Question

Who were the Mongols? How did they rule China? 

Answer 1

1. Mongols were nomads. They came into Europe from the Steppes of Asiatic Russia.
2. They were herdsmen. ‘
3. The Mongols were experts in warfare and produced a remarkable chief, Chengiz Khan.
4. He was a great military genius.
5. His religion was Shamanism, a worship of the “Everlasting Blue Sky. Mongols’ hold over Russia for about 300 years made Russia technologically backward from the rest of Europe until the end of Middle Ages”.

• Rule in China

1. The Mongols established their rule in the name of Yuan dynasty.
2. The Mongols, who overran Persia and the whole of Central Asia, did not spare China either.
3. Mangu Khan became the Great Khan in 1252 who appointed Kublai Khan the Governor of China.
4. The Mongol presence from one end of Eurasia to the other played a key role in spreading Chinese technological advances to the less developed societies in the west.
5. Though the Mongol court in Beijing impressed a foreigner like Marco Polo, the poverty of peasantry continued.
6. There were revolts of religious sects and secret societies.
7. Finally, the leader of “Red Turbans” Chu Yuan Chang took the Mongol capital Beijing and proclaimed himself emperor in 1369.
8. The Ming Empire, which replaced the Mongol empire, consciously discouraged industry and foreign trade in order to concentrate on agriculture.
9. This resulted in China lagging behind in the 16th century. ‘
10. Other parts of Eurasia, building on the techniques of the Chinese, began to march ahead.