The Mongols began as one of a group of nomadic tribes living on the Central Asian Steppe. Temujin or Temuchin (later called Chinggis Khan) became Khan (king), united the different Mongol families and incorporated other tribes such as the Tatars into the ’Mongols’. He was acknowledged as the leader of all the Central Asian tribes in 1206 CE. With this force he moved out of the Steppe in search of new territory. First, the Mongols attacked northern China between 1211 and 1215 CE. In 1218 they moved west into Iran, attacking the main cities of the region. They attacked southern Russia in 1240 and the German lands in 1241. The empire did not expand any further into Europe, but turned its attention back to China and the Middle East. Khubilai Khan moved into southern China; Hulegu captured Baghdad and destroyed the Abbasid caliphate. This represented the height of the Empire in terms of territory and achievement. Indeed, so vast was this empire that the Mongols split it into four regions under four Khans: the Golden Horde in Russia, the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, the Great Yuan in China and the Ilkhanate in Iran and Iraq, c. 1300. Over time this became independent dynasties and states. [1] The Mongols were able to mobilise large numbers of troops for their armies. All adult males under 60 were eligible for mass mobilization. All were required to provide their own horses and equipment. This meant that even though Mongol soldiers may not have been the best troops in terms of ability or equipment, they had advantages of size and discipline over their opponents. This was strengthened by Chinggis Khan reforms which introduced a decimal system of organising the army - diving up troops up into units from ten to 10, 000. [2]
[1]: Hugh Kennedy,’Mongols or Moghuls’ in The Oxford Companion to Military History eds. Richard Holmes, Charles Singleton, and Dr Spencer Jones (Oxford University Press, 2001).
[2]: Findley, Carter V., The Turks in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005),p.83.
| none |
| uncoded |
| Great Yuan |
| cultural assimilation | |
| elite migration |
| Preceding: Early Mongols (mn_mongol_early) [elite replacement] | |
| Succeeding: Great Yuan (cn_yuan_dyn) [continuity] |
| uncoded |
| present |
| absent | 1206 CE 1271 CE |
| present | 1272 CE 1368 CE |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| present |
| absent |
| absent | 1206 CE 1273 CE |
| present | 1274 CE 1368 CE |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| Year Range | Mongol Empire (mn_mongol_emp) was in: |
|---|---|
| (1206 CE 1300 CE) | Orkhon Valley |
Karakorum [1206- 1259]; Khanbaliq [1260-1368] Kublai Khan (Khubilai; r.1260-94) moved the capital of Mongol empire to Khanbaliq (Beijing) when he had completed the conquest of China. [1]
[1]: Findley, Carter V., The Turks in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005),p. 79.
1206 CE. Date at which Genghis Khan (originally known as Temujin or Temuchin) became the leader over all the Turkic tribes of Central Asia at a meeting next to the Onon river. This began the expansion of Mongol rule.
[1]
1270 CE. Series of Civil Wars between dependents of Temuchin for control of different parts of Mongol Empire. After a series of military campaigns, Kublai Khan took control of China and established a new Mongolian dynasty based in the territory of the former Jin empire. This polity, ruling from China, was to be known as the Yuan Dynasty, and lasted from 1271 CE until its eventual demise in 1368.
[2]
[1]: Kennedy, Hugh, ‘Mongols or Moghuls’, The Oxford companion to military history, ed. by Richard Holmes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
[2]: (Atwood 2004, 603) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File.
"Hülegü took with him an enormous army, supposedly two out of every ten Mongol soldiers, who were accompanied by families and herds. This, then, was not just a military campaign but also the mass migration of a large portion of the Mongol nation to Persia and the surrounding countries." [1]
[1]: REUVEN AMITAI, ’IL-KHANIDS i. DYNASTIC HISTORY’ http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/il-khanids-i-dynastic-history
"Hülegü took with him an enormous army, supposedly two out of every ten Mongol soldiers, who were accompanied by families and herds. This, then, was not just a military campaign but also the mass migration of a large portion of the Mongol nation to Persia and the surrounding countries." [1]
[1]: REUVEN AMITAI, ’IL-KHANIDS i. DYNASTIC HISTORY’ http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/il-khanids-i-dynastic-history
(Relationship): "Hülegü took with him an enormous army, supposedly two out of every ten Mongol soldiers, who were accompanied by families and herds. This, then, was not just a military campaign but also the mass migration of a large portion of the Mongol nation to Persia and the surrounding countries."
