NOMADIC EMPIRES - QUESTION ANSWER (CBSE BOARD HISTORY CLASS 11)

Q. 1. Why was trade so significant to the Mongols? 

Ans. Trade was significant to the Mongols because:

1. Mongols were mainly pastoralists while others were hunter-gatherers. They nomadised in the steppes of Central Asia in a tract of land of the modern state of Mongolia. There were extremes of temperatures in the entire region: harsh long winters followed by brief, dry summers. Agriculture was possible only in the pastoral regions during short parts of the year, but since they did not take to agriculture; they had to obtain agricultural products through trade.

2. Scant resources of the steppe lands drove the Mongols and other Central Asian nomads to trade and barter with their sedentary neighbour China.

3. Trade was mutually beneficial to both the Mongols and their Chinese neighbour. Mongols exchanged their horses, furs and game trapped in the steppe for agricultural produce and iron utensils from China.

Q.2. Why did Genghis Khan feel the need to fragment the Mongol tribes into new social and military groupings?

Ans. Genghis Khan felt the need to fragment the Mongol tribes, alter the old steppe social order by integrating different lineages and clans, and forming new social and military groupings because :

1. He wanted to control and discipline his nomadic hordes.

2. He wanted to make into a fighting machine with a destructive power; and ensure success of his future campaigns.

3. He wanted to suppress  any possibility of revolt or threat to his authority by replacing rights of old chieftains by the new aristocracy which derived its status from its progenitor, Genghis Khan.

4. Wanted to appreciate and publicly acclaim some of those individuals who had served him with loyalty through grave adversity for many years.

5. Include within his confederacy groups like the Turkic Ulghurs who had accepted his authority willingly and accommodate defeated people like the Kereyits. 

6. Wanted to assign the governing of the newly conquered people to his four sons. By fragmenting the Mongol tribes, Genghis Khan removed any threat that his sons could face in ruling the empire collectively.

Q3. How do later Mongol reflections on the 'yasa' bring out the uneasy relationship they had with the memory of Genghis Khan? 

Ans. 1. The "yasa" the code of law that Genghis Khan was supposed to have promulgated at the quriltai of 1206. In its earliest form the term was written as yasaq which means law decree or order. It concerned administrative regulations: the organisation of the hunt, the army and the postal system-traditions of the different Mongol tribes.

2. By the middle of the 13th century the Mongols had started using the related term yasa in a more general sense to mean the legal code of Genghis Khan.

3. The later Mongols could neither apply the harsh rules of Genghis Khan on their subjects, as they themselves got sedentarised nor could they condemn the harsh rules of their ancestor. This led to uneasy relations. 

4. By referring to the yasa as Genghis Khan's code of law; the Mongols tried to overcome their uneasiness by laying claim to a "law giver" like Moses and Solomon. 

5. Moreover the yasa served to cohere the Mongol people around a body of shared beliefs. It acknowledged their affinity to Genghis Khan and his descendants, and gave them the confidence to retain their identity and impose their law on defeated subjects, vital in the construction of a Mongol universal dominion.

Q.4. If history relies upon written records produced by city based literati, nomadic societies will always receive a hostile representation.' Would you agree with this statement? Does it explain the reason why Persian chronicles produced such inflated figures of casualties resulting from Mongol campaigns?

Ans. There is substantial truth in the above statement because, for example the Mongols produced little literature of their own and were instead written about by literati from foreign cultural milieus who were ignorant and biased about nomadic life. The only image that appear of Genghis Khan in our imagination are those of a conqueror, the destroyer of cities, and an individual who was responsible for the death of thousands of people- They came, they [mined the walls], they burnt, they slew, they plundered and they

departed. 

Yet, for the Mongols Genghis Khan was the greatest leader of all time. He fashioned a grand trans continental empire, restored trade routes, and markets that attracted distant travellers like Marco Polo. The sheer size of the Mongol dominion, the diverse body of people and faiths that it embraced, and the ideological models that it provided for later regimes seem to be just wiped under by Persian chronicles. Today in independent Mongolia Genghis Khan has appeared as an iconic figure for the Mongol people.

Example: In contrast to an eyewitness report that only 400 soldiers defended the citadel of Bukhara on II-Khamd (Persian) chronicle reported that 30,000 soldiers were killed- a greatly exaggerated version of the members killed.

