We explain what the Mongol Empire was, how it originated and how it expanded. In addition, what are its characteristics, political organization and more.
What was the Mongol Empire?
The Mongol Empire was an imperial state that existed between 1206 and 1368 d. C. was founded by Genghis Khan (1167-1227) in the central Asia steppe and reached more than twenty-three million million square kilometers, which made it The most extensive contiguous territory empire in history. He came to occupy the surface of the current Korea, China, Afghanistan, Persia, Central Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe to the current Hungary.
Before forming an empire, the Mongols were a society of nomadic tribes and warriors that, until the thirteenth century, faced each other. Genghis Khan managed to unify the different tribes under his command and face them against neighboring societies, which he was conquering until he sets out a huge empire. At his death, his children continued the Mongolian expansion and, in 1271 they came to complete their conquest of China and create an imperial dynasty.
The Mongol Empire was governed by a great Kan, who was a legitimate heir of Genghis Kan and was accepted by a warrior leaders council called Kurultai. The Empire was divided into Kanatos, which were led by different branches of the Genghis Kan dynasty.
The Mongol Empire had a strong and effective army that was feared by neighboring peopless for its brutality and its almost non -existent defeats. However, within the Empire, hundreds of very diverse societies lived, to which the imperial government allowed to maintain its customs and religious beliefs. In return, local authorities had to pay tribute in kind and swear loyalty to the great Kan.
Beginnings of Mongol Empire
The creation of the Mongol Empire
During the twelfth century, the Mongols were a set of tribes that inhabited the steppes of Central Asia along with peoples of other Túrquico ethnic groups. All these tribes were nomads and lived in seasonal camps. The climatic conditions of the steppes did not allow the development of crops, so its inhabitants based their economy on hunting and collection. Each tribe had their leader and faced each other for resources and the control of certain displacement areas.
At the beginning of the thirteenth century, A warrior named Temudjin became the leader of one of the Mongolas tribes. In a short time he managed to become allies and defeat the enemy tribes (Naimans, Merkitas, Tartars, Keraitas and Calmucos, among others.
In 1206, the leaders of different tribes met in a council in Burkhan Khaldun and proclaimed the formation of a Mongolian confederation and They gave Temudjin the title of Gengis Kan (“Great ruler”). Since then all the tribes that were under their command were called Mongolas.
The conquests of Genghis Kan (1207-1227)
Genghis Kan organized the warriors of the different tribes and made them an army. In addition, he created a local organization, began to collect a tax system to administer to the Confederate tribes and promulgated a code of laws that established the punishments for the different crimes.
Since 1209, Genghis Kan dedicated himself to leading his army in the conquest campaigns of neighboring towns. He conquered the Kingdom Xi Xia (also called Empire Tanut) who was one of the four kingdoms in which China was divided at the time. Between 1211 and 1214, the Mongols armies devastated towns and cities of the Jin Kingdom, another of the Chinese kingdoms, and managed to conquer part of their territory.
In 1218, Gengis’s troops occupied the Kanate of Jarai and For 1223 they had conquered much of the Jorezmita empire (which was in the current Afghanistan and northern Iran). In 1226, Genghis Kan ordered his troops to continue his advances west in Eurasia while he returned to attack the kingdom of Xi Xia, who had betrayed his commitment to deliver taxes and men for the army.
In 1227, Genghis Kan died from problems caused in a fall that had suffered two years before while hunted. His body was taken back to Mongolia to be buried in a secret place in the mountain of Burkhan Khaldun. The legend tells that everyone who saw the Emperor’s funeral procession were killed.
Before dying, Gengis Kan established the division of the empire among his four children Jochi, Chagatai, Ogodei and Tolui, and other heirs officers. In addition, he decided that Ogodei, his third child, would happen in the maximum position of Great Kan, with the approval of the Kurultai (The Mongol Warrior Leaders Council).
The Ogodei Kan Government (1229-1241)
In 1229, the Kurultai Of the Mongols leaders confirmed Ogodei as the new great Kan. Ogodei established the capital of the empire in the city of Karakorum and surrounded it with a wall.
Ogodei organized Mongolas troops in four armies to carry out four military campaigns with the aim of conquering:
- The territories of Central Asia on the other side of the Urales and the Volga river, where the Russian principalities were.
