Mongol Empire: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia


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{{Short description|13th- and 14th-century empire originating in Mongolia}}

{{Distinguish|Mughal Empire}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=JanuaryJune 20202024}}▼

{{Pp|small=yes}}

▲{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox former country

| conventional_long_name = Great Mongol Nation

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| image_map_caption = Expansion of the Mongol Empire 1206–1294<br />superimposed on a modern political map of [[Eurasia]]

| capital = {{ubl|[[Avarga]] (1206–1235)|[[Karakorum]] (1235–1260)|[[Khanbaliq]] (1271–1368)}}

| common_languages = {{hlist|[[Middle Mongol]]|[[Turkic languages]]{{NoteTagefn|Especially western [[Kipchak languages|Kipchak dialects]] in the Golden Horde,<ref>{{cite book |last=Kołodziejczyk |first=Dariusz |author-link=Dariusz Kołodziejczyk |title=The Crimean Khanate and Poland-Lithuania: International Diplomacy on the European Periphery (15th–18th Century): A Study of Peace Treaties Followed by Annotated Documents |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHrTxHmegRYC&pg=PP1 |year=2011 |publisher=Brill Publishers |location=Leiden, Netherlands |isbn=978-90-04-19190-7 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> [[Chagatai language|Chagatai]] in the Chagatai Khanate<ref name="Kim2013">{{cite book |last=Kim |first=Hyun Jin |title=The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fX8YAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |access-date=20 November 2016 |year=2013 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-107-06722-6 |page=29 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> and [[Old Uyghur]] in the Yuan dynasty.}}|[[Chinese language|Chinese]]|[[Persian language|Persian]]|others}}

| demonym = Mongol

| government_type = {{ubl|[[Elective monarchy]]|Later also [[Hereditary monarchy|hereditary]]}}

| title_leader = [[Khagan]][[Emperor of China|-Emperor]]{{NoteTagefn|name=Emperor|Decades before [[Kublai Khan|Kublai Emperor]] announced the dynastic name "[[Yuan dynasty|Great Yuan]]" in 1271, [[khagan]]s (Great Khans) of the "Great Mongol State" (''Yeke Mongγol Ulus'') already started to use the Chinese title of [[Emperor of China|Emperor]] ({{zh |c = 皇帝 |p = Huángdì }}) practically in the [[Chinese language]] since the enthronement of [[Genghis Khan|Genghis Emperor]] ({{zh |c = 成吉思皇帝 |l = Chéngjísī Huángdì |labels = no }}) in Spring 1206.<ref name="Enthronement1206">{{cite book |script-title = zh:元史 |trans-title = History of Yuan |title-link = History of Yuan |language = lzh |script-chapter = zh:太祖本纪 |trans-chapter=Chronicle of [[Genghis Khan|Taizu]] |quote = 元年丙寅，帝大会诸王群臣，建九斿白旗，即皇帝位于斡难河之源，诸王群臣共上尊号曰成吉思皇帝。 |trans-quote=In the first year of Bingyin [1206], the emperor gathered all the kings and ministers to build the Jiumai White Banner, that is, the emperor was located at the source of the Onan River, and all the kings and ministers honored him as [[Genghis Khan|Emperor Genghis]].}}</ref>}}

| year_leader1 = 1206–1227

| leader1 = [[Genghis Khan]]

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| stat_year1 = 1206

| stat_area1 = 4000000

| ref_area1 = <ref name="Taagepera499">{{cite journal |date = September 1997 |title = Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia |journal = [[International Studies Quarterly]] |volume = 41 |issue = 3 |pages = 475–504499 |doi = 10.1111/0020-8833.00053 |first = Rein |last = Taagepera |author-link = Rein Taagepera |jstor = 2600793 |url= http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3cn68807 |access-date = 8 December 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181119114740/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3cn68807 |archive-date = 19 November 2018 |url-status = live | issn=0020-8833 }}</ref>

| stat_year2 = 1227

| stat_area2 = 1200000013500000

| ref_area2 = <ref name="Taagepera499" />

| stat_year3 = 1294

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| s3 = Ilkhanate

| s4 = Yuan dynasty{{!}}{{nowrap |Yuan dynasty}}

| footnotes = {{notelist}}

}}

{{Campaignbox Mongol invasions and conquests}}

The '''Mongol Empire''' of the 13th and 14th centuries was the [[List of largest empires|largest contiguous empire]] in [[human history|history]].<ref>Morgan. ''The Mongols''. p.&nbsp;5.</ref> Originating in present-day [[Mongolia]] in [[East Asia]], the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the [[Sea of Japan]] to parts of [[Eastern Europe]], extending northward into parts of the [[Arctic]];<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pow |first=Stephen |title=The Mongol Empire's Northern Border: Re-evaluating the Surface Area of the Mongol Empire |url=https://www.academia.edu/37799970 |journal=Genius Loci – Laszlovszky 60 |access-date=6 April 2020 |date=6 April 2020 |archive-date=29 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929022301/https://www.academia.edu/37799970 |url-status=live}}</ref> eastward and southward into parts of the [[Indian subcontinent]], attemptedmounted invasions of [[Southeast Asia]], and conquered the [[Iranian Plateau]]; and reached westward as far as the [[Levant]] and the [[Carpathian Mountains]].