Q. 5. Discuss how Genghis Khan worked to systematically erase the old tri identities of different groups who joined his confederacy.

Ans. Genghis Khan worked to systematically erase the old tribal identities by: 

1. Stopped the practice of existence of clan and tribes within the decimal units of the Army.

2. Divided the old tribal groupings and distributed their members into new military units.

3. Any individual who tried to move from his allotted group without permission recen harsh punishment.

4. The largest unit of soldiers-10,000 included fragmented groups of people from a variety of different clans and tribes. Now the units had new identity derived from its progenitor.

5. Rankings did not preserve the rights of old chieftains. The new aristocracy derived status from a close relationship with the Great Khan of the Mongols. For example: th who had stood by Genghis Khan in his long years of adversity were publicly honoured "anda" i.e., blood-brothers, still others of humbler rank were given special ranking "naukar".

6. The army was no longer of a relatively small undifferentiated body but include heterogenous mass of people groups like Turkic Ulghurs who had accepted his authorit and defeated people like Kereyits.

7. Administrators were included from conquered societies for example: Chinese minister Yeh-Lu-Chu-tsai, the Juwaini family and Rashiduddin to mention a few.

8. Their's was a multiethnic, multilingual multireligious regime and it provided ideological models for later regimes like the Mughals.

Q. 6. Write a short note on the courier system developed by the Mongols.

Ans. The courier system developed by the Mongols were as follows: 1. Genghis Khan fashioned the courier system, which was later further refined after his death.

2. The courier system was called "yam".

3. It was an important factor in enabling Mongol's administer their vast empire as t connected and enabled communication with the far flung areas of the empire across continental landmass.

4. Under the system fresh mounts and despatch riders were placed in outposts at regular distances.

5. To maintain the system a special tax called qubcur tax was levied on Mongol nomads i one tenth of their herd-either horses or livestock as provisions.

6. Its speed and reliability surprised travellers.

the ruler of Iran Ghazan Khan descendant of Genghis Khan's youngest son Toluy-warned family members and other generals to avoid pillaging the peasantry as it did not lead to a stable prosperous realm.

Q7. Briefly discuss the factors responsible for the decline of the Mongol Empire. 

Ans. Among the factors responsible for the decline of the Mongol Empire in the late 14th century were.

1. The gradual separation of the descendents of Genghis Khan into separate lineage groups and alteration in past family concordance. 

2. Competition amongst cousin clans as presented by the Toluyid branch.

3. The pressure to sedentarise in the new areas of Mongol domicile and contradictions between nomadic and sedentary elements.

4. Failure of conquered people to feel a sense of affinity with their new nomadic masters.

5. During campaigns in the first half of the 13th century, cities were destroyed, agricultural lands laid waste, trade and handicrafts production disrupted. Tens of thousands of people were killed and even more enslaved. All this left bitter memories and were a factor in building bitterness against Mongol Empire.

6. The old clan chieftains felt disgrunted as the reorganisation of the army did not preserve the rights of the old clan chieftains. They were replaced by the new aristocracy which derived its status from close relationship with the Great Khan of the Mongols.

7. The success of establishment of a large empire rested on the military skills, but with the introduction of new elements, the composition was complicated and the army became ar incredibly heterogenous mass of people. 

Q8 . Genghis Khan's military's achievement were largely a result of his ability to innovate and transform different aspects of steppe combat into extremely effective military strategies. Explain and justify.

Ans. The military achievements of Genghis Khan were astounding and largely a result of his ability to innovate and transform different aspects of steppe combat.

1. The horse riding skills of the Mongols and the Turks were streamlined to provide speed and mobility to the army.

2. Rapid shooting skills of the archers while on horseback were perfected during hunting expeditions which doubled as field manoeuvres.

3. The tradition of steppe cavalry to travel light, knowledge of terrain and the weather was used to carry out campaigns in the depths of winter.

4. Frozen rivers were used as highways to enemy cities and camps.

5. Nomads conventional inability against fortified encampments were overcome by Geng Khan's learning and putting to use siege engines and napth bombardment technique Engineers were instructed to prepare light portable equipment with devastating ef so as not to hinder mobility and speed of the army.