Class 11 History Short Questions with Answers - Nomadic Empires

Very Short Question With Answer (1 Mark Each)

Q1: Why did the steppe region possess no cities in the time of Mongols?
Ans: The Mongols did not take to farming. Their pastoral and hunting-gathering economies were not able to sustain dense population settlements. That is why the region possessed no cities.

Q2: The richer Mongol families had many followers. Why?
Ans: The richer Mongol families possessed many animals and pasture lands. They were more influential in local politics also and therefore had many followers.

Rich Mongol Family

Q3:Why did the Mongol tribes have to wander in search of pastures?
Ans: In winter season, game and provisions stored by the Mongol tribes ran out. Due to lack of rain, grasslands also got dried. So the Mongol tribes had to wander in search of pastures.

Q4: Why did the Mongols sometimes had to face tensions in commerce?
Ans: Sometimes, both the trading groups applied military pressure to enhance profit which created a tense situation.

Q5: Why was trade so significant to the Mongols?
Ans: The Mongols imported agricultural produce and iron utensils from China. In exchange, they exported horses, furs and game, trapped in the steppe, to China.

Q6: Why was the ‘Great Wall of China’ built?
Ans: Nomadic tribes frequently invaded China. For protection of China from their invasion the ‘Great Wall of China’ was built.

Q7: Who was Genghis Khan?
Ans: Genghis Khan was born in present-day Mongolia in around 1162 CE. His early name was Temujin. His father, Yesugei was the chieftain of the Kiyat tribe. His mother’s name was Oelun-eke.
Genghis KhanQ8: How was Temujin honoured after he defeataed his enemies?
Ans: Till 1206 CE, Temujin had given a decisive defeat to his enemies. So at an assembly of Mongol chieftains, he was proclaimed the ‘Great Khan of the Mongols’ with the title Genghis Khan, the ‘Oceanic Khan’ or ‘Universal Ruler’.

Q9: Why did Genghis Khan command to destroy Nishapur?
Ans: At Nishapur, a Mongol prince was killed during the siege operation. So Genghis Khan commanded to plunder and destroy Nishapur.

Q10: What was said in the command of destroying Nishapur?
Ans: In this command it was said that the “town should be laid waste in such a manner that the site could be ploughed upon. In exaction of vengeance, not even cats and dogs should be left alive”.

Q11: At the banks of Indus, Genghis Khan thought returning to Mongolia. But, what made him change his mind?
Ans: Following reasons made Genghis Khan change his mind:

• It was scorching heat.
• There were difficulties in natural habitat.
• His Shaman soothsayer reported some ill portents.

Q12: Into which two phases can Mongol expansion after Genghis Khan’s death be divided?
Ans: After Genghis Khan’s death, Mongol expansion can be divided into the following two phases:

• The first phase spanned the years 1236–42 CE. During this period the Mongols obtained major gains in the Russian steppes, Bulghar, Kiev, Poland and Hungary.
• The second phase included the years 1255– 1300 CE. It led to the conquest of whole of China, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
  
  

Q13: Why were the Mongols defeated by the Egyptian army?
Ans: The Mongol rulers began to take more interest in China. So they diverted their forces into the heartlands of the Mongol dominion. They send only a small force against the Egyptian military. As a result, the Mongols were defeated.

Q14: After the 1260s, what was the reason for emergence of new trends in Mongol politics?
Ans. 

• Mongol forces retreated from the Hungarian steppes.
• Mongol military was defeated by the Egyptian military.
  
  

Q15: How Mongol (Genghis Khan) military took the form of a large and organised military?
Ans: Many new soldiers entered the Mongol army with the unification of different Mongol tribes and subsequent campaigns against the diverse people. These soldiers belonged to the diverse groups. In this way, Mongol military took the form of a large and organised military.

Q16: What was the qubcur tax?
Ans: Genghis Khan had started a new courier system. For it, the Mongol nomads contributed one-tenth of their herd either horses or livestock. This was called the qubcur tax.

