How Civilized Were The Barbarians Dbq Analysis

Alani Zabala-Perez February 6, 2017

Black/Gold 3 Mrs.Wiglesworth

Mongols: How Civilized Were The “Barbarians”

Mongols weren’t fully barbaric, they had some rational rules and customs that still impact civilizations today. For example Mongols had a very organized military, they tolerated all religions, and encouraged trade.

About 4,860,000 square miles of Asia was conquered by Genghis Khan from 1162 to 1227 (Document A). Europeans knew the Mongols as barbaric people because their customs approved in their culture. The Mongols were very civilized though. Not many other armies were as organized as the Mongols. In order to have such an organized army, Genghis Khan had to divide his army. Every ten people had one group leader who

Although sometimes they wouldn’t leave survivors, sometimes they did. For being labeled bloodthirsty barbarians, they were very tolerant to different cultures and religions. Some of the “civilized” groups of people, weren’t tolerant to other religions and cultures; whilst the Mongols were very good at tolerating. In document G, it says that around the Khan’s palace there would be many monasteries of different religions. In the capital there were twelve Buddhist temples, two muslim mosques, and one christian church (Document G). This represents the strong leadership the Khan must of had in order to make his people be tolerant to other people, making them civilized. These customs resemble the freedom of religion in the U.S

The Mongols had traded for centuries with border posts and had recieved gifts and money from Chinese courts (Document I). With this said, this meant that the Mongols weren’t completely barbaric as they were described to be. If they could maintain trade with other countries it meant they weren’t bloodthirsty and crazy. Mongols built canals to improve transportation and communication (Document J). This meant that Mongols cared for more than just conquering and destroying cities, that they were actually civilized. Many different careers flourished under Mongol rule. For example, the arts, winemaking, and silk-making industries thrived because of the Mongols love for art, wine, and their contacts to China (Document J). Another major innovation that was created was the Pax Mongolica. The Pax Mongolica protected the tax free customs zones that helped Persia, Armenia-Georgia, Asia, and China prosper (Document J). If they were fully barbaric they would of just conquer and pillage those places instead of letting them prosper under the Pax Mongolica. Besides all those non-barbaric customs, the safety mongols felt under their empire was