen-turies and only gradually recovered some of its formerglory.

2.4.1 Comments on the destruction

“Iraq in 1258 was very different from presentday Iraq. Its agriculture was supported by canalnetworks thousands of years old. Baghdad wasone of the most brilliant intellectual centers inthe world. The Mongol destruction of Bagh-dad was a psychological blow fromwhich Islamnever recovered. With the sack of Baghdad,the intellectual flowering of Islam was snuffedout. Imagining the Athens of Pericles andAris-totle obliterated by a nuclear weapon begins tosuggest the enormity of the blow. The Mon-gols filled in the irrigation canals and left Iraqtoo depopulated to restore them.” [30]

“They swept through the city like hungry fal-cons attacking a flight of doves, or like rag-ing wolves attacking sheep, with loose reinsand shameless faces, murdering and spread-ing terror...beds and cushions made of goldand encrusted with jewels were cut to pieceswith knives and torn to shreds. Those hid-ing behind the veils of the great Harem weredragged...through the streets and alleys, each ofthem becoming a plaything...as the populationdied at the hands of the invaders.” (AbdullahWassaf as cited by David Morgan)

2.4.2 Causes for agricultural decline

Some historians believe that the Mongol invasion de-stroyed much of the irrigation infrastructure that had sus-tainedMesopotamia for many millennia. Canals were cutas a military tactic and never repaired. So many peopledied or fled that neither the labor nor the organizationwere sufficient to maintain the canal system. It brokedown or silted up. This theory was advanced by historianSvatopluk Souček in his 2000 book, A History of InnerAsia.

Other historians point to soil salination as the culprit inthe decline in agriculture.[31][32]

10 CHAPTER 2. SIEGE OF BAGHDAD (1258)

2.5 Aftermath

Hulagu left 3,000 Mongol soldiers behind to rebuildBaghdad. Ata-Malik Juvayni was appointed gover-nor of Baghdad, Lower Mesopotamia, and Khuzistan.The Mongol Hulagu’s Nestorian Christian wife, DokuzKhatun successfully interceded to spare the lives of Bagh-dad’s Christian inhabitants.[33][34] Hulagu offered theroyal palace to the Nestorian Catholicos Mar Makikha,and ordered a cathedral to be built for him.[35]

Initially, the fall of Baghdad came as a shock to thewhole Muslim world, but the city became an economiccenter where international trade, the minting of coinsand religious affairs flourished under the Ilkhans.[36] Thechief Mongol darughachi was thereafter stationed in thecity.[37]

2.6 See also

• Seljuk siege of Baghdad 1157

• Abbasid Caliphate

• History of Baghdad

• Islamic Golden Age

• Soil salination

• Tigris–Euphrates river system

• Möngke Khan

• Mongol Empire

2.7 Notes[1] John Masson Smith, Jr. Mongol Manpower and Persian

Population, pp.276

[2] John Masson Smith, Jr. - Mongol Manpower and PersianPopulation, pp.271-299

[3] L. Venegoni (2003). Hülägü's Campaign in the West- (1256-1260), Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I,Webfestschrift Marshak 2003.

[4] National Geographic, v. 191 (1997)

[5] Andre Wink, Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-IslamicWorld, Vol.2, (Brill, 2002), 13. – via Questia (subscrip-tion required)

[6] The different aspects of Islamic culture: Science and tech-nology in Islam, Vol.4, Ed. A. Y. Al-Hassan, (Derghamsarl, 2001), 655.

[7] Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samo-nis (2006). “Arab science in the golden age (750–1258C.E.) and today”, The FASEB Journal 20, pp. 1581–1586.

[8] Jack Weatherford Genghis Khan and the making of themodern world, p.135

[9] Jack Weatherford Genghis Khan and the making of themodern world, p.136

[10] Sh.Gaadamba Mongoliin nuuts tovchoo (1990), p.233

[11] Timothy May Chormaqan Noyan, p.62

[12] Al-Sa'idi,., op. cit., pp. 83, 84, from Ibn al-Fuwati

[13] C. P. Atwood Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the MongolEmpire, p.2

[14] Spuler, op. cit., from Ibn al-'Athir, vol. 12, p. 272.

[15] “Mongol Plans for Expansion and Sack of Baghdad”. al-hassanain.com.

[16] Giovanni, da Pian del Carpine (translated by ErikHildinger) The story of the Mongols whom we call the Tar-tars (1996), p. 108

[17] http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/lectures/wulec3.html

[18] “European & Asian History”. telusplanet.net.

[19] Rashiddudin, Histoire des Mongols de la Perse, E. Qua-trieme ed. and trans. (Paris, 1836), p. 352.

[20] Demurger, 80-81; Demurger 284

[21] Khanbaghi, 60

[22] L. Carrington Goodrich (2002). A Short History of theChinese People (illustrated ed.). Courier Dover Publica-tions. p. 173. ISBN 0-486-42488-X. Retrieved 2011-11-28. In the campaigns waged in western Asia (1253-1258)by Jenghis’ grandson Hulagu, “a thousand engineers fromChina had to get themselves ready to serve the catapults,and to be able to cast inflammable substances.” One ofHulagu’s principal generals in his successful attack againstthe caliphate of Baghdad was Chinese.

[23] Zaydān, Jirjī (1907). History of Islamic Civilization, Vol.4. Hertford: Stephen Austin and Sons, Ltd. p. 292. Re-trieved 16 September 2012.

[24] Davis, Paul K. (2001). Besieged: 100 Great Sieges fromJericho to Sarajevo. New York: Oxford University Press.p. 67.

[25] Nicolle

[26] Fattah, Hala. A Brief History of Iraq. Checkmark Books.p. 101.

[27] (Sicker 2000, p. 111)

[28] Frazier, Ian (25 April 2005). “Annals of history: In-vaders: Destroying Baghdad”. The New Yorker. p. 4.

[29] “In Threatening Baghdad, Militants Seek to Undo 800Years of History”

[30] The Mongols Steven Dutch

[31] Alltel.net

2.9. EXTERNAL LINKS 11

[32] “Saudi Aramco World : The Greening of the Arab East:The Planters”. saudiaramcoworld.com.

[33] Maalouf, 243

[34] Runciman, 306

[35] Foltz, 123

[36] Coke, Richard (1927). Baghdad, the City of Peace. Lon-don: T. Butterworth. p. 169.

[37] Kolbas, Judith G. (2006). The Mongols in Iran: ChingizKhan to Uljaytu, 1220–1309. London: Routledge. p. 156.ISBN 0-7007-0667-4.

2.8 References• Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. 1998. Mongols and Mam-

luks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281 (firstedition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-46226-6.

• Demurger, Alain. 2005. Les Templiers. Une cheva-lerie chrétienne au Moyen Âge. Éditions du Seuil.

• ibid. 2006. Croisades et Croisés au Moyen-Age.Paris: Groupe Flammarion.

• Khanbaghi, Aptin. 2006. The fire, the star, and thecross: minority religions in medieval and early mod-ern Iran. London: I. B. Tauris.

• Morgan, David. 1990. The Mongols. Boston:Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-17563-6.

• Nicolle, David, and Richard Hook (illustrator).1998. The Mongol Warlords: Genghis Khan, KublaiKhan, Hulegu, Tamerlane. London: BrockhamptonPress. ISBN 1-86019-407-9.

• Runciman, Steven. A history of the Crusades.

• Saunders, J.J. 2001. The History of the Mongol Con-quests. Philadelphia: University of PennsylvaniaPress. ISBN 0-8122-1766-7.

• Sicker, Martin. 2000. The Islamic World in As-cendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege ofVienna. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-96892-8.

• Souček, Svat. 2000. A History of Inner Asia. Cam-bridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-65704-0.

2.9 External links• article describing Hulagu’s conquest of Baghdad,written by Ian Frazier, appeared in the April 25,2005 issue of The New Yorker.

Coordinates: 33°20′00″N 44°26′00″E / 33.3333°N44.4333°E

Chapter 3

Society of the Mongol Empire

The expansion of the Mongol Empire over time

This article is about the society of the Mongol Empire.

3.1 Administration

At the same time the Mongols imported Central Asian toserve as administrators in China, the Mongols also sentHan Chinese and Khitans from China to serve as admin-istrators over the Muslim population in Bukhara in Cen-tral Asia, using foreigners to curtail the power of the localpeoples of both lands.[1]

3.2 Food in the Mongol Empire

During the Mongol Empire there were two differentgroups of food, “white foods” and “red foods” .[2] “Whitefoods” were usually dairy products and were the mainfood source during the summer. The main part of theirdiet was "airag" or fermented mare’s milk, a food whichis still widely drunk today. The Mongols rarely drankmilk fresh, but often used it to create other foods, includ-ing cheese and yogurt. “Red foods” were usually meatand were the main food source during the winter, usuallyboiled and served with wild garlic or onions.The Mongols had a unique way of slaughtering their an-imals to get meat. The animal was laid on its back and

restrained. Then the butcher would cut its chest openand rip open the aorta, which would cause deadly internalbleeding. Animals would be slaughtered in this fashionbecause it would keep all of the blood inside of the car-cass. Once all of the internal organs were removed, theblood was then drained out and used for sausages.[3]

The Mongols also hunted animals as a food source, in-cluding rabbit, deer, wild boar, and even wild rodentssuch as squirrels and marmots. During the winter, theMongols also practiced ice fishing. The Mongols rarelyslaughtered animals during the summer but if an ani-mal died of natural causes they made sure to carefullypreserve it. This was done by cutting the meat intostrips and then letting it dry by the sun and the wind.During the winter sheep were the only domestic animalslaughtered, but horses were occasionally slaughtered forceremonies.[4]

Meal etiquette existed only during large gatherings andceremonies. The meal, usually meat, was cut up intosmall pieces. Guests were served their meat on skewersand the host determined the order of serving. People ofdifferent social classes were assigned to different parts ofthe meat and it was the responsibility of the server or the“ba’urchis” to know who was in each social class. Themeat was eaten with fingers and the grease was wiped onthe ground or on clothing.Themost commonly imported fare was liquor. Most pop-ular was Chinese rice wine and Turkestani grape wine.Genghis Khan was first presented grape wine in 1204but he dismissed it as dangerously strong. Drunken-ness was common at festivals and gatherings. Singingand dancing were also common after the consumptionof alcohol. Due to Turkestani and Middle Eastern influ-ences, noodles started to appear in Mongol food. Spicessuch as cardamom and other food such as chickpeas andfenugreek seeds also became part of the diet due to theseexternal influences.[5][6]

12

3.4. TRADE ROUTES 13

Mongol “Great Khans” coin, minted at Balkh, Afghanistan, AH618, 1221 CE.

3.3 Economy of the Mongol Em-pire

3.3.1 Money

Obverse: “Just the Khan Tokhta" with the tamgha (imperial seal)of the House of Batu

Genghis Khan authorized the use of paper money shortlybefore his death in 1227. It was backed by preciousmetals and silk.[7] The Mongols used Chinese silver in-got as a unified money of public account, while circulat-ing paper money in China and coins in the western ar-eas of the empire such as Golden Horde and ChagataiKhanate. Under Ögedei Khan theMongol government is-sued paper currency backed by silk reserves and founded

a Department which was responsible for destroying oldnotes.[8] In 1253, Möngke established a Department ofMonetary affairs to control the issuance of paper moneyin order to eliminate the overissue of the currency byMongol and non-Mongol nobles since the reign of GreatKhan Ögedei. His authority established united measurebased on sukhe or silver ingot, however, the Mongols al-lowed their foreign subjects to mint coins in the denom-inations and use weight they traditionally used.[7] Dur-ing the reigns of Ögedei, Güyük and Möngke, Mongolcoinage increased with gold and silver coinage in CentralAsia and copper and silver coins in Caucasus, Iran andsouthern Russia.[9]±±§The Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan issued papermoney backed by silver, and again banknotes supple-mented by cash and copper cash. Marco Polo wrote thatthe money was made of mulberry bark. The standardiza-tion of paper currency allowed the Yuan court to mone-tize taxes and reduce carrying costs of taxes in goods asdid the policy of Möngke Khan. But the forest nationsof Siberia and Manchuria still paid their taxes in goodsor commodities to the Mongols.[10] Chao was used onlywithin the Yuan dynasty, and even Ilkhan RinchindorjGaykhatu, who was supportive of the Yuan leadership inother ways, failed to adopt the monetary experiment inhis Middle East realm in 1294. As did the khanates ofthe Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanateminted their own coins in gold, silver and copper.[11]Ghazan’s fiscal reforms enabled the inauguration of aunified bimetallic currency in the Ilkhanate.[12] ChagataiKhan Kebek renewed the coinage backed by silver re-serves and created a unified monetary system through therealm.

3.4 Trade routes

The Mongols had a strong history of supporting mer-chants and trade. Genghis Khan had encouraged for-eign merchants early in his career, even before unitingthe Mongols. Merchants provided him with informationabout neighboring cultures, served as diplomats and offi-cial traders for the Mongols, and were essential for manyneeded goods, since the Mongols produced little of theirown. Mongols sometimes provided capital for merchants,and sent them far afield, in an ortoq (merchant part-ner) arrangement. As the Empire grew, any merchantsor ambassadors with proper documentation and autho-rization, received protection and sanctuary as they trav-eled through Mongol realms. Well-traveled and relativelywell-maintained roads linked lands from the Mediter-ranean basin to China, and greatly increasing overlandtrade, and resulting in some dramatic stories of those whotraveled what became known as the Silk Road. One ofthe best-known travelers from West to East was MarcoPolo, and a comparable journey from East to West wasthat of the Chinese Mongol monk Rabban Bar Sauma,

14 CHAPTER 3. SOCIETY OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

who traveled from his home of Khanbaliq (Beijing) as faras Europe. Missionaries such as William of Rubruck alsotraveled to the Mongol court, on missions of conversion,or as papal envoys, carrying correspondence between thePope and the Mongols as attempts were made to form aFranco-Mongol alliance. It was rare though for anyone totravel the entire length of the Silk Road. Instead, tradersmoved products much like a bucket brigade, with luxurygoods being traded from one middleman to another, fromChina to the West, and resulting in extravagant prices forthe trade goods.After Genghis, the merchant partner business continuedto flourish under his successors Ögedei and Güyük. Mer-chants brought clothing, food, and other provisions to theimperial palaces, and in return the Great Khans gave themerchants tax exemptions, and allowed them to use theofficial relay stations of the Mongol Empire. Merchantsalso served as tax farmers in China, Russia and Iran. Ifthe merchants were attacked by bandits, losses weremadeup from the imperial treasury.Policies changed under the Great KhanMöngke. Becauseof money laundering and overtaxing, he attempted tolimit abuses and sent imperial investigators to supervisethe ortoq businesses. He decreed all merchants must paycommercial and property taxes, and he paid off all draftsdrawn by high-rankingMongol elites from themerchants.This policy continued in the Yuan dynasty. Möngke-Temür granted the Genoese and the Venetians exclusiverights to hold Caffa and Azov in 1267. The Golden Hordepermitted German merchants to trade in all of its territo-ries including Russian principalities in the 1270s.The fall of the Mongol Empire led to the collapse of thepolitical unity along the Silk Road. Also falling victimwere the cultural and economic aspects of its unity. Tur-kic tribes seized the western end of the Silk Road fromthe decaying Byzantine Empire, and sowed the seedsof a Turkic culture that would later crystallize into theOttoman Empire under the Sunni faith. Turkic–Mongolmilitary bands in Iran, after some years of chaos wereunited under the Saffavid tribe, under whom the modernIranian nation took shape under the Shiite faith. Mean-while, Mongol princes in Central Asia were content withSunni orthodoxy with decentralized princedoms of theChagatai, Timurid and Uzbek houses. In the Kypchak–Tatar zone, Mongol khanates all but crumbled underthe assaults of the Black Death and the rising power ofMuscovy. In the East, the native Chinese overthrew theYuan dynasty in 1368, launching their own Ming dynastyand pursuing a policy of economic isolationism.[13]

The introduction of gunpowder contributed to the fall ofthe Mongols, as previously conquered tribes used it to re-assert their independence. Gunpowder had differing ef-fects depending on the region. In Europe, gunpowder andearly modernity lent to the integration of territorial statesand increasing mercantilism. Along the Silk Road, it wasquite the opposite: failure to maintain the level of inte-

gration of the Mongol Empire, and a resulting decline intrade, partially exacerbated by the increase in Europeanmaritime trade. By 1400, the Silk Road no longer servedas a shipping route for silk.

3.4.1 Marco Polo’s observations

Archbishop John of Cilician Armenia, in a painting from 1287.His dress displays a Chinese dragon, an indication of the thrivingexchanges with the Mongol Empire during the reign of KublaiKhan (1260-1294)

One of the most impressive discoveries that Marco Polomade on his visit to Mongolia is how the empire’s mone-tary system worked. He was not impressed by the silverAkçe that the empire used for a unified currency, or thatsome realms of the empire still used local currency, buthe was most surprised by the fact that in some parts ofthe empire the people used paper currency.[14]

Marco Polo considered the use of paper currency in theMongol Empire one of the marvels of the world. Papercurrency wasn’t used in the entire empire. The Chinesesilver ingot was accepted universally as currency through-out the empire, while local coins were also used in somewestern areas, such as the modern day Iran. Paper cur-rency was used in China, continuing the practice estab-lished by the Chinese several hundred years before. The

3.4. TRADE ROUTES 15

Chinese had mastered the technology of printmaking andtherefore it was relatively simple for them to print bills.Paper currency was used in China since 960 A.D., whenthe Song dynasty started replacing their copper coinagewith paper currency. When the Mongols invaded SongChina they started issuing their own Mongolian bills in1227. This first attempt by the Mongols did not last longbecause the notes issued expired after several years andwere inconsistent throughout the parts of theMongol Em-pire that issued them. In 1260, Kublai Khan created theYuanMongol’s first unified paper currency with notes thatdid not have any expiration date. To validate the cur-rency, it was made fully exchangeable to silver and goldand was accepted as tax payments. Currency distributionwas small at first, but the war against the southern Songdramatically increased circulation. With the defeat ofthe Song, their currency was taken out of circulation andcould be exchanged with Mongol currency at a relativelyhigh exchange rate. Regardless of persistent inflation af-ter 1272, paper currency backed by limited releases ofcoins remained as the standard means of currency until1345. Around 1345, rebellions, economic crisis, and fi-nancial mismanagement of paper currency destroyed thepublic’s confidence in the bills.[15]

To initiate the transition from other forms of compen-sation to paper currency the government made refusingto accept the bill punishable by death. To avoid devalu-ation, the penalty for forging or counterfeiting was alsodeath.[16][17]

3.4.2 Appanage system

Members of the Golden Kin (or Golden Family - Altanurag) were entitled to a share (khubi - хувь) of the bene-fits of each part of the Mongol Empire just as each Mon-gol noble and their family, as well as each warrior, wasentitled to an appropriate measure of all the goods seizedin war.In 1206, Genghis Khan gave large lands with people asshare to his family and loyal companions, of whom mostwere people of common origin. Shares of booty were dis-tributed much more widely. Empresses, princesses andmeritorious servants, as well as children of concubines,all received full shares including war prisoners.[18] For ex-ample, Kublai called 2 siege engineers from the Ilkhanatein Middle East, then under the rule of his nephew Abaqa.After the Mongol conquest in 1238, the port cities inCrimea paid the Jochids custom duties and the revenueswere divided among all Chingisid princes in Mongol Em-pire accordance with the appanage system.[19] As loyal al-lies, the Kublaids in East Asia and the Ilkahnids in Persiasent clerics, doctors, artisans, scholars, engineers and ad-ministrators to and received revenues from the appanagesin each other’s khanates.After Genghis Khan (1206–1227) distributed nomadicgrounds and cities in Mongolia and North China to

his mother Hoelun, youngest brother Temüge and othermembers and Chinese districts in Manchuria to hisother brothers, Ögedei distributed shares in North China,Khorazm, Transoxiana to the Golden Family, imperialsons in law (khurgen-хүргэн) and notable generals in1232-1236. Great Khan Möngke divided up shares orappanages in Persia and made redistribution in CentralAsia in 1251-1256.[20] Although Chagatai Khanate wasthe smallest in its size, Chagatai Khans owned Kat andKhiva towns in Khorazm, few cities and villages in Shanxiand Iran in spite of their nomadic grounds in CentralAsia.[18] First Ilkhan Hulagu owned 25,000 households ofsilk-workers in China, valleys in Tibet as well as pastures,animals, men in Mongolia.[18] His descendant Ghazan ofPersia sent envoys with precious gifts to Temür Khan ofYuan dynasty to request his great-grandfather’s shares inGreat Yuan in 1298. It is claimed that Ghazan receivedhis shares that were not sent since the time of MöngkeKhan.[21]

Mongol and non-Mongol appanage holders demanded ex-cessive revenues and freed themselves from taxes. Ögedeidecreed that nobles could appoint darughachi and judgesin the appanages instead direct distribution without thepermission of Great Khan thanks to genius Khitan minis-ter Yelu Chucai. Kublai Khan continued Ögedei’s regu-lations somehow, however, both Güyük and Möngke re-stricted the autonomy of the appanages before. Ghazanalso prohibited any misfeasance of appanage holders inIlkhanate and Yuan councillor Temuder restricted Mon-gol nobles’ excessive rights on the appanages in Chinaand Mongolia.[22] Kublai’s successor and Khagan Temürabolished imperial son-in-lawGoryeo King Chungnyeol's358 departments which caused financial pressures to theKorean people,[23] whose country was under the controlof the Mongols.[24][25][26][27]

The appanage system was severely affected beginningwith the civil strife in the Mongol Empire in 1260-1304.[21][28] Nevertheless, this system survived. For ex-ample, Abaqa of the Ilkhanate allowedMöngke Temür ofthe GoldenHorde to collect revenues from silk workshopsin northern Persia in 1270 and Baraq of the ChagataiKhanate sent his Muslim vizier to Ilkhanate, ostensiblyto investigate his appanages there (The vizier’s main mis-sion was to spy on the Ilkhanids in fact) in 1269.[29] Aftera peace treaty declared among Mongol Khans: Temür,Duwa, Chapar, Tokhta and Oljeitu in 1304, the systembegan to see a recovery. During the reign of Tugh Temür,Yuan court received a third of revenues of the cities ofTransoxiana under Chagatai Khans while Chagatai elitessuch as Eljigidey, Duwa Temür, Tarmashirin were givenlavish presents and sharing in the Yuan dynasty’s patron-age of Buddhist temples.[30] Tugh Temür was also givensome Russian captives by Chagatai prince Changshi aswell as Kublai’s future khatun Chabi had servant AhmadFanakati from Fergana Valley before her marriage.[31] In1326, Golden Horde started sending tributes to GreatKhans of Yuan dynasty again. By 1339, Ozbeg and his

16 CHAPTER 3. SOCIETY OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

successors had received annually 24 thousand ding inpaper currency from their Chinese appanages in Shanxi,Cheli and Hunan.[32] H. H. Howorth noted that Ozbeg’senvoy required his master’s shares from the Yuan court,the headquarters of the Mongol world, for the establish-ment of new post stations in 1336.[33] This communica-tion ceased only with the breakup, succession strugglesand rebellions of Mongol Khanates.[note 1]

3.5 Domestic animals in the Mon-gol Empire

“Hunting Wild Geese” ( ), Hanging scroll with ink and col-ors, by Anonymous, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). This paintingdepicts a hunting party on a path surrounded by mountains. Theleader of the party appears to be Temür Khan. The Yuan emper-ors enjoyed hunting and ordered artists to do related paintings onmany occasions to record their trips.

