The Mongols
Summary
TLDRThe script chronicles the rise and reign of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire, detailing their innovative and brutal warfare tactics that led to the creation of the largest continuous land empire in history. It explores the empire's expansion, the establishment of the Silk Road, and the cultural exchanges it enabled. The narrative also delves into the reign of Timur the Lame, who sought to emulate Genghis Khan's legacy, leaving a lasting impact on world history through conquests and cultural assimilation.
Takeaways
- 🏰 The Mongols, under Genghis Khan, created the largest continuous land empire in history, larger and longer-lasting than those of Caesar or Napoleon.
- 🌪️ Genghis Khan's warfare tactics were revolutionary, combining cunning, cruelty, and mobility, which continue to influence military strategies today.
- 📅 Genghis Khan rose to power in the 12th century, uniting the Mongol tribes and pioneering a new form of social and military organization.
- 🗡️ His initial motivation was revenge for his father's murder and the hardships his family faced, which fueled his conquests.
- 🔄 Genghis Khan's empire was marked by a cycle of alliances, treachery, and revenge, which was a common theme among the nomadic tribes of the Eurasian steppes.
- 🌍 The Mongol Empire connected East and West, enabling safe travel and trade along the Silk Road for the first time in a millennium.
- 🛡️ Despite their reputation for brutality, the Mongols established a Pax Mongolica, a period of peace that facilitated cultural and economic exchange across Eurasia.
- 🏹 Genghis Khan's personal life and rise to power were marked by adversity and a strong sense of mission, influenced by his mother's charge to seek revenge.
- 🏰 After Genghis Khan's death, his empire was divided among his sons, leading to a fragmentation that would eventually weaken the Mongol hold on power.
- 📜 Timur, also known as Tamerlane, sought to restore and expand the Mongol Empire, adopting brutal tactics and a grand vision for his capital, Samarkand.
- 🌟 The Mongol legacy endures, influencing the modern world through their conquests and the cultural exchanges they enabled, as well as their lasting impact on trade and exploration.
Q & A
What is the significance of the Mongol Empire in terms of land area?
-The Mongol Empire was the largest continuous land empire in history, being twice the size of Caesar's Roman Empire and lasting longer than Napoleon's empire.
How did the Mongols' style of warfare differ from others, and what impact did it have?
-The Mongols pioneered a style of warfare that was unparalleled in cunning and cruelty, and it was so revolutionary that it still inspires military strategists today.
What were the living conditions like for the nomadic tribes of the Eurasian steppes?
-The nomadic tribes, including the Tatars and Mongols, eked out a grim life in the coldest places on Earth, with temperatures dropping to 90° below zero, constantly fighting against nature for survival.
What was the role of Genghis Khan's mother in his early life and his quest for revenge?
-Genghis Khan's mother gave him a simple charge to seek revenge after his father, a tribal leader, was poisoned by the Tatars. This created a strong sense of bitterness and a mission that drove him throughout his life.
How did Genghis Khan's tactics and strategies differ from traditional warfare?
-Genghis Khan used tactics such as feigned retreats, encirclement, and the use of small tactical teams, which were learned from hunting techniques and were innovative for warfare at the time.
What was the significance of the year 1206 in Genghis Khan's life?
-In 1206, a ruler's council of steppe tribes acclaimed Timin as the universal leader, or Genghis Khan, marking the beginning of his quest to conquer the world.
How did the Mongol Empire's expansion impact trade and cultural exchange?
-The Mongol conquests opened the East to the West, allowing for safe travel from Rome to Beijing and facilitating the exchange of goods, knowledge, and culture across Eurasia.
What was the 'Yam' system, and how did it contribute to the Mongol Empire's communication?
-The 'Yam' was a communication system akin to the Pony Express, where messengers with special badges would carry messages on rolls, changing horses at post stations every 25 miles, allowing for rapid communication across the empire.
What was the fate of the Tatars after their conflict with Genghis Khan?
-Genghis Khan took brutal revenge on the Tatars, executing everyone taller than the axle of a wagon, effectively decimating the tribe.
How did Genghis Khan's death affect the Mongol Empire?
-Upon Genghis Khan's death in 1227, the empire he sought to unify broke apart, being divided into four kingdoms for his four sons, and the empire began to decline.
Who was Timur, and how did he continue the legacy of the Mongol Empire?
-Timur, also known as Tamerlane, was a Mongol leader who continued the legacy of conquest and terror after Genghis Khan. He expanded the empire, adopting brutal tactics and sparing only the artisans to build his capital, Samarkand.
