Nomadic Empires Class 11 History

 Page 1


                                                                                              1 
                                                                                                       
                                    Theme 5.Nomadic Empires                                                  
.(Imperial formations constructed by nomadic groups)
           The Mongols under the leadership of Genghis Khan built a transcontinental empire spanning Europe and Asia during 
the 13
th
 and 14
th
 centuries.
Sources
  The Mongols produced little literature on their own. So we have to rely on chronicles ,travelogues and documents 
produced by city based littérateurs. These authors often produced extremely ignorant and biased reports of nomadic life. 
The imperial success of the Mongols attracted many travellers. They came from a variety of backgrounds-
Buddhist,Confucian,Christian,Turkish and Muslim. Many of them produced sympathetic accounts and others hostile. The 
earliest narrative on Genghis khan was The Secret History of the Mongols.
 
Mongols-Background
  The mongols were a diverse body of people and spoke similar languages. Some of the Mongols were pastoralists while 
others were hunter-gatherers. They nomadised in the steppes of Central Asia. The Mongols were divided into patrilineal 
lineage. The richer families owned more animals and pasture lands .Hence, they had large followers and and were 
influential in local politics. When ever there were  harsh winter or drought conditions then there were conflicts among the 
families over pasture lands. Predatory raids were occurred in search of livestock. Groups of families form alliance in 
defence or offence during these occasions. But these alliances were for a short period. 
Genghis Khan's Political System(Comparison with Attila's)
   The size of Genghis Khan's confederation of Mongol and Turkish tribes perhaps matched in size to that of the 
confederation in the fifth century by Attila. Genghis Khan's political system was different from Attila's. It was more durable 
as it  survived its founder. It was stable enough to counter large and better equipped armies  of China,Iran and Eastern 
Europe. They also administered complex agrarian economies and urban settlements far from their home.
The Great Wall of China
  The Great Wall of China was a visual testament to the disturbance  and fear that brought by the nomadic raids on the 
agrarian societies of north China and Central Asia.
Genghis Khan
Early Career
       Genghis Khan was born in1162 near the Onon river in the north of present day Mongolia. Originally named 
Temujin('blacksmith'),Genghis was the third son of the minor chieftain Yesugei.(kiyat).He was 9 when his father was 
assassinated by the neighbouring Tatars. He along with his brothers and step-brothers ,was brought up by his mother. The 
next ten years were fullof hardships. He was captured and enslaved at one occasion. Soon after his marriage he had to fight 
to recover his wife (Borte)who was kidnapped. He also formed alliances with Boghurchu,a friend;Jamuqa,his brother,and 
his old uncle,Ong Khan. Betwen 1180 and 1190 ,he used his alliance with Ong Khan against Jamuqa. After this he gained 
confidence and moved against other tribes. He defeated the Tatars ,the Naimans,the Keraits etc. Finally he defeated the 
powerful Jamuqa in 1206.Then the assembly of Mongol chieftains(quriltai),declared Genghis Khan the Great Khan of the 
Mongols. He took the title Genghis Khan:'Oceanic ruler' or Universal Ruler.
Campaigns of Genghis Khan
     Genghis Khan united the Mongol people in to a more effective,disciplined military force. The first of his concern was to 
conquer china. At this time ,China was divided in to three kingdoms. Chin the north,the His Hsia in the north west and the 
Sung in the south. By 1209,the His Hsia was defeated. The Great Wall of China was breached until 1213 and Peking sacked 
in 1215.Long-drawn out battles against the Chin continued until 1234.But Genghis Khan was satisfied enough with the 
progress of his campaigns to return to his Mongolian homeland in 1216 and leave the military affairs of the reign to his 
subordinates.
        Defeated Qara Khita who controlled the the Tien Shah mountains Northwest of China in 1218,Mongol dominions 
reached the Amu Darya and the states of Transoxiana and Khwarazm. Muhammad,Shah of Khwarazm in central Asia 
executed Mongol ambassadors. Genghis had to respond to their execution. The Mongols destroyed cities such as 
Samarqand,Nishapur,Bokhara,and Herat.
Page 2


