The Mongol Empire

458 Pages·2018·12.14 MB·English

by  Timothy May

The Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire
Timothy May
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© Timothy May, 2018
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A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 1741 9
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Contents
List of Boxes
List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations
Note on Transliteration, Conventions and Geographical Terminology
Acknowledgements
Preface
1 Mongolia before the Mongol Empire
2 The Rise of Chinggis Khan and Unification of Mongolia
3 The Mongols outside Mongolia
4 The Institutions of the Empire
5 The Reign of Ogodei
6 The Reign of Guyuk and the Regents
7 Mongke and the Toluid Revolution
8 The Yuan Empire
9 The Ilkhanate
10 The Ogodeid and Chaghatayid Uluses
11 The Jochid Ulus or Golden Horde
12 Anxiety and Accommodation
13 Conclusion: End of the Chinggisids and the Rise of the Qarachu
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Boxes
Chapter 1
Climatic Causes for the Mongol Empire?
The Church of the East or Nestorianism
Chapter 2
Alan Goa and the Parable of the Arrows
The Wedding Party
Chapter 3
Onggud Relations
Zhuds
Chapter 5
Food Preparation
Nerge Formation
Chapter 6
Ortoq
Gerege
Chapter 7
Yasa and Yosun
Chapter 8
Zhongwen Qingwu
Governor Polo?
Chapter 9
Qanat or Karez
Counterfeiting and Coin Clipping
What’s in a Name?
Chapter 11
Colour Confusion
Sarai
Bubonic Plague
Illustrations
Figures
(Author photographs except where indicated)
1.1 Steppes of Mongolia
1.2 Bactrian (two-humped) camels
1.3 The Mongolian horse
2.1 Reconstructed ger on a wagon platform (Ovorkhangai, Mongolia)
2.2 Cangue, nineteenth century (National History Museum Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia)
2.3 The Orkhon River Valley (Mongolia)
2.4 Chinggis Khan monument (Tsonjin Boldog, Mongolia)
2.5 Modern depiction of a Mongol warrior (Tsonjin Boldog, Mongolia)
3.1 Sandy steppe land (Ovorkhangai aimag, Mongolia)
3.2 Camels with saddles (Ovorkhangai aimag, Mongolia)
3.3 Chinggis Khan advising his sons on his deathbed (0019400 The Granger
Collection,New York)
3.4 Modern statue of Chinggis Khan (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
4.1 Typical nomad’s camp (Mongolia)
4.2 Thirteenth-century Mongol arrowheads (National History Museum,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
4.3 The black tuq, the war standard of the Mongols (Mongolia)
5.1 Statue of Ogodei Khan (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
5.2 Qarabalghasun (Orkhon River Valley, Mongolia)
5.3 Erdene Zuu at Qaraqorum (Kharkhorin, Mongolia)
5.4 The tortoise of Qaraqorum (Kharkhorin, Mongolia)
5.5 A yam station (Tov aimag, Mongolia)
5.6 Basilica of St Mary, Krakow, Poland (courtesy T. Christopher Jespersen)
5.7 Chinese woodcut depicting Subedei (0057609 The Granger Collection,
New York)
6.1 Gold jewellery at Qaraqorum (Kharkhorin Museum, Kharkhorin,
Mongolia)
6.2 Gilded gerege or paiza (National History Museum, Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia)
7.1 Tile work from Qaraqorum (Kharkhorin, Mongolia)
7.2 Rubruck’s Tree (Tov aimag, Mongolia)
7.3 Narrow arrowheads for piercing armour (National History Museum,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
7.4 Mongol archery (Ovorkhangai aimag, Mongolia)
7.5 The Mongol composite bow, unstrung (Ovorkhangai aimag, Mongolia)
8.1 Portrait of Khubilai Khan on silk (0024455 The Granger Collection, New
York)
8.2 Statue of Marco Polo (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
8.3 Statue of Khubilai Khan as lawgiver (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
8.4 Yuan mace (Tower of London)
8.5 A gerege with Phagspa inscription (Kharkhorin Museum, Kharkhorin,
Mongolia)
8.6 Copper mirror (Kharkhorin Museum, Kharkhorin, Mongolia)
9.1 A Mongol prince studying the Qur’ān (ART390847 illuminated manuscript
page from Jamia’at al-Tawarikh, by Rashid al-Din, Iran)
9.2 Fourteenth-century Mongol chain mail (National History Museum,
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
10.1 The steppes and hills near Qaraqorum (Kharkhorin, Mongolia)
11.1 White jade tamgha (Kojima Jade)
11.2 Tukel’s Phagspa seal (Kojima Jade)
12.1 Chinggis Khan lecturing the grandees of Bukhara (0110813 The Granger
Collection, New York)
13.1 Tamgha in Phagspa script (Kharkhorin Museum, Mongolia)
13.2 Chinggis Khan pavilion (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
Maps
1.1 Mongolia in the twelfth century
3.1 The Mongol Empire in 1216
3.2 The Mongol Empire at the time of Chinggis Khan’s death
5.1 The Mongol Empire during the reign of Ogodei
7.1 The Mongol Empire during the reign of Mongke
7.2 The Mongol Empire in c. 1300
8.1 The Yuan Empire, 1279–1368
9.1 The Ilkhanate, 1256–1353
10.1 The Ogodeid and Chaghatayid Uluses
11.1 The Jochid Ulus
Tables
1 Genealogy of the Khans of the Yeke Monggol Ulus
2 Genealogy of the Yuan Emperors
3 Genealogy of the Ilkhans
4 Genealogy of the Ogodeids
5 Genealogy of the Chaghatayids
6 Genealogy of the Jochids