The Mongols: John Of Plano Carpini And Ibn Al Athir

The Mongols were a nomadic tribe of herders from the grasslands of Central Asia that conquered many lands from the Pacific Coast of Asia all the way to Eastern Europe. During their greatest times, these Mongols controlled between 11 and 12 million adjacent square miles, an area just about the size of Africa. By 1276, they ended up ruling the largest land empire the world has ever seen and an estimate of hundred million people after killing about thirty million others. Because of this they often have been negatively perceived in terms of their role in history, mainly due to writings of their victims from their several onslaughts like Central Asia and during the later times of Russia and Europe (Reilly, p.424). The Mongols were immensely feared

Many people were slaughtered during Genghis Khan’s invasions but he also granted religious freedom to his subjects, abolished torture, encouraged trade, and created the first international postal system. Two sources that I will use to get into more depth about the Mongols are John of Plano Carpini and Ibn Al Athir which both give their separate insights on the Mongol Empire. To most the Mongols were known as fierce horsemen and warriors who invaded and conquered many places to get what they wanted, often seeking land and the ability to establish an empire they wreaked havoc on whoever or whatever stood in their way and are looked at as the ones who “reset” history

He wrote the earliest important Western work on Central Asia. The Mongol attacks on Hungary and Poland in 1241 had alerted the Europeans to the power of the Mongols and very much frightened them. Four years later Pope Innocent IV became curious about the Mongol’s intentions and set out a mission to them partly to protest their invasion of Christian territory. He traveled through Mongol territory from 1245-1247 and sought to achieve a reconciliation with the Mongols mainly looking to dissuade them from further attacks and invasions on Europe, as well as possibly convincing them to convert to Christianity. Once they arrived and were greeted formally as guests, they noticed he was treated like an actual guest and they weren’t as barbaric as they’ve been set out to be. For example, a quote from his writings reads as “So many gifts were bestowed by the envoys there that it was marvelous to behold – gifts of silk, samite, velvet, brocade, girdles of silk threaded with gold, choice furs, and other presents. (John of Plano Carpini, p. 442)” This quote is very important because it gives a different perspective on who the Mongols could be as they treated John as a true guest and they probably weren’t always barbaric and destructive leading to different historians to have many different views on them. Another