Mongol Empire Research Paper

“I am the punishment of God…If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.” – Genghis Khan. Imperial juggernauts are massive and powerful empires; this essay will discuss the Mongols. They were known for their nomadic ways and lust for battle. Before they could start conquering other groups someone had to unite the various sovereign tribes of Mongols scattered around the steppes. The man that accomplished this was Temujin, later known as Genghis Khan. Temujin earned the title of Genghis Khan after the Khuriltai, which is an assembly of the Mongol nobility, named him such once he united the Mongol people through conquest. Their empire was short lived, only 126 years, due to no cohesive elements like

As a testament to that, the Mongols were never defeated on the battlefield, and they only collapsed because of civil strife. After Genghis Khan’s death, his empire was split into four factions, none of which could gain absolute control of the empire even though Genghis Khan named the next supreme Khan, his third son Ögedei Khan. The empire stayed together, but over time the empire drifted apart until the four factions split completely. Another factor in the Mongols success was their mastery of siege warfare and combat. First they cut off the supply lines to the cities, then catapulted large stones, diseased animals, and bombs over the city walls. During battle the Mongols often outflanked their enemies due to their superior mobility, and incurred little damage because of their hit-and-run tactics. Nobody could stop the Mongol hordes from conquering everything they saw, and it was not for lack of trying. In conclusion, the Mongols thrived on the battlefield like no army has since their great era of

Successfully building an empire large enough to rival the British Empire at its peak is an extremely difficult task. Steamrolling everybody you come in contact with, including themselves, takes a lot of military know how. The only people to successfully beat a Mongol army on the battlefield was another Mongol army. Thanks to their tolerance of others the Mongols had the opportunity to use their conquered people, like the Chinese, to administrate their empire. Life under the Mongols was good for religious minorities so they had little reason to revolt. If they did decide to revolt, they were swiftly obliterated by the Mongol army, then a pyramid of skulls from the killed was erected as a reminder of Mongol dominance. Choosing a life under a new ruler or death was a simple decision to make for many of the Mongol’s victims. “Conquering the world on horseback is easy; it is dismounting and governing that is hard.” –Genghis