                                                                                              1 
                                                                                                       
                                    Theme 5.Nomadic Empires                                                  
.(Imperial formations constructed by nomadic groups)
           The Mongols under the leadership of Genghis Khan built a transcontinental empire spanning Europe and Asia during 
the 13
th
 and 14
th
 centuries.
Sources
  The Mongols produced little literature on their own. So we have to rely on chronicles ,travelogues and documents 
produced by city based littérateurs. These authors often produced extremely ignorant and biased reports of nomadic life. 
The imperial success of the Mongols attracted many travellers. They came from a variety of backgrounds-
Buddhist,Confucian,Christian,Turkish and Muslim. Many of them produced sympathetic accounts and others hostile. The 
earliest narrative on Genghis khan was The Secret History of the Mongols.
 
Mongols-Background
  The mongols were a diverse body of people and spoke similar languages. Some of the Mongols were pastoralists while 
others were hunter-gatherers. They nomadised in the steppes of Central Asia. The Mongols were divided into patrilineal 
lineage. The richer families owned more animals and pasture lands .Hence, they had large followers and and were 
influential in local politics. When ever there were  harsh winter or drought conditions then there were conflicts among the 
families over pasture lands. Predatory raids were occurred in search of livestock. Groups of families form alliance in 
defence or offence during these occasions. But these alliances were for a short period. 
Genghis Khan's Political System(Comparison with Attila's)
   The size of Genghis Khan's confederation of Mongol and Turkish tribes perhaps matched in size to that of the 
confederation in the fifth century by Attila. Genghis Khan's political system was different from Attila's. It was more durable 
as it  survived its founder. It was stable enough to counter large and better equipped armies  of China,Iran and Eastern 
Europe. They also administered complex agrarian economies and urban settlements far from their home.
The Great Wall of China
  The Great Wall of China was a visual testament to the disturbance  and fear that brought by the nomadic raids on the 
agrarian societies of north China and Central Asia.
Genghis Khan
Early Career
       Genghis Khan was born in1162 near the Onon river in the north of present day Mongolia. Originally named 
Temujin('blacksmith'),Genghis was the third son of the minor chieftain Yesugei.(kiyat).He was 9 when his father was 
assassinated by the neighbouring Tatars. He along with his brothers and step-brothers ,was brought up by his mother. The 
next ten years were fullof hardships. He was captured and enslaved at one occasion. Soon after his marriage he had to fight 
to recover his wife (Borte)who was kidnapped. He also formed alliances with Boghurchu,a friend;Jamuqa,his brother,and 
his old uncle,Ong Khan. Betwen 1180 and 1190 ,he used his alliance with Ong Khan against Jamuqa. After this he gained 
confidence and moved against other tribes. He defeated the Tatars ,the Naimans,the Keraits etc. Finally he defeated the 
powerful Jamuqa in 1206.Then the assembly of Mongol chieftains(quriltai),declared Genghis Khan the Great Khan of the 
Mongols. He took the title Genghis Khan:'Oceanic ruler' or Universal Ruler.
Campaigns of Genghis Khan
     Genghis Khan united the Mongol people in to a more effective,disciplined military force. The first of his concern was to 
conquer china. At this time ,China was divided in to three kingdoms. Chin the north,the His Hsia in the north west and the 
Sung in the south. By 1209,the His Hsia was defeated. The Great Wall of China was breached until 1213 and Peking sacked 
in 1215.Long-drawn out battles against the Chin continued until 1234.But Genghis Khan was satisfied enough with the 
progress of his campaigns to return to his Mongolian homeland in 1216 and leave the military affairs of the reign to his 
subordinates.
        Defeated Qara Khita who controlled the the Tien Shah mountains Northwest of China in 1218,Mongol dominions 
reached the Amu Darya and the states of Transoxiana and Khwarazm. Muhammad,Shah of Khwarazm in central Asia 
executed Mongol ambassadors. Genghis had to respond to their execution. The Mongols destroyed cities such as 
Samarqand,Nishapur,Bokhara,and Herat.
                                                                                                  2                    
Genghis Khan and India
    Mongol forces in pursuit of Khwarazm Shah pushed into Azerbaijan and defeated Russian forces. Another wing followed 
