Early European History Part 87

[6] For the routes followed by the crusaders see the map between pages 478-479.

[7] See page 412.

[8] The emperor Constantine caused a stately church to be erected on the supposed site of Christ's tomb. This church of the Holy Sepulcher was practically destroyed by the Moslems, early in the eleventh century. The crusaders restored and enlarged the structure, which still stands.

[9] The order of Hospitalers, now known as the "Knights of Malta," still survives in several European countries.

[10] See page 383.

[11] See page 413.

[12] See pages 449-450.

[13] See page 513.

[14] See page 460.

[15] In French _Coeur-de-Lion_.

[16] See page 461.

[17] See page 492.

[18] See page 462.

[19] See pages 362-363.

[20] See page 423.

CHAPTER XXI

THE MONGOLS AND THE OTTOMAN TURKS TO 1463 A.D.

175. THE MONGOLS

THE ASIATIC COUNTER-ATTACK

The extensive steppes in the middle and north of Asia have formed, for thousands of years, the abode of nomadic peoples belonging to the Yellow race. In prehistoric times they spread over northern Europe, but they were gradually supplanted by white-skinned Indo-Europeans, until now only remnants of them exist, such as the Finns and Lapps. In later ages history records how the Huns, the Bulgarians, and the Magyars have poured into Europe, spreading terror and destruction in their path. [1] These invaders were followed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the even more terrible Mongols and Ottoman Turks. Their inroads might well be described as Asia's reply to the crusades, as an Asiatic counter-attack upon Europe.

MONGOLIA

The Mongols, who have given their name to the entire race of yellow- skinned peoples, now chiefly occupy the high plateau bounded on the north by Siberia, on the south by China, on the east by Manchuria, and on the west by Turkestan. [2] Although the greater part of this area consists of the Gobi desert, there are many oases and pastures available at different seasons of the year to the inhabitants. Hence the princ.i.p.al occupation of the Mongols has always been cattle breeding, and their horses, oxen, sheep, and camels have always furnished them with food and clothing.

MONGOL LIFE AND CHARACTER

Like most nomads the Mongols dwell in tents, each family often by itself.

Severe simplicity is the rule of life, for property consists of little more than one's flocks and herds, clothes, and weapons. The modern Mongols are a peaceable, kindly folk, who have adopted from Tibet a debased form of Buddhism, but the Mongols of the thirteenth century in religion and morals were scarcely above the level of American Indians. To ruthless cruelty and pa.s.sion for plunder they added an efficiency in warfare which enabled them, within fifty years, to overrun much of Asia and the eastern part of Europe.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HUT-WAGON OF THE MONGOLS (RECONSTRUCTION) On the wagon was placed a sort of hut or pavilion made of wands bound together with narrow thongs. The structure was then covered with felt or cloth and provided with latticed windows. Hut-wagons, being very light, were sometimes of enormous size.]

MILITARY PROWESS OF THE MONGOLS

The daily life of the Mongols was a training school for war. Constant practice in riding, scouting, and the use of arms made every man a soldier. The words with which an ancient Greek historian described the savage Scythians applied perfectly to the Mongols: "Having neither cities nor forts, and carrying their dwellings with them wherever they go; accustomed, moreover, one and all, to shoot from horseback; and living not by husbandry but on their cattle, their wagons the only houses that they possess, how can they fail of being irresistible?" [3]

176. CONQUESTS OF THE MONGOLS, 1206-1405 A.D.

JENGHIZ KHAN

For ages the Mongols had dwelt in scattered tribes throughout their Asiatic wilderness, engaged in petty struggles with one another for cattle and pasture lands. It was the celebrated Jenghiz Khan, [4] chief of one of the tribes, who brought them all under his authority and then led them to the conquest of the world. Of him it may be said with truth that he had the most victorious of military careers, and that he constructed the most extensive empire known to history. If Jenghiz had possessed the ability of a statesman, he would have taken a place by the side of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar.

