Dbq Mongols

Genghis Khan once said, “A leader can never be happy until his people are happy.” Genghis Khan claims that he truly cares about his people and wants to make them feel content otherwise he doesn't think he has fulfilled his duty. Before he ruled the fierce Mongols, they lived in the steppes northwest of China where the climate was harsh and the natural resources were limited. They lived a nomadic lifestyle in tents, called yurts. In the late 1100s, Genghis Khan began to build a strong army. By 1206, the Mongols were united under Genghis’ rule. The Mongols were civilized because they had well thought out battle tactics, an advanced economy, and they maintained law and order.
Body paragraph #1
Many think the Mongolian Empire ruled in a barbaric way but overall they were very

civilized because of their well-established arts, sophisticated economy, and commerce in China and Persia. According to, Charles J. Halperin, the author of the Golden Horde, he cited, “The (Mongol) Yuan emperors built canals to improve transportation and communication. In China agriculture and (craft) production ... continued unabated. The same was true in Persia, partly because Persian craft traditions were well-established, but also because the Ilkhanids (Mongol rulers) were patrons of the arts.

The Persian silk industry also benefited from the Mongol conquest because of the contacts that opened up with China” (DOC 6). Clearly, this proves the Mongols were civilized because the outcome of crafting new inventions such as Persian silk and canals helped improve trade, transportation, communication, and agriculture and craft production throughout China which makes the Mongols smart and civilized, not barbaric and vicious. Moreover, this is important because by opening up the Silk Road, diseases, resources, and ideas spread which influenced the Ming Dynasty and Europe. This shows the Mongols had a good influence on its conquered territories, opening up trade, spreading religion, and helping industries flourish. For example, Persian culture thrived under the Mongols control. Furthermore, by increasing trade, many people grew wealthier by obtaining new resources contributing to their economic system. According to Marco Polo, an explorer who traveled around China, he describes the Mongolian version of the Pony Express, “when one of the Great Khan’s messengers sets out along any

of these roads, he has only to go twenty-five miles and there he finds a posting station, which in their language is called a yam…. And at each of these posts, the messengers find three or four hundred horses in readiness awaiting their command, and palatial lodgings such as I have described…. More than 200,000 horses are stabled at these posts for the special use of the messengers. Moreover, the posts themselves number more than 10,000, all furnished on the same lavish scale….the neighboring cities keep three or four ferryboats continually in readiness…” (Doc 8) Clearly, this proves the Mongols were civilized because they are well organized and have a specific method for traveling to a yam. The yams are about 25 miles apart so messengers can rest, exchange their horses, and travel on a ferry to get across a river which allowed for quick and easy travel. As demonstrated the Mongols were smart and had safe, fast, and trouble-free travel because of the yams and ferryboats. They were able to travel over large bodies of water and would have a fresh horse that was fully rested, harnessed, and in good running form. All in all, the Mongols were very civilized because of their advanced economy, success in trade, and excellence in arts.
Conclusion
Exceptional battle tactics, a sophisticated economy, and sustained law and order proved the thought that the so-called “barbaric” Mongols were actually civilized. The Mongols assembled new inventions that helped improve trade, communication, and the transportation of diseases, resources, and ideas throughout the Ming Dynasty and Europe. They also used a system known as yams that allowed messengers a comfortable place to rest and switch out their tired horse for a rested horse which made for rapid and trouble-free travel. People might say the Mongols are barbaric because according to John of Plano Carpini, author of History of the Mongols, believed to be the first European to visit the Mongols in their homeland, he cited, “when they are in battle, if one or two or three or even more out of a group of ten run away, all are put to death… in a word, unless they retreat in a body, all who take flight are put to death.” (DOC 2) Although true, the Mongols continue to be civilized because they have to have strict laws in order to have an organized army. Additionally, if they retreat they would look like they were quitting and as Genghis Khan once said, “There is no good in anything until it is finished.”