the Shah's son,Jalaluddin, into Afghanistan and Sindh province. At the banks of the Indus,Genghis Khan considered 
returning to Mongolia through North India and Assam. But because of heat,natural habitat and ill omens that were reported 
to him by his soothsayer which made him change of his mind. Thus India escaped from the visit of Genghis Khan. He died 
in 1227.
 Causes for the Success of Ghengis Khan
     The military achievements of Genghis Khan were astounding. He had achieved all the military victory by his ability to 
innovate and transform various aspects of steppe combat into effective military strategies. The horse riding and hunting 
skills of Mongols and Turks provided speed and mobility to the army. Their abilities as rapid shooting archers from horse 
back were further perfected during regular hunting expeditions which doubled the chance of victory over the enemies. They 
carried out campaigns in the depths of winter by using frozen river as highway to enemies'cities and camps. They  brought 
their knowledge of moving light in terrain as an effective military strategy. He learnt the importance of siege engines and 
naphtha bombardment quickly. His engineers built light portable equipments which he used against his opponents.
Military Organisation under the Mongols
    Among the Mongols all the able-bodied,adult males of the tribe bore arms. They constituted the armed forces when the 
occasion demanded. The army of Genghis Khan was composed of different people which complicated  the relatively small 
undifferentiated army into a mixed mass of people. He altered the old steppe system of decimal units system.i.e,divisions of 
10s,100s,1,000s and 10,000 soldiers. He divided the old tribal groupings and distributed their members into new military 
units. No individual could move  from his allotted group  without permission. If they did so they were punished severely. 
Thus ,the largest unit of soldiers(10,000 soldiers(tumen) now included different tribes and clans. The military units were to 
serve under his four sons and specially chosen captains of his army units called noyan. A band of followers who had served 
Genghis Khan loyally through grave adversity for many years also became important within the new realm.
Conferring  titles
   Genghis Khan conferred title of 'blood brothers' publicly to military persons. He also honoured humbler persons as 
bondsmen a title that indicated their close relationship with  Genghis Khan. It did not preserve the rights of old clan 
chieftains and new aristocracy derived its status from its closeness to Genghis Khan.
Political Organisation under Genghis Khan
• Genghis Khan assigned the responsibility of governing the newly-conquered people to his four sons. These 
comprised the four ulus.,a term that did not originally mean fixed territories.
• Genghis Khan envisaged that his sons would rule the empire collectively.
• Military contingents of the individual princes were placed in each ulus
• The sense of a dominion shared by the members of the family was underlined at the assembly of chieftains, 
quriltais.
• Quriltais, where all decisions relating to the family or the state for the forthcoming season campaigns, distribution 
of plunder, pasture lands and succession were collectively taken.
• A rapid courier system connected distant areas.
• For the maintenance of this communication system the Mongol nomads contributed a tenth of their herd.
• This was called the qubcur tax,a levy that the nomads paid willingly for the multiple benefits that it brought.
Communication and Trade Under the Mongols
Courier System
          Genghis Khan had formed a rapid courier system that connected the distant areas of his regime. Fresh mounts and 
despatch riders were placed in outposts at regularly spaced distances. The Mongol nomads contributed a tenth of their hard-
either horsed or livestock-as provisions for the maintenance of this communication system. This was called the qubcur tax,a 
levy that the nomads paid willingly for the multiple benefits that it brought. The courier system(yam)was further refined 
after Genghis Khan's death and its speed and reliability surprised travellers. It enabled the Great Khan to keep a check on 
developments at the farthest end of their regime across the continental land army.
Trade
                When peace was established after Mongol conquest (Pax Mongolica),trade connections matured. Travel and trade 
along silk route increased under the authority of Mongols. It continued north of Mongolia and to Kara 
korum. Communication and ease of travel was essential to maintain the authority of the Mongol regime. Travellers were 
given a pass (paiza in Persian;gerege in Mongolian) for safe conduct. Traders paid by tax for the same purpose ,there by 
acknowledging the Mongol authority.
Page 3