The five domestic animals most important in the Mon-gol Empire were horses (most important), cattle, camels,sheep, and goats. All of these animals were valued fortheir milk and all of the animals’ hides were used forclothing and shelter. Though often considered unattrac-tive by other cultures, Mongolian domestic animals werewell adapted to cold weather as well as shortages of foodand water. These animals were and still are known tosurvive under these conditions while animals from otherregions perish.

3.5.1 Horses

Horses were by far the most important animal to the an-cient Mongols. Not only were they fairly self-sufficient,but they were hardy and fast. Smaller than most, theseanimals could travel long distances without fatigue. Theywere also well adapted to the harsh winters and dugthrough the snow looking for grass to feed off of. Almostevery family possessed at least one horse, and in somecases, horses were buried with their owners to serve withthem in the next life. Mongolian horses were probablythe most important factor of the Mongol Empire. With-out the extremely skilled, not to mention famous, cavalry,the Mongols would not have been able to raid and cap-ture the huge area they did and the Mongols would not beknown, even today, as skilled horsemen. It also servedas an animal that Mongols could drink blood from, bycutting into a vein in the neck and drinking it, especiallyon harsh, long rides from place to place. For additionalsustenance, horse mare’s milk was made into an alcoholicbeverage, known as airag. Horses allowed theMongols totravel over twenty kilometers (13 miles) per hour whichwas great for ancient times.[34]

3.5.2 Cattle

Cattle were used mainly as beasts of burden but they werealso valued for their milk, though not as much so for theirmeat. They lived on the open range and were fairly easyto maintain. They were released early in the morning tograze without a herder or overseer and wandered back ontheir own in the afternoon. Though they were a part of thedomestic animal population, they were not that commonin the early empire. In the early time period, only ninepercent of all domestic animals were cattle.[35]

3.5.3 Camels

See also: Camel trainCamels, along with cattle, were also used as beasts ofburden. As they were domesticated (between 4000-3000BC), they became one of the most important animals forland based trade in Asia. The reasons for this were thatthey did not require roads to travel on, they could carry upto 500 pounds of goods and supplies, and they did not re-quire much water for long journeys. Besides being beastsof burden, camels’ hair was used as a main fiber in Mon-golian textiles.[36]

3.5.4 Sheep/goats

Sheep and goats were most valued for their milk, meat,and wool. The wool of sheep in particular was very valu-able. The shearing was usually done in the spring beforethe herds were moved to mountain pastures. Most im-portantly, it was used for making felt to insulate Mongo-

3.7. TOOLS OF WARFARE 17

Kalmucks and Mongols riding camels over the Great Steppe

lian homes, called gers, however it was also used for rugs,saddle blankets, and clothing. Ideal herd numbers wereusually about 1000. To reach this quota, groups of peoplewould combine their herds and travel together with theirsheep and goats.[37]

3.6 Traditional Mongolian cloth-ing

Clothing of the Mongol nobles.

During the Mongol Empire, there was a uniform type ofMongol dress though variations according to wealth, sta-tus, and gender did occur. These differences included thedesign, colour, cut, and elaborateness of the outfit. Thefirst layer consisted of a long, ankle length robe called acaftan. Some caftans had a square collar but the majorityoverlapped in the front to fasten under the arm creatinga slanting collar. The skirt of the caftan was sewn onseparately, and sometimes ruffles were added dependingon the purpose and class of the person wearing it. Men

and unmarried women tied their caftans with two belts,one thin, leather one beneath a large, broad sash that cov-ered the stomach. Once a woman became married, shestopped wearing the sash. Instead she wore a very fullcaftan and some had a short-sleeved jacket that openedin the front. For women of higher rank, the overlappingcollar of their caftan was decorated with elaborate bro-cade and they wore full sleeves and a train that servantshad to carry. For both genders, trousers were worn underthe caftan probably because of the nomadic traditions ofthe Mongol people.The materials used to create caftans varied accordingto status and wealth. They ranged anywhere from silk,brocade, cotton, and valuable furs for richer groups, toleather, wool, and felt for those less well off. Season alsodictated the type of fabric worn, especially for those thatcould afford it. In the summer, Middle Eastern silk andbrocades were favored whereas in the winter furs wereused to add additional warmth. During the Mongol Em-pire, people did not believe in washing their clothes, orthemselves. They refrained from doing this because itwas their belief that by washing, they would pollute thewater and anger the dragons that controlled the water cy-cle. Therefore, clothes were often not changed until theyfell off or fell apart, except for holidays when specializedrobes were worn. Because of this, the smell of the outfitwas seen as an important aspect of the wearer. For exam-ple, if the Great Khan were to give his previously wornclothing (with his smell on it) to a loyal subject, it wouldbe considered a great honor to have not only the clothing,but the smell as well.Colour was also an important characteristic of clothingbecause it had symbolic meaning. During large festivitiesheld by the Khan, he would give his important diplomatsspecial robes to wear with specific colours according towhat was being celebrated. These were worn only duringthe specific festival, and if one was caught wearing it atother times, punishments were extremely severe, as werethe rules during the time of Khubilai Khan.The footwear of the traditional Mongol Empire consistedmainly of boots or leather sandals made out of cow fur.This footwear was thick and often smelled of cow dung.Both the left foot and the right foot were identical andthey were made of leather, cotton, or silk. Many layerswere sewn together to create the sole of the boot then sep-arately made uppers were attached. The upper sections ofthe boots were usually dark in colour and the soles werelight. Light strips of fabric were sewn over the seams tomake them more durable. Boots usually had a pointed orupturned toe but lacked a heel.[38][39] [40]

3.7 Tools of warfare

From 1206 to 1405 the Mongol Empire displayed theirmilitary strength by conquering land between the Yel-

18 CHAPTER 3. SOCIETY OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

low Sea and the Eastern European border. This wouldnot have been possible without their specialized horses,bows and arrows, and swords. They conquered numerousneighboring territories, which eventually led to history’slargest contiguous land-based empire.The Mongol Empire utilized the swiftness and strengthof the horses to their advantage. Despite being only 12to 13 hands high, the Mongols respected these small an-imals. At a young age, boys trained with the horses byhunting and herding with them. Eventually they becameexperienced riders, which prepared them for the militarylife that awaited them when they turned fifteen years old.Once these boys become soldiers, four to seven horseswere given to them to alternate between. This large num-ber of horses ensured that some were always rested andready to fight. Because of this, a soldier had little excuseto fall behind in his tasks. Overall, the Mongol Societyadored these animals because of their gentleness and loy-alty to its master. Anyone who abused or neglected tofeed these horses properly was subjected to punishmentby the government.The Mongol Empire considered horses as an importantfactor to its success and tailored other weapons to them.The bow and arrow was created to be light enough toattack enemies while on horseback. The Mongols usedcomposite bows made from birch, sinew and the hornsof sheep. This made sturdy but light bows. Three typesof arrows were created for different purposes. The mostcommon arrow used for warfare was the pointed ironhead, which could travel as far as 200 metres. If a sol-dier wanted to slice the flesh of the opposing member,the v-shaped point was used. In times of war, soldierswould shoot the third form of arrow with holes, usedfor signalling. By listening to the whistling sounds thatwere produced by this type of arrow, soldiers were ableto march in a required direction.Soldiers primarily used horses and the bow and arrowin times of war, but the military took extra precautions.They prepared for any close range combat by supplyingthe soldiers with swords, axes, spears, and forks. Hal-berds, a pole with a two sided blade, were given to thoseof wealth and the remaining members of the military car-ried clubs ormaces. Along with these necessities, themil-itary provided their soldiers with leather sacks and files.The leather sacks were used to carry and keep items suchas weapons dry. They also could be inflated and used asfloats during river crossings. The files were for sharpeningthe arrows. If any soldier was found missing his weapons,he would be punished. Some punishment would be get-ting whipped, doing very hard physical activities, or pos-sibly having to leave the army.Even though the military of the Mongol Empire providedweapons for every soldier, armor was available only to thewealthier soldiers. These individuals wore iron chains orscales, protected their arms and legs with leather strips,wore iron helmets, and used iron shields. The horses of

the more well-to-do were also protected to their kneeswith iron armor and a head plate. The majority of the sol-diers in the Mongol Empire were poor. Therefore, manywalked into battle with minimal protection, although allof the soldiers had very little armor compared to theknights in armor of Europe.[41] [42] [43] [44] [45]

3.8 Kinship and family life

The traditional Mongol family was patriarchal, patrilin-eal and patrivirilocal. Wives were brought for each ofthe sons, while daughters were married off to other clans.Wife-taking clans stood in a relation of inferiority towife-giving clans. Thus wife-giving clans were consid-ered “elder” or “bigger” in relation to wife-taking clans,who were considered “younger” or “smaller”.[46][47] Thisdistinction, symbolized in terms of “elder” and “younger”or “bigger” and “smaller”, was carried into the clan andfamily as well, and all members of a lineage were ter-minologically distinguished by generation and age, withsenior superior to junior.In the traditional Mongolian family, each son received apart of the family herd as he married, with the elder sonreceiving more than the younger son. The youngest sonwould remain in the parental tent caring for his parents,and after their death he would inherit the parental tentin addition to his own part of the herd. This inheritancesystem was mandated by law codes such as the Yassa,created by Genghis Khan.[48] Likewise, each son inher-ited a part of the family’s camping lands and pastures,with the elder son receiving more than the younger son.The eldest son inherited the farthest camping lands andpastures, and each son in turn inherited camping landsand pastures closer to the family tent until the youngestson inherited the camping lands and pastures immediatelysurrounding the family tent. Family units would often re-main near each other and in close cooperation, though ex-tended families would inevitably break up after a few gen-erations. It is probable that the Yasa simply put into writ-ten law the principles of customary law. Nilgün Dalke-sen wrote in Gender Roles and Women’s Status in CentralAsia and Anatolia between the Thirteenth and SixteenthCenturies: “It is apparent that in many cases, for exam-ple in family instructions, the yasa tacitly accepted theprinciples of customary law and avoided any interferencewith them. For example, Riasanovsky said that killingthe man or the woman in case of adultery is a good illus-tration. Yasa permitted the institutions of polygamy andconcubinage so characteristic of southerly nomadic peo-ples. Children born of concubines were legitimate. Se-niority of children derived their status from their mother.Eldest son receivedmore than the youngest after the deathof father. But the latter inherited the household of the fa-ther. Children of concubines also received a share in theinheritance, in accordance with the instructions of theirfather (or with custom)"[49]

3.9. WOMEN OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE 19

After the family, the next largest social units were thesubclan and clan. These units were derived from groupsclaiming patrilineal descent from a common ancestor,ranked in order of seniority (the “conical clan”). By theChingissid era this ranking was symbolically expressedat formal feasts, in which tribal chieftains were seatedand received particular portions of the slaughtered ani-mal according to their status.[50] The lineage structure ofCentral Asia had three different modes. It was organizedon the basis of genealogical distance, or the proximity ofindividuals to one another on a graph of kinship; genera-tional distance, or the rank of generation in relation to acommon ancestor, and birth order, the rank of brothersin relation to each another.[51] The paternal descent lineswere collaterally ranked according to the birth of theirfounders, and were thus considered senior and junior toeach other. Of the various collateral patrilines, the seniorin order of descent from the founding ancestor, the lineof eldest sons, was the most noble. In the steppe, no onehad his exact equal; everyone found his place in a systemof collaterally ranked lines of descent from a commonancestor.[52] It was according to this idiom of superiorityand inferiority of lineages derived from birth order thatlegal claims to superior rank were couched.[53]

Mongol kinship is one of a particular patrilineal typeclassed as Omaha kinship, in which relatives are groupedtogether under separate terms that crosscut generations,age, and even sexual difference. Thus, a man’s father’ssister’s children, his sister’s children, and his daughter’schildren are all called by another term. A further attributeis strict terminological differentiation of siblings accord-ing to seniority.The division of Mongolian society into senior elite lin-eages and subordinate junior lineages was waning by thenineteenth century. During the 1920s the Communistregime was established. The remnants of the Mongolianaristocracy fought alongside the Japanese and againstChinese, Soviets and Communist Mongolians duringWorld War II, but were defeated. There are some peo-ple today, though, who claim descent from the Mongolaristocracy.The anthropologist Herbert Harold Vreeland visited threeMongol communities in 1920 and published a highly de-tailed book with the results of his field work, “Mon-gol community and kinship structure”, now publiclyavailable.[54]

3.9 Women of the Mongol Empire

Compared to other civilizations, Mongolian women hadthe power to influence society. Even though men weredominant in society, many turned to women in their livesfor advice. While developing organizations within theMongol Empire, Genghis Khan asked for assistance fromhis mother. He honored the advice women in his life of-

Arghun’s wife was Buluqhan Khatun, who gave birth to Ghazan(here being breastfed). Rashid al-Din, early 14th century.

fered. Genghis Khan permitted his wives to sit with himand encouraged them to voice their opinions. Because oftheir help, Genghis was able to choose his successor.The Mongols considered marriage as the passage intoadulthood. Before a marriage could proceed, the bride’sfamily was required to offer “a dowry of clothing orhousehold ornaments” to the groom’s mother. To avoidpaying the dowry, families could exchange daughters orthe groom could work for his future father-in-law. Oncethe dowry was settled, the bride’s family presented herwith an inheritance of livestock or servants. Typically,married women of the Mongol Empire wore headdressesto distinguish themselves from the unmarried women.It is claimed that the Yassa/Zasag prohibited trade inwomen.Marriages in the Mongol Empire were arranged, howeverGenghis Khan´s later nokoger (literally “women friends”but seen as wives usually and later) and those of his offi-cers were not ever paid for with any bride price, but menwere permitted to practice polygamy. Since each wifehad their own yurt, the husband had the opportunity tochoose where he wanted to sleep each night. Visitors tothis region found it remarkable that marital complicationsdid not arise. The location of the yurts between the wivesdiffered depending on who married first. The first wifeplaced her yurt to the east and the other wives placed theiryurts to the west. Even though a husband remained at-

20 CHAPTER 3. SOCIETY OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

tached to his first wife, the women were “docile, diligent,and lacked jealousy” towards one another.After the husband had slept with one of his wives, the oth-ers congregated in her yurt to share drinks with the cou-ple. The wives of the Mongol Empire were not botheredby the presence of the other women in their household.As a married woman, she displayed her “maturity and in-dependence from her father” to society. The women de-voted their lives to their daily tasks, which included phys-ical work outside the household. Women worked by load-ing the yurts, herding and milking all the livestock, andmaking felt for the yurt. Along with these chores, theywere expected to cook and sew for their husband, theirchildren, and their elders.A wife’s devotion to her husband continued after hisdeath. Remarriages during the Mongol Empire did notoccur often. Instead, her youngest son or her youngestbrother took care of her. However Genghis Khan had al-lowed remarriage of widows including the levirate.[42] [43][44] [55] [56]

Mongol women enjoyed more freedoms than those intheir foreign vassal countries. They refused to adoptthe Chinese practice of footbinding and wear chadors orburqas. The Mongolian women were allowed to moveabout more freely in public. Toward the end of the Mon-gol Empire, however, the increasing influence of Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism and Islamicization saw greaterlimits placed on Mongol women.[57]

3.10 Mongol dwellings

A reconstruction of an ancient Mongol tribe, located near theGenghis Khan Equestrian Statue

Mongols have been living in virtually the same dwellingssince at least the 6th century AD. These dwellings arecalled gers, and during theMongol Empire they consistedof a round, collapsible wooden frame covered in felt. Theroof was formed from about 80 wooden rods attached atone end to the wall frame and at the other to an iron ring inthe center, providing a sturdy base for the felt roof. With-out the roof in place, this frame would have resembled alarge wooden wheel with the wooden spokes convergingat the iron ring. The top of the roof was usually aboutfive feet higher than the walls so precipitation would run

Ger-tereg on the move

Basket and fork for gathering the dung (used as fuel in the yurts),Sükhbaatar Aimag, Mongolia, 1972

to the ground. The ring at the peak of the yurt could beleft open as a vent for smoke and a window for sunlight, orit could be closed with a piece of felt. Doors were madefrom a felt flap or, for richer families, out of wood.The Turkish word for ger, “yurt”, means “homeland” inTurkish and it was probably never used to describe thetent. When the dwelling made its way to Mongolia, itadopted the name “ger” which means “home” in Mongo-lian. They were always set up with the door facing thesouth and tended to have an altar across from the doorwhether the inhabitant were Buddhist or shamanist. Thefloors were dirt, but richer families were able to cover thefloors with felt rugs. Sometimes beds were used, but mostpeople slept on the floor between hides, around the fire pitthat was in the center of the dwelling.The first known yurt was seen engraved on a bronze bowlthat was found in the Zagros Mountains of southern Iran,dating back to 600 BC, but the felt tent probably did notarrive in Mongolia for another thousand years. When theyurt did arrive, however, it quickly came into widespreaduse because of its ability to act in concert with the no-madic lifestyle of the Mongols. Most of the Mongol peo-ple were herders and moved constantly from southern re-gions in the winter months to the northern steppes in sum-mer as well as moving periodically to fresh pastures. Theyurts’ size and the felt walls made them relatively cool inthe summers and warm in the winters allowing the Mon-gols to live in the same dwelling year-round. Disassem-

3.13. REFERENCES 21

bling the yurts only took about an hour, as did puttingthem back up in a new location. This is why there are stillsome doubts today about the assumption that the yurtshave ever been really put on carts pulled by oxen for trans-porting them from camp to camp, without disassemblingthem, or if these carts are just a legend. Some travel-ers, like Marco Polo, did mention them in their writings:“They [the Mongols] have circular houses made of woodand covered with felt, which they carry about with themon four wheeled wagons wherever they go. For the frame-work of rods is so neatly constructed that it is light tocarry.” (Polo, 97) Yurts could be heated with dried dung,found in abundance with the traveling herds, so no timberwas needed.[58] The felt for the covering was made fromwool that was taken from sheep also present in mostMon-gol herds. The wooden frame was handed down from onegeneration to the next and seldom had to be replaced.Today, yurts follow the same basic design though they areusually covered in canvas, use an iron stove and stovepipe,and use a collapsible lattice work frame for the walls.They are still used in parts of rural China, central Mon-golia, and by the Kyrgyz of Kyrgyzstan.[59][60][61][62]

3.11 See also

• Organization of the Mongol Empire under GenghisKhan

• Religion in the Mongol Empire

3.12 Notes[1] Ilkhanate broke up in 1335; the succession struggles of the

Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate started in 1359and 1340 respectively; the Yuan army fought against theRed Turban Rebellion since the 1350s.

3.13 References[1] BUELL, PAUL D. (1979). “SINO-KHITAN ADMIN-

ISTRATION IN MONGOL BUKHARA”. Journal ofAsian History. Harrassowitz Verlag. 13 (No. 2): 137–8. JSTOR 41930343.

[2] Charles Bawden. Mongolian-English Dictionary

[3] Allsen, Thomas T. Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eura-sia. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001. 128-129

[4] Amitai-Preiss, Reuven, and David O. Morgan, eds. TheMongol Empire and its Legacy. Leiden: Brill, 1999. 200-222

[5] Atwood, Christopher P. “Daily Food in the Mongol Em-pire.” The Encyclopedia of The Mongols and the MongolEmpire. 1 vols. New York: Facts on File, 2004

[6] Atwood, Christopher P. “Food and Drink.” The Encyclo-pedia of TheMongols and theMongol Empire. 1 vols. NewYork: Facts on File, 2004.

[7] Weatherford, pp. 175-176

[8] A.P. Martinez, The use of Mint-output data in Historicalresearch on the Western appanages, p.87-100

[9] Atwood, Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Em-pire, p. 362

[10] The history of Yuan dynasty and Spuler Golden Horde

[11] Bruce G. Lippard The Mongols and Byzantium

[12] A. P. Martinez The use of Mint-output data in Historicalresearch on the Western appanages, p.120-126

[13] Guoli Liu-Chinese foreign policy in transition, p.364

[14] Allsen, Thomas T. Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eura-sia. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001. 177-179.

[15] Amitai-Preiss, Reuven, and David O. Morgan, eds. TheMongol Empire and Its Legacy. Leiden: Brill, 1999. 200-222.

[16] Atwood, Christopher P. “Paper Currency in the MongolEmpire.” The Encyclopedia of The Mongols and the Mon-gol Empire. 1 vols. New York: Facts on File, 2004.

[17] Atwood, Christopher P. “Money in the Mongol Empire.”The Encyclopedia of The Mongols and the Mongol Empire.1 vols. New York: Facts on File, 2004..

[18] Weatherford, pp. 220-227

[19] Jackson, “Dissolution of Mongol Empire”, pp. 186-243

[20] Grousset, Empire of the Steppes, p. 286

[21] Jackson, Peter, “from Ulus to Khanate: The making ofMongol States, c. 1220-1290” in Amitai-Preiss, Reuven,The Mongol Empire and its legacy (2000), p.p. 12-38,ISBN 978-90-04-11946-8

[22] Cambridge History of China

[23] Chongson, The history of Gaoli

[24] Herbert Franke, Denis Twitchett, The Cambridge Historyof China: Volume 6, “Alien Regimes and Border States”,p.436

[25] Morgan, The Mongols, p. 120

[26] Jae-un Kang, Suzanne Lee, The land of scholars: twothousand years of Korean Confucianism

[27] Hyŏng-sik Sin, A Brief history of Korea

[28] Atwood, p. 32

[29] A COMPENDIUM OF CHRONICLES: Rashid al-Din’s Il-lustrated History of the World (The Nasser D. Khalili Col-lection of Islamic Art, VOL XXVII) ISBN 0-19-727627-X or Reuven Amitai-Preiss (1995), Mongols and Mam-luks: The Mamluk-Īlkhānid War, 1260-1281, p.p. 179-225. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-46226-6.