[1]
, "Hülegü took with him an enormous army, supposedly two out of every ten Mongol soldiers, who were accompanied by families and herds. This, then, was not just a military campaign but also the mass migration of a large portion of the Mongol nation to Persia and the surrounding countries."
[1]
(Entity): Saljuq kingdom of Rum; the Nezāri Esmāʿilis; the Abbasid caliphate the Nezāri Esmāʿilis = ’the Assassins’. The Mongol Empire covered territory that had been ruled by many different polities from the Saljuq kingdom of Rum to the ..
[1]
[1]: REUVEN AMITAI, ’IL-KHANIDS i. DYNASTIC HISTORY’ http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/il-khanids-i-dynastic-history
"During his lifetime Čengiz Khan had allotted to his kinsfolk specific grazing-grounds, together with the nomadic troops and bodies of the subject people—the units called ulus (olus) in the sources." [1]
[1]: Peter Jackson, ’MONGOLS’ in Encyclopædia Iranica http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mongols
Mongolian the spoken, and later written, language of the Mongols. The extent of the empire meant a range of other languages were in use, including within administrative structures. [1]
[1]: Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. p.5, pp.11-14, pp.96-97.
Mongolian the spoken, and later written, language of the Mongols. The extent of the empire meant a range of other languages were in use, including within administrative structures. [1]
[1]: Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. p.5, pp.11-14, pp.96-97.
Mongolian the spoken, and later written, language of the Mongols. The extent of the empire meant a range of other languages were in use, including within administrative structures. [1]
[1]: Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. p.5, pp.11-14, pp.96-97.
Mongolian the spoken, and later written, language of the Mongols. The extent of the empire meant a range of other languages were in use, including within administrative structures. [1]
[1]: Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. p.5, pp.11-14, pp.96-97.
Mongolian the spoken, and later written, language of the Mongols. The extent of the empire meant a range of other languages were in use, including within administrative structures. [1]
[1]: Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. p.5, pp.11-14, pp.96-97.
Mongolian the spoken, and later written, language of the Mongols. The extent of the empire meant a range of other languages were in use, including within administrative structures. [1]
[1]: Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. p.5, pp.11-14, pp.96-97.
Mongolian the spoken, and later written, language of the Mongols. The extent of the empire meant a range of other languages were in use, including within administrative structures. [1]
[1]: Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. p.5, pp.11-14, pp.96-97.
levels.
1)Capital in Mongolia
2) Regional capitals e.g. of Persia or Korea
3) Cities
4) Towns
5) Villages
The basic economic unit of Mongols was the nomadic camp [ayil], "normally consisting of a single extended family with its own tent (ger) and herds".
[1]
[1]: Thomas Allsen, ‘The Rise of the Mongolian Empire’, in Herbert. Franke and Denis C. Twitchett (eds), The Cambridge History of China. Volume 6. Alien Regimes and Border States, 710-1368 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1995), p. 325.
levels.
1) Khan - He was "declared to have a mandate from Möngke Tengri (Everlasting Heaven).
[1]
2) The chief shaman - The office of beki, the highest religious authority. Instructed ‘to ride on a white horse, wear white raiment’ and ‘choose a good year and moon’.
[1]
3) Shaman. Inferred from there being a chief shaman.
[1]
[1]: Bira, Sh. “THE MONGOLS AND THEIR STATE IN THE TWELFTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. Part I The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by C. E. Bosworth, Muhammad S. Asimov, and Yar Muhammad Khan, Paris: Unesco, 1998. pp.255-256.
levels.
1) Khan. Both the personal guard and the tribal soldiers owed allegiance to the Khan.
[1]
[2]
2) Khan’s personal guard, or kesigten. The were appointed initially from the Khan’s retinue. Chingis raised their strength to 10,000 men. made up of kebte’ul (night guards), qorchin (day guards) and turgha’ud (bodyguards).
[3]
"it was also a sort of military school which allowed the Khan personally to test the future leaders of his military forces."