Q17: The conquered people hardly felt a sense of affinity with their new nomadic masters. Tell four reasons.
Ans: 

• Several cities had been destroyed in newly conquered regions.
• Agricultural lands had been laid waste.
• Trade and handicraft products had disrupted.
• Tens of thousands of people had been killed, even more enslaved.
  
  

Q18: What was the effect of cessation in Mongol’s military campaigns on trade?
Ans: After cessation in Mongol’s military campaigns, Europe and China were territorial linked. As a result, trade connections matured between the two parts. Commerce along the Silk Route reached its peak under the Mongols.

Q19: What arrangement had the Mongols made in their empire for safe travel? How did it make the Mongol authority strong?
Ans: In their empire, the Mongols gave a pass to travellers for safe travel. Traders (travellers) paid the tax for the same purpose and acknowledged the authority of the Mongol Khan. It made strong the Mughal authority.

Short Question With Answer (2 Mark Each)

Q1: Who were the Mongols? Discuss their life.
Ans: The Mongols were a community of diverse people. These people belonged to Tatars, Khitan and Manchus to the east on the basis of similarities of language. In the west, they belonged to the Turkish tribe. Some of the Mongols were pastoralists and rest of them were hunter-gatherers.

• The pastoralists reared animals like horses, sheep and camel, etc. They nomadised in the steppes of Central Asia.
• The hunter and food gathers lived to the north of the pastoralists in the Siberian forests. They were poorer than the pastoralists. They made a living from trade in furs of animals trapped in the summer months.
• The Mongols lived in tents and used to travel with their herds from their winter to summer pasture lands.
  
  

Q2: Describe the landscape of the region where the Mongols lived.
Ans: The Mongols lived in the steppes of Central Asia. This region was a tract of land of modern state of Mongolia. This region was a majestic landscape. It was covered with rolling plains. To its west were snow capped Altai mountains, whereas there was the arid Gobi desert in the south. It was drained by the Onen and Selenga rivers and springs from snow-covered hills in the north and the west. There were many grasslands. In a good season, enough small game was available. Temperature in steppe region remained the same throughout the year. After harsh, long winter, brief dry summer was there. In the pastoral region, agriculture was possible for small parts of the year.

Q3: Write down the main characteristics of Mongol tribes.
Ans: The main characteristics of Mongol tribes were as follows:

• Mongol tribes were united by ethnic and lingual ties but due to scarcity of resources, their society was divided into patrilineal lineages.
• The richer families were larger. They possesed more animals and pasture lands. They had many followers and these followers were more influential in local politics.
• During periodic natural calamities such as harsh, cold winters, their game and stored provisions ran out. Grasslands were also dried in the absence of rain. So they had to wander in search of pastures.
• There was mutual conflict among Mongol tribes. They also raided for livestock.
• Groups of families often allied for offensive and defensive purposes around richer and more powerful lineages.
  
  

Q4: What was the nature of Mongol confederacies? Write down the similarity and dissimilarity between confederacies formed by Attila and Genghis Khan.
Ans: Mongol confederacies were usually small and short-lived. Gengis Khan made a confederacy of Mongol and Turkic tribes. In size, this confederacy was perhaps equal in size of the confederacy formed by Attila in the fifth century. But, unlike Attila’s confederacy, Genghis Khan’s confederacy system proved far more stable. It was stable enough to counter large armies with superior equipment in China, Iran and eastern Europe. This was the reason why the Mongols succeeded in establishing their control over these regions. They administered complex agrarian economies and urban settlements. The confederacy system established by Genghis Khan survived even after his death.

