WARM-UP

• 1) In what ways did pastoral societies differ from their agricultural counterparts?

• Far smaller populations • Lived in small and widely-scattered encampments of related

kin • Obviously, far more mobile • Generally offered less social stratification • Generally offered women a higher status, fewer restrictions

and a greater role in public life

• 2) In what ways did pastoral societies interact with their agricultural neighbors?

• Economically • Sought access to foodstuffs, manufactured goods and luxury

goods available only from agricultural neighbors • Politically and Militarily

• Pastoral peoples at times came together to extract wealth from agricultural societies through TRADING, RAIDING, EXTORTION

• Culturally • Some pastoral societies adopted religions of settled societies,

inc. Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Manichaeism

• 1. nomads make greatest impact on world history between 500 – 1500 CE

• a. Arabs, Berbers, Turks and Mongols create largest empires • b. Islam derived from largely nomadic Arabs, carried by the Turks • c. Byzantium, Persia and China were ALL controlled by former

nomadic people • 2. Bedouin Arabs – become effective fighters (camel saddle

500 – 100 BCE) • a. made controlling Arabian trade routes possible • b. became Islamic shock troops

• 3. Turkic-speaking nomads [from Mongolia and s. Siberia] • a. gradual spread southward and westward • b. series of short-lived nomadic empires from 552 – 965 CE • c. spread language and culture throughout Inner Asia • d. convert to Islam between 10th and 14th centuries • e. Seljuk Empire (11th to 12th centuries), claim Muslim title Sultan and

exercise real power • f. carry Islam to India and Anatolia

• 4. Berber societies emerge in N. Africa with introduction of the camel

• a. adopt Islam • b. Sanhaja Berbers build Almoravid Empire in the 1000s

• northwest Africa and Spain • collapse by mid 12th century

• A. The Mongols formed the greatest land-based empire in history following breakout of Mongolia in the 13th century • 1. extensive linkage with nomadic and agricultural societies • 2. created far greater contact between Europe, China and Islamic world • 3. total Mongol population only about 700,000 • 4. did not have a major cultural impact on the world

• a. did not spread their shamanism religion • b. interested mostly in exploiting conquered peoples • c. today, Mongol culture in…Mongolia • d. Mongol Empire was the last great nomadic state

• 1. Temujin (1162 – 1227) – empire’s creator • a. Mongols were feuding tribes and clans before – very unstable

• 2. Temujin’s rise: • a. father was murdered before he was 10; was a minor chieftain • b. allies with friends and other powerful clans

• Includes warriors from defeated tribes • c. shifting series of alliances, betrayals, and military victories • d. wins a reputation as a great leader

• 3. 1206 – Mongol tribal assembly recognizes Temujin as Chinggis Khan or “Universal Ruler”

• 4. Chinggis Khan begins expansion to hold together his new alliance • a. 1209 – major attack on China started 50-year Mongol World War • b. Chinggis, Ogodei, Mongke, and Khubilai created an empire that included

China, Korea, Central Asia, Russia, much of the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe

• c. only setbacks eventually mark the empire’s outer limits (*and geography!)

• 1. Mongol Empire grew without any grand scheme • 2. by death of Chinggis – goal of uniting the world • 3. remember, Mongols vastly outnumbered by enemies • 4. partly due to good timing and good luck

• a. China was again divided • b. Abbasid Caliphate was in decline

• 5. military success due to well-led, disciplined & organized army • a. military units of 10 / 100 / 1,000 / 10,000 warriors • b. conquered tribes were broken up and scattered among units

• Took skilled inhabitants of settled lands to capital at Karakorum resulting in depopulation of some areas

• c. tribalism weakened by creation of the Imperial Guard • d. flee in battle? recourse – all others executed! • e. leaders shared hardships with their troops (and wealth from plunder)

• Genghis took 10%, troops got 90%

• 5. military success due to well-led, disciplined & organized army • f. elaborate tactics: encirclement, retreat, and deception [learning!]

• Employed the best siege engineers from Persia, China, and the Arab world • Conquered China by destroying the countryside, reducing it to starvation

• g. vast numbers of conquered peoples were incorporated into army

• 6. Mongol reputation for brutality and destructiveness • a. resist and be destroyed

• Massive psychological effect of techniques • ex. Kingdom of Khwarizm murdered Mongol envoys…oops

• 7. ability to mobilize resources • a. elaborate census and taxation system • b. good system of relay stations for communication and trade • c. centralized bureaucracy began • d. encouraged commerce and trade • e. gave lower administrative posts to Chinese and Muslim officials • f. practiced religious toleration

• The Mongols in Persia: The Il-Khanante • The Mongols in Russia: The Golden Hoard • The Mongol in China: Rise of the Yuan

• 1. 1219 – 1221, 1251 – 1258 CE; more abrupt takeover than in China

• 2. led by Chinngis and grandson Helegu (becomes Il-Kahn) • 3. Mongol victories were a cultural shock (infidels) • 4. Baghdad sacked in 1258; ends Abbasid Caliphate

