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THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (717-1453)
CHAPTER XX
THE MONGOLS
IN
attempting to give an account of the Mongols, the historian is confronted with
many serious obstacles. At the outset, it would seem as though the stories of
these wandering tribes could never be co-ordinated;
the incidents of their history are so heterogeneous in character, that it seems
an impossible task to pick out a connecting thread running through them all.
The internal events, which should assist the historian in tracing the
development and confederation of the various tribes, baffle and retard him. The
early history is shrouded in myth and mystery. At so late an epoch in the
progress of humanity, the student might not unreasonably expect trustworthy
evidence and records. But, in reviewing the early period of the Mongolian
State, it is a matter of exceptional importance to separate the historical
elements from the fictitious, and this is a task involving much discrimination
and patience. Every piece of information seems, on its own merits and taken by itself, to be petty and negligible; nor is it easy to
discover any positive relation of any consequence between disconnected and
sporadic occurrences. There are no central figures, no outstanding
personalities, before the time of Jenghiz. The
darkness is broken by no brilliant flashes but only by tiny gleams that serve
but to intensify the obscurity. We cannot mark cause and effect; we cannot
explain, by the recognised canons of historical
judgment, the phenomena displayed by the Mongol history. On the other hand, if
the events of their internal progress are sporadic and disconnected, if they
seem to violate the normal course of national growth, when we come to examine
the external events and the expansion of these savage tribes, we find ourselves
confronted by facts that are equally inexplicable. Insignificant at home and
enormous abroad may be said to sum their salient characteristics, in any case
during the earlier periods. It is precisely on account of their foreign
relations that a knowledge of the Mongols is essential
to the student. Without their effect on the human race outside their borders,
the Mongols could be suffered to remain in obscurity.
The
difficulties that await the investigator are not exhausted. He has to work with
a telescope instead of a microscope. Not only has a vast extent of territory to
be kept under constant observation, but movements and actions among neighbouring peoples must be watched closely. The history
of the Mongols knows no geographical boundaries. The settled limits of nations
were swiftly and ruthlessly overthrown. Unchecked by human valour,
they were able to overcome the terrors of vast deserts, the barriers of
mountains and seas, the severities of climate, and the ravages of famine and
pestilence. No dangers could appal them, no
stronghold could resist them, no prayer for mercy
could move them. Wherever their fancy roamed, their hordes followed.
Flourishing cities perished in a night, leaving no memorial but ruins and
mounds of piled-up corpses. The quiet that followed the Mongol invasions was
not the calm that settled on a world wearied of strife, eager to foster once
again the fruits of civilisation: it was the gasp of
expiring nations in their death-agony, before the eternal silence of the tomb.
They made their deserts and they called it peace. To follow the destinies of
the Mongols, it is necessary to think in continents not in countries, for like
an irresistible torrent the armies of the Khans swept over the map of Asia and
Europe. A knowledge of no single language will suffice
to equip a student for the task of investigating the Mongol races with any
profundity. Besides the Tartar languages, some acquaintance is essential with
the languages of the peoples with whom the Mongols came into contact. Their
armies ranged over all Central Asia, pushing on eastwards to China and
westwards to Russia and even to Germany. As a result, the student must be
prepared to deal with sources in many tongues, and with more freedom and
greater facility than is the case when dealing with other nations.
But if this
combination of circumstances invests a study of the Mongols with difficulty, it
constitutes an equally potent reason for undertaking the task. We are
confronted with a new power in history, with a force that was to bring to an
abrupt end, as a deus ex machina,
many dramas that would otherwise have ended in a deadlock, or would have
dragged on an interminable course. The very magnitude of the Mongol influence
and the colossal area of their operations should prove an additional incentive
to the student, and render an attempt to estimate the nature and scope of the
changes which ensued alike attractive and fruitful.
In Europe
the Mongols overran Russia, Hungary, and Silesia; to the upheaval which they
brought about, the establishment of the Turkish Empire, and consequently the
growth of the Renaissance, must be directly attributed. This same upheaval
reacted on the contests between Saracen and Crusader and, nearer home, on the
antagonism of the Papacy and the Empire. The extermination of the Assassins
(1256), a task beyond the power of Europe or Syria, was a matter of comparative
ease to the Mongols. Before the terror which their name inspired, Europe seemed
utterly demoralised and incapable of resistance, and,
had not the Mambaks intervened (1260) and beaten back
the invaders at a critical moment, there is little doubt but that a great
portion of Europe would have succumbed to Tartar rule.
Unification of Asia
The
convulsion caused by the Mongols in Europe, great though it was, cannot be
compared to that produced in Asia. The destruction of Baghdad and the overthrow
of the Caliphate (1258), the annihilation of the Kin or Golden Dynasty which
ruled the northern half of China (1234), the conquest of Southern China, of Kharazm, Persia, and the surrounding countries, the
establishment of the rule of the Moguls in India, are some of the events any of
which alone would suffice to make a knowledge of the Mongol power indispensable
to the general historian. It is not accurate to regard the Mongols merely as a
ravaging horde. After sacking Baghdad, Halagu founded
an observatory; after conquering China, Kublai established a university at Cambalu (Pekin). The "scourge of God" does not
smite blindly. It is a noteworthy phenomenon that a successful barbarian attack
on civilisation, however destructive be its ravages
at the moment, is ultimately followed by a great revival, and this revival may
often be traced to the very catastrophe which seemed destined to overwhelm
culture in irretrievable ruin. In the sphere of religion, this may be observed
by the Assyrian (B.c. 587) and Roman (A.D. 70)
conquests of Judaea, which, in the end, created and strengthened the diaspora
and made the outer world acquainted with the moral teachings of the Pentateuch
and Prophets. In the spheres of the arts and humanities, the Roman conquest of
Greece, the Turkish conquest of the Byzantine Empire, are instances which go to
prove how the accumulated stores of learning may be released and rendered
accessible to a wider circle. The Arab conquest of Spain gave the light of science,
medicine, philosophy, and poetry to Europe in the Dark Ages. The capture of
Jerusalem led directly to the establishment of the schools in Jamnia, the ruthless persecution of Hadrian produced the
academies of Babylon, and "on the day when the Temple was destroyed, the
Messiah was born."
The same
statement may be made of the Mongols. The fall of Baghdad transferred the seat
of the humanities to Egypt. At the same time it dispersed many scholars and
humanists who survived the débacle. Their dispersion throughout the
Muslim lands brought academic strength to the places where they settled, while
the removal of the literary centre of gravity from
Baghdad to Cairo facilitated the access of the Western world to the culture of
the Orient. But, apart from mere negative results, the growth of the Mongol
power was responsible for other developments in the East. The first and
foremost of these was the unification of Asia. This must not be interpreted in
the modern sense of political unity or homogeneity. The Mongol government
secured tranquillity within its vast borders. The
roads were open and a traveller could, as things
went, count upon a safe journey, unless he had the misfortune to pass within
range of the Emperor's funeral cortege, in which case his fate was death. There
was complete religious toleration, and it is only a superficial judgment that
will ascribe this to spiritual indifference on the part of the Mongols.
Economic changes were also introduced; thus the service of posts, though utilised by the Arabs previously, was largely increased,
and the use of paper money was sanctioned by Gaikhatu Khan in 1294 and previously by Kublai. No nation can claim to excel in every
branch of human activity, and the deficiency of the Mongols in the domain of
literature was made good in other directions.
Mongol and Tartar
It is
necessary to begin a sketch of the Mongols with a brief account of their
origin, and an explanation or rather an enumeration of the names by which they
are known. The name Mongol itself was first applied to certain tribes
inhabiting Central Asia. It has come to be a generic name, far more catholic
and comprehensive, but it is doubtful whether the various tribes surrendered
their own individual names in favour of a uniform
imperial designation. "Mongol" as a national name would seem to be
more frequent in the mouths of foreigners. It is also known to Europe in the
form of Mogul, a title which is more properly restricted to the Mongol rulers
of India and which has probably arisen through the Arabic Mughul.
