Mongol Army DBQ

Travis Wood

How Barbaric Were The “Barbarians?”

A­Author
P­Place and Time
P­Prior Knowledge
A­Audience
R­Reason
T­Main Idea
S­Significance

Doc. C
A­ John of Plano Carpini
P­Between 1245 and 1247 in Karakorum
P­Mongols were skilled warriors
A­Students learning about Mongols
R­To document the Mongol Army
T­The Mongol Army was set up with captains over groups of ten who were group in intervals of ten. S­To document the activities of the Mongol Army Doc. D
A­John of Plano Carpini
P­13th Century
P­Mongols conquered lots of area with skilled army tactics
A­Scholars who study the Mongols
R­To teach Europe of the Mongol army
T­The Mongol Army had skilled tactics that helped them conquer most of Asia
S­To teach Doc. E A­Ata­Malik Juvaini
P­the spring of 1221 in Persia
P­Mongols often attacked large cities and plundered with brutality.
A­European studies of Mongol attacks
R­To document the brutality of the Mongol attacks.
T­The Mongols had the ability to decimate entire cities.
S­To show the Mongols ability to attack cities

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DBQ Intro­
Thesis­The Mongol Army has had a reputation for being barbaric, but they were actually skilled warriors who supported trade and were actually quite civilized. Topic Sentence­SKILLED WARRIORS
Documents­
1. B
2. C
3. D
4. E
5. A Topic Sentence­BARBARIANISM
Documents­
1. F
2. I
3. E
4. D
5. C Topic Sentence­ CIVILIZED
Documents­
1. J
2. N
3. G
4. H
5. L
6. M
7. K Restatement of Thesis­ Of the many great empires of history, the Mongols proved to be the greatest through skilled warfare and both civilized and barbaric actions.
Summary of main points­

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How Barbaric Were The “Barbarians?” “I came, I saw, I conquered” ­ Julius Ceasar (BrainyQuote). Julius Ceasar was a great
Roman warrior and commander who conquered about 640,000 square miles in his reign. He conquered a plethora of land through skillful war tactics. His accomplishments are impressive, no? But, he was not the greatest commander to ever live.. The greatest military commander ever was Genghis Temujin Khan. This man conquered more land in 25 years than the entire Roman
Empire did in 400. He lead the Mongol army to riches and prosperity. Historians have created a stereotype of the Mongols saying that they were extremely barbaric. The Mongol Army has had a reputation for being barbaric, but they were actually skilled warriors who supported trade and were actually quite civilized.
The Mongol army displayed superior military tactics which it used on its enemies.
“Military Duty” by Robert Marshall supports the well structured military of the Mongols. This document was written by a University Professor who has read other historical documents about the Mongols. “Military Duty” speaks of the individual soldier and their equipment and experiences. The Mongol army was well structured, such as is stated in the document, “Carpini on Army Organization and Discipline.” This document is written by a European who viewed the
Mongol army in action. Carpini talks about how the Mongols were structured by captains of groups of ten and of the punishments for deserting war. The Mongols had a battle strategy superior to that of their enemies as stated in “Carpini on Battle Tactics.” They used all weapons and support that they could receive on their enemies. This document is written by a witness of the Mongol army, which proves its reliability. The army could pick apart their enemies and mislead them into surrender before the battle had even started. The Mongols had the ability to destroy entire cities using the tactics shown in “The Taking of Nishapur.” This document was written by a person on the Mongol side, which may have made this selection partially biased. In this document, the Mongol army uses extreme skill to wage war on a well fortified castle. The
Mongols used their military skill to conquer thousands of miles of land as shown in “Map Of
The Mongol Empire.” This document is compiled of information gathered from textbooks to create a map of the Mongol empire. This document was made by Mongol experts who assembled this data together based on ancient texts. The Mongols had skilled battle strategy which gave them the ability to conquer vast amounts of land. Through all of their conquering, they were given the stereotype of barbaric.
The Mongol army has a background of being extremely barbaric. The “Painting: Buried
Alive” was painted to show the barbarism and brutality of the Mongols. This was created by a
Persian artist who may have witnessed this terrible act go on. This portrays a violent picture of
Mongol society. The Mongols would destroy entire towns and decimate populations as shown in
“Population in China.” This document tells of they way the Mongols managed to erase many