[3]
3) Commander - regular army, larger unit
[3]
“Chinggis adopted the decimal system of organization … creating military units whose notional size ranged from ten to 10, 000 although the larger units were never fully up to strength.”
[4]
4) Commander - regular army, smaller unit
[3]
“Chinggis adopted the decimal system of organization … creating military units whose notional size ranged from ten to 10, 000 although the larger units were never fully up to strength.”
[4]
5) Soldier. Those men who had to serve through tribal obligations [all males under 60 had to serve in the army if mobilised] or local auxiliary troop employed in particular campaigns.
[5]
[1]: Bira, Sh. “THE MONGOLS AND THEIR STATE IN THE TWELFTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. Part I The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by C. E. Bosworth, Muhammad S. Asimov, and Yar Muhammad Khan, Paris: Unesco, 1998. pp.255-256
[2]: Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. p.75.
[3]: Bira, Sh. “THE MONGOLS AND THEIR STATE IN THE TWELFTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. Part I The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by C. E. Bosworth, Muhammad S. Asimov, and Yar Muhammad Khan, Paris: Unesco, 1998. pp.255-256.
[4]: Findley, Carter V., The Turks in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp.81-83.
[5]: Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. pp.75, 79.
levels.
“Patrimonial in nature, Mongol administration grew out of the ruler’s household.” Positions in the household such as ‘cook’ (ba’urchi) actually responsible for testing for poisoning, provisioning for retainers.Mongke: central secretariat in Mongolia. Titles: ‘chief judge’ ‘chief scribe’. “Khubilai’s orders to rulers of Annam and Korea made clear that was expected from dependent rulers; they had to pay court in person, register their populations, raise militia units, establish postal relay stations, and have a Mongol resident to take charge of affairs. Tributary rulers also had to send sons or younger brothers as hostages - another way to expand the ruler’s household into a system of control for a complex empire”
[1]
1) Khan. The Khan had sovereign power over the empire.
[2]
2) Royal household, containing chamberlains, stewards, quiver bearers, doorkeepers, grooms. There was strong overlap with his body guard, in terms of personnel. Both came form his retinue of military commanders. They travelled wherever the Khan went.
[3]
Also Chinggis Khan appointed a chief judge (yeke jarghuchi) "to supervise and coordinate the activities of the recently expanded administrative system"
[4]
Allsen says that both the household and the guard came from the nokod - companions or warrior commanders.
3) Dependent and tributary rulers, e.g of Annam and Korea.
[1]
4) Darugha or darughaci - “all-purpose Mongol official in conquered territory" or provincial governor.
[5]
They oversaw census taking, tax collection, military recruitment. Initially came from the Khan’s retinue of commanders.
[6]
5) Local administrators - There is evidence that the Mongols absorbed the existing bureaucrats and structures in areas they conquered such as Persia.
[5]
[1]: Findley, Carter V., The Turks in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp.80-82.
[2]: Thomas Allsen, ‘The Rise of the Mongolian Empire’, in Herbert. Franke and Denis C. Twitchett (eds), The Cambridge History of China. Volume 6. Alien Regimes and Border States, 710-1368 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1995), p.347.
[3]: Findley, Carter V., The Turks in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp.80-82; Thomas Allsen, ‘The Rise of the Mongolian Empire’, in Herbert. Franke and Denis C. Twitchett (eds), The Cambridge History of China. Volume 6. Alien Regimes and Border States, 710-1368 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1995), p.344
[4]: Thomas Allsen, ‘The Rise of the Mongolian Empire’, in Herbert. Franke and Denis C. Twitchett (eds), The Cambridge History of China. Volume 6. Alien Regimes and Border States, 710-1368 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1995), p.344.