As to the etymology of the name, opinions are divided, the most generally accepted being that of Sanang Setzen (b. 1604) who derives the name from the word Mong which, in the Chinese language, has the signification
of brave.
The second
name, Tartar, should more correctly be spelt Tatar, as in Persian. The first
"r" has been inserted in consequence of a fanciful connection with
Tartarus; the paronomasia was attributed variously to Innocent IV and to others
(Ad sua Tartara Tartari detrudentur). Various theories were held in the Middle Ages with regard to the origin of the Tartars.
According to Roger Bacon, they were the soldiers of Antichrist; Friar John of Pian di Carpine believed them to
be remnants of the ten tribes whom Alexander the Great endeavoured to shut up in the mountains by the Caspian. Most, however, of these fanciful
speculations were based on the contemporary estimate of the character of the
invading hordes, not on geographical or ethnological considerations. Fear, not
history, was their source. As a matter of fact the Turkish elements in the
Mongol confederacy repudiated the name Tartar which, according to Howorth, was sometimes applied generically by the Chinese
to all their Northern neighbours and it was thus that
it came to be applied to the Mongols. But there was a specific race, Tartar,
from which the generic term was derived. This we might guess from the fact that
the name Tartar was known in the West long before the days of Mongol supremacy
and when the Mongols were only an obscure tribe."
Mongol,
then, and Tartar were names of two tribes living in the Eastern portion of
Central Asia, to the north-west of China, by the river Uldza and by the Kerulen, Orkhon, Onon,
and other tributaries to the great river Amur. The origin of these tribes is
shrouded in an obscurity which for the present purpose requires no
investigation. It is sufficient to pick up the thread of the story at the place
where, having formed a powerful confederacy, they proceeded to launch forth
their hordes in all directions and play a prominent part on the stage of
general history. A brief enumeration of the component elements would resolve
itself into a mere list of names, but a few of the more important tribes
deserve mention. Of these the chief was that known as the Kipchaks,
who ultimately spread over the districts to the north of the Black Sea and the
Caspian, practically from the Danube to the Ural. They were one of the five
sections of the Turks under Oghuz Khan, whence their later Arabic name of Ghuzz (Uzes, Guzes)
is derived. To Europe they were known as Cumans, from Comania (Kamistdn) in Persia, a name derived from the river
Kuma. In the ninth century their expansion brought them to the Volga, and
having conquered territory round the banks of that river they made themselves a
thorn in the side of Russia, until their incorporation by the Mongols in the
Golden Horde during the thirteenth century.
Jenghiz Khan
The Eastern neighbours of the Kipchaks were
the Kankali, whose territory lay to the north of Lake
Aral, between the Ural river and Lake Balkash. They were also part of Oghuz Khan's Turkish
subjects; Rubruquis and other travellers,
in the course of their wanderings, visited and mentioned them. Many of the Kankali were in the service of the Khwarazm Shah until the
overthrow of the latter by Jenghiz Khan. Farther
eastward, to the south of the Ob and Yenisey rivers,
were the Naimans, also Turks, in whose district was
the famous town Karakorum, which Ogdai Khan made his
capital. In 1211 Kushluk, Khan of the Naimans, usurped the sovereignty of the Kara Khitai. In the
time of Rubruquis, the Naimans were, according to that traveller, subjects of Prester John, but Mangu Khan
claimed their allegiance. To the south of the Naimans,
in the western part of Mongolia, stretching towards China were the Uighurs. By the close of the eighth century their power increased and they
had diplomatic relations with China. This tribe was one of the centres of Nestorian Christianity. To the north of the
Uighurs, beyond the lands of the Keraits, were the Merkits, who have been described by Marco Polo and Rashid.
They were conquered by Jenghiz Khan in 1197. These
were the chief tribes in the Mongol Confederacy.
As regards
the origins of the Mongols, it is not necessary to say much. Many fables are
told about the various tribes and their heroes; among the most interesting of
these is the story of the ancestral hero, nourished when a child by a wolf,
thus furnishing an Eastern parallel to Romulus and Remus. But until the twelfth
century the influence exercised on the outside world was insignificant. Mention
is first made of the Mongols in Chinese records, in the history of the Tang
Dynasty (618-690), and scattered references occur later, for instance in 984
and in 1180.
Rashid
traces the descent of the Mongols back to Japhet, but
of course the greater part of the early period is merely mythical. It is only
near the period of Jenghiz Khan that safe ground is
reached. During the Kin Dynasty in China, it is known that many Mongols,
probably with their Khan, Kabul, became subject to the Chinese Emperor Tai-Tsung from 1123-1137, but rebelled in 1138 after his death.
This rebellion marks the beginning of the rise of the Mongols. It was at this
period that they suffered from internal dissension; the feud between the Mongol
and Tartar tribes was ended by the triumph of the former through the
instrumentality of Jenghiz Khan. This hero was the
son of Yesukai, who was the grandson of Kabul Khan.
While Yesukai in 1154-1155 was ravaging the Tartar
lands, his wife Ogelen Eke (or Yulun)
gave birth to a first-born son who was called Temujin,
after the name of the Tartar chieftain recently slain by Yesukai.
The name Temujin is most probably Chinese by
etymology and means "excellent steel." The similarity of the Turkish Temurji (smith) is perhaps the origin of the fable that Jenghiz was himself a smith. Temujin,
later known by his style of Jenghiz Khan, was born at
a place called Deligun Buldagha,
near the Onon. The name of the spot has remained
until the present time; by Rubruquis it is called
Onan Kerule. When he was thirteen years of age, his
father Yesukai died, leaving to his son a small
nucleus of subjects. At the outset Jenghiz was
confronted with many difficulties. The spirit of disaffection which prevailed
among his followers soon developed into revolt. A general rising jeopardised the prospects of the youthful chieftain, but
the energy and capability of his mother Yulun recovered some of the lost ground for him. A long period of unending strife
ensued. With the Naimans, whose centre is said to have been Karakorum, and the Keraits, Jenghiz had to wage war continuously, and with varying
success. Once he was captured and tortured, but managed to escape with his
life. At length after many years he succeeded in consolidating his position.
Finally, after a series of victories Jenghiz overcame
his last opponent, Wang Khan, and became supreme over the nucleus of the
Mongols. From the date of the Kuriltai, or general
convocation, which took place after this event, in 1203, the beginning of the
empire is usually considered to date. The title of Khan, was, however, assumed
in 1206 at another assembly by the river Onon. The
period from this date until 1227, when Jenghiz died,
comprises the era of extension and conquest. The first object of attack was
China, which consisted of two main divisions: the Northern, with Yenkin (near Pekin) as its capital, and the Southern, the
chief town of which was Lingan, also called Hangchow
or Kinsai.
Conquest of Turkestan and Khwarazm
This Empire
was ruled by the Sung Dynasty and the Northern by the Kin. The Kin rulers were
supreme over Tartary. Subject to their sway were the Khitans,
who had previously been supplanted in the dominion of the Northern Empire.
