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Nomadic Empires: AHSEC Class 11 History notes
Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guide of Class 11 (first year) History textbook, chapter 3 Nomadic Empires which is part of the syllabus of students studying under AHSEC/ASSEB (Assam Board). These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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Summary
The chapter discusses the rise and expansion of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan. It begins by explaining how the Mongols, originally a group of nomadic tribes, transformed into a powerful empire. Nomads traditionally moved from place to place with their animals, while an empire suggests control over fixed lands. The Mongols managed to do both, adapting their traditions to rule a vast territory.
Genghis Khan, born as Temujin, united the Mongol tribes through alliances and battles. He created a strong army, using discipline and strategy to defeat enemies. His military success was based on speed, organization, and the ability to adjust tactics. He conquered China, Central Asia, and parts of Europe, causing fear among settled societies. His grandson, Mongke, continued his vision, claiming that the Mongols ruled by the will of heaven. The Mongols’ swift expansion led many to believe that they were a force sent as divine punishment.
One of Genghis Khan’s notable victories was the capture of Bukhara in 1220. After taking the city, he told the people that their sins had brought destruction upon them. His forces burned, looted, and killed many inhabitants. This was common in Mongol conquests, as they destroyed cities that resisted them. The Mongols’ military campaigns led to massive destruction and loss of life.
Despite their reputation for violence, the Mongols also created an organized empire. They set up a communication system with relay stations that helped rulers stay informed. They controlled trade routes, allowing merchants to travel safely. They respected different religions and often included scholars and administrators from conquered lands in their government.
After Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, his empire was divided among his sons. They continued to expand, reaching Russia, the Middle East, and China. However, by the late 1200s, internal struggles weakened Mongol unity. Different Mongol rulers focused on their own territories. In China, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Qubilai Khan, ruled as emperor and protected farmers. In Iran, another Mongol ruler, Ghazan Khan, advised his commanders not to harm peasants, as agriculture was important for stability.
Over time, the Mongols adapted to the ways of settled societies, and their empire eventually broke into separate states. Though feared by many, their rule connected different parts of the world, allowing trade and cultural exchanges. Today, Genghis Khan is remembered as both a fearsome conqueror and a great leader who united the Mongol people.
Textbook solutions
Answer in Brief
1. Why was trade so significant to the Mongols?
Answer: Trade was significant to the Mongols because the scant resources of the steppe lands drove Mongols and other Central Asian nomads to trade and barter with their sedentary neighbours in China. This was mutually beneficial, allowing them to exchange horses, furs, and game trapped in the steppe for agricultural produce and iron utensils from China. Commerce sometimes involved tensions, with military pressure applied to enhance profit or force better terms; sometimes trade ties were discarded for outright plunder. Later, during the Pax Mongolica, trade connections matured, and commerce and travel along the Silk Route reached their peak, extending north into Mongolia and Karakorum. Communication and ease of travel, facilitated by safe conduct passes (paiza/gerege) and the payment of the baj tax by traders, were vital to retain the coherence of the Mongol regime.
2. Why did Genghis Khan feel the need to fragment the Mongol tribes into new social and military groupings?
Answer: Genghis Khan felt the need to fragment the Mongol tribes into new social and military groupings primarily to create a more effective, disciplined military force that facilitated the success of his campaigns. The unification of different Mongol tribes and subsequent campaigns introduced new members into his army, creating an incredibly heterogeneous mass of people. To manage this diversity and consolidate his control, Genghis Khan worked to systematically erase the old tribal identities. He stopped the old steppe practice where clan and tribe coexisted within decimal units and instead divided the old tribal groupings, distributing their members into new military units organised in divisions of 10s, 100s, 1,000s, and 10,000s (tuman). This fragmentation integrated different lineages and clans, provided them with a new identity derived from him as their progenitor, prevented individuals from moving between groups without permission, and ensured they served under his four sons and specially chosen captains (noyan), thereby altering the old steppe social order and strengthening his authority.
3. How do later Mongol reflections on the yasa bring out the uneasy relationship they had with the memory of Genghis Khan.
Answer: Later Mongol reflections on the yasa reveal an uneasy relationship with Genghis Khan’s memory as his successors fashioned it to suit their own circumstances. The term yasa, likely originating from yasaq meaning ‘law’, ‘decree’ or ‘order’ related to administrative regulations, was later used more generally to mean the ‘legal code of Genghis Khan’. For his descendants ruling vast, sedentary empires as a numerical minority, invoking the yasa as a sacred law from their ancestor helped cohere the Mongol people, protect their identity, claim a ‘lawgiver’ status comparable to Moses or Solomon, and provide the confidence to retain their ethnic identity while absorbing sedentary lifestyles. However, this legacy had to be adapted because descendants needed to appear as convincing heroes to sedentary audiences, different from the conqueror Genghis Khan, whose extreme violence was sometimes exaggerated even in chronicles that eulogised him. This adaptation is shown when a late sixteenth-century ruler, ‘Abdullah Khan, performed Muslim prayers at Bukhara’s festival ground – an act of piety contrasting with Genghis Khan’s actions there – yet his chronicler described it as being ‘according to the yasa of Genghis Khan’. This flexible, even contradictory, application of the yasa highlights the uneasy relationship: invoking Genghis Khan’s authority and law for legitimacy and identity, while simultaneously reinterpreting or distancing themselves from aspects of his memory to fit changed political and cultural contexts.
