Q 1 – What do you understand by Nomadic Empires?
Historically, both the terms-Nomadic and Empire-are defined with contradiction yet we observe, that narrow sense is diluted, in context to the empire established by Mongols who were basically, undeveloped nomadic tribes. Still, they formed the first trans-continental empire in world history.
Q 2 – What are the sources that tell about the Nomadic Empire?
These are-chronicles, travelogues, and documents produced by city-based literati. These authors have often produced extremely ignorant and biased reports of nomadic life.
Q 3 – Who were the members of city-based Literati?
Those were Buddhist, confusion, Christian, Turkish and Muslim.
Q 4 – Whether you think that they had compiled time records about the administration of nomadic Empires?
No, they had exaggerated the events in order to ensure better Patronship from the rulers/great Khans. People from various religions were not familiar with Mongol customs hence, many of them produced sympathetic records like eulogies.
Q 5 – What transition mode in production, do you see in nomadic empires?
It was a transition from a tribal to a Feudal mode of production.
Q 6 – What kind of change/transition of production brought in the Administration?
A relatively classless society myriad and scattered look turn to become a complex society, the largest in which lord, owners of land and the peasants were of wide difference among them.
Q 7 – What do the conspiracy historical records reveal?
These exhibit a number of languages like Chinese, Mongolian, Persian, and Arabic. Vital material worth factual records are available in languages like Italian, Latin, French, and Russian.
Q 8 – What is “Mongol-un Niuea Lobea an”?
It was a secret history book of the Mongols. It was the Mongolian and Chinese version (language) that got mixed randomly.
Q 9 – Why does one feel hardship while studying books on nomadic Empires?
These are composed of a mixture of Mongol and Turkic terminology thrust into the Persian language. Hence, stimulus shrinks, and difficulty is felt.
Q 10 – What the books difficult to read?
- Secret History of the Mongols” by Igor de Rachewiltz.
- Mongol and Turkic terminology by Gerhard Doer for.
Q 11 – What kind of warning given to the French ruler by Genghis Khan’s grandson MongKe?
He openly challenged the French ruler Louis IX professing their powers supreme and. having with them mandate from God.
Q 12 – What achievements the campaign of 1236-41 did attain?
The campaigner Batu, grandson of Genghis Khan devastated land up to Moscow, seized Poland and Hungary, and camped outside Vienna.
Q 13 – Why are said Genghis Khan’s conquests the wrath of God?
Genghis Khan declared that he is equipped with a decree/ mandate by God to conquer the entire world. He brutally killed several thousand people in many parts of China, the middle east, and Europe.
Q 14 – What had Genghis Khan done at the festival ground?
He addressed the rich people, accusing them of the sinner and introducing himself as magistrate appointed by God’s especially to punish them. It was his shrewd and conceit tendency. He grabbed all wealth of the merchants forcibly there.
Q 15 – What question was asked from the only escaped person from the wrath of God in Bukhara?
It was an inquiry on after-war position. The escaped person reported-“They came, they mined the walls, they burnt, they slew, they plundered and they departed.”
Q 16 – Describe the topography of Steppes of Central Asia.
- In the area of the modern state of Mongolia.
- Wide horizons, rolling plains, ringed by the snowcapped Altai mountains to the west, the arid Gobi desert in the South, and the land as the north and west flourish with numerous springs and two rivers i.e. Qnon and Selenga.
Q 17 – Where did the hunter-gathers reside?
At the north Siberian forest area.
Q 18 – Whether the climate and living conditions were good in the areas near the Siberian desert?
No, that area was unhabitable yet these tribes were compelled to reside there. Extreme temperature, harsh and long winters, dry summers and sparsed rain had made the living conditions tougher.
Q 19 – In which two classes, the society was divided into tribes?
These classes were of the poor and rich families.
Q 20 – Why did Genghis Khan face difficulties while managing a complex of agriculture economies and Urban settlements (Sedentary Societies)?
Genghis Khan was from a nomadic tribe and that tribe was classified as Pastoralists and the hunter-gatherer society.
Q 21 – What was the reason for the unity of the two societies of the Steppe land in spite of different political and social organizations of nomadic and agrarian economies?
It was the scant resources, that motivated the Mongols and other central Asian nomads to trade and barter with China people. Thus, trade had united them, we can state.
Q 22 – What trade the Mongols did with the Chinese?
It was in line with the barter system. Mongols would provide the Chinese with horses, furs, and games in exchange for agricultural produce and iron utensils.
