to see my other blog about the Vikings click on this link below.

http://thevickingbymax.blogspot.com.au/

The Glorious Mongols

This Blog site is all about the Mongols. these five topics and this video and timeline will show you all that you need to know about the Mongol empire, from their technology to their way of fighting.

This video is a trailer of a movie about Genghis Khan's life from child hood to the final battle where he became ruler of the Mongols and founder of the Mongol Empire. The video shows a quick preview of what it was like for Genghis Khan when he was growing up. When he was a boy he was abandoned in the wilderness and had to survive on his own.

Mongol timeline

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/mongol-history

This timeline shows the significant events from the start of the reign of Genghis Khan to the end of Kublai Khan which was the time period were the empire was at its greatest.

What was the Mongols way of fighting?

The Mongols were savage tribes that were built on warfare, so it was only a mater of time till they started to take other country's by force. evidence shows that the Mongol's weapons involved around missiles like bows which were fired while they charged at the enemy. They also had lancers to smash into the enemy's front line and scimitars which are Arabic swords that are curved and designed for chopping and slicing armour. Mongols wore leather armour made from cow and horse hides which meant that they didn't weigh down the horse while it was moving around but had a disadvantage in protecting men from crossbow bolts or swords. When the Mongols went to china, they found the Chinese soldiers worn armour made of silk. The silk armour was very weak but when if  an arrow was fired at it, when the arrow hit the armour the arrow head would slide off the armour making it impenetrable by missile fire. After the Mongols took over china they adopted this armour which helped them in their conquest.

Mongols had more that just weapons to their battles, they also had brain power. One example is that each soldier had 3-4 horses which meant that when they travel long distances they could change horses which follow the army were they went. This tactic meant that they always had a fresh horse on standby so they don't have to stop as often to let their horses rest. The mobility of individual soldiers made it possible to send them on successful scouting missions, gathering intelligence about routes and searching for terrain suited to the preferred combat tactics of the Mongols.

When conquering other lands, before the invention of guns the Mongols had a hard time besieging walled cities and castles because before Genghis Khan came the Mongols lived in villages that didn't have walls so they never experienced siege warfare.The Mongolian got most of their ideas of siege machines from captured mechanics from different civilizations. Some evidence showed that Genghis Khan used catapults, rams and large wooden shields. The catapults were used to throw rocks at the enemy's walls to destroy them or throw diseased animals over the walls to spread plague through the city and weaken the defenders. A ram is a large, sharpen wood pole which was used to smash into gates to let the men into the city. The wooden shields were used all through out Asia, middle east and Europe. The were originally invented by the Europeans and were used as cover so the archers could fire at the soldiers on the walls trying to defend the city and have cover at the same time. The shield had small holes in them which archers fired through and had wheels to make it more movable.                                                                                          

 Mongol armies constantly practiced horsemanship, archery, and unit tactics, formations and rotations. This training was maintained by discipline. The Mongol soldiers were very loyal to their masters and would even follow them to their deaths with no questions asked. Officers and troopers alike were usually given a wide leeway by their superiors in carrying out their orders, so long as the larger objectives of the plan were well served and the orders promptly obeyed. The Mongols thus avoided the pitfalls of overly rigid discipline which ruined other armed forces through out history.

In conclusion they Mongols were well trained, well armed and disciplined soldiers unlike the savage warriors history has described them to be.

  http://ryanwolfe.weebly.com/weapons.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_military_tactics_and_organization#Mobility
 http://www.coldsiberia.org/monmight.htm

What was life like in Mongolia before Genghis Khan?

The Mongol tribes dated back to 100,000 years ago in the stone age. they spent most of it battling each other for dominance through out the bronze and iron age till they started to from alliances with each other to fight the Chinese. By the 3rd century BC, there was evidence of a nomadic culture, Turkic people in tribes which battled with each other and neighbouring cultures. For the next few hundred years the Chinese convinced the Mongols to fight each other so that China would stop being invaded and started to get stronger.








 Archaeological evidence places early stone age people who habited southern Gobi since 100,000 to 250,000 years ago. By the first millennium BC, bronze-working peoples lived in Mongolia. With the appearance of iron weapons by the 3rd century BC, the inhabitants of Mongolia had begun to form tribal alliances and started to threaten and invade China, an already advanced country for the time. Their had also be evidence of Mongols hunting in nomadic tribes in central Asia around the Korean Peninsula in the east. for a few centuries the Mongols fought with each other for more land and hunting grounds till the 12th century when Genghis Khan came to power and united the tribes to conquer most of the known world.


In conclusion, the Mongols weren't always a great military power but a group of savage tribes fight each other for more land and food.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols_before_Genghis_Khan

How did technology assist Genghis Khan in his ambition for conquest?

The Mongol tribes lived a simple life and had basic technology from weapons like spears and wooden short bows to lifestyle utensils like farming tools and clothing. It wasn't till Genghis Khan came to power and invaded China till they were exposed to advanced technology and engineering skills. It was with Chinese technology that the Mongols thrust across Europe and into the Middle East. Gunpowder, catapults and other siege machines, along with Chinese engineers and labourers  The Mongols also excepted other cultures to learn different inventions to help them in conquering the world like rockets form China and Steel from Arabia.

The key to Mongol superiority in battle, was their success in peace. All religions and cultures were allowed to exist. The Mongols did not try to impose their values on the people they conquered. Instead, they learned from everyone. It made them smarter, better in battle, and much more effective in governing. One interesting Mongol invention was hamburgers. they would get two pieces of bread and put whatever they could find between them, salt it and put it under their saddle while they ride and take it out whenever they felt hunger during a long horse ride.

So in conclusion, the Mongols ability to accept of nations religions, views and technology made it the most powerful, advanced and most feared nation for century's.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090517181644AAz9a4k
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/Shifting_Boundaries/kibitki.html

What lead to the downfall of the Mongol empire?

In 1260 the Mongol empire was split up into four groups between Genghis's descendants, the Yuan Dynasty in China, the Golden Horde in Russia, the Ilkhanate in Persia and the Chagatai in Central Asia. The Yuan dynasty which was started by Qubilai Khan, ended in 1368, when the last Mongol emperor was driven out by native Chinese rebels.  The Mongol armies in China were no longer of a quality to be able to deal effectively with these problems. More important, there were not enough of them; and the fourteenth-century neglect and impoverishment of Mongolia itself had meant that few new recruits came in from Mongolia. The Ilkhanate fell because their wasn't an heir to the throne which meant that when the Khan died the government disintegrated as a result. The rest of the khanate fell under control from other warlords.







The Golden Horde from invasions from the ottoman empire and the Poland kings which were trying to take back their land. Also their leaders, the Batu family who ruled the Russian khanate for a century till 1360 died and their successors didn't have what it took to be leaders and couldn't manage the khanate. The Chagatai which survived the longest, fell because of the increasing revolts in the eastern provinces till 1346 when the Khan Qazan was killed by a tribe chief Qazaghan which marked the end of most of the khanate where only small remnants of Mongol towns where left for a few decades before they were all driven out.

So in conclusion the Mongols fell because of their fail of military leaders and inability to control revolts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagatai_Khanate#End_of_Chagatayid_rule_in_Transoxiana
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horde
http://medievalnews.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/decline-and-fall-of-mongol-empire.html