The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of several [[nomad|nomadic tribes]] in the [[Mongol heartland]] under the [[leadership]] of Temüjin, known by the more famous title of [[Genghis Khan]] ({{circa| 1162}} – 1227), whom a council proclaimed as the ruler of all [[Mongols]] in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and that of his descendants, who sent out [[Mongol invasions|invading armies]] in every direction. The vast transcontinental empire connected the [[Eastern world|East]] with the [[Western world|West]], and the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] to the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], in an enforced ''[[Pax Mongolica]]'', allowing the exchange of trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies across [[Eurasia]].

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The empire began to split due to wars over succession, as the grandchildren of Genghis Khan disputed whether the royal line should follow from his son and initial heir [[Ögedei Khan|Ögedei]] or from one of his other sons, such as [[Tolui]], [[Chagatai Khan|Chagatai]], or [[Jochi]]. The Toluids prevailed after a bloody purge of Ögedeid and Chagatayid factions, but disputes continued among the descendants of Tolui. The conflict over whether the Mongol Empire would adopt a sedentary, cosmopolitan lifestyle or stick to its nomadic, steppe-based way of life was a major factor in the breakup.

After [[Möngke Khan]] died (1259), rival [[kurultai]] councils simultaneously elected different successors, the brothers [[Ariq Böke]] and [[Kublai Khan]], who fought each other in the [[Toluid Civil War]] (1260–1264) and also dealt with challenges from the descendants of other sons of Genghis.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/goldenHorde.html |title=The Islamic World to 1600: The Golden Horde |publisher=[[University of Calgary]] |year=1998 |access-date=3 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113102742/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/goldenHorde.html |archive-date=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref>Michael Biran. ''Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State in Central Asia''. The Curzon Press, 1997, {{ISBN|0-7007-0631-3}}.</ref> Kublai successfully took power, but war ensued as he sought unsuccessfully to regain control of the [[List of Chagatai Khans|Chagatayid]] and [[House of Ögedei|Ögedeid]] families. By the time of Kublai's death in 1294, the Mongol Empire had [[Division of the Mongol Empire|fractured into four separate khanates or empires]], each pursuing its own interests and objectives: the [[Golden Horde]] khanate in the northwest, the [[Chagatai Khanate]] in Central Asia, the [[Ilkhanate]] in the southwestIran, and the [[Yuan dynasty]]{{NoteTag|name=GreatYuan|As per modern historiographical norm, the "[[Yuan dynasty]]" in this article refers exclusively to the realm based in [[Khanbaliq|Dadu]] (present-day [[Beijing]]). However, the [[Han Chinese|Han]]-style dynastic name "Great Yuan" ({{lang|zh|大元}}) as proclaimed by [[Kublai Khan|Kublai]], as well as the claim to Chinese political orthodoxy were meant to be applied to the entire Mongol Empire.<ref name="1271Edict">Kublai (18 December 1271), 《建國號詔》 [Edict to Establish the Name of the State], 《元典章》[Statutes of Yuan] (in Classical Chinese)</ref><ref name="GreatYuan1">{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=David |title=In the Shadow of the Mongol Empire: Ming China and Eurasia |year=2019 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itKyDwAAQBAJ&q=great+yuan+entire+mongol+empire&pg=PA50 |page=50 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108482448 |access-date=18 March 2022 |archive-date = 6 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006173825/https://books.google.com/books?id=itKyDwAAQBAJ&q=great+yuan+entire+mongol+empire&pg=PA50 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="GreatYuan2">{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=David |title=Empire's Twilight: Northeast Asia Under the Mongols |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDjWpqU55eMC&q=great+yuan+refer+to+entire+mongol+empire&pg=PA293 |page=293 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674036086 |access-date=18 March 2022 |archive-date=6 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006173825/https://books.google.com/books?id=PDjWpqU55eMC&q=great+yuan+refer+to+entire+mongol+empire&pg=PA293 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="GreatYuan3">{{cite book |last1=Brook |first1=Timothy |last2=Walt van Praag |first2=Michael van |last3=Boltjes |first3=Miekn |title=Sacred Mandates: Asian International Relations since Chinggis Khan |year=2018 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6p1WDwAAQBAJ&q=great+yuan+refer+to+entire+mongol+empire&pg=PA45 |page=45 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226562933 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In spite of this, "Yuan dynasty" is rarely used in the broad sense of the definition by modern scholars due to the ''de facto'' [[Division of the Mongol Empire|disintegrated nature]] of the Mongol Empire.}} in the eastChina, based in modern-day [[Beijing]].<ref name="China p413">''The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States''. p. 413.</ref> In 1304, during the reign of [[Temür Khan|Temür]], the three western khanates accepted the [[suzerainty]] of the Yuan dynasty.<ref>Jackson. ''Mongols and the West''. p. 127.</ref><ref>Allsen. ''Culture and Conquest''. pp. xiii, 235.