22 CHAPTER 3. SOCIETY OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

[30] W. Barthold Chagatay Khanate in Encyclopedia of Islam2ed, 3-4; Kazuhide Kato Kebek and Yasawr: the estab-lishment of Chagatai Khanate 97-118

[31] Handbuch Der Orientalistik by Agustí Alemany, DenisSinor, Bertold Spuler, Hartwig Altenmüller, pp.391-408,Encyclopedia of Mongolia and Mongol Empire, “AhmadFanakati”

[32] Thomas T. Allsen, Sharing out the Empire 172-190

[33] Howorth, p. 172

[34] Atwood, Christopher P. “Cattle”. The Encyclopedia ofMongolia and the Mongol Empire. 1 vol. New York: Factson File, 2004.

[35] Polo, Marco. The Travels. Ed. Ronald Latham London:Penguin Books, 1598.

[36]

[37] Atwood, Christopher P. “Sheep”. The Encyclopedia ofMongolia and the Mongol Empire. 1 vol. New York: Factson File, 2004.

[38] Allsen, Thomas T. Commodity and Trade in the Mon-gol Empire: A Cultural History of Islamic Textiles. Mas-sachusetts. Cambridge University Press, 1997.

[39] Atwood, Christopher P. “Clothing”. The Encyclopedia ofMongolia and the Mongol Empire. 1 vol. New York: Factson File, 2004.

[40] Atwood, Christopher P. “Footwear”. The Encyclopedia ofMongolia and the Mongol Empire. 1 vol. New York: Factson File, 2004.

[41] Atwood, Christopher P. “The Soldiers:Weaponry, Train-ing, Rewards.” The Encyclopedia of Mongolia and theMongol Empire. 1 vol. New York: Facts on File, 2004.

[42] Howorth, Sir Henry H. History of the Mongols: Part IV.Taipei: Ch’eng Wen Publishing Company, 1970.

[43] Hyer, Paul, and Sechin Jagchid. Mongolia’s Culture andSociety. Boulder: Westview Press, 1979.

[44] Lamb, Harold. The March of the Barbarians. New York:Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc, 1940.

[45] Phillips, E.D. Ancient Peoples and Places: The Mongols.64 vols. London: Thames and Hudson, 1969.

[46] Vreeland 1962:160

[47] Aberle 1953:23-24

[48] “Justice And Jurisprudence”. Mypolice.ca. Retrieved2014-02-14.

[49] “Gender Roles and Women’s Status in Central Asia andAnatolia between the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Centuries”(PDF). Etd.lib.metu.edu.tr. Retrieved 2014-02-14.

[50] Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classi-cal History - Google Libros. Books.google.es. Retrieved2014-02-14.

[51] Cuisenier (1975:67)

[52] Krader (1963:322, 269)

[53] “Kinship Structure and Political Authority : The MiddleEast and Central Asia” (PDF). Psychologie.dev.czu.cz.Retrieved 2014-02-14.

[54] “Mongol community and kinship structure. . - Full View| HathiTrust Digital Library | HathiTrust Digital Library”.Babel.hathitrust.org. 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2014-02-14.

[55] Atwood, Christopher P. “TheMongol Empire.”The Ency-clopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. 1 vol. NewYork: Facts on File, 2004.

[56] Polo, Marco. The Travels. Ed. Ronald Latham London:Penguin Books, 1958

[57] Peggy Martin AP World History, p.133

[58] “Glossary ... Argal -- camel droppings, used as fuel”.--Fritz Mühlenweg (1954) Big Tiger and Christian. London:Jonathan Cape; p. 14

[59] Atwood, Christopher P. Encyclopedia ofMongolia and theMongol Empire. New York: Facts on File, 2004.

[60] Howorth, Henry H. History of the Mongols. Vol. 4. NewYork: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1927.

[61] Polo, Marco. The Travels. Trans. Ronald Latham. Har-mondsworth: Penguin Books, 1958.

[62] tim scarlett. “Ulaantaij the finest yurts Mongolia produces- guaranteed”. Ulaantaij.com. Retrieved 2014-02-14.

Chapter 4

Mongol military tactics and organization

“Mongol Army” redirects here. For the armed forces ofmodern Mongolia, see Mongolian Armed Forces.The Mongol military tactics and organization en-

Mongol warrior on horseback, preparing a mounted archeryshot.

abled the Mongol Empire to conquer nearly all of conti-nental Asia, the Middle East and parts of eastern Europe.The original foundation of that system was an extensionof the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongols. Other elementswere invented by Genghis Khan, his generals, and his suc-cessors. Technologies useful to attack fortifications wereadapted from other cultures, and foreign technical expertsintegrated into the command structures.For the larger part of the 12th century, the Mongols lostonly a few battles using that system, and always returnedto turn the result around in their favor. In many cases,they won against significantly larger opposing armies.Their first defeat in theWest came in 1223 at the Battle ofSamara Bend by the hands of the Volga Bulgars. The sec-ond one was at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, against thefirst army which had been specifically trained to use theirown tactics against them.[1][2][3] But again they would re-turn over 40 years later and defeat the Egyptian Mamluksat the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in 1299 and annexSyria, Palestine as well as Gaza. The Mongols suffereddefeats in attempted invasions of Vietnam and Japan. Butwhile the empire became divided around the same time,its combined size and influence remained largely intactfor more than another hundred years

4.1 Organization

In accordance with Mongol civil and social structure,outstanding obedience and firm discipline provided thebackbone for their military. According to Italian explorerGiovanni da Pian del Caprine, "The Tatars—that is, theMongols—are the most obedient people in the world in re-gard to their leaders, more so even than our own clergy totheir superiors. They hold them in the greatest reverenceand never tell them a lie".[4] Army delegates were choseneither by their blood association of the Khan family orby military-related meritocracy. Each delegate receivedresponsibility and their respective titles:[4]

Transfers between units were forbidden. The leaders oneach level had significant license to execute their ordersin the way they considered best. This command struc-ture proved to be highly flexible and allowed the Mongolarmy to attack en masse, divide into somewhat smallergroups to encircle and lead enemies into an ambush, ordivide into small groups of 10 tomop up a fleeing and bro-ken army. Individual soldiers were responsible for theirequipment, weapons, and up to fivemounts, although theyfought as part of a unit. Their families and herds wouldaccompany them on foreign expeditions.Above all units, there existed an elite force calledKheshig. They functioned as imperial guard of the Mon-gol Empire as well as a training ground for potentialyoung officers, the great Subutai having started his careerthere.

4.1.1 Mobility

EachMongol soldier typicallymaintained 3 or 4 horses.[5]Changing horses often allowed them to travel at highspeed for days without stopping or wearing out the an-imals. Their ability to live off the land, and in extremesituations off their animals (mare’s milk especially), madetheir armies far less dependent on the traditional logisti-cal apparatus of agrarian armies. In some cases, as duringthe invasion of Hungary in early 1241, they covered upto 100 miles (160 km) per day, which was unheard of byother armies of the time.The mobility of individual soldiers made it possible to

23

24 CHAPTER 4. MONGOL MILITARY TACTICS AND ORGANIZATION

Drawing of a mobile Mongol soldier with bow and arrow wear-ing deel. The right arm is semi-naked because of the hot weather.

send them on successful scouting missions, gathering in-telligence about routes and searching for terrain suited tothe preferred combat tactics of the Mongols.During the invasion of Kievan Rus, the Mongols usedfrozen rivers as highways, and winter, the time of yearusually off-limits for any major activity due to the intensecold, became the Mongols’ preferred time to strike.To avoid the deadly hail of missiles, enemies would fre-quently spread out, or seek cover, breaking up their for-mations and making them more vulnerable to the lancers’charges. Likewise, when they packed themselves to-gether, into dense square or phalanx style formations,they would become more vulnerable to the arrows.Once the enemy was deemed sufficiently weakened, thenoyans would give the order. The drums would beat andthe signal flags wave, telling the lancers to begin theircharge. Often, the devastation of the arrows was enoughto rout an enemy, so the lancers were only needed to helppursue and mop up the remnants.When facing European armies, whose emphasis was informations of heavy cavalry, the Mongols would avoiddirect confrontation, and would instead use their bows todestroy enemy cavalry at long distances. If the armorwithstood their arrows, the Mongols killed the knights’horses, leaving a heavily armored man on foot and iso-lated.At the Battle of Mohi, the Mongols left open a gap intheir ranks, luring the Hungarians into retreating throughit. This resulted in the Hungarians being strung out overall the countryside and easy pickings for mounted archerswho simply galloped along and picked them off, whilethe lancers skewered them as they fled. At Legnica, afew Teutonic, Templar and Hospitaller knights were dis-mounted due to loss of horses. Their lack of mobility andarchers ensured their sound defeat all the same.

4.1.2 Training and discipline

Mongol armies practiced horsemanship, archery, and unittactics, formations and rotations over and over again. Thistraining was maintained by a hard, but not overly harsh orunreasonable, discipline.Officers and troopers alike were usually given a wideleeway by their superiors in carrying out their orders,so long as the larger objectives of the plan were wellserved and the orders promptly obeyed. The Mongolsthus avoided the pitfalls of overly rigid discipline andmicromanagement which have proven a hobgoblin toarmed forces throughout history. However, all membershad to be unconditionally loyal to each other and to theirsuperiors, and especially to the Khan. If one soldier ranfrom danger in battle, then he and his nine comrades fromthe same arban would face the death penalty together.

4.1.3 Cavalry

Mongol cavalry archery from Rashid-al-Din Hamadani'sUniversal History using the Mongol bow.

Six of every ten Mongol troopers were light cavalry horsearchers; the remaining four were more heavily armoredand armed lancers. Mongol light cavalry were extremelylight troops compared to contemporary standards, allow-ing them to execute tactics and maneuvers that wouldhave been impractical for a heavier enemy (such as Euro-pean knights). Most of the remaining troops were heaviercavalry with lances for close combat after the archers hadbrought the enemy into disarray. Soldiers usually carriedscimitars or battle axes as well.The Mongols protected their horses in the same way as

4.2. LOGISTICS 25

did they themselves, covering them with lamellar armor.Horse armor was divided into five parts and designed toprotect every part of the horse, including the forehead,which had a specially crafted plate which was tied on eachside of the neck.[6]

Mongolian horses are relatively small, but extremelyhardy, self-sufficient and longwinded. These horses couldsurvive in climates that would have killed other breeds,enabling the Mongols to launch successful winter attackson Russia. Mongol horses typically do not require a dailysupply of grain. Their ability to forage grass and twigs ontheir own—and to survive on such fodder—helped freethe Khan’s army from the need for supply lines. TheMongol horse has excellent stamina. In 30 km traditionalraces between Mongol horses and breeds like the Ara-bian or Thoroughbred, it has been found that the latterare faster, but that Mongol horses are better able to runat length. The tireless nature of the Mongol horse meantthat it would have stayed fresh longer in battle, grantedGenghis Khan’s armies an endurance advantage.Seen as a “machine of war,” the Mongol horse is an all-terrain, all-weather vehicle requiring little gas or main-tenance and providing excellent mileage. A warrior re-lied on his herd to provide him with staple foods of milkand meat; hide for bowstrings, shoes, and armor; drieddung to be used as fuel for his fire; hair for rope, battlestandards, musical instruments and helmet decorations;milk also used for shamanistic ceremonies to ensure vic-tory; and for hunting and entertainment that often servedas military training. If he died in battle, a horse wouldsometimes be sacrificed with him to provide a mount forthe afterlife.The main drawback to Mongol horses was their lack ofspeed. They would lose short-distance races under equalconditions with larger horses from other regions. How-ever, since most other armies carried much heavier ar-mor, the Mongols could still outrun most enemy horse-men in battle. In addition, Mongolian horses were ex-tremely durable and sturdy, allowing theMongols tomoveover large distances quickly, often surprising enemies thathad expected them to arrive days or even weeks later.All horses were equipped with stirrups. This technicaladvantage made it easier for the Mongol archers to turntheir upper body, and shoot in all directions, includingbackwards. Mongol warriors would time the loosing ofan arrow to the moment when a galloping horse wouldhave all four feet off the ground, thus ensuring a steady,well-aimed shot.Each soldier had two to four horses so when a horse tiredthey could use the other ones which made them one ofthe fastest armies in the world. This, however, also madethe Mongol army vulnerable to shortages of fodder; cam-paigning in arid regions such as Central Asia or forestedregions of Southern China were thus difficult and even inideal steppe terrain a Mongol force had to keep movingin order to ensure sufficient grazing for its massive horse

herd.

4.2 Logistics

A Mongol warrior with a cheetah

4.2.1 Supply

The Mongol armies traveled very light, and were able tolive largely off the land. Their equipment included fishhooks and other tools meant to make each warrior inde-pendent of any fixed supply source. The most commontravel food of the Mongols was dried and ground meat“Borts”, which is still common in the Mongolian cuisinetoday. Borts is light and easy to transport, and can becooked with water similarly to a modern “instant soup”.To ensure they would always have fresh horses, eachtrooper usually had 3 or 4 mounts.[5] The horse is viewedmuch like a cow in Mongolia, and is milked and slaugh-tered for meat as such. Since most of the Mongols’mounts were mares, they were able to live off their horses’milk or milk products as theymoved through enemy terri-tory. In dire straits, the Mongol warrior could drink someof the blood from his string of remounts. They could sur-vive a whole month only by drinking mare’s milk com-bined with mare’s blood.Heavier equipment was brought up by well organizedsupply trains. Wagons and carts carried, amongst otherthings, large stockpiles of arrows. The main logisticalfactor limiting their advance was finding enough food and

26 CHAPTER 4. MONGOL MILITARY TACTICS AND ORGANIZATION

water for their animals. This would lead to serious diffi-culties during some of the Mongol campaigns, such astheir conflicts with the Mamluks, the arid terrain of Syriaand the Levant making it difficult for largeMongol armiesto penetrate the region, especially given the Mamluk'sscorched earth policy of burning grazing lands throughoutthe region. It also limited the Mongol ability to exploittheir success following the Battle of Mohi, as even theGreat Hungarian Plain was not large enough to providegrazing for all the flocks and herds following Subutai’sarmy permanently.

4.2.2 Communications

The Mongols established a system of postal-relay horsestations, similar to the system employed in ancient Persiafor fast transfer of written messages. The Mongol mailsystem was the first such empire-wide service since theRoman Empire. Additionally, Mongol battlefield com-munication utilized signal flags and horns and to a lesserextent, signal arrows to communicate movement ordersduring combat.

4.3 Costume

A Mongol melee in the 13th century.

The basic costume of the Mongol fighting man consistedof a heavy coat fastened at the waist by a leather belt.From the belt would hang his sword, dagger, and possi-bly an axe. This long robe-like coat would double over,left breast over right, and be secured with a button a fewinches below the right armpit. The coat was lined withfur. Underneath the coat, a shirt-like undergarment withlong, wide sleeves was commonly worn. Silk and metallicthread were increasingly used. TheMongols wore protec-tive heavy silk undershirts. Even if an arrow pierced theirmail or leather outer garment, the silk from the undershirtwould stretch to wrap itself around the arrow as it enteredthe body, reducing damage caused by the arrow shaft, andmaking removal of the arrow easier.The boots were made from felt and leather and thoughheavy would be comfortable and wide enough to accom-

modate the trousers tucked in before lacing tightly. Theywere heelless, though the soles were thick and lined withfur. Worn with felt socks, the feet were unlikely to getcold.Lamellar armor was worn over the thick coat. The armorwas composed of small scales of iron, chain mail, or hardleather sewn together with leather tongs and could weigh10 kilograms (22 lb) if made of leather alone and moreif the cuirass was made of metal scales. The leather wasfirst softened by boiling and then coated in a crude lacquermade from pitch, which rendered it waterproof.[7] Some-times the soldier’s heavy coat was simply reinforced withmetal plates.Helmets were cone shaped and composed of iron or steelplates of different sizes and included iron-plated neckguards. The Mongol cap was conical in shape and madeof quilted material with a large turned-up brim, reversiblein winter, and earmuffs. Whether a soldier’s helmet wasleather or metal depended on his rank and wealth.[6]

4.4 Weapons

Mongol soldiers using bow, in Jami al-Tawarikh by Rashid al-Din, 1305–1306.

See also: Scimitar, Spear, and Battle axe

Mounted archers were a major part of the armies of theMongol Empire, for instance at the 13th-century Battle ofLiegnitz, where an army including 20,000 horse archersdefeated a force of 30,000 armoured troops led by HenryII, duke of Silesia, via demoralization and continuedharassment.[8]

4.4. WEAPONS 27

4.4.1 Mongol bow

Main article: Mongol bow

The primary weapon of the Mongol forces was theircomposite bows made from laminated horn, wood, andsinew. The layer of horn is on the inner face as it resistscompression, while the layer of sinew is on the outer faceas it resists tension. Such bows, with minor variations,had been themain weapon of steppe herdsmen and steppewarriors for over two millennia; Mongols (and many oftheir subject peoples) were extremely skilled with them.Some were said to be able to hit a bird on the wing. Com-posite construction allows a powerful and relatively effi-cient bow to be made small enough that it can be usedeasily from horseback.[6]

Quivers containing sixty arrows were strapped to thebacks of the cavalrymen and to their horses. Mon-gol archers typically carried 2 to 3 bows (one heavierand intended for dismounted use, the other lighter andused from horseback) that were accompanied by multiplequivers and files for sharpening their arrowheads. Thesearrowheads were hardened by plunging them in brine af-ter first heating them red hot.[9]

The Mongols could shoot an arrow over 200 metres (660ft). Targeted shots were possible at a range of 150 or 175metres (492 or 574 ft), which determined the optimal tac-tical approach distance for light cavalry units. Ballisticshots could hit enemy units (without targeting individualsoldiers) at distances of up to 400 metres (1,300 ft), use-ful for surprising and scaring troops and horses beforebeginning the actual attack. Shooting from the back of amoving horse may be more accurate if the arrow is loosedin the phase of the gallop when all four of the horse’s feetare off the ground.[10]

The Mongols may have also used crossbows (possibly ac-quired from the Chinese), also both for infantry and cav-alry, but these were scarcely ever seen or used in battle.The Manchus forbade archery by their Mongol sub-jects, and the Mongolian bowmaking tradition was lost.The present bowmaking tradition emerged after indepen-dence in 1921 and is based on Manchu types of bow,somewhat different to the bows known to have been usedby the Mongol empire.[11] Mounted archery had falleninto disuse and has been revived only in the 21st century.

4.4.2 Sword

Mongol swords were a slightly curved scimitar which wasused for slashing attacks but was also capable of cuttingand thrusting, due to its shape and construction, makingit easier to use from horseback. The sword could be usedwith a one-handed or two-handed grip and had a bladethat was usually around 2.5 feet (0.76 m) in length, withthe over all length of the sword approximately a 1 metre

(3 ft 3 in).

4.4.3 Fire weapons and gunpowder

Several modern scholars have speculated that Chinesefirearms and gunpowder weapons were deployed by theMongols at the Battle of Mohi.[12][13][14][15][16] Reli-able sources mention weapons like “flaming arrows” and“naphtha bombs” being used against not just the Hungar-ian army but also against the Persians.[17][18] It is well doc-umented that the Mongols used cannons and bombs dur-ing the invasions of Japan, which were an early exampleof gunpowder warfare in action. One of the most notableweapons the Mongols used during the invasions was ex-plosive bombs. A mounted samurai being attacked withthese bombs is depicted on a Japanese scroll. [19]

4.4.4 Catapults and machines

Mongols besieging Baghdad in 1258

Technology was one of the important facets ofMongolianwarfare. For instance, siege machines were an importantpart of Genghis Khan’s warfare, especially in attackingfortified cities. The siege engines were not disassembledand carried by horses to be rebuilt at the site of the battle,as was the usual practice with European armies. InsteadtheMongol horde would travel with skilled engineers whowould build siege engines from materials on site.The engineers building the machines were recruitedamong captives, mostly from China and Persia. WhenMongols slaughtered whole populations, they oftenspared the engineers, swiftly assimilating them into theMongol armies.Engineers in Mongol service displayed a considerable de-gree of ingenuity and planning; during a siege of a forti-fied Chinese city the defenders had taken care to removeall large rocks from the region to deny the Mongols anammunition supply for their trebuchets, but the Mongolengineers resorted to cutting up logs which they soakedin water to make suitably heavy spheres. During the siegeof the Assassins' fortress of Alamut theMongols gathered

28 CHAPTER 4. MONGOL MILITARY TACTICS AND ORGANIZATION

large rocks from far and wide, piling them up in depots aday’s journey from one another all the way to their siegelines so that a huge supply was available for the breach-ing batteries operating against the mighty citadel. TheMongols also scouted the hills around the city to find suit-able higher ground on which to mount ballistas mannedby Khitan engineers, allowing these to snipe into the in-terior of the fortress. The Mongols made effective useof the siege technologies developed by their subject peo-ples; Genghis Khan utilized the Chinese engineers andtraction trebuchets he had gained from his victories overthe Jurchens and Tanguts during his Khwarezmian cam-paign, while Kublai Khan later called upon Muslim engi-neers from his Ilkhanate cousins to build counterweighttrebuchets that finally concluded the six year siege ofFancheng and Xiangyang.

Kharash

A commonly used tactic was the use of what was calledthe “kharash”. During a siege theMongols would gather acrowd of local residents or soldiers surrendered from pre-vious battles, and would drive them forward in sieges andbattles. These “living boards” or “human shields” wouldoften take the brunt of enemy arrows and crossbow bolts,thus leaving theMongol warriors safer. The kharash werealso often forced ahead to breach walls.

