Eurasian Nomads:
Part 2

Mongol World Empire (1206-1368)

by Terry Gore


Genghis or Chingiz Khan united the Mongol and neighbouring Turkic tribes by 1206 AD. The Uighurs, who submit peacefully, provide their vertical script as the first Mongol writing system. The Mongol-Tatar (the Tatar were a group absorbed by Chingiz Khan's Mongols, but the name was then transferred to the many Turkic peoples who served as Mongol allies) armies conquer all of the steppes, as well as the sedentary civilizations of Russia (1240), Persia and Mesopotamia (1258), and southern China (1278). Mongol domination in Islamic Southwest Asia lasted until 1355, in China until 1368, and in Russia well into the 15th century.

Mongol was initially the name of a tribe roaming along the Erguna River. Moving to the grasslands of western Mongolia in the 7th Century, the Mongols settled in the upper reaches of the Onon, Kerulen and Tula rivers and areas east of the Kentey Mountains in the 12th Century. Later, their offshoots grew into many tribal groups, such as Qiyan, Zadalan and Taichiwu. The Mongolian grasslands and the forests around Lake Baikal were also home to many other tribes such as Tatar, Wongjiqa, Mierqi, Woyela, Kelie, Naiman and Wanggu, which varied in size and economic and cultural development.

Early in the 13th Century, Temujin of the Mongol tribe unified all these tribes to form a new national community called Mongol. In 1206, he had a clan conference held on the bank of the Onon River, at which he was elected the Great Khan of all Mongols with the title of Genghis Khan. This was followed by the founding of a centralized feudal khanate under aristocratic rule, which promoted the development of Mongolian society. Military conquests ensued on a large scale soon after Temujin's accession to the throne.

Eurasian Nomads: Part 2

Eurasian Nomads: Part 1

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© Copyright 2004 by Terry Gore
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