</ref>

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== Name ==

The Mongol Empire is also referred to as the "Mongolian Empire" or the "Mongol World Empire" in some English sources.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-china/rise-of-the-mongolian-empire-and-mongolian-rule-in-north-china/45194CDE5E52D31FF2DEF5FF3D40160F | chapter = The rise of the Mongolian empire and Mongolian rule in north China | doi = 10.1017/CHOL9780521243315.006 | access-date = September 7, September 2023 | title = The Cambridge History of China | date = 1994 | last1 = Allsen | first1 = Thomas | pages = 321–413 | isbn = 9781139054744 | archive-date = 7 September 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230907203311/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-china/rise-of-the-mongolian-empire-and-mongolian-rule-in-north-china/45194CDE5E52D31FF2DEF5FF3D40160F | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire|last = Buell|first = Paul|publisher = Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year = 2018|isbn = 9781538111376|page = 214}}</ref> The empire referred to itself as {{MongolUnicode|ᠶᠡᠬᠡ<br />ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ<br />ᠤᠯᠤᠰ}} ''yeke Mongγol ulus'' ({{lit}} 'nation of the great Mongols' or the 'great Mongol nation') in Mongol or ''kür uluγ ulus'' ({{lit}} the 'whole great nation') in Turkic.<ref name=philology>{{cite book|title= Introduction to Altaic Philology: Turkic, Mongolian, Manchu|year= 2010|page= 169|author1= Igor de Rachewiltz |author2=Volker Rybatzki}}</ref>

The empire referred to itself as {{MongolUnicode|ᠶᠡᠬᠡ<br />ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ<br />ᠤᠯᠤᠰ}} {{lang|xng|yeke mongɣol ulus}} ({{lit}} 'nation of the great Mongols' or the 'great Mongol nation') in Mongol or {{lang|xng|kür uluγ ulus}} ({{lit}} the 'whole great nation') in Turkic.<ref name=philology>{{cite book|title= Introduction to Altaic Philology: Turkic, Mongolian, Manchu|year= 2010|page= 169|author1= Igor de Rachewiltz |author2=Volker Rybatzki}}</ref>

After 1260 to 1264 [[Toluid Civil War|succession war]] between [[Kublai Khan]] and his brother [[Ariq Böke]], Kublai's power became limited to the eastern part of the empire, centered on China. Kublai officially issued an imperial [[edict]] on 18 December 1271 to give the empire the [[Han Chinese|Han]]-style dynastic name of "Great Yuan" (''Dai Yuan'', or ''Dai Ön Ulus'''; {{zh|c={{linktext|大|元}}|p=Dà Yuán}}) and to establish the [[Yuan dynasty]]. Some sources give the full Mongol name as ''Dai Ön Yehe Monggul Ulus''.<ref>Rybatzki. p. 116.</ref>▼

▲After the 1260 to 1264 [[Toluid Civil War|succession war]] between [[Kublai Khan]] and his brother [[Ariq Böke]], Kublai's power became limited to the eastern part of the empire, centered on China. Kublai officially issued an imperial [[edict]] on 18 December 1271 to give the empire the [[Han Chinese|Han]]-style dynastic name of "Great Yuan" (''Dai Yuan'', or ''Dai Ön Ulus'''; {{zh|c={{linktext|大|元}}|p=Dà Yuán}}) and to establish the [[Yuan dynasty]]. Some sources give the full Mongol name as ''Dai Ön Yehe Monggul Ulus''.<ref>Rybatzki. p. 116.</ref>

== History ==

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[[File:YuanEmperorAlbumGenghisPortrait.jpg|thumb|alt=Painting of Genghis Khan|[[Genghis Khan]], [[National Palace Museum]] in [[Taipei, Taiwan]]]]

Known during his childhood as Temüjin, Genghis Khan was a son of a Mongol chieftain and rose very rapidly as a young man by working with Toghrul Khan of the Kerait. After Temujin went to war against Kurtait (also known as Wang Khan; given the Chinese title "Wang" for it'sits meaning of King<ref>E.D. Philips The Mongols p. 37</ref>), who was the most powerful Mongol leader at the time, he gave himself the name Genghis Khan. He then enlarged{{how?|date=April 2024}} his Mongol state under himself and his kin, with the term Mongol coming to be used in reference to all Mongolic speaking tribes under the control of Genghis Khan. His most powerful allies were his father's friend, [[Keraites|Khereid]] chieftain [[Toghrul]], and Temujin's childhood ''anda'' (i.e. [[blood brother]]) [[Jamukha]] of the Jadran clan. With their help, Temujin defeated the Merkit tribe, rescued his wife [[Börte]], and went on to defeat the Naimans and the Tatars.<ref name=morgan-49>Morgan. ''The Mongols''. pp. 49–73.</ref>

Temujin forbade the looting of his enemies without permission, and he implemented a policy of sharing spoils with his warriors and their families instead of giving them all to the aristocrats.<ref>Riasanovsky. ''Fundamental Principles of Mongol law''. p. 83.</ref> These policies brought him into conflict with his uncles, who were also legitimate heirs to the throne; they regarded Temujin not as a leader but as an insolent usurper. This dissatisfaction spread to his generals and other associates, and some Mongols who had previously been allies broke their allegiance.<ref name=morgan-49 /> War ensued, and Temujin and the forces still loyal to him prevailed, defeating the remaining rival tribes between 1203 and 1205 and bringing them under his sway. In 1206, Temujin was crowned as the [[khagan]] (Emperor) of the ''Yekhe Mongol Ulus'' (Great Mongol State) at a [[Kurultai]] (general assembly/council). It was there that he assumed the title of Genghis Khan (universal leader) instead of one of the old tribal titles such as Gur Khan or Tayang Khan, marking the start of the Mongol Empire.<ref name="morgan-49" />