Outlines
🏹 The Rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire
This paragraph introduces the Mongol Empire, which ruled the largest continuous land empire in history for nearly 300 years, surpassing the empires of Caesar, Napoleon, and Alexander the Great. It details the early life of Genghis Khan, born as Timin, who rose from humble beginnings to unite the Mongol tribes through a combination of warfare and political acumen. The paragraph also touches on the harsh living conditions of the Mongols on the Eurasian steppes and the strategic blunders of the Jin Dynasty of China, which inadvertently facilitated the rise of Genghis Khan.
🐎 Genghis Khan's Military Innovations and Vengeance
The second paragraph delves into Genghis Khan's military strategies and tactics, which were both innovative and ruthless. It discusses his reorganization of Mongolian society, which broke old tribal loyalties and created a formidable cavalry. The Mongols' use of horse tactics, feigned retreats, and encirclement strategies are highlighted, as is their ability to be mobile and operate in small tactical teams. The paragraph also covers Genghis Khan's personal quest for vengeance against the Tatars, who had caused him and his family much hardship, and his eventual success in defeating them.
🌍 Expansion of the Mongol Empire and the Silk Road
This paragraph describes the expansion of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan, who, after unifying the tribes and exacting revenge on the Tatars, turned his attention to the wealthy Jin Dynasty of China. It outlines the Mongols' rapid adaptation of Chinese siege technology and their brutal tactics, which instilled terror in their enemies. The paragraph also discusses the development of the Yam, a communication system that connected the vast Mongol Empire, and Genghis Khan's realization of the strategic importance of the Silk Road for trade, which led to tensions with the Khwarezmian Empire.
🔥 Genghis Khan's Campaign of Vengeance and the Fall of the Khwarezmian Empire
The fourth paragraph narrates Genghis Khan's campaign of vengeance against the Khwarezmian Empire, sparked by the seizure of a Mongol caravan and the execution of an envoy. It details the Mongol invasion of the Khwarezmian territories, their tactics of dividing the army to create confusion, and the brutal retribution inflicted upon the empire. The paragraph highlights the fall of key cities, the flight of Sultan Muhammad, and the Mongols' scorched-earth policy, which aimed to eradicate the power of the enemy completely.
🛤️ The Pax Mongolica and its Impact on Eurasian Trade and Culture
This paragraph discusses the establishment of the Pax Mongolica, a period of relative peace that allowed for safe travel from Rome to Beijing, unprecedented in the history of Eurasia. It describes the cultural and trade exchanges that flourished under Mongol rule, leading to a greater understanding of different civilizations. The paragraph also touches on Genghis Khan's death and the division of his empire among his sons, setting the stage for future Mongol conquerors.
📚 Timur the Lame: The Last Great Mongol Conqueror
The sixth paragraph introduces Timur, also known as Tamerlane, who rose to power in the Muslim lands of the former Mongol Empire. It outlines his early life, his rise to power, and his ambitious projects to restore and expand the Mongol Empire. The paragraph details Timur's military campaigns, his construction projects in his birthplace, and his use of terror as a weapon of war, which built upon Genghis Khan's legacy and further shaped the history of the region.
🏰 Timur's Empire and the Clash with the Ottomans
This paragraph continues the narrative of Timur's conquests, focusing on his expansion into Western Persia, India, and the Caucasus. It describes the psychological warfare and the horrific acts of terror used by Timur to subdue and control his conquered territories. The paragraph also highlights the pivotal battle against the Ottoman Sultan Baysunghur, which marked a significant victory for Timur and had profound implications for the balance of power in the region.
🌅 The Legacy of the Mongol Empire and the Fall of Timur's Dynasty
The final paragraph reflects on the lasting impact of the Mongol Empire, which stretched from the Sea of Japan to the Baltic and influenced the world in ways that are still felt today. It discusses the opening of trade routes to Asia, which fueled the Age of Discovery, and the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire after Timur's death. The paragraph concludes with a look at the enduring reverence for Genghis Khan in Mongolia and the hope for a resurgence of Mongol spirit.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Mongols
💡Genghis Khan
💡Warfare
💡Yam
💡Tribes
💡Conquest
💡Cultural Exchange
💡Terror
💡Timur
💡Legacy
Highlights
The Mongols ruled the largest continuous land empire in history for nearly 300 years, twice the size of Caesar's Roman Empire.
Genghis Khan pioneered a unique and revolutionary style of warfare that still influences military strategies today.
Genghis Khan, originally named Temujin, rose to power not from royalty but as a fatherless boy with an iron will for survival.
Genghis Khan's mother tasked him with seeking revenge, instilling a strong sense of mission from a young age.
