The Mongolian Empire

Lifestyle/Introduction

In Western Society we often see Mongols portrayed as ruthless, villainous, violent people, but the truth is far from that. The Mongols were a pastoral people located in the Steppes of Asia. They consisted of many separate tribes and they had one of the best cavalries in the world. They were the first to tame and ride horses.

The Mongols were pastoral. This means they were mobile and herded animals around large expanses of land for their animals to graze. The Mongols depended on their animals for life. They used their horses to move around in order to maintain their way pastoral way of life. They used animal skins to create housing structures called yurts to live in, wore animal skins as clothing, and had a diet that primarily consisted of meat and mare’s milk.

The Steppes

The Steppes were a wide grass land in the Eurasian land mass. It was controlled by the Mongols and was where they let their animals graze. The Steppes were also a central part of the silk roads. Many luxury goods, such as silk, were traded from China to other parts of Eurasia, and some goods were brought back to China to be traded there.

Mongol’s Relationship with China before Genghis Khan

The Mongols had a tense relationship with China during the Tang and Song dynasties. Before their conquering of the land they extorted goods from China, giving little in return. They did trade some horses for goods like grain, metal, cloth, and tea, however, what they gave paled in comparison to what they received. While most countries/groups close to China participated in a tribute system the Mongols didn’t. The tribute system required asserting China as the best and their own country as subservient, something the Mongols weren’t willing to do. Occasi...

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Conquering Japan

In 1281 Kublai Khan sent fleets of ships to Japan in an attempt to conquer that land as well. Unfortunately for the Mongols an enormous typhoon sunk almost all the ships in their command and ended their attacks on Japan. To this day the wind is known as the “Divine Wind” that saved Japan.

End of Mongol Rule

Towards the end of Kublai Khan’s reign the Mongols lost several raids leading to huge loses of men and supplies. After his death in 1294 his dynasty began to crumble. His remaining family argued over who would take the throne next, and rebellions broke out against the Mongolians throughout China. Soon a rebellion powerful enough took control of the Yuan Dynasty and started the Ming. At this point Mongol control elsewhere had also crumbled. Only Russia was ruled by Mongols for the next 250 years until Ivan III led Russia to independence.