Steppes and Peoples 26-33 on the Mongols

SLIDES





Episode 26: Manchurian Warlords and Song Emperors. Begin your understanding of why the Mongols emerged and had such a dramatic impact on the 13th century by studying the interaction of the restored Song Empire and three nomadic groups who entered northern China in the 10th and 11th centuries when the Great Wall collapsed - the Khitans, the Jurchens, and the Xi Xia.

Episode 27:  The Mongols. Genghis Khan's rivals saw him as the embodiment of the steppe barbarian. But who was this man who united the Mongol tribes and set his sights on world conquest? Discover Temujin - as Genghis Khan was originally known - and who the Mongols were at the time of his birth.

Episode 28: Conquests of Genghis Khan. Pick up with Temujin's new status as the great khan, and follow his nomadic army's path of violent conquest - aided by skilled mapmakers and Chinese engineers - from the small kingdom of the Xi Xia to the Jin Empire to his most important campaign, the invasion of the Islamic world.

Episode 29:  Western Mongol Expansion. Why did Genghis Khan have his third son, Ogedei, succeed him rather than his oldest, Jochi? Find out as you embark on the Mongols' vast westward expansion. Witness Ogedei's efforts to transition from a tributary-based empire to a tax-based one; then follow Batu's invasion of Russia and Christian Europe, where he encounters an unexpected obstacle: fortified masonry castles.

Episode 30: Mongol Invasion of the Islamic World. Return to where the course began, with the campaigns of Hulagu. First, witness the political struggle to elect the next great khan. Then delve into campaigns including the sack of Baghdad, seen as the height of Mongol atrocities, and the battle that ended Mongol power in the Islamic world.

Episode 31: Conquest of Song China. At his death in 1227, Genghis Khan had achieved most of what he desired territorially. Why, then, did Kublai Khan and Mongke invade Song China? Investigate this conquest, which some scholars call the greatest of the Mongol's military achievements, including the logistical challenges that Kublai Klan overcame by inventing a new army.





Episode 32: Pax Mongolica and Cultural Exchange. What were the costs and benefits of the Mongol conquests? Is it accurate to say that a pax Mongolica - a Mongol peace - was imposed in the sedentary civilizations that came under their control? Analyze these consequences, looking at the toll of Mongol destruction and the transformative cultural exchange and prosperity that arose. Take-away: There would have been no Columbian Exchange without a previous Pax Mongolica!

Episode 33: Conversion and Assimilation. By Kublai Khan's death in 1294, the Mongolians ruled four ulus, or domains, each of which ultimately crumbled: Kublai Khan's homeland region, including Tibet and China; the central steppes of the Chagatai; the Ilkhans' Persia and Transoxiana; and the western forest zones of the Golden Horde. Understand how each fell away from the Mongol imperial legacy. Take-away: The direction of movement changes from east to west with the expansion of Russia, which happened only as a reaction to the Mongol conquest.