Preliminary invasions of Hia or Tangut, the province
to the west of the Yellow River, were successfully undertaken in 1208; the Kin
army was defeated and the territory within the great wall reduced to
submission. These victories paved the way for an attack on a larger scale, and
in 1213 three grand armies were despatched. The main
expedition under the command of Jenghiz himself and
Tule-, his youngest son, followed a southeastern direction. He sent his three
other sons—Juji, Jagatai, and Ogdai
with another force to form his right wing and operate on the south, while the
remainder, under his brothers, were despatched to the
east in the direction of the sea. It is unnecessary to follow the steps of
these armies in detail; it is sufficient to record their complete success. The
subjugation of the Hia occupied him from 1208 to
1212, and the Kin and Kara-Khitai in Eastern
Turkestan from 1212 to 1214. Having crushed these foes, Jenghiz turned his ambitions to the western horizon. His dominions now reached as far
as the territory of Muhammad, the Shah of Khwarazm. This mighty empire was
bounded on the west by Kurdistan, Khfizistan, and the
Persian Gulf; to the east it reached nearly to the Indus. It included the
littoral of Lake Aral, and partly of the Caspian, on the north. It comprised Azarbaijan, Iraq Ajami, Fars, Kirman, Mukran (Beluchistan), Sistan, Khurasan, Afghanistan, the Pamirs, Sughd,
and Mawara-an-Nahr (Transoxiana) among its main portions. The empire had been originally founded
by Anushtigin, a slave of Malik Shah the Seluk. At the time of Jenghiz,
Muhammad, the Shah of Khwarazm, was at the height of his power, and it is
estimated that he could put into the field an army of half a million soldiers.
War was inevitable; the insatiable ambition of Jenghiz supplied the casus belli; the execution by Muhammad of the Mongol envoys was
alleged as a pretence. In
1219 Jenghiz left his capital Karakorum with two
divisions under his sons Juji and Jagatai. Massacre
and pillage were the concomitants of their victories. Piles of corpses and the
blackened traces of ruined cities marked their progress. Pity
was unknown to them; the most atrocious treachery and disregard of oaths and of
promises of quarter were employed to hunt out and extirpate the
scattered survivors of their barbarity. The flourishing cities of Tashkent, Nur, Bukhara, Samarqand, and Balkh were utterly destroyed,
and their inhabitants ruthlessly butchered, according to the well-known Mongol
principle, "Stone dead bath no fellow." Muhammad fled to Nishapur,
but was pursued to the shores of the Caspian, where he died, leaving a
shattered wreck of a kingdom to his son Jalal-ad-Din. Merv and Nishapur shared the fate of the other cities.
Finally Jenghiz and Jalal-ad-Din met in battle on the
banks of the Indus; the latter was utterly defeated but managed to escape to
Delhi, where he found a refuge and peace for a while at the court of the
Sultan. The last act of Jenghiz in this campaign was
to massacre all the inhabitants of Herat, since they had ventured to depose his
nominee from the governorship. According to Douglas, 1,600,000 people were
slain within the walls.
Empire of Jenghiz Khan
Jenghiz returned,
but did not long enjoy the fruits of peace. Not even the enormous booty which
his victories had brought him could induce the conqueror to spare his neighbours. The death of the last of the Kin Dynasty in
1223 removed the final shadow of autonomy in North China, and Jenghiz was now face to face with the Sung Dynasty in the
South. He set out on a fresh expedition, but died in 1227 by the Sale river in Mongolia. The funeral escort that bore his corpse
homeward slaughtered every person whom they met, in order to prevent the news
of his death from being divulged.
Jenghiz Khan
deserves to be remembered as a ruler, not only as a conqueror. In the intervals
of bloodshed, he found time to promote the arts of peace and order. He organised a regular service of posts and couriers, and
rendered the highways secure for travellers. His
tolerance to all religious beliefs was probably due less to superstition than
to indifference. Not being deeply attached to any definite faith, he was not
anxious that one creed should secure preponderance. Divines, physicians, and
learned men were exempted from taxes. Perhaps the only plea by which a captive
might save his life was that of learning, though few instances of such clemency
are preserved. Jenghiz introduced the use of the
Uighur character, and caused his subjects to acquire the art of writing. He
compiled a code of laws, or rather authorised the
codification of existing tribal customs, which he raised to a legal value, and
to which he imparted the sanction of his authority. His personal habits were
such as could be expected from his character. The joys of the chase, mingled
with frequent drinking-bouts, were the normal relaxations of Jenghiz. His wives and concubines numbered five hundred.
But, though he ruled his subjects with an iron hand, his death found him at the
zenith of popularity.
The Empire
of Jenghiz Khan was the largest that ever fell to one
conqueror. The brain reels at the thought of the slaughter by which it was
achieved. In China over eighteen millions of human beings were slain by his
armies. No plague, no other "Scourge of God," has ever smitten so
severely. Howorth would seek to palliate his record,
but it is impossible to do so.
The death of Jenghiz was followed by an interregnum of two years.
The affairs of state were administered without interruption by the sons of the
late chief and by the officers whom he had appointed. At length, in 1229, a Kuriltai was held in order to elect an overlord. It is
important to notice the names of four sons of Jenghiz whose claims were considered at this Kuriltai, for
their subsequent dissensions contributed in no small degree to the disruption
of the Empire. Juji, the eldest son, had died during
his father's lifetime, but the claims to the succession which were his by right
of primogeniture passed, according to Mongol custom, to his family. His three
brothers, in order of age, were Jagatai, Ogdai, and
Tule. The pretensions of Juji's family might without
injustice have been passed over in favour of Jagatai,
but the Kuriltai had no free choice. Jenghiz before his death had settled the destinies of his
sons and, although he ventured to break down the regular Mongol ideas of
inheritance, the force of his authority remained binding beyond the grave. The Kuriltai, after due deliberation and no little hesitation,
carried out the commands of Jenghiz. Ogdai, who was elected chief Khan and successor to his
father, retained Tule near the seat of government, appointing him to various
official posts. The family of Juji received
possessions in the west, Jagatai in the Uighur country. For the present there
was loyal co-operation between the brothers, and with the accession of Ogdai a new stage in the history of Mongol expansion begins.
Conquest of Northern China
This
expansion proceeded in both directions, towards China and towards Europe. The
death of Jenghiz found the Mongol possessions
extending "from the China Sea to the Dnieper." In China, the Kin
Dynasty had been beaten and reduced to submission. In the west, the kingdom of
Khwarazm had been destroyed and its ruler driven far away from his home.
Numerous expeditions had spread the fame of the Mongols and shaken Europe with
terror. The time was ripe for another ebullition. In China the subjugated Kin
were beginning to show signs of revival. Sporadic hostilities had occurred. In
1228 and again in 1230 the Mongols were defeated; the battles, though by no
means serious in character, were sufficient to raise false hopes among the
Chinese; the Mongols no longer appeared to be invincible. Eventually Ogdai roused himself to punish the rebels and determined to
teach them an enduring lesson. It was not merely the effect of the Kin
victories and various incidents of a provocative nature that set the Mongols in
motion; it was the prospect of further conquests beyond the territories of the
Kin. The Southern division of China under the Sung Dynasty, probably alarmed at
the fate of the Kin, had endeavoured to propitiate
the Mongols and avoid any collision with them. It is in any case doubtful
whether this course would have had any efficacy, but a political error at this
juncture gave the Mongols a casus
belli, which when they had finished with the Kin they were not slow
to utilise. The Sung Emperor refused to grant the
Mongol armies leave to pass through his dominions, and slew their envoy. This
refusal was to cost him dear. Meanwhile Ogdai marched
against the Kin from the north; Tule invaded Honan from Paoki, in the Shensi
province. After various campaigns, battles, and massacres, the Kin were finally
swept out of existence in 1234, and the descendants of Jenghiz maintained the supreme rule until displaced by the Ming Dynasty in 1368.
The
overthrow of the Kin was speedily followed up by an attack on the Sung. The
Sung Emperor had ended by assisting the Mongols in their war against the Kin.
His reward was to have been the province of Honan. This the Mongols refused to evacuate. Having secured all that they desired from the Sung
Emperor, they were in no mood to keep their promise, and alleging as a pretext
his former refusal of a passage to the Mongol forces, they despatched an army in 1235.
Expansion westward
At this
stage it is desirable to turn back to events in the West. The last years of Jenghiz Khan were marked by signs of activity among the
conquered cities of Khwarazm. When Muhammad Shah, defeated by the Mongol
armies, died of illness on the Caspian shore, he left a son Jalalad-Din.