4.5 Strategy

The Mongol battlefield tactics were a combination ofmasterful training with excellent communication and dis-cipline in the chaos of combat. They trained for virtu-ally every possibility, so when it occurred, they could re-act accordingly. Unlike many of their foes, the Mongolsalso protected their ranking officers well. Their trainingand discipline allowed them to fight without the need forconstant supervision or rallying, which often placed com-manders in dangerous positions.Whenever possible, Mongol commanders found the high-est ground available, from which they could make tac-tical decisions based on the best view of the battlefieldas events unfolded. Furthermore, being on high groundallowed their forces to observe commands conveyed byflags more easily than if the ground were level. In addi-tion, keeping the high command on high ground madethem easier to defend. Unlike the European armies,which placed enormous emphasis on personal valor, andthus exposed their leaders to death from anyone boldenough to kill them, the Mongols regarded their leadersas a vital asset. A general such as Subutai, unable to ridea horse in the later part of his career due to age and obe-sity, would have been ridiculed out of most any Europeanarmy of the time.[20] But the Mongols recognized and re-spected his still-powerful military mind, who had been

Helmet and costume of the Mongol Yuan warrior during theMongol invasion of Japan

one of the Genghis’ most able subordinates, so he wastransported around in a cart.

4.5.1 Intelligence and planning

The Mongols carefully scouted out and spied on their en-emies in advance of any invasion. Prior to the invasionof Europe, Batu and Subutai sent spies for almost tenyears into the heart of Europe, making maps of the oldRoman roads, establishing trade routes, and determiningthe level of ability of each principality to resist invasion.

4.6. GROUND TACTICS 29

They made well-educated guesses as to the willingness ofeach principality to aid the others, and their ability to re-sist alone or together. Also, when invading an area, theMongols would do all that was necessary to completelyconquer the town or cities. Some tactics involved di-verting rivers from the city/town , closing supplies to thecity and waiting for its inhabitants to surrender, gather-ing civilians from the nearby areas to fill the front line forthe city/town attack before scaling the wall, and pillag-ing the surrounding area and killing some of the people,then letting some survivors flee to the main city to reporttheir losses to the main populace to weaken resistance, si-multaneously draining the resources of the city with thesudden influx of refugees.

4.5.2 Psychological warfare and deception

Main article: Total war and the Mongol EmpireThe Mongols used psychological warfare successfully in

Drawing of Mongols outside Vladimir presumably demandingsubmission before its sacking.

many of their battles, especially in terms of spreading ter-ror and fear to towns and cities. They often offered an op-portunity for the enemy to surrender and pay tribute, in-stead of having their city ransacked and destroyed. Theyknew that sedentary populations were not free to flee dan-ger as were nomad populations, and that the destructionof their cities was the worst loss a sedentary populationcould experience. When cities accepted the offer, theywere spared, but were required to support the conquer-ingMongol army with manpower, supplies, and other ser-vices.If the offer was refused, however, the Mongols would in-vade and destroy the city or town, but allow a few civiliansto flee and spread terror by reporting their loss. These re-ports were an essential tool to incite fear in others. How-ever, both sides often had a similar if differently moti-vated interest in overstating the enormity of the reportedevents: the Mongols’ reputation would increase and thetownspeople could use their reports of terror to raise anarmy. For that reason, specific data (e.g. casualty fig-

ures) given in contemporary sources needs to be evalu-ated carefully.The Mongols also used deception very well in their wars.For instance, when approaching a mobile army the unitswould be split into three or more army groups, each try-ing to outflank and surprise their opponents. This cre-ated many battlefield scenarios for the opponents wherethe Mongols would seem to appear out of nowhere andthere were seemingly more of them than in actuality.Flanking and/or feigned retreat if the enemy could notbe handled easily was one of the most practiced tech-niques. Other techniques used commonly by the Mon-gols were completely psychological and were used to en-tice/lure enemies into vulnerable positions by showingthemselves from a hill or some other predetermined lo-cations, then disappearing into the woods or behind hillswhile the Mongols’ flank troops already strategically po-sitioned would appear as if out of nowhere from the left,right and/or from their rear. During the initial states ofbattlefield contact, while camping in close proximity oftheir enemies at night, they would feign numerical supe-riority by ordering each soldier to light at least five fires,which would appear to the enemy scouts and spies thattheir force was almost five times larger than it actuallywas.Another way the Mongols utilized deception and ter-ror was by tying tree branches or leaves behind theirhorses and letting the foliage drag behind them across theground; by traveling in a systematic fashion, the Mongolscould create a dust storm behind hills, in order to createfear and appear to the enemy to be much larger than theyactually were, thereby forcing the enemy to surrender.Because each Mongol soldier had more than one horse,they would let the prisoners and the civilians ride theirhorses for a while before the conflict also to fake numer-ical superiority.[21]

4.5.3 Inclusion

As Mongols started conquering other people, they re-cruited the male nomads to their armies if they only sur-rendered, particularly the Turks, Armenians, Georgiansand others, willingly or under a threat to be destroyedotherwise. Therefore, as they expanded into other areas,their troop numbers increased as other people were in-cluded in their conquests, such as during the Battle ofBaghdad, which included many diverse people fightingunder Mongol lordship.However, the Mongols were never able to gain long-termloyalty from the settled peoples that they conquered. [22]

4.6 Ground tactics

The tumens would typically advance on a broad front,five lines deep. The first three lines would be composed

30 CHAPTER 4. MONGOL MILITARY TACTICS AND ORGANIZATION

of horse archers, the last two of lancers. Once an en-emy force was located, the Mongols would try to avoidrisky or reckless frontal assaults (in sharp contrast to theirEuropean and Middle-Eastern opponents). Instead theywould use diversionary attacks to fix the enemy in place,while their main forces sought to outflank or surround thefoe. First the horse archers would lay down a witheringbarrage of arrow fire. Additional arrows were carried bycamels who followed close by, ensuring a plentiful supplyof ammunition.

4.6.1 Flanking

Mongols in Battle of Mohi split into more than three separate for-mations and one formation under Subutai flanking the opponentfrom the right

In all battlefield situations, the troops would be dividedinto separate formations of 10, 100, 1,000 or 10,000 de-pending on the requirements. The number of troops splitfrom the main force was significant, for instance 10,000or more, these would be handed over to a significant orsecond-in-command leader, while the main leader con-centrated on the front line. The leader of the Mongolswould generally issue the tactics used to attack the en-emy. For instance the leader might order, upon seeing acity or town, “500 to the left and 500 to the right” of thecity; those instructions would then be relayed to the rele-vant 5 units of 100 soldiers, and these would attempt toflank or encircle the town to the left and right.

4.6.2 Encirclement and opening

The main reason for these manoeuvers was to encircle thecity to cut off escape and overwhelm from both sides. Ifthe situation deteriorated on one of the fronts or flanks,the leader from the hill directed one part of the army tosupport the other. If it appeared that there was going tobe significant loss, theMongols would retreat to save theirtroops and would engage the next day, or the next month,after having studied the enemies’ tactics and defences in

the first battle, or again send a demand to surrender afterinflicting some form of damage. There was no fixture onwhen or where units should be deployed: it was depen-dent on battle circumstances, and the flanks and groupshad full authority on what to do in the course of battle- such as supporting other flanks or performing an indi-vidual feigned retreat as conditions seemed appropriate,in small groups of 100 to 1000 - so long as the battleunfolded according to the general directive and the op-ponents were defeated.

4.6.3 Feigned retreat

The Mongols very commonly practiced the feigned re-treat, perhaps the most difficult battlefield tactic to exe-cute. This is because a feigned rout amongst untrainedtroops can often turn into a real rout if an enemy pressesinto it.[23] Pretending disarray and defeat in the heat of thebattle, the Mongols would suddenly appear panicked andturn and run, only to pivot when the enemywas drawn out,destroying them at their leisure. As this tactic becamebetter known to the enemy, the Mongols would extendtheir feigned retreats for days or weeks, to falsely con-vince the chasers that they were defeated, only to chargeback once the enemy again had its guard down or with-drew to join its main formation.

4.7 See also

• Timeline of Mongol invasions

• Mongol Empire

• Genghis Khan

• Cavalry

• Horses in East Asian warfare

• Mounted archery

• Endemic warfare

4.8 References[1] Oliver,Roland Anthony/Atmore, Anthony.Medieval

Africa, 1250-1800 Cambridge University Press, 2001,pg. 17 ISBN 0-521-79372-6, ISBN 978-0-521-79372-8

[2] Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. Mongols and Mamluks: theMamluk-Īlkhānid War, 1260-1281, Cambridge Univer-sity Press, 1995, pg. 222. ISBN 0-521-46226-6, ISBN978-0-521-46226-6

[3] Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. Mongols and Mamluks: theMamluk-Īlkhānid War, 1260-1281, Cambridge Univer-sity Press, 1995, pg. 217. ISBN 0-521-46226-6, ISBN978-0-521-46226-6

4.9. BIBLIOGRAPHY 31

[4] Turnbull, Stephen R. Essential Histories: Genghis Khan& the Mongol Conquests 1190–1400 Hardback ed NewYork: Routledge, 2004 p.17

[5] Morris, Rossabi (October 1994). “All the Khan’s Horses”(PDF). p. 2. Retrieved 2007-11-21.

[6] George Lane. Genghis Khan and Mongol Rule. Westport,CT: Greenwood, 2004. Print. p.31

[7] George Lane - Ibid, p.99

[8] Hildinger, Erik (June 1997). “Mongol Invasions: Battleof Liegnitz”. Military History. Retrieved 28 June 2014.

[9] “Daily Life in the Mongol Empire”, George Lane, (page102)

[10] Saunders, John Joseph. The History of The Mongol Con-quests Univ of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.

[11] Munkhtsetseg (18 July 2000). “Mongolian NationalArchery”. INSTINCTIVE ARCHER MAGAZINE. Re-trieved 16 June 2011.

[12] (the University of Michigan)John Merton Patrick (1961).Artillery and warfare during the thirteenth and fourteenthcenturies. Volume 8, Issue 3 of Monograph series. UtahState University Press. p. 13. Retrieved 2011-11-28.(along, it seems, with explosive charges of gunpowder) onthe massed Hungarians trapped within their defensive ringof wagons. King Bela escaped, though 70,000 Hungari-ans died in the massacre that resulted — a slaughter thatextended over several days of the retreat from Mohi.

[13] Michael Kohn (2006). Dateline Mongolia: An AmericanJournalist in Nomad’s Land. RDR Books. p. 28. ISBN1-57143-155-1. Retrieved 2011-07-29.

[14] Robert Cowley (1993). Robert Cowley, ed. Experienceof War (reprint ed.). Random House Inc. p. 86. ISBN0-440-50553-4. Retrieved 2011-07-29.

[15] Christopher Lloyd (2008). What on Earth Happened?:The Complete Story of the Planet, Life, and People fromthe Big Bang to the Present Day (illustrated ed.). Blooms-bury. p. 396. Retrieved 2011-11-28. 1 9 The Mongolsare known to have used gunpowder and firearms in Europeas early as 1241 at the Battle of Mohi in Hungary. SeeJacques Gernet, A History of Chinese Civilisation (Cam-bridge University Press, 1982). page 379

[16] James Riddick Partington (1960). A history of Greek fireand gunpowder (reprint, illustrated ed.). JHU Press. p.250. ISBN 0-8018-5954-9. Retrieved 2011-11-28. Afterdefeating the Kipchak Turks (Cumans), Bulgars and Rus-sians, the Mongol army under Subutai took Cracow andBreslau, and on 9 April 1241, defeated a German armyunder Duke Henry of Silesia at Liegnitz. The Mongolsunder Batu defeated the Hungarians under King Bela IVat Mohi on the Sajo on llth April, 1241. ... it has priorityover the use of gunpowder, which the Mongols used twodays later in the battle beside the Sajo. ...

[17] (the University of Michigan)John Merton Patrick (1961).Artillery and warfare during the thirteenth and fourteenthcenturies. Volume 8, Issue 3 of Monograph series. Utah

State University Press. p. 13. Retrieved 2011-11-28. su-perior mobility and combination of shock and missile tac-tics again won the day. As the battle developed, the Mon-gols broke up western cavalry charges, and placed a heavyfire of flaming arrows and naphtha fire-bombs

[18] (the University of Michigan)John Merton Patrick (1961).Artillery and warfare during the thirteenth and fourteenthcenturies. Volume 8, Issue 3 of Monograph series. UtahState University Press. p. 13. Retrieved 2011-11-28. 33D'Ohsson’s European account of these events credits theMongols with using catapults and ballistae only in the bat-tle of Mohi, but several Chinese sources speak of p'aoand “fire-catapults” as present. The Meng Wu Er ShihChi states, for instance, that the Mongols attacked withthe p'ao for five days before taking the city of Strigonie,to which many Hungarians had fled: “On the sixth daythe city was taken. The powerful soldiers threw the HuoKuan Vets (fire-pot) and rushed into the city, crying andshouting.34 Whether or not Batu actually used explosivepowder on the Sayo, only twelve years later Mangu wasrequesting “naphtha-shooters” in large numbers for his in-vasion of Persia, according to Yule

[19] Delgado, James (February 2003). “Relics of theKamikaze”. Archaeology. Archaeological Institute ofAmerica. 56 (1).

[20] Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World - JackWeatherford

[21] “sca_class_mongols”. Home.arcor.de. Retrieved 2014-03-07.

[22] Lane, G. (2006). Propaganda. InDaily Life in theMongolEmpire. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood PublishingGroup.

[23] A History of Warfare - John Keegan

4.9 Bibliography• Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War,1998

• Chambers, James, The Devil’s Horsemen: The Mon-gol Invasion of Europe. Book Sales Press, 2003.

• R.E. Dupuy and T.N. Dupuy, The Encyclopedia OfMilitary History: From 3500 B.C. To The Present.(2nd Revised Edition 1986)

• Hildinger, Erik, Warriors of the Steppe: A MilitaryHistory of Central Asia, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1700. DaCapo Press, 2001.

• Morgan, David, The Mongols. Wiley-Blackwell,ISBN 0-631-17563-6

• Jones Archer ., -- Art of War in the Western World[1]

• May, Timothy. “The Mongol Art of War.” West-holme Publishing, Yardley. 2007.

32 CHAPTER 4. MONGOL MILITARY TACTICS AND ORGANIZATION

• Nicolle, David, -- The Mongol Warlords Brock-hampton Press, 1998

• Charles Oman, The History of the Art of War in theMiddle Ages (1898, rev. ed. 1953)

• Saunders, J.J. -- The History of the Mongol Con-quests, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1971, ISBN0-8122-1766-7

• Sicker, Martin -- The Islamic World in Ascendancy:From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna,Praeger Publishers, 2000

• Soucek, Svatopluk -- A History of Inner Asia, Cam-bridge, 2000

• Verbruggen, J.F., -- The Art of Warfare in WesternEurope during the Middle Ages, Boydell Press, Sec-ond English translation 1997, ISBN 0-85115-570-7

• Conn Iggulden., -- Genghis, birth of an em-pire,Bantham Dell.

4.10 External links

Medieval History: Mongol Invasion of Europeat http://historymedren.about.com/library/prm/bl1mongolinvasion.htm

Chapter 5

Destruction under the Mongol Empire

Drawing of the Mongol siege of Baghdad in 1258.

The death and destruction during the 13th centuryMongol conquests have been widely noted in boththe scholarly literature and popular memory. It hasbeen calculated that approximately 5% of the world’spopulation[1] were killed during Turco-Mongol invasionsor in their immediate aftermath. If these calculations areaccurate, this would make the events the hitherto deadli-est acts of mass killings in human history.Diana Lary contends that the Mongol invasions inducedpopulation displacement “on a scale never seen before,”particularly in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Sheadds, “the impending arrival of theMongol hordes spreadterror and panic.”[2] In addition, the Mongols practicedbiological warfare by catapulting diseased cadavers intoat least one of the cities they besieged.[3][4][5][6]

5.1 Strategy

See also: Mongol military tactics and organization

Genghis Khan, and his generals and successors, preferredto offer their enemies the chance to surrender without re-sistance in order to avoid war, to become vassals by send-ing tribute, acceptingMongol residents, and/or contribut-ing troops. The Khans guaranteed protection only if thepopulace submitted to Mongol rule and was obedient toit.

Sources record massive destruction, terror and death ifthere was resistance. David Nicole notes in The Mon-gol Warlords: “terror and mass extermination of anyoneopposing them was a well-tested Mongol tactic.”[7] Thealternative to submission was total war: if refused, Mon-gol leaders ordered the collective slaughter of populationsand destruction of property. Such was the fate of resist-ing communities during the invasions of the KhwarezmidEmpire.

Invasion of Japan against samurai Takezaki Suenaga using ar-rows and bombs, circa 1293.

5.1.1 Terror

The success of Mongol tactics hinged on fear: to in-duce capitulation amongst enemy populations. From theperspective of modern theories of international relations,Quester suggests that, “Perhaps terrorism produced a fearthat immobilized and incapacitated the forces that wouldhave resisted.”[8] Although perceived as being blood-thirsty, theMongol strategy of “surrender or die” still rec-ognized that conquest by capitulation was more desirablethan being forced to continually expend soldiers, food,and money to fight every army and sack every town andcity along the campaign’s route.The Mongols frequently faced states with armies and re-sources greater than their own. In the beginning,Temujinstarted off with a band of youths and some women, thenhe had troops of 20,000 initially facing the city statesand interests of the Kin domain, which mainly includedChina, with then probably a 2-million-strong army, eachcity being populated with hundreds of thousands of in-habitants – and simply invading everyone was out of the

33

34 CHAPTER 5. DESTRUCTION UNDER THE MONGOL EMPIRE

question. Furthermore, a supine nation was more desir-able than a sacked one. While both provided the same ter-ritorial gains, the former would continue to provide taxesand conscripts long after the conflict ended, whereas thelatter would be depopulated and economically worthlessonce available goods and slaves were seized.Thus whenever possible, by using the “promise” ofwholesale execution for resistance, Mongol forces madeefficient conquests, in turn allowing them to attack multi-ple targets and redirect soldiers and matériel where mostneeded.

Drawing of Mongols outside Vladimir

The reputation of guaranteed wholesale enactment onthose who fought them was also the primary reason whythe Mongols could hold vast territories long after theirmain force had moved on. Even if the tumens (tyumens)were hundreds or thousands of miles away, the conqueredpeople would usually not dare to interfere with the tokenMongol occupying force, for fear of a likely Mongol re-turn.The linchpin of Mongol success was the widespread per-ception amongst their enemies that they were facing aninsurmountable juggernaut that could only be placated bysurrender. The Mongols may have counted on reports ofhorrifying massacres and torture to terrify their foes. Thegoal was to convince all-and-sundry that the costs of sur-rendering were not nearly onerous enough to risk an un-winnable war, given the guarantee of complete annihila-tion if they lost. This strategy was partially adopted be-cause of the Mongols’ lesser numbers; if their opponentsare not sufficiently subdued, there was a greater chancethey can rise again and attack theMongols when theMon-gols left to deal with another town and settlements. Thisway they technically covered their rear and flanks, andavoided a situation in which they would have to again en-gage a people they already fought and subdued, therebysaving resources, in their point of view, from an unnec-essary second engagement.As Mongol conquest spread, this form of psychologicalwarfare proved effective at suppressing resistance toMongol rule. There were tales of lone Mongol soldiers

riding into surrendered villages and executing peasants atrandom as a test of loyalty. It was widely known that a sin-gle act of resistance would bring the entire Mongol armydown on a town to obliterate its occupants. Thus theyensured obedience through fear. Peasants frequently ap-pear to have joined the troops or readily accepted theirdemands.[9]

5.2 Demographic changes in war-torn areas

The majority of kingdoms resisting Mongol conquestwere taken by force (some were subjected to vassaldomand not complete conquest); only skilled engineers andartisans (at the time of Khubilai Khan, doctors) werespared.The aim was to spread terror to others. Some troops whosubmitted, respectively overthrew or rose up against theirrulers, were incorporated into theMongol system in orderto expand their manpower; this also allowed the Mongolsto absorb new technology, knowledge and skills for use inmilitary campaigns against other opponents.Genghis Khan was by and large tolerant of multiple reli-gions and there are no cases of him or other Mongols en-gaging in religious war, as long as populations were obe-dient. He also passed a decree exempting all followers ofthe Taoist religion from paying taxes. (This might appearto date from the time of Khubilai Khan.) However, all ofthe campaigns caused deliberate destruction of places ofworship, if their populations resisted.[10]

Ancient sources described Genghis Khan’s conquests aswholesale destruction on an unprecedented scale in cer-tain geographical regions, causing great demographicchanges in Asia. According to the works of the Iranianhistorian Rashid al-Din (1247–1318), the Mongols killedmore than 700,000 people in Merv and more than a mil-lion in Nishapur. The total population of Persia may havedropped from 2,500,000 to 250,000 as a result of massextermination and famine. Population exchanges did alsoin some cases occur but depends as of when.[11]

China reportedly suffered a drastic decline in populationduring the 13th and 14th centuries. Before the Mongolinvasion, Chinese dynasties reportedly had approximately120million inhabitants; after the conquest was completedin 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60million peo-ple. The 92 Chinese cities destroyed by Mongols wouldnot appear to account for this population fall, it might ac-count for loss of 45 million people. While it is temptingto attribute this major decline solely to Mongol ferocity,scholars today have mixed sentiments regarding this sub-ject. The South Chinese might likely account for some 40million unregistered who, without passports, would nothave appeared in the census. Entire peasant populationsjoining or enlisted for labour can result in a large popu-

5.3. DESTRUCTION OF CULTURE AND PROPERTY 35

Drawing of Mongols inside Suzdal under Batu Khan (withsword).

lation reduction due to food shortage problems. Scholarssuch as Frederick W. Mote argue that the wide drop innumbers reflects an administrative failure to record ratherthan a de facto decrease whilst others such as TimothyBrook argue that the Mongols created a system of enserf-ment among a huge portion of the Chinese populace caus-ing many to disappear from the census altogether. Otherhistorians like William McNeill and David Morgan ar-gue that the Bubonic Plague, spread by the Mongols, wasthe main factor behind the demographic decline duringthis period. The plague also spread into areas of WesternEurope and Africa that the Mongols never reached, mostlikely carried by individuals fleeing invasion. The Mon-gols practised biological warfare by catapulting diseasedcadavers into the cities they besieged. It is believed thatfleas remaining on the bodies of the cadavers may haveacted as vectors to spread the bubonic plague.[3][4][5][12]

About half the population of Kievan Rus’ may havedied during the Mongol invasion of Rus. This figurerefers to the area roughly corresponding to the modernUkraine.[13] Colin McEvedy (Atlas of World PopulationHistory, 1978) estimates the population of European Rus-sia dropped from 7.5 million prior to the invasion to 7million afterwards.[14]

Historians estimate that up to half of Hungary's popula-tion of two million were victims of the Mongol invasionof Europe.[15]

5.3 Destruction of culture andproperty

Mongol campaigns in Northern China, Central Asia,Eastern Europe and the Middle East caused extensive de-struction, though there are no exact figures available atthis time. The cities of Herat, Kiev, Baghdad, Nishapur,Vladimir and Samarkand suffered serious devastation bythe Mongol armies.[16][17] For example, there is a notice-able lack of Chinese literature from the Jin Dynasty, pre-dating theMongol conquest, and in the Battle of Baghdad(1258), libraries, books, literature, and hospitals wereburned: some of the books were thrown into the river,in quantities sufficient to “turn the Euphrates black withink for several days"".TheMongols’ destruction of the irrigation systems of Iranand Iraq turned back centuries of effort to improvingagriculture and water supply in these regions. The lossof available food as a result may have led to the death ofmore people from starvation in this area than actual battledid. The Islamic civilization of the Persian Gulf regiondid not recover until after the Middle Ages.[18]

5.4 Foods and disease

Mongols were known to burn farmland; when they weretrying to take the Ganghwa Island palaces during the in-vasions (there were at least 6 separate invasions) of Koreaunder the Goryeo Dynasty, crops were burned to starvethe populace. Other tactics included diverting riversinto and from cities and towns, and catapulting diseasedcorpses over city walls to infect the population. The useof such infected bodies during the siege of Caffa is al-leged to have brought the Black Death to Europe by somesources.[19]

5.5 Tribute in lieu of conquest

If a population agreed to pay the Mongols tribute, theywere spared invasion and left relatively independent.While populations resisting were usually annihilated andthus did not pay a regular tribute, exceptions to this ruleincluding Korea (under the Goryeo Dynasty), which fi-nally agreed to pay regular tributes in exchange for vas-saldom (and some measure of autonomy as well as theretention of the ruling dynasty), further emphasizing theMongol preference for tribute and vassals (which wouldserve as a somewhat regular and continuous source of in-come) as opposed to outright conquest and destruction.Different tributes were taken from different cultures.For instance, Goryeo was assessed at 10,000 otterskins, 20,000 horses, 10,000 bolts of silk, clothing for1,000,000 soldiers, and a large number of children andartisans as slaves.[20]

36 CHAPTER 5. DESTRUCTION UNDER THE MONGOL EMPIRE

5.6 Environmental impact

According to a study by the Carnegie Institution for Sci-ence's Department of Global Energy, the destruction un-der Genghis Khan may have scrubbed as much as 700million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere by allowingforests to regrow on previously populated and cultivatedland.[21][22]

5.7 See also

• Genocides in history

• List of genocides by death toll

5.8 References[1] https://owlcation.com/humanities/

40-Facts-about-Tamerlane-Timur-the-Lame

[2] Diana Lary (2012). Chinese Migrations: The Movement ofPeople, Goods, and Ideas over Four Millennia. Rowman& Littlefield. p. 53.