After 30 years of struggle, Temujin united his clan and earned the title of Khan, demonstrating exceptional charisma and leadership.
Genghis Khan's military tactics, including feigned retreats and encirclement, were highly effective and innovative.
He reorganized society and the military, breaking old tribal loyalties while maintaining the power of tribal cavalry.
The Mongols were often outnumbered in battles but used mobility and small tactical teams to their advantage.
Genghis Khan's conquests led to the decimation of the Tatars, symbolizing his ruthless approach to enemies.
Genghis Khan believed in a natural hierarchy with Heaven as the supreme protector, viewing himself as chosen to lead.
The Mongol Empire's communication system, known as the yam, was a precursor to the Pony Express, facilitating rapid information exchange.
Genghis Khan's invasion of China showcased the Mongols' quick adaptation and use of Chinese siege technology.
The Mongols' approach to warfare instilled terror, using psychological tactics like the use of drums and displaying captured prisoners.
The Mongol conquests facilitated the opening of the East to the West, enabling safe travel from Rome to Beijing for the first time in a millennium.
Timur, also known as Tamerlane, continued the Mongol legacy, expanding the empire and introducing a reign of terror after Genghis Khan's death.
Timur's architectural projects in Samarkand, including the construction of grand mosques, reflected his megalomania and ambition.
Timur's military campaigns were marked by extreme brutality, with the use of terror as a weapon of psychological warfare.
The Mongol Empire's impact on world history includes the creation of a vast trade network and the inspiration for the Age of Discovery.
Genghis Khan's legacy is still revered in Mongolia, where he is worshipped as a god and a symbol of national pride.
Transcripts
for nearly 300 years they ruled the
largest continuous land Empire in
history twice the size of Caesar's Roman
Empire longer lasting than napoleons as
world shaking as Alexander the
greats they are the Mongols The Fury
that rolls like a storm out of the steps
in the early 13th century the Mongols
Pioneer a style of warfare unparalleled
in cunning and cruelty and so
revolutionary it still inspires military
strategists today sweeping East and West
destroying everything in their path they
shatter the old world order and carve a
new course of
[Music]
history
it is the end of the 12th century as
Europe lies mired in the Dark Ages two
cultures set the standard for human
civilization the Islamic States in
Persia and Central
Asia and far away to the east a trio of
fabulous Kingdoms in
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China between these stretch vast
inhospitable grasslands the Eurasian
steps although the steps are formidable
they are not empty nomadic tribes the
tatars Mongols and others eek out a grim
life these are some of the coldest
places on Earth in
Mongolia temperatures 90° below zero so
for much of the year they're fighting
nature it's a life with no no margin of
safety in
it in
1175 the tatars renew an old Feud with
the Mongols these two tribes so similar
in lifestyle and belief are bitterly
divided by ancient rivalries a
NeverEnding cycle of Alliance treachery
and
revenge caught up in their own struggles
they ignored their common enemy the rich
and Powerful jyn of northern
China the Jinn Dynasty their policy
towards Mongolia was one really of
divide and conquer and the JY would
employ the tatars on raids against uh
other nomadic groups tribes kets that
grew too large and too
threatening the Jin wisely perceived
that as long as the people of the steps
are are focused on each other they won't
trouble
them it is in this time of upheaval that
great mongle conqueror genis Khan arises
in the 12th
century he does so not from a family of
Kings or princes but as a fatherless boy
facing death with his family on the
barren
steps genas Khan's given name is timin
Mongolian for iron worker it's fitting
his life will demand an iron
will in 1175 when he is barely 9 years
old his father leader of the clan is
poisoned by the
tatars jenas Khan's father been an upand
cominging tribal Chieftain uh perhaps if
he lived he might have become the next
uh uh con of the
Mongols but as soon as he was poisoned
the widows of the previous con led the
the Mongols to Desert the widows of yig
jus' father and the result was that
jengas Khan was left on the step alone
with his
mother abandoned with her children
timen's mother gives him a simple
charge seek
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revenge he had grown up we can presume
with this strong sense of mission he was
a son of one of the leading Chieftain
one who had won victories in war when
other Chiefs had been defeated and he
had been abandoned and that created a
really strong sense of bitterness a
strong sense that the world doesn't work
the way it
should for 30 grueling years timin
fights to unite his clan and gain the
title of Khan great leader he learns to
trust those proven loyal in battle and
he remains suspicious of all others by
the age of 40 he has grown to be a
gifted
Chieftain we're looking at a man like
Alexander like Hitler I have to say with
immense
Charisma who made people follow him by
