CHAPTER THREE - CONSEQUENCES OF THE MONGOL
EMPIRE
At its
height, the Mongol Empire rivaled the greatest empires of the ancient world,
those of Macedonia, Rome or the Arab empire.
(see map)
For over a century, the Mongols dominated peoples from the Pacific Ocean to the
Mediterranean and far to the north of Asia.
Recognize, unlike the empires of Rome or
Alexander, the Mongol Empire did not, in the end, result in many long term
changes throughout Asia and the Near East. There
is a simple reason; although the Mongols were able to conquer and rule
territories due to their military abilities and use of terror, they did not bring
with them a strong cultural base. There was no powerful social or political
tradition transplanted as they conquered. The Mongols' animistic, nature-based
religion did not have the power to challenge or replace of structured,
developed religions such as Buddhism, Christianity or Islam. The bonds of
tribal/warrior loyalty could not compete in strength with the structure and
power of the Confucian bureaucratic state in China or Islamic systems of rule.
The Mongols, in fact, were
far less developed politically and culturally than the peoples they dominated.
In many cases, Mongol rulers actually adopted elements of the cultures they
conquered. For example throughout the Near East
the power of Islam was displayed as Mongols converted in large numbers. In China, the
power of its traditional, rooted culture was even more obvious. Mongols
converted to Buddhism; they ruled using the established Confucian bureaucracy
and traditions. Thus, there were few areas of the world where Mongol rule
had long term consequences. However, there were some important results of this
empire.
REGIONAL CONSEQUENCES
The most important
consequence of Mongol aggression was the amount of territory brought under one
rule. As we have seen since the beginning of this class, empires draw people
together. The Mongol experience was no different - closer connections were
established between the East and West as a result of this massive empire. In
particular, the Mongols controlled much of the Silk Road
terrain. For those who were guaranteed safe passage from the Mongols, this
Asian trading route was actually safer during the Mongol period
than before or after. The Mongols kept the peace between neighbors and were brutal
in repressing banditry.
This period of intensified
and flourishing Silk Road trade is called Pax
Mongolica which refers to stable trading relations achieved during this
period. One famous example of the interchange possible for those in the good
graces of the Mongols is the story of Marco Polo. One of the most famous
travelers in history, Marco Polo (and his father and brother) traveled from Italy to the seat of power of the Great Khan in China in the
late 13th century. Marco Polo stayed for many years in China. Upon his
return, he wrote a widely read description of the greatness of China and Asia.
This was influential in awakening curiosity and interest of Europeans in the
achievements, wealth and goods of China
and Asia.
China also benefited from this interchange; it was during the
period of Mongol control that East/West trade increased and the Chinese learned
from Europe engineering techniques. This
increased interaction also advanced Chinese knowledge of geography and
cartography. Western influences in Chinese drama became apparent. It was also
during the Mongol dynastic period that large numbers of Muslims from Eastern
portions of the Mongol empire settled in regions of China,
creating the basis for growing national/religious conflicts in China today. In
short, Silk Road trading and cultural connections between East and West were
enhanced due to the Mongol control over and protection of Silk
Road land routes; East-West interchange increased noticeably.
This came at a high cost,
however. It should be recognized that another important consequence of the
Mongol Empire was the huge death toll created. The stories of slaughter
of whole villages and regions, either during the initial expansion or due to
repressive, brutal control, are an integral part of the historical memory in
Asia and the Near East. For peoples of
the Near East, Central Asia or China,
this was a terrible century of death and repression under Khanate rule. In one
campaign, for example, fought to conquer Afghanistan, it is estimated
that over a million people were killed (or died of war related disease
and famine) in a 6 month period!
Another interesting outcome
of Mongol expansion was mentioned earlier; all of China was conquered under the rule
of an outside power for the first time in its history. Although northern
regions of China
experienced the rule of Central Asian tribes in earlier centuries, it was only
in the 13th and 14th centuries that the entire
Chinese state experienced conquest and rule by a foreign invader. Despite
military defeat, however, the strength of China's traditional focus was
evident under the Mongols. The Mongols had the military advantage, but
certainly had no political or social system of organization to equal the
Confucian culture and state. Mongol rulers kept the Confucian bureaucratic
state intact, even continuing the civil service exam (although all top
positions were reserved for Mongols or other allied peoples). Kublai Khan, grandson of
Jenghiz Khan, took on the title of Chinese emperor. The Mongols even gave
a dynastic name to their rule - the Yuan dynasty. This
was a classic case of the culture of China proving so strong, it
absorbed the invader. Although the Chinese had to put up with the humiliation
and repression of these outside invaders until the middle of the 14th century,
the foundations of Chinese traditional culture and society remained intact, not
disrupted by transplanted or imposed ideas from the Mongols.
LONG TERM
CONSEQUENCES
The only area where there were
decisive long term changes in the development and direction of a
civilization was in Russia.