The destruction of the Khwarazmian empire deprived the latter of a throne. A beaten fugitive from his Mongol pursuers, he
reached Delhi. Here the Sultan received him with kindness and gave him his
daughter in marriage. Jalal-ad-Din watched for a favourable opportunity, and, with the aid of his father-in-law, succeeded in regaining
piecemeal large portions of his lost heritage. He crossed the Indus and marched
north. Although his troops were few in number and had suffered severely from
the hardships of the journey, he effected the
expulsion of his surviving brother Ghiyath-ad-Din,
who ruled Iraq Ajami, Khurasan,
and Mazandaran, and seized his dominions. He attacked and defeated the Caliph
of Baghdad. In 1226 he captured Tiflis in Georgia, between the Black Sea and
the Caspian, and, in the following year, overcame a small Mongol army. The
important city of Khilat, in Armenia, now fell into
his hands and his power increased on all sides. But vengeance fell upon him
swiftly and suddenly. Ogdai sent a large force to
reduce him, and before the news of its coming reached Jalal-ad-Din he was
surrounded in Diyarbakr. No chance of combat
remained, for the Khwarazmian troops were far away.
Jalal-ad-Din took refuge in flight but was slain by a Kurd. His death brought
an end to the Khwarazm Shahs and their kingdom. But the Mongols did not cease
their campaign. The horror inspired by their name was such that their victims
abandoned all thoughts of resistance. It is related that the whole population
of a large village obeyed the command of a single Mongol, and stood in a line
while he slaughtered them, one by one. Terror and devastation spread all over
the country. By 1236 they had overcome Erbil, Diyarbakr, Khilat, Mesopotamia, Azarbaijan,
Georgia, and Armenia. They made terrible examples of Kars and Tiflis. The
Caliph of Baghdad preached a jihad (sacred war) against them and won a victory
at Jabal Hamrin on the
Tigris. In 1238 he was, however, defeated, and the Mongol armies marched
northwards.
The hordes
of Mongols seemed as inexhaustible as they were irresistible. In 1235 Ogdai organised three large
expeditions: against Korea, the Sung Dynasty, and the country beyond the river
Volga. The King of Korea had submitted to Jenghiz Khan in 1218, but subsequently various incidents stirred up discord between
vassal and overlord. The murder of a Mongol envoy in 1231 was followed by a
victorious invasion, led by Sabutai, who set up
Mongol governors in many cities of Korea. In 1232 a popular upheaval resulted
in the assassination of many of these officials, and the King of Korea,
frightened of the consequences, fled to the island of Siang-Hua on the west
coast. Ogdai summoned him to appear before his
judgment-seat to answer for these acts; a refusal led to the expedition of
1235. By 1241 the Korean King submitted and gave the required hostages.
The
expedition against the Sung Dynasty, though generally successful, effected no permanent conquests, and the Southern Dynasty
was not finally reduced until the time of Kublai Khan, the second son of Tule.
Invasion of Europe
The third
army requires further mention, for this force swept down upon the West like an
overwhelming avalanche. No crowning mercy, such as the victory of Tours in 732
against the tide of Islam, saved the destinies of Europe. Divided, and
distracted by internal strife, the Christian countries could offer no
opposition to the invading hordes. The Mongol wave spent its energy and fell
back, shattered by no rock or impediment. Had not the death of Ogdai recalled Batu and his
generals, there is little doubt but that Paris and Rome would have shared the
fate of Kiev and Moscow.
It was
originally the wish of Ogdai to lead the Western army
in person, but on reflection he changed his mind and assigned the command to Batu the son of Juji. With Batu the renowned Sabutai was
associated as adviser. Ogdai's sons and nephews
accompanied the expedition. The forces met in Great Bulgaria in 1237. The
Mongol onslaught was characterised by its usual
speed; indiscriminate slaughter, rape, and destruction, as before, marked their
path. A list of Mongol victories resolves itself into a catalogue of doomed
towns and ravaged country-sides. Blow after blow followed in quick succession. Bulgar, Ryazan, Moscow, Vladimir, are but a few of the places that succumbed. Princes, bishops, nuns, and children
were slain with savage cruelty. It is impossible to describe the barbarities
that prolonged the death of the unfortunate inhabitants. None remained to weep
or to tell the tale of disaster. Novgorod was saved by a thaw which melted the
ice and turned the country into an impassable swamp. Koselsk was the scene of such exceptional severity that the Mongols themselves noted
the occasion by calling this place "Mobalig,"
town of woe. In 1240 the Mongols advanced still further, towards the Dnieper. Pereslavl, Chernigov, Glokhov,
and finally the metropolitan city Kiev, were destroyed. The Mongols divided
their forces, one part marching against Poland and the other through the
Carpathians against Hungary. At Mohi on the Theiss the whole chivalry of Hungary was crushed in an
overwhelming defeat. The nobility and clergy shared the fate of the common
soldiers, and the King Bela IV escaped as a fugitive to the Adriatic. In the
same year (1241) Henry, Duke of Silesia, was overthrown at Liegnitz near Breslau by the Mongols, and the whole of Silesia was given up to
slaughter. The area over which the Mongol hordes were spreading seemed
limitless; no country was safe. Bath followed up the capture of Pesth by crossing the Danube and assaulting Gran, which he
took. Europe was now prostrate, and no saviour arose
to ward off the Mongols. But the death of Ogdai, in
the same year as that of Pope Gregory IX, involved the return of Batu to Karakorum, in
order to assist in the election of a new Khan, and the western portions of
Europe were freed from the terror of the Mongol armies.
The
recall of Batu saves Europe
The coming
of the Mongols found Europe utterly unprepared and heedless. The first invasion
of 1222, when the forces of Jenghiz Khan crossed the
Caucasus and ravaged parts of Russia, created little notice.
The west of
Europe seems to have been ignorant of the event, but in the years 1235-1238 two
circumstances combined to awaken the Christian kings to a
knowledge of the perils awaiting them. The first of these was an embassy
from the Ismailiyah, and the second was the arrival of the Mongol armies under
Ban and his generals. Those Ismdiliyah, or Ishmaelites, who are known to the general historian by the
name of "Assassins," were themselves marked out by the Mongols as a
prey, but they escaped attention until the time of Hulagu.
Stirred by premonition,
The Emperor
Frederick II did indeed realise what was at stake. He
wrote an extremely important letter to Henry III urging combined action, and
giving what was for that time a fairly accurate account of the Mongols.
The Papacy and the Mongols
Other rulers
also bestirred themselves. In 1241, a few weeks before the battle of Liegnitz, the Landgrave of Thuringia appealed for aid to
the Duke of Brabant, and the Church assisted in publishing the danger by
proclaiming fasts and intercessions. In an often misquoted passage, Matthew
Paris relates that in 1238 the fishermen from Friesland and Gothland,
"dreading their attacks, did not, as was their custom, come to Yarmouth,
in England, at the time of the herring-fisheries, at which place their ships
usually loaded; and, owing to this, herrings in that year were considered of no
value, on account of their abundance, and about forty or fifty, although very
good, were sold for one piece of silver, even in places at a great distance
from the sea."
