Destruction under the Mongol Empire

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Destruction under the Mongol Empire is considered very significant in many historical sources, ranging to around 40 million deaths caused by battle, flooding, famine and diseases. How many of these deaths are directly attributable to the Mongol Empire is unclear and as well as the source that provided this information.

Contents 1 Background 2 Strategy 3 Property and culture 4 Historical accounts 5 References

[edit] Background

It has been discussed that Genghis Khan and the Mongols practiced the military doctrine of "surrender or die" against their enemies. There are many sources about the amount of destruction Genghis Khan and his armies caused especially among the people who suffered Mongol conquests particularly the Persians, Russians and Chinese. They usually stress the negative aspects of the Mongol conquests and some modern scholars argue that their historians exaggerate the numbers of deaths and the extent of material destruction. However, such historians produce virtually all the documents available to modern scholars, making it difficult to establish a firm basis for any alternative view. Still, most sources suggest that the greater degree of destruction and the larger number of casualties effected by the Mongol forces is more probable.

[edit] Strategy

Generally in military strategy, Genghis Khan, successors and generals preferred to offer their enemies the chance to surrender under their rule without a resistance and become vassals by sending tribute, accepting residents, contributing troops under a threat of large war.

Genghis Khan and his successors guaranteed the populace protection only if they abided by their rules that is set forth and be obedient, but their policy was widely written in historical documents as causing mass destruction, terror and deaths if there was to be a resistance. For example as one writer David Nicole notes in The Mongol Warlords, "terror and mass extermination of anyone opposing them was a well tested Mongol tactic." If the offer was refused, the Mongol leaders would not give an alternative choice but would order massive collective slaughter of the population of resisting cities and destruction of their property.

Only the skilled engineers and artists were spared from death and maintained as slaves if they agreed to surrender. Documents written during or just after Genghis Khan's reign say that after a conquest, the Mongol soldiers looted, pillaged and raped while the Khan got the first pick of the beautiful women. Some troops who submitted were incorporated into the Mongol system in order to expand their manpower; this also allowed the Mongols to absorb new technology, manpower, knowledge and skill for use in military campaigns against other potential opponents. These techniques were sometimes used to spread terror and warning to others (see above). He also passed a decree exempting all followers of the Taoist religion from paying any taxes. Genghis Khan was by and large tolerant of the multiple religions and there are no cases of him or the Mongols engaging in religious war against people he encountered during the conquests as long as they were obedient. However, all of his campaigns caused wanton and deliberate destruction of places of worship if they resisted.^[1]

There were also instances of mass slaughter even when there was no resistance, especially in Northern China where the vast majority of the population had a long history of accepting nomadic rulers. Many ancient sources described Genghis Khan's conquests as wholesale destruction on an unprecedented scale in their certain geographical regions, and therefore probably causing great changes in the demographics of Asia. For example, over much of Central Asia speakers of Iranian languages were replaced by speakers of Turkic languages. According to the works of the Iranian historian Rashid al-Din, the Mongols killed more than 70,000 people in Merv and more than a million in Nishapur. China reportedly suffered a drastic decline in population during the 13th and 14th centuries. Before the Mongol invasion, Chinese dynasties reportedly had approximately 120 million inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60 million people. Genghis was known to have killed millions of people in northern China, but precisely how many of these deaths are directly attributable to Genghis Khan and his forces is unclear and speculative.^[2] About half of the Russian population died during the Mongol invasion of Rus.^[3] The total population of Persia may have dropped from 2,500,000 to 250,000 as a result of mass extermination and famine.^[4] Historians estimate that up to half of Hungary's two million population at that time were victims of the Mongol invasion.^[5]

[edit] Property and culture

His campaigns in Northern China, Central Asia and the Middle East caused massive property destruction for those who resisted his invasion according to the regions' historians; however, there are no exact factual numbers available at this time. For example, the cities of Herat, Nishapur and Samarkand suffered serious devastation by the armies of Genghis Khan.^[6][7] There is a noticeable lack of Chinese literature that has survived from the Jin Dynasty, due to the Mongol conquests.