This is because:
1) the
Mongols ruled there longest (over 200 years)
2) this region was less politically developed when the Mongols invaded.
In fact, the Slavic city-states of Russia were still recovering from a
long period of Norseman/Viking disruption and rule when the Mongols came in
from the East. Russians in the early 13th century lived in separate, competing
city-states and were not able to put up much of a fight against the Mongols.
((As a side note, recognize that the Mongols broke another rule in history,
they are the only invading force able to conquer Russia in a winter
campaign - something that Napoleon and Hitler failed to do centuries
later.)) It was in fact the Mongols who forcibly created a unified
Russian state and held it together for 200 years. The basis of a centralized
state of Russia
was created by Mongol Khans.
Those later ruled under the Russian state were thus deeply affected by this
period of Mongol rule. Two centuries of Mongol rule established an influential
and visible political tradition in Russia. Under the Khan rule, called
the Golden Horde
Khanate, there was no development of local leadership or competing voices
(as was occurring in Medieval Europe.) Khans ruled through ruthless
terror and repression. Mongol rule in face reinforced the earlier political
influences on Russian development from the Byzantine
empire ruled by Caesars, and the Vikings. It should not be
surprising, then, that the combined result on Russian development was a
political heritage of repressive, brutal and authoritarian rule.
The Mongols (called Tatars
by the Russians) were finally thrown out by Russian Prince Ivan III, Ivan the
Great, in 1480. Ivan and his successors maintained the same level
of repressive rule. His grandson, Ivan IV (the Terrible) made this pattern
explicit. After solidifying his power over the weak Russian aristocracy
and totally suppressing the peasants, Ivan IV took on the title Tzar, Slavic
for Caesar. Tzarist rule was absolutist and repressive, continuing the
tradition solidified by centuries of Mongol rule. The repressive Tzarist system
lasted in Russia
until 1917 - and even after the Russian revolution overthrowing the Tzar,
the Russian people were then brutalized by the authoritarian rule of Soviet/
Communist party leadership until 1989!
In other words, political
developments in Russia were
far different from the feudal culture, reciprocal traditions, and local power
bases developing in Western and Central Europe.
The difficulties still apparent in Russia in the slow and shaky
transition from an authoritarian system to a democratic and participatory
system are in part due to this long tradition of dictatorial state power and
the almost complete lack of any history of competing voices or limits on state
rulers. Much of this deeply rooted repressive political tradition took root in
the period of Mongol rule in Russia.
The Russian state was directly influenced by the example of Byzantine
Caesar power, then the tactics of brutal, repressive, violent rule established
by the Vikings, and then this authoritarian, repressive tradition was
solidified by over 200 years of oppression by Mongol Khans.
Another
effect of Mongol rule on Russia
often mentioned is the fact that Mongol repression guaranteed Russia's isolation from developments and
cultural growth taking place in the rest of Europe.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, as Western/Central Europe
experienced the revival of the High Middle Ages in commercial growth, and later
the cultural rebirth of the Renaissance, and tradition of religious questioning
and challenge of the Protestant Reformation, Russia was in essence shut off
from these influences under the Mongol Khanate. The focus of Russian
connections was with Asia, with the broader Mongol empire, not the rest of Europe. Again, this separation of experience between
Western/Central Europe, and the regions of Eastern Europe
is an important basis of many remaining differences between these regions
today. This heritage of Mongol rule makes Russia,
and other regions of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, distinct from the
rest of Europe in terms of political traditions
and respect for law. Those differences are still visible today between Western
and Central, and Eastern European societies.
COLLAPSE OF
MONGOL DOMINANCE
Due in large part to the
cultural weakness of the Mongols, the empire created in the 13th
century ultimately reflected serious weaknesses, finally collapsing in most of Asia by the mid-14th century. In adopting the
religions and even social conventions of their subject people, the Mongols lost
that ferocious warrior edge of the Mongol plains that had made them invincible.
In the words of historians, the Mongols became "soft" as they settled
into the civilized patterns of the Near East and Asia,
and were thus vulnerable to overthrow. In the Near East,
Islamic leaders, mostly Turks, began expelling Mongol forces in the mid-1300's.
In China, Hung-Wu drove the
Mongols out of Beijing
in 1368; Hung-Wu declared the creation of a new dynasty - the Ming dynasty
which lasted until 1644. Throughout Central Asia,
Mongol control also declined. Only in Russia did Mongol rule last, all
the way until the 15th century.
The Mongols retreated back
to their region of Central Asia, never again
playing such a prominent role in global events. Many Mongols today continue to
live the nomadic, demanding lifestyle of their ancestors. It was a remarkable
and bloody episode - yet another example of the drive for empire. It was an
empire that reinforced but also broke many historical patterns.
Interesting Related Web
Sites
Land of
Genghis Khan (National Geographic)
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