4. ‘If history relies upon written records produced by city-based literati, nomadic societies will always receive a hostile representation.’ Would you agree with this statement? Does it explain the reason why Persian chronicles produced such inflated figures of casualties resulting from Mongol campaigns?
Answer: The statement holds some truth, as nomadic societies like the Mongols usually produced no literature themselves, meaning knowledge often comes from city-based litterateurs who frequently produced ignorant and biased reports, viewing nomads with hostility as ‘primitive barbarians’. However, the Mongol imperial success also attracted many literati from diverse backgrounds who produced sympathetic accounts, challenging the purely hostile view. Therefore, while a hostile representation is common, it is not always the case.
This tendency towards biased or hostile representation by city-based writers could help explain the inflated casualty figures found in Persian chronicles detailing Mongol campaigns. These chronicles, produced in Il-Khanid Iran, reported staggering numbers of people killed (e.g., 1,747,000 in Nishapur, 1,300,000 in Merv), greatly exaggerating figures compared to eyewitness accounts. This inflation might reflect the fear, distaste, and trauma experienced by sedentary societies subjected to Mongol conquest. It might also serve the political narrative of later Il-Khanid rulers who, while needing to uphold the Genghis Khanid legacy, also wished to present themselves as more stable and less brutal than the initial conquerors, emphasizing that the ‘great killings of the past were over’. The chronicles’ descriptions of how figures were reached (like counting corpses over many days) suggest an attempt to lend credibility, but likely reflect and contribute to the hostile representation through exaggeration.
Answer in a Short Essay
5. Keeping the nomadic element of the Mongol and Bedouin societies in mind, how, in your opinion, did their respective historical experiences differ? What explanations would you suggest account for these differences?
Answer: The historical experiences of the Mongol and Bedouin nomadic societies differed significantly, although both originated from nomadic traditions. The Bedouin nomadic traditions of the Arabian peninsula laid the origins for state formations in the central Islamic lands.
In contrast, the Mongols of Central Asia, initially a diverse body of pastoralists and hunter-gatherers living in the steppes and Siberian forests, were united under Genghis Khan in the early thirteenth century. Unlike the Bedouin-originated states mentioned, the Mongols established a vast transcontinental empire straddling Europe and Asia. Their political system, forged by Genghis Khan, proved far more durable than earlier nomadic confederacies like Attila’s. The Mongols adapted their traditional social and political customs to create a fearsome military machine and a sophisticated method of governance, enabling them to conquer and administer complex agrarian economies and urban settlements quite different from their own nomadic habitat. Their interactions with sedentary neighbours, like China, involved trade and barter but also included military pressure and plunder, eventually leading to large-scale conquests. The Mongol empire under Genghis Khan and his successors was marked by innovations in military strategy, the systematic organisation of the army that erased old tribal identities, the creation of a rapid courier system, and the recruitment of administrators from conquered populations. They ruled a multi-ethnic, multilingual, multi-religious regime. Over time, however, the Mongols faced pressures to sedentarise, particularly in their conquered dominions, leading to the gradual separation of Genghis Khan’s descendants into distinct dynasties ruling separate territories like China, Iran, the Russian steppes, and Transoxiana.
The differences in their historical experiences might be explained by several factors evident in the Mongol case. The leadership of Genghis Khan was crucial in unifying disparate tribes and providing a vision for world conquest. The Mongols demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and innovate, transforming steppe combat tactics, adopting siege warfare, organising a decimal-based military structure, and creating effective administrative systems for a vast empire. The scale of their conquests across Eurasia brought them into contact with, and necessitated the governance of, diverse and sophisticated sedentary societies, forcing compromise and change. The establishment of institutions like the yasa (initially administrative regulations, later seen as a legal code) helped cohere the Mongol people and assert their distinct identity even as they ruled over others. The specific geographical and historical context of thirteenth-century Eurasia, including the state of the empires the Mongols encountered, also played a role in the extent and nature of their success in building a lasting, transcontinental nomadic empire.
6. How does the following account enlarge upon the character of the Pax Mongolica created by the Mongols by the middle of the thirteenth century?
The Franciscan monk, William of Rubruck, was sent by Louis IX of France on an embassy to the great Khan Mongke’s court. He reached Karakorum, the capital of Mongke, in 1254 and came upon a woman from Lorraine (in France) called Paquette, who had been brought from Hungary and was in the service of one of the prince’s wives who was a Nestorian Christian. At the court he came across a Parisian goldsmith named Guillaume Boucher, ‘whose brother dwelt on the Grand Pont in Paris’. This man was first employed by the Queen Sorghaqtani and then by Mongke’s younger brother. Rubruck found that at the great court festivals the Nestorian priests were admitted first, with their regalia, to bless the Grand Khan’s cup, and were followed by the Muslim clergy and Buddhist and Taoist monks…
Answer: William of Rubruck’s account significantly enlarges upon the character of the Pax Mongolica, the peace ushered in by Mongol conquest, by providing concrete examples of its effects in the mid-thirteenth century. The Pax Mongolica matured trade connections and facilitated commerce and travel across the Silk Route, extending into Mongolia and the imperial capital, Karakorum. Communication and ease of travel were vital for the empire’s coherence.