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Chinese citizens in their attacks. This data was compiled by a historian who had no physical connection to actual Mongol life. In this document, the author tells of how Mongol rule and attacks killed many Chinese citizens. The brutality shown in, “Taking of Nishapur” supports the idea that whole cities could be destroyed. Although this document was written by a Mongol supporter, it displays the idea that the Mongols were unsympathetic in their attacks, and they knew it. This proves that their level of barbarism is very high. As one can see, the Mongols had ferocious battle tactics as seen in “Carpini on Battle Tactics.” This witness Mongol sieges wrote about how the Mongols would brutally slaughter their enemies. He says that the fat of their victims would be catapulted back into castles and lit on fire. Obviously, very inhuman. The
Mongol army also acted cruelly to each other as shown in, “Carpini on Army Organization and
Discipline.” This individual experienced and observed Mongol coarseness. They would be murdered if a fellow soldier who was in the same platoon as them fled battle. They did not treat cowardice and fearfulness of battle or death, with compassion. The Mongol army was very barbaric in their attacks, but once they controlled an area, they set up a strict set of rules which gives the feeling of their civilized culture. Historians today believe that the Mongol army was, contrary to popular belief, quite civilized. They supported trade in their colonies, set up strict laws, and did not show racial or religious prejudice. They were all treated as members of the Mongol empire. The people of
China and Persia felt a great trade surge under the Mongols as stated in “Mongol Commerce in
China and Persia.” The Mongol army supported trade in these regions with stiff laws against theft. This document was compiled by a history professor who has written his findings based on books he has read on the subject. When the Mongols gained control, they would empower the trading markets and supported artisans. The Mongol army set up a strict law code which citizens almost always adhered to, as shown in “Fragments on Law and Custom.” This document speaks of the laws Mongol citizens had to abide to. These laws were recorded by Mongol leaders and observers of the Mongol life. These laws stood over all of the Mongol empire, and were enforced with little mercy. The Mongols supported the arts and trade and they appreciated architecture, as shown in “Karakorum.” The city of Karakorum boasted great palaces and religious centers, and the markets were superlative. This document was written of the observances of a European traveler to Karakorum. He was impressed at the absolute control which the Mongols had over the citizens and the trade. The Mongols controlled much of Eurasia and had a strong impact on
China. The Mongol leaders quickly changed China laws and tried to renovate China’s infrastructure. One of the leaders who had the most impact was, Kublai Khan as shown in,
“Kublai’s Reign in China.” This document is a timeline of Kublai’s changes to China. In his thirty­five years of being in power, he supported cultural advancements and set up new legal systems. He contributed with the movement of the capital to Beijing. This timeline was created by a college professor who has studied the Mongol life, so it might be a little undetailed, but it provides rough dates with occurrences. He also supported a cross­empire message system as stated in, “The Yams.” This pony express style message system provided a way for the empire to

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communicate. This document was written by Marco Polo who was a famous explorer. Polo says that the mail system was the fastest and most advanced of its time. This mail system shows an advanced level of civilization because it took intense planning to set up this postal service. The
Mongols showed acceptance of all religions as seen in, “Mongke Khan on God.” This document was written by an adventurer who passed through socially diverse areas of the world. He noted the racial acceptance in the Mongol empire. This shows the true civility that they could accept others. The empire was set up very early to be brutal on the battlefield, but civilized at home.
They had strict laws originally set up by Genghis Khan himself, according to “Battuta’s Horses.”
It is said that Ibn Battuta lost two horses in Mongol land, and they were returned to him twenty days after. This was because of the intense laws against theft. The Mongol army may seem brutal on the outside, but in reality, they were quite developed.
The reputation for the Mongol army has always been barbaric, but based on current facts, they were actually skilled warriors with very civilized tendencies. Historian stereotypes of the
Mongols have been proven only partially true. Genghis Khan contributed greatly to history and connected most of Eurasia with trade. He reopened trade routes and brought China back into golden years. He displayed impressive military skill which allowed the Mongols to conquer vast amounts of land. He set up trade routes and an intense system for messages. The “barbarians” were very civilized and brought many advancements to the world. In reality, the one who came, saw, and conquered was Genghis Khan and his army of “barbarians.”