[edit] Historical accounts

A messenger of Hulagu Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan) delivered a message from him to the Baghdad governor before its invasion that

When I lead my army against Baghdad in anger, whether you hide in heaven or in earth, I will bring you down from the spinning spheres. I will toss you in the air like a lion. I will leave no one alive in your realm. I will burn your city, your land and yourself. If you wish to spare yourself and your venerable family, give heed to my advice with the ear of intelligence. If you do not, you will see what God has willed.

An account of Mongol invasion of Rus states that

For our sins, unknown nations arrived. No one knew their origin or whence they came, or what religion they practiced. That is known only to God, and perhaps to wise men learned in books. These terrible strangers have taken our country, and tomorrow they will take yours if you do not come and help us

Another account of Mongol invasion: Pope’s envoy to Mongol Khan Giovanni de Plano Carpini, who passed through Kiev in February 1246, wrote:

They [the Mongols] attacked Russia, where they made great havoc, destroying cities and fortresses and slaughtering men; and they laid siege to Kiev, the capital of Russia; after they had besieged the city for a long time, they took it and put the inhabitants to death. When we were journeying through that land we came across countless skulls and bones of dead men lying about on the ground. Kiev had been a very large and thickly populated town, but now it has been reduced almost to nothing, for there are at the present time scarce two hundred houses there and the inhabitants are kept in complete slavery."^[8]

[edit] References

1. ^ Man, John. Genghis Khan : Life, Death and Resurrection (London; New York : Bantam Press, 2004) ISBN 0-593-05044-4.
2. ^ Ping-ti Ho, "An Estimate of the Total Population of Sung-Chin China", in Études Song, Series 1, No 1, (1970) pp. 33-53.
3. ^ History of Russia, Early Slavs history, Kievan Rus, Mongol invasion
4. ^ Battuta's Travels: Part Three - Persia and Iraq
5. ^ Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to History
6. ^ Morgan, David (1986). The Mongols (Peoples of Europe). Blackwell Publishing, 74-75. ISBN 0-631-17563-6. 
7. ^ Ratchnevsky, Paul (1991). Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy. Blackwell Publishing, 131-133. ISBN 0-631-16785-4. 
8. ^ The Destruction of Kiev

v • d • e Mongol Empire
Politics, organization and daily life	Military campaigns and battles		People		Terms
Organization of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan Mongol military tactics and organization Daily life in the Mongol Empire Christianity among the Mongols Franco-Mongol alliance Armeno-Mongol alliance Destruction under Mongol Empire Khanates Ilkhanate Chagatai Khanate Golden Horde Yuan Dynasty Notable cities Karakorum Samarkand Sarai Batu Sarai Berke Tabriz Dadu Bolghar Bukhara Ukek Majar Azaq Saray-Jük Xacitarxan		Asia Invasion of Central Asia Invasion of East Asia 1205–1209 Western China 1211–1234 Northern China Mongol invasions of Korea Battle of Bun'ei (first) Battle of Ngasaunggyan (first) Battle of Yamen Battle of Kōan (second) Battle of Pagan (second) Battle of Bạch Đằng (1288) (third) Mongol invasions of Vietnam (first) 1292 India (first) 1293 Java 1297 India (second) 1299 India (third) Invasion of Middle East Battle of Köse Dag 1251–1259 Persia and Mesopotamia (Timur) Battle of Baghdad (1258) Mongol invasions of Syria Battle of Ain Jalut (first) Mongol raids into Palestine Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar (third) Invasion of Europe Mongol invasions of Georgia Battle of Kalka River Battle of Samara Bend (first) Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria (second) Mongol invasion of Rus Battle of Legnica Battle of Mohi Timeline of the Tataro-Mongol Yoke in Russia		Emperors and rulers Genghis Khan Börte Ögedei Khan Tolui Khan Töregene Khatun Güyük Khan Möngke Khan Chagatai Khan Kublai Khan Prominent military generals Subutai Jebe Muqali Negudar Bo'orchu Borokhul Jelme Chilaun Khubilai Guo Kan Kadan Burundai Nogai Khan		Titles Khagan Khan and Khatan Jinong Khong Tayiji Political and military terms Yam Pax Mongolica Yassa Kurultai Nerge Mangudai Tumen