Class notes AP World History

AP World History: Modern Unit 2 Networks of Exchange Topic 2.2: The Mongol Empire and the Making of the Modern World The Mongols in World History Directions: You will work in collaborative groups for this assignment. It is important that you communicate and discuss the topics in detail so that you fully understand the information. Working as a team, you will click the links for your assigned group. AS A GROUP, read the passages. Then summarize the MAIN IDEA of each passage. Each group member must contribute at least one sentence to the summary of each passage. Group 1: “The Barbarian Stereotype” + A New Look at Mongol Contributions Lily, Myla, Randy , Alden The Barbarian Stereotype Based on many accounts of the Mongols conquering, there is a brutal and barbaric image to Western and Asian people alike. Because of this, it has caused us to ignore their influences in Eurasian culture throughout the 13th and 14th centuries. A New Look at Mongol Contributions The Mongol era in China is mostly recalled for being under the rule of Khubilai Khan (yuan dynasty) which can be marked by a golden age of theater and arts. This period also saw the recruitment of confucian and Tibetan buddhist scholars, allowing for innovation and construction of temples. The mongol khans also supported innovations in medicine and astrology, while their large infrastructure promoted scientific and engineering breakthroughs. The empire bridged eurasia with eastern asia promoting cross cultural interactions and trade like the silk road. The Mongols welcomed foreign travelers whether or not the kingdom they came from did not submit to the Mongol empire. This indirect influence helped in the advancements of Europe making the Mongol era in China a key chapter in history. Group 2: Mongols Support Trade, Facilitating East-West Contacts + The Status of Merchants Improved under Mongol Rule Lacreisha, Jackson, Edge, Aiden Mongols Support Trade: The main idea of the first paragraph is how the Mongols had to support trade because of their nomadic way of life. Unlike China, they had a positive outlook on trade and supported trade, commerce and merchants. Confusian Chinese saw merchants as a parasitic group who provided nothing in the exchange of goods, but the Mongols altered the attitude against merchants in order to help facilitate trade. Status of Merchants: Under Mongol rule, merchants in China enjoyed higher status and support. The Mongols established a postal-station system along trade routes, offering rest and supplies. Unlike traditional Chinese rulers, they didn’t impose heavy taxes. This trade-friendly approach extended into Persia, where they offered tax-breaks and even attempted to introduce paper money to aid traders. Group 3: Pax Mongolica + Support of Artisans/Status of Artisans + Religious Tolerance/Relations with Islam Jonathan, Tyrique, Charles, Noah Pax Mongolica: The Mongols promoted the inter-state and they were able to guarantee the security and safety of travelers. Support of Artisans/Status of Artisans: They didn’t have artisan classes because of they’re traditional times, they migrated from place to place not being able to carry supplies they needed by artisans. Religious Tolerance/Relations with Islam: The Mongols allowed people to practice a variety of religions, and although the Mongols did not directly support many of the religions they didn’t discriminate against any groups. In fact there is a quote from Khubilai Khan saying that he doesn’t care which god is real or not, he just hopes for the blessing of the true god. The Mongols' relation to Islam had a significant cultural effect on China. As the Mongols appointed many Islamic administrators in China. The Mongols in China recognized the knowledge of Islamic scholars and invited these scholars to China, which then led to the creation of an observatory in China. The Mongols also established an office of Medicine in China with the help of the Persians and this led to greater contact between Western Asia and Eastern Asia. Group 4: What led to Conquests? + Tribal Group vs. Mongol Identity + Organization & Tactics Everett, Eli, Amelia What led to the Conquests- The reason these conquests happened were mainly because of 3 things, ecology, trade, disruptions, and the figure Genghis Khan. For ecology, MOngolia had experienced a temperature drop, causing the fields for the horses to be much shorter, and since this was a danger to the animals, this was a reason they would have to move. For trade, the Mongols needed trade so they could have grain, craft, and manufactured articles, and since they were not getting these things from the Jin and Xia dynasty, they resorted to raiding and attacking other places to get the things they needed. Lastly for Chinggis Khan's Personal Mission, he felt the need to unite the world, and bring them all into the same shamanic group. Organizations and Tactics- Khan organized his troops in principles of 10, each having various leaders, the leaders of the big troops were usually very close to him and loyal to him. Loyalty was one of the biggest reasons for the rise of the Mongols, it helped Khan decide who to promote and who to put in charge. Khan understood warfare and developed many tactics, some including tricks to make enemies think they were retreating, but they were repositioning for an advantage. As well as tactics used to outsmart enemies they used fast traveling horses in warfare to their advantage. Chinngis Khan based on the hardships of his early life and experiences learned the importance of maintaining good relations, seeking help from allies and forging blood brotherhood to