Quiz
1. What was the most prominent, recognizable feature of a Mongol warrior?
His stench
o Riding on Horseback
o Water is precious in the steppes (only for drinking)
o Cleaning the hands on the clothes after a meal
Amir Khuzru (Persian poet):
Their eyes were so narrow and piercing that they might have bored a hole in a brazen
vessel, and their stench was more horrible than their color. …. Their chests, in color halfblack and half-white were covered with lice, which looked like sesame growing on a bad
soil. Their bodies, indeed, were covered with these insects …..
2. What did the Mongols eat?
According to Friar Giovanni DiPlano Carpini, they ate: dogs, wolves, foxes, horses, rats, mice,
lice and the afterbirth when their mares foaled
3. How did the Mongols assess their victories?
They cut off an ear from each dead enemy
o After the battle of Liegnitz, Poland in 1241, they collected nine large sacks of ears
(=25000 men) and send them back to the Khan as proof of the victory.
4. What is the best way to submit to the Khan?
o Kai-Kawus, the ruler of Rum, offered his submission in a unique way: he gave the Khan
a pair of socks, which had his portrait painted on the soles, so that his master might walk
on his face.
5. By what name were the Mongols known in Europe?
o Mongols were known as the “Tartars” in Europe; from Latin Tartarus = Hell; they were
seen as heavenly punishment for the sins of the people
<MAP of Mongol Empire>
The ultimate, invincible warrior
Superhuman Warrior
o Quote from an Arab source:
They had the courage of lions, the patience of hounds, the prudence of cranes, the
cunning of foxes, the long-sightedness of ravens, the wildness of wolves, the passion
of fighting-cocks, the protectiveness of hens, the keenness of cats and the fury of
wild boars.
o Because they lived on the high plains of Mongolia, their bodies would have more red
blood cells to transport an equal amount of oxygen. When they moved to the lower levels
of Asia and Europe, this meant that their endurance would be increased – same trick as
today with track and fielder athletes, “blood doping”
o Great eyesight – it was said that they could distinguish a man from an animal from 18
miles away.
o They had great visual memory – a built-in map generator in their head. They did not have
maps on paper, but could remember a place and the way there after riding there once –
essential survival skill in the steppes. You don’t have road signs there – not even roads!
o They learned how to ride even before they learned how to walk – when they were 2 years
old, so they were masters of horsemanship
Bow
o Each warrior, even the heavy cavalry, was equipped with a bow = tactical flexibility
through ranged attack –> English at Crecy and Poitiers
o The Mongol bow: 166lbs pull, 200-300 yards reach
The English longbow: 120lbs pull
SCA combat bows: 30lbs pull
Army
o No peasants, all warriors – 10,000 Mongols = 10,000 fighters
(typical for Europe: 500 knights and 9500 peasants)
o Coherent units - equally equipped, equally trained, disciplined and experienced
o All on horseback = modern mechanized tank/infantry corps
Average speed for the whole army: 60 miles per day (4-5 times faster than any European
army)
Each warrior had four or more horses and rode them in turns
Ethics
o Retreat, other than in Europe, was not dishonorable but a tactical weapon.
o They did anything they had to, to win. Chivalry and courtesy on the battlefield did not
exist.
o European knights and Japanese Samurai cherished the noble idea of individual combat
against a worthy opponent. This was totally inappropriate to deal with the “modern”
tactics of the Mongol armies
Leaders
o Promotion due to capability, not birthright. Toguchar, Dschingis Khan’s son-in-law
disobeyed orders and plundered villages when he was a general, so he was reduced to
simple soldier, where he remained until killed in action.
o The imperial guard (one tumen) = Mongol war college; from the imperial guard were the
field commanders drawn
o How to chose a commander – Dschingis Khan: There is no man alive who is braver
than Yessutai; no march can tire him and he feels neither hunger nor thirst; that is
why he is unfit to command.
A commander must care for his men – how can he do this, if he feels no pain or hunger
himself?
How the Mongols waged war – tactics and strategies
o In 1227 after the death of Dschingis Kahn, a great assembly (Kuriltai) was held; there the
commanders discussed the strategy for the next years: they conquest of Europe, Korea
and the Chinese Sung Empire was planned.
