History of The Savage Reputation of Mongols

For centuries, the Mongolian Empire has been viewed as the most bloodthirsty, destructive, and brutal army to conquer almost all of Asia. However, the nature of these people had been more humane then thought. Some even argue that they were the pioneers of modern society and government. They were using new techniques in combat, used a system of government that favored good workers, and ironically, made an almost continental peace. Even though we know them as cruel and swift, they had a certain method to their madness.

As with all great empires, there is usually a great emperor, Genghis Khan. Genghis, born in 1162 as Temujin, lived his early life by making alliances, defeating opposing tribes, and had his son marry the daughter of a nearby khan. He was a born leader, and when he was made khan of the Mongol Empire in 1206, he had his name changed to Genghis Khan, which means Ruler of All and kickstarted his great empire. He not only had the support of Mongol tribes but also of tribes with Turkish origin, and used that support to launch his first attack on Xi Xia, a Northern Chinese border state. From there, they launched a full campaign that eventually overtook the city of Beijing, marking China’s loss of land north to the Yellow River.

Since they hadn’t yet built up a reputation of destruction, some had dared to go against Genghis. Whether it was the execution of their people that set them off, or their unwillingness to assist them, the Mongols annihilated them all the same, absorbing their cities or destroying them with brutal force. They were on the road for world domination, as they struck fear into all of their conquests, and even people in another continent were terrified of their power, writing about the unstoppable swarm of soldiers comparable to locusts. After a siege, the Mongols would scavenge for new weapons and inventions, and around the time of the plague, they’d launch corpses of those affected by the sickness over walls and into cities.

They had excellent saddles and stirrups, so durable that one was recently dug up that looked as though it could be used today. Another technique was psychological warfare, as they would unexpectedly retreat, only to lure soldiers and attack with twice the force. However, their main edge in combat is their ability to use bows accurately on horseback, due to a background of nomadic hunting. This allowed them to have full control and mobility, and even ride backward on the saddle to fire arrows as they were retreating. This technique allowed them to raze down cities, and when the bows were eventually replaced with the invention of firearms, they only became deadlier.

The Mongolians not only created superb battle techniques, but also invented and spread tools, ideas, and even made an ancient messaging system using horses, notably similar to the later Pony Express in America. They preferred to keep the scientists and engineers of a city alive to help them, whilst killing the leaders or government officials, which was not only helpful for trying to understand or create new inventions, but it also aided them in the siege of walled cities, as there may have been weak spots or back entrances unknown to the Mongolian soldiers. They would send people to cities asking for partnership, where they’d join the Mongolian Empire, and aid them in aspects of their culture and join the ranks of their diverse army.

If they chose not to, they would join their vast kill count and some would have the luck to become involuntary slaves for the Mongols. The captured people would be introduced to their society and taught their tactics, as well as being used to help understand rival governments, as that was their only “weakness”. Genghis needed to be persuaded not to turn half of China into pasture land. (although with today’s environment, that wouldn’t be a bad idea.) At their height, they controlled 12 million square miles of land.

Everybody settles eventually, and when the Mongolian Empire climaxed, they had so much land nearly all of Eurasia was in peace. The period commonly known as Pax Mongolica was accompanied with safe trading, the massive spread of ideas, and religious freedom in the 13th-14th Centuries.

This kind of peace was unexpected, especially from an empire that was compared to death itself. Those who survived Mongolian wrath flourished from the trading that was possible due to Pax Mongolica. This trading also allowed inventions that traveled assist people in making new inventions and be improved, like the printing press and blast furnaces. The most notable invention would have to be gunpowder, invented originally to cause immortality, which passed through the empire and ironically is the cause of modern warfare. The Mongols were the first to use handheld ordinances. They were also the first to make composite bows, made of wood, horn, and sinew, making it last longer than your standard bow. These ideas and events show the help that the Mongols delivered to modern society, as well as represent their craftiness and intellect.

Unfortunately, all great things must come to an end, and Genghis himself was no exception to this rule. When Genghis died in a camp due to previous injuries and age on August 18, 1227, the Xi Xia were razed down as part of his death wish. The people carrying his body, as per his request, kept his death a secret, slaying anyone who saw his funeral procession. He was eventually buried in an unmarked grave, still waiting to be discovered.

With the death of Genghis Khan, his son, Ogodei, took over the title of Khan. He ruled very similarly to his father, using messenger systems to send orders to his generals. He had an energetic passion and a stern temper, allowing him to make decisions to ensure that his father’s empire would carry onwards.

Eventually, it fell upon the grandson of Genghis, regarded as one of his most notable successors, Kublai Khan. Kublai’s election as leader marked a point in history when the Mongol Empire was less Mongolian, and more like the people that they had conquered, as if they had become larger versions of these lands. Kublai had viewed himself as more of an Emperor of China than a Khan of Mongolia and changed the capital to Beijing, and was viewed as one of China’s greatest emperors. He controlled all of China after eliminating the Song dynasty, but instead of killing the Chinese royalty, he treated them with kindness and prevented his generals from mindlessly slaughtering the Chinese. Kublai had also eliminated trouble within the empire, killing a rival Mongol leader.

He had started the Yuan Empire, which lasted from 1279 up to the year 1368, when it would be overthrown by Zhu Yuanzhang, due to conflict between the Chinese and the Mongols, which was rooted from heavy taxes, bad future leadership, and prejudice against the Chinese from the Mongols. The idea to overthrow them came from the weakness they showed against the Japanese, and as they had lost China, they also lost the Golden Horde, among other key territories. After their inevitable defeat, many countries had to build back up, taking the Mongols ideas of messenger systems, how to select people for government rather than by bloodline, and governments with more centralized power.

While some may argue that the Mongolian empire was nothing more than an army of unforgiving slaughterers, they undoubtfully had some of the best tactics and ideas not only in warfare but also for running a stable government, allowing them to take ground and hold it, a skill very valuable in their time. I believe that this shows that they weren’t just the savages that media has portrayed them as, but tactical geniuses, with great strength, ideas, and resolve that led them to become what was almost a continental empire, when they had started as mere nomads, following their livestock. They were quite ahead of their time, and brought us many great inventions, and set an example for what could have been an almost perfect empire.