the strength of his
personality having United his tribe in
1196 timan turns to the second task
Vengeance on the
tatars the tactics were pretty much
entirely uh horse horse tactics and um
they incorporate all the things that we
would we would normally expect
techniques learned in the hunt for
example uh would often be employed in in
tactically in in uh in battles the Fain
Retreat drawing your enemy in and then
encircling your enemy enveloping enemy
there were there were elements that
tactics that are sort of reminiscence of
the reminiscent of the blitz GP what I
do see new in the case of tamuin chisan
is his reorganization of society that
has to be reckoned among the most
important not only social uh Innovations
but military innovations which in which
he takes the old Central Asian Mongolian
tribal structure and refashion it in its
in his own image in a way breaking the
old tribal loyalties but maintaining uh
a kind the kind of power of this uh
tribal
Cavalry it's as far as we can tell in
virtually every battle they fought in
every battle they won the Mongols were
substantially outnumbered by their
enemies um but they were much more
mobile because they had so many horses
and they were able to operate it seems
in small tactical teams no more than a
few score at at most so the first thing
you'd see if you were fighting the
Mongols is they would seem to be
everywhere often times they would come
at you in a single file and suddenly
they would just disperse and suddenly
they'd be all around you that was was
really
disturbing the Mongols combination of
finely honed horsemanship and tactical
strategy overwhelms their
enemies they are virtually wiped from
the face of the Earth in Just 2 years
only their name will live on and they
are but the first of many for timin is
molding his army into the finest light
Cavalry the world has ever
seen then he does take revenge on the
people who had inflicted so much
hardship on on his family uh his larger
family and on his immediate family
namely the tatars who when he finally
defeats them he uh as The Story Goes he
has everyone uh taller than the axle of
a wagon uh executed so he he decimates
he destroys this particular
tribe the ambitious Chief is a religious
man he reveres the natural hierarchy he
sees around him the ground is sacred the
rivers are sacred but Above All Is
Heaven the protector of the nomads for
timin human Affairs should mirror this
hierarchy and one man must stand above
all others timen has no doubts that fate
has chosen him to
lead so he believed on the one hand that
he was of a of a Heavenly destined
lineage why because when you won Victory
and battle it was something decided by
Heaven by God by this moer eternal
heaven or Eternal God which the mo which
jenus Khan firmly believed was in charge
of all sort of all victories and battle
and all uh successes and failures uh uh
in this
world in 1206 a ruler's Council of Step
tribes acclaims timin as un ival leader
or genas
Khan he now stands poised to conquer the
rest of the world and seal his
reputation as the bloodiest of all
[Music]
barbarians driven to avenge his father's
murder and empowered by a sense of his
own destiny in 1206 Genghis Khan rises
from obscur to the brink of world
domination he is the ultimate leader the
con of all the Restless and nomadic
tribes of the steps his people live a
difficult life in a brutal
environment this is a society that is
perpetually on the move so they're ready
to to bundle up shop in no time at all
so what does that say about how these
people live the tents they live in they
have a
cane framework and Felts
are tied or sewn onto these individual
cane panels and they can be set up
inside 15 minutes and dismantled in the
same sort of time so the inside of Ys
was incredibly dark and Smoky because
they only had a hole at the top and a
hole at the doorway and the doorway
always faced South because the Mongols
were superstitious that that good news
came from the south you had Felts on the
floor Felts on the walls so dark dark
dark and then everything permeated with
smoke what did they burn there's no wood
on the step so it's dung so it's smoke
that's permeated with animal smell as
well this Hard Scrabble existence shaped
genas Khan's character and his mother's
words of Vengeance provided his mission
points the the very important role that
Mongolian women uh played and still do
play in uh in Mongolian society and and
that's a very important sort of
formative uh um episode in his whole
life um because he becomes very attached
to to women to his wife uh to his mother
um they figure very prominently both
figure very prominently later on when he
distributes uh his territory and his
soldiers among these people both women
receive shares so um that's that's quite
an important thing she really holds the
family she's the cement of the
family by the year 1206 genas Khan's
power over the steps is
unchallenged now he directs his
Vengeance on the wealthy and arrogant
Jinn of
[Music]
China in 1211 the Mongols moved to
invade China the enormous ancient Nation
sees them as scruffy upstarts out to
stir up a little trouble the Chinese
have no idea what they are about to
face down in South China the sun Dynasty
the ethnic Chinese in in South China
often looked on the Mongols as possible
allies and they developed a very