[3] Vincent Barras and Gilbert Greub. “History of biologicalwarfare and bioterrorism” in Clinical Microbiology andInfection (2014) 20#6 pp 497-502.

[4] Andrew G. Robertson, and Laura J. Robertson. “Fromasps to allegations: biological warfare in history,”Militarymedicine (1995) 160#8 pp: 369-373.

[5] Rakibul Hasan, “Biological Weapons: covert threats toGlobal Health Security.” Asian Journal of Multidisci-plinary Studies (2014) 2#9 p 38. online

[6] Robert Tignor et al. Worlds Together, Worlds ApartA History of the World: From the Beginnings of Hu-mankind to the Present (2nd ed. 2008) ch 11 pp 472-75and map p 476

[7] David Nicolle, The Mongol Warlords: Genghis Khan,Kublai Khan, Hulegu, Tamerlane (2004) p. 21

[8] George H. Quester (2003). Offense and Defense in theInternational System. Transaction Publishers. p. 43.

[9] Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World - JackWeatherford

[10] Man, John. Genghis Khan : Life, Death and Resurrection(London; New York : Bantam Press, 2004) ISBN 0-593-05044-4.

[11] Battuta’s Travels: Part Three - Persia and Iraq

[12] “We Have Met the Enemy And They Are Small – A BriefHistory of Bug Warfare”. Military History Now. Re-trieved 26 December 2014.

[13] History of Russia, Early Slavs history, Kievan Rus, Mon-gol invasion

[14] Mongol Conquests

[15] Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica’s Guide to History

[16] Morgan, David (1986). The Mongols (Peoples of Europe).Blackwell Publishing. pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-631-17563-6.

[17] Ratchnevsky, Paul (1991). Genghis Khan: His Life andLegacy. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 131–133. ISBN 0-631-16785-4.

[18] The Story of Civilization: The Age of Faith, by Will andAriel Durant

[19] http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol8no9/01-0536.htm

[20] http://www.koreanhistoryproject.org/Ket/C06/E0602.htm

[21] Henley, John (2011-01-26). “Why Genghis Khan wasgood for the planet”. The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-03-10.

[22] “Genghis Khan the GREEN: Invader killed so many peo-ple that carbon levels plummeted”. Daily Mail. 2011-01-25. Retrieved 2015-03-10.

5.9 Further reading• May, Timothy. TheMongol Conquests in World His-

tory (London: Reaktion Books, 2011) online re-view; excerpt and text search

• Morgan, David. The Mongols (2nd ed. 2007)

• Nicolle, David. The Mongol Warlords: GenghisKhan, Kublai Khan, Hulegu, Tamerlane (2004)

• Saunders, J. J. The History of the Mongol Conquests(2001) excerpt and text search

• Turnbull, Stephen. Genghis Khan and the Mon-gol Conquests 1190–1400 (2003) excerpt and textsearch

Primary sources

• Rossabi, Morris. The Mongols and Global History:A Norton Documents Reader (2011),

Chapter 6

Mongol invasion of Europe

TheMongol invasion of Europe in the 13th century wasthe military effort by an Asian power, the Mongols, toinvade and conquer Europe. It involved the severe andrampant destruction of East Slavic principalities and ma-jor cities, such as Kiev and Vladimir. Mongol invasionsalso affected Central Europe, warring with the Kingdomof Hungary (in the Battle of Mohi) and causing the frag-mentation of Poland (in the Battle of Legnica).[8]

The operations were masterminded by General Subutaiand commanded by Batu Khan and Kadan, both grand-sons of Genghis Khan. As a result of the successful in-vasions, many of the conquered territories would becomepart of the Golden Horde empire.Historians regard the Mongol raids and invasions as someof the deadliest conflicts in human history up through thatperiod.Warring European princes realized they had to cooperatein the face of a threatened Mongol invasion, so local warsand conflicts were suspended in parts of central Europe,only to be resumed after the Mongols had withdrawn.[9]

6.1 Invasions and conquest of Rus’lands

Main article: Mongol invasion of Rus’Ögedei Khan ordered Batu Khan to conquer Rus’ in1235. The main force, headed by Jochi's sons, andtheir cousins, Möngke Khan and Güyük Khan, arrivedat Ryazan in December 1237. Ryazan refused to surren-der, and theMongols sacked it and then stormed Suzdalia.Many Rus’ armies were defeated; Grand Prince Yuri waskilled on the Sit River (March 4, 1238). Major cities suchas Vladimir, Torzhok, and Kozelsk were captured.Afterward, the Mongols turned their attention to thesteppe, crushing the Kypchaks and the Alans and sack-ing Crimea. Batu appeared in Ukraine in 1239, sackingPereiaslav and Chernihiv. Most of the Rus’ princes fledwhen it became clear resistance was futile. The Mongolssacked Kiev on December 6, 1240 and conquered Galichand Volodymyr-Volynskyi. Batu sent a small detachmentto probe the Poles before passing on to Central Europe.

Returning to Vladimir by Yaroslav II of Vladimir after Mongoldestruction. From the medieval Russian annals

One column was routed by the Poles while the other de-feated the Polish army and returned.[10]

The Mongols had acquired Chinese gunpowder, whichthey deployed in battle during the invasion of Europe togreat success.[11]

6.2 Invasion into Central Europe

The attack on Europe was planned and executed by Sub-utai, who achieved perhaps his most lasting fame withhis victories there. Having devastated the various Rus’principalities, he sent spies into Poland and Hungary, andas far as eastern Austria, in preparation for an attackinto the heartland of Europe. Having a clear picture ofthe European kingdoms, he prepared an attack nominallycommanded by Batu Khan and two other familial-relatedprinces. Batu Khan, son of Jochi, was the overall leader,but Subutai was the strategist and commander in the field,and as such, was present in both the northern and south-ern campaigns against Rus’ principalities. He also com-manded the central column that moved against Hungary.While Kadan's northern force won the Battle of Legnicaand Güyük’s army triumphed in Transylvania, Subutai

37

38 CHAPTER 6. MONGOL INVASION OF EUROPE

The Mongol army captures a Rus’ city

was waiting for them on the Hungarian plain. The newlyreunited army then withdrew to the Sajo River where theyinflicted a decisive defeat on King Béla IV of Hungary atthe Battle of Mohi. Again, Subutai masterminded the op-eration, and it would prove one of his greatest victories.

6.2.1 Invasion of fragmented Poland

Main article: First Mongol invasion of Poland

The Mongols invaded Central Europe with three armies.One army defeated an alliance which included forcesfrom fragmented Poland and members of various Chris-tian military orders, led by Henry II the Pious, Dukeof Silesia in the battle of Legnica. A second armycrossed the Carpathian mountains and a third followedthe Danube. The armies re-grouped and crushed Hun-gary in 1241, defeating the Hungarian army at the Battleof Mohi on April 11, 1241. The devastating Mongol in-vasion killed half of Hungary’s then-population.[12] Thearmies swept the plains of Hungary over the summer andin the spring of 1242, regained impetus and extendedtheir control into Austria and Dalmatia andMoravia. TheGreat Khan had, however, died in December 1241, andon hearing the news, all the “Princes of the Blood” ofGenghis Khan went back to Mongolia to elect the newKhan.[13]

After sacking Kiev,[14] Batu Khan sent a smaller group oftroops to Poland, destroying Lublin and defeating an in-ferior Polish army. Other elements—not part of the main

Henry II the Pious who lost his life at the battle of Legnica, 19th-century painting by Jan Matejko.

Mongol force—saw difficulty near the Polish-Galich bor-der. As for Poland, the Mongols were just passingthrough and the efforts of king Wenceslas amounted tolittle in Mongol strategic considerations.The Mongols then reached Polaniec on the CzarnaHańcza, where they set up camp. There, the Voivode at-tacked themwith the remaining Cracovian knights, whichwere few in number, but determined to vanquish the in-vader or die. Surprise gave the Poles an initial advantageand they managed to kill many Mongol soldiers. Whenthe invaders realized the actual numerical weakness ofthe Poles, they regrouped, broke through the Polish ranksand defeated them. During the fighting, many Polish pris-oners of war found ways to escape and hide in the nearbywoods. The Polish defeat was partly influenced by theinitially successful Polish knights having been distractedby looting.

6.2.2 Invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary

Further information: Battle of Mohi

The Hungarians had first learned about the Mongol threatin 1229, when King Andrew II granted asylum to somefleeing Russian boyars. Some Magyars (Hungarians),left behind during the main migration to the Pannonianbasin, still lived on the banks of the upper Volga (it is be-lieved by some that the descendants of this group are themodern-day Bashkirs, although this people now speaksa Turkic language, not Magyar). In 1237 a Dominicanfriar, Julianus, set off on an expedition to lead them back,

6.2. INVASION INTO CENTRAL EUROPE 39

The Mongols at Liegnitz display the head of King Henry II of theDuchy of Silesia.

and was sent back to King Béla with a letter from BatuKhan. In this letter, Batu called upon the Hungarian kingto surrender his kingdom unconditionally to the Tatarforces or face complete destruction. Béla did not reply,and two more messages were later delivered to Hungary.The first, in 1239, was sent by the defeated Cuman tribes,who asked for and received asylum in Hungary. The sec-ond was sent in February 1241 by the defeated Polishprinces.Only then did King Béla call upon his magnates to join hisarmy in defense of the country. He also asked the papacyand the Western European rulers for help. Foreign helpcame in the form of a small knight-detachment under theleadership of Frederick II, Duke of Austria, but it wastoo small to change the outcome of the campaign. Themajority of the Hungarian magnates also did not realizethe urgency of the matter. Some may have hoped that adefeat of the royal army would force Béla to discontinuehis centralization efforts and thus strengthen their ownpower.Although the Mongol danger was real and imminent,Hungary was not prepared to deal with it; in the mindsof a people who had lived free from nomadic invasionsfor the last few hundred years, an invasion seemed im-possible, and Hungary was no longer a predominantly sol-dier population. Only rich nobles were trained as heavy-armored cavalry. The Hungarians had long since forgot-

ten the light-cavalry strategy and tactics of their ancestors,which were similar to those now used by the Mongols, aswell as by their predecessors, the Huns.The Hungarian army (some 60,000 on the eve of theBattle of Mohi) was made up of individual knights withtactical knowledge, discipline, and talented comman-ders. Because his army was not experienced in nomadicwarfare, King Béla welcomed the Cuman King Kuthen(also known as Kotony) and his fighters. However, theCuman invitation proved detrimental as Batu Khan jus-tified his invasion of Hungary as Béla giving asylum tothe Cumans, a group Batu Khan regarded as rebels andtraitors to the Mongol Empire. After rumors began tocirculate in Hungary that the Cumans were agents ofthe Mongols, some hot-headed Hungarians attacked theCuman camp and killed Kotony. This led the enragedCumans to ride south, looting, ravaging the countryside,and slaughtering the unsuspecting Magyar population.The Austrian troops retreated to Austria shortly there-after to gainmore western aid. TheHungarians now stoodalone in the defense of their country.

Battle of Mohi in a Medieval-era depiction

The Hungarian army arrived and encamped at the Hernádriver on April 10, 1241 without having been directly chal-lenged by the Mongols. The Mongols began their attackthe next night; quickly it was clear the Hungarians werelost. While the king escaped with the help of his body-guard, the remaining Hungarian army was mercilesslykilled by the Mongols or drowned in the river as they at-tempted escape. The Mongols now systematically occu-pied the Great Hungarian Plains, the slopes of the north-ern CarpathianMountains, and Transylvania. Where theyfound local resistance, they ruthlessly killed the popula-tion. Where the locale offered no resistance, they forcedthe men into servitude in the Mongol army. Still, tens ofthousands avoided Mongol domination by taking refugebehind the walls of the few existing fortresses or by hidingin the forests or large marshes along the rivers. The Mon-gols, instead of leaving the defenseless and helpless peo-ple and continuing their campaign through Pannonia toWestern Europe, spent the entire summer and fall secur-ing and pacifying the occupied territories. On Christmasday 1241, The Mongol’s Siege of Esztergom destroyed

40 CHAPTER 6. MONGOL INVASION OF EUROPE

the capital and economic center of the Kingdom of Hun-gary, forcing the capital to be moved to Budapest.[15]

During the winter, contrary to the traditional strategy ofnomadic armies which started campaigns only in spring-time, they crossed the Danube and continued their sys-tematic occupation, including Pannonia. They eventuallyreached the Austrian borders and the Adriatic shores inDalmatia. The Mongols appointed a darughachi in Hun-gary andminted coins in the name of Khagan.[16] Accord-ing to Michael Prawdin, the country of Béla was assignedto Orda by Batu as an appanage. At least 20%−40% ofthe population died, by slaughter or epidemic. Rogeriusof Apulia, an Italian monk and chronicler who wit-nessed and survived the invasion, pointed out not onlythe genocidal element of the occupation, but also thatthe Mongols especially “found pleasure” in humiliatinglocal women.[17] But while the Mongols claimed controlof Hungary, they could not occupy fortified cities suchas Fehérvár, Veszprém, Tihany, Győr, Pannonhalma,Moson, Sopron, Vasvár, Újhely, Zala, Léka, Pozsony,Nyitra, Komárom, Fülek and Abaújvár. Learning fromthis lesson, fortresses came to play a significant role inHungary. King Béla IV rebuilt the country and investedin fortifications. Facing a shortage of money, he wel-comed the settlement of Jewish families, investors, andtradesmen, granting them citizenship rights. The Kingalso welcomed tens of thousands of Kun (Cumans) whohad fled the country before the invasion. Chinese fire ar-rows were deployed by Mongols against city of Buda inDecember 25, 1241, which they overran.[18]

During the spring of 1242, Ögedei Khan died at the ageof fifty-six after a binge of drinking during a hunting trip.Batu Khan, who was one of the contenders to the im-perial throne, returned at once with his armies to Asia,leaving the whole of Eastern Europe depopulated and inruins (before withdrawal, Batu Khan ordered wholesaleexecution of prisoners). But because of his withdrawal,Western Europe escaped unscathed.Some Hungarian historians claim that Hungary’s long re-sistance against the Mongols actually saved Western Eu-rope, though many Western European historians rejectthis interpretation. They point out that the Mongols evac-uated Hungary of their own free will. Other Europeanand American historians have questioned whether theMongols would have been able to, or even wished to, con-tinue their invasion into Europe west of the Hungarianplain at all,[19] given the logistical situation in Europe andtheir need to keep large number of horses in the field toretain their strategic mobility.Another theory is that weather data preserved in tree ringspoints to a series of warm, dry summers in the regionuntil 1242. When temperatures dropped and rainfall in-creased, the local climate shifted to a wetter and colderenvironment. That, in turn, caused flooding of the for-merly dry grasslands and created a marshy terrain. Thoseconditions would have been less than ideal for the no-

madic Mongol cavalry and their encampments, reducingtheir mobility and pastureland, curtailing their invasioninto Europe west of the Hungarian plain,[20] and hasten-ing their retreat.The Mongolian invasion taught the Magyars a simple les-son: although theMongols had destroyed the countryside,the forts and fortified cities had survived. To improvetheir defense capabilities for the future, they had to buildforts, not only on the borders but also inside the country.During the remaining decades of the 13th century andthroughout the 14th century, the kings donated more andmore royal land to the magnates with the condition thatthey build forts and ensure their defenses.

6.2.3 Invasion of the Kingdom of Croatia

At Klis Fortress the Mongols experienced defeat in 1242.

During theMiddle Ages, the Kingdom of Croatia was in apersonal union with the Kingdom of Hungary, with BélaIV as a king.[21][22][23]

When routed on the banks of the Sajo River in 1241 bythe Mongols, Béla IV fled to today’s Zagreb in Croatia.Batu sent a few tumens (roughly 20,000 men at arms) un-der Khadan in pursuit of Bela. The major objective wasnot the conquest but the capture of the Arpad king. Thepoorly fortified Zagreb was unable to resist the invasionand was destroyed, its cathedral burned by Mongols.[24]In preparation for a second invasion, Gradec was granteda royal charter or Golden Bull of 1242 by King Béla IV,after which citizens of Zagreb engaged in building defen-sive walls and towers around their settlement.[25]

6.4. MONGOL DIFFUSION OF CHINESE GUNPOWDER TO EUROPE 41

The Mongols’ pursuit of Béla IV continued from Za-greb through Pannonia to Dalmatia. While in pursuit,the Mongols under the leadership of Kadan (Qadan) suf-fered a major defeat at Klis Fortress in Croatia in March1242.[26] The Mongols pursued Béla IV from town totown in Dalmatia, while Croatian nobility and Dalmatiantowns such as Trogir and Rab helped Béla IV to escape.After their defeat against the Croatian soldiers, the Mon-gols retreated and Béla IV was awarded Croatian townsand nobility. Only the city of Split did not aid Béla IV inhis escape from the Mongols. Some historians claim thatthe mountainous terrain of Croatian Dalmatia was fatalfor the Mongols because of the great losses they sufferedfrom Croat ambushes set up in mountain passes.[25] Mosthistorians claim that the death of Ögedei Khan (Croatian:Ogotaj) was the primary reason for retreat. In any case,though much of Croatia was plundered and destroyed,long-term occupation was unsuccessful.Saint Margaret (January 27, 1242 – January 18, 1271),a daughter of Béla IV and Maria Laskarina, was bornin Klis Fortress during the Mongol invasion of Hungary-Croatia in 1242.[27]

6.2.4 Impact on Romanian principalities

The 1241 Mongol invasion first affected Moldavia andWallachia (situated east and south of the Carpathians).Tens of thousands of Wallachians and Moldavians losttheir lives defending their territories from the GoldenHorde. Crops and goods plundered from Wallachiansettlements seem to have been a primary supply sourcefor the Golden Horde. The invaders killed up to halfof the population and burned down most of their set-tlements, thus destroying much of the cultural and eco-nomic records from that period. Neither Wallachians northe army of Hungary offered much resistance against theMongols.[28] The swiftness of the invasion took many bysurprise and forced them to retreat and hide in forests andthe enclosed valleys of the Carpathians. In the end, how-ever, the main target of the invasion was the Kingdom ofHungary.[28]

6.3 Tactical failure against West-ern Europeans

Sir John Keegan noted the singular failure of the Mon-gols, and their fellow steppe conquerors, against WesternEuropean tactics:

"[The Mongol armies], ferocious thoughthey were, ultimately failed to translate theirlight cavalry power from the semi-temperateand desert regions where it flourished in to thehigh-rainfall zone of Western Europe. When-ever [they] encountered... peoples living by in-

tensive agriculture, accumulating thereby foodsurpluses which enabled them to sustain cam-paigns longer than the foraging nomads evercould, and breeding on their rich grasslandshorses which outmatched the nomad pony inbattle, [they] had to admit defeat. Light cavalryconquerors were in time either forced back intothe arid environment where nomadism flour-ished, as on the borders ofWestern Europe, or,as in China, corrupted by the softness of agri-cultural civilization and absorbed by it.”,[29]

6.4 Mongol diffusion of Chinesegunpowder to Europe

Several sources mention Chinese firearms and gunpowderweapons being deployed by the Mongols against Euro-pean forces at the Battle ofMohi in various forms, includ-ing bombs hurled via catapult.[30][31][32] Professor Ken-neth Warren Chase credits the Mongols for introducinggunpowder and its associated weaponry into Europe.[33]

A later legend arose in Europe about a mysteriousBerthold Schwarz who is credited with the inventionof gunpowder by 15th- through 19th-century Europeanliterature.[34] However, it is known that William ofRubruck, a Flemish missionary who visited the Mon-gol court of Mongke Khan at Karakorum and returnedto Europe in 1257, was a friend of English philosopherRoger Bacon, who recorded the earliest known Europeanrecipe for gunpowder in his Opus Majus of 1267.[35][36]This came more than two centuries after the first knownChinese description of the formula for gunpowder in1044.[37][38]