Rubruck’s own journey from France to Karakorum exemplifies the “ease of travel” across vast distances made possible under Mongol rule. His encounters there vividly illustrate the interconnectedness fostered by the empire: finding Paquette from Lorraine, brought from Hungary, and Guillaume Boucher, a goldsmith from Paris, living and working at the Mongol capital demonstrates the unprecedented movement of people across Eurasia, whether voluntary or involuntary. This presence of individuals from the far reaches of Europe deep within the Mongol heartland underscores the continental scale of the Mongol dominion and the links it forged. Furthermore, Rubruck’s observation of religious practices at the court—where Nestorian Christian priests, Muslim clergy, and Buddhist and Taoist monks all participated in festivals according to a set protocol—highlights the multi-religious and relatively tolerant nature of the Mongol regime at its centre. This cosmopolitan atmosphere, where people of diverse origins and faiths coexisted and served the Mongol rulers, was a key characteristic of the stability and order associated with the Pax Mongolica, which facilitated not just the movement of goods but also of people and ideas across their vast empire.
Extras
Additional questions and answers
1. Who was Genghis Khan?
Answer: Genghis Khan, born Temujin around 1162 near the Onon river in Mongolia, was the son of Yesugei, the chieftain of the Kiyat tribe. He united the Mongol people and established a transcontinental empire straddling Europe and Asia during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In 1206, he was proclaimed the ‘Great Khan of the Mongols’ (Qa’an) with the title Genghis Khan, the ‘Oceanic Khan’ or ‘Universal Ruler’. He adapted traditional social and political customs to create a fearsome military machine and a sophisticated method of governance. For the Mongols, Genghis Khan was the greatest leader of all time: he united the Mongol people, freed them from interminable tribal wars and Chinese exploitation, brought them prosperity, fashioned a grand transcontinental empire and restored trade routes and markets.
2. What does the term ‘nomadic empire’ mean?
Answer: The term ‘nomadic empires’ can appear contradictory. Nomads are arguably quintessential wanderers, organised in family assemblies with a relatively undifferentiated economic life and rudimentary systems of political organisation. The term ‘empire’, on the other hand, carries with it the sense of a material location, a stability derived from complex social and economic structures and the governance of an extensive territorial dominion through an elaborate administrative system. However, these definitions may be too narrowly conceived, and they collapse when studying some imperial formations constructed by nomadic groups, such as the Mongols of Central Asia.
3. Which tribe did Temujin belong to?
Answer: Temujin was the son of Yesugei, the chieftain of the Kiyat, a group of families related to the Borjigid clan.
4. What is a quriltai?
Answer: A quriltai was an assembly of Mongol chieftains. It was at a quriltai in 1206 that Temujin was proclaimed the ‘Great Khan of the Mongols’. It was also at the assembly of chieftains, quriltais, where all decisions relating to the family or the state for the forthcoming season – campaigns, distribution of plunder, pasture lands and succession – were collectively taken.
5. Name the sons of Genghis Khan.
Answer: Genghis Khan assigned the responsibility of governing the newly conquered people to his four sons. These were Jochi, the eldest son; Chaghatai, the second son; Ogodei, the third son; and Toluy, the youngest son.
6. What title was given to Temujin in 1206?
Answer: In 1206, at an assembly of Mongol chieftains (quriltai), Temujin was proclaimed the ‘Great Khan of the Mongols’ (Qa’an) with the title Genghis Khan, the ‘Oceanic Khan’ or ‘Universal Ruler’.
7. In what year did Genghis Khan die?
Answer: Genghis Khan died in 1227.
8. Who succeeded Genghis Khan as Great Khan?
Answer: Genghis Khan had indicated that his third son, Ogodei, would succeed him as the Great Khan.
9. What was Karakorum?
Answer: Karakorum was the capital established by Ogodei, Genghis Khan’s third son who succeeded him as the Great Khan. It was also the heart of the new Mongol empire, where trade routes continued north into Mongolia.
10. Who established the Yuan dynasty in China?
Answer: The Yuan dynasty in China was formed by the descendants of Toluy, Genghis Khan’s youngest son. Qubilai Khan, a descendant of Toluy, became the Grand Khan in Peking, and his accession marked the establishment of the Yuan dynasty, which ruled China.
11. When did the Yuan dynasty in China end?
Answer: The Yuan dynasty in China ended in 1368.
12. Who founded the Mughal empire in India?
Answer: Zahiruddin Babur, a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, founded the Mughal empire in India after seizing Delhi and Agra in 1526.
13. What was the Golden Horde?
Answer: The Golden Horde refers to the Jochid lineages, descendants of Genghis Khan’s eldest son Jochi, who ruled the Russian steppes. This term was used by observers to describe them. The Golden Horde reoriented towards Islam under the reign of Berke, son of Batu, though definitive conversion took place later.
14. Who were the Il-Khans?
Answer: The Il-Khans were rulers of the Il-Khanid state of Iran, established under Hulegu, a younger brother of Mongke and descendant of Genghis Khan’s youngest son, Toluy. They formed one of the independent lineages that emerged from the fragmentation of the Mongol realm. Persian chroniclers like Juwaini served the Ilkhans, and chronicles were produced in Il-Khanid Iran. Ghazan Khan was the first Il-Khanid ruler to convert to Islam.
