At the height of its power, the Mongol Empire map spanned a whopping 9 million square miles, which made it the largest contiguous land empire in the history of the world.
The beginning of the Mongol Empire
The beginning of the Mongol Empire is centered around the actions of one man: Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan, known throughout his childhood as Temüjin, was the son of a Mongol leader, i.e., a chieftain. He was always interested in military strategy and power and spent his formative years developing his skills by working with Toghrul Khan of the Kerait.
At this time, the most powerful Mongol leader was Kurtait, who became known as ‘Wang Khan, with ‘Wang’ meaning ‘King.’ As a young man, Temüjin went to war with this famous leader and won in an impressive display of military prowess. This victory was the first step in Temüjin’s climb to power, and it was after this he gave himself the name Genghis Khan. Once he had assumed his new title, Genghis expanded his Mongol state under himself and his family.
Genghis Khan had several rules for those living under his control. One of these was that people were banned from stealing from their enemies without his direct position. Moreover, he put in place a policy in which the spoils of war would be shared with his warriors and their families, as opposed to giving it all to the aristocrats. Unfortunately, these new laws and policies were not popular with everyone and brought him into conflict with members of his own family. As a result, a sense of discontent began to spread amongst the Mongol people, and many who had previously sided with Genghis Khan began to break off their allegiance. The result of this was war.
Genghis Khan and his remaining supporters took victory in this war, which spanned from 1203 to 1205. All rival tribes were defeated in this war, and the entire Mongol Empire was brought under his control. Finally, in 1206, Genghis was o Here, and his title of Genghis Khan became official, which means ‘universal leader.’ This was different from older tribal titles which previous leaders had assumed, such as Gur Khan or Tayang Khan, and marked the official start of the Mongol Empire.
Military tactics
Having great military tactics is one of the main things the Mongol Empire was known for. The Mongol armies, led by Genghis Khan and his successors, were primarily made up of cavalry, which allowed them a great deal of mobility and speed in battle. In addition, the army was highly organized, giving them an edge over their enemies.
In terms of weapons, the Mongol armies favored the bow and arrow and resorted to hand-to-hand conflict after completely disbanding the enemy’s ranks. In addition, the Mongol troops preferred fighting on open plains and flat land areas, as this environment was much better suited to their military tactics.
Another reason why the Mongol armies were so victorious was their clever use of spies and propaganda. They would often trick their enemies by voluntarily surrendering and offering peace before launching their attack. If their offer of peace were accepted, the enemy population would be spared by the Mongol armies. However, if the enemy refused, the Mongol troops spared no one; everyone was killed or enslaved.
The organization of Genghis Khan’s empire
A lot of the success of the Mongol Empire lies in its organization. Socially, the organization of the Mongol people revolved around pastoralism, where livestock was released onto large pastures for grazing, and a patrilineal system of clans, in which children would automatically belong to the same clan as their father.
As the Mongol Empire expanded and absorbed new civilizations, they attempted to impose their system of the societal organization on the new people groups. All pre-existing social structures and political divisions in the conquered land would be completely disregarded in favor of the Mongol system. It was also common for the Mongols to enslave a conquered tribe and give entire communities of enslaved people to military leaders as a gift. In the conquered areas of the Mongol Empire, large groups of the population became the personal property of the Mongol army leaders. These leaders would completely exploit these people groups.
The central power in the Mongol Empire belonged to the khan, who would be supported and assisted by various military and political councilors. The khan individually appointed all the councilors, and they held significant influence.
Religion in the Mongol Empire
When Genghis Khan was in control of the Mongol Empire, he and a number of his successors put restrictions on any religious practices that they viewed as strange. These restrictions were placed on the entirety of the Mongol Empire, including the conquered lands. Unfortunately, this led many people, including Muslims and Jews, to secretly carry out their religious practices.
The death of Genghis Khan and the rule of Ögedei
On the 18th of August, 1227, Genghis Khan died. By this point, the Mongol Empire’s map stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea, making it twice the size of other influential empires like the Roman Empire. Genghis named his third son, Ögedei, as his successor and heir to the kingdom. In keeping with Mongol tradition, the resting place of Genghis Khan was kept secret. Ögedei did not assume power immediately. Instead, his younger brother, Tolui, took the regent role until Ögedei was officially elected in 1229.
