Genghis Khan
Also known as Temujin; he united the Mongol tribes into an unstoppable fighting force; created largest single land empire in history.
Kublai Khan
Mongolian emperor of China and grandson of Genghis Khan who completed his grandfather's conquest of China
Marco Polo
(1254-1324) Italian explorer and author. He made numerous trips to China and returned to Europe to write of his journeys. He is responsible for much of the knowledge exchanged between Europe and China during this time period.
Zheng He
Chinese naval explorer during the Ming dynasty who sailed along most of the coast of Asia, Japan, and half way down the east coast of Africa before his death; he is credited with cultural diffusion and with possibly exploring the Americas before Columbus; after his death the Ming destroyed his ships and isolated declaring that he had not found them anything that that justified the cost of more voyages (an example of ethnocentrism)
Ming Dynasty
Succeeded Mongol Yuan dynasty in China in 1368; lasted until 1644; initially mounted huge trade expeditions to southern Asia and elsewhere, but later concentrated efforts on internal development within China.
Mongols
- Nomadic war like people that come from the area of asia known as Mongolia
Mongolian Empire
The Mongol Empire existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest land empire in history. The empire unified the nomadic Mongol and Turkic tribes of historical Mongolia. The empire sent invasions in every direction and ultimately connected the East with the West with the Pax Mongolica, or Mongol Peace, which allowed trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies to be disseminated and exchanged across Eurasia. The Mongol raids and invasions were some of the deadliest and most terrifying conflicts in human history. Ultimately, the empire started to fragment and dissolved in 1368, at which point the Han Chinese Ming Dynasty took control.
Pax Mongolia
Also known as the mongol peace. A time when global trade expanded due to the political stability provided by mongol rulers.
Steppe
A dry, grassy, treeless plain found in Asia and eastern Europe.
Yurts
well built portable tents; specifically used in Mongolia
Herders
A person in charge of the herd like goats or sheep, cattle
Nomads
having no fixed home, moving from place to place in search of food, water, or grazing land
Khan
A Mongol ruler
Khanate
Land given to the sons under Genghis Khan's first wife; four main Khanates; Chaghadi (central Asia), Persia from conquered Baghdad, Kipchack (Golden Horde), Khanate of the Great Khan (Yuan Dynasty in China)
Golden Horde
The Mongol armies that invaded Europe in 1237 and ruled Russia for over two centuries
Stirrup
A major development in warfare that was developed by the nomadic societies of the Eurasian steppe and spread to Chinese as early as the third century B.C.E. new invention that held a mounted warriors feet so he could maneuver/fight on a horse with both hands
Accomplishments of Kublai Khan
completed the take over of China
Accomplishments of Genghis Khan
Created the largest empire and unified all of China Brought much of the Eurasian landmass under a single ruler, created largest empire in history
Conquests of Mongols
Temujin
real name of Genghis Khan
Effects of Mongol Empire on the Golden Age of China
Pax mongolia, - trade flourished
Reason for the decline of Mongol Empire
inability to force back foreign invaders