interesting view of the Mongols that the
Mongols were these very crude barbaric
Savage people but they were uncorrupted
unspoiled within hours of their initial
meeting the Mongol troops annihilate a
much larger Chinese
Force the nomads learn fast they copy
Chinese Siege technology to breach their
City walls they become the embodiment of
Terror and then they start beating their
drums and these drums are carried by
four people on ropes and the mere sound
of them drove people mad with fear
they brought with them the prisoners
from the previous City that they
captured and pushed them into the moat
so that they could go over them over the
dead bodies at the city
walls and then they would Slaughter
every living thing the very cats and the
dogs in 1215 they lay waste to the
capital of Northern China Chong Tu
present day Beijing but just as Victory
seems Within Reach news arise that
trouble is brewing in the Mongolian
[Music]
Homeland the news reaches genas Khan
across a thousand miles of territory
carried by a surprising system of
communication that eventually will
connect the entire Mongol
Empire they developed very early on a
system known as the yam which was
basically the Pony Express and two
Messengers would be sent out with
special badges that they wore around
their waist showing that they were
official emissaries of the government
and horses would be provided at post
stations every 25 miles for these two to
ride off carrying in their hands
literally rolls with messages on
them in 1218 the yam riters bring gengas
Khan the news that klug the Khan of the
non Clan is fomenting a rebellion among
other disgruntled tribesmen genas Khan's
hardw order is being threatened by
disloyalty from his own people this
cannot be
[Music]
tolerated in search of the rebels
genghiskhan launches a crusade that
takes him far from his business in
[Music]
China as they pursue the rebels West
into Muslim lands the Mongols Annex one
Kingdom after after another before
Crossing into each new territory genas
Khan gives the local ruler the option to
give up the conspirators and surrender
peacefully but if the ruler resists
genghiskhan warns he will show no mercy
he writes one Chieftain the disaster
will reach you
too genas Khan's campaign of Vengeance
has swelled his Empire till it touches
the borders of the ancient Kingdom of
quam in present day usbekistan
[Music]
though quam is an attractive Target
Genghis Khan goes no farther he has
learned something
new I think that the key moment in the
career of chenis Khan that lifted him
from being a territorial chieftain in
outou of Mongolia and it's not accident
that out of Mongolia means the Boon it
means the back of beyond that moved him
from that to a player on the world stage
was when he began to realize that his
territories were on the Silk
Road and that he could change the
fortunes of his people by trade and so
he sent a series of embassies to his
nearest neighbor the sultan Muhammad who
was the ruler of the Eastern Islamic
world and and those embassies were
finally followed by a caravan of 1,500
camels and I think that what happened
there was that this
particular camel Caravan was so rich
that it tickled the the greed of the
Muslim governor of the frontier post
concerned at
otrar and he simply seized
it this governor of this town he saw
this Mongol Embassy uh of of of
merchants coming basically a trade
Mission come you saw all the kinds of
things that were in there and he asked
the uh Sultan
Muhammad um what should I do with them
he was told um he implied they're spies
these PE these Mongol envoys are spies
what should I do with them can I can I
Massacre them and sulan Muhammad said
yes and they
were
undeterred genghiskhan sends a second
Envoy only to have him seized his beard
is shaved off in the street as an act of
humiliation before he is sent
back the Caravan of gifts of course is
not
returned genas Khan's final dispatch to
Sultan Muhammad is simple and Grim you
have chosen War he writes
and it was that event that greed that
breaking of the laws
of interchange of ambassadors of
allowing Merchants free run across
Frontiers that caused the Mongol
catastrophe the catastrophe which as one
Russian Chronicle says left no eye open
to weep for the
dead they came they sapped they
plundered they burnt they slaughtered
they Departed
this is an utter disaster for the
Civilized world and it had that curious
small
trigger as his soldiers prepare for war
in
1219 genas Khan is
unconcerned that will happen he says
which will
happen and what is to be we know not
only God
knows in carrying out God's Heavenly
plan
the KH will teach his enemies a terrible
lesson and continue a conquest that will
destroy all that stands before him
including the wealth and knowledge of an
entire
civilization genas Khan has unified the
nomadic
Mongols subdued the wealthy Chinese and
now in 1219 stands perch to take on
Sultan Mohammad the ruler of the quam
Empire of Central
Asia genas Khan is a man driven by
revenge in aluk the Sultan's Governor
has flagrantly humiliated a Mongolian
diplomatic Envoy an abuse that cannot
stand but the sultan stronghold
Samaran is defending by an army much
larger than genas Khan's own to even the
odds the KH turns to tools that have
served him well in the past mobility and
surprise much more interesting about