15. Who was Timur?
Answer: Timur was a Barlas Turk who ruled from 1370 to 1405. He claimed Genghis Khanid descent through the lineage of Chaghatai and established a steppe empire that assimilated parts of the dominions of Toluy, Chaghatai, and Jochi. He proclaimed himself ‘Guregen’ – ‘royal son-in-law’ – and married a princess of the Genghis Khanid lineage. Timur was another monarch who aspired to universal dominion but hesitated to declare himself monarch because he was not of Genghis Khanid descent.
16. What does the term yasa mean?
Answer: In its earliest formulation, the term was written as yasaq, which meant ‘law’, ‘decree’ or ‘order’. By the middle of the thirteenth century, however, the Mongols had started using the related term yasa in a more general sense to mean the ‘legal code of Genghis Khan’. The yasa was in all probability a compilation of the customary traditions of the Mongol tribes, but referring to it as Genghis Khan’s code of law served to cohere the Mongol people around shared beliefs and acknowledge their affinity to Genghis Khan and his descendants. It concerned administrative regulations like the organisation of the hunt, the army, and the postal system.
17. Describe the early life struggles of Temujin.
Answer: Temujin was the son of Yesugei, the chieftain of the Kiyat. His father was murdered at an early age and his mother, Oelun-eke, raised Temujin, his brothers and step-brothers in great hardship. The following decade was full of reversals – Temujin was captured and enslaved and soon after his marriage, his wife, Borte, was kidnapped, and he had to fight to recover her.
18. What was the significance of the Mongol siege techniques?
Answer: Nomads were conventionally at a loss against fortified encampments but Genghis Khan learnt the importance of siege engines and naphtha bombardment very quickly. His engineers prepared light portable equipment, which was used against opponents with devastating effect.
19. What was the Mongol courier system known as?
Answer: The Mongol courier system was known as the yam.
20. What is the qubcur tax?
Answer: The qubcur tax was a levy where the Mongol nomads contributed a tenth of their herd – either horses or livestock – as provisions for the maintenance of the communication system, the yam. The nomads paid this willingly for the multiple benefits that it brought.
21. Why were cities particularly vulnerable to Mongol attacks?
Answer: Cities that resisted Mongol forces were devastated. At Nishapur, Genghis Khan commanded that the ‘town should be laid waste in such a manner that the site could be ploughed upon; and that in the exaction of vengeance not even cats and dogs should be left alive’. Following the capture of cities that defied his authority, vast numbers of people were killed. Nomads were conventionally at a loss against fortified encampments but Genghis Khan learnt the importance of siege engines and naphtha bombardment very quickly, and his engineers prepared light portable equipment which was used against opponents with devastating effect. During the campaigns in the first half of the thirteenth century, cities were destroyed, agricultural lands laid waste, trade and handicraft production disrupted, and tens of thousands of people were killed or enslaved. Frontier wars were debilitating to settled societies as they dislocated agriculture and plundered cities.
22. Describe the social divisions among the Mongols.
Answer: Mongol society was divided into patrilineal lineages. The richer families were larger, possessed more animals and pasture lands. They therefore had many followers and were more influential in local politics. Some Mongols were pastoralists while others were hunter-gatherers.
23. What was the political significance of a quriltai?
Answer: A quriltai was an assembly of Mongol chieftains. It was at a quriltai in 1206 that Temujin was recognised as the dominant personality in the politics of the steppe lands and proclaimed the ‘Great Khan of the Mongols’ (Qa’an) with the title Genghis Khan. Politically, it was also significant as the assembly of chieftains where all decisions relating to the family or the state for the forthcoming season – campaigns, distribution of plunder, pasture lands and succession – were collectively taken. This underlined the sense of a dominion shared by the members of the family.
24. Explain the Mongol decimal military system.
Answer: The Mongol army under Genghis Khan was organised according to the old steppe system of decimal units. It was structured in divisions of 10s, 100s, 1,000s, and notionally 10,000 soldiers. The largest unit, approximating 10,000 soldiers and called a tuman, included fragmented groups of people from a variety of different tribes and clans, altering the old steppe social order.
25. How did the Mongols initially deal with defeated tribes?
Answer: Defeated people, like the Kereyits, were accommodated in the Mongol confederacy despite their earlier hostility. Genghis Khan worked to systematically erase the old tribal identities of the different groups who joined his confederacy by dividing the old tribal groupings and distributing their members into new military units. Any individual who tried to move from his/her allotted group without permission received harsh punishment.
26. What led to the defeat of Sultan Muhammad of Khwarazm?
Answer: Sultan Muhammad, the ruler of Khwarazm, felt the fury of Genghis Khan’s rage when he executed Mongol envoys. This act led to Mongol campaigns between 1219 and 1221, during which the great cities of Khwarazm surrendered to the Mongol forces or were devastated if they resisted, resulting in the defeat of the Sultan.
27. Why was Baghdad’s capture significant in 1258?
Answer: The capture of Baghdad in 1258 marked the end of the Abbasid caliphate. It also led to the establishment of the Il-Khanid state of Iran under Hulegu, a younger brother of Mongke Khan.