As a ruler, Ögedei did not wait to exercise his new power. One of his first actions was to send out troops to conquer several different people groups, including the Bashkirs, Bulgars, and other nations. Under Ögedei’s leadership, the Mongol armies managed to re-establish Mongol authority in Manchuria and, in doing so, destroyed the Eastern Xia regime. In 1230, Ögedei led the Mongol army in a military campaign against the Jin dynasty of China, which was a success for the Mongol Empire. In 1232, during the campaign, Ögedei’s general, Subutai, captured the capital of Emperor Wanyan Shouxu in the siege of Kaifeng. Emperor Wanyan Shouxu escaped two years later, in 1234 when the Mongols took the town of Caizhou, where he was staying. With this, the Jin dynasty collapsed. In the same year, Ögedei’s sons Kochu and Koten and the Tangut general Chagan led three armies to invade Southern China.
Several Han Chinese and Khitan people sided with the Mongols to join the fight against the Jin dynasty. Amongst these people defecting to the Mongols were 2 Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze and Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala.
Electing a new Khan after Ögedei
The process of electing a new khan after Ögedei was a complicated one. No one could agree on who should rule as Ögedei’s successor. While the decision was being made, Ögödei’s widow, Töregene, ruled from 1242 to 1246. Töregene desired that her son Güyük be elected as khan, but this was met with strong opposition from Batu, who was a descendant of Genghis’s eldest son. Batu believed that his claim to power was much stronger than Güyük’s. Finally, töregene got her to wish, and Güyük was elected as the khan in 1246. Güyük and Batu were highly different people and rulers. Güyük, on the one hand, openly favored Christian advisers and was heavily influenced by the Christian sect, Nestorianism.
In contrast, Batu abided by traditional Mongol shamanism and completely disregarded all outside religions. Their differences led to conflict between the two men, and they began preparing for war. However, these preparations stopped when Güyük passed away in 1248 at just 42. Güyük’s death marked the end of the feud with Batu and all possibility of the Mongol Empire being ruled by a Christian leader.
In the wake of his death, the Mongol Empire was controlled by Güyük’s widow, Oghul Qaimish. She ruled as regent for three years while the nobles tried to agree on who should be appointed as the new khan. Batu, of course, put himself forward as a candidate but eventually gave up trying due to old age. Knowing that he had no hopes of ruling the Mongol Empire, Batu put his efforts into getting Borjigin Möngke elected. Batu persuaded the Mongol nobles to vote for Borjigin Möngke, another grandson of Genghis Khan. The result was that the rule of the Mongol Empire transferred from the house of Ögödei to the descendants of Genghis Khan’s youngest son, Tolui.
The Mongol Empire’s unique mailing system
The mailing system is a part of society that often gets overlooked but is crucial in keeping people connected. The Mongol Empire had a super unique mailing system allowing people to communicate quickly and efficiently. This mailing system is commonly known as ‘the Yam.’ To send and receive messages using the Yam system, mail had to be passed between well-guarded relay posts, known as örtöö. These posts were set up all across the map of the Mongol Empire but not overly close together.
For this reason, messengers would have to travel around 25 miles (ca. 40 km) to get from one post to the next. Thankfully, they tended to travel on horseback, not on foot, so the journey wasn’t too long. At the next post, the messenger would either receive a fresh horse, as theirs would be pretty tired by that point or pass on their message to a new messenger who would carry on the next leg of the journey. While this may seem complicated and lengthy compared to our modern method of delivering messages, it was swift and innovative for the time being.
On average, Mongol riders would travel around 125 miles (ca. 201 km) daily to deliver messages. This is much faster than the Pony Express, a similar mailing system set up in America 600 years later. Each relay post throughout the Mongol Empire had a household service attached to it. Anyone who carried a paiza, a tablet taken by Mongol officials and envoys to signify that they had certain privileges and authority, could stop at these posts, re-mount their horses, and enjoy some specified rations.
Mongolians were not the only ones to use their efficient mailing system. Many merchants, messengers, and voyagers from China, the Middle East, and Europe used the Yam.
The Mongol mailing system was expanded and developed over the years. The founder of the Yuan dynasty, Kublai Khan, played a significant role in expanding the Mongolian mailing system. He ordered a range of individual relay posts built for high officials and a range of ordinary ones. Throughout his reign, the system consisted of around 1,400 postal stations using 50,000 horses, 8,400 oxen, 6,700 mules, 4,000 carts, and 6,000 boats.