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==== Push into central Europe ====

{{Main|Mongol invasion of Europe}}

The [[Mongol invasion of Europe|advance into Europe]] continued with Mongol invasions of Poland and Hungary. When the western flank of the Mongols plundered Polish cities, a European alliance among the [[Polish people|Poles]], the [[Moravia]]ns, and the Christian military orders of the [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers]], [[Teutonic Knights]] and the [[Knights Templar|Templars]] assembled sufficient forces to halt, although briefly, the Mongol advance [[Battle of Legnica|at Legnica]]. The [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungarian]] army, their [[Croats|Croatian allies]] and the Knights Templar were beaten by the Mongols at the banks of the [[battle of Mohi|Sajo River]] on 11 April 1241. Before Batu's forces could continue on to [[Vienna]] and northern [[Albania]], news of Ögedei's death in December 1241 brought a halt to the invasion.{{sfn|Weatherford|2004|p=158}}<ref>Matthew Paris. ''English History'' (trans. by [[J. A. Giles]]). p. 348.</ref> As was customary in Mongol military tradition, all princes of Genghis's line had to attend the kurultai to elect a successor. Batu and his western Mongol army withdrew from Central Europe the next year.<ref name="Morgan. p. 104">Morgan. ''The Mongols''. p. 104.</ref> Today researchers doubt that Ögedei's death was the sole reason for the Mongols withdrawal. Batu did not return to Mongolia, so a new khan was not elected until 1246. Climatic and environmental factors, as well as the strong fortifications and castles of Europe, played an important role in the Mongols' decision to withdraw.<ref>{{citation |first=Stephen |last=Pow |editor1-last=Yang |editor1-first=L. |editor2-last=Bork |editor2-first=HR. |editor3-last=Fang |editor3-first=X. |editor4-last=Mischke |editor4-first=S. |title=Socio-Environmental Dynamics along the Historical Silk Road |chapter=Climatic and Environmental Limiting Factors in the Mongol Empire's Westward Expansion: Exploring Causes for the Mongol Withdrawal from Hungary in 1242 |publisher=Springer Open |location=Cham |pages=301–321 |isbn=978-3-030-00727-0 |date=2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Deep ditches and well-built walls: a reappraisal of the Mongol withdrawal from Europe in 1242 |periodical=Libraries and Cultural Resources |publisher=[[University of Calgary]] |url=https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/11023/232 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110044950/https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/11023/232 |archive-date=10 January 2021 |first=Stephen |last=Pow |date=2012 |language=en |doi=10.11575/PRISM/25533}}</ref>

=== Post-Ögedei power struggles (1241–1251) ===

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In southwestern Ilkhanate, Hulagu was loyal to his brother Kublai, but clashes with their cousin Berke, a Muslim and the ruler of the Golden Horde, began in 1262. The suspicious deaths of Jochid princes in Hulagu's service, unequal distribution of war booty, and Hulagu's massacres of Muslims increased the anger of Berke, who considered supporting a rebellion of the Georgian Kingdom against Hulagu's rule in 1259–1260.<ref>L. N.Gumilev, A. Kruchki. ''Black legend''</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2012}} Berke also forged an alliance with the Egyptian Mamluks against Hulagu and supported Kublai's rival claimant, Ariqboke.<ref name=barthold>Barthold. ''Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion''. p. 446.</ref>

Hulagu died on 8 February 1264. Berke sought to take advantage and invade Hulagu's realm, but he died along the way, and a few months later Alghu Khan of the Chagatai Khanate died as well. Kublai named Hulagu's son [[Abaqa Khan|Abaqa]] as new Ilkhan, and nominated Batu's grandson [[Mengu-Timur|Möngke Temür]] to lead the Golden Horde. Abaqa sought foreign alliances, such as attempting to form a [[Franco-Mongol alliance]] against the Egyptian Mamluks.<ref>Prawdin. ''Mongol Empire and Its Legacy''. p. 302.</ref> Ariqboqe surrendered to Kublai at [[Shangdu]] on 21 August 1264.{{sfn|Weatherford|2004|p=120}}

==== Campaigns of Kublai Khan (1264–1294) ====

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[[File:Iron Helmet, Mongol Empire (19219750434).jpg|thumb|left|Iron helmet, Mongol Empire]]