Logistics, commanders, army strength and strategic goal - Typical thoroughness of
planning + strategic vision
o They had the best intelligence and reconnaissance; networks of spies and agents in the
countries and the cities; reconnaissance forces surrounding the army – no one ever
surprised a Mongol army!
o Attack never without declaration of war: Whoever obeys us remains in possession of
his land, but whoever resists is destroyed. We send you this order, so if you wish to
keep your land, you must come us in person and thence go on to him who is master
of all the earth. If you don’t, we know not what will happen, only God knows.
o Embassies from foreign kingdoms were treated as acts of formal submission and presents
were received as tribute.
o In Europe and Persia, the campaigning season was summer, after the seed in spring and
before the harvest in autumn;
o The Mongols had no fields to plow; they carried their food with them (cattle, horses,
goats); their campaigning season was Winter
o Frozen soil = best ground for fast movement on horseback
o Rivers were frozen and thus no obstacle anymore
o They were used to harsh winters in Mongolia, so they knew how to survive
o Preferred targets: the Horses of the knights/cavalry
o No close combat fighting against mounted knights; only if the horses are dead and the
knights are on foot, they move in for the kill
o Dummies, women and slaves on spare horses, so that the strength of the Mongol army
would appear larger
o Commanders did not fight themselves (unlike the European kings). They commanded the
forces from an elevated safe place on a hill -> total tactical control throughout the battle
o Communications on the battlefield with black and white flags
(Communications in European armies not existent – everybody fought for himself)
o Every order was given from one to ten:
From the Khan to his ten generals
From each general to his ten division (tumen) leaders
From each division leader to his ten sub-commanders
… and so on to the smallest unit of 10 men (arban)
o Two rows of heavy cavalry in armor with lances and swords and three rows of light
cavalry with bows and javelins
o Light cavalry to harass the enemy and lure them away into the heavy troops in an
unorganized charge
o Battle tactics: Disorganize and split the enemy and beat them piecemeal with the heavy
cavalry
o Fainted Retreat (mangudai): After this tactic became known, they just retreated longer,
sometimes for days. At the Battle of Kalka River they retreated for 9 days until the
Russians were spread out like pearls on a string.
o There was always a way to escape given to a surrounded enemy – that led to routing, and
the routing men could be cut down quite easily because there was no unit cohesion
anymore. The pursuit would last for days, stretching dozens, even hundreds of miles
o The only way to fight the Mongols was to stay together – not easy with an army of
individualists who would not take orders from other individualists
o The only defeat in the European/Middle Eastern region came in 1260 at Ain Jalut in
Palestine, at the exact same site David had defeated Goliath thousands of years before.
They were beaten by a Mamluk army from Egypt. The Mamluks were slaves from the
Cuman, Alan and Circassian tribes, sold to Egypt by the Mongols after they had been
defeated in 1238.
Mamluks: 120,000
Mongols: 25,000
o Not good at sieges – until they got their hands on Chinese engineers, who taught them
o They used captives from already conquered cities to fill moats, built ramparts and operate
siege machines – how many of them would get killed was of no importance
o Siege: They would surround the besieged city with a wooden palisade, which gave them
protection against the missiles from the city and against a possible relieving army from
the rear, also, it prevented messengers from the city to escape
o Masters of psychological warfare:
o The poor were promised liberation by their agents
o The rich were promised greater riches and privileges by their agents
o Rumors were spread about deals of single leaders with the Mongols to drive
alliances apart
o Rumors about the vast numbers of the Mongol army were spread
o Terror and Cruelty to intimidate the enemy
Terror and Cruelty
o Dschingis Khan’s credo: The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase
them before you, to rob them of their wealth, and see those dear to them bathed in
tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.
o Arrows with whistles near the head – same effect as the Stuka dive bombers in WWII – to
terrorize the enemy
o Poisoned the arrows with snake or vegetable poisons
o In 1209 Dschingis Khan besieged a fortress in China. He built a dyke to flood the fortress,
but his engineers flooded his own camp instead. The fortress surrendered anyway, because
they figured that eventually the Mongols would get it right and by then would be very, very
angry …
o In 1220, after the siege of Bukhara in Uzbekistan, they poured molten Gold down the throat
of the Governor. Reason: He had killed Mongol merchants, who he accused to be spies to kill
and rob them. The Mongols thought, if he wants our gold, he shall get it …
o 1221 in Merv (Persia), they slaughtered 700,000 people. Only the useful, like engineers,
doctors, artisans, were spared and enslaved. Not even dogs were left alive.
Reason: Revenge for the death of Toguchar, the son-in-law of Dschingis Kahn during the
siege.
o After the Battle of Kalka River in 1223 against the Russian principalities, they promised to
let the Kiev detachment go for a ransom. The men from Kiev agreed, but were captured
instead. Most were slaughtered, the rest enslaved.