6.5 End of the Mongol advance

In A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, WinstonChurchill wrote:

But Asia too was marching against theWest. At one moment it had seemed as ifall Europe would succumb to a terrible men-ace looming up from the East. Heathen Mon-gol hordes from the heart of Asia, formidablehorsemen armed with bows, had rapidly sweptover Russia, Poland, Hungary, and in 1241 in-flicted simultaneous crushing defeats upon theGermans near Breslau and upon European cav-alry near Buda. Germany and Austria at leastlay at their mercy. Providentially in this yearthe Great Khan died in Mongolia; the Mongolleaders hastened back the thousands of miles toKarakorum, their capital, to elect his successor,and Western Europe escaped.[39]

42 CHAPTER 6. MONGOL INVASION OF EUROPE

During the summer and autumn of 1241, most of theMongol forces were resting on the Hungarian Plain. Inlate March, 1242, they began to withdraw. The mostcommon reason given for this withdrawal is the GreatKhan Ögedei's death on December 11, 1241, which sup-posedly forced the Mongols to retreat to Mongolia so thatthe princes of the blood could be present for the elec-tion of a new great khan. This is attested to by oneprimary source: the chronicle of Giovanni da Pian delCarpine, who after visiting the Mongol court, stated thatthe Mongols withdrew for this reason; he further statedthat God had caused the Great Khan’s death to protectLatin Christendom.[40] ByCarpini’s account, a messengerwould have to be able to make the journey fromMongoliato Central Europe in a little over 3 months at a minimum;according to Carpini, the messenger actually arrived inJanuary, meaning he took about 1 month in the middleof winter. Carpini himself accompanied a Mongol partyin a much shorter journey (from Kiev to Mongolia) dur-ing the summer and fall of 1246, where the party “madegreat speed” in order to reach the election ceremony intime, and made use of several horses per person whileriding nearly all day and night. It took five months.[41]

The true reasons for the Mongol withdrawal are not fullyknown, but numerous plausible explanations exist. TheMongol invasion had bogged down into a series of costlyand frustrating sieges, where they gained little loot andran into stiff resistance. They had lost a large number ofmen despite their victories (see above). Finally, they werestretched thin in the European theater, and were experi-encing a rebellion by the Cumans in what is now southernRussia, and the Caucasus (Batu returned to put it down,and spent roughly a year doing so).[42] Other argue Eu-rope’s bad weather had an effect: Hungary has a high wa-ter table so it floods easily. An analysis of tree rings therefound that Hungary had a cold wet winter in early 1242,which likely turned Hungary’s central plain into a hugeswamp; so, lacking pastures for their horses, the Mongolswould have had to fall back to Russia in search of bettergrasslands.[43]

Regardless of their reasons, the Mongols had completelywithdrawn from Central Europe by mid-1242, thoughthey still launched military operations in the west at thistime, most notably the 1241–1243 Mongol invasion ofAnatolia. In fact, Batu specifically decided against at-tending the kurultai in favor of staying in Europe, whichdelayed the ceremony for several years.[44]

The historian JackWeatherford claims that European sur-vival was due to Mongol unwillingness to fight in themore densely populated German principalities, where theweather affected the glue and sinew of the Mongol bows.However, a counter to this assertion is that the Mongolswere willing to fight in the densely populated areas ofSong China and India. Furthermore, the Mongols wereable to conquer Southern China which is located in a trop-ical climate zone and would have received far more rain-fall and humidity than anywhere in Europe.[45][46] The

territory of Western Europe had more forests and cas-tles than the Mongols were accustomed, and there wereopportunities for the European heavy cavalry to counter-attack. Also, despite the steppe tactics of the Avars andearly Hungarians, both were defeated by Western statesin the 9th and 10th centuries. A significant number ofimportant castles and towns in Hungary had also resistedthe formidable and infamous Mongol siege tactics.Some historians believe that the reason for Batu’s stop-ping at the Mohi River was that he never intended toadvance further.[19] He had made the Russian conquestsafe for the years to come, and when the Great Khan diedand Batu rushed back to Mongolia to put in his claim forpower, it ended his westward expansion. Subutai’s re-call at the same time left the Mongol armies without theirspiritual head and primary strategist. Batu Khan was notable to resume his plans for conquest to the “Great Sea”(the Atlantic Ocean) until 1255, after the turmoil afterÖgedei’s death had finally subsided with the election ofMöngke Khan as Great Khan. Though he was capable ofinvading Western Europe, he was no longer interested.

6.5.1 Mongol infighting

From 1241 to 1248 a state of almost open warfare ex-isted between Batu, son of Jochi, and Güyük, son ofÖgedei. The Mongol Empire was ruled by a regency un-der Ögedei’s widow Töregene Khatun, whose only goalwas to secure the Great Khanate for her son, Güyük.There was so much bitterness between the two branchesof the family that Güyük died in 1248 on his way toconfront Batu to force him to accept his authority. Healso had problems in his last years with the Principal-ity of Halych-Volhynia, whose ruler, Danylo of Halych,adopted a policy of confronting the Golden Horde anddefeated some Mongol assaults in 1254. He was only de-feated in 1259, under the Berke’s rule. Batu Khan wasunable to turn his armywest until 1255, afterMöngke hadbecome Great Khan in 1251, and he had repaired his re-lations with the Great Khanate. However, as he preparedto finish the invasion of Europe, he died. His son did notlive long enough to implement his father and Subutai’splan to invade Europe, and with his death, Batu’s youngerbrother Berke became Khan of the Kipchak Khanate.Berke was not interested in invading Europe as much ashalting his cousin Hulagu Khan from destroying the HolyLand. Berke had converted to Islam and watched withhorror as his cousin destroyed the Abbasid Caliph, thespiritual head of Islam as far as Berke was concerned.TheMamluks of Egypt, learning through spies that Berkewas both a Muslim and not fond of his cousin, appealedto him for help and were careful to nourish their ties tohim and his Khanate.Both entities were Turkic in origin.[47]Many of theMam-luks were of Turkic descent and Berke’s Khanate was al-most totally Turkic also. Jochi, Genghis Khan’s oldestson, was of disputed parentage and only received 4,000

6.6. LATER CAMPAIGNS 43

Mongol warriors to start his Khanate. His nearly 500,000warriors were virtually all Turkic people who had sub-mitted to the Mongols. Thus, the Khanate was Turkic inculture and had more in common with their Muslim Tur-kic Mamluks brothers than with the Mongol shamanistHulagu and his horde. Thus, when Hulagu Khan beganto mass his army for war against the Mamluk-controlledHoly Land, they swiftly appealed to Berke Khan who sentarmies against his cousin and forced him to defend his do-mains in the north.Hulagu returned to his lands by 1262, but instead of be-ing able to avenge his defeats, had to turn north to faceBerke Khan, suffering severe defeat in an attempted inva-sion north of the Caucasus in 1263, after Berke Khan hadlured him north and away from the Holy Land. Thus, theKipchak Khanate never invaded Europe; keeping watchto the south and east instead. Berke only sent troops intoEurope twice, in two relatively light raids in 1259 and1265, simply to collect booty he needed to pay for hiswars against Hulagu from 1262-65.

6.6 Later campaigns

The Golden Horde campaigns in the 1280s (those in Bul-garia, Hungary, and Poland), were much greater in scalethan any campaign since the 1241–1242 invasion, dueto the lack of civil war in the Mongol Empire at thetime. They have sometimes been collectively referred toas “the second Mongol invasion of Europe”, or “the sec-ond Tatar-Mongol invasion of central and south-easternEurope”.[48]

6.6.1 Against Poland (1259 and 1287)

Main article: Second Mongol invasion of Poland

In 1259, eighteen years after the first attack, two tumens(20,000 men) from the Golden Horde, under the lead-ership of Berke, attacked Poland after raiding Lithua-nia. This attack was commanded by general Burundaiwith young princes Nogai and Talabuga. Lublin, Sieradz,Sandomierz, Zawichost, Kraków, and Bytom were rav-aged and plundered. Berke had no intention of occupyingor conquering Poland. After this raid the Pope AlexanderIV tried without success to organize a crusade against theTatars.Main article: Third Mongol invasion of Poland

An unsuccessful raid followed in 1287, led by Talabugaand Nogai Khan. 30,000 men (three tumens) in twocolumns under Nogai (10,000 Mongol cavalry) and Ta-labuga (20,000 Mongols and Ruthenians) respectively in-vaded Lesser Poland to plunder the area and meet upnorth of Kraków. Lublin, Mazovia, and Sieradz were suc-

Martyrdom of Sadok and 48 Dominican martyrs of Sandomierzduring the Second Mongol invasion of Poland.

cessfully raided, but the Mongols failed to capture San-domierz and Kraków and were repulsed with heavy casu-alties when they attempted to assault the cities, althoughthe cities were devastated. Talabuga’s main army (the restof his column having dissolved across the countryside forraiding) was defeated by Duke Leszek II at the Battleof Łagów. After this severe setback, Talabuga linkedback up with the raiding parties and fled Poland with theloot that was already taken. Nogai’s column, after suffer-ing losses during the assault on Kraków, split up to raidthe lands both north and south of the city. One detach-ment headed towards the town of Stary Sącz, another toPodolínec, and others to the Duchy of Sieradz. The firstdetachment was surprised and defeated by the Poles andtheir Hungarian allies in the Battle of Stary Sącz, whilethe second devastated the area of Podhale while skirmish-ing with the locals. After the defeat at Stary Sącz, Nogai’swhole column retreated into Ruthenia.[49]

6.6.2 Against Byzantine Thrace (1265,1324 and 1337)

Main article: Mongol invasion of Thrace

During the reign of Berke there was also a raid againstThrace. In the winter of 1265, the Bulgarian czar, Con-stantine Tych, requested Mongol intervention against theByzantines in the Balkans. Nogai Khan led a Mongolraid of 20,000 cavalry (two tumens) against the territo-ries of Byzantine eastern Thrace. In the spring of 1265,

44 CHAPTER 6. MONGOL INVASION OF EUROPE

Michael VIII Palaeologus confronted the Mongols, buthis army apparently had very low morale and was quicklyrouted. Most of themwere cut down as they fled. Michaelwas forced to retreat to Constantinople on a Genoese shipwhile Nogai’s army plundered all of Thrace. Followingthis defeat, the Byzantine emperor made an alliance withthe Golden Horde (which was massively beneficial for thelatter), giving his daughter Euphrosyne inmarriage to No-gai. Michael also sent much valuable fabric to GoldenHorde as tribute.[50]

Also during Uzbeg Khan reign Thrace suffered raids in1324 and 1337.[51]

6.6.3 Against Bulgaria (1241, 1242, 1271,1274, 1280 and 1285)

After the death of Khan Ögedei, Batu decided to returnfrom Hungary to Mongolia. Part of his army invadedBulgaria, but was defeated by the Bulgarian army underTsar Ivan Asen II. The successors of Tsar Ivan Asen II– the regency of Kaliman Asen I decided to pay tax tothe Golden Horde. In 1271 Nogai Khan led a successfulraid against the country, which was a vassal of the GoldenHorde until the early 14th century. Bulgaria was againraided by the Tatars in 1274, 1280 and 1285. In 1278and 1279 Tsar Ivailo lead the Bulgarian army and crushedthe Mongol raids before being surrounded at Silistra. Af-ter a three-month siege, he managed to once again breakthrough the elite Mongol forces, forcing them to retreatnorth of the Danube. In 1280 a rebellion inspired byByzantium left Ivailo without much support, and so hefled to Nogai's camp, asking him for help before beingkilled by the Mongols. Tsar George I, however, became aMongol vassal before theMongol threat was finally endedwith the reign of Theodore Svetoslav.

Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1285

6.6.4 Against Hungary (1285)

Main article: Second Mongol invasion of Hungary

In 1285Nogai Khan led an invasion of Hungary alongsideTalabuga. Nogai lead an army that ravaged Transylvania

with success: Cities like Reghin, Brașov and Bistrița wereplundered and ravaged. However Talabuga, who led themain army in Northern Hungary, was stopped by theheavy snow of the Carpathians and the invading force wasdefeated[52] near Pest by the royal army of Ladislaus IVand ambushed by the Székely in the return. Nogai’s owncolumn suffered serious casualties at the hands of the lo-cal troops (Saxons and Vlachs), and was harried on hiswithdrawal by the royal army, fresh from their victoryover Talabuga. As with later invasions, it was repelledhandily, the Mongols losing much of their invading force.The outcome could not have contrastedmore sharply withthe 1241 invasion, mostly due to the reforms of Béla IV,which included advances in military tactics and, most im-portantly, the widespread building of stone castles, bothresponses to the defeat of the Hungarian Kingdom in1241. The Mongol attack on Hungary eliminated its mil-itary power and caused them to stop disputing Europeanborders.[53]

6.6.5 Against Serbia (1291)

Serbian king Uroš II Milutin after victory over Mongols.

In 1291 a large Mongol-Bulgarian alliance raided intoSerbia, where Serbian king Stefan Uroš II Milutin de-feated them. However, the Serbian king acknowledgedNogai’s supremacy and sent his son as hostage to preventfurther hostility when Nogai threatened to lead a punitiveexpedition himself.[54]

6.10. FOOTNOTES 45

6.7 Maps

Guangzhou

DelunBoldog

0 1000 km

Hangzou

Kaifeng

Beijing

Karakorum

NingxiaDunhuang

HotanYarkand

Kashgar

Kabul

Ghazni

Herāt

Shiraz

BaghdadRay

Nishapur

Tous

Urgench Otrar

Tabriz

Tbilisi

Soldaia(Sudak)

Kiev

Novgorod

Southern SongDynasty

JinDynasty

Korea

Western

Tibet

RussianPrincipalities

VolgaBulgaria

Georgia

KhwarezmianEmpire Khanate

Naimans

KyrgyzMerkits

Keraits

Tatars12181211,1215

1213

1209

1226

-27

1207

12251211, 1218

1221

1222

1223

Merv

Kara-KhitanBukhara

Samarkand

KipchaksBolghar

DynastyXia

Original area of control

Movements of Genghis Khanand his generals

Empire in 1207 and 1227

Limits of the empire

Empires in Asia at thebeginning of the 13th century

Mongolexpansion

6.8 Gallery

• Golden Horde raid at Ryazan

• Golden Horde raid at Kiev

• Golden Horde raid at Kozelsk

• Golden Horde raid Vladimir

• Golden Horde raid Suzdal

• The Hungarian King Béla IV on the flight from theMongols under general Kadan of the Golden Horde.

6.9 See also

• Franco-Mongol alliance

• Mongol invasions

• Mongol military tactics and organization

• Rogerius of Apulia

• Romania in the Early Middle Ages

• Tatar invasions

6.10 Footnotes

[1] Sources vary, with estimates of Mongol forces from10,000 to 50,000.

[2] Carey states on p. 128 that Batu had 40,000 in the mainbody and ordered Subutai to take 30,000 troops in an en-circling maneuver. Batu commanded the central prongof the Mongols’ three-pronged assault on Europe. Thisnumber seems correct when compared with the num-bers reported at the Battles of Leignitz to the north andHermannstadt (Sibiu) to the south. All three victories oc-curred in the same week.

[3] Markó, László (2000). Great Honours of the HungarianState. Budapest: Magyar Könyvklub. ISBN 963-547-085-1

[4] Liptai, Ervin (1985). Military history of Hungary. Bu-dapest: Zrínyi Katonai Kiadó. ISBN 963-326-337-9

[5] René Grousset The Empire of Steppes

[6] Carey, Brian Todd, p. 124

[7] Colin McEvedy, Atlas of World Population History(1978)

[8] Thomas T. Allsen. Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eura-sia. Cambridge UP.

[9] Francis Dvornik (1962). The Slavs in European Historyand Civilization. Rutgers UP. p. 26.

[10] Eddie Austerlitz (2010). History of the Ogus. p. 27.

[11] Odette Keun (1944). Continental stakes: marshes of in-vasion, valley of conquest and peninsula of chaos. Letch-worth printers ltd. p. 53. Retrieved 2011-11-28. Og-dai Khan continued this stupendous career of conquests.He swept his hosts, organized to a very high level of effi-ciency, armed with a Chinese invention, gunpowder, thatthey used in small field-guns, and commandedwith a senseof strategy quite beyond the capacity of any Europeangeneral through Russia to Poland.

[12] The Mongol invasion: the last Arpad kings

[13] Hildinger, Erik. Mongol Invasions: Battle of Liegnitz.First published as: “The Mongol Invasion of Europe” inMilitary History, (June, 1997).

[14] The Destruction of Kiev

[15] “Genghis Khan: his conquest, his empire, his legacy"byFrank Lynn

[16] Michael Prawdin, Gerard (INT) Chaliand The MongolEmpire, p.268

[17] Richard Bessel; Dirk Schumann (2003). Life after death:approaches to a cultural and social history of Europe dur-ing the 1940s and 1950s. Cambridge University Press.pp. 143–. ISBN 978-0-521-00922-5. Retrieved 1 Octo-ber 2011.

46 CHAPTER 6. MONGOL INVASION OF EUROPE

[18] Gloria Skurzynski (2010). This Is Rocket Science: TrueStories of the Risk-Taking Scientists Who Figure Out Waysto Explore Beyond Earth (illustrated ed.). National Ge-ographic Books. p. 1958. ISBN 1-4263-0597-4. Re-trieved 2011-11-28. In A.D. 1232 an army of 30,000Mongol warriors invaded the Chinese city of Kai-fung-fu,where the Chinese fought back with fire arrows...Mongolleaders learned from their enemies and found ways tomake fire arrows evenmore deadly as their invasion spreadtoward Europe. On Christmas Day 1241 Mongol troopsused fire arrows to capture the city of Buda in Hungary,and in 1258 to capture the city of Baghdad in what’s nowIraq.

[19] “The Mongols in the West, Journal of Asian History v.33n.1”. By Denis Sinor. 1999. Retrieved 16 August 2009.

[20] “Climate probably stoppedMongols cold in Hungary, Sci-ence News, Science Ticker: Climate, Anthropology”. ByHelen Thompson. 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.

[21] “Croatia (History)". Encarta. Archived from the originalon 2009-10-31.

[22] Font, Marta: Hungarian Kingdom and Croatia in theMid-dle Age

[23] “Croatia (History)". Encyclopædia Britannica.

[24] 750th Anniversary of the Golden Bull Granted by Bela IVArchived April 28, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.

[25] Klaić V., Povijest Hrvata, Knjiga Prva, Druga, Treća,Četvrta i Peta Zagreb 1982(Croatian)

[26] Prošlost Klisa (Croatian)

[27] Klis - A gateway to Dalmatia

[28] Epure, Violeta-Anca. "Invazia mongolă în Ungaria şispaţiul românesc" (PDF). ROCSIR - Revista Româna deStudii Culturale (pe Internet) (in Romanian). Retrieved2009-02-05.

[29] Sir John Keegan (1987) [i]The Mask of Command[/i],Viking: London, page 118

[30] Michael Kohn (2006). Dateline Mongolia: An AmericanJournalist in Nomad’s Land. RDR Books. p. 28. ISBN1-57143-155-1. Retrieved 2011-07-29.

[31] William H. McNeill (1992). The Rise of the West: A His-tory of the Human Community. University of ChicagoPress. p. 492. ISBN 0-226-56141-0. Retrieved 2011-07-29.

[32] Robert Cowley (1993). Robert Cowley, ed. Experienceof War (reprint ed.). Random House Inc. p. 86. ISBN0-440-50553-4. Retrieved 2011-07-29.

[33] KennethWarren Chase (2003). Firearms: a global historyto 1700 (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p.58. ISBN 0-521-82274-2. Retrieved 2011-07-29.

[34] Kelly (2005), p.23

[35] Needham, Joseph; et al. (1987), Science and Civilisationin China, Vol. V, Pt. 7, Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress, pp 48-50, ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.

[36] Pacey, Arnold (1991), Technology inWorld Civilization: AThousand-year History, Boston: MIT Press, p. 45, ISBN0-262-66072-5.

[37] Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (2010) [1996]. The CambridgeIllustrated History of China (2nd ed.). New York: Cam-bridge University Press, p. 138, ISBN 978-0-521-12433-1.

[38] Needham, Joseph (1987). Science and Civilisation inChina: Military technology: The Gunpowder Epic, Vol-ume 5, Part 7. New York: Cambridge University Press,pp 118-124. ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.

[39] Sir Winston Churchill, Winston Spencer Churchill(1999). Sir Winston Churchill, Winston SpencerChurchill, ed. The great republic: a history of America.Random House. p. 7. ISBN 0-375-50320-X. Retrieved2011-11-28. But Asia too was marching against theWest.At one moment it had seemed as if all Europe would suc-cumb to a terrible menace looming up from the East. Hea-then Mongol hordes from the heart of Asia, formidablehorsemen armed with bows, had rapidly swept over Rus-sia, Poland, Hungary, and in 1241 inflicted simultaneouscrushing defeats upon the Germans near Breslau and uponEuropean cavalry near Buda. Germany and Austria atleast lay at their mercy.

[40] John of Plano Carpini, “History of the Mongols,” in TheMission to Asia, ed. Christopher Dawson (London: Sheedand Ward, 1955), 44

[41] Carpini, “History of the Mongols”, 60.

[42] Rashid al-Din, Successors, 71-72.

[43] http://www.nature.com/articles/srep25606

[44] J. J. Saunders, The History of the Mongol Conquests (Lon-don: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971), 79.

[45] Climate

[46] Rain#Wettest known locations

[47] Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War

[48] Peter Jackson, “The Mongols and the West”, 2005. Page199

[49] Stanisław Krakowski, Polska w walce z najazdamitatarskimi w XIII wieku, MON, 1956.

[50] René Grousset The Empire of Steppes, page 399-400

[51] Denis Sinor, “TheMongols in theWest.” Journal of AsianHistory (1999) pp: 1-44.

[52] Pál Engel, Tamás Pálosfalvi, Andrew Ayton: The Realmof St. Stephen: A History ofMedieval Hungary, 895-1526,I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd, London, pp. 109

[53] The Roots of Balkanization: Eastern Europe C.E. 500-1500 - By Ion Grumeza Google Books.

[54] István Vásáry Cumans and Tatars: Oriental military in thepre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365, p.89

6.13. EXTERNAL LINKS 47

6.11 References

6.12 Further reading• Allsen, Thomas T. Culture and Conquest in Mongol

Eurasia. Cambridge UP.