With the death of Ilkhan [[Abu Sa'id (Ilkhanid dynasty)|Abu Said Bahatur]] in 1335, Mongol rule faltered and Persia fell into political anarchy. A year later his successor was killed by an Oirat governor, and the Ilkhanate was divided between the Suldus, the [[Jalayir]], [[Jöchi Khasar|Qasarid]] [[Togha Temür]] (d. 1353), and Persian warlords. Taking advantage of the chaos, the [[Georgia (country)|Georgians]] pushed the Mongols out of their territory, and the Uyghur commander [[Eretna]] established an independent state ([[Eretnids]]) in [[Anatolia]] in 1336. Following the downfall of their Mongol masters, the loyal vassal, the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]], received escalating threats from the Mamluks and were eventually overrun in 1375.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Armenian kingdom in Cilicia during the Crusades : the integration of Cilician Armenians with the Latins, 1080–1393|last=G.|first=Ghazarian, Jacob|date=2000|pages=159–61|publisher=Curzon|isbn=978-0-7007-1418-6|location=Richmond|oclc=45337730}}</ref>

Along with the dissolution of the Ilkhanate in Persia, Mongol rulers in China and the [[Chagatai Khanate]] were also in turmoil. The plague known as the [[Black Death]], which started in the Mongol dominions and spread to Europe, added to the confusion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Getz |first=Trevor |title=READ: Unit 3 Introduction – Land-Based Empires 1450 to 1750 |url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history-project-ap/xb41992e0ff5e0f09:unit-3-land-based-empires/xb41992e0ff5e0f09:3-0unit-3-overview/a/read-unit-3-introduction-land-based-empires-1450-to-1750 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=[[Khan Academy]] |language=en}}</ref> Disease devastated all the khanates, cutting off commercial ties and killing millions.<ref>Morgan. ''The Mongols''. pp. 117–18.</ref> The plague may have taken 50&nbsp;million lives in Europe alone in the 14th century.<ref>Ole Jørgen Benedictow, The Black Death, 1346–1353: The Complete History (2004), p. 382.[https://books.google.com/books?id=KjLHAOE7irsC&dq=black+death+numbers+by+country&pg=PA382 p. 382.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017141939/https://books.google.com/books?id=KjLHAOE7irsC&lpg=PP1&dq=black%20death%20numbers%20by%20country&pg=PA382#v=onepage&q=black%20death%20numbers%20by%20country&f=false |date=17 October 2015}}</ref>

As the power of the Mongols declined, chaos erupted throughout the empire as non-Mongol leaders expanded their own influence. The Golden Horde lost all of its western dominions (including modern [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]]) to Poland and [[Lithuania]] between 1342 and 1369. Muslim and non-Muslim princes in the Chagatai Khanate warred with each other from 1331 to 1343, and the Chagatai Khanate disintegrated when non-Genghisid warlords set up their own puppet khans in [[Transoxiana]] and [[Moghulistan]]. [[Janibeg]] Khan (r. 1342–1357) briefly reasserted Jochid dominance over the Chaghataids. Demanding submission from an offshoot of the Ilkhanate in [[Azerbaijan]], he boasted that "today three uluses are under my control".{{sfn|Prawdin|1961|p=379}}

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The Mongol Empire was governed by a code of law devised by Genghis, called ''[[Yassa]]'', meaning "order" or "decree". A particular canon of this code was that those of rank shared much the same hardship as the common man. It also imposed severe penalties, ''e.g.'', the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if one mounted soldier following another did not pick up something dropped from the mount in front. Penalties were also decreed for rape and to some extent for murder. Any resistance to Mongol rule was met with massive collective punishment. Cities were [[Destruction under the Mongol Empire|destroyed]] and their inhabitants slaughtered if they defied Mongol orders.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} Under ''Yassa'', chiefs and generals were selected based on [[meritocracy|merit]]. The empire was governed by a non-democratic, [[parliament]]ary-style central assembly, called [[kurultai]], in which the Mongol chiefs met with the great khan to discuss domestic and foreign policies. Kurultais were also convened for the selection of each new great khan.<ref>San, T. "Dynastic China: An Elementary History" .pg 297</ref>

The Mongols imported Central Asian Muslims to serve as administrators in China and sent Han Chinese and Khitans from China to serve as administrators over the Muslim population in Bukhara in Central Asia, thus using foreigners to curtail the power of the local peoples of both lands.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor=41930343 |journal=[[Journal of Asian History]] |title=Sino-Khitan Administration in Mongol Bukhara |last=Buell |first=Paul D. |volume=13 |number=2 |date=1979 |pages=137–38}}</ref> The Mongols were tolerant of other religions, and rarely persecuted people on religious grounds. Some historians of the 20th century thought this was a good military strategy: when Genghis was at war with Sultan Muhammad of Khwarezm, other Islamic leaders did not join the fight, as it was seen as a non-holy war between two individual powers.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}▼

Genghis Khan also created a national seal, encouraged the use of a written alphabet in Mongolia, and exempted teachers, lawyers, and artists from taxes.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}

▲The Mongols imported Central Asian Muslims to serve as administrators in China and sent Han Chinese and Khitans from China to serve as administrators over the Muslim population in Bukhara in Central Asia, thus using foreigners to curtail the power of the local peoples of both lands.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor=41930343 |journal=[[Journal of Asian History]] |title=Sino-Khitan Administration in Mongol Bukhara |last=Buell |first=Paul D. |volume=13 |number=2 |date=1979 |pages=137–38}}</ref> The Mongols were tolerant of other religions, and rarely persecuted people on religious grounds. Some historians of the 20th century thought this was a good military strategy: when Genghis was at war with Sultan Muhammad of Khwarezm, other Islamic leaders did not join the fight, as it was seen as a non-holy war between two individual powers.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}

=== Religions ===

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[[File:SanjufiniZij1.jpg|thumb|alt=Sanjufini Zij by al-Sanjufini| A 1363 astronomical handbook with Middle Mongolian glosses. Known as the Sanjufini Zij.]]

