Kublai Khan and the Pax Mongolica

Otakumonkey

Chieftain
Joined
Dec 20, 2002
Messages
30
Location
Jersey
Kublai Kahn and his Pax Mongolica


The dramatic expansion of the Mongols that began under Temujin was the most important event in world history in the 13th century. The son of a minor Mongol chief, Temujin’s brilliant leadership in inter-tribal warfare enabled him to unify the Mongol peoples in a ruthless two-year campaign. To mark his success he was proclaimed Genghis (“universal”) Kahn in 1206. During his unification campaign, he created what has often been called the finest cavalry army that the world has ever seen. If the army was not to break up, and his khandom with it, Genghis had to find work for his troops to do and wealth with which to reward them. He therefore adopted a policy of all-round aggression, and by his death in 1227, his Mongol hordes had conquered an empire that included most of central Asia and Northern China. It was neither Genghis nor his sons who established a relative era of peace and prosperity, for they were primarily concerned with expansion of Mongol lands, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Rather, it was Genghis’ grandson, Kublai Kahn, who led the Mongol empire into what is now called the Pax Mongolica, the Mongol peace.


A council assembly located in China elected Kublai fifth Grand Kahn in 1260. Civil war broke out however when Arik-Boke, contending that an assembly convened outside the Mongol homeland was invalid, called a rival assembly at Karakorum, the capital of the Mongolian empire, which elected him grand Kahn. After few years of fighting, Kublai proved victorious. In 1260, Kublai established the capital of his Yuan dynasty in Peking, the former Chinese capital that his grandfather Genghis razed. With the establishment of his seat of power in China, Kublai shifted the axis of the Mongol Empire further south.



Slowly retiring from the nomadic lifestyle of his fathers, Kublai established himself as an intellectual as well as a warrior. He enjoyed the company of scholars and intellectuals. Although a Buddhist, Kublai was tolerant of any religion that helped promote obedience and stability within his empire. He favored working with Muslim traders, for they were active in international trade. As result, he encouraged trade overland through the Silk Road into west Asia and by sea to Southeast Asia and India. Such trade brought increasing wealth and rare luxuries to the Mongol ruling class. His government ensured that all roads be kept safe from Bandits so that trade was able to travel and be exchanged in relative safety. As internal agriculture underpinned international commerce and increased tax revenue, Kublai created an Office for Stimulation of Agriculture. He made certain that granaries were filled in case of sudden famine, specifically in the north, which was devastated through prolonged warfare. He organized families into groups of 50 called “she”. Each she was charged with various tasks in order to support agriculture recovery, such as the planting of trees, working on irrigation and flood control, stocking rivers and lakes with fish, and promoting silk production. As a result of all of Kublai Kahn’s efforts, the Mongol empire enjoyed an era of peace and prosperity unknown in its prior history.


Thomas Carlyle’s “Great Man of History” thesis proves true in the case of Kublai Kahn and his dynasty. Kublai was the lifeblood of his empire, and with his death, things began to disintegrate rapidly. The ruling classes and merchants only enjoyed the large-scale prosperity of Kublai Kahn’s reign. As Kublai embarked on his various military offensives, the peasant class was increasingly taxed. Millions were pauperized and an unprecedented number became slaves. Most however, were content with being slaves, for they were spared the slaughter that Genghis Kahn enforced upon his conquered territories. With Kublai Kahn’s death in 1294 the Mongol empire became progressively unstable. Violent conflicts over succession broke out; in the period between 1308 and 1333, seven emperors ruled. As each emperor died, conflicting claims within the dynasty for the throne arose, resulting in near constant civil war. The end of Yua dynasty came by peasant revolt. The Chinese had always resented rule by foreigners and, taking advantage of the wars of succession, rose and drove out the scattered Yuan dynasty by force. A Chinese orphan by the name of Hung Wu, a peasant soldier who gave up banditry to become a Buddhist monk, led the revolt and founded the Ming dynasty in 1368.


As clearly shown, one man held the Mongol peace together, and that man was Kublai Kahn. Though his efforts to increase trade and intellectual knowledge resulted in grand luxury and internal peace during his lifetime, he failed to appease the peasant class in such a way to make certain that prosperity would increase in the future, instead contributing to their misery. His death in 1294 signaled not only the coming death of his Yuan dynasty, but also the end of any semblance of a lasting Pax Mongolica.
 
Comments would be appricated. Thank you.
 
Khan is misspelt. :) Otherwise on the subject of the Mongol peace, it is too brief and summarized.

I might write an article on Khubilai myself someday - a more specialized one. ;)
 
I would do so. The essay was meant to be a brief, one night assignment. I could not go over a max amount of words. Too bad, I could have go on. I enjoyed writing it .
 
Top Bottom