Q 23 – Why did the Mongol exercise inevitably pressure on parties in China?
They worried to run the trade in their own favor hence, exerted pressure on the Chinese and sometimes, even plundered them.
Q 24 – What is a visual testament to the fear perpetrated by raids on agrarian societies of north China?
It is the popular great wall of China.
Q 25 – Can you say the barbaric instinct in Genghis Khan matured during childhood and youth?
Yes, he was merely a child when his father was murdered, the hardships born by his mother in maintenance, and severe pain, he endured when his wife was kidnapped. These circumstances would have fuelled the animal instinct that usually dwells in all human beings.
Q 26 – Which conquests had made Temujin (Genghis Khan) confident enough to conquest the trans-continental world?
These were-J’amuqa and Tartars (his father’s assassins), the Kereyits, and Ong Khan–all defeated by him. :
Q 27 – What were the three kingdoms in China at the time of the attack by Genghis Khan?
Control of Tibetan people (HsiHsia) in north-west provinces, Jurchen of Chin dynasty and Shung dynasty ruling on South China.
Q 28 – Give a brief account of the devastation spread by Mongol armies in certain cities.
About 1,747,000 people were killed in Nishapur, 1,600,000 in Herat, and 8,00,000 people were killed in Baghdad. Similarly, 70,000 people in the Baihaq district, 70,000 in Nasa, and 12,000 people were killed at Tun (Kurdistan province).
Q 29 – Write about other conquests of Genghis Khan.
Defeated Russian forces at the Crimea (Azerbaijan), encircled the Caspian sea. Another wing captured Afghanistan and the Sindh province.
Q 30 – Why had Genghis Khan canceled his campaign in North India (Assam)?
His soothsayer namely Shaman reported him some ill- omens and dubious results in case marched through that route.
Q 31 – When was Temujin proclaimed as Genghis Khan?
It was in 1206 when he was awarded the title of the universal ruler (i.e. Genghis Khan).
Q 32 – How were the military achievements of Genghis Khan astounding?
- All soldiers were habitual since their birth, in hunting operations through uneven terrain and mountain topography.
- Horse riding was a common practice added to every Mongol since his tender age.
Q 33 – What were fighting weapons to destroy fortified encampments?
These were-siege engines and naphtha bombs.
Q 34 – What had signaled the emergence of new political trends?
It was the defeat of Mongols at the hands of Hungarian steppes and Egyptian forces.
Q 35 – Why would have the Mongols defeated at the hands of the Egyptian military?
It was because-
- Jochi and Ogodei lineages were marginalized by the Toluyid branch of Genghis Khan’s descendants,
- The army was called back from Iraq to the center in order to deploy them in the conquest of China.
Q 36 – What was the cause for the suspension of Mongol expansion in the west?
It was due to internal unrest between the members of the ruling family.
Q 37 – Which tribes were in the Mongol Confederacy?
It was included groups like Turkic Vighars, Kereyits, etc.
Q 38 – What attempts Genghis Khan made for reinforcement of his confederacy?
- Made old tribal identities non-valid.
- Divided old tribal groupings and distributed their members into new military limits.
- The largest unit of soldiers (10,000 soldiers) included fragmented groups of people from a variety of different tribes and clans.
Q 39 – Who was not in the army of Genghis Khan?
Genghis Khan’s four sons.
Q 40 – What do you understand by the term ulus?
That term refers to newly conquered but not fixed territories.
Q 41 – Mention the distribution of Ulus among four sons of Genghis Khan.
Russian steppes were given to Jochi, Transoxiana steppe, and lands north of Pamir were given to Chaghatai, Ogden was made Crown Khan and Toluy was given ancestral lands of Mongolia and smaller towns like Baihaq and Tun (Kurdistan). This predominant vice has dusted on his virtues like the greatest leader of all time, convener of scattered tribal society to unite, ruler of a grand trans-continental empire, and keeper of trade routes well restored. Actually, the contrasting images are not simply a case of dissimilar perspectives, they should make us pause and reflect on how one perspective can completely erase all others.
Q 42 – What tax did Genghis Khan impose on nomads?
They would give one-tenth of horses or livestock as – provisions. It was called the quaker tax.
Q 43 – What communication System did Genghis Khan maintain?
The messengers were appointed in outposts at regularly N spaced distances. It was a squad Of horse riders. ..j
Q 44 – How did ecological devastation caused in parts of Khurasan?