                                                                                              1 
                                                                                                       
                                    Theme 5.Nomadic Empires                                                  
.(Imperial formations constructed by nomadic groups)
           The Mongols under the leadership of Genghis Khan built a transcontinental empire spanning Europe and Asia during 
the 13
th
 and 14
th
 centuries.
Sources
  The Mongols produced little literature on their own. So we have to rely on chronicles ,travelogues and documents 
produced by city based littérateurs. These authors often produced extremely ignorant and biased reports of nomadic life. 
The imperial success of the Mongols attracted many travellers. They came from a variety of backgrounds-
Buddhist,Confucian,Christian,Turkish and Muslim. Many of them produced sympathetic accounts and others hostile. The 
earliest narrative on Genghis khan was The Secret History of the Mongols.
 
Mongols-Background
  The mongols were a diverse body of people and spoke similar languages. Some of the Mongols were pastoralists while 
others were hunter-gatherers. They nomadised in the steppes of Central Asia. The Mongols were divided into patrilineal 
lineage. The richer families owned more animals and pasture lands .Hence, they had large followers and and were 
influential in local politics. When ever there were  harsh winter or drought conditions then there were conflicts among the 
families over pasture lands. Predatory raids were occurred in search of livestock. Groups of families form alliance in 
defence or offence during these occasions. But these alliances were for a short period. 
Genghis Khan's Political System(Comparison with Attila's)
   The size of Genghis Khan's confederation of Mongol and Turkish tribes perhaps matched in size to that of the 
confederation in the fifth century by Attila. Genghis Khan's political system was different from Attila's. It was more durable 
as it  survived its founder. It was stable enough to counter large and better equipped armies  of China,Iran and Eastern 
Europe. They also administered complex agrarian economies and urban settlements far from their home.
The Great Wall of China
  The Great Wall of China was a visual testament to the disturbance  and fear that brought by the nomadic raids on the 
agrarian societies of north China and Central Asia.
Genghis Khan
Early Career
       Genghis Khan was born in1162 near the Onon river in the north of present day Mongolia. Originally named 
Temujin('blacksmith'),Genghis was the third son of the minor chieftain Yesugei.(kiyat).He was 9 when his father was 
assassinated by the neighbouring Tatars. He along with his brothers and step-brothers ,was brought up by his mother. The 
next ten years were fullof hardships. He was captured and enslaved at one occasion. Soon after his marriage he had to fight 
to recover his wife (Borte)who was kidnapped. He also formed alliances with Boghurchu,a friend;Jamuqa,his brother,and 
his old uncle,Ong Khan. Betwen 1180 and 1190 ,he used his alliance with Ong Khan against Jamuqa. After this he gained 
confidence and moved against other tribes. He defeated the Tatars ,the Naimans,the Keraits etc. Finally he defeated the 
powerful Jamuqa in 1206.Then the assembly of Mongol chieftains(quriltai),declared Genghis Khan the Great Khan of the 
Mongols. He took the title Genghis Khan:'Oceanic ruler' or Universal Ruler.
Campaigns of Genghis Khan
     Genghis Khan united the Mongol people in to a more effective,disciplined military force. The first of his concern was to 
conquer china. At this time ,China was divided in to three kingdoms. Chin the north,the His Hsia in the north west and the 
Sung in the south. By 1209,the His Hsia was defeated. The Great Wall of China was breached until 1213 and Peking sacked 
in 1215.Long-drawn out battles against the Chin continued until 1234.But Genghis Khan was satisfied enough with the 
progress of his campaigns to return to his Mongolian homeland in 1216 and leave the military affairs of the reign to his 
subordinates.
        Defeated Qara Khita who controlled the the Tien Shah mountains Northwest of China in 1218,Mongol dominions 
reached the Amu Darya and the states of Transoxiana and Khwarazm. Muhammad,Shah of Khwarazm in central Asia 
executed Mongol ambassadors. Genghis had to respond to their execution. The Mongols destroyed cities such as 
Samarqand,Nishapur,Bokhara,and Herat.
                                                                                                  2                    
Genghis Khan and India
    Mongol forces in pursuit of Khwarazm Shah pushed into Azerbaijan and defeated Russian forces. Another wing followed 
the Shah's son,Jalaluddin, into Afghanistan and Sindh province. At the banks of the Indus,Genghis Khan considered 
