Joanna Broyles
First Journal Entry
This is
my first letter that I have decided to write before I go on my journey into
Asia as an account of my research I have done. I am both excited and nervous for it. I have
heard many stories of what to expect while I am on my way. I do believe that I
am most concerned about meeting the Mongols. I remember hearing about when they
threatened to overrun different parts of Europe, and how scared that made me. I
feel like they are at the height of their empire, having already spread from
the small groups of nomadic people into a large group in control of a vast
empire, covering land from the Pacific Ocean all the way to Poland.
Since
they are nomads, they are constantly moving from one place to another. But it
isn’t random, through my research I have noticed that they seem to have a
selected few locations they continually return to. However, many times when
they return back to a place that they hadn’t been to in a few months or years,
they can find that it is populated by a different group. And I can’t help to
cringe at what I know happens when they find that this has happened. Their
tribes are just so primitive. There isn’t any form of social structure or
government. All that I have discovered is that there is a chief whose job is to
settle different disputes that arose in the tribes and give orders to his
people in war. These barbaric tribes are always fighting each other. This is
one fact that concerns me greatly.
However,
another one is how they rose to power so quickly. In just a matter of years the
group as a whole went from being under the power and control of Prester John
into a united force out for blood. Right after Genghis Khan, who I manage to
hear nothing about but horrible stories, was elected as the great supreme chief
of the Mongols, an invasion of Northern China quickly followed suit. After just
15 years, this newly united force was able to move from their fields in the
steppe to the Caspian Sea. This is nearly never heard of, and it greatly
worries me. What if something like this was to happen to me while I am in their
territory?
As you
can see above, the Mongol’s army is very impressive, one of the most efficient
ones to this day, if not the most. It is estimated that their army’s size
ranges somewhere between 100,000 to 130,000 men right now. They are very strong and effective because of
their training and discipline regimens and the high-quality weapons and
equipment they are in possession of. In their daily life, the Mongol men are
always riding horses and hunting because it is a necessity for their daily lives,
which turned the Mongols into expert horsemen. The men also had a string of
three up to five horses to just one rider, allowing the men to switch horses
when one became tired or was killed and ride on for days on end. The Mongols
went even as far as to invent a special saddle and stirrups for their horses.
Another aspect of the Mongol’s army that frightens me probably the most is
their policy. If a city surrendered when they came to overrun them, they were
spared. But it is living hell for those who do not do this. Whole cities have
been slaughtered and burned to the ground, after the Mongols take all that is
of some value. They seem to view that resisting their rule is an act of
rebellion against heaven.
After
completing my research for this, I am slightly apprehensive about what to
expect. Nearly everything I have found says that they are a horrid group of
people. Like those out of fairy tales. They are constantly moving around, never
settling down in just one place. Because of this they must be able to move
their houses too. So they live in what I can only describe as a tent with a
hole at the top. The floor is covered with beaten cow dung with sand sprinkled
on its top and occasionally, if they were luck, there were a few rugs they
could use to cover up the floor. Also, the land they preferred was just large,
flat fields perfect for raising livestock. This means there aren’t any trees
around, so they must also burn chunks or bricks of this dried dung in their
fires.
So as I
share my great concerns I have about this expedition, I wish for you to keep me
in thought as I travel into the great empire of some of the most barbaric
people group I have yet to see.
Marco
Polo
Final Journal Entry
I have
just returned home from my journey into the Mongol Empire and have just sat
down to read over my letter I wrote before my trip. I honestly don’t understand
why I was so scared about it. After meeting these people, I have learned to
realize that they are actually large promoters of trade and supporters of
cultural exchange. Because they view cultural exchange as very important, I was
welcomed with opened arms, which is something I did not expect to find when I
was doing my research before I left.
To me
the most amazing part about the Mongols is how much they support and promote
trade. After Genghis Khan conquered the Persian Khwarizm Empire, he gained
access to many of the important and critical trade routes between China and the
Middle East. Because of their lives as nomads, the Mongols realized how
important trade is and managed to keep a positive attitude towards the
merchants traveling on their trade routes.