this particular campaign is the fact
that jasan divided his army in the face
of a superior opponent this is tactics
that we associate again with people like
Robert E Lee or with with blitzk in in
uh during World War II uh the purpose
being again uh to penetrate the uh the
enemy's front and to create confusion
and diversion and so on in the rear to
be able then to turn back and take these
places so I find that to be a very
significant part of of what he
does genas Khan's first blow comes at
the Border Town of utar in
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1219 after a 5mon Siege the Mongols
burst through the defenses and lay waste
to everyone and everything in their path
there is no limit to their
cruelty why were the Mongols so cruel
it's it's a difficult question and no
one really knows the
explanation but the fact of it I think
can't be
doubted that these were people who did
not wage war in the ordinary way
a special fate is assigned to the greedy
governor in aluk he discovers firsthand
the meaning of the old Mongolian proverb
return what people give to
you dragged from his hiding place in the
Citadel he is held down while molten
silver is poured into his ears and
[Music]
eyes
in February 1220 genghiskhan plots a
three-pronged attack unrivaled in
cunning and
Malice first two columns of Mongols
strike quaron from opposing directions
East and West their main goal to love
Mohammad into thinking that these
trifling attacks are the Mongols Best
Shot medieval armies in Europe and the
Middle East had a very strong idea that
retreating in the face of the enemy was
humiliating and so they really couldn't
do it and the other reason they couldn't
do it was because from the General's
point of view once you start retreating
everybody would think you've lost and
suddenly you would lose control of your
army everybody start running away oh
we've lost we're running away the
Mongols would Retreat then suddenly as
they're retreating they'd suddenly break
up start coming around again and start
shooting at you again that was very
disorienting for um uh for many armies
the constant hail of arrows that would
be falling that was uh a disorienting
thing diverted by the Mongols faints and
skirmishes Sultan Muhammad strings out
his forces along hundreds of miles of
farmland and River Valley south of
Samaran but far away to the north genas
Khan prepares for the main
assault genas Khan carefully seeks out
the Smugglers and bandits who know the
secret water holes and camel rots in the
desert of
kazum these will be his
guides they will lead his army over 300
mil of punishing Desert Sands a back
door to the Sultan's
[Music]
Kingdom in March 1220 Genghis Khan and
his army emerges from what the sultan
believed was an impenetrable desert like
demons from his worst nightmare
in one of the greatest strategic rear
guard attacks in the history of warfare
proud samaron Falls in just 10 days
Sultan Mohammad shows his true colors
fleeing for his life from one city to
the next like Hunters pursuing a fox the
great Mongol generals are given 20,000
men and told to crush any town that
shelters The Fugitive Sultan as they
relentlessly track him down and kill
him so it was not just a matter of
beating an Army in the field but
eradicating the power of a
country to ground zero so that there
could be no recovery so they sowed salt
in the fields they destroyed the wells
they flooded the cities they cut the
canals they chopped down the Orchards as
if there were no tomorrow the Mongols
monstrous Rampage devastates magnificent
Persian cities like buul and
harat genus Khan is not
concerned they couldn't care less so the
destruction that they visited on the
Eastern Islamic
world has lasted to this
[Music]
day the ruins of once great cities still
lay scattered cross Persia like ghost
towns with the annexation of quasam
genas Khan's Empire reaches from the
Yellow River all the way to the Caspian
Sea the largest continuous land Empire
in the history of the world the most
remarkable result of this Mongol
conquest is that East is open to West
for the first time in a thousand
years Hax mongolica a Mongol peace
allowed people for the first time to
travel in absolute safety from Rome to
Beijing that was never possible before
and it wasn't possible until the 20th
century afterwards it's not a small
thing we had people from the Middle East
traveling all over all the way even into
China uh famous traveler ibben batuta
from Morocco eventually reach reached at
least he says he reached uh China uh and
traveled through much of the successor
states of the Mongols uh Mongol States
ruled by the descendants of jangus Khan
and that created a kind of knowledge of
uh the know each civilization in Eurasia
acquiring more knowledge about each
other ironically creating such an Empire
is not genas Khan's goal the flame of
Vengeance still Burns in his belly and
he still has a score to settle with the
Chinese to that end he now turns but it
is the one thing Beyond his
reach in
1227 in his mid-60s Genghis Khan dies on
the march to China according to Legend
the victim of a freak riding accident
armed troops and slave girls escort his
body back to the steps where he is laid
to rest in secrecy
there are various stories about um 50
guards were detailed to bury him they
were killed by 50 others who were then