Q5: “Genghis Khan’s army was a mixture of diverse people.” Explain with examples.
Ans: It was necessary for all the healthy adult males of Mongols and many other nomadic societies to bore arms. When the occasion demanded, they constituted the armed forces. Many new members entered the Genghis Khan’s army due to the unification of different Mongol tribes and because of subsequent campaigns against diverse people. These soldiers belonged to different communities. That is why, a small Mongol army changed into a large organisation. This army included groups like the Turkic, Uighurs who had willingly accepted the Mongol authority. Except this, the Kereyits were also included in it who were included in confederacy despite their earlier hostility.

Q6: Why did the conquered people hardly feel a sense of affinity with their new Mongol nomadic masters? What was its result?
Ans: The conquered people hardly felt a sense of affinity with their new Mongol nomadic masters because of the following reasons:

• Cities were destroyed during the campaigns in the first half of the 13th century.
• Agricultural lands laid waste.
• There was disruption in trade and production of handicraft.
• Thousands of people were killed and even more were enslaved. In this way, every class of society suffered including elites and peasantry.

Result: It led to emergence of Instability in the state. That is why, it was not possible to do periodic maintenance of underground canals in the arid Iranian plateau. As a result, the desert crept in which led to an ecological devastation.

Q7: What was the result of cessation in the Mongol’s military campaigns on the state?
Ans:  After cessation in the Mongol’s military campaigns, territories of Europe and China were linked. Mongol conquest brought peace in the region and trade connections also matured. Trade and commerce, under the Mongols, reached its peak through the Silk Route. Now the trade routes did not ended in China. These trade routes now reached Mongolia and to Karakorum in the north. Ease of travel and communication was very important to retain the coherence of the Mongol empire. Passes were given to travellers for safe conduct. These passes were known as paiza in Persian and gerege in Mongolian. For this purpose, traders paid the tax called ‘baj’. The meaning of paying this tax was that these traders had acknowledged the authority of the Mongol ruler.
Mongol MilitaryQ8: How was agriculture promoted with the ease of contradictions between the nomadic and sedentary elements through the thirteenth century?
Ans. Through the thirteenth century, the contradiction was eased between the nomadic and sedentary elements within the Mongol empire. That is why agriculture was promoted to a great deal. For example, in the 1230’s, when Mongols won a war against the Chin dynasty in North China, then one strong pressure group within the Mongol leadership gave an idea that all the peasants should be killed and their fields must be converted into pasture lands. But in the decade of 1270, when Sung dynasty was defeated and South China was annexed into Mongol empire, the grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, came forward as a protector of peasants and cities. In the same way, Mongol ruler of Iran, Ghazan Khan, ordered his family members and other generals to not to plunder the peasants. In one of his speech, he said that this plunder did not lead to a stable prosperous realm.

Q9: Briefly discuss the role of civil administrators from the conquered societies in the Mongol administration.
Ans: Right from the region of Genghis Khan, Mongols had started recruiting administrators from the conquered societies. Sometimes they were moved from one place to another. In this way, they helped in integrating the distant provinces. It also reduced the plundering of sedentary people by nomads. The Mongol rulers trusted these administrators as long as they continued to collect taxes for their masters. Some of these administrators were quite influential. Sometimes they were even successful in influencing the policies of Khan’s. For example, in the 1230’s the plundering instincts of Ogodei were changed by his Chinese minister Yeh-lu-Ch’u-ts’ai. The similar role was played by the Juwaini family in Iran. Ghazan Khan delivered a speech to his Mongol Compatriots to not to harass the peasantry and to protect them. This speech was prepared by his wazir, Rashid-ud-din.

Q10: What were the achievements of Genghis Khan’s descendants?
Ans: The achievements of Genghis Khan’s descendants were not fewer. They included people of different faiths and beliefs in their society. It is right that Mongol rulers themselves belonged to a number of different faiths but they never dictated their personal beliefs on the public. They recruited soldiers and administrators from different groups. The regime of Mongols was multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and multireligious. This was quite-strange during those times. It is right that Mongol empire eventually altered in its different milieus but its founder remained a powerful force behind all the inspirations for descendants.