Why was trade so significant to the mongols

I see many people having highly outdated stereotypes of Mongols. We often see a straw-man view of Mongols: guys on horses with bows and arrows. What would you say if someone in the year 2700 described the British Empire merely as guys carrying muskets and the Union Jack and wearing red coats? Or the Arab Empire as guys with swords on horses chanting Allah? Or the U.S. as a superpower dropping nuclear bombs while watching Adam Sandler movies? Unlike Hitler, Napoleon, and so many others, the Mongols had little problem running over Russia. They say you never invade Russia in winter. Mongols actually loved invading that time, as their horses could run over the frozen rivers without the need for bridges. While Afghans might have resisted Americans, Soviets, and the British, they had no clue of what hit them during the time of Mongols. China was never ruled by outside powers until then. The Arab Empire was at its glorious heights with Baghdad being the world's greatest city. Until the Mongols, of course. Indians barely avoided being run over by Genghis Khan's hordes due to a strong leader. Later, even India was partly defeated. The Mongols could run over the brutally cold lands of Siberia and the brutally hot lands of Arabia. They didn't care if they were running into the empty grasslands of the Steppes or the deep tropical jungles of Burma. They could run the paddy fields of China and also run through Himalayas as though it was some irrelevant hill. They could as easily mount t...

The Silk Road is extraordinarily important to world history for several reasons. First, it allowed many countries to advance significantly in their technological and economic prowess. It also changed the course of many people's lives through the spread of religion, invading armies, and even disease. The world would be dramatically different if the Silk Roads had never existed. The term Silk Road refers to an extensive trade network that stretched from East Asia to Europe and parts of Africa; it is more accurate to talk about Silk Roads in the plural instead of the singular. Where is the Silk Road, or its significant routes, located? The Silk Roads began in several parts of Eastern China. They extended south into the Pacific and Indian Oceans and included several major maritime trade routes to India and Ethiopia, among other places. Overland, the roads passed through what are now Mongolia, Tibet, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, and Italy; many other countries were significant stops along the Silk Roads. Overall, the Silk Roads covered more than 4,000 miles of land from end to end. What purpose was the Silk Road used? For centuries, the Silk Roads were used for trade, transporting valuable goods over great distances. In addition to goods, the roads also served as transportation routes for ideas, religions, people, and even diseases. As early as 1000 BCE, the roads were used and continued to be important well into the Renaissance; the earliest evidence of trade is Chinese silk fou...

Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire. He first set out at age 17 with his father and uncle, traveling overland along what later became known as the Silk Road. Upon reaching China, Marco Polo entered the court of powerful Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, who dispatched him on trips to help administer the realm. Marco Polo remained abroad for 24 years. Though not the first European to explore China—his father and uncle, among others, had already been there—he became famous for his travels thanks to a popular book he co-authored while languishing in a Genoese prison. Marco Polo: The Early Years Marco Polo was born around 1254 into a prosperous merchant family in the Italian city-state of Venice. His father, Niccolò, and his uncle Maffeo had left the year before on a long-term trading expedition. As a result, he was raised by extended relatives following his mother’s death at a young age. Niccolò and Maffeo first spent about six years in Did you know? Christopher Columbus purportedly sailed to the New World with a copy of Marco Polo’s “Travels” in tow. Thinking he would reach Asia and having no idea about the Mongol Empire’s collapse, Columbus marked up the book with notes in preparation for a meeting with Kublai Khan’s descendent. The Byzantine re-conquest of Constantinople in 1261, along with upheavals in the Mongol Empire, may have blocked their way home. Niccolò and Maffeo therefore turned east in...

The Mongols were nomadic people and formidable pastoralists who lived in the steppes of Central Asia, an area that stretches from present-day eastern Kazakhstan to western China. They are known for establishing the largest contiguous land empire—an empire with common borders—in history, the Mongol Empire, which spanned from the Pacific Ocean to the Danube River and included much of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East! As pastoralist people, the Mongols were already well acquainted with horses and bows, allowing them to travel quickly and cut a deadly path through their enemies. Additionally, they also had siege weapons, which could bypass exterior defenses and cause destruction inside castle walls. Once border defenses fell, the Mongols showed no mercy. Rumors of Mongol strength served as a source of power for the Mongols in warfare, as many cities who heard of their military might simply surrendered rather than fight the inevitable. The Mongols were known for their highly organized and efficient military campaigns, which enabled them to conquer and control vast territories. As skilled horsemen and traders, they played a significant role in spreading ideas, technologies, and cultural practices throughout the regions they controlled. The Mongols were led by Genghis Khan, who united the various Mongol tribes under his rule in the early 13th century and went on to conquer much of the known world. The collapse of old governments due to Mongol expansion contributed to new state f...