28. What role did literati play in Mongol governance?
Answer: The imperial success of the Mongols attracted many literati, some of whom stayed to serve Mongol masters. From Genghis Khan’s reign itself, the Mongols recruited civil administrators from the conquered societies. These administrators, sometimes moved around (like Chinese secretaries in Iran and Persians in China), helped integrate the distant dominions. Their backgrounds and training were useful in blunting the harsher edges of nomadic predation on sedentary life. The Mongol Khans trusted them as long as they continued to raise revenue, and these administrators could sometimes command considerable influence.
29. Who was Rashiduddin?
Answer: Rashiduddin was the Persian wazir (minister) of the Il-Khanid ruler Ghazan Khan in Iran at the end of the thirteenth century. He probably drafted the speech Ghazan Khan delivered to his Mongol commanders advising them to protect the peasantry, and this speech was included in the minister’s letters. He also compiled the Chronicles of Rashid al-Din in Tabriz in the fourteenth century.
30. How did Mongol rulers use foreign administrators?
Answer: Mongol rulers recruited civil administrators and armed contingents from people of all ethnic groups and religions within the conquered societies. These administrators were sometimes moved around, such as deploying Chinese secretaries in Iran and Persians in China. They were used to help integrate the distant dominions, blunt the harsher aspects of nomadic rule on sedentary life, and raise revenue for their Mongol masters. The Khans trusted these administrators as long as they fulfilled their duties, and they could sometimes command considerable influence.
31. What was the Mongol relationship with sedentary Chinese societies?
Answer: The relationship between the Mongols and their sedentary neighbours in China was complex and shifted over time. The scant resources of the steppe lands drove Mongols and other Central Asian nomads to trade and barter with China. This was mutually beneficial: agricultural produce and iron utensils from China were exchanged for horses, furs and game trapped in the steppe. However, commerce was not without its tensions, as both groups unhesitatingly applied military pressure to enhance profit. When Mongol lineages allied, they could force their Chinese neighbours to offer better terms, and trade ties were sometimes discarded in favour of outright plunder. When the Mongols were in disarray, the Chinese would confidently assert their influence in the steppe.
Throughout its history, China suffered extensively from nomad intrusion, and different regimes, even as early as the eighth century BCE, built fortifications to protect their subjects. Starting from the third century BCE, these fortifications were integrated into the ‘Great Wall of China’, a testament to the disturbance and fear caused by nomadic raids. Genghis Khan’s first concerns included conquering China, which was divided into three realms: the Hsi Hsia, the Jurchen’s Chin dynasty in the north, and the Sung dynasty in the south. Campaigns led to the defeat of Hsi Hsia by 1209, breaching the Great Wall in 1213, sacking Peking in 1215, and continuing battles against the Chin. Eventually, all of China was conquered by 1279 under his successors.
Governing China involved contradictions. In the 1230s, there was pressure within the Mongol leadership to massacre the peasantry and convert fields into pasture lands. However, by the 1270s, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Qubilai Khan, appeared as the protector of peasants and cities in south China. Before unification under Genghis Khan, the Mongol people had experienced periods of Chinese exploitation. Later, under the Mongol empire, Chinese secretaries were employed in administration, even in Persia, and descendants of Genghis Khan’s son Toluy established the Yuan dynasty in China.
32. Explain the significance of the Mongol conquest of Transoxiana and Khwarazm.
Answer: The Mongol conquest of Transoxiana and Khwarazm was significant as it marked a major westward expansion of their dominions and demonstrated the devastating consequences of defying Genghis Khan. After the defeat of the Qara Khita in 1218, Mongol territories reached the Amu Darya river and the states of Transoxiana and Khwarazm. The ruler of Khwarazm, Sultan Muhammad, provoked Genghis Khan’s fury when he executed Mongol envoys.
In the ensuing campaigns between 1219 and 1221, major cities like Otrar, Bukhara, Samarqand, Balkh, Gurganj, Merv, Nishapur, and Herat surrendered to the Mongol forces. Towns that resisted faced utter devastation. For instance, at Nishapur, where a Mongol prince was killed, Genghis Khan commanded that the town be laid waste so severely that the site could be ploughed over, and that not even cats and dogs should be left alive in the exaction of vengeance. This conquest brought these strategically important and wealthy regions under Mongol control, extending the empire significantly. Subsequently, Genghis Khan assigned the Transoxianian steppe and lands north of the Pamir mountains to his second son, Chaghatai, incorporating these areas into the structure of the Mongol ulus system. Later, Chaghatai’s successors continued to rule the steppes of Transoxiana and the lands called Turkistan.
33. How did Genghis Khan unify the Mongol tribes into a formidable military force?
Answer: Genghis Khan unified the diverse Mongol tribes and transformed them into a formidable military force through systematic reorganization and the creation of a new social and military structure. Just before the quriltai of 1206, he reorganised the Mongol people into a more effective, disciplined military force. He worked to systematically erase the old tribal identities of the different groups who joined his confederacy.
His army was organised according to the old steppe system of decimal units: in divisions of 10s, 100s, 1,000s, and notionally 10,000 soldiers (tuman). He stopped the old practice where clan and tribe coexisted within decimal units. Instead, he divided the old tribal groupings and distributed their members into new military units. Individuals who tried to move from their allotted group without permission received harsh punishment. The largest unit, the tuman, included fragmented groups from a variety of different tribes and clans. This altered the old steppe social order by integrating different lineages and clans and providing them with a new identity derived from its progenitor, Genghis Khan.