[[File:DiezAlbumsAstronomers.jpg|thumb|alt=Mongols and Persian astronomers| Mongols look on as Persian astronomers work. Early 14th century illustration in the [[Jami' al-tawarikh|Compendium of Chronicles]].]]

The Mongol Empire saw some significant developments in science due to the patronage of the Khans. Roger Bacon attributed the success of the Mongols as world conquerors principally to their devotion to mathematics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baumann |first1=Brian |title=Divine Knowledge: Buddhist Mathematics according to the anonymous Manual of Mongolian astrology and divination |date=2008 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Koninklijke Brill NV]] |location=Leiden, Netherlands |isbn=978-90-04-15575-6 |page=304}}</ref> Astronomy was one branch of science that the Khans took a personal interest in. According to the [[History of Yuan|Yuanshi]], Ögedei Khan twice ordered the armillary sphere of Zhongdu to be repaired (in 1233 and 1236) and also ordered in 1234 the revision and adoption of the Damingli calendar.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baumann |first1=Brian |title=Divine Knowledge: Buddhist Mathematics according to the anonymous Manual of Mongolian astrology and divination |date=2008 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Koninklijke Brill NV]] |location=Leiden, Netherlands |isbn=978-90-04-15575-6 |page=296}}</ref> He built a Confucian temple for Yelü Chucai in Karakorum around 1236 where Yelü Chucai created and regulated a calendar on the Chinese model. [[Möngke Khan]] was noted by Rashid al-Din as having solved some of the difficult problems of Euclidean geometry on his own and written to his brother Hulagu Khan to send him the astronomer [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi|Tusi]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Komaroff |first1=Linda |title=Beyond the legacy of Genghis Khan |url=https://archive.org/details/beyondlegacygeng00koma |url-access=limited |date=2006 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Koninklijk Brill NV]] |location=Leiden, Netherlands |isbn=978-90-04-15083-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/beyondlegacygeng00koma/page/n384 358]}}</ref> Möngke Khan's desire to have Tusi build him an observatory in Karakorum did not reach fruition as the Khan died on campaign in southern China. [[Hulagu Khan]] instead gave Tusi a grant to build the Maragheh Observatory in Persia in 1259 and ordered him to prepare astronomical tables for him in 12 years, despite Tusi asking for 30 years. Tusi successfully produced the [[Ilkhanic Tables]] in 12 years, produced a revised edition of Euclid's elements and taught the innovative mathematical device called the [[Tusi couple]]. The [[Maragheh observatory|Maragheh Observatory]] held around 400,000 books salvaged by Tusi from the siege of Baghdad and other cities. Chinese astronomers brought by Hulagu Khan worked there as well.

[[Kublai Khan]] built a number of large observatories in China and his libraries included the ''Wu-hu-lie-ti'' (Euclid) brought by Muslim mathematicians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allsen |first1=Thomas T. |title=Conquest and Culture in Mongol Eurasia |date=2001 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=0-521-80335-7 |page=169}}</ref> [[Zhu Shijie]] and [[Guo Shoujing]] were notable mathematicians in Yuan China. The Mongol physician [[Hu Sihui]] described the importance of a healthy diet in a 1330 medical treatise.

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The Mongols had a history of supporting merchants and trade. Genghis Khan had encouraged foreign merchants early in his career, even before uniting the Mongols. Merchants provided information about neighboring cultures, served as diplomats and official traders for the Mongols, and were essential for many goods, since the Mongols produced little of their own.

Mongol government and elites provided capital for merchants and sent them far afield, in an ''ortoq'' (merchant partner) arrangement. In Mongol times, the contractual features of a Mongol-''ortoq'' partnership closely resembled that of [[qirad]] and [[commenda]] arrangements, however, Mongol investors were not constrained using uncoined precious metals and tradable goods for partnership investments and primarily financed money-lending and trade activities.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Enerelt |last=Enkhbold |date=2019 |title=The role of the ''ortoq'' in the Mongol Empire in forming business partnerships |journal=[[Central Asian Survey]] |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=531–547 |doi=10.1080/02634937.2019.1652799 |s2cid=203044817}}</ref> Moreover, Mongol elites formed trade partnerships with merchants from Italian cities, including [[Marco Polo]]’s's family.<ref>Enkhbold op cit pp. 7</ref> As the empire grew, any merchants or ambassadors with proper documentation and authorization received protection and sanctuary as they traveled through Mongol realms. Well-traveled and relatively well-maintained roads linked lands from the Mediterranean basin to China, greatly increasing overland trade and resulting in some dramatic stories of those who travelled through what would become known as the [[Silk Road]].

