The Mongol Empire: Map & History

Military

The Mongol military eliminated the traditional weaknesses of nomadic armies and built upon their tactical strengths to become one of the most formidable armed forces in history. Previous nomadic armies were based on the skill of horse-archers—armoured cavalry able to shoot accurately and quickly with composite bows—who often overwhelmed their enemies with their speed and mobility, ambushes, or feigned retreats. However, their shortcomings included poor siege warfare capabilities, an inability to satisfactorily occupy defeated enemies, and above all a lack of military discipline, which often in resulted in disunity or even, after a defeat, disintegration.

Legacy

The Mongol Empire, at its height of being the largest contiguous empire in history, had a lasting impact while unifying large regions. Some, such as eastern and western Russia, and western parts of China, remain unified today. Mongols might have assimilated into local populations after the fall of the empire, and some of their descendants adopted local religions. For example, the eastern khanate adopted Buddhism, and the three western khanates adopted Islam, largely under Sufi influence.

The non-military achievements of the Mongol Empire include the introduction of a writing system, a Mongol alphabet based on the characters of the Old Uyghur, which is still used in Mongolia.

Background

The predecessors of the Mongol tribe were first recorded in the late tenth century, as they migrated from eastern Manchuria into the Mongolian Plateau, where they settled southeast of Lake Baikal near the mountain Burkhan Khaldun. During the twelfth century, the Mongols rose to prominence as its khans made allies and led raids on the Chinese Jin dynasty. The killing of the khans Qutula and Ambaghai in the 1160s ended this first confederation. The Mongols were reduced to comparative penury; other tribes, such as the Naimans in the west of the plateau and Kerait in the centre, became much more powerful, while the Mongols competed with smaller tribes like the Merkit and the Tatars, the allies of the Jin, in the east and north.