The new military contingents were required to serve under his four sons and specially chosen captains called noyan. Furthermore, Genghis Khan created a new aristocracy based on loyalty and service, rather than old clan affiliations. He publicly honoured loyal followers as his ‘blood-brothers’ (anda) and gave special ranking to others as his bondsmen (naukar), marking their close relationship with their master. This new hierarchy derived its status from a close relationship with the Great Khan, replacing the old clan chieftains.
34. Explain the internal factors that halted Mongol expansion into Europe.
Answer: Mongol expansion into Europe, particularly westward expansion, halted after the 1260s due to internal political factors within the Mongol empire. There were two main facets to this. Firstly, the internal politics of succession within the Mongol ruling family played a crucial role. The descendants of Genghis Khan’s sons Jochi and Ogodei initially allied to control the office of the Great Khan. Their focus on these internal power struggles became more important than pursuing campaigns in Europe.
Secondly, these Jochi and Ogodei lineages were eventually marginalised by the Toluyid branch, descendants of Genghis Khan’s youngest son, Toluy. With the accession of Mongke, a Toluyid, military campaigns were energetically pursued in Iran during the 1250s. However, as Toluyid interests increasingly focused on the conquest of China during the 1260s, forces and supplies were diverted to the heartlands of the Mongol dominion. Consequently, the Mongols fielded only a small, understaffed force against the Egyptian military in the west. Their defeat by the Egyptians and the increasing preoccupation of the Toluyid family with China marked the end of western expansion. Concurrently, conflict arose between the Jochid and Toluyid descendants along the Russian-Iranian frontier, which further diverted the Jochids (who ruled the Russian steppes) away from potential European campaigns.
35. Describe the Mongol approach to governance and control of conquered peoples.
Answer: The Mongols adapted their traditional social and political customs to create a sophisticated method of governance for their vast empire, ruling diverse peoples and economies. They did not simply impose their steppe traditions but innovated and compromised. Genghis Khan assigned the responsibility of governing newly conquered peoples to his four sons, creating the four ulus, which initially were not fixed territories but evolved into separate dominions ruled by individual dynasties.
To maintain coherence and control across the vast distances, Genghis Khan fashioned a rapid courier system (yam). This system involved outposts with fresh mounts and despatch riders at regular intervals, maintained by a contribution from Mongol nomads known as the qubcur tax (a tenth of their herd). This enabled the Great Khans to keep a check on developments at the farthest ends of the regime. Travellers were given a pass (paiza in Persian, gerege in Mongolian) for safe conduct, and traders paid the baj tax, both acknowledging the authority of the Mongol Khan.
The Mongols recruited civil administrators from the conquered societies, sometimes moving them around (like Chinese secretaries in Iran and Persians in China). These administrators helped integrate the distant dominions and their backgrounds were useful in blunting the harsher edges of nomadic predation on sedentary life, particularly in raising revenue. The Mongol Khans trusted them as long as they fulfilled this function.
Politically, although the Mongols were often a numerical minority, they dominated the regions they conquered. They protected their identity and distinctiveness partly through a claim to a sacred law, the yasa, attributed to Genghis Khan. The yasa served to cohere the Mongol people around shared beliefs and acknowledged their affinity to Genghis Khan and his descendants, providing confidence to retain their ethnic identity while imposing their ‘law’ upon subjects. The Mongol regime was notably multi-ethnic, multilingual, and multi-religious, recruiting administrators and soldiers from people of all backgrounds without letting the rulers’ personal beliefs dictate public policy.
36. What were the impacts of Mongol invasions on agriculture and urban settlements?
Answer: Mongol invasions had devastating impacts on agriculture and urban settlements, particularly during the initial campaigns in the first half of the thirteenth century. Frontier wars led to the dislocation of agriculture and the plunder of cities. Cities that resisted Mongol authority faced destruction, and vast numbers of people were killed. For example, at the capture of Nishapur in 1220, 1,747,000 people were reportedly massacred, and at Herat in 1222, the toll was 1,600,000. Baghdad suffered 800,000 deaths in 1258, and smaller towns experienced proportionate losses. In some cases, like Nishapur, Genghis Khan commanded that the town be laid waste so thoroughly that the site could be ploughed upon.
Agricultural lands were laid waste, and trade and handicraft production were severely disrupted. The resulting instability had long-term ecological consequences in some regions. For instance, in the arid Iranian plateau, the underground canals known as qanats could no longer receive periodic maintenance due to the instability. As they fell into disrepair, the desert crept in, leading to ecological devastation from which parts of Khurasan never recovered. While later Mongol rulers like Qubilai Khan and Ghazan Khan took steps to protect the peasantry, the initial conquests caused immense destruction to settled societies.
37. Discuss the role of yasa in uniting Mongol identity.
Answer: The yasa played a crucial role in uniting Mongol identity and consolidating their rule, especially as they transitioned from a tribal confederation to rulers of a vast, diverse empire. Originally termed yasaq, meaning ‘law’, ‘decree’, or ‘order’, it initially concerned administrative regulations like the organization of the hunt, the army, and the postal system. However, by the middle of the thirteenth century, the Mongols began using the related term yasa more broadly to signify the ‘legal code of Genghis Khan’.
