2.2 - The Mongol Empire

• The Mongols held the title for the largest continuous land-based empire ever
• Temujin

  • He was a Mongol, part of a pastoral nomadic group living around the Gobi desert
  • He proved to be a powerful leader, using diplomacy to ally with powerful people
  • He led military raids and united the various Mongol groups under himself in 1206
  • He assumed the title Chinggis Khan (also known as Genghis Khan)
• Chinggis Khan's conquests


  1. Attacked and conquered northern China

  2. Conquered territory in Central Asia

  3. Expanded up to southern Russia

  4. Died in 1227, but his sons continued expanding the empire until its peak in 1279
• Mongol military


  • Organized forces into groups of 10,000, 1,000, 100, and 10 for efficient control and command
  • Used superior weaponry like large bows that could shoot arrows further
  • Were highly skilled horse riders, often outriding their opponents
  • Benefited from the decline of powers like the Song Dynasty and Abbasid Empire
• Mongol brutality


  In some cases, Mongol armies would slaughter nearly everyone in a settlement and leave just a few alive to warn the next town, so they didn't even have to fight in some places
• Even though the Mongol body count was staggering during their wars of expansion, once they ruled everything they were pretty peaceful, leading to a period of peace known as the Pax Mongolica
• Mongol rule after Chinggis Khan's death


  1. His grandsons organized the empire into several khanates or military regions

  2. Mongol rulers often adopted the cultural norms of the people they ruled, like Kublai Khan establishing the Yuan Dynasty in China
• The Mongols in China did not become Chinese, but adapted their style of rule to the conditions of that place
• Mongol rule and the Silk Roads


  • The Silk Roads were more organized and prosperous than ever under Mongol rule
  • Mongol rulers improved infrastructure like bridges and roads, facilitating more trade
  • The Pax Mongolica led to increased communication and cooperation across Eurasia, with Persian and Chinese courts often working together
• The Mongols had a high opinion of intellectuals and skilled artisans, and were careful not to kill them during their conquests, which encouraged the transfer of technology, ideas and culture across the empire
• Uyghur script


  Chinggis Khan adopted this script to write the Mongolian language, which became a lingua franca of the empire
• As the Mongol Empire fell, many people under Mongol rule worked to install powerful centralized leaders and create unified cultures, paving the way for the rise of the modern world