• Over 200,000 massacred

• 5. destroyed irrigation networks and farming surplus • Accompanied with heavy taxation • However, wine and silk trade flourish with connection to China

• 6. utilized sophisticated Persian bureaucracy to rule • 7. eventually Mongols converted to Islam, learn Arabic and even

abandon pastoralism for farming! • 8. Legacy:

• Mongol rule ends in 1330s with no heir • Instead of being driven out, Mongols become “Persian” / “civilized”

• 1. 1237 – 1240; encounter E.O. Christians in “Russia” • 2. rival princes divided over Mongolian threat • 3. compete to supply tribute

• Kiev and Moscow change roles

• 4. largest devastation; skilled laborers transported to various Mongol territory

• 5. Kipchak or Golden Hoard to Europeans • 6. Mongols did not occupy Russia like in China or Persia; Russia

had little to offer • 7. Mongols assimilate the least in Russia, compared to Persia

and China • 8. Eventually, the Golden Hoard converts to Islam, sparing a

Mongol on Mongol world war • 9. taught “Russians” how to rule “Russia”

THE MONGOL IMPACT ON CHINA Rise of the Yuan

Inquiry Questions • What was the impact of the Mongols on the political

structure of China? • What was the impact of the Mongols on the economic

systems of China? • What was the impact of the Mongols on the intellectual

and artistic culture of China?

Kublai Khan Chibu Khan

• 1. 1209 to1271 – conquered China and moved capital to Beijing • Massive walls built around city • Streets made broader and wider • Artificial lakes and islands in closed complex (“forbidden city”) • Summer palace at Shangdu (Xanadu)

• 2. In southern Song period - relatively dis-unified • Re-united China

• Brought experts from Middle East, Central Asia to administer China • Did a census for tax collection purposes • Re-Districted provinces, put under control of governors, increased central

control

• 1. Tax Farming • Foreigners brought in to collect taxes • Some cities prospered: esp. cities on Silk Roads

• 2. Re-unification of China revitalized north-south trade along Grand Canal • Ports in South China revived due to grain trade

• 3. Businesses managed by corporations representing investors • Paper money issued – failed (no trust) • Copper coins came back when trade with Japan terminated, helped economy

• 4. Gentry moved into cities (URBANIZATION) • Cities became cosmopolitan, catered to merchant class (like city-states of Italy)

• 5. New infrastructure improvements: • Waterwheels • Dams • Irrigation systems

• 6. Many farmers suffered under Mongols: • Evictions • Brutal Tax Farming

• 7. Changes to Tax Farming too late (as in Middle East) • Farmers forced into servitude • Dams and dikes broken • Flooding in Yellow River area severe

• 1. Social status depended on ancestry (end of civil service exam system) • Highest to lowest:

• Mongols • Central Asians and Middle Easterners • Northern Chinese • Southern Chinese

• INVERSION of old SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

• 2. Confucians alienated from Yuan, disagreed with social ranking system: • Merchants given too much status, esp. foreigners • Doctors given too much status

• Doctor’s status increased – Chinese medicine began integrating native and foreign practices (SYNCRETISM)

• 3. New literature in Mandarin introduced • Impact of Mongolian language on Chinese still present today

• Manuals on farming, etc. increased yield

• 4. Syncretism under Pax Mongolica • Mongol leaders kept in touch, exchanged new technologies and ideas • Il-Khan science & technology exported to China • Scholars and texts imported from China to Middle East • Observatories set up across Central Asia • Algebra and Trig to China; Fractions to Middle East • Islamic and Persian medicine to China

• 1. Elevation of status of merchants meant less opportunities for traditional Confucian elite

• 2. Gentry families went into business instead • 3. In countryside, population declined:

• Bubonic plague • Migrations South to avoid the Mongols and flooding

• 40% of population lost during Yuan (1279-1368)

• 1. Yuan rule lasted less than a century • 2. Mongol leadership became fractured • 3. Mongols forced out of China because of:

• Inflation, plague, peasant rebellions • 4. in 1368, Mongols forced out of China to return to nomadic

pastoralism • 5. China returning to patriarchal, Confucian-based society of the

Ming dynasty

•

• Pastoral peoples settle non-farmable lands • Both traders and bandits on long-distance trade routes (Central Asia and

Sahara • Sometimes bring destruction and end of empires (Han and Rome) • Sometimes bring the rebuilding of civilizations too • Helped establish Buddhism in China • Bedouins spread Islam and acted as shock troops • Turks carried Islam far from heartland (N. India and Anatolia)

• Seljuk Turks become backbone of Abbasid Caliphate = Ottoman Empire • Mongols

• Create largest empire • Facilitate connections and reestablish Silk Roads • Increased the rate of technology and crop exchange • Increased the mixing of peoples, cultures and ideas • Increased the spread of infectious diseases • Increased the spread of faiths because of their religious tolerance