Western explorer [[Marco Polo]] traveled east along the Silk Road, and the Chinese Mongol monk [[Rabban Bar Sauma]] made a comparably epic journey along the route, venturing from his home of [[Khanbaliq]] (Beijing) as far as Europe. European missionaries, such as [[William of Rubruck]], also traveled to the Mongol court to convert believers to their cause, or went as papal envoys to correspond with Mongol rulers in an attempt to secure a [[Franco-Mongol alliance]]. It was rare, however, for anyone to journey the full length of Silk Road. Instead, merchants moved products like a bucket brigade, goods being traded from one middleman to another, moving from China all the way to the West; the goods moved over such long distances fetched extravagant prices.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}

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* Western researcher [[R. J. Rummel]] estimated that 30&nbsp;million people were killed by the Mongol Empire. Other researchers estimate that as many as 80&nbsp;million people were killed, with 50&nbsp;million deaths being the middle ground. The population of China fell by half during fifty years of Mongol rule. Before the Mongol invasion, the territories of the Chinese dynasties reportedly had approximately 120&nbsp;million inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported that China's total population was roughly 60&nbsp;million. While it is tempting to attribute this major decline in China's population solely to Mongol ferocity, today scholars have mixed opinions about this subject. Scholars such as Frederick W. Mote argue that the wide drop in numbers reflects an administrative failure to keep records rather than a ''de facto'' decrease, while others such as Timothy Brook argue that the Mongols reduced much of the south Chinese population, and very debatably the Han Chinese population, to an invisible status through cancellation of the right to passports and denial of the right to direct land ownership. This meant that the Chinese had to depend on and be cared for chiefly by Mongols and Tartars, which also involved recruitment into the Mongol army. Other historians such as William McNeill and [[David O. Morgan]] argue that the [[bubonic plague]] was the main factor behind China's demographic decline during this period.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}}

* The [[Muslim world|Islamic world]] was subjected to massive changes as a result of the Mongol invasions. The population of the Iranian plateau suffered from widespread disease and famine, resulting in the death of up to three-quarters of its population, possibly 10 to 15&nbsp;million people. Historian Steven Ward estimates that Iran's population did not reach its pre-Mongol levels again until the mid-20th century.<ref name="Steve Ward">{{cite book |last=R. Ward |first=Steven |title=Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8eUTLaaVOOQC&pg=PA39 |publisher=[[Georgetown University Press]] |year=2009 |page=39 |isbn=978-1-58901-258-5 |access-date=13 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015234934/https://books.google.com/books?id=8eUTLaaVOOQC&pg=PA39 |archive-date=15 October 2015 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

* Mesopotamia, for millennia a showplace and pinnacle of human civilization and achievement, was depopulated and pastoralized, never to resume its previous pre-eminence. In his ''[[The Outline of History|Outline of History]]'', [[H. G. Wells]] attributed this to a Mongol prejudice against urban life:

<blockquote>[I]n this region [Mesopotamia] nomadism really did attempt, and really did to a very considerable degree succeed in its attempt, to stamp a settled civilized system out of existence. When Jengis Khan first invaded China, we are told that there was a serious discussion among the Mongol chiefs whether all the towns and settled populations should not be destroyed. To these simple practitioners of the open-air life the settled populations seemed corrupt, crowded, vicious, effeminate, dangerous, and incomprehensible; a detestable human efflorescence upon what would otherwise have been good pasture. They had no use whatever for the towns. **** But it was only under Hulagu in Mesopotamia that these ideas seem to have been embodied in a deliberate policy. The Mongols here did not only burn and massacre; they destroyed the irrigation system that had endured for at least eight thousand years, and with that the mother civilization of all the Western world came to an end.<ref name=Wells>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.org/details/hgwellsoutlinehistoryvol2 |title=The Outline of History, Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind |volume=Two |first=H. G. |last=Wells |author-link=H. G. Wells |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref></blockquote>

* David Nicole states in ''The Mongol Warlords'', "terror and mass extermination of anyone opposing them was a well tested Mongol tactic."<ref name="Mongol Conquests">{{cite web |url=http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm#Mongol |title=Mongol Conquests |publisher=Users.erols.com |access-date=15 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041028051334/http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/kolp/HH345/PRE1492.HTM#Mongol |archive-date=28 October 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref> About half of the Russian population may have died during the invasion.<ref name="parallelsixty.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.parallelsixty.com/history-russia.shtml |title=History of Russia, Early Slavs history, Kievan Rus, Mongol invasion |publisher=Parallelsixty.com |access-date=15 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121024544/http://www.parallelsixty.com/history-russia.shtml |archive-date=21 January 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, [[Colin McEvedy]] in ''Atlas of World Population History, 1978'' estimates the population of Russia-in-Europe dropped from 7.5&nbsp;million prior to the invasion to 7&nbsp;million afterward.<ref name="Mongol Conquests" /> Historians estimate that up to half of Hungary's two million population were victims of the Mongol invasion.<ref>{{cite webencyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-34789/Hungary |title=The Mongol invasion: the last Arpad kings |publisherencyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica.com |date=20 November 2013 |access-date=15 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512114337/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-34789/Hungary |archive-date=12 May 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Historian [[Andrea Peto]] says that [[Rogerius of Apulia|Rogerius]], an eyewitness, said that "the Mongols killed everybody regardless of gender or age" and "the Mongols especially 'found pleasure' in humiliating women."<ref>[[Andrea Peto]] in {{cite book |first1=Richard |last1=Bessel |author1-link=Richard Bessel |first2=Dirk |last2=Schumann |title=Life After Death: Approaches to a Cultural and Social History of Europe During the 1940s and 1950s |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NilW70Yol74C&pg=PA143 |year=2003 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=143 |isbn=978-0-521-00922-5 |access-date=13 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017141939/https://books.google.com/books?id=NilW70Yol74C&pg=PA143 |archive-date=17 October 2015 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

