![]() One important reason for the decline and fall of the Mongol empire was the perpetual infighting which took place among Genghis Khan’s descendants. In 1368, the Mongols lost control over their most prized possession - China. The political structure had already begun to crack by the middle of the thirteenth century and by the early fourteenth century it was disintegrating. This was when Persian businessmen would go to China on regular visits and when a diplomatic envoy from a Mongol khan could visit Paris and take communion with the pope in Rome.Ģ The Mongol Empire lasted only some 150 years. ![]() During the so-called Pax Mongolica, the “Mongol peace,” exchanges along the caravan routes of Central Asia became more intense than ever before. Throughout the land they controlled, the Mongols guaranteed the security of travelers and they encouraged trade by reducing taxes and facilitating travel. ![]() The results were profound and revolutionary. Rather, by conquering such a vast territory, and by unifying it under the same administration, they managed to connect parts of the world which had never previously been connected, or not connected as closely and efficiently. The Mongols made no technological breakthroughs, founded no religions, built no buildings, and they had not even mastered simple techniques such as weaving, pottery or bread-making. Yet apart from their military superiority, they had nothing much to impart to the rest of the world. Although the Mongols counted only about one million people at the time, the lands they once controlled comprise today a majority of the world’s population.ġ The Mongols were known as merciless warriors who destroyed the cities they captured, sparing no humans and occasionally even killing their cats and dogs. At the height of their power, the Mongols controlled an area which stretched from central Europe to the Pacific Ocean. It was a territory about the size of the African continent and considerably larger than North America. ![]() The Mongols fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia too, built a navy and tried to invade both Java and Japan. In 1241 they completely obliterated the European armies that had gathered against them and in 1258 they besieged, sacked and burned Baghdad. Once they had mastered the art of siege warfare, the cities too fell into their hands. Since most lands between Europe and Asia were sparsely populated and quite unprotected, the Mongols quickly overran an enormous territory while most of the actual warfare consisted of sieges. Their soldiers, consisting only of cavalry, were fast, highly disciplined and well organized, and they wielded their bows and lances while still on horseback. The Mongols’ armies were spectacularly successful. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Mongols created the largest contiguous empire the world has ever known. In 1206, Temüjin, an orphan and a former slave, united the many feuding clans which occupied the steppes to the north of China and took the title “Genghis Khan.” Once this feat was accomplished he turned to military conquests abroad. ![]()
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