The Mongols accomplished the conquest of such a large territory within such a short period of time by having amazing methods of war, how quickly they conquered other empires, and their advanced technology. How they quickly conquered other empires, large and small, is shown in documents 1 and 2 as they were written about which tribes/empires they conquered and document 7 speaks of what made Genghis Khan and his army mad.
Their efficient methods of warfare were shown in document 4, which is about how the army was arranged, and documents 8 and 9 in which they are letters from the Pope Innocent IV about how Genghis Khan destroyed empires and people and a reply about why he did this. Documents 3 and 5 are written from outsiders’ perspectives (Marco Polo and a Franciscan friar) abo8ut how they use their weapons and manufacture items. Document 5 also has information about which items each gender is responsible for.
This is how they expanded quicker than any other empire up to them, the Mongolian Empire. Documents 1,2, and 7 are written to tell of the rapid conquests of the Mongolian Empire and which ones they conquered. In the first document, Genghis Khan set out to fight the people of Cathay, or the Chin Empire, according to Mongol Oral Traditions. He took one major city and then another called Hsuan-te-fu. The major part of the document is written About a commander, Jebe, leading his army into a fortress at Chu-yung Kuan using trickery.
The second document, to paraphrase, speaks of a firsthand account by monks in Russia about the Tartars (Mongols) going into their land and conquering Ryazan, their land, in less than a year and doing so savagely. The 7th document is an eyewitness account about how Genghis Khan reacts to tribes rebelling. These documents show that the Mongolians were lethal killers and showed no mercy. Mongol Oral Traditions believe that Jebe, Genghis Khan, and the Mongolian army are clever because they use trickery to conquer others.
I do not completely believe this because it was passed down orally and when stories are passed down from generation to generation they change. An additional document that would have been helpful is one with records from a Mongolian historian about Genghis Khan’s conquests because it would be valid due to the author being a historian in the correct time period with an inside scoop. The next topic in a few of the documents(4,8, and 9) directly relate to the previous paragraph.
The warfare techniques used by the Mongolians and devised by the Khans and the commanders. In doc. 4 Juvaini, a former historian for the Mongols and later governor of Baghdad, wrote about how the army was arranged. It is arranged in such a manner that there are groups of ten with one of them being commander of the other nine. Ten groups of ten equal a larger squad with one of the hundred being the leader. Then 1,000 and the last rank 10,000 is called a tumen. Documents 8 and 9 are simply a letter from the Pope Innocent IV to Genghis Khan and a reply.
The Pope basically saying that he has invaded many countries and does not spare anyone. His reply is to use Eternal Heaven as his excuse for killing. These two documents show that Genghis Khan was infamous and believed in a God, making him religious. He is like the Islamic people that fight for Allah. Pope Innocent IV believes that Genghis Khan is being irrational with all his killings and rages because he does not spare anyone. He is a reliable source due to his being a Pope and how influential a Pope is.
Surprisingly, technology was only noticed by foreigners in the nine documents. One of whom being Marco Polo, the adventurer, and his document is basically saying the Mongolians use weapons and children and are accustomed to them, they value their lives little, are obedient, and know how to live without much. The other(document 5), William of Rubruck, was sent by the king of France and noticed that women drive the wagons, milk the cows, and stitch the clothes. Men make bows and arrows and tend to the animals.
This makes one believe in gender equality in Mongolian Empire, but in reality that was not the case. To summarize document 3, Marco Polo believed that the Mongols were experts in weaponry and had the most patience one could have because of the way children were brought up in the empire. To conclude, the Mongolian empire expanded so much in such a short period of time by conquering other tribes and empires rapidly, how they conquered them(their warfare methods), and their advanced technology and its uses according to the documents given.
