As I am getting ready for my journey to East Asia I get more fretful. Nomadic people are not even sophisticated enough to set up a well run government. I
hear stories about how the Mongols have conquered almost all of Eurasia without
compassion. There have been incidents where they have slaughtered a whole
city’s population. The Mongols spend most of their time practicing military
strategy and warfare. I’ve heard Genghis Khan uses “feigned flight” as a military tactic
to kill people. The armies draw people away from their camps then the cavalry ambushes them. One
instance was when Genghis Khan retreated for two days and left their camp and supplies outside of their enemy's city.
The city’s people came out to grab valuable supplies from the camp and were overrun
by Genghis Khan’s soldiers who returned that night. The idea of siege, which is another tactic Genghis Khan uses, and
starving people seems like something only ruthless people would do. I hope my
travels over to the Mongol empire are successful.
After 25 years in Asia I have finally returned to Venice. The
conspiracies about the Mongols are all inaccurate. They have perfected their
trade and communications within the empire. Inside their own empire they set up
their own messaging system on horseback. Their leader, Genghis Khan, created a
written language to help his empire communicate. The Mongol Khanates encouraged
trade throughout the empire, which was known as “Pax Mongolica.” The peace
allowed traders and travelers to move safely through the empire without having
to worry about being mugged or looted. I walked across the entire empire safely! The Mongols also cared greatly for
artisans and craftsmen. During times of the nomadic lifestyle people could not
keep supplies and projects going because they moved so frequently. I noticed a
high demand for artisans on my trip. Artisans in the empire were given special
privileges such as a higher social class.
Another surprise I noticed was the diversity among the people. Mongols
were tolerant to other religions. Some Mongol rulers even practiced the Islamic
religion. I believe the view of the Mongols is distorted and that they are not
viewed in the right manner.
I believe history has different views of the Mongols because there are
always two sides to every situation. The people that the Mongols captured and
killed would have a bad view of the Mongols. The people that traded and
benefited from Mongol ingenuity have a good view of the Mongols. This situation
is similar to Roman Empire run by Julius Caesar. The people that Rome captured
like the Latins were given few rights and put in the lower class. However, if
the people were not captured in Italy they were given no rights. The Latins
would have seen Caesar and the empire as generous and tolerant. The
non-Italians were treated as slaves. Patricians were mad because the Latins
that were captured could be involved in the government and the general
assemblies. Both empires were seen as great conquests, but the people that were
run from their homes classified them as bad. In order to make a fair judgment
all viewpoints need to be looked at. History’s view of the Mongols has been
distorted because people have only heard stories about the cruelty of the
Mongols when in fact they helped shape Eastern Asia into what it has become
today.
Works Cited
"Harvard Extension School." Impact of the Mongol World Empire. Harvard University, 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. <http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k100179>.
Reinhartz, Dennis. "Genghis Khan." Great Lives from History. Salem Press, 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. <http://history.salempress.com/doi/full/10.3331/GLMA_3621009911?prevSearch=Mongol Empire&searchHistoryKey=&queryHash=a865762c4c2281ab22bf1ff041701f75>
Halsall, Paul. "Chinese Cultural Studies: Marco Polo [1254-1324]: Travels in China."Chinese Cultural Studies: Marco Polo [1254-1324]: Travels in China. Brooklyn College, 2 June 1999. Web. 13 Jan. 2014. <http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/marcopolo.html>.
Morton,
W. Scott. "The Mongol Interruption." China, Its History and
Culture. New York: Lippincott & Crowell, 1980. 115-22. Print.
"The Mongols in World History." The Mongols in World History | Asia Topics in World History. Columbia University, 2004. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. <http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/history/history5.htm>.
Reinhartz, Dennis. "Kublai Khan." Great Lives from History. Salem Press, 2014. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. <http://history.salempress.com/doi/full/10.3331/GLMA_3621014911?prevSearch=Mongol%2Btrade&searchHistoryKey=&queryHash=6ebf815d979ff691dabe7ee186ed0b5b#d647e451>.
Dutch, Steven. "The Mongols." The Mongols. University of Wisconsin, 25 Sept. 1998. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. <https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/WestTech/xmongol.htm>.
No comments:
Post a Comment