the modern world formed on horseback

Part 1 – Temujin, a personal historyPart 2 – Moving out of the SteppePart 3 – Lasting effects

the modern world formed on horseback

Putting Temujin into contextJulius Caesar• Father was governor of province

• Mother descended from an aristocratic family• Became Emperor by routing an already weak

Senate• After death Roman Republic dissolved

Putting Temujin into context

Alexander the Great

• Father was king of Macedon• Became king when father died

• Left behind no heir and Empire quickly fell apart

Putting Temujin into context

Napoleon

• Noble family with immense wealth• Coup against French republic and

elected leader of military government

• Ended up exiled, died of stomach cancer, and had little impact outside of Europe

Temujin• Father was killed when he was 9• Mother was a second-wife and victim of kidnapping• Spent childhood in abject poverty and slavery• Became Khan through 15 years of constant warfare• After death children and grandchildren established

empires on three continents

Putting Temujin into context

aka – Genghis Khan

Tribal Divisions on the Steppe

The Clan – Basic Social Building-block

Relations Between Clans

Tribal Divisions on the Steppe

Steppe People in a Larger Political World

Tribal Divisions on the Steppe

Steppe Peoples’ Greatest EnemyThemselves

Tribalism…………Elitism……………Fractioned……….Feuding…………..

Tribal Divisions on the Steppe

Tribal Divisions on the SteppeThe Secret History of the Mongols

• Written between 1227 and 1300 A.D. likely by someone who knew Temujin personally

• Written in the Uyghur script (Mongolian) and translated into Chinese by 1300 A.D.

• A mix of myth, folklore, military history, and political propaganda

• But also a remarkable insight into Mongolian society

• Russian and Chinese communist governments attempted to destroy it in the 1940-1960s as they feared it would lead to Mongolian nationalism

• Becomes much more accessible after fall of USSR and is now considered a key story for all Mongolians

Tribal Divisions on the SteppeThe Secret History of the Mongols

The story to this point….

• Mongols are a small tribe who were ruled by Ambaghai

• Ambaghai has recently died in a battle against the Tartars, another nearby tribe

• Temujin’s father has recently kidnapped his second wife, Hogelun from another nearby tribe

Tribal Divisions on the Steppe Reading Guide

Ambaghai Khan – local leader of Temujin’s clan

Yesugei – Temujin’s father

Hogelun Ujin – Temujin’s mother

Temujin = Chinngis Khan = Genghis Khan

Khasar, Khachigun, Temuge, and Temulun = Temujin’s siblings

Begter and Belgutei – Temujin’s half-brothers

Tribal Divisions on the SteppePost-Fratricide

Kidnapping as a Pivotal Event

Tribal Divisions on the Steppe

Tribal Divisions on the SteppeTemujin as military leader

Uniting the SteppeHow is Temujin so

successful in uniting the steppe

people?Classic theories

…………….Military prowess……….Sociopathic bloodlust

……………………Technology

Uniting the SteppeHow is Temujin so

successful in uniting the steppe

people?Surprisingly….

his treatment of family life?

Uniting the Steppe• Distribution of wealth among widows and children

• Adoption of women and children from conquered groups

• Decimal system for organizing military and society

• Destruction of aristocracy

• Forbade kidnapping and enslavement of steppe peoples

• All children considered legitimate

Moving off the Steppe

Mongol Steppe

Jurchen Dynasty

Song Dynasty

TangutUyghur

War with ChinaMongol allies- Khitan (prior rulers of China)

- Tangut (Tibetan Buddhists)

- Uighur (Chinese Muslims)

Moving off the Steppe

Moving off the Steppe

What were some of the reasons given for the success of the Mongols?

China Campaign• Perfect ability to siege

cities

• First taste of Wealth

• Destroy Greatest Enemy

• Acquire Chinese scientists, engineers, scribes, artists, and intellectuals

Moving off the Steppe

Control over the Silk Road – working with Muslim UighursConflict with central asian sultans – played the Arabs and Persians against the Turkish leadersWar against the elite

Moving off the Steppe

War in Central Asia

Moving off the Steppe

Mongol Steppe

Jurchen Dynasty

Song Dynasty

TangutUyghur

Khwarezmian Empire

Moving off the Steppe

Moving off the Steppe

Central Asian Expedition• Control over Silk Road and

Commerce

• Closer contact with Islam

• Propaganda becomes important tool

• Focus on destroying Aristocracy

• Brings Muslim metal-workers, scribes, religious leaders, and glass-blowers back to Asia

The beginning of the end• Temujin’s sons fight over

succession

• Rift between eldest and others over parentage

• Temujin’s reliance on friends over family

After Genghis………..

Mongol Steppe

Jurchen Dynasty

Song Dynasty

TangutUyghur

Khwarezmian Empire

Russian TerritoriesBulgariaHungary

Poland

After Genghis………..

European Invasion

• Very little wealth accrued

• Showed sons and grandsons were capable of leadership

• Brought European miners, clergy, and architects back to Asia

Breakup of the Empire

Long-term impacts of mongol empire

• Tied together Middle East, Central and Eastern Asia

• Exchange of goods, ideas, beliefs, language

• Tremendous wealth created for artists

• Control shifted from Sultans to Khans and Chinese – begins the economic decline of the Islamic world

• Transformation from pastoralists to traders – still based on constant movement and work with animals

Silk Road and Trade

Long-term impacts of mongol empire

• Gunpowder brought to Middle East and Europe

• Chinese astronomy, chemistry, and agriculture spread to Islamic countries

• Islamic knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, and medicine brought back to China

• Standardized calendar

• Printing with moveable letters

• Religious freedom

Technology and

Knowledge

Long-term impacts of mongol empire

• Middle East and Eastern Europe greatly weakened

• China became dominant force in Asia, Tibet’s influence increased

• Western Europe largely untouched by military, but gained benefits of new technologies as well as weakened enemies

Power Balance

Long-term impacts of mongol empire

European Renaissance?• Most important technological

advancements of Renaissance• Gunpowder• Printing with movable

type• Compass

• ALL brought to Europe through Mongols

• Secular government and religious tolerance also important concepts pushed by Mongols

• Mongol attacks on Islamic countries helped European power interests