The Postclassical Period, c. 600 CE to c. 1450: Content Summary 3.4: The Mongols and the Revitalization of the Silk Roads

Living in an environment that did not support agriculture, the nomadic pastoralists of the central and north Asian steppes depended on their herds and frequent trade with sedentary neighbors for survival. (3.4.A)

Beginning in the early 11th century, complex, confederated political states began to emerge from these nomadic tribes. (3.4.A)

Established by Genghis Khan in 1206, it became the largest contiguous land empire in history. (3.4.A)

Genghis Khan used both conquest and diplomacy to forge Mongol and Turkic tribes into a single empire. (3.4.A)

Genghis Khan used both conquest and diplomacy to forge Mongol and Turkic tribes into a single empire. (3.4.A)

He also diminished the importance of bloodlines by organizing military units of different tribes and promoting marriages between clans, blurring tribal identities. (3.4.A)

Mongol armies strategically utilized skilled units of archers and cavalry to mount quick, precise attacks that overwhelmed both nomadic and sedentary opponents. (3.4.A)

Gunpowder, cannons, and siege weapons were incorporated into Mongol arsenals and facilitated the conquest of walled cities. (3.4.A)

At the same time, Kublai Khan adopted many traditional aspects of a Chinese lifestyle and became a major patron of Chinese art, music, and culture. (3.4.B)

Under the Yuan, scientific knowledge from other Mongol states, such as the Persian calendar and Muslim medical and technological advances, diffused to China. (3.4.B)

In China, Kublai Khan rejected Confucian suspicion of merchants, and large navies were assembled to promote and protect maritime commerce as well as invade neighboring states. (3.4.C)

The Silk Roads had been neglected after the end of the Tang Dynasty, but the protection of trading caravans and general political stability provided by the Mongols reinvigorated the trade routes. (3.4.C)

The Silk Roads had been neglected after the end of the Tang Dynasty, but the protection of trading caravans and general political stability provided by the Mongols reinvigorated the trade routes. (3.4.C)

These and other Mongol policies revived long-distance exchanges of technologies, foods, and pathogens. (3.4.C)

In western Europe, the plague killed a third of the population, resulting in labor shortages that made manorial obligations difficult to enforce and led to the decline of feudalism. (3.4.C)