I, Marco Polo have researched about
who the Mongols were before I embark on my journey. People describe the Mongols
as bloodthirsty and cruel people, they say this for many reasons based on what
they have accomplished. The Mongols were very strategic people and believed in
using cruelty as a weapon to defeat their enemy and they also liked to get the
other army to surrender. These methods clearly worked for Genghis Khan and his
army so why would they stop using them. The army was able to conquer and expand
land so fast. The Mongols also believed in mass murders, they would kill
thousands of people and only leave a few alive so they could stay back and say
what happened. When invading the Mongols would often cut off water supply,
block food supplies and burn farmland, and kill most of the people. They had
very cruel tactics but they all worked! Between the 1200s and 1400s the Mongols
killed around 40 million people. One of the reasons the Mongol army was so
strong was because of the horses. Most armies maybe had 25% of their army on
horseback, but the Mongols were all on horseback. They also all used the same
bow called the Mongol Bow and it could hit targets farther than any other bow
could. Mongolian soldiers trained in archery, horseback combat, hand to hand
combat, formation attacks, and military strategy. They were well trained in
every area needed to be the successful army that they were. The technology was
very important to how their warfare
worked and they were experts in laying siege. The first real defeat for the
Mongols was in 1260 and it took place in modern day Israel against Mamluks. The
Mongols usually faced armies larger than their own but that didn’t scare them
one bit. The mongols were the first ever to conquer southeast asisa and they
established the first Asian empre. They accomplished so much and conquered so
much land in such little time period because of the way they did it. I am very
impressed by them but feel like they didn’t have to be so cruel in the way they
did things.
I have just left the Mongol Empire
and realized that the Mongols aren’t only bloodthirsty and violent people, but
that they are also promoters of trade, supporters of cultural exchange, and
connectors of East and West. They are nicer and more caring than I expected,
not completely self centered. The
Mongols nomadic way of living caused them to see the value in trade and the
steppe served as a trade route connecting the east and west. The Mongols
actually had to rely on trade for many things so they increased trade. The merchants
were treated as high class and were given tax exemptions in the empire. During Kublai Khans rule, the Mongols began
contact and trade with unconquered lands such as France. Also the size of the
Mongol Empire encouraged the larger spread of goods and ideas throughout
Eurasia. For a while merchants weren’t allowed to travel but thanks to the Pax
Mongolica they could. The Pax Mongolica allowed merchants to travel from one
end of the empire to another. Its amazing how fast ideas and goods can spread.
For example, mechanical printing, gunpowder, and the blast furnace all came
from China. Things like history, geography, and sciences traveled east to west
and then returned back. Its interesting how you hear facts about them and
assume so much and then are surprised to see a different side of them. I
believe that they were very harsh people while conquering land to become the
biggest and greatest ever, and then when they weren’t in combat they liked to
be friendly and trade. It’s a very good tactic.
History has
such different views on the Mongols because some believe they were good and
some believe they weren’t. It will always be an argument because peoples
opinions don’t change. Every great man is going to have his downfalls. This
compares to the Byzantine Empire because Justinian started several new things
that were a success just how Khan conquered many new places. He started and
built new things that are still known today and will always trace back to his
name. The same thing is true with Khan. People are known for good and bad, but for these people, the good override the bad making them memorable and important to history.
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