* One of the more successful tactics employed by the Mongols was to wipe out urban populations that refused to surrender. During the Mongol invasion of Rus', almost all major cities were destroyed. If they chose to submit, the people were generally spared, though this was not guaranteed. For example, the city of Hamadan in modern-day Iran was destroyed and every man, woman, and child executed by Mongol general Subadai, after surrendering to him but failing to have enough provisions for his Mongol scouting force. Several days after the initial razing of the city, Subadai sent a force back to the burning ruins and the site of the massacre to kill any inhabitants of the city who had been away at the time of the initial slaughter and had returned in the meantime. Mongol armies made use of local peoples and their soldiers, often incorporating them into their armies. Prisoners of war sometimes were given the choice between death and becoming part of the Mongol army to aid in future conquests. Due to the brutal methods employed to subdue their subjects, Mongols maintained long lasting resentment from those they conquered. This resentment towards the Mongol rule has been highlighted as a cause for the empire's rapid fracturing.<ref>The Story of the Mongols Whom We Call the Tartars= Historia Mongalorum Quo s Nos Tartaros Appellamus: Friar Giovanni Di Plano Carpini's Account of His Embassy to the Court of the Mongol Khan by Da Pian Del Carpine Giovanni and Erik Hildinger (Branden BooksApril 1996 {{ISBN|978-0-8283-2017-7}})</ref> In addition to intimidation tactics, the rapid expansion of the empire was facilitated by military hardiness (especially during bitterly cold winters), military skill, meritocracy, and discipline.

* The [[Kalmyks]] were the last Mongol nomads to penetrate European territory, having migrated to Europe from Central Asia at the turn of the 17th century. In the winter of 1770–1771, approximately 200,000 Kalmyks began the journey from their pastures on the left bank of the [[Volga River]] to [[Dzungaria]], through the territories of their [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] and [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]] enemies. After several months of travel, only one-third of the original group reached Dzungaria in northwest China.<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Khodarkovsky |date=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ti51WfA68RYC |title=Russia's Steppe Frontier: The Making Of A Colonial Empire, 1500–1800 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017141939/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ti51WfA68RYC&pg=&dq&hl=en |archive-date=17 October 2015 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |page=142 |isbn=0-253-21770-9}}</ref>

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* {{Cite book |last=Pfeiffer |first=Judith |title=Politics, Patronage and the Transmission of Knowledge in 13th–15th Century Tabriz |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-90-04-26257-7}}

* {{Cite book |last=Prazniak |first=Roxann |title=Sudden Appearances: The Mongol Turn in Commerce, Belief, and Art |publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]] |year=2019 |isbn=978-0824876579}}

* “Islamic"Islamic and Chinese Astronomy under the Mongols: a Little-Known Case of Transmission”Transmission", in : Yvonne Dold-Samplonius, Joseph W. Dauben, Menso Folkerts & Benno van Dalen, éds., From China to Paris. 2000 Years Transmission of Mathematical Ideas. Series: Boethius 46, Stuttgart (Steiner), 2002, pp.&nbsp;327–356.

=== Institutions ===

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* Jackson, Peter. "YĀSĀ," ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', online edition, 2013, available at [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yasa-law-code Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029195517/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/yasa-law-code |date=29 October 2020 }} (accessed on 20 September 2016)

* Lkhamsuren, Munkherdene (2011). [https://doi.org/10.1163/000000011799297591 "Where Did the Mongol Empire Come From? Medieval Mongol Ideas of People, State and Empire."]''Inner Asia'', 13(2), 211–237.

* Munkuyev, N.Ts. (1977). A NEW MONGOLIAN P'AI-TZŬ FROM SIMFEROPOL. Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 31(2), 185–215. Retrieved November 9, November 2020, from [http://www.jstor.org/stable/23682673 A NEW MONGOLIAN P'AI-TZŬ FROM SIMFEROPOL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116040643/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23682673 |date=16 November 2020 }}

* Ostrowski, Donald. The tamma and the Dual-Administrative Structure of the Mongol Empire Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, vol. 61, no 2, 1998, p.&nbsp;262–277 doi: 10.1017/S0041977X0001380X

* Vasary, Istvan. (1976). THE GOLDEN HORDE TERM DARUĠA AND ITS SURVIVAL IN RUSSIA. Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 30(2), 187–197. Retrieved November 9, November 2020, from [http://www.jstor.org/stable/23657271 THE GOLDEN HORDE TERM DARUĠA AND ITS SURVIVAL IN RUSSIA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109011217/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23657271 |date=9 November 2020 }}

=== Biography, society and gender ===