Nevertheless,
despite the growing feeling of insecurity, no active steps were taken. The envoys
were given empty answers. Nothing but the quarrel between Emperor and Pope
occupied men's minds. Some alleged that Frederick II had manufactured the scare
in order to help his cause. Others, whose lack of political foresight was only equalled by their ignorance of the Mongols, suggested that,
if Europe remained inactive, Mongols and Muslims would destroy one another and
the triumph of the Cross would be assured. The mass of the population were too
apathetic to be moved: nothing except the thoughts of Crusades could arouse
them from their torpor. Pope Gregory IX had written letters of sympathy to the
Queen of Georgia and to the King of Hungary, when these rulers had been smitten
by the Mongol scourge, but his mind was concentrated on his quarrels with the
Emperor. He died shortly after the battle of Liegnitz,
when the death of Ogdai recalled the Mongols and gave
Europe a breathing-space. The successor to Gregory was Innocent IV, who was
elected in 1243. He, as none before him, understood what was
at issue, and conceived two main plans for saving Christendom from the Mongols
—attack and persuasion. In order to stimulate the former, he ordered a
new combination of forces against them, and invested the expedition with the
dignity of a crusade by offering to all who fought against the "ministers
of Tartarus" spiritual privileges similar to those offered to the
crusaders. Little came of these efforts, but the second plan, though equally
ineffective, has proved of infinite value to later ages on account of the information
thus gleaned concerning the Mongols.
The Pope
imagined that, if the Mongols could be converted to Christianity, they would be
restrained from attacking Europe through religious fears. Wonderful stories of Prester John filled Europe; it was possible that the
Mongols were in some way connected with this strange monarch. There were the
legends ascribing to the Mongols Semitic origin: they were the lost ten tribes,
shut up by Alexander within impenetrable mountains, from which they had broken
forth to ravage the world. In short the soil was ripe for the seed of the
gospel, and the monk would succeed where the knight had failed.
This fond
hope resulted in the missions of Friars John of Pian di Carpine and Benedict the Pole in 1245, and of Friar William of Rubruck (Rubruquis) in 1253. The former were envoys of the
Pope, the latter of Louis IX. The itineraries of these travellers have been preserved, and can well be ranked with the accounts of Marco Polo and
Don Clavijo. The mass of information contained therein
constitutes one of the principal sources of extant knowledge concerning the
Mongols of this period. Diplomatically and spiritually the mission of Friar
William was as unsuccessful as that of his predecessors, but from the point of
view of the historian both journeys were signally fruitful.
Ogdai and Kuyuk
Ogdai's death,
which delivered Europe, occurred in his fifty-sixth year, on 11 December 1241.
His comparatively early end was due to excessive intemperance, a fault to which
Mongols were prone. His chief pleasure lay in hunting. He built a palace for
himself at Karakorum, to which he gave the name of Ordu Balig or City of the Camp. The site of the palace and
the marvels that were to be seen there have long been disputed, but the Central
Asiatic expeditions of N. Yadrintsev (1889), of the
Helsingfors Ugro-Finnish Society in 1890, and of Radlov in 1891, have succeeded in fixing the position. The
use of paper currency was known to Ogdai, but it is
uncertain whether he actually adopted this expedient. Certain reforms are also
ascribed to him, notably the curbing of the extortionate demands and
requisitions imposed by the princes and state officials upon the common people.
His personal gentleness forms a contrast to the severity of Jagatai; but there
was little evidence of tenderness in his government. The policy of rule by
brute force was not modified until the later reigns of Mangu and Kublai.
After the
death of Ogdai, the succession did not pass to either
of his nominees, Kuchu or Shiramun,
the son of Kuchu. The former was the third son of Ogdai and had predeceased his father in 1236. Shiramun was kept from the throne by the instrumentality of Turakina, the widow of the late Khan; Kuyuk, the eldest son of Ogdai,
was ultimately, in 1246, elected as Khan, as Turakina wished.
The Kuriltai at which Kuyuk was
chosen is of interest because of the presence of Friar John of Pian di Carpine, who gives a full
description of the ceremony in his itinerary. The between the houses of Jagatai
and Ogdai was all this while increasing, but the
dominion of the house of Ogdai was not yet ended. The
reign of Kuyuk, on the whole uneventful, is
noteworthy on account of various incidents. A Musulman called‘Abd-ar-Rahman was
allowed to purchase the farming of the taxes; this circumstance was greatly
resented, because the efforts to distribute the taxes on a just basis were
beginning to bear good fruit. The foreign wars were maintained and armies sent
against Korea, the Sung, and Persia. Both in Mesopotamia and in Armenia the conquests
and ravages of the Mongols continued. At the court of Kuyuk Nestorian Christians frequently appeared; Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and
Shamanism were tolerated on an equal footing.
At the death
of Kuyuk (1248) considerable confusion ensued; Kaidu, grandson of Ogdai, and Chapar, son of Kaidu,
successively held the Khanate for short and troublous periods. Discontent among
the nobles and rival claims robbed the titular rulers of every shadow of
authority, and finally in 1251 Mangu, the son of
Tule, was elected Khan. The feud between the houses of Jagatai and Ogdai was quelled and the house of Ogdai ruled no more. The house of Tule, youngest son of Jenghiz,
now took the lead.
The
accession of Mangu brought a settlement to the
political strife. A period of prosperity followed. Rubruquis,
whose visit happened at this time, bears testimony that the luxury prevalent at Mangu's court was not incompatible with the stability
of the State, efficiency in government, order and peace thoughout the Empire. Internal administration was wise and popular. The Mongols were
beginning to learn the lesson of ruling as well as of conquering. But fresh
conquests were soon undertaken; a new outburst was ready.
Downfall
of the Assassins
Reference
has already been made to the Assassins. The Mongols decided that these
dangerous foes could no longer be tolerated, and orders for their extermination
were given. Hulagu, the brother of Mangu, was appointed for this work at the Kuriltai of 1252. He sent his chief general Kitubuka in advance to invade Kuhistan,
where the Assassins were strongest, and after various military operations and
the capture of important towns and castles laid siege to Maimundiz,
a fort of great strength. Rukn-ad-Din, the head of
the Assassins, surrendered to Hulagu. Once in his
power, Rukn-ad-Din was forced to dismantle all his
fortresses and strongholds, the investment of which might have caused the
Mongols some trouble. Later on he set out on a journey to Mangu,
who refused to receive him, and ultimately Rukn-ad-Din
was slain on the homeward journey. His end synchronised with the termination of the political power of the Assassins.
The
fall of the Caliphate of Baghdad
Having freed
the world from the Assassins, the Mongols advanced against the citadel of
Islam. Baghdad, the Rome of the Muslim faith, vied with and surpassed Mecca in
importance. The first four Caliphs had ruled from Medina; the Umayyads who rose to power in 661 under Meawiyah transferred the seat of government to Damascus. On the fall of the Umayyads in 750 the capital was again changed, and Baghdad,
which was built by Mansur in 762, became the centre of empire. The position of the Caliph, or Successor to Mahomet, was in many
respects comparable to that of the Papacy. Endowed, at the outset, with
temporal as well as spiritual power, the holders of the office were gradually
divested of the former. Lieutenants and governors made themselves independent;
separate states soon began to break the unity of the Empire of Islam. But the
spiritual ascendancy of the Caliphate maintained, to a far higher degree than
in the case of the Papacy, both the union of all Muslim states and the
authority of the Caliph in politics, international and domestic; it was the
destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols that brought the old Caliphate to an end.
Resurrected by the Mamluks of Egypt, it was a shadow
and the holder of the office a puppet, maintained in a fettered pomp that
scarcely concealed the name of captivity. Sultans such as Baibars found the presence of a Caliph convenient in order to legitimate their claims
and procure popular support, but the power of the Caliphate was gone. The
Ottoman Turks, who conquered Egypt in 1517, compelled the last Abbasid, Mutawakkil, to resign his claims in their favour. By virtue of this and of the possession of the
sacred relics of the Prophet, the Sultans at Constantinople claim today to be
the vice-gerents of Allah over all Islam.