returning to Mongolia through North India and Assam. But because of heat,natural habitat and ill omens that were reported 
to him by his soothsayer which made him change of his mind. Thus India escaped from the visit of Genghis Khan. He died 
in 1227.
 Causes for the Success of Ghengis Khan
     The military achievements of Genghis Khan were astounding. He had achieved all the military victory by his ability to 
innovate and transform various aspects of steppe combat into effective military strategies. The horse riding and hunting 
skills of Mongols and Turks provided speed and mobility to the army. Their abilities as rapid shooting archers from horse 
back were further perfected during regular hunting expeditions which doubled the chance of victory over the enemies. They 
carried out campaigns in the depths of winter by using frozen river as highway to enemies'cities and camps. They  brought 
their knowledge of moving light in terrain as an effective military strategy. He learnt the importance of siege engines and 
naphtha bombardment quickly. His engineers built light portable equipments which he used against his opponents.
Military Organisation under the Mongols
    Among the Mongols all the able-bodied,adult males of the tribe bore arms. They constituted the armed forces when the 
occasion demanded. The army of Genghis Khan was composed of different people which complicated  the relatively small 
undifferentiated army into a mixed mass of people. He altered the old steppe system of decimal units system.i.e,divisions of 
10s,100s,1,000s and 10,000 soldiers. He divided the old tribal groupings and distributed their members into new military 
units. No individual could move  from his allotted group  without permission. If they did so they were punished severely. 
Thus ,the largest unit of soldiers(10,000 soldiers(tumen) now included different tribes and clans. The military units were to 
serve under his four sons and specially chosen captains of his army units called noyan. A band of followers who had served 
Genghis Khan loyally through grave adversity for many years also became important within the new realm.
Conferring  titles
   Genghis Khan conferred title of 'blood brothers' publicly to military persons. He also honoured humbler persons as 
bondsmen a title that indicated their close relationship with  Genghis Khan. It did not preserve the rights of old clan 
chieftains and new aristocracy derived its status from its closeness to Genghis Khan.
Political Organisation under Genghis Khan
• Genghis Khan assigned the responsibility of governing the newly-conquered people to his four sons. These 
comprised the four ulus.,a term that did not originally mean fixed territories.
• Genghis Khan envisaged that his sons would rule the empire collectively.
• Military contingents of the individual princes were placed in each ulus
• The sense of a dominion shared by the members of the family was underlined at the assembly of chieftains, 
quriltais.
• Quriltais, where all decisions relating to the family or the state for the forthcoming season campaigns, distribution 
of plunder, pasture lands and succession were collectively taken.
• A rapid courier system connected distant areas.
• For the maintenance of this communication system the Mongol nomads contributed a tenth of their herd.
• This was called the qubcur tax,a levy that the nomads paid willingly for the multiple benefits that it brought.
Communication and Trade Under the Mongols
Courier System
          Genghis Khan had formed a rapid courier system that connected the distant areas of his regime. Fresh mounts and 
despatch riders were placed in outposts at regularly spaced distances. The Mongol nomads contributed a tenth of their hard-
either horsed or livestock-as provisions for the maintenance of this communication system. This was called the qubcur tax,a 
levy that the nomads paid willingly for the multiple benefits that it brought. The courier system(yam)was further refined 
after Genghis Khan's death and its speed and reliability surprised travellers. It enabled the Great Khan to keep a check on 
developments at the farthest end of their regime across the continental land army.
Trade
                When peace was established after Mongol conquest (Pax Mongolica),trade connections matured. Travel and trade 
along silk route increased under the authority of Mongols. It continued north of Mongolia and to Kara 
korum. Communication and ease of travel was essential to maintain the authority of the Mongol regime. Travellers were 
given a pass (paiza in Persian;gerege in Mongolian) for safe conduct. Traders paid by tax for the same purpose ,there by 
acknowledging the Mongol authority.
                                                                               3                           
            
