CONQUERORS:
MONGOLS AND TURKS

Themes cross-cultural contact civilized and barbarian: nomads *; * "great men:" Kublai Khan, Tamerlane, Suleiman

Xanadu

Environment and Development

Mongols

• Mongolia, Gobi desert
• Chinggis Khan * 1206-1227
• conquests
  • 1211-34 conquest of N China
  • 1219-21 conquest of Persia
  • 1237-41 conquest of Russia
  • 1258 capture of Baghdad
  • 1264-79 conquest of S China
• 4 Mongol states: *
  • Ilkhanate of Persia
  • Khanate of the Golden Horde (Rus)
  • Khanate of Chagatai (Turkestan)
  • Khanate of the Great Khan: Yuan dynasty
• Khubilai Khan * 1264-94, Yuan dynasty

Turks

• Tamerlane * 1336-1405 *
• Ottoman Empire, c. 1300-1924 map
  • Osman I *, c. 1300-1320
  • Mehmet II *, 1432-81
    • Constantinople, 1453
  • Suleiman *, 1494-1566
    • Belgrade 1521, Rhodes 1522, Mohacs 1526, Vienna 1529

Eurasian connection

Nomadic Cultures and Empires

Mongols

• from tribes to empires?
• conquests: horsemen, cavalry *; *; *
• Empire?
• acculturation: Sinicized, Islamicized

Turkish Culture

• cultural synthesis: Islamicized
• Conquest and Empire:
  • house of Osman
  • janissaries
• impact
  • Europe *; *

Great Men?

Khubilai Khan *

• the women behind the great man
  • Sorghaghtani Beki
  • Chabi
• chameleon and cosmopolitan *; *; *
• Mongol opposition: Khutulun
• unity through diversity?

Tamerlane

• conqueror
• Samarkand (Uzbekistan): Tamerlane's mausoleum and tomb; Registan
• music*

Suleiman the Magnificent *

• conqueror
• statesman
• cultural highpoint: Suleymaniye mosque; virtual walking tour

Comparisons and Conclusions

• from nomads to empire
• great men
• cross-cultural interaction
• achieve global unity and diversity at the same time?