1
Mongol Invasion of Europe This site offers the full text of an essay on Mongol invasion of Europe in general and the battle between Mongol and European forces at Liegnitz in particular.
http://www.thehistorynet.com/MilitaryHistory/articles/1997/06972_cover.htm
Questions for further exploration:
What advantages in tactics and technology did the Mongols use to defeat their European adversaries? How did Mongol traditions act to undermine their great victory over the Europeans?
2
Mongols and Black Death These sites study the role of the Mongols in the spread of bubonic plague.
http://home.swbell.net/kkmartin/biotec.htm and http://www.carleton.ca/~tpatters/teaching/climatechange/blackdeath.html
Questions for further exploration:
How may the Bubonic plague spread to Europe via Mongol military tactics? What may disease play in future as well as past wars?
3
The Land of Genghis Khan These are splendid sites addressing many aspects of Mongol history and culture.
http://faculty.acu.edu/~armstrongl/geography/mongol.htm http://vvv.com/khan/ , http://home.powertech.no/pioe/webdoc3.htm http://www.asianart.com/mongolia/index.html , http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/genghis/index.html , http://www.friesian.com/mongol.htm#great (contains an excellent map of Mongol conquests)
Questions for exploration:
What conditions produced and were the undoing of Genghis Khan and his successors? Was Genghis Khan interested in more than booty? What Mongol policies, skills and talents are often thought admirable? What Mongol policies and practices embody the horrors of human conflict?
4
Women in Mongol Society These sites contain essays that attempt to grapple with the macho mythology of Mongol raiders, a mythology heightened by written sources about the Mongols which are translations by or productions of writers from patriarchal societies such as China. Mongol women were certainly not very free nor powerful actors in Mongol affairs, but they were accorded a larger, broader well than might be assumed, both then and today. They also offer insight into the life of daughter-in-law of Genghis Khan, Sorghaghtani Beki, who was also the mother of Kubilai Khan.
http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/world-history/teaching/mongol/women.html and http://home.powertech.no/pioe/monwomen.htm , http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine8.html , http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/mongolian8.html
Questions for further exploration:
In what ways did women play important roles in Mongol society? What are some examples of the respect afforded the advice of women? How did the Mongols bring their views of women to China? Why might these views change over time during the Yuan or Mongol Dynasty in China?
5
Marco Polo On the Tartars (Mongols) Marco Polo may or may not have ever visited China, but he did at least work on the fringes of Central Asia and was well acquainted with the political history of Central Asia. This site offers selections from his account of the history of the Mongol Empire and Mongol society.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/mpolo44-46.html
Questions for further exploration:
Marco Polo finds the Mongols anything but barbaric. Using examples from this selection, write an essay discussing those aspects of Mongol political and social life he admired.
6
Kubilai Khan These sites examine the impact of Mongol rule in China established by Kubilai Khan.
http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/China/KublaiKhan.html http://www.easc.indiana.edu/pages/easc/curriculum/china/1996/EACPWorkBook/trad/polo.htm , http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHEMPIRE/YUAN.HTM
Questions for further exploration:
What brought Kubilai Khan to China? What was the social system Kubilai Khan imposed on China? What was its purpose and results? What experiments in the building of a more efficient government and/or economy did he undertake? How did Mongol views of government, religion, philosophy and military service influence the course of Chinese culture? How did traditional Mongol military enterprises sap the wealth and stability of the state?
7
The Crisis of Mongol Identity This site offers an essay that attempts to find the roots of Mongol cultural identity and take the lessons learned from past history and use it to aid Mongolian culture today.
http://www.ignca.nic.in/ls_03011.htm
Questions for further exploration:
How did a common Mongol identity assist the growth of the Mongol Empire? How did the Mongols attempt to rescue a common identity though religion? What does the author believe to be basic characteristics of Mongol identity? What does he think is the best course for the Mongol people to take at this current juncture in their history?
8
Timur-i-Lang These sites examine the life and impact of the last of the great nomadic empire builders, Timur, or Tamerlane as he was known in the West.
http://www.ucalgary.ca/HIST/tutor/oldwrld/armies/tamerlane.html and http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5246/Timur.html
Questions for further exploration:
What did Ibn Khaldun think of Timur? How was his character expressed in his own religious beliefs and the make-up of his army? What final conquest did a natural death deprive him of? What was his ambition in regard to central Asian trade routes? How were his armies and intentions typical of how armies and empires acted as agents of cultural contact?
9
Mohammed Targai Ulugh Beg This site provides a brief biography of Ulugh Beg, 1393-1449 C.E., ruler of Turkestan, scientist and son of Timur.
http://salam.muslimsonline.com/~azahoor/beg.html
Question for further exploration:
How did Ulugh Beg attempt to contribute to science and human knowledge in central Asia?