- The territories that remained of the Jorezmita Empire (in the current Iran) and Asia Minor.
- Korea, who had been conquered by his father but had started a rebellion.
- The King Jin, north of China, whose conquest his father had not managed to complete.
The territorial expansion of the Mongol Empire under the Ogodei government was spectacular. The conquest campaign of the Chinese kingdom Jin was led by Ogodei himself, who also got a resounding success and managed to impose Mongol control over northern China. In addition, the rebellion in Korea was crushed and the armies sent to Asia Minor managed to incorporate the territories of Persia and the Caucasus into the empire.
The Central Asia campaign was directed by General Mongol Subotai, one of Gengus Kan’s most important warriors and was a constant military success. In a short time he conquered the Túrquica tribes of the steppes of Central Asia, the Russian principalities (except Novgorod) and continued their conquests towards the West: Ukraine, Moravia, Poland and Hungary. In 1241 the Mongol army led by Subotai was at the doors of the city of Vienna, when the news of Ogodei’s death arrived.
When Ogodei finished his conquest of the Kingdom Jin abandoned military leadership, he returned to Karakorum and dedicated himself to the life of pleasures. His second wife, Tareguene, tried to consolidate his power, with the aim of achieving the choice of his son Guyuk as the next great Kan. Ogodei died in a hunting accident and was buried in Zungaria.
Ogotai Kan’s succession
When Ogotai died in 1241, Toreguene became the Imperial Regent until the Kurultai chose the next great Kan. This was a Mongolian custom that was born of the need for Mongol Warriors leaders to return from their military campaigns to be able to celebrate the Kurultai and choose the next great Kan.
In 1246, the Kurultai chose Guyuk as the successor of Ogotai. However, two years later Guyuk died from illness. The struggles for succession began to be more intense and was only in 1251 that Möngke was chosen as the next great Kan. Möngke was the grandson of Genghis Kan and the firstborn son of Tolui.
Möngke Kan’s government (1251-1256)
To consolidate your power, Möngke murdered all relatives who could try to impose himself as a great kan. In addition, in order to continue with the conquests and the expansion of the empire, the government organized in its absence through men of its trust.
Among his main military campaigns, he sought to consolidate Mongol power in the territories that tried to rebel (such as Korea, for example). But its main objective was the conquest of the Chinese territories controlled by the Song dynasty. However, Möngke died from battle wounds in 1256.
The Kublai Kan government
At Möngke’s death, a war between his brothers Kublai and Arik Boke for succession began. The war lasted two years and ended with Kublai’s victory and his ascent as a great Kan.
Kublai made war on the Song dynasty and got the dominance of eastern China. During his government, he made a transition from Mongol Power to the Chinese Empire. He was the first Mongol sovereign to become Buddhism and He adopted many of the Chinese customs for the organization of his empire.
For example, he used the Chinese calendar, integrated confucian customs (of Chinese philosophy) for government rituals and sent to create a new alphabet for the Mongolian language based on Tibetan writing.
In 1254, he located the capital of the Mongol Empire in a place he called Xanadu (which in Chinese meant “supreme capital”) and then moved it to the city of Liao, where the capital of the Jin dynasty was previously located (which is currently the city of Beijing). In 1271 it was proclaimed as the founder of the new Yuan dynasty (which ruled in China until 1368).
On the other hand, He tried to stay as a sovereign Mongol among the Mongols and maintained the shamanic rituals of their ancestors. In addition, he trusted the Mongolian rulers for the organization of the Empire and military campaigns.
However, since 1268, Kaidu (grandson of Ogotai Kan and leader of the Kanato de Chagatai) did not know Kublai’s authority and began a civil war that remained throughout the Kublai Kan government. In 1294 Kublai died from health problems.
The disintegration of the Mongol Empire
The central authority of the Great Kan had been disputed from the wars that were unleashed by the succession of Ogotai Kan (1241-1251) and Möngke Kan (1260-1264). In addition, during his government, Kublai Kan had to face Kaidu, who did not know his authority as a great Kan. Kaidu was the leader of the house of Ogodei (the descendants of Ogodei Kan) and ruled the Kanato of Chagatai (one of the divisions of the Mongol Empire).
