The Mongols

Question 1

What’s the earliest primary source we have for the life of Gengis Khan? Why was it written?

Answer 1

“The Secret History” written b/c the family wants history written about the Mongols

Question 2

What type of people were the Mongols? What does their homeland look like?

Answer 2

Pastoral nomads

Homeland called the steppes (flat, broad, rolling grasslands, changes in elevation)

Question 3

How might Genghis’s early life have shaped his character?

Answer 3

His father was murdered by the Tartars and he was exiled (9 years old), makes him a bitter person/angry person

Khan has the opportunity to conquer the Tartars so he kills all of the men

Question 4

Genghis Khan

Answer 4

Leader of the Mongols and founder of the Mongols Empire

Question 5

Khanate

Answer 5

The smaller territories/states into which the Mongol Empire was divided after the deaths of Genghis Khan

Question 6

Yuan Dynasty

Answer 6

Chinese/Mongol Dynasty founded by Kublai Khan (Genghis’s grandson); conquered/replaced by Song Dynasty

Question 7

Pax Mongolica

Answer 7

The Mongolian peace, a period of stability and increased sea trade in Asia created by the Mongols’ rule

Question 8

What is the name for the period when the entire Silk Road was under one empire? Why is it important?

Answer 8

Pax Mongolica

This was important because through this time the Mongols became rich b/c of the increased trade

The Merchants could travel safely for the first time ever (1360-1368)

Question 9

How did a series of gory Mongol conquest turn into a merchant’s dream?

Answer 9

Khan unifies/protects trade routes to make it safer for merchants