build a loyal following He also aimed to break down tribal loyalties in favor of a unified Mongol identity under his leadership to consolidate his power. Group 5: Three Invasions + Expansion under his successors + How a small group of Mongols succeeded in conquering a vast domain Ka’Myiah, Damiyah, Reagan Three Invasions: Chinggis Khan led three different invasions against the Tanguts, the Jin, and Central Asia. When he conquered the Tanguts and the Jin, he ended up returning to Mongolia after he got what he wanted from those empires. These conquests occurred because of trade disputes between the Mongols and them. They were relatively quick and non violent. When he conquered Central Asia, it was a lot different. Khan decided to conquer Central Asia when some Mongol envoys were killed by the Central Asian governments. There was more death and violence, and he decided to stay behind and occupy the lands there. When he decided to go back to Mongolia in 1227, he died. How a small group of Mongols succeeded in conquering a vast domain: The Mongols were successful because they incorporated conquered groups into their empire, especially the loyal Turks. Additionally, the rest of Asia was in decline, with China divided, Central Asia fragmented, and Russia as fragmented city-states. The Abbasid dynasty had also lost land. After reaching Hungary, the Mongols had to withdraw due to the death of Great Khan. Expansion under his successors: Chinggis Khan's death left no clear succession plan for the Mongol Khanate, relying on personal loyalty. Ögödei became his successor and oversaw the empire's expansion into Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and China. Expansion under his successors: When Chinnggis Khan died, he didn’t leave behind a clear system of succession to the kingdom. Because his power was based on loyalty to him, not the state as a whole, his successor would have to rebuild alliances and loyalty. Khan had four sons, and he picked the third to be his main successor. Ogodel had a 12-year reign, and during this, the Mongol Empire spread into Russia, Georgia, Armenia, North China, Persia, and parts of Western Asia. Group 6: The collapse of the Empire + Mongols in China: Mongols Influence on China + Khublai Khan in China Sadie, Adanya, Woods The Collapse of the Empire - By 1260, internal conflicts led to the division of the empire into 4 sectors. Because of the tribal nature of the Mongols, any form of loyalty beyond the tribe was unheard of. As the Mongols expanded, some were exposed to many cultural ways of life in the new territories. They came to realize that in order to properly govern these new lands they needed to establish institutions and adopt practices that respected these values. While other Mongols did not want to adapt to these and instead prioritized their traditional nomadic values. The four territories that the empire split into were East Asian ruled by Khubilai Khan, Central Asia which would go on to have conflict with the East Asian territory. The next were West Asia with the Ilkhanids and the Golden Horde in Russia. These territories would sometimes fall into conflict with each other concerning conflicts around trade routes. The Mongols in China - The Mongols were very destructive when it came to China. They did not accept Chinese values or influences, and pushed aside heads of Chinese government. While conquering China, they did considerable amounts of damage to the territory and the people, there was a decline in population following the conquests. They also eliminated important Chinese institutions such as the Civil Service examination. When conquered, the Mongols thought of China as just another part of their giant empire. The Mongols classified the population of China into a 4-group hierarchy, at the top were the Mongols, then the mostly Islamic population brought in to help govern, and then the northern and southern Chinese at the bottom. The Mongols did not trust Confucian scholars and made them ineligible for positions of power. Khubilai Khan in China - Although destructive, the Mongols did implement important policies in order to reform economic, and social and political life in China. Khubilai implemented traditional Confucian rituals and built temples that were places of worship for the Chinese. Khubilai Khan’s son was even taught by Confucian tutors who introduced him to Confucian and Buddhist tenets. Institutions were also set up in China that were familiar to the Chinese which made it easier for them to adapt. Khubilai’s economic policies were also very beneficial to China and were in the best interest of the people. Group 7: Life in China under Mongol Rule: For peasants + artisans + merchants + religion Marcellius, Kobi, Allison For Peasants: The Mongols provided tax remissions and granaries for the peasant farmers in North China. The Mongols also created rural cooperatives for the stimulation of agriculture and the promotion of land reclamation. The Mongols also devised a fixed system of taxation for the peasants. Rather than having to anticipate unpredictable and extraordinary taxes,peasants under the Mongol system could know exactly how much would be required of them. One bad thing about all of this is: all their projects required a lot of labor, and most of this labor was recruited from the peasants. This policy became one that generated much animosity from the peasants. Artisans: Originally, prized products created by artisans were loved but the artisans themselves did not have high social status. Under Mongol rule, the artisans gained freedom from unpaid labor, tax remissions, and higher social status. Beautiful textiles