When Kublai Kan died in 1294, there was also a legitimate heir that could impose his authority throughout the Mongolian territory. Consequently, the Mongol Empire was divided into autonomous Kanates:
- Great Yuan. It included all the territories of ancient China that had been conquered by the Mongols from the Government of Gengo Kan. It was under the government of the descendants of Kublai (grandson of Genghis Kan and second son of Touli), which founded the Yuan dynasty.
- Chagatai Kanato. It was the original heart of the Great Mongol Empire, located in the Central Asia plateaus. He was governed by the descendants of Chagatai (second son of Genghis Kan).
- Gold horde. He covered the territories of the current Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and was under the government of the Batu Kan family (grandson of Genghis Kan and son of Jochi).
- Persian ilkanato. He occupied the territories of the current Iran, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Armenia and parts of Afghanistan and Georgia. He was governed by Hulagu’s descendants (grandson of Genghis Kan, son of Tolui).
The political organization of the Mongol Empire
Since the creation of the Empire by Genghis Kan (1206) until its disintegration in autonomous Kanates definitively (1294), the Mongol Empire was transforming its political and economic organization.
After assuming the central authority of Gran Kan, Genghis Kan sought to conquer the land of neighboring governments to distribute them among their children and heirs. Thus, the imperial territory was divided into Kanatos who were governed by descendants of the children of Gengo Kan.
The territories conquered by Genghis Kan and their successors had to swear loyalty to the Mongol Empire, pay taxes in the form of species and send warriors for military campaigns. But, on the other hand, they maintained some autonomy of government and the Mongols respected local customs and religions.
The Mongol Empire Administration
By becoming Genghis Kan, Temudjin understood that in order to organize a government, he needed to use records. As the Mongolian language had no form of notation, ordered to create its own writing system. Mongolian writing used the Uigur alphabet (an alphabet based on the Arabic system).
This allowed Genghis Kan to create a more complex administrative system to be able to govern the territories, collect taxes and organize their armies. Besides, promulgated a written code of laws and regulations called YASAwhich established severe punishments for different crimes.
His son Ogotai also carried out administrative reforms with the aim of centralizing the administration and controlling local rulers. For that, he sought to make tax collection and taxes more efficient. For his part, Möngke Kan created a unified tax system and sought to improve the local economy of the conquered territories. In addition, he ordered that a census of the Empire be carried out in order to have a registration of the resources and the people who lived the spaces under Mongol control.
During the Kublai Kan government, a unified monetary system was attempted with the use of paper currency (whose use was common in Chinese territories). However, this did not prosper due to the difficulties of exchangeing values.
The Religion of the Mongol Empire
The beliefs of the Mongolas nomadic tribes prior to the empire were based on what is known as “tengrianism”: a set of beliefs that have elements of shamanism, animism and Buddhism. They argued that there was a main god of heaven, called Tengri, but accepted the existence of other deities.
As Gengis Kan conquered neighboring peoples, the Mongol Empire was incorporating societies that had different beliefs. During the government of the different Mongols leaders, the Mongol empire always maintained a policy of religious and cultural tolerance. Therefore, In the imperial territory Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindus and Buddhist communities lived.
The Mongol Empire Army
The military organization of the Mongols is recognized for its effectiveness and successes in their conquests. It was ordered based on a decimal system of groups of 10, 100, 1,000 and 10,000 warriors. It is estimated that at the beginning of the Government of Genghis Kan, His army reached 100,000 men.
Originally, the Mongols armies They were composed of horse archers and infantry with spears. But as they conquered neighboring peoples, they incorporated the knowledge of their enemies and began to create different military technology machines, such as catapults and trabuquets (launched machines).
Another quality of the Mongolian army was its ability to move quickly and, in turn, endure long -term campaigns in hostile climates. In addition, they organized their military campaigns through a detailed study of the battle land, the strength and characteristics of the enemy.
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References
- Ackermann, Me, Schroeder, MJ and others (2008). “Chagatai Khanate”, “Genghis Khan”, “Hulagu Khan”, “Kubilai Khan”, “Mongke Khan” and “Ogotai Khan”. Encyclopedia of World History. Vol II. Facts on File.
- Aparicio, JP (2021). The Mongol and Genghis Khan empire. Scriptorium. https://repository.uca.edu.ar/
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023). “Mongol Empire”. Britannica Encyclopedia. At https://www.britannica.com/