Because of this different attitude than the Chinese had towards them,
merchants were able to have a higher status than they had in traditional China.
The Mongols also set up a postal-station system that the merchants were able to
rest and secure supplies on their journeys. These stations were located about
every twenty miles from each other on the major trade routes and stocked with
food, horses, and lodging. The merchants were also not faced with a tax where
they would confiscate certain objects and their money as they faced with in
China.
And the Mongols support for trade was not
found primarily in China, but all over their empire. In Persia, for example,
the Mongols tried to provide assistance for traders by introducing paper
currency, which failed, and let them have benefits they wouldn’t have
elsewhere. The Mongols also established merchant associations known as Urtogh.
These were designed to promote caravan trade over longer distances. These
associations were created because the Mongols realized that caravan trade was
just too expensive for one single merchant. This merchant had to have somewhere
from seventy to one hundred men, all of whom had to be fed and paid along with being
provided with supplies for a long period of time. On top of all of this, many
of the caravans didn’t make it to their final destinations because, mainly, of
either natural disasters or attacks by bandits. They devised this association
as the solution to all of the problems I mentioned earlier. The merchants would
put all of their resources into one caravan and if it didn’t make it, the
merchants wouldn’t be devastated and out of business. Their losses were shared
between them, as were their profits.
The Mongols have managed to,
amazingly enough, influence and advance all life around it, not just theirs.
Khubilai Khan supported painting and the theater, which soon flourished. He
also enlisted many Confucian scholars and Tibetan Buddhist monks to be his
advisors, which lead to the influence of different cultures in the empires.
Him, along with his advisors, built many temples and monasteries. And the
Mongols didn’t just support religion; they also supported and influenced
science and engineering. The Khans funded many advances in medicine and
astronomy and different constructions projects, such as the Grand Canal, the
building of a capital city in Daidu and many summer palaces in Shangdu and
Takht-i-Sulaiman. Many roads and postal stations were set up as a network
throughout the empire.
In my opinion, I do believe one of
the most important things that the Mongols did to support cultural exchange has
to be the way they have managed to link Europe and Asia. Once they had achieved
relative stability in their vast empire, they never discouraged relationships
with foreigners. Even though I don’t think they will ever give up their title
as universal rulers, they have still managed to be hospitable to travelers,
even those whose kings did not submit to them. Travel was also not discouraged.
European merchants, craftsmen and envoys were allowed to travel as far as China
for the first time I believe ever. Because of this, Asian goods were able to
travel back to Europe with them along the caravan trails this ensured that
Europeans would demand these products.
Now as I am reading my previous
letter, I realize how wrong I was. Though the Mongols could be ruthless in
battle, they were actually very kind outside of war. They are honestly some of
the most hospitable people groups I have ever met.
Marco
Polo
Historical Analysis
However, to the Mongols, the
military was also of great importance. If it wasn’t for it, then they would
still be these small tribes under a dictator of a prince who demanded a tenth
of everything they owned, grew, or raised.
This is similar to Sparta to me. Sparta wouldn’t have ever been where it
was if it wasn’t for its amazing military. However, I do believe this is where
the comparison ends. To Spartans, everything revolved around their physical
strength and its military. It lacked in arts and advances in academic aspects.
Trade wasn’t nearly as important to the Spartans. In fact, it was usually
discouraged. They feared that contact with other city-states would lead to new
ideas and ruin their system of government. The Mongols had a very good
military, if it wasn’t for it, they wouldn’t be where they were. And the Mongol
men were very well trained in riding horses and hunting off of them, but this
is because that is how they spend their lives. They were nomadic people,
constantly moving from place to place on horses. So to me, the Mongols had such
a great military because they specialized in an amazing way to fight because it
is what they did every day to survive. The Spartans had a great military
because that is the only thing they ever really cared about. Everything
revolved around it and they had to work their lives around their military
obligations. The Mongols military obligations were part of their everyday lives
So in conclusion, I believe the Mongols
are similar to the Athenians in how they live the majority of their daily
lives. They are very hospitable as a group of people and relied heavily on
trade, as did the Athenians. But, the Mongols also remind me of the Spartans because
of how ruthless they can be in battle.
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