and porcelains were produced, and blue and white porcelains, a style generally associated with the Ming dynasty, were actually first developed during the Mongol era. Religion: Mongols were actually very fond of other religions like Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. A religion they were not very fond of is daoism. Merchants: Merchants were not very high in the social status of China but Mongols actually liked them and their nomadic way of living. Group 8: Beginnings of Mongol Collapse: Military Successes & Failures + Public Works Failures Ava, Sydney, Josiah Public Works Failures: The Mongols initiated the building of a capital city in Daidu, and the construction of a summer capital in Shandu, the building of reads and a network of postal stations, the extension of the Grand Canal. These projects required high taxation upon the peasantry and the merchants. Those who administrated the additional taxation or inflation of the currency, were mostly foreigners. These projects undermined the economy, and the Mongols could no longer maintain the public works either. In the 1340s terrible floods erupted changing the course of the yellow river and left people unemployed and homeless. The pure unknowing and willingness to build many high taxed building decreased amount of workers and increased taxation from these public works, Beginnings of Mongol Collapse; Military successes & Failures: The Mongols had remarkable success in the beginning; they had several successful conquests throughout east asia. Although their demise was pretty jarring, the Mongols had remarkable military successes, their greatest victory being the conquest of Southern Song China by 1279 C.E. Though they initially succeeded in some of these campaigns, the Mongols were always forced to withdraw eventually because of adverse weather and diseases. A terrible typhoon in fact erupted and damaged the Mongol fleet enough to force them to abort the mission. The Japanese seemed to believe that the typhoon was not an accident but was divinely sent. This was certainly not the last time that the Mongols would face this adversity. In summary, the terrible occurrence of the typhoon, and the Mongols being forced to withdraw because of dieases, grows the shortcomings to stop the success of the mongols, but with those rising occasions, they would fall soon after. These shortcomings that were mentioned turned into long-comings and it would make it seem that the Mongols simply were not proficient in the naval warfare, and did not have much luck in Southeast Asia. Group 9: Key Figures: Chinggis Khan (1162[?]-1227) + Mongol Unity Under Chinggis Khan + Chinggis Khan 4 Greatest Legacies Andrew, Kyra, Gabriela Chinggis Khan (1162[?]-1227) - For the first passage it talked about how Chinggis Khan was born around . His father was assassinated when he was a 9 year old leaving his family very vulnerable. Chinggis Khan with his mother in the harsh deserts of Mongolia, during these times she taught him many important survival skills. Mongol Unity Under Chinggis Khan - The unification of the Mongols is recognized as Chinggis Khan’s biggest accomplishment. His ability to bring together a series of disparate tribes into one confederation, with all its loyalty dedicated to him, in a country as vast as Mongolia was definitely a grand achievement. Although his birth name was Temujin, Mongol nobles gave him the title of “Chinggis Khan” to acknowledge his leadership and show their loyalty. Chinggis Khan 4 Greatest Legacies - One of Chinggis Khan’s greatest legacies was his tolerance for other religions, he showed interests in other religions and didn’t limit his people into practicing only one religion. Other legacies of Chinggis Khan was the creation of the first written Mongol language, and Chinggis's support for both trade and crafts, which meant support for the merchants and artisans in the business of trade and craft. Lastly Chinggis also left behind a legal code, the so-called Jasagh, which consisted of a series of general moral injunctions and laws. Group 10: Key Figures: Death of Chinggis + The Myth of Chinggis + Khublai Khan Saniya, Braylen, Isaiah Death of Chinggis- Changgis died in 1227 when heading back to Mongolia after a victorious campaign against Central Asians. There were two possibilities of why his body was never found. One reason is because the people and horses that went to bury him were also killed and his body never got discovered and the other possible way is that the Mongols hadn’t developed a tomb culture and his body was left to be consumed by the animals. The Myth of Chinggis- Chinggis Khan is a great national hero who united all the Mongol tribes and carved out the largest contiguous land empire in world history. Often based on secondary accounts and myths that cannot be attested, these divergent views usually bear scant relation to what we find in the limited primary sources on Chinggis Khan that have survived to this day. Many Westerners are unaware, for instance, that "Chinggis Khan" is a title and that his birth name was Temujin. He was a legend to the Mongol empire, giving him the status of an inferior emperor. Khublai Khan - This article is mainly about Khubilai Khan and how he was a very important transitional figure in Mongol history and it explains why and how he was. But in particular it was because he sought to rule and not merely conquer the vast domains that the Mongols had subjugated. It also talks about the success he had in multiple things such as bringing South China under his control in 1279, established an administration to govern China, providing funds and support for Buddist and etc.