Mongols Dbq Analysis

Jem

The Mongols, created by Genghis Khan, is perceived by some as a brutal and uncivilized culture. They are known to carry out treacherous massacres as they conquered parts of Asia and Eastern Europe. However, this perception is false because the Mongols were a very much rather civilized culture. A civilized culture can be defined as having advancements in society, being well organized, and having the ability to prosper. Organization of a society allows for more time and an easier way for the economy to prosper making them even more advanced.
The Mongols’ civilization emerged as a civilized culture throughout their time of reign due to their enforcement of strict laws, enormous military expansions around the world, and their advancements leading to economic prosperity. Therefore, this incorporated them to an extent of being a very civilized culture.

The Mongols were a very civilized culture because of their strict laws and code of conducts. Their low tolerance of crimes leading to harsh punishments establishes obedience amongst the people. According to document ten, the Mongols had a very strict set of laws that regulated the behavior of their people. They instituted two codes of conduct that helped guide Mongol life. Yasa, the Mongol law, and bilik, a set of rules to live by set rules and regulations to follow maintaining order in society. For example, the punishment for anyone who commits adultery is to be executed. Harsh punishments such as these were established on drinking, on marriage, and on hospitality as well. Besides these laws, the Genghis’ Khan legislation designed the Mongol Morality, which cancelled out adultery and theft throughout the Mongol society, according to document seven. Stricter laws lead to fear of harsh punishments creating a sense of motivation for the people to follow the rules. Organization in social order and increased safety can produce a population boom since people want to be in a very secured environment as portrayed in Mongolian society. Great organization amongst the Mongols, a set of rules to live by, and a secured society free of crime allows the Mongols to become a very civilized culture.
Aside from having strict laws, the Mongols have shown themselves civilized with their great military advancements.
According to the map and table provided in document one, the conquered land by the Mongols is by far the greatest compared to other military conquests. Taking over 4,860,000 square miles in such a short amount of time requires an advanced military to handle this much work. Having a clever idea to come up with such a way on how to acquire this many men for the military is quite advanced and intelligent. According to document two, assigning captains for better organization did this. Plus, they maintained harsh punishments such as killing the whole group if one man decides to back out or run away. This fear of being put to death causes the soldiers to fight as hard they can so they do not die. This shows that stricter set of rules provides them with a higher chance of success. As a result of these clever, harsh, and tactful military strategies, the Mongols were able to conquer almost all of Asia, according to document six. They gained control of continental caravan routes from China to Persia, making them even more powerful. It would definitely take a very advanced and civilized society to gain this large of expansion. Their expansions around the world allowed for the introduction of new cultures, resulting to cultural diffusion. Their newly acquired land provided them with more resources resulting to wealth for the Mongols. With these introduced resources and wealth, they now have the power to develop into an even more advanced society with new innovations, making them a highly civilized
culture.

The extent of the civilized culture of the Mongols reached an even higher level due to their growing and prospering economy. As depicted in document six, after the destruction of their conquest, their expansion promoted economic developments and cultural diversity of many lands. For instance, the Persian silk industry expanded because the Mongols had introduced them to new opportunities with China. Not only that, but they made more significant improvements like building canals to improve transportation and communication. According to document seven, there was no theft because of the strict laws established which provides a better economy. Instead of focusing on catching criminals and stopping crime, they can focus more on trading and ideas, which can spread with the new canals for improved transportation. Also, according to document eight, Khan Balik is the center from which many roads radiate to many provinces. Along with that, they were even more advanced because they had messengers who travel two hundred miles a day. With the roads radiating from Khan Balik and the messengers, this deeply allows the spread of ideas at a very fast pace. Similarly, the more trade and ideas, the more advanced the Mongols become, leaving them yet again with more power, increased population, and more innovations. Their population would absolutely increase with their safe society, which likewise means more control and regulation. With these new resources from conquered land, increased trading, and economic advances, the Mongols continued to prosper hence making them a very civilized culture.

Although the Mongols killed many people throughout their conquest in a rather brutal manner, as depicted in document four, an army would not be successful in their conquests without setting a sense of fear to their enemy. The death of people is required for the Mongols in order to show their mightiness and power. Without showing their power and abilities, they would not have been successful on their expansions. Adding to that, the Mongols did benefit the economies of their conquered land by improving their economy, introducing new innovations, and as well as new trading regions. A civilized culture can be defined as having advancements in society, being well organized, and having the ability to prosper. Due to the Mongols’ enforcement of strict laws, enormous military expansions around the world, and their advancements leading to economic prosperity, they were able to make new innovations and advance their culture. As a result, the Mongols attained a very civilized culture during their time of reign. If the Mongols had never existed and gained this much power, some cultures may not have had traded with each other or spread, which could have changed the way cultures have turned out to this day. The Mongols allowed new ideas and two different cultures such as Persia and China to merge. Their existence led to new innovations and ideas still dragged on to this day. Not only does it impact us modernly, but also their mightiness and power that swept the world hundreds of years ago is still and forever will be one of the greatest impacts history has ever known.