[5]: Morgan, David. The Mongols. 2nd ed. The Peoples of Europe. Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. p.97
[6]: Thomas Allsen, ‘The Rise of the Mongolian Empire’, in Herbert. Franke and Denis C. Twitchett (eds), The Cambridge History of China. Volume 6. Alien Regimes and Border States, 710-1368 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1995), p.373.
e.g. in the Khan’s personal guard. [1]
[1]: Bira, Sh. “THE MONGOLS AND THEIR STATE IN THE TWELFTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. Part I The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by C. E. Bosworth, Muhammad S. Asimov, and Yar Muhammad Khan, Paris: Unesco, 1998. 255-256
Buddhist shaman [e.g. the beki, the highest religious authority] and in the Islamic societies conquered by the Mongols, imams. [1]
[1]: Bira, Sh. “THE MONGOLS AND THEIR STATE IN THE TWELFTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. Part I The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by C. E. Bosworth, Muhammad S. Asimov, and Yar Muhammad Khan, Paris: Unesco, 1998. pp.255-256.
e.g. in the Khan’s personal guard. [1]
[1]: Bira, Sh. “THE MONGOLS AND THEIR STATE IN THE TWELFTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. Part I The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by C. E. Bosworth, Muhammad S. Asimov, and Yar Muhammad Khan, Paris: Unesco, 1998. 255-256
Chief Judge (yeke jardhuchi) who had two roles: "to oversee the apportionment of subject peoples and to preserve Chinggis Khan’s legislative pronouncements, known as jasaghs." [1]
[1]: Beatrice Forbes Manz, ‘The Rule of the Infidels: The Mongols and the Islamic World’, in David O. Morgan and Anthony Reid (eds), The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3. The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p.131.
Morgan argues that the evidence does not support that claim that the Mongols had a written legal code - Chingiz Khan’s ’Great Yasa’. He argues instead that they had "a body of unwritten Mongol customary law" and that Chingis’ maxims or utterances were recorded and used in customary law. [1] There is also disagreement about how Mongol customary law and Shari’ia law may have co-existed in Muslim territories. Successful coexistence seems to depend on the particular Khan. [2]
[1]: David Morgan, The Mongols (Oxford: Blackwell, 2nd ed. 2007), pp.85-87
[2]: 1. Beatrice Forbes Manz, ‘The Rule of the Infidels: The Mongols and the Islamic World’, in David O. Morgan and Anthony Reid (eds), The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3. The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 161.
"In northwestern Mongolia irrigation systems existed with channels and even simple aqueducts made of hollow logs (onggocha/ongots). Many of these irrigation systems were ancient, dating back to the military farms created under the Mongol Empire (see CHINQAI; QARA-QORUM; SIBERIA AND THE MON- GOL EMPIRE)." [1]
[1]: (Atwood 2004, 175)
“To levy taxes in these new administrative units, each was also to receive a tax office managed by two officials recruited from among traditional Chinese scholars. These officers are noticed in the Secret History where they are called balaqaci (q.v.), "storehouse managers," and amuci (q.v.), "granary officers." Some of the tax offices may have been in existence before Ögödei, but the main system was of his making." [1]
[1]: (Buell 1993, 39)
"To prepare for his arrival, Mas’fid-beg, Arqan-aqa, and other Mongol officials situated along Hule’u’s line of march were instructed to prepare. They repaired roads, bridged rivers, and established ferries where there were no bridges. They also had to find and reserve pasturage of the flocks following Hule’u’s army." [1]
[1]: (Buell 2003, 51)
"Fārs was home to a few major ports for the Indian Ocean maritime trade, such as Kīsh and Hormuz. Such port cities served as relay stations for the trade of goods from China, Southeast Asia, and India to not only the region of Azarbaijān, the center of the Ilkhanate, but also to Iraq, Anatolia (Rūm), Ḥijāz, Yemen, Syria, and Egypt. Under Mongol rule, some merchants were patronized as ortoγs or privileged merchants by the Mongol court and shared their profits from the Indian Ocean trade with Mongol emperors, princes, or commanders (amīrs)." [1]
[1]: (Yokkaichi 2019, 432) Yokkaichi, Y. 2019. The Maritime and Continental Networks of Kīsh Merchants under Mongol Rule. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient , 2019, Vol. 62, No. 2/3, Mobility Transformations and Cultural Exchange in Mongol Eurasia, edited by Michal Biran (2019), pp. 428-463https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/RN4R76ZS/library
"During and after the conquest of the Song, Bayan Chingsang (Grand Councillor Bayan) achieved legendary status. Chinese songs and folklore spoke of him as “Hun- dred Eyes” (bai yan in Chinese), and his red banner could incite panic in Song troops by its sudden appearance. Even so, Qubilai’s chief mandate to Bayan was to kill no more than necessary, and Changzhou was the only city where he ordered wholesale massacre. In 1311 a temple was dedicated to him in Lin’an by imperial decree. During his stay in the south, the development of water transport, both inland and overseas, had impressed him, and in 1282 he advocated both the construction of canals in the north and the overseas transportation of southern grain to the capital. These proposals bore fruit, however, only after he had been dispatched to the Mongolian frontier." [1]
[1]: (Atwood 2004, 38)
"To prepare for his arrival, Mas’fid-beg, Arqan-aqa, and other Mongol officials situated along Hule’u’s line of march were instructed to prepare. They repaired roads, bridged rivers, and established ferries where there were no bridges. They also had to find and reserve pasturage of the flocks following Hule’u’s army." [1]
[1]: (Buell 2003, 51)
e.g ’Manghal un Niuca Tobca’an (The Secret History of the Mongols). A Chinese version the Sheng-wu ch’in-chneg lu was also produced. [1] [2]
[1]: Leeming, David. "Secret History of the Mongols." In The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford University Press, 2005
[2]: Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007, P.11.
