Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

gjy664 – Chinggis Khan and the Mongol Empire

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army learnt key tactics, such as the use of captives in producing goods 95 and fulfilling tasks 96 as learnt from the Jin emperor. 97 Carpini’s suggestion that captives were controlled under Mongol leadership is backed by other sources. 98 Hence, many skills and adaptions to traditional

Mongol warfare were learnt during Chinese conquests, which enabled future success.

Consequently, Mongol military tactics and the system of adaption implemented by Chinggis

Khan were critical to Mongol success. These enabled the establishment of a strong army which

adapted tactics and relied on division of labor. Thus, it can be said that Chinggis Khan’s

implementation of military tactics and the system of adaption enabled Mongol success. Whilst

both the Secret History and Ystoria Mongalorum comment on Mongol military tactics, the

sources diverge on their role in Mongol success. Unlike the Secret History , Ystoria

Mongalorum emphasises the skills of a Mongol warrior and the nature of fighting rather than

the intellectual capacities of Chinggis, reflecting a European bias relating to racial superiority.

Thus, unlike in the Secret History, psychological warfare is viewed as mindless butchery in

Ystoria Mongalorum .

Conclusion

The creation of the largest land empire in history by the Mongols in the 13 th and 14 th Centuries

has given rise to a number of historiographical issues. Rather than being admired for this

achievement, the Mongols tend to be vilified in historical accounts. Indeed, one might argue

that the lack of historical focus on the Mongol Empire is a tool for diminishing the positive

attributes of their culture. Historical controversy might be attributed to one of the original

European accounts (Carpini’s Ystoria Mongalorum ) that was often misquoted to emphasise the

barbarous nature of Mongol society and their warriors. However, on closer scrutiny of this

manuscript it is clear that Chinggis Khan’s organisational skills, political acumen, flexibility,

military tactics and expansionist policy were factors accounting for the rise of the Mongol

Empire. Corroborating evidence is found in a contemporary document that was created by

organic Mongol sources, known as The Secret History of the Mongols . Together, these primary

sources provide a consistency of evidence that largely contradicts the popular impression that

the Mongols were a ‘pestilence’ similar to the black plague that later spread from the East.

95 “Genghis Khan Mongol Ruler,” Charles R Bawden. 96 Carpini, History of the Mongols , 37. 97 “Genghis Khan Mongol Ruler,” Charles R Bawden. 98 Carpini, History of the Mongols , 36.