MONGOL EMPIRE UNDER JENGHIZ, 1206-1227 A.D.

Jenghiz first sent the Mongol armies, which contained many Turkish allies, over the Great Wall [5] and into the fertile plains of China. All the northern half of the country was quickly overrun. Then Jenghiz turned westward and invaded Turkestan and Persia. Seven centuries have not sufficed to repair the damage which the Mongols wrought in this once- prosperous land. The great cities of Bokhara, Samarkand, Merv, and Herat, [6] long centers of Moslem culture, were pillaged and burned, and their inhabitants were put to the sword. Like the Huns the Mongols seemed a scourge sent by G.o.d. Still further conquests enlarged the empire, which at the death of Jenghiz in 1227 A.D. stretched from the Dnieper River to the China Sea.

MONGOL EMPIRE UNDER THE SUCCESSORS OF JENGHIZ

The Mongol dominions in the thirteenth century were increased by the addition of Korea, southern China, and Mesopotamia, as well as the greater part of Asia Minor and Russia. j.a.pan, indeed, repulsed the Mongol hordes, but at the other extremity of Asia they captured Bagdad, sacked the city, and brought the caliphate to an end. [7] The Mongol realm was very loosely organized, however, and during the fourteenth century it fell apart into a number of independent states, or khanates.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map, THE MONGOL EMPIRE]

TIMUR THE LAME, DIED 1405 A.D.

It was reserved for another renowned Oriental monarch, Timur the Lame, [8]

to restore the empire of Jenghiz Khan. His biographers traced his descent from that famous Mongol, but Timur was a Turk and an adherent of Islam. He has come down to us as perhaps the most terrible personification in history of the evil spirit of conquest. Such distant regions as India, Syria, Armenia, Asia Minor, and Russia were traversed by Timur's soldiers, who left behind them only the smoking ruins of a thousand cities and abominable trophies in the shape of columns or pyramids of human heads.

Timur died in his seventieth year, while leading his troops against China, and the extensive empire which he had built up in Asia soon crumbled to pieces.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOMB OF TIMUR AT SAMARKAND Samarkand in Russian Central Asia became Timur's capital in 1369 AD. The city was once a center of Mohammedan wealth and culture, famous for its beautiful mosques, palaces, and colleges. The Gur-Amir, or tomb of Timur, consists of a chapel, crowned by a dome and enclosed by a wall. Time and earthquakes have greatly injured this fine building. The remains of Timur lie here under a huge block of jade.]

177. THE MONGOLS IN CHINA AND INDIA

MONGOL SWAY IN CHINA

The Mongols ruled over China for about one hundred and fifty years. During this period they became thoroughly imbued with Chinese culture. "China,"

said an old writer, "is a sea that salts all the rivers flowing into it."

The most eminent of the Mongol emperors was Jenghiz Khan's grandson, Kublai (1259-1294 A.D.). He built a new capital, which in medieval times was known as Cambaluc and is now called Peking. While Kublai was on the throne, the Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, [9] visited China, and he describes in glowing colors the virtues and glories of the "Great Khan."

There appears to have been considerable trade between Europe and China at this time, and Franciscan missionaries and papal legates penetrated to the remote East. After the downfall of the Mongol dynasty in 1368 A.D. China again shut her doors to foreign peoples. All intercourse with Europe ceased until the arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. [10]

TIMUR AND BABER IN INDIA

Northern India, which in earlier ages had witnessed the coming of Persian, Macedonian, and Arabian conquerors, did not escape visitations by fresh Asiatic hordes. Timur the Lame, at the head of an innumerable host, rushed down upon the banks of the Indus and the Ganges and sacked Delhi, making there a full display of his unrivaled ferocity. Timur's invasion left no permanent impress on the history of India, but its memory fired the imagination of another Turkish chieftain, Baber, a remote descendant of Timur. In 1525 A.D. he invaded India and speedily made himself master of the northern part of the country.

EMPIRE OF THE MOGULS