Tsi’s influential work on planetary astronomy" [1]
[1]: Beatrice Forbes Manz, ‘The Rule of the Infidels: The Mongols and the Islamic World’, in David O. Morgan and Anthony Reid (eds), The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3. The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 155.
Astronomical and star tables were intended for practical use. [1]
[1]: Beatrice Forbes Manz, ‘The Rule of the Infidels: The Mongols and the Islamic World’, in David O. Morgan and Anthony Reid (eds), The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3. The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 155.
e.g. star tables produced at the astronomy in Maragha. [1]
[1]: Beatrice Forbes Manz, ‘The Rule of the Infidels: The Mongols and the Islamic World’, in David O. Morgan and Anthony Reid (eds), The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3. The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 155.
Chinese astronomers "used Middle Eastern astronomical tables to revise Chinese calendars and produce a new calendar for the Mongol rulership." [1]
[1]: Beatrice Forbes Manz, ‘The Rule of the Infidels: The Mongols and the Islamic World’, in David O. Morgan and Anthony Reid (eds), The New Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 3. The Eastern Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 155.
Through trade and through tribute, for example from the Seljuks who paid partly in cash. [1]
[1]: Melville, Charles. “Anatolia under the Mongols.” In The Cambridge History of Turkey, edited by Kate Fleet, Suraiya Faroqhi, and Reşat Kasaba, 51-101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.p.54, p.60
Used in the tribute paid to the Mongols by the Seljuks for example, who paid partly with items.. [1] Articles were used when tribute was paid to the Mongols. As taxation increased within the empire there was a movement from payment in kind to payment to cash, encouraging expansion of the coinage. Gold and silver dinars were minted and used. [2] The Mongols also had a sophisticated postal network [the Yan system], including runners and postal stations around a days journey part from each other. This was used to send royal communications around the empire. [3]
[1]: Fleet, Kate. “The Turkish Economy, 1071-1453.” In The Cambridge History of Turkey, edited by Kate Fleet, Suraiya Faroqhi, and Reşat Kasaba, 227-65. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. P.244
[2]: Findley, Carter V., The Turks in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005),p.83.
[3]: David Morgan, The Mongols (Oxford: Blackwell, 2nd ed. 2007), p.90-91.
Catapults. [1] Mangonels used in siege warfare. [2] Mongols recruited 1, 000 Chinese catapult operators in 1253. [3] "The Mongols made extensive use of traction trebuchets during their campaigns in Korea, notably at the sieges of Kuju and Chukju." [1]
[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
[2]: David Nicolle, Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350: Islam, Eastern Europe and Asia, rev. and updated ed (London : Mechanicsburg, Pa: Greenhill Books ; Stackpole Books, 1999). p.296
[3]: Findley, Carter V., The Turks in World History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005),p.83.