• Atwood, Christopher P. Encyclopedia of Mongoliaand the Mongol Empire (2004)

• Chambers, James. The Devil’s Horsemen: The Mon-gol Invasion of Europe (London: Weidenfeld andNicolson, 1979)

• Christian, David. A History of Russia, Central Asiaand Mongolia Vol. 1: Inner Eurasia from Prehistoryto the Mongol Empire (Blackwell, 1998)

• Cook, David, “Apocalyptic Incidents duringthe Mongol Invasions”, in Brandes, Wolfram /Schmieder, Felicitas (hg), Endzeiten. Eschatologiein den monotheistischen Weltreligionen (Berlin, deGruyter, 2008) (Millennium-Studien / MillenniumStudies / Studien zu Kultur und Geschichte desersten Jahrtausends n. Chr. / Studies in the Cultureand History of the First Millennium C.E., 16),293-312.

• Halperin, Charles J.Russia and the golden horde: theMongol impact on medieval Russian history (IndianaUniversity Press, 1985)

• May, Timothy. The Mongol conquests in world his-tory (Reaktion Books, 2013)

• Morgan, David. The Mongols, ISBN 0-631-17563-6

• Nicolle, David. The Mongol Warlords, Brockhamp-ton Press, 1998

• Reagan, Geoffry. The Guinness Book of DecisiveBattles, Canopy Books, New York (1992)

• Saunders, J.J. The History of the Mongol Conquests,Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1971, ISBN 0-8122-1766-7

• Sinor, Denis (1999). “The Mongols in the West”.Journal of Asian History. 33 (1).; also in JSTOR

• Vernadsky, George. The Mongols and Russia (YaleUniversity Press, 1953)

• Halperin, Charles J. “George Vernadsky,Eurasianism, the Mongols, and Russia.” SlavicReview (1982): 477-493. in JSTOR

• Craughwell, Thomas J. The Rise and Fall of the Sec-ond Largest Empire in History: How Genghis Khanalmost conquered the world. Fair Winds. ISBN9781616738518.

• Kauffman, JE. The medieval Fortress:Castles, Fortsand Walled Cities of the medieval ages. Da CapoPress. ISBN 0-306-81358-0.\

• Fagan, Brian. The Great Warming:Climate Changeand the Rise and Fall of Civilization. BloomsburyPress. ISBN 978-1-59691-780-4.

• Penn, Imma. Dogma Evolution & Papal Falla-cies:An Unveiled History of Catholicism. Author-House. ISBN 978-1-4343-0874-0.

6.13 External links• The Islamic World to 1600: The Golden Horde

Chapter 7

Division of the Mongol Empire

This article is about the fragmentation of the MongolEmpire. For administrative divisions of the earlierMongol Empire and its khanates, see Political divisionsand vassals of the Mongol Empire.

The division of the Mongol Empire began whenMöngke Khan died in 1259 with no declared successor,precipitating infighting between members of the Toluifamily line for the title of Great Khan that escalated to theToluid Civil War. This civil war, along with the Berke–Hulagu war and the subsequent Kaidu–Kublai war greatlyweakened the authority of the Great Khan over the en-tirety of the Mongol Empire and the empire fracturedinto autonomous khanates, including the Golden Hordein the northwest, the Chagatai Khanate in the middle, theIlkhanate in the southwest, and the Yuan dynasty in theeast based in modern-day Beijing, although the Yuan em-perors held the nominal title of Khagan of the empire.The four khanates each pursued their own separate inter-ests and objectives, and fell at different times.

7.1 Disunity

7.1.1 Dispute over succession

The Mongols at war.

Möngke Khan's brother Hulagu Khan broke off his suc-cessful military advance into Syria, withdrawing the bulk

of his forces to Mughan and leaving only a small contin-gent under his general Kitbuqa. The opposing forces inthe region, the Christian Crusaders and Muslim Mam-luks, both recognizing that the Mongols were the greaterthreat, took advantage of the weakened state of the Mon-gol army and engaged in an unusual passive truce witheach other.[1]

In 1260, the Mamluks advanced from Egypt, being al-lowed to camp and resupply near the Christian strongholdof Acre, and engaged Kitbuqa's forces just north ofGalilee, at the Battle of Ain Jalut. The Mongols weredefeated, and Kitbuqa was executed. This pivotal battlemarked the western limit for Mongol expansion, as theMongols were never again able to make any serious mil-itary advances farther than Syria.[1]

In a separate part of the empire, another brother ofHulagu and Möngke, Kublai Khan, heard of the GreatKhan’s death at the Huai River in China. Rather than re-turning to the capital, he continued his advance into theWuchang area of China, near the Yangtze River. Theiryounger brother Ariqboke took advantage of the absenceof Hulagu and Kublai, and used his position at the capi-tal to win the title of Great Khan for himself, with rep-resentatives of all the family branches proclaiming himas the leader at the kurultai in Karakorum. When Kublailearned of this, he summoned his own kurultai at Kaiping,where virtually all the senior princes and great noyans res-ident in North China and Manchuria supported his owncandidacy over that of Ariqboke.

7.1.2 Civil war

See also: Toluid Civil War and Berke–Hulagu warBattles ensued between the armies of Kublai and thoseof his brother Ariqboke, which included forces stillloyal to Möngke’s previous administration. Kublai’sarmy easily eliminated Ariqboke’s supporters and seizedcontrol of the civil administration in southern Mongo-lia. Further challenges took place from their cousins,the Chagataids.[2][3][4] Kublai sent Abishka, a Chagataidprince loyal to him, to take charge of Chagatai’s realm.But Ariqboke captured and then executed Abishka, hav-ing his own man Alghu crowned there instead. Kublai’s

48

7.1. DISUNITY 49

Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan's grandson and founder of the Yuandynasty.

new administration blockaded Ariqboke in Mongolia tocut off food supplies, causing a famine. Karakorum fellquickly to Kublai, but Ariqboke rallied and re-took thecapital in 1261.[2][3][4]

In the southwestern Ilkhanate, Hulagu was loyal to hisbrother Kublai, but clashes with their cousin Berke, theruler of the Golden Horde in the northwestern part of theempire, began in 1262. The suspicious deaths of Jochidprinces in Hulagu’s service, unequal distribution of warbooty, and Hulagu’s massacres of the Muslims increasedthe anger of Berke, who considered supporting a rebellionof the Georgian Kingdom against Hulagu’s rule in 1259–1260.[5] Berke also forged an alliance with the Egyp-tianMamluks against Hulagu and supported Kublai’s rivalclaimant, Ariqboke.[6]

Hulagu died on February 8, 1264. Berke sought to takeadvantage and invade Hulagu’s realm, but he died alongthe way, and a few months later Alghu Khan of the Cha-gatai Khanate died as well. Kublai named Hulagu’s sonAbaqa as a new Ilkhan, and Abaqa sought foreign al-liances, such as attempting to form a Franco-Mongol al-liance with the Europeans against the Egyptian Mamluks.Kublai nominated Batu’s grandsonMöngke Temür to leadthe Golden Horde.[7] Ariqboqe surrendered to Kublai atShangdu on August 21, 1264.[8]

7.1.3 Disintegration into four khanates

The establishment of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) byKublai Khan accelerated the fragmentation of the Mon-gol Empire. The Mongol Empire fractured into four

khanates including the Yuan dynasty, the Golden Horde,the Chagatai Khanate and the Ilkhanate. In 1304, apeace treaty among the khanates established the nom-inal supremacy of the Yuan dynasty over the westernkhanates. However, this supremacy was based on nothinglike the same foundations as that of the earlier Khagans.Conflicts such as border clashes among them continued.An example would be the Esen Buqa–Ayurbarwada waroccurred in the 1310s. Each of the four khanates con-tinued to function as separate states and fell at differenttimes.

Yuan dynasty

Main article: Yuan dynastyThe transition of the capital of the Mongol Empire to

A Yuan dynasty jade belt plaque featuring carved designs of adragon.

Khanbaliq (Dadu, modern-day Beijing) by Kublai Khanin 1264 was opposed by many Mongols. Thus, AriqBöke’s struggle was for keeping the center of the Em-pire in Mongolia homeland. After Ariq Böke’s death, thestruggle was continued by Kaidu, a grandson of OgedeiKhan and lord Nayan.By eliminating the Song dynasty, Kublai Khan completedthe conquest of China. The fleets of the Yuan dynastyattempted to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281, but theirships were destroyed in sea storms named kamikazes (di-vine wind) on both occasions. The ordinary people ex-perienced hardships during the Yuan dynasty. Hence,Mongol warriors rebelled against Kublai in 1289. KublaiKhan died in 1294 and was succeeded by Temür Khan,who continued the fight against Kaidu, which lasted un-til Kaidu’s death in 1301. Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khancame to power in 1312. The civil service examinationsystem was instituted for the Yuan dynasty in 1313.[9]

A rebellion called the Red Turban Rebellion began inChina in the 1350s[10] and the Yuan dynasty was over-thrown by the Ming dynasty in 1368. The last Yuan em-peror Toghon Temür fled north to Yingchang and diedthere in 1370. The Yuan remnants, which had retreated

50 CHAPTER 7. DIVISION OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

to Mongolia homeland, is known as the Northern Yuandynasty and continued to resist the Ming China.

Golden Horde

Main article: Golden HordeThe Golden Horde was founded by Batu, son of Jochi,

Batu Khan establishes the Golden Horde.

in 1243. The Golden Horde included the Volga region,mountains of Ural, the steppes of the northern BlackSea, Fore-Caucasus, Western Siberia, Aral Sea and Irtyshbassin, and held principalities of Rus in tributary rela-tions.The capital was initially Sarai Batu and later Sarai Berke.This extensive empire weakened under rivalry of thedescendants of Batu and split into Khanate of Kazan,Astrakhan Khanate, Crimean Khanate, Siberia Khanate,Great Horde, Nogai Horde and White Horde during the15th century. A unified Rus conquered Khanate of Kazanin 1552, Astrakhan Khanate in 1556, Siberia Khanatein 1582, and the Russian Empire conquered CrimeanKhanate in 1783.

Chagatai Khanate

Main article: Chagatai Khanate

The Chagatai Khanate separated in 1266 and coveredCentral Asia, Lake Balkhash, Kashgaria, Afghanistan andZhetysu. It was split between settled Transoxania (MaWara'un-Nahr) in the west and nomadic Moghulistan inthe east. It is claimed that parts of them still spoke Mon-golian until the late 16th century.Moghulistan gained strength during Timur (1395–1405),a warlord from Barlas clan. Timur defeated TokhtamyshKhan ofGoldenHorde in 1395 and deprived him of Fore-Caucasus. He destroyed the army of the Turkish sultannear Angora, the event which delayed a Turkish conquestof the Byzantine Empire for half a century. The TimuridEmpire fragmented shortly after he died.

Ulugh Beg Observatory in Samarkand

Timur’s grandson Ulugh Beg (1409–1449) ruledTransoxania and during his rule trade and economy ofTransoxania achieved significant development. UlughBeg built an astronomical observatory near Samarkand in1429 and wrote his work Zij-i-Sultani, which comprisesthe theories of astronomy and a catalogue of over 1000stars with their precise positions on the celestial sphere.A long rivalry of Moghulistan with the Oirats for traderoutes ended with its defeat by the Oirats in 1530. Babur,a Timurid ruler of Kabul, conquered most of India in1526 and founded the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Em-pire fractured into several lesser states in the 18th centuryand was conquered by the British Empire in 1858.

Ilkhanate

Main article: IlkhanateThe Ilkhanate, ruled by the House of Hulagu, formedin 1256 and comprised Iran, Iraq, Transcaucasus, easternAsiaMinor andWestern Turkistan. While the early rulersof the khanate increasingly adopted Tibetan Buddhism,the Mongol rulers converted to Islam after the enthrone-ment of Ilkhan Ghazan (1295–1304). In 1300, Rashid-al-Din Hamadani in cooperation with Mongol historianscommenced writing Jami al-Tawarikh (Sudur un Chigul-gan, Compendium of Chronicles) under Ghazan’s order.The work was completed in 1311 during the reign ofIlkhan Öljeitü (1304–1316). Altan Debter written by aMongol historian Bolad Chinsan served as a basis forwriting Jami al-Tawarikh. After the death of Abu Sa'id(1316–1335) the Ilkhanate disintegrated rapidly into sev-eral states. The most prominent one was the Jalayrid dy-nasty, ruled by descendants of Mukhali of Jalair.

7.2 See also

• Mongol Empire

• Toluid Civil War

• Berke–Hulagu war

7.3. REFERENCES 51

Dome of Soltaniyeh

• Kaidu–Kublai war

• Esen Buqa–Ayurbarwada war

• Yuan dynasty in Inner Asia

• Turco-Mongols

• Turanism

• Tartary

• Inner Asia

7.3 References[1] Morgan. The Mongols. p. 138.

[2] Wassaf. p. 12.

[3] Jackson. Mongols and the West. p. 109.

[4] Barthold. Turkestan. p. 488.

[5] L. N.Gumilev, A. Kruchki. Black legend

[6] Barthold. TurkestanDown to theMongol Invasion. p. 446.

[7] Prawdin. Mongol Empire and Its Legacy. p. 302.

[8] Weatherford. p. 120.

[9] The Mongol Empire and Its Legacy, by Reuven Amitai,David Orrin Morgan, p267

[10] The Cambridge history of China, Volume 7, pg 42

52 CHAPTER 7. DIVISION OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

7.4 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.4.1 Text• Mongol invasions and conquests Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasions_and_conquests?oldid=751367545 Contribu-

tors: AxelBoldt, Lowellian, DHN, Joconnor, Jason Quinn, Piotrus, Irpen, Dbachmann, Bender235, Ogress, Anthony Appleyard, JohnQuiggin, Grenavitar, Kober, Ghirlandajo, Woohookitty, BD2412, Tim!, Nightscream, Hiberniantears, Nihiltres, Ewlyahoocom, Wave-length, Koveras, Rjensen, Ash Crow, Marquez~enwiki, Sardanaphalus, SmackBot, Elonka, Jagged 85, Lds, Hmains, Andy M. Wang, Tim-Bentley, Ben-Velvel, Colonies Chris, Sonic99, The PIPE, DavidMann, Bejnar, KvaZaR, Mukadderat, IronGargoyle, Phoenixrod, Banedon,Sa.vakilian, Dagvadorj, DPdH, BokicaK, Howard61313, Just Chilling, Mountolive, Parsecboy, MapMaster, DerHexer, JaGa, Analytikone,R'n'B, Tridungvo, ACSE, Nik Sage, Historiographer, Station1, Rei-bot, Mazarin07, FinnWiki, Al Ameer son, SieBot, Nogai Khan, SE7,Hgould01, Hzh, Lightmouse, Hans yulun lai, Denisarona, Gantuya eng, Kafka Liz, Cfsenel, Boneyard90, Ioannes Tzimiskes, Ratapo-lis, Enerelt, Towhi, Rui Gabriel Correia, Holefer, Asidemes, Addbot, LaaknorBot, Taketa, Yobot, Ptbotgourou, Amirobot, AnomieBOT,DemocraticLuntz, Ulric1313, Timmyshin, 3family6, Howsa12, Kebeta, FrescoBot, Trickster206, Tobby72, Jonesey95, Jschnur, RedBot,Slb nsk, Onel5969, EmausBot, Mmm333k, WikitanvirBot, Ajraddatz, TuHan-Bot, Balisong5, Tsuaa, Sundostund, Midas02, Greyshark09,Rigley, Donner60, ClueBot NG, MelbourneStar, Snotbot, Lauren68, Enchyin, Helpful Pixie Bot, Gob Lofa, BG19bot, Chinyin, FutureTril-lionaire, CitationCleanerBot, Iryna Harpy, Tilk Tem, Jaqeli, Dj777cool, BattyBot, Glaxal, Thqldpxm, Dexbot, TwoTwoHello, Rajmaan,Ipodtouchphone5, Faizan, Supersaiyen312, LouisAragon, Ginsuloft, Khanate General, Shoshui, Dragão Guerreiro, JaconaFrere, PatientZero, Filedelinkerbot, Prisencolin, TranquilHope, Maranda99, Cartakes, Evecurid, DimensionQualm, Lappspira, Vahkartvel, Bradley 244,Stonnefrety7777, CraepIM, Froyoninja04 and Anonymous: 146

• Siege of Baghdad (1258) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Baghdad_(1258)?oldid=751093882 Contributors: AdamBishop, Tpbradbury, Whaleyland, Dimadick, Robbot, PBS, Davidcannon, DocWatson42, Everyking, Zora, Curps, RScheiber, Per Honoret Gloria, Utcursch, Antandrus, Icairns, Klemen Kocjancic, Lacrimosus, Pmsyyz, EliasAlucard, Pavel Vozenilek, Bender235, Palm dogg,AladdinSE, Bill Conn, Darwinek, Flammifer, Aan, Gary, Joolz, Ricky81682, Stack, Kober, H2g2bob, Bobrayner, Woohookitty, Table-top, Rjwilmsi, Tim!, Ghepeu, Bensin, Fijal, Ground Zero, CalJW, BjKa, Jaraalbe, Benlisquare, Vmenkov, Oldwindybear, Kirill Lokshin,Manxruler, DarthBinky, Loveman, MadMax, Howcheng, Robyvecchio, Mamawrites, Rudrasharman, Gradedcheese, RenamedUser jaskld-jslak904, Ayazid, Elijahmeeks, Nick-D, Attilios, SmackBot, YellowMonkey, Dweller, Elonka, Musungu jim, Jagged 85, Spasage, Gilliam,Hmains, Chris the speller, TimBentley, KureCewlik81, RayAYang, Afasmit, Jeff5102, Colonies Chris, Geir Smith, Cplakidas, Can Kırığı,Mr.Z-man, Anthon.Eff, Hospitallier, Underbar dk, Got Milked, Kendrick7, DavidMann, Marco Lyons, Nishkid64, Mathiasrex, JohnI,Bless sins, Dantheman102100, TALlama, Twas Now, Ghaly, Bribroder, Eiorgiomugini, CharacterZero, Aherunar, Richard Keatinge, Cy-debot, Meowy, Doug Weller, DBaba, Underpants, Hamadmad, Buistr, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Folantin, Nick Number, Escarbot, Cloachland,Scythian1, Hurmata, WolfmanSF, Mbarbier, Dr B2, Shablog, The Anomebot2, Sam Medany, Gun Powder Ma, R'n'B, Lilac Soul, KansasBear, Rashti, STBotD, Remember the dot, Hugo999, JayEsJay, Pimemorizer, Elchip, SieBot, Aramgar, Rosiestep, JL-Bot, Muhends, Clue-Bot, Kafka Liz, Boneyard90, Zzztriple2000, Enerelt, SchreiberBike, Muro Bot, BOTarate, El bot de la dieta, Bilsonius, Addbot, Escravoes,IP 213, LaaknorBot, Favonian, LinkFA-Bot, Numbo3-bot, Ben Ben, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Corymchapman, Hinio, AnomieBOT, Mate-rialscientist, 90 Auto, Harlandski, Xqbot, 3family6, Millelacs, GhalyBot, Eugene-elgato, Prari, Chenopodiaceous, Moonraker, Evenrød,Full-date unlinking bot, Mumbo-jumbophobe, BrokenMirror2, Lotje, Giorgi Mechurchle, Jfmantis, Jojuko, AndreaFox, WikitanvirBot,Super48paul, ZxxZxxZ, Nukkri, ZéroBot, Mominzed, RaptureBot, Demiurge1000, Labnoor, Omar-toons, Tty29a, ClueBot NG, Fauzan,Urban cowboy, Lauren68, Chendjer, Helpful Pixie Bot, Gob Lofa, Chinyin, BrianBoru10, Tilk Tem, Dj777cool, Gundu1000, Chris-Gualtieri, Tech77, MohammedBinAbdullah, Kharadea, Dexbot, Dissident93, Jackninja5, Thusz, Nimetapoeg, GregoryBowerman, DamiánA. Fernández Beanato, Manul, Ithinkicahn, Jamez42, Kgansen, Alotaibi43, Caesarus III, Nukrizuxba, Hyrudagon, Nihlus1, MuhammadUmair Mirza, Prickett45, Selrahcmattmonde, Dat Boi Ibrahim and Anonymous: 166

• Society of the Mongol Empire Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_the_Mongol_Empire?oldid=749407520 Contributors:Davidcannon, Confuzion, Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, Bender235, Kross, Mduvekot, Zephirum, Hojimachong, Woohookitty, Mind-matrix, Pol098, KyuuA4, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Dosman, Sherool, Benlisquare, Bgwhite, RadioFan, BirgitteSB,Mais oui!, SmackBot, Elonka,Gilliam, Chris the speller, Colonies Chris, MaxSem, OrphanBot, Derek R Bullamore, Latebird, Nishkid64, JorisvS, Geoffg, Maiya, Cy-debot, Khatru2, JodyB, Epbr123, Salavat, JBell, Obiwankenobi, Roleplayer, Hut 8.5, MapMaster, PAK Man, Livet0ski, Hatchibombotar,R'n'B, JayJasper, Chinneeb, VolkovBot, Jeff G., Andres rojas22, Falcon8765, Khanele, Hzh, Gantuya eng, ClueBot, The Thing That ShouldNot Be, Enerelt, Stepheng3, XLinkBot, WikHead, Felix Folio Secundus, VanishedUser ewrfgdg3df3, Addbot, Jncraton, Fieldday-sunday,Profitoftruth85, Vyom25, Ben Ben, Yobot, Mmxx, AnomieBOT, IRP, Materialscientist, Madalibi, Cavs23, Bobicmon, SD5, TheInventist,Arekrishna, Rayshade, Just a guy from the KP, EmausBot, John of Reading, Dewritech, ZéroBot, John Cline, Bollyjeff, Maliepa, Donner60,ClueBot NG, Frietjes, Helpful Pixie Bot, DBigXray, Chinyin, CitationCleanerBot, ~riley, Cyberbot II, EuroCarGT, Rajmaan, ImVeryAwe-some, DavidLeighEllis, Ansegam, Mcfrecles, Crystallizedcarbon, Yprpyqp, CLCStudent, Marvellous Spider-Man and Anonymous: 151

