Jumee Kim A.P. World Mrs.

Atanasoff 7 December 2012 The Mongols: Positive Advancement to the World Oftentimes, the Mongols are viewed as horrendous barbarians that killed every living body in sight; however, they deserve much more credit than they are given. Mongolians contributed much to the growth of Eurasia. They helped advance Eurasia with several factors. An unfair perspective was most likely initiated by those in the urban societies that the Mongols conquered, who could inevitably not have a liking toward the Mongols. When speaking from a completely unbiased point of view, one could say the Mongols contributed much advances in warfare and technology. The contributions that the Mongols made are often buried under the negative attention they received. As an alternative to sedentary agriculture, they created a complex pastoral lifestyle which gave way to an advanced horse culture. The barbarian steppe nomads were able to help the evolution of horses. Horseback riding made tending herd faster and less tiring, and also enlarge the size of herds by increasing the range of pastoral movement. Horses also assisted in the total migration of entire tribes and clans. The four major Eurasian civilizations were geographically split preventing efficient communications; however, the Mongols were able to become a chief agency through which ideas and practices of one civilization passed to another. The concept of writing which originated in the ancient Middle East, spread eastward from the

Middle East. Additionally, the making and use of bronze and chariots spread from the Middle East to Europe, India, and China. Chariots were introduced to China not long after their appearance in the Middle East. Additionally, the Mongols build massive roads connecting Asia and Europe which provided safety for travelers and merchants. The Mongols were able to efficiently organize a massive confederacy of people that united under a single ruler and was able to systematically conquer settlements from China to Europe. It became the largest empire ever ruled. The military forces of the Mongolian people are still regarded today as advanced and highly skilled. It consisted almost exclusively of cavalry with iron discipline and central control which aided its success. The Mongols were able to periodically revive many stagnating coastal civilizations, which numerous accounts show these centers grown to have become rich and powerful. With conquering several civilizations, the Mongols were able to efficiently rid the old and outdated and only preserved and passed on the useful elements. The relationships with the Mongolian helped foster innovation and progress in society. The Mongols were responsible for a certain amount of diffusion between societies In the defense of the Mongolians, they lived in such a hostile environment where it was necessary to be constantly battling the nature and surrounding people for survival; however, their basic need for survival was twisted into extraneous killing and destroying of empires. The Mongolians were illiterate and could not keep track of their own records, thus, any records of their history came from those who had been defeated and conquered. Historians tended to emphasize the negative aspects and depleted the positive contributions, and these historians were not helpless, poor individuals. They were often the most advanced and powerful states and empires in Europe, the Middle East, India, and China.

It is unfair to say that the Mongolians only dispensed turmoil to Eurasia. If anything, the people proved to be advantageous toward the entire world. Their ideas of warfare and lifestyle still exist to this day. If not for the Mongols, Eurasia would not have united and progressed as much as it did. The Mongols need to be taken out of the negative light that they were put in by those who they conquered, and need to solely be judged on the contributions they brought to the world.