Blake Thurman

Mongol Project

In my preparation for my journey I have done some research and in that research I’ve found that the Mongol Empire is filled with viscous, bloodthirsty, barbarians. Which slightly worries me considering that I’ve heard that they’re not the best at constructing a government either. I believe what I’ve researched considering I’ve heard stories of how they use different types of warfare, like siege warfare. In the siege of Bukhara, the army, which was composed of Turkish soldiers led by Turkish generals, of about 20,000, attempted to break the siege on the third day and was decimated in battle. Artisans and craftsmen were sent back to Mongolia, young men were sent off to be trained for the Mongolian army, and the remainder of the population was sent into slavery. As the soldiers were looting the city, the city caught fire and a majority of the city burned to the ground.

After nearly 8 years of my life spent in the Mongol Empire my opinion of the Mongols have completely changed. I used to believe them to be decimators of cities, which they have done in the past, but they are truly masters of trade. The Mongol’s nomadic way forced them to recognize the true importance of trade from the beginning, the Chinese did not think like they did, the Chinese did not have a favorable attitude towards merchants and the activity of buying and selling between people. The Mongols were also very tolerant of other religions.

Why does history have such different views of the Mongols? History has several different views of the Mongols because there are multiple sides to everything. Most people, who haven’t dug into the history of the Mongols, believe that the Mongols were just a bunch of bloodthirsty barbarians, which is true to a certain extent. That brings me to the other viewpoint of the Mongols, although the Mongols were destroyers of cities and decimators of thousands they also had a different side to them. They openly accepted all religions and they were promoters of trade. In the Mongol Empire it was said that you could walk across their entire empire carrying valuables and be completely safe the entire time.

Cites:

"World History Connected | Vol. 9 No. 1 | Steve Buenning: The Trial of Chinggis Khan: A Classroom Simulation." World History Connected | Vol. 9 No. 1 | Steve Buenning: The Trial of Chinggis Khan: A Classroom Simulation. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.

"World History Connected | Vol. 9 No. 1 | Steve Buenning: The Trial of Chinggis Khan: A Classroom Simulation." World History Connected | Vol. 9 No. 1 | Steve Buenning: The Trial of Chinggis Khan: A Classroom Simulation. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.

"Mongol Invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 01 Dec. 2014. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.

"The Mongols in World History | Asia Topics in World History." The Mongols in World History | Asia Topics in World History. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.

N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.