• Mongol military tactics and organization Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_military_tactics_and_organization?oldid=750182841 Contributors: Zundark, DopefishJustin, Stephenw32768, Cabalamat, Unfree, Sam Hocevar, Neutrality, Rich Farmbrough,Kross, Wareh, Stesmo, Longhair, Giraffedata, Pearle, Atlant, Rhialto, Ghirlandajo, Axeman89, Siafu, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Ian Page,Pleiotrop3, Hiberniantears, BirdbrainedPhoenix, Ewlyahoocom, Gurch, Egthegreat, Benlisquare, Bgwhite, Algebraist, Oldwindybear,RussBot, Gaius Cornelius, Wiki alf, Kvn8907, Thiseye, BirgitteSB, Moe Epsilon, R.D.H. (Ghost In The Machine), Caerwine, 2over0,Mehrdadd, Arthur Rubin, König Alfons der Viertelvorzwölfte, Vicarious, SmackBot, Twerges, Hydrogen Iodide, Davewild, Mdd4696,Kintetsubuffalo, Gilliam, Supergenius1945, Bluebot, Snori, Robth, OrphanBot, Richard001, Latebird, Mukadderat, Zahid Abdassabur,IronGargoyle, SQGibbon, Intranetusa, Digsdirt, Mackan, Michael Keenan, Gyeager, JoeBot, CmdrObot, JohnCD, Richard Keatinge,Mikebrand, Tawkerbot4, Christian75, Wandalstouring, Barticus88, ChristineDelusion, Easter rising, Nick Number, Ericmachmer, Hm-rox, Altamel, Ingolfson, 1mike12, Mrld, Ling.Nut, KConWiki, Oscarg, Ekotkie, Zsh, Jonathan Stokes, Vigyani, Livet0ski, Tgeairn,Topher1789, J.delanoy, JPLeonard, Hut 6.5, NewEnglandYankee, Student7, BrettAllen, Vranak, Chinneeb, Kyle the bot, Oshwah, Aceblazer, Seaoneil, Yaan, Wpf pokefan, AlleborgoBot, GavinTing, CaptainPuma, Nogai Khan, Yintan, Flyer22 Reborn, Oxymoron83, Pors-enna1, Lrguy, Mygerardromance, Hans yulun lai, Elassint, ClueBot, Nielspeterqm, EoGuy, BeLiEvE0101, Mild Bill Hiccup, Pipingkid,HMBot~enwiki, SamuelTheGhost, Excirial, Vin Kaleu, Muhandes, Enerelt, Ngebendi, Razorflame, Palindromedairy, Pqnelson, Cpoc23,Vinnyts, Bilsonius, Badahur, Dthomsen8, Addbot, Fluffernutter, Profitoftruth85, LinkFA-Bot, Fireaxe888, Tide rolls, Lightbot, Teles,Bahatur, Jackelfive, Luckas-bot, Fraggle81, Alexandre8, AnomieBOT, Materialscientist, LilHelpa, Shadowjams, FrescoBot, Pepper, Di-vineAlpha, Squid661, Juhko, Gxlarson, Bloofly, Samdacruel, Smd75jr, Anirudh Emani, Kirsion, Ocaasi, RaptureBot, Cit helper, Rigley,Donner60, Rocketrod1960, Petrb, ClueBot NG, Ujjain, Snotbot, Og of Bashan, Lauren68, Helpful Pixie Bot, BG19bot, Littledman, Uh-lan, Wikih101, P.Sridhar Babu, Pratyya Ghosh, Mediran, EuroCarGT, Kharadea, Dexbot, Ccwnccwn, Hmainsbot1, Mogism, Frosty,

7.4. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 53

Sriharsh1234, Awesomenessdoctor, Theonlytruemathnerd, HistoryTimP, PraetorianFury, Tentinator, Backendgaming, Babitaarora, Cu-jodog69, Ancientsteppe, Qwerty 9012, JaconaFrere, ProffessorDano, Monkbot, Tacoman12345687, Dannycho182, Insertcleverphrase-here, Khorichar, Bekamancer, Potatoesarenice, Alyb2, Undefined51, CAPTAIN RAJU, *Treker, Stonnefrety7777, Bender the Bot, Zan-derzed and Anonymous: 330

• Destruction under the Mongol Empire Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_under_the_Mongol_Empire?oldid=746632562 Contributors: Paul Barlow, GTBacchus, Necrothesp, Mike Rosoft, Bender235, Smalljim, Velella, Woohookitty, Josh Parris, Hi-berniantears, Egthegreat, Bullzeye, Rjensen, SmackBot, Betacommand, Chris the speller, Bazonka, EOZyo, Latebird, DFront21, Onetwo1,Montanabw, Hemlock Martinis, AndrewHowse, GenuineMongol, Nick Number, Luckz, Ingolfson, HolyT, Dan D. Ric, Areaseven, R'n'B,BrokenSphere, Mortifer, Yaan, Clintville, Flyer22 Reborn, Mankar Camoran, Fratrep, Svick, Denisarona, Canglesea, Worobiew, Shir-Eltoo, Piledhigheranddeeper, IngaRea, Rui Gabriel Correia, Taketa, Legobot, MrBurns, AnomieBOT, Jim1138, Materialscientist, LilHelpa,Madalibi, Choulin, Capricorn42, 3family6, Ehadavi, Eddrocks, SD5, Blackguard SF, PaulBommel, Trueshow111, LizzieBabes419, Rush-bugled13, Bdo311, Dinamik-bot, Diannaa, RjwilmsiBot, Sheeana, ZéroBot, Gamma Spelazi, HammerFilmFan, RaptureBot, Donner60,Xanchester, ClueBot NG, Widr, Cold Season, Joplin, Shokioto22, HogtownDude, Filius humanitas, Bhavya1333, AndyHarwell, Eyesnore,ElHef, Oranjelo100, GraniteSand, JaconaFrere, Crossswords, Nestwiki, HMSLavender, Insertcleverphrasehere, Weegeerunner, Ianc64,Lylerumon, JuztinK, Asdfadffgasjkdfhgaskdj, Hookuh dookuh and Anonymous: 103

• Mongol invasion of Europe Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasion_of_Europe?oldid=751801935 Contributors: Ax-elBoldt, DopefishJustin, Ugen64, Topbanana, HarryHenryGebel, Dimadick, Robbot, Peak, Sunray, Nat Krause, RScheiber, Alensha,Per Honor et Gloria, Kpalion, Mboverload, Rsloch, Piotrus, Demiurge, KNewman, Rich Farmbrough, Freestylefrappe, Pavel Voze-nilek, Bender235, ESkog, JoeSmack, Ertly, Polylerus, MrTree, Ricky81682, H27kim, Deacon of Pndapetzim, Axeman89, Siafu, Car-charoth, Shanedidona, LeoO3, Deltabeignet, BD2412, Marsound, V95micfa, Reisio, Seidenstud, Tim!, InFairness, Ghepeu, Olessi, Pseu-dohacker, Ian Pitchford, Nivix, Foolishgrunt, Toscaesque, Benlisquare, Xtine66, Bgwhite, PainMan, Wavelength, Oldwindybear, Leeuwen-zwaard~enwiki, Fabartus, Fz22, Gaius Cornelius, -OOPSIE-, Bachrach44, Rjensen, Kelovy, Jkelly, Avalon, Petri Krohn, Appleseed,Splee, Otto ter Haar, Anonimu, Attilios, SmackBot, Elonka, Vendor X, Kintetsubuffalo, Srnec, Durova, Bluebot, TimBentley, Snori,PrimeHunter, Alumni, Hibernian, Tripledot, Colonies Chris, Veggies, Mihai Andrei, John Hyams, Laslovarga, Hier0phant, Cellorando,Downwards, Pietercornelis, Latebird, DavidMann, Tankred, Ilvar, Andrei Stroe, Mukadderat, Gahya6, Joneleth, Intranetusa, Xionbox,Phuzion, Mackan, AndarielHalo, Geoffg, Cashie, Tarpan, CmdrObot, Suto, Ken Gallager, Myasuda, Cydebot, Ntsimp, PKT, Mattisse,Thijs!bot, Barticus88, Biruitorul, Dogaroon, Vidor, Marek69, Bobblehead, Nathraq, Ati7, AntiVandalBot, Howard61313, Roksanna,Yarovit, Uuu87, JAnDbot, Dsp13, Dr mindbender, Magioladitis, VoABot II, Norden1990, Shield2, Gun Powder Ma, Dc76, Martin-Bot, CommonsDelinker, Ssolbergj, Nev1, Александр Сигачёв, Hubacelgrand, Pannonius, Esp rus2, Bogdan~enwiki, The3mr, BernardZ,Signalhead, RingtailedFox, Philip Trueman, Director, Oshwah, BobM, AllGloryToTheHypnotoad, MercuryBot, Teeg82, Natg 19, Yaan,Mazarin07, InternetHero, Koalorka, Razool, PericlesofAthens, Nogai Khan, Malcolmxl5, Lachrie, Quest for Truth, Flyer22 Reborn, MisterIndia, Monegasque, Baxter9, Lightmouse, KathrynLybarger, Porsenna1, Belligero, Iaroslavvs, Hans yulun lai, JL-Bot, A21sauce, ClueBot,Deviator13, XPTO, Drmies, Niceguyedc, TypoBoy, Boneyard90, Tasmaniacs, Enerelt, Iohannes Animosus, Palindromedairy, Rui GabrielCorreia, Chovin, Toxicbreakfast, Heironymous Rowe, XLinkBot, Wertuose, Alexius08, Felix Folio Secundus, Addbot, Ustokos, 7castle,Download, Abvgd, Ettrig, Luckas-bot, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Rjanag, Kingpin13, Ulric1313, Neurolysis, LilHelpa, Brane.Blokar, 3family6,Maximalist, Foreverprovence, Anotherclown, Celebration1981, Invest in knowledge, Mattis, Howsa12, WebCiteBOT, Kebeta, McAnt,FrescoBot, Trickster206, Tobby72, Citation bot 1, Lainestl, Pinethicket, Haida19, Jonesey95, Noel Streatfield, Wernergerman, Azgar,Flavius T, Hedviberit, Dantering, Reaper Eternal, Pozytyv, Сергей Сергеич, Alfons2, EmausBot, John of Reading, Leech44, Peaceray,Moswento, Balisong5, Aftesk, Midas02, AuburnAttack21, Labnoor, TyA, Jguy, K123456, Donner60, Whoop whoop pull up, HiStOrI-cUsEr, ClueBot NG, Annguyen1988, Jhenderson8, Iritakamas, Frietjes, Lauren68, Helpful Pixie Bot, Kazi2000, Smart Nomad, GobLofa, MontChevalier, Koertefa, BG19bot, M0rphzone, Quarkgluonsoup, PhnomPencil, Soerfm, DPL bot, Kali95, Emaha, Glacialfox,Tilk Tem, Bobbflocka, CsikszeradaiJanos, Inops, Watever699, Cyberbot II, Zeary, Tech77, Shokioto22, Khazar2, Connor330, Rfmge,Dbarger12, Juniperpaul, Dexbot, Icantfindusername, Hmainsbot1, Bashiaden, Lugia2453, Dschslava, Kharkiv07, ProKro, Owain Knight,Tzowu, Tigercompanion25, Zyksnowy, Insertcleverphrasehere, Pariah24, Cartakes, DiscantX, SM2468, Nihlus1, 69deeznuts69696969,Onarollercoaster, 01racman, GreenC bot, HistorianVictory and Anonymous: 287

• Division of theMongol Empire Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_the_Mongol_Empire?oldid=735639734Contributors:Moonriddengirl, Dthomsen8, AnomieBOT, BG19bot, Saxarocks, Iloilo Wanderer, Cartakes, Prinsgezinde, History of Persia and Anony-mous: 5

7.4.2 Images• File:Alex_K_Halych-Volhynia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Alex_K_Halych-Volhynia.svg Li-

cense: Public domain Contributors: self-made Based on [1] [2] Original artist: Alex Tora = Alex K in Ukranian = Alex K in Japanesewiki

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• File:ArmenianArchibishopJean1287.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/ArmenianArchibishopJean1287.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Mutafian, “Le Royaume Armenien de Cilicie” Orig-inal artist: Unknown<a href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718' title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img alt='wikidata:Q4233718'src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20'height='11' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 1.5x,https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-file-width='1050'data-file-height='590' /></a>

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54 CHAPTER 7. DIVISION OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

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• File:Crusades_TF.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Crusades_TF.JPG License: Public domain Con-tributors: Images found on Commons and mercilessly edited Original artist: Roger Davies

• File:DiezAlbumsArmedRiders_II.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/DiezAlbumsArmedRiders_II.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Dschingis Khan und seine Erben (exhibition catalogue), München 2005, p. 255 Original artist:unknown / (of the reproduction) Staatsbibliothek Berlin/Schacht

• File:DiezAlbumsMountedArchers.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/DiezAlbumsMountedArchers.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Dschingis Khan und seine Erben (exhibition catalogue), München 2005, p. 256 Original artist:unknown / (of the reproduction) Staatsbibliothek Berlin/Schacht

• File:Edit-clear.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg License: Public domain Contributors: TheTango! Desktop Project. Original artist:The people from the Tango! project. And according to the meta-data in the file, specifically: “Andreas Nilsson, and Jakub Steiner (althoughminimally).”

• File:Flag_of_Ayyubid_Dynasty.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Flag_of_Ayyubid_Dynasty.svg Li-cense: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Ch1902

• File:Flag_of_Georgia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Flag_of_Georgia.svg License: Public domainContributors: Own work based on File:Brdzanebuleba 31.pdf Original artist: User:SKopp

• File:Flag_of_the_Mongol_Empire.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Flag_of_the_Mongol_Empire.svg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.fotw.net/flags/mn-early.html Original artist: Martin23230

• File:Genghis_Khan_empire-en.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Genghis_Khan_empire-en.svg Li-cense: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:

• Gengis_Khan_empire-fr.svg Original artist:

• derivative work: Bkkbrad (<a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Bkkbrad' title='User talk:Bkkbrad'>talk</a>)

7.4. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 55

• File:Ger_Tereg_Blue.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Ger_Tereg_Blue.jpgLicense: CC-BY-SA-3.0Contributors: Cropped from File:1000 Tugriks - Verso.jpg Original artist: User:Gantuya_eng

• File:GhazanBeingBreastfed.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/GhazanBeingBreastfed.jpg License:Public domain Contributors: Rashid al-Din, “Djami al-Tawarikh”, early 14th century. Reproduction in “Ghengis Khan et l'Empire Mongol”,Jean-Paul Roux Original artist: Rashid al-Din

• File:Goosehunt.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Goosehunt.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:Dschingis Khan und seine Erben (exhibition catalogue), München 2005, p. 314 Original artist: unknown / (of the reproduction) NationalPalace Museum, Taibei

• File:HedwigManuscriptLiegnitz_b.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/HedwigManuscriptLiegnitz_b.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Dschingis Khan und seine Erben (exhibition catalogue), München 2005, p. 213 Original artist:unknown / (of the reproduction) Wroclaw University Library / T. Zoltowska-Huszcza (sorry for ignoring diacritics)

• File:Henryk_Pobozny.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Henryk_Pobozny.jpg License: Public do-main Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:HulaguInBagdad.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/HulaguInBagdad.JPG License: Public do-main Contributors: “Le Livre des Merveilles”, 15th century, reproduction in “Le Livre des Merveilles”, Marie-Therese Gousset. Originalartist: Maître de la Mazarine

• File:Il-Khanate_Flag.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Il-Khanate_Flag.svg License: Public domainContributors: Transferred from en.wikipediaOriginal artist: Orange Tuesday (talk). Original uploader was Orange Tuesday at en.wikipedia

• File:Insignia_Germany_Order_Teutonic.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Insignia_Germany_Order_Teutonic.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Madboy74

• File:IstSib005_1.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/IstSib005_1.jpg License: Public domain Contribu-tors: "История Сибирская". Мультимедиа Центр НГУ [1] Original artist: С.У.Ремезов

• File:Klis_0807_3.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Klis_0807_3.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contrib-utors: Own work Original artist: Roberta F.

• File:Meczennicy_Sandomierscy.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Meczennicy_Sandomierscy.jpgLicense: Public domain Contributors: http://swietyjakub.republika.pl/kms2.htm Original artist: probably Karol de Provost

• File:MongFuel.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/MongFuel.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors:Own work Original artist: Vadas Róbert (Vadaro)

• File:MongolArcher.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/MongolArcher.jpg License: Public do-main Contributors: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB:Mongolhorsemen.jpg Original artist: Un-known<a href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718' title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img alt='wikidata:Q4233718' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20' height='11' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-file-width='1050' data-file-height='590'/></a>

• File:MongolCavalrymen.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/MongolCavalrymen.jpg License: Publicdomain Contributors: http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/pop//conquests/cavalry_pop.htm Original artist: Sayf al-Vâhidî. Hérât.Afghanistan

• File:Mongol_Empire_map.gif Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Mongol_Empire_map.gif License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Based on the freely licenced Image:Genghis khan empire at his death.png using information from maps of theMongol Empire in atlases and on the web such as [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. Made in Photoshop and Painter. Original artist: User:Astrokey44

• File:Mongol_Great_Khans_coin_minted_at_Balk_Afghanistan_AH_618_AD_1221.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Mongol_Great_Khans_coin_minted_at_Balk_Afghanistan_AH_618_AD_1221.jpg License: Public domainContributors: Own work by uploader, photographed at the British Museum Original artist: PHGCOM

• File:Mongol_hunter_with_tame_cheetah.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Mongol_hunter_with_tame_cheetah.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Enerelt at English Wikipedia

• File:Mongol_soldiers_by_Rashid_al-Din_1305.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Mongol_soldiers_by_Rashid_al-Din_1305.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: “History of the World” by Rashid al-Din. Photograph byGerman image bank AKG-Images, published in “The Mongols and the West”, Peter Jackson, 2005. Original artist: Rashid al-Din

• File:Mongol_warrior_of_Genghis_Khan.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Mongol_warrior_of_Genghis_Khan.jpg License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Stonnefrety7777

• File:Mongolian_Tribe_Camp.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Mongolian_Tribe_Camp.jpg Li-cense: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Lady Anu

• File:MongolsInHungary1285.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/MongolsInHungary1285.jpg License:Public domain Contributors: Dschingis Khan und seine Erben (exhibition catalogue), München 2005, p. 218 Original artist: unknown / (ofthe reproduction) Széchényi National Library, Budapest

• File:Mōko_Shūrai_Ekotoba_2.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/M%C5%8Dko_Sh%C5%ABrai_Ekotoba_2.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba Original artist: Author unknown. Illustration rolls were or-dered by Takezaki Suenaga himself.

• File:Persian_painting_of_Hülegü’s_army_attacking_city_with_siege_engine.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Persian_painting_of_H%C3%BCleg%C3%BC%E2%80%99s_army_attacking_city_with_siege_engine.jpg License:Public domain Contributors:

56 CHAPTER 7. DIVISION OF THE MONGOL EMPIRE

• http://mongolianhistory.blogspot.in/2007/03/hleg-moves-west-high-living-and.html Original artist: Unknown<a href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718' title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img alt='wikidata:Q4233718' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20' height='11' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-file-width='1050' data-file-height='590' /></a>

• File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0Contributors:Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:Tkgd2007

• File:Rubenid_Flag.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Rubenid_Flag.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Con-tributors: File:RubenidCOA.svg imported from en.wikipedia Original artist: Orange Tuesday (talk)

• File:Sacking_of_Suzdal_by_Batu_Khan.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Sacking_of_Suzdal_by_Batu_Khan.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://rutenica.narod.ru/SUZDAL.JPG Original artist: ?

• File:Samarkand_observatoire_ulugh_beg.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Samarkand_observatoire_ulugh_beg.jpg License: CC BY 2.5 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Michel Benoist

• File:Skull_and_crossbones.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Skull_and_crossbones.svgLicense: Public domain Contributors: http://vector4u.com/symbols/skull-and-crossbones-vector-svg/ Original artist: Un-known<a href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718' title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img alt='wikidata:Q4233718' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20' height='11'srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 1.5x,https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-file-width='1050'data-file-height='590' /></a>

• File:Soltaaniyeh-Dome-01.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Soltaaniyeh-Dome-01.jpg License: CCBY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Shervinafshar

• File:Spisska_nova_ves...castle.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Spisska_nova_ves...castle.jpg Li-cense: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Suzdal-invasion2.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Suzdal-invasion2.jpg License: Public domainContributors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Tokhtogha_coin.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/Tokhtogha_coin.jpg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0 Contribu-tors: ? Original artist:Uploader

• File:TuluiWithQueenSorgaqtani.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/TuluiWithQueenSorgaqtani.jpgLicense: Public domain Contributors: Rashid al-Din, “Djami al-Tawarikh”, 14th century. Reproduction in “Ghengis Khan et l'EmpireMongol”, Jean-Paul Roux Original artist: Rashid al-Din

• File:Victory_of_king_Milutin_over_Tatars.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Victory_of_king_Milutin_over_Tatars.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:

This image was downloaded from the National Library of Serbia's collection Zbirka grafika Anastasa Jovanovića. COBISS ID 123198732Original artist: Anastas Jovanović (1817-1899)

• File:Vladimir_mongols.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Vladimir_mongols.jpg License: Public do-main Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Wappen_Schlesiens.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Wappen_Schlesiens.png License: CC0Contributors: Own work Original artist: Schläsinger

• File:Wiki_letter_w.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6c/Wiki_letter_w.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0 Contributors:? Original artist: ?

• File:YuanEmperorAlbumKhubilaiPortrait.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/YuanEmperorAlbumKhubilaiPortrait.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Artdaily.org Original artist: Anige (also known asAraniko) of Nepal, an astronomer, engineer, painter, and confidant of Kublai Khan

• File:Сapture_of_the_Mongol-Tatars_Russian_city.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/%D0%A1apture_of_the_Mongol-Tatars_Russian_city.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: [1] Original artist: Un-known<a href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718' title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img alt='wikidata:Q4233718' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20' height='11'srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 1.5x,https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-file-width='1050'data-file-height='590' /></a>

• File:Цар_Батий_на_престолі.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/%D0%A6%D0%B0%D1%80_%D0%91%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%96.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Rashid-al-Din, “History of the World”, reproduction in Luisetto “Armenienset autres chretiens d'Orient sous la domination Mongole"(Bibliothèque nationale de France. Département des Manuscrits. Divisionorientale. Supplément persan 1113, fol. 91r) Original artist: Rashid-al-Din

• File: .jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/%E3%83%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B4%E3%83%AB%E5%9E%8B%E7%9A%AE%E9%8E%A7.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

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