The Mongols

‘Inhuman and beastly, rather monsters than men…’ is how the English historian Matthew Paris described the Mongols in the 1200s. Mongol armies conquered a vast area of land that formed the largest empire in history. When Kublai Khan became leader of the 
Mongols, he moved from the steppes of Central Asia to rule the most splendid court in the world, in China.

The Mongols lived on the plains of Central Asia, from the Ural mountains to the Gobi Desert. They were nomads, wandering with their herds and living in portable tents (yurts). Their leaders were called khans. In 1206, Temujin Khan brought all the tribes under his rule and was proclaimed Genghis Khan, ‘lord of all’. In a lifetime of conquest, he seized an empire that extended from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the river Danube in the west, incorporating the once mighty Persian empire. The Mongols continued their attacks after Genghis Khan died. In 1237, a Mongol army led by Batu Khan, one of Genghis’ sons, invaded Russia.

In Europe, people panicked as word spread of the Mongols’ speed and ferocity in battle. Mongol soldiers travelled with five horses each and they were experts with bows and lances. In victory, they were merciless, slaughtering the people of a city and carting away treasure. Western Europe was saved only when the Mongols turned homeward on the death of their leader Ogadai Khan in 1241.

Genghis’s grandson, Kublai Khan, overthrew the ruling Song dynasty in China. By 1279, he controlled most of the country and moved his capital to Beijing. China had the world’s biggest cities, including Kaifeng and Hangzhou (each with more than one million people).

Kublai Khan strengthened his empire by building long roads to connect territories. He also tried to invade Japan twice, without success. After his death in 1294, the Mongol empire began to decline and by the mid 1300s had largely broken up.

Then in 1369, Timur ‘Leng’ (‘the lame’), known as Tamerlane, made himself ruler of Samarkand in Central Asia. He set out to re-create the Mongol empire, and conquered Persia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and part of Russia. In 1397, he invaded India, and died on the way to China in 1405.

MARCO POLO

In 1271, an Italian merchant named Marco Polo (1256-1323) travelled to China from Venice. He stayed for 24 years, touring China in the service of Kublai Khan. Later, he wrote about China’s cities and inventions. Today, however, there is some debate about whether he even visited China or whether he simply made up his stories.