killed in turn killed by by other people
so that the grave would would would
remain secret for various
reasons um but as for the precise
location of this we don't
know the the way that the Mongol
Chieftain were buried was in total
secrecy they went off on a procession
the people were going to bury them
blaring horns beating drums making as
much noise as possible and if anybody
met the procession on its route to its
secret destination where the person was
going to be buried they were they were
killed so the whole point was that
nobody should know where the great ones
of the Mongols were buried not a single
tomb of a Mongol Chieftain has ever been
excavated theyve not been found so we
have no idea what they
contain genas Khan's Empire seems to be
as lost as his Mountain grave for upon
his death the state he sought to unify
breaks apart carved up into four
kingdoms for his four
Sons but the dream lives on it will turn
into a nightmare in the hands of another
Mongol conqueror driven by visions of
Glory he will unleash A Reign of Terror
even bloodier and more brutal than genas
[Applause]
Khan in an eruption of violent Conquest
the Mongolian Empire continues to expand
after genas Khan's death in
1227 in the west the golden horde
descendants of genas Khan rules Southern
Russia and Quam in the Far East the
Khan's grandson defeats and unites the
Three Kingdoms of China and in Persia
the Mongols convert to Islam building
fabulous mosques to glorify their new
God still as successful as the Mongolian
Empire may be its huge size makes it
difficult to
maintain there weren't enough
Mongols this was not a gigantic Nation
it wasn't like China for
example perhaps there were as as many as
100,000 people in the Mongol Army and
that was about it so the wider the
territories they controlled the thinner
the crust of Mongol Dominion on
them by the mid-4th century genis Khan's
Empire lies in shambles like the old
Mongol clans of the steps the rulers
spend their time fighting each other
instead of combining their
strength the actual power was slipping
from the hands of the jasan is the S of
jasan and falling into the hands of
these tribal Warlords people who were
not themselves of the Imperial family
but who were the real holders of
power in the middle of the 1300s in the
Muslim lands of quam in modern day
usbekistan a young Mongol boy named
timour prepares to steal his neighbor's
sheep he is a clever and stealthy
adversary to the shepherd but this time
his luck will fail
him it is said that he receives a wound
that never fully heals making him lame
for
life as he grows to power he is called
timour the lame or taml in the west it
is a name that his enemies will come to
dread by the year
1360 teamour is an important Amir or
leader a master chess player a skilled
strategist though he is a Mongol he
cannot claim descent from genas Khan so
he creates an elaborate genealogy
linking himself to the great leader he
even takes two wives descended from
genas Khan to legitimize his
claim tore certainly I think saw himself
as a restoring a certain view a certain
version of jusan History it was his own
version reflected very much the prism of
his own Ambitions and
um he at a certain point saw himself as
a man of Destiny not only as simply the
agent of of the uh the righteousness of
the jengas sonan cause but saw himself
as a person acting in his own
right by
1375 the Mongol Empire is not timor's
only restoration project a century and a
half after genas Khan puts Samaran to
the torch timour hopes to make his
adopted Hometown The Jewel of the
world he was born in that very area and
he was always attached to what is now
usbekistan as his birthplace and in the
course of his campaigns wherever he went
he would kill all the men in a city that
he had captured but he would save all
the Artisans from death and transport
them back to sarand so you must imagine
sarand alive with Traditions from all
over the Muslim World from China also
from India so sarand was something
special suan was a Garden City and one
of tor's um main construction activities
was to provide irrigation canals that
opened up whole suburbs with these
wonderful Gardens because teamour was a
Muslim he also constructed Muslim
buildings and he used a lot of the booty
that he acquired when he conquered India
to construct an absolutely enormous MTH
one of the attributes of teamour seems
to have been his pride and his
megalomania we might say and you see
this in this mosque it is
colossal size was the big thing the the
entrance way is 50 ft tall and clearly
the impression you're supposed to get is
is I The Humble little worshipper have
to go through this 50ft Doorway to get
in the magnificence of samand is a
testament to the might of teor but it is
also a testament to his brutal means of
keeping
order outside the walls of saman his
merciless cruelty becomes
Legend from 1385 on timour
systematically sacks all of Western
Persia as well as cities throughout
aeran Georgia Armenia and the
Caucasus tens of thousands of people are
slain along the
way in 1398 timour follows in the
footsteps of the Greeks leading an
audacious Expedition over the world's
most notorious mountains the Hindu Kush
he then lays waste to Northern India but
the farther timour extends his reach the
more difficult it is to control hostile
