Unit 2 Network of Exchange (1200-1450) Flashcards
The only indigenous aspect of Japanese culture during the Heian era was
Shinto
Heian
capital of Japan during feudalism artistic culture 1200-1450
Asian Steppes
- steppes are vast belts of dry grassland
- Eastern Steppe: (present-day Mongolia) was home to the Huns, Turks and Mongols
- Marked by little rainfall and short, hardy grasses
Pastoralists
def- herders of domesticated animals
- they lived in portable tents called yurts
- depended on their animals for food, clothing and housing
Nomads Vs. Settled Societies
The steppe nomads always lived near settled societies for purposes of trade
- they traded animal products in exchange for grain, metal cloth, and tea
- weakened cities were targets for them to plunder and raid
Rise of Genghis Khan (Temuijn)
elected khagan (supreme leader) at a kuriltari (meeting of all Mongol chieftains)
Conquests under Genghis Khan
he moved west toward the Kara Khitai Empire (Mongolian-speaking people) and the Khwarazm Empire
Mongol capital at Karakorum
What made Genghis so successful?
- trained from youth to ride, hunt and fight
- fire bows with accuracy while riding horseback
- military promotion was based on skill and leadership
- adapted battle techniques
Genghis Khan Brutal Ways
-all conquered territories were required to pay tribute to the Mongol conquerors
Genghis Khan Tolerant Ways
- spared the lives of famous scholars, and artisans with useful skills
- employ these people as advisors and administrators
- since their religion was connected to their land (Shamanistic), they were tolerant of other religions
Death of Genghis Khan
his sons and grandsons continued the campaign of conquest and divided the empire into khanates which are regional Mongol kingdoms
4 Khanates
- Khanate of the Great Khan (Mongolia & China)
- Khanate of Chagatai (Central Asia)
- The Ilkhanate (Persia)
- Khanate of the Golden Horde (Russia)
Fall of Baghdad
- By the 1200s the Abbasid Caliphate had no real power outside of its capital in Baghdad
- In 1258 Hulagu Khan attacked Baghdad mosques, hospitals. libraries and palaces
- the end of the Islamic Golden Age
Peace under the Mongol Empire
- trade routes were made safe and secure, including the Silk Road
- Pax Mongolica
The Mongol Assault on the Middle East
led to the conversion of the Mongols in the area to Nestorian Christianity
Mongols in Russia
- Russian called the Mongols Tatars (or Tartars) meaning “people from hell”
- the Mongols carried out only successful winter invasion in Russian history
The Golden Horde
Batu (Genghis Khan son)
- in 1240, the Mongols destroyed the city of Kiev
- Novgorod agreed the Mongol demands for tribute, and the city was spared
Russian Isolation from Europe
- Mongols dominated Russia for 2 and a half centuries
- Russian princes served as vassals and paid tribute to the Golden Horde
- Rise of serfdom
- the Mongols protected Russia from European kingdoms but also isolated it so it developed a culture separate from Western Europe
Rise of Moscow
- By 1328 it served as tribute collector for the Mongols khans and benefitted from increased trade
- Moscow soon became the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church
Why would Christians in Western Europe initially support the Mongol khans?
According to legend, Prester John was a mythical Christian monarch whose kingdoms was cut off from Europe by Muslims conquests