Yet in 1250
the Caliphate was still a formidable foe. Mustasim, who
held the office, could count on the allegiance of many princes. Egypt, Rum,
Fars, Kirman, Erbil, and Mosul were all loyal,
although at the time of Hulagu's attack several
feudatories had accepted the Mongol sway. Nevertheless many internal causes
contributed to the downfall of the Caliphate. The feud between Sunni and Shi'ah sapped the forces of Islam. The Caliph, though
devoted to luxury, was a pious recluse who abandoned the affairs of state to
his viziers; of these it must be said that their conduct can only be cleared
from the blackest treachery to Church and State by the plea of almost
incredible folly and ineptitude. Hulagu wrote to Mustasim, accusing him of sheltering Mongol enemies and of
withholding support from the Mongols when they crushed the Assassins; he also
demanded complete submission and the dismantling of the fortifications of
Baghdad. To this the Caliph, mainly relying on mistaken ideas of his powers and
the amount of help that his vassals would afford, returned a refusal couched in
boastful terms. Hulagu advanced and laid siege to
Baghdad, which fell on 15 February 1258. The Caliph suffered a terrible death;
the city was given up to pillage and the inhabitants to slaughter. The massacre
exceeded even the usual Mongol limits; 800,000 perished and scarcely a stone
remained standing. Horror and woe spread to the confines of Islam; no event in
the annals of the Faith roused such consternation. Baghdad was the centre of the arts; literature and science found a home
under the aegis of the Caliph. The Muslim rulers fostered and endowed the
humanities, and encouraged the progress of civilisation at a time when Europe was swathed in obscurantism. Philosophy and scholasticism
flourished; rhetoric and all forms of learning and education were cultivated.
In the realms of art, learning, and commerce, no less than in the sphere of
religion, Baghdad was the cynosure of all Muslim eyes; its fall brought about a
complete re-arrangement in the political world also. Fresh boundaries,
alliances, and centres of government had to be found.
Yet the great catastrophe had some effects that were beneficial. Cairo, the new
focus of Islam, was nearer Europe and more accessible. The scattering of Muslim
savants, diffusing learning among many places, gave the impetus to a
renaissance in Islam. It gave Egypt a short breathing-space to prepare for the
Mongol attack, with the consequence that the victory of Qutuz at 'Ain Jahat in 1260, which warded off the danger
from Egypt, saved Christendom as well; the signal service that the Sultan of
Egypt rendered to Europe was beyond the power of any Western king to accomplish.
Defeat
of the Mongols by the Mamluks, 1260
The fall of
Baghdad was the prelude to the invasion of Syria. Even so great an
object-lesson failed to teach the Muslims the necessity of union. The feud
between Shiah and Sunni still continued, carefully
fostered by the Mongols to their own advantage. Hulagu favoured the former, and took precautions to preserve
the tomb of Ali from destruction. Some of the princes of Syria submitted. Nasir
Salah-ad-Din Yasuf, a descendant of the famous
Saladin, who was prince of Aleppo and also of Damascus, defied the Mongols and
prepared to offer a brave resistance. He sent his wives to Egypt, where the
Sultan Qutuz protected them, and gathered an army for
battle, north of Damascus. But under the influence of terror his men fled; Hulagu marched to Aleppo, capturing and destroying as he
went. The town fell and was razed to the ground; death or captivity was the lot
of the victims. Damascus surrendered and was spared. Antioch surrendered but
was destroyed. A terrible famine and pestilence broke out and completed the
devastation of Syria, Mesopotamia, and the surrounding lands. Hulagu meditated a march on Jerusalem and probably after that
a campaign against Egypt; but while at Aleppo the news of the death of Mangu reached him. He was obliged to return for the great Kuriltai, just as the death of Ogdai had previously recalled Batu. The leadership of the
Mongol army was given to Ketbogha.
Qutuz, the Sultan of Egypt at
this time, 1260, was a Khwarazmian Mamluk, who had displaced the son of Aibak and seized the throne. Roused by the approach of the foe, he gathered an army
and anticipated their attack. The Mamluks advanced to
Acre, where they reckoned on the support of the Crusaders. The latter were too
timid to offer any aid, and the burden of the war lay on Qutuz alone. At Ain Jalutt (1260) the armies met. The
bravery of Qutuz and of Baibars,
his general, won the day and Ketbogha was slain. For
the first time in history the Mongols were fairly and indisputably beaten in a
decisive battle. The effect was magical. Wherever the news of the Mamluk victory became known, men gave themselves up to the
wildest transports of rejoicing. The spell was broken at last, and it was clear
that the superhuman power, claimed by Mongol boasts and credited by the fears
of their victims, was a myth. Damascus rose and cast off the Mongol yoke. The Mamluk did not remain satisfied with the fruits of a single
victory. The Mongols, broken and crushed, were driven out of Syria beyond Emesa. Qutuz reinstated, where
possible, the former officials as governors under his command and reduced the country to order. His return was a triumphant
progress; he was accompanied by prayers and thanksgiving. Wherever he passed
signs of popular joy were manifest. Extraordinary preparations were made to
welcome the conqueror. As he drew nearer to his own kingdom the celebrations
became grander, and the decorations of the towns and villages increasingly
costly. All Cairo united to honour its victorious
ruler as no other before, but Qutuz was treacherously
robbed of the fruits of his victory. He was stabbed by his general Baibars, who usurped his master's throne and rode into
Cairo, a second Zimri, amid the plaudits destined for
his murdered lord. The erstwhile Mamluk slave, who
had saved the proud sovereigns of Europe and had succeeded in a task which they
dared not undertake, fell a victim in the height of his glory to the dagger of
another slave.
Hulagu and the
Il-khans
The land
which Hulagu had conquered became his own, and he
retained possession of such parts as were not recaptured from him. The dynasty
which he founded in Persia ruled for several generations under the title of
Il-khans, acknowledging the Khan of the Eastern Mongols as their overlord. In
1282 Ahmad Khan became a Muslim. Islam had entirely permeated Persia by 1295,
when Ghazan Khan succeeded to the throne, but it did
not altogether eradicate many superstitions. Ghazan broke off his allegiance to the Supreme Khan. The inauguration of independence
by the Il-khans is marked by the alteration in the legend on their coins.
Abu-Said (1316) was the last of the great Il-khans, and after his death (1335)
the kingdom split into petty states, which by 1400 were incorporated by Timur in his dominions.
In the
meanwhile there had been considerable military activity on the eastern borders
of the Empire. Reference has been made to the continual hostilities that
disturbed the relations between the Sung Dynasty in Southern China and the
Mongols. In 1252 the latter ordered a great forward movement. Kublai, the
brother of Mangu, was to advance into Yunnan, a
province outside the Sung borders to the south-west, and in 1253 he assembled
his forces at Shensi as a preliminary step. The Mongols were favoured with their usual success, but Kublai was a man of
different temperament from his predecessors. He saw that the policy of wanton
destruction and indiscriminate slaughter, though effective for inspiring terror
in the foe and thus aiding the conqueror, was inimical to the future government
of the captured area. It was easier to rule a settled country than a desert
waste. Industry and commerce can be overthrown with ease and speed, but cannot
be revived except with infinite trouble and delay. Moreover Kublai's nature was
averse to bloodshed. His ambition sought to effect great conquests with the
minimum loss of life. Thus Tali, an important city of Nanchao in Yunnan, was taken by him without causing a
single death. After this exploit Kublai returned to Mangu,
leaving the famous general Uriang Kadai,
the son of Sabutai, to continue the campaign. With
various intervals the war continued until 1257. The Mongols captured Annam (Tongking) in 1257, and achieved many successes. Kublai, who
had been appointed governor at Honan, had not abandoned his policy of
conciliation. The popularity which he gained from the wise and considerate
treatment of his subjects provoked the jealousy of Mangu,
who sent a Mongol called Alemdar from Karakorum to
supersede Kublai. The latter, however, returned to Mangu,
and by tact and submission recovered the favour of
the Khan and the position of which he had been deprived.