As the Mongols emerged as a unified people ruling over sophisticated urban societies where they were a numerical minority, the yasa provided a way to protect their identity and distinctiveness. It functioned as a claim to a sacred law given to them by their revered ancestor, Genghis Khan. Although likely a compilation of the customary traditions of the Mongol tribes, referring to it as Genghis Khan’s code elevated him to the status of a ‘lawgiver’ comparable to figures like Moses and Solomon.
This served to cohere the Mongol people around a body of shared beliefs. It acknowledged their common affinity to Genghis Khan and his descendants. Even as Mongols absorbed different aspects of sedentary lifestyles in various parts of the empire, the yasa gave them the confidence to retain their ethnic identity and provided an authoritative code that could be imposed on their subjects, thereby reinforcing Mongol unity and authority.
38. What was Pax Mongolica, and what were its impacts on trade?
Answer: Pax Mongolica refers to the period of relative peace and stability that was established across the vast Eurasian territory conquered by the Mongols, particularly after the initial phase of conquests had settled. This peace, ushered in by Mongol conquest, had significant impacts on trade and communication.
Under the Pax Mongolica, trade connections matured, and commerce and travel along the Silk Route reached their peak. Unlike before, the trade routes did not terminate in China but continued north into Mongolia and to the Mongol capital, Karakorum. Communication and ease of travel were vital for maintaining the coherence of the Mongol regime. To facilitate this, travellers were given a pass (paiza in Persian; gerege in Mongolian) which ensured their safe conduct across the empire. Traders, in turn, paid the baj tax, acknowledging the authority of the Mongol Khan while benefiting from the secure environment for commerce fostered by the Pax Mongolica.