As the Khans’ were busy in campaigns, they left qanats (underground canals) unmaintained and it resulted in an expansion of the desert
Q 45 – What is the contradistinction between a chronicle report of I gory killings by Genghis Khan and an eye witness report on the same?
The II Khanid chronicle reported the killing of 30,000 soldiers while an eyewitness report states that only 400 soldiers had defended the citadel of Bukhara viz only 400 were killed.
Q 46 – What do you understand by the term years? Explain.
It was actually Yasaq when this code of law was promulgated by Genghis Khan at the Quriltan of 1206. Yasaq means law, decree, or order in its literary meaning. The detail on the organization of the hunt, the army, and the postal system, the David Ayalon, a researcher found as ingredients of that code of Law. By the middle of the thirteenth century, the Mongols named it as Yasa in a more general sense to mean the legal code of Genghis Khan. It was a compilation of the customary traditions of the Mongol tribes but in referring to it as Genghis Khan’s Code Of Law, the Mongols people also laid a claim to a law-giver like Soloman, whose authoritative Code could be imposed on their subjects,
Q 47 – Do you understand why Genghis Khan did have an identity as a conqueror and brutal murderer of the people in spite of his being the greatest leader of all time?
Generally, the predominant virtue or vice imprints the image of the ruler in the head and heart of the common populace. Genghis Khan had ordered massacres in cities like Nishapur, Herat, Baghdad, and smaller towns like Baihaq and Tun (Kurdistan). This predominant vice has dusted on his virtues like the greatest leader of all time, convener of scattered tribal society Lo unite, ruler of a grand transcontinental empire, and keeper of trade routes well restored. Actually, the contrasting images are not simply a case of dissimilar perspectives, they should make us pause and reflect on how one perspective can completely erase all others.
Q 48 – What had ensured creating so vast an empire of the Mongols? Discuss?
The only thing that remained a powerful force was the inspiration of the nomadic empire i.e. Genghis Khan. Apart from that driving force, we can not understand the inspiration that led to the confederation of fragmented groups of people in the pursuit of an ambition to create an empire merely on going over the nature of documentation on the Mongols and any other nomadic regime. Presently, Mongolia is enjoying freedom from Soviet control and it has revered Genghis Khan as a great natural hero and his achievements are recognized with pride. Thus, Genghis Khan has once again appeared as an iconic figure for the Mongol people among the populace there.
Q 49 – Discuss the implication of the term barbarian.
This term has been derived from the greek Barbaros i.e. non-Greek, It was the name of the person on the basis of his language sounded i.e. Barbar. Analogous to children unable to speak or reason properly, cowardly, effeminate, luxurious, cruel, slothful, greedy, and politically unable to govern themselves; were depicted as barbarians in Greek texts. This word was used in the sense of stereotype by Romans for the German tribes, the Gauls, and the Huns. Steppe barbarians were addressed with different terms but none of them carried a positive meaning.
Q 50 – Reproduce the warning that was given by Monglke, the grandson of Genghis Khan to the French ruler Louis IX and enunciate the hidden intention thereupon
We can reproduce said warning as under-“In heaven, there is only the Eternal sky, on Earth, there is only one lord, Genghis Khan, the son of Heaven when by the power of the eternal Heaven, the whole world from the rising of the sun to its setting shall be at one in joy and peace, then it will be made clear what we are going to do if when you have understood that the degree of the Eternal Heaven, you are unwilling to pay attention and believe it, saying, “Our country is far away, our mountains are mighty, our sea is vast,” and in this confidence, you bring an army against us, we know what we can do. He who made easy what was difficult and near, what was far off, the Eternal Heaven Knows.”
Review on the essential components of warning:
- Genghis Khan’s empire had covered and going to cover the limit of rising and setting sun throughout the world.
- It has been stated that Genghis Khan’s rule over the earth is predetermined by the Eternal Heaven.
- It reveals a strong determination to bring peace and joy to the entire world and its inhabitants.
- It threatens Louis IX that it is worth no use considering that the distance and inaccessible territories would defend France.
- The last line lays emphasis on an assumption that nowhere is far or near and easy or difficult under the grace of the Eternal Heaven.
Conclusion-The above five important points have been aptly soaked in the creation of psychological terror, a eulogy of the Mongol power and demonstration through speech a strong determination and invincible courage’. His strong faith in the Almighty has also been reflected through this warning.