Mangu
In this same
year, 1257, Mangu held a Kuriltai and determined to lead the army against the Sung. Kublai accompanied him, and
three strong forces invaded the province of Suchuan.
Two years were spent in conquests, and in the Mongol operations the gentle
spirit of Kublai asserted itself. Finally, in 1259 siege was laid to Hochau at the junction of the Kialing and the Feu, near the
point where these rivers join the Yangtse Kiang. The
besiegers suffered much from dysentery, and Mangu himself succumbed to the disease. The funeral procession, which bore the dead
Khan to his last resting-place at Burkan Kaldun, according to previous custom slew all whom they
met en route, to prevent the
intelligence of the death of the Khan from preceding the bier.
Mangu's sudden
death created some difficulty in the appointment of a successor. The vast
extent of the Empire prevented a Kuriltai from being
summoned at once. According to the Mongol custom, the new Khan should be chosen
from among the brothers of Mangu, and of these Hulagu was in Syria, Kublai in China. Of Mangu's other brothers, the next in age to Hulagu was Arikbuka, who was in
command at Karakorum. To him Kublai sent, asking for reinforcements and
supplies. Arikbuka complied and sent Kublai an
invitation to attend the Kuriltai which had been
convoked at Karakorum to elect a new Khan. Kublai, fearing a trap, declined and
summoned a Kuriltai of his own at Shangtu.
To this assembly neither Hulagu nor the descendants
of Jagatai were invited, owing to the time which must elapse before they could
attend. The conduct of the war rendered it imperative that a new head should be
chosen for the state without delay. Kublai was elected for this office with the
usual pomp and festivities. The election was scarcely valid, as the entire
electorate was not present. Of the absentees, Hulagu acquiesced, but Arikbuka and the supporters of the
houses of Jagatai and Ogdai were disaffected.
Nevertheless
Kublai was on the throne, and his reign lasted thirty-five years. His
achievements were considerable, and he ruled over a wider extent than any
Mongol or indeed any other sovereign. He was the first to govern by peaceful
means. By this time the head of the Mongols had become invested with the state
of an Emperor. The splendour of his court and the
magnificence of his entourage easily surpassed that of any Western ruler. The
change though gradual was now accomplished. It was strikingly significant of
Mongol development. The rude leader of nomads, governing by the sword, with no
thoughts of settlement but only of rapine and conquest, had given place to a
cultured monarch, eager for the good government of his subjects and the
prosperity of his kingdom.
The
reign of Kublai
The
beginning of his reign found him assailed by civil war. Arikbuka raised the standard of rebellion and collected a large force. Kublai and his
generals were active; their clemency gained over many of Arikbuka's followers, who were enraged at the cruelties that he perpetrated. Arikbuka was defeated in 1261 but spared. Again he rebelled
and again he was defeated (1264). He came in utter abasement to Kublai, who
pardoned him once more, but soon afterwards he died. At his death all the other
rebels submitted, with the exception of Kaidu. The
war with the Sung Dynasty was a legacy to Kublai from his late brother. When
the news of the death of Mangu reached Kublai, he was
besieging Wuchang. The Chinese general concluded a
treaty with him but did not inform the Chinese Emperor of the terms of peace.
It was agreed that Kublai should retreat, leaving Wuchang seemingly unconquered, on condition that the Emperor paid tribute and
acknowledged the Mongol Khan as overlord. In view of Arikbuka's rebellion Kublai accepted the conditions. Later on he sent to demand their
fulfilment, but the Chinese Emperor, having no knowledge of any treaty,
naturally repudiated Kublai's claims. After various delays, hostilities were
resumed in 1267 and continued with great vigour.
Finally, in 1279, after many victories and conquests, the whole country was
subjugated, the young Emperor being drowned in the last naval battle. The whole
of China was now in the hands of the Mongols. They were successful in Korea and
in Burma, both of which were subdued, but the expeditions to Java and Japan
resulted in failure.
Kublai was a
generous patron of literature. The culture and religion of China had great
attractions for him. While Islam was making headway among the Western Mongols,
Buddhism was encroaching from the East. Hulagu became
a Muslim and Kublai a Buddhist; thus Shamanism was threatened on both sides.
The name of Lama was given by the Mongols to the Buddhist priests. Kublai
introduced the Chinese ritual of ancestor-worship, and built a large temple in
which Jenghiz, Ogdai, and
the other Khans were commemorated and worshipped. He also ordered that the
Uighur characters should be discarded, since he deemed it beneath the dignity
of the Mongols to use a script borrowed from foreigners. In 1269 a new national
mode of writing was invented by the chief Lama and published. Kublai's
encouragement of learning was remarkable. He caused Jamal-ad-Din, a Persian
astronomer, to draw up a calendar; he founded an academy and schools. The
Chinese classics were translated at his bidding, and a history of the Mongols
compiled in order to familiarise the young men with
the exploits of their ancestors.
An
administrative council of twelve was set up, with the object of assisting the Khan in state affairs; the vast empire was sub-divided into
twelve provinces, so as to secure effective local government by decentralisation. The postal service was maintained with
great care; hostelries, horses, couriers, and vehicles were provided throughout
the Empire. Perhaps the most abiding memorial to the greatness of Kublai was
the new capital that he built near Yenkin, which had
been the capital of the Chinese sovereigns. The city that he created was known
by the names Tatu (Daitu or Taitu) or "Great Court," Khan Balig (Kambalu, Cambaluk) or "Khan's town," and Pekin. The
description of this wonderful town given by Marco Polo seems reminiscent of the
marvels of the Arabian
Nights; he too gave the inspiration of Coleridge's lines, "In
Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome
decree." The currency was reformed, block-printing, far in advance of
Europe, being utilised for the paper coinage. The
army was re-organised, and a valuable system of roads
and canals constructed. Trees were planted in many places for the benefit of
the public; the welfare of the subject was now the chief care of the ruler.
Every act of Kublai, in politics, government, war, court ceremonial,
literature, religion, and personal habits, shows clearly how far the Mongol
state had progressed.
Death
of Kublai
Kublai died
in 1294, at the age of eighty, having reigned thirty-five years. After his
death the history of the Mongols ceases to call for much detailed comment. The
reigns of his successors are of little interest to the general historian, for
the Empire begins to pass from the zenith of its power and it remains but to
trace the course of decay. Within fifty years of the death of Kublai the Empire
was smitten by a series of floods and earthquakes. The Mongol power weakened
and rebellion spread. In 1355 a Buddhist priest raised an army in China to
drive out the Mongols. Korea joined in the revolt and Pekin was captured. The
Khan fled and made good his escape, but the Mongol troops were driven out. In
1368 the revolution was over. A new dynasty, called the Ming or
"Bright," was set up, and the priest who had led the revolt became Emperor
(Hung-Wu). The descendants of Jenghiz were driven
away for ever. But worse was in store. Hung-Wu
carried the campaign beyond his own confines. The Eastern Mongols were
vigorously attacked and continually beaten. In the reign of Biliktu (died 1378) the Mongols were expelled from Liau Tung.
He was succeeded in the next year by Ussakhal, who
was slain after the great disaster that overtook the Mongols at Lake Buyur, when the Chinese completely broke the power of their
former conquerors. Hereafter the supremacy passed from one branch of the
Mongols to another. They became scattered and autonomous, except in so far as
the jurisdiction of the Chinese compelled their obedience. Yet the tale of
disruption is illuminated by occasional flashes of the old Mongol greatness.
The Mongols, who were driven to the North by the Ming, gradually recovered and
measured their strength with the foe. They raided Tibet and China, and one of
the results of these expeditions was to bring them more into touch with
Buddhism. In 1644 the Ming Dynasty was overthrown by the Manchus, who ruled
China until the recent proclamation of the republic; the Manchus effectually
subdued the Eastern Mongols, who henceforward are merged in the Chinese Empire.