Additional MCQs
1. What contradiction does the term “nomadic empires” represent?
A. Wanderers versus residents
B. Tribal versus organised
C. Mobile versus territorial
D. Loose versus centralised
Answer: C. Mobile versus territorial
2. Which leader united the Mongol tribes?
A. Temujin
B. Jochi
C. Batu
D. Ogodei
Answer: A. Temujin
3. In which year was Temujin proclaimed Great Khan?
A. 1203
B. 1206
C. 1227
D. 1215
Answer: B. 1206
4. Around which year was Genghis Khan born?
A. 1162
B. 1170
C. 1167
D. 1155
Answer: A. 1162
5. Which river is associated with Genghis Khan’s birthplace?
A. Selenga
B. Onon
C. Amu Darya
D. Tien Shan
Answer: B. Onon
6. Who was Temujin’s wife that was kidnapped, prompting his fight to recover her?
A. Chabi
B. Borte
C. Sorghaqtani
D. Paquette
Answer: B. Borte
7. Which title was bestowed upon Temujin at the quriltai?
A. Universal Ruler
B. Son of Heaven
C. Great Khan
D. Oceanic Khan
Answer: C. Great Khan
8. Which language is NOT listed among the crucial sources for Mongol history?
A. Chinese
B. Arabic
C. Sanskrit
D. Latin
Answer: C. Sanskrit
9. Which term refers to Genghis Khan’s legal code?
A. Yasa
B. Yasaq
C. Quota
D. Qanat
Answer: A. Yasa
10. What was the Mongol courier system called?
A. Noyan
B. Yam
C. Anda
D. Taman
Answer: B. Yam
11. What tax did the nomads pay for the courier system?
A. Tuman tax
B. Qubcur tax
C. Anda tax
D. Khaan tax
Answer: B. Qubcur tax
12. Which best describes the Mongol military organisation?
A. Tribal cells
B. Decimal system
C. Feudal ranks
D. Infantry units
Answer: B. Decimal system
13. What was the name given to the largest Mongol military unit of approximately 10,000 soldiers?
A. Anda
B. Quota
C. Tuman
D. Noyan
Answer: C. Tuman
14. Which title was used for the close, loyal friends of Genghis Khan who took a blood oath?
A. Noyan
B. Anda
C. Naukar
D. Khan
Answer: B. Anda
15. Which river drains the Mongol pastoral region alongside the Onon?
A. Selenga
B. Amu Darya
C. Tien Shan
D. Gobi
Answer: A. Selenga
16. Which geographical feature borders the Mongolian steppe to the west?
A. Gobi Desert
B. Altai Mountains
C. Tien Shan
D. Siberian Forest
Answer: B. Altai Mountains
17. Which desert lies to the south of the Mongolian pastoral lands?
A. Gobi
B. Sahara
C. Kalahari
D. Arabian
Answer: A. Gobi
18. What was the fundamental livelihood of Mongol pastoralists?
A. Farming
B. Horse tending
C. Trading
D. Mining
Answer: B. Horse tending
19. In addition to horses, which livestock was chiefly tended by the Mongols?
A. Camels
B. Sheep
C. Cattle
D. Pigs
Answer: B. Sheep
20. Which event occurred in 1220 as described by a Persian chronicler?
A. Siege of Nishapur
B. Capture of Bukhara
C. Fall of Baghdad
D. Sacking of Peking
Answer: B. Capture of Bukhara
21. In Genghis Khan’s speech at Bukhara, how did he describe himself?
A. Divine messenger
B. Punishment of God
C. Eternal ruler
D. Universal sovereign
Answer: B. Punishment of God
22. Which ruler’s execution of envoys provoked Mongol campaigns in Khwarazm?
A. Sultan Muhammad
B. Ogodei Khan
C. Batu Khan
D. Ghazan Khan
Answer: A. Sultan Muhammad
23. During which years did the Mongol campaigns in Transoxiana and Khwarazm take place?
A. 1206–1209
B. 1219–1221
C. 1227–1230
D. 1236–1240
Answer: B. 1219–1221
24. Which city suffered a massacre of approximately 1,747,000 people in 1220?
A. Merv
B. Herat
C. Nishapur
D. Bukhara
Answer: C. Nishapur
25. How many days did Juwaini report it took to count the corpses at Merv?
A. Ten days
B. Thirteen days
C. Twelve days
D. Fifteen days
Answer: B. Thirteen days
26. Approximately how many corpses were counted per day at Merv?
A. 50,000
B. 75,000
C. 100,000
D. 150,000
Answer: C. 100,000
27. Which key event marked the fall of the Abbasid caliphate?
A. Sacking of Nishapur
B. Capture of Baghdad
C. Defeat at Vienna
D. Siege of Bukhara
Answer: B. Capture of Baghdad
28. Who was the first Il-Khanid ruler to convert to Islam?
A. Qubilai Khan
B. Ghazan Khan
C. Batu Khan
D. Guyuk Khan
Answer: B. Ghazan Khan
29. Which dynasty ended in 1368 marking the decline of Mongol rule in China?
A. Yuan
B. Il-Khanid
C. Golden Horde
D. Timurid
Answer: A. Yuan
30. Who established the Mughal empire in India in 1526?
A. Timur
B. Babur
C. Shaybani
D. Ghazan
Answer: B. Babur
31. In the Mongol state, which son received the Russian steppes?
A. Jochi
B. Chaghatai
C. Ogodei
D. Toluy
Answer: A. Jochi
32. Which son was awarded the Transoxianian steppe?
A. Ogodei
B. Jochi
C. Toluy
D. Chaghatai
Answer: D. Chaghatai
33. Which son established his capital at Karakorum?
A. Jochi
B. Ogodei
C. Toluy
D. Chaghatai
Answer: B. Ogodei
34. Which son received the ancestral lands of Mongolia?
A. Toluy
B. Jochi
C. Ogodei
D. Chaghatai
Answer: A. Toluy
35. What was the main function of the underground qanats in Iran?
A. Irrigation
B. Defense
C. Trade
D. Communication
Answer: A. Irrigation
36. Which defensive structure was reinforced due to nomadic raids?
A. Great Wall
B. Karakorum
C. Citadel
D. Fortress
Answer: A. Great Wall
37. Which factor led to the end of Mongol western expansion?
A. Internal strife
B. Resource diversion
C. Religious dissent
D. Climatic change
Answer: B. Resource diversion
38. What term describes the peace that facilitated Silk Route trade under Mongol rule?
A. Pax Romana
B. Pax Mongolica
C. Pax Britannica
D. Pax Sinica
Answer: B. Pax Mongolica
39. Which siege technology did Genghis Khan adopt for fortified encampments?
A. Catapults
B. Naphtha bombardment
C. Battering rams
D. Archery tactics
Answer: B. Naphtha bombardment
40. How was the Mongol reorganisation of military units structured?
A. Tribal clusters
B. Family clans
C. Decimal system
D. Feudal fiefs
Answer: C. Decimal system
41. What was the role of the administrators recruited by the Mongols?
A. Military leadership
B. Revenue collection
C. Religious conversion
D. Trade control
Answer: B. Revenue collection
42. Which campaign by Batu impacted regions up to Moscow?
A. Iranian campaign
B. Eastern China
C. Russian campaign
D. Western Europe
Answer: C. Russian campaign
43. Which nomadic group’s historical research was advanced by Russian scholars?
A. Turks
B. Uighurs
C. Mongols
D. Khitans
Answer: C. Mongols
44. According to Ghazan Khan’s speech, what must be done to secure future grain supplies?
A. Assault peasants
B. Rob merchants
C. Tread with reason
D. Tax lavishly
Answer: C. Tread with reason
45. What did the Mongol state use to integrate diverse groups into new units?
A. Tribal dissolution
B. Forced migration
C. Military reorganisation
D. Economic incentives
Answer: C. Military reorganisation
46. Which military unit title referred to the Mongol captains?
A. Noyan
B. Anda
C. Naukar
D. Tuman
Answer: A. Noyan
47. How were the Mongols’ seasonal movements typically conducted?
A. By ship
B. On foot
C. In gers
D. By herd migration
Answer: D. By herd migration
48. Who among Genghis Khan’s descendants warned Louis IX?
A. Batu
B. Mongke
C. Guyuk
D. Ogodei
Answer: B. Mongke
49. Which campaign event is associated with the reign of Berke?
A. Conversion Islam
B. Horde reorientation
C. Capture Baghdad
D. Defence Karakorum
Answer: B. Horde reorientation
50. In the later Mongol period, what phenomenon resulted in the division of the empire?
A. Military defeat
B. Dynastic succession
C. Economic crisis
D. Religious reform
Answer: B. Dynastic succession