[Music]
populations when the inhabitants of
Delhi rebel against their new Mongol
Masters timour takes a page out of genas
Khan's book of Terror and writes a new
and even more horrific
chapter the reports that he cut off the
heads of his victims and piled them into
huge heaps URS so often that one can't
help wondering whether this is not
accurate and not just mere rhetoric but
it wouldn't account for the numbers
70,000 880,000
I think we're talking about
psychological warfare which is something
that the Mongols had introduced it's one
thing to go to war it's quite another to
use Terror as a weapon of war and this
is what teamour
did team more built upon the legacy of
chingas and used it effectively he was
more terrible in that sense that he
slaughtered more brutally more quickly
uh but always always sparing The
Artisans when they say he destroyed the
city that's uh somewhat of a metaphor
meaning he killed off enough people to
look at bad to make it look bad and then
he brought back from every city he
conquers the best workers the best
Artisans uh the best engineers
the best
products the vaed skyline of modernday
Istanbul Bears Testament to the one
Dynasty that stood in the way of timor's
dream of a gengas sized Empire the
ottoman
Turks in 1402 timor's expanding lands
reached the immovable borders of Ottoman
Sultan
bazid proud to the point of arrogance
neither leader can tolerate the other
timour even goes so far as to suggest
beit's mother is of dubious birth
meaning she is a
[Music]
[ __ ] beaz it can stand no more leading
one of the finest armies in the world
the sultan rides out of his Fortress at
anara to meet timur's far smaller Force
confident and imposing he knows little
of that cunning Genius of the Mongol
timour in 1402 goated by slurs on his
honor the ottoman Sultan bazit races to
meet timor's Mongol forces but timour
aware of the Sultan's route does an end
sweep around the
Turks traveling off the Beaten Track he
catches the sultan off
guard he lays Siege to the the Turkish
stronghold anara
itself it is a humiliating turn of
events for bazid he is forced to beat a
hasty Retreat to defend his
City when his weary troops finally
arrive they are no match for the
well-rested
Mongols even worse in the heat of battle
an entire Turkish Battalion defects to
the Le side when they see a beloved
Prince fighting for
timour tricked betrayed and totally
routed Sultan bazid nobly refuses to
leave the field of battle he is
determined to fight to the last but he
is captured and taken
[Music]
prisoner the ottoman defeat May taste
sweet to timour but it is even more
delicious to Christian
Europe
now if you look at this on the grand
strategic map of Ura at the time the
ottoman Sultans were poised to scoop up
Constantinople they had moved into
Europe they had encircled it they were
ready to begin the siege that would have
destroyed the principal city of Eastern
Christendom and just then that was their
bad luck someone came knocking at their
back door
and that was Teo the reaction uh in
Europe to the defeat of of bazid yerim
was unrestrained
[Music]
Joy with the defeat of the Ottomans in
1402 timor's Empire nearly matches
Genghis Khan in size and
scope predictably it is not enough for
the voracious
conqueror
to secure his place in history he must
do his hero one better and the only way
to accomplish this is to take what genas
could not
China but like genas Khan timour
mysteriously Falls ill and dies on the
march to
China in
1405 in Sumer
he is laid to rest in a tomb as ornate
as genas Khan's was
simple there's a curious story that as
he Lay Dying he
said do not disturb My Grave for if you
do a fate worse than me will fall upon
you and his grave was kept absolutely
untouched until the 22nd of June 194 41
when Soviet archaeologists opened the
grave and found the skeleton of a tall
man with a damaged
hip and on the 22nd of June 1941 Hitler
launched his attack on
Russia and that was the signal for some
20 million Russians to perish in the
following four
years so you could say that he had a
long arm and that that long arm
stretched right into the 20th
century without the force of timor's
personality and Leadership his heirs are
unable to hold the empire together the
Mongols begin to fade into history too
small in number to rule their vast
Empire they become assimilated into the
cultures they conquer adopting their
religions and Customs as their own and
yet their impact remains immeasurable
even today
by opening China to the West the Mongols
created an insatiable thirst for Asian
Goods the drive to quench it spurred the
age of Discovery and the Voyages that
would lead Europe to
America truly by shattering the old
empires of China and Persia the Mongols
gave birth to the modern
world an Empire that stretched from the
Sea of Japan to the Baltic
from uh koreaa to East
Germany
and took in most of your Asia apart from
India and Southeast Asia there's been
nothing like
it will the world ever see another
Empire like it in Mongolia some
fervently hope so even today genis Khan
is worshiped there as a
god his name is a source of national
Pride his tent a hallowed Shrine Small
Wonder then that the Mongols wait
eagerly for the spirit to rise a new and
for the Barbarian to
[Music]
[Music]
return
[Music]
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