The Mongol
Empire can scarcely be said ever to have formed a homogeneous unity; for this
reason it is impossible to deal with all those tribes bearing the common
designation Mongol or Tartar as a single corporate body. It is difficult to get
a general view and to place isolated incidents in their proper setting. This
difficulty in finding a true perspective involves a certain amount of
individual treatment of the various tribes, and from the time of Kublai onward
the historian is compelled to trace the course of the scattered bodies one by
one. The fate of the successors of Kublai has been recounted. It now remains to
deal with various other branches of the Mongol Confederacy.
The
western Mongols : Timur
The Khalkhas, or Central Mongols, whose territory was the
ancient Mongol home, where Jenghiz had begun his
career, after diplomatic relations with Russia and contact with Christianity,
were finally merged in the Chinese Empire at the conference of Tolonor. To this great meeting the Emperor Kang-hi summoned
the chiefs of the Khalkhas in 1691, and with great
ceremony they performed the "kowtow" in the imperial presence; with
this act their separate existence as a nation came to an end.
The Keraits and Torgods for a long
period were distracted by internal feuds. The kingdom of the mysterious Prester John, who has been identified with Wang Khan, is
placed in their land. Later they had diplomatic and also hostile relations with
Russia, Turkey, and the Cossacks. Ayuka Khan, one of
their great leaders, invaded the Russian territory as far as Kazan, but made
peace with Peter the Great at Astrakhan in 1722. After some time, however, fear
of the Russians and discontent at their oppressions caused them to adopt the
expedient of wholesale emigration. The extraordinary spectacle was witnessed of
70,000 families breaking up their homes and marching away with all their
chattels. The old nomad spirit seemed to have revived. They travelled to China
where they were most hospitably received, but the price paid for release from
Russian tyranny was the surrender of their nationality. China completely
assimilated them. Thus China, Russia, and the steppes were absorbing or
scattering great divisions of the former Mongol Empire.
Of the
western Mongols, importance centres round the
descendants of Jagatai, who passed through many vicissitudes until the rise of Timur Leng (Timor the lame), or Timurlane (Tamerlane, Tamburlaine), of Samarqand. In the
year 1336, scarcely more than a century after the death of Jenghiz Khan, Timur was born at Kesh in Transoxiana, to the
south of Samarqand. The Mongol hold of Central Asia was still firm, but
disintegration was spreading rapidly. It was the destiny of Timur to rouse the Mongols to fresh exploits and distant victories. The direct result
of his invasion of India was the rise of the Mongol Dynasty at Delhi, better
known as the Moguls. Much light is thrown on Tinifir and his reign by the narrative of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who came on an embassy to his court in the years
1403-6.
Besides
this, there are several accounts of the great conqueror, but they are
mostly ex parte statements
written either by inveterate enemies or flattering court scribes. Yet it is not
difficult to form a fair estimate of the man. In his youth he had the benefit
of a fair education. He was as versed in literature as he was proficient in
military skill. He was a Muslim by faith, but had no scruples about attacking
and slaughtering his co-religionists. At the outset of his career, from about
1358 onward, he had to struggle for supremacy among the scattered tribes of the neighbourhood and the hordes to the north of the
Jaxartes. In this he may be compared to Jenghiz. By
dint of persistence he succeeded in becoming supreme among the Jagatai tribes,
and in 1369, having overcome and slain Husain, his brother-in-law and former
ally, he was proclaimed sovereign at Balkh and ruled in Samarqand. He was now
at the age of thirty-three, and he waged incessant warfare for the next thirty
years.
Conquest
of India: defeat of the Ottomans
The chief of
his exploits was the celebrated invasion of India. Timur was prompted by the double motive of zeal to spread the faith and the prospect
of rich plunder. He crossed the Indus in 1398, after having passed the
mountains of Afghanistan. Multan was conquered and the Musulman leader Shihab-ad-Din defeated. After other victories,
notably the capture of Bhatnir, the road to Delhi lay
open. Before the gates the army of Sultan Muhammad of Delhi was drawn up under
the famous general Malin Khan; against Mongol
ferocity the bravery of the Indians was useless, and after a bloody battle Timur entered Delhi on 17 December 1398. The sack of Delhi
and the massacre of the inhabitants followed, and utter ruin spread far and
wide. It is said that for the next fifty years the country was so impoverished
that the mints ceased to issue gold and silver coins; copper currency sufficed
for the needs of the miserable survivors.
Timur did not stay long.
Passing along the flank of the Himalayas he captured Meerut and returned to Samargand through Kashmir. In the Khutbah,
or prayer for the reigning monarch that is recited every Friday in the mosques,
the names of Timar and his descendants were inserted,
thus legitimising the subsequent claims of Babur.
From
Samarqand Timur soon marched to the west. In 1401
Baghdad was taken and sacked, the horrors almost equalling the scenes enacted under Hulagu. The captives were
beheaded and towers constructed of the heads as a warning, but mosques,
colleges, and hospitals were spared. Karbala and Aleppo were taken and Damascus
destroyed, Persia and Kurdistan were reconquered. He reduced the Mongols round
the shores of the Caspian and penetrated to the banks of the Ural and the
Volga. Advancing through Asia Minor, he met the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid I, then at the height of his power, at Angora in
1402. The Turks were beaten and the Sultan captured. Timur dragged the fallen monarch after him to grace his triumph; according to the
story utilised by Marlowe, he was imprisoned in a
cage. Timar, now in his seventieth year, next planned
a great expedition to China. He actually set out on the march, but died in 1405
at Otrar near Kashgar. His
atrocities were enormous but not comparable to those of other Mongol Khans. He
made no attempt to consolidate his conquests, and after his death the decay was
quick. Samarqand and Transoxiana were ruled by his son and grandson, but the
various petty dynasties that soon arose weakened each other by warfare. Finally
Muhammad Shaibani or Shahi Beg, the head of the Uzbeg Mongols, captured Samargand and Bukhara and between 1494 and 1500 displaced
all the dynasties of the Timurids.
The
Golden Horde
Parallel to
the advance of Buddhism in the East, was the growth of Islam in the West.
Nowhere did the faith of Mahomet find more fruitful soil than among the Il-khans
of Persia, who traced their descent to Hulagu, the
conqueror of Baghdad. Between Egypt and the Il-khans there was often warfare.
In 1303 Nasir, Sultan of Egypt, overthrew a Mongol
army at Marj-as-Suffar. But
the relations between the two powers were sometimes
friendly. The same Nasir made an extradition treaty with Abu-Said, the nephew
of Ghazdi, whose army had been defeated at Marj-as-Suffar. The smaller
states which succeeded the Il-khans were finally swept away by Timur before 1400.
The
descendants of the victorious general Batu were the
famous Golden Horde or Western Kipchaks. Batu ruled from Lake Balkash to
Hungary. He was succeeded in 1255 by his brother Bereke,
in whose reign a crusade against the Mongols was preached by the Pope. But the
Mongols carried the war into the enemy's country and invaded Poland and
Silesia. Cracow and Beuthen were captured and vast
masses of slaves were led away. The result of these operations was that the
Mongols maintained a suzerainty over the Russians.
Several European princes and princesses intermarried with them; they were on
friendly terms with the Sultans of Egypt, perhaps owing to the hostility
between the Mamluks and the Il-khans. In 1382 Tuqtamish sacked Moscow and several important Russian
towns, but the campaign of slaughter was resented by Timur his overlord, who utterly crushed him. Gradually all these Mongol tribes were
absorbed by Russia or the Ottoman Turks, but from the Uzbegs on the Caspian Babur set forth on his journey to India and founded the Indian
Empire of the Moguls, to which Sir Thomas Roe was sent on an embassy in
1615-1619. The lingering Khanates were crushed by the expansion of Russia, and
either as subjects or protectorates have lost all
independence.
THE OTTOMAN TURKS TO THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE
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