Administrative features of Genghis Khan's Rule
    During the reign of Genghis Khan,civil administrators were recruited from the conquered lands. But they were deployed 
in distant areas. Chinese Secretaries were posted in  Iran,and Persians in China. These administrators retained the 
confidence of their masters till the time they continued to increase the revenues for them. These administrators could 
sometimes command considerable influence.
Yasa(Legal code of Genghis Khan)
     It is believed that Yasa was officially proclaimed by Genghis Khan at the Quariltai of 1206.In its earliest formulation ,the 
term was written as 'yasaq' which meant 'law'.'decree' or  'order'.By the middle of the thirteenth century, Mongols started 
using the term yasa in a more general sense to mean the 'legal code of Genghis Khan'.The yasa was most probably a 
compilation of the customary traditions of the Mongol tribes. The yasa served to join together the Mongol people around a 
body of shared believes. It recognised the affinity to Genghis Khan and descendants and ,even as they absorbed different 
aspects of sedentary life style ,it gave them the confidence to retain their ethnic identity and impose their 'law' upon their 
defeated subjects. It was an extremely empowering ideology inspired by Genghis Khan's vision and was vital in the 
construction of a Mongol universal dominion.
Situating Genghis Khan and the Mongols in World History
           Genghis Khan is remembered in the history as a conqueror, destroyer of cities and a person responsible for the death 
of thousands of people. But for the Mongols ,Genghis Khan was the greatest leader of all time. He united the Mongol 
people,freed them from wars ,brought them prosperity and restored trade routes and markets.
         Mongols were a diverse body of people. Inspite of their own faith in Buddhism,Christianity,Islam etc. the Mongol 
rulers never allowed their personal beliefs to dictate the  public policy. They recruited administrators and armed contingents 
from various conquered lands. All this was unusual for the time when they were ruling. Mongols provided ideological 
models for the Mughals of India. Timur ,another monarch who aspired to universal dominion ,hesitated to declare himself 
monarch because of Genghis Khan.
       After decades of Soviet control,the country of Mongolia is recreating its identity as an independent nation. Genghis 
Khan has appeared as an iconic figure for the Mongol people,mobilising memories of a great past in the foraging of national 
identity that can carry the nation into future.
Key Words 
? Barbarians:The term barbarian is derived from the Greek barbaros which meant a non-Greek,someone whose 
language sounded like a random noise:'barbar'.Cruel,greedy and politically unable to govern.
? Yasa:Genghis Khan's code of law
? Tama:The military contingents of the individual princes
? Quriltais:The assembly of chieftains where all decisions relating to the family or the state-campaigns,distribution 
of plunder,pasture lands and succession -were collectively taken.
? Anda: Blood brothers of Genghis Khan.
? Naukar:Special ranking as his bondsmen,a title that marked their close relationship with their masters.
? Qanats: Underground canals
? Yam:A courier system introduced by  Genghis Khan
? Qubcur Tax:A levy that few the nomads paid willingly for the multiple benefits that it brought.