The Mongolian people and their leader Genghis Kahn’s cruelty
and their history of complete destruction makes me nervous about my journey.
Their leader, Genghis Kahn, has three strengths that make his empire and army
elite. His organization skills, for example, were very simple using groups of
10’s, 100’s, and 1000’s to keep his numbers simple. He also used great strategy
to destroy the opposition, one of these involved baiting the enemy by only
attacking with a small cavalry which then quickly retreated out of sight. The
opposing army would then chase the small cavalry right to the entire Mongolian
army. Another tactic that Genghis Kahn utilized was the onslaught of the entire
village whether they surrendered or not. Due to the vicious attacks of Genghis Kahn
and the Mongolian army, many villages surrendered before the Mongolian’s even
attacked. If your village didn’t surrender when the Mongols showed up, the
chief or leader of the village would be forced to watch all of his people die. This
mentality that the Mongols and Genghis Kahn have makes me nervous for my trip.
Now that I have spent some time
with Genghis Kahn and the Mongolians, I can see the Mongols aren’t all that
bad. The Mongols have made advancements towards trade, architecture, and
military. The Mongols also are very acceptant of different cultures and
religions. This provides a melting pot of cultures that can give us new ideas
on how to live. Genghis Kahn’s ability to unite people is outstanding. He was
able to unite the people of the villages and civilizations he conquered and put
them to work towards a common goal. He lowered taxes and abolished them
entirely for doctors, teachers and priests. He also, unlike other leaders at
the time, holds himself and other lawmakers as equal as herders. Because the
Mongolians are nomadic they don’t build many permanent settlements, but they
build a lot of bridges. These bridges are useful for traders along the Silk
Road, which the Mongols transformed into the worlds largest free trade zone.
They would build up small trading villages into large hubs for trade making it
easier for traders. Possibly the most amazing fact about the Mongols is that
they only have at a maximum 100,000 troops at any given time. Their ability to
easily demolish villages and nations with these numbers is only more
impressive. Although the empire stretches further than any other at the time,
there are only about 1 million citizens. Genghis Kahn and the Mongols have been
able to accomplish in just one mans lifetime what the Romans were able to do in
400.
Seeing the effects, both positive
and negative, of the Mongolian empire I can now see that the Mongols weren’t
just vicious, bloodthirsty barbarians. They connected Europe with China,
something that hadn’t been done until then. This allowed for cultural diffusion
and the growth of trade. Knowing that Genghis Kahn wasn’t looking for wealth
for himself but rather bettering his army and empire. Most people don’t know of
Genghis Kahn’s motives. This is why there are such mixed views on him and his
empire. A very similar empire to the Mongolian Empire is the Roman Empire. They
were both considered powerhouses and had elite leaders, Rome’s being Caesar.
The Mongols were more focused on military than the Romans but the Romans had
more respect for arts and architecture. Knowing the contributions of the
Mongolian Empire, I can now see that they were more than just bloodthirsty
marauders.
Bibliography:
•
Field Museum. "Genghis Khan." Genghis
Khan. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
<http://genghiskhan.fieldmuseum.org>.
•
"Genghis Kahn." Meet Genghis Kahn.
N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/cmin/gk/GK1.htm>.
•
Kaser, Michael. "Insdustrial Revolution
in Mongolia." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.jstor.org/>.
•
Morton, W. Scott. China, Its History and
Culture. New York: Lippincott & Crowell, 1980. Print.
•
"The Mongols in World History | Asia
Topics in World History." The Mongols in World History | Asia Topics in
World History. Colombia University, n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
<http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/figures/figures.htm>.
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