The propulsion mechanism of Mongolian siege engines utilized tension not gravity until "the extent of the Mongol conquests allowed them to bring new siege weapons to China, of which the most important was the Muslim counterweight trebuchet, first used at Xiangyang in 1272." [1] "Of the date of the introduction of the counterweight trebuchet to China there can be no doubt. It occurred in 1272, during one of the greatest sieges of Chinese history, at Xiangyang, where the Mongols besieged the Southern Song for five years." [2]
[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
[2]: (Turnbull 2012, 33) Stephen Turnbull. 2012. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
The propulsion mechanism of Mongolian siege engines utilized tension not gravity until "the extent of the Mongol conquests allowed them to bring new siege weapons to China, of which the most important was the Muslim counterweight trebuchet, first used at Xiangyang in 1272." [1] "Of the date of the introduction of the counterweight trebuchet to China there can be no doubt. It occurred in 1272, during one of the greatest sieges of Chinese history, at Xiangyang, where the Mongols besieged the Southern Song for five years." [2]
[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
[2]: (Turnbull 2012, 33) Stephen Turnbull. 2012. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
Exploding bombs used in the failed 1274 CE invasion of Japan. [1] Often said that Chinggis "used gunpowder in siege warfare, sapping and mining operations, during his western campaigns.” [2] Although Raphael disputes the evdience for this. [3]
[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
[2]: Bira, Sh. “THE MONGOLS AND THEIR STATE IN THE TWELFTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. Part I The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by C. E. Bosworth, Muhammad S. Asimov, and Yar Muhammad Khan, 248-64. Paris: Unesco, 1998. p.259.
[3]: Raphael, Kate. “Mongol Siege Warfare on the Banks of the Euphrates and the Question of Gunpowder (1260-1312).” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, 19, no. 3 (July 1, 2009): 355-70.
Exploding bombs used in the failed 1274 CE invasion of Japan. [1] Often said that Chinggis "used gunpowder in siege warfare, sapping and mining operations, during his western campaigns.” [2] Although Raphael disputes the evdience for this. [3]
[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
[2]: Bira, Sh. “THE MONGOLS AND THEIR STATE IN THE TWELFTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. Part I The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by C. E. Bosworth, Muhammad S. Asimov, and Yar Muhammad Khan, 248-64. Paris: Unesco, 1998. p.259.
[3]: Raphael, Kate. “Mongol Siege Warfare on the Banks of the Euphrates and the Question of Gunpowder (1260-1312).” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, 19, no. 3 (July 1, 2009): 355-70.
As used by Mongol cavalry, the main fighting force. [1] As with other armies of the Steppe the main force of the Mongol army was mounted cavalry. Not all Mongol horsemen were heavily armoured, but a variety of armour and weapons can be seen in the sources. The Mongols also absorbed local influences in military technology as their empire spread. So they employed Chinese siege engineers, used gunpowder and made use of naval forces when they needed to. They were not great builders however, often destroying fortresses in areas they moved into. [2] [3] [4]
[1]: Bira, Sh. “THE MONGOLS AND THEIR STATE IN THE TWELFTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century. Part I The Historical, Social and Economic Setting, edited by C. E. Bosworth, Muhammad S. Asimov, and Yar Muhammad Khan, 248-64. Paris: Unesco, 1998. p.259.
[2]: Stackpole Books, 1999)
[3]: Thomas T. Allsen, ‘The Circulation of Military Technology in the Mongolian Empire’ in Nicola Di Cosmo (ed.), Warfare in Inner Asian History: 500-1800 (Leiden
[4]: Boston: Brill, 2002). pp.265-93.
Helmets had flaps made of leather. Some Mongol armour was made of hide, which "consisted of six layers tightly sewn together and shaped, after being softened by boiling,to fit the body." [1]
[1]: Martin, H. Desmond. “The Mongol Army.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 1 (April 1, 1943): 52-53.
The Mongols recruited Chinese and Song sailors to serve in a navy to defeat the Southern Song [1] [2] " Korea was finally vanquished in 1273, suffering the indignity of having its entire navy requisitioned for Khubilai Khan’s first attempt at an invasion of Japan." [3]
[1]: Thomas T. Allsen, ‘The Circulation of Military Technology in the Mongolian Empire’ in Nicola Di Cosmo (ed.), Warfare in Inner Asian History: 500-1800 (Leiden
[2]: Boston: Brill, 2002), p.265.
[3]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.