They built a large, heavy wooden platform out of logs, on which the Mongol commanders
held their victory feast. Beneath the platform they put the leaders of the Kiev detachment,
which slowly suffocated during the feast.
Reason: Revenge for the killing of Mongol ambassadors in Kiev.
o After they conquered Baghdad, they locked up the Caliph in a tower with all his gold and
silver. Why? To punish him, because he had refused to spend his personal wealth on the
defense of the city. That insulted the professionalism of the Mongol commanders, who would
use any means necessary to achieve victory. Baghdad was looted for seven days and the
Caliph starved to death amongst his riches.
They slaughtered about 800,000 people in Baghdad.
After that, Damascus surrendered immediately when the first Mongol was in sight of the city
= cruelty and terror as a weapon (psychological warfare) against the not yet conquered cities
and countries.
o Fear Factor: In Persia, one Mongol took a man captive but had no sword to kill him. So he
ordered the man to lie down on the ground without moving while he would get a sword. The
man was so terrified that he actually lay there until the Mongol came back and cut his head
off.
o In 1237 the city of Riazan in Russia was conquered after a siege of five days. Before the
citizens were slaughtered (by impaling and flaying), they were forced to watch how the
Mongols raped systematically all young women, including nuns.
o In 1259, after first swearing fealty to Möngke Khan, then providing soldiers to the Caliph’s
army, Prince Kalim Muhammed of Syria was punished: Pieces were cut from Kamil’s flesh
and forcibly fed to him until he died.
o The cruelty and terror was calculated and used as a weapon most of the time; sometimes as
punishment, sometimes as revenge – but never without a reason (unlike the Crusaders who
did the same thing to Jerusalem without any reason)
o They always left some people alive and set them free, so that the news of the terror would
spread
Europe’s answer
o In 1239, the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, received a message from Khan Batu in
which he demanded the surrender of the Empire and offered Frederick a position in the
Mongol hierarchy.
o Frederick’s answer: He attacked the Pope. The two mightiest men in Europe, The Holy
Roman Emperor Frederick II and the Pope continued their war against each other
regardless of the invasion of Hungary, the battle of Liegnitz and the threat to Europe.
o It was rumored that the Pope actually encouraged the Mongols to attack his enemy, The
Holy German Emperor.
o Europe’s arrogant answer (Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester): Let us leave these
dogs to devour one another that they may all be consumed and perish; and we when
we proceed against the enemies of Christ who remain, will slay them and cleanse the
face of the earth, so that all the world will be subject to one Catholic Church and
there will be one shepherd and one fold.
o Duke Frederick of Austria: They are just a horde of nomad raiders
o In 1241, when the Mongols invaded Hungary, the Hungarian nobility would only fight if
the King rewarded them with greater powers and more privileges.
o The quarrels would go on and after the battle of Mohi 65,000 Hungarians were dead.
o On the same day as the battle of Mohi in Hungary, the battle of Liegnitz was fought in
Poland – 25,000 Polish troops, Teutonic Knights and Templars were killed.
o Europe was saved, not by its knights, but only by the death of the Great Khan Ögedei in
1242 – every commander was called back to Mongolia to elect the new Khan
o In 1260, Count Bohemund of Antioch formed an alliance with the Mongol Khan Hülegü
and together they planned the recapture of Jerusalem for Christendom. But before that
happened, the Great Kahn Möngke died and Hülegü returned to Mongolia. Bohemund
was excommunicated by the Pope.
Laws and customs
o By law forbidden:
o To cut the throat of an animal killed for food; instead the belly should be slit open
and the heart pulled out
o Urinating in running water
o Washing in running water
o Death penalty for: Adultery, Cattle theft, As a merchant, Bankruptcy for the third
time (consumer protection), Spying, Desertion, and Theft
o Every monotheistic religion (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jews) was tolerated
o They believed in one God – Tengri; the sky-God, so they tolerated all other monotheistic
religions and even converted to them when they felt it would help their cause
o Khan could only become who was without physical defect (i.e. only one eye, humpback,
missing limbs)
o The only artisan in the Mongol society was the blacksmith (for weapons, horseshoes etc.)
The Mongol legacy
o They erected no lasting monuments, no stony witness of their greatness. No pyramids, no
cathedrals no mausoleums, and no cities.
o They never put their cultural stamp on the conquered lands; instead they incorporated the
cultures of their new subjects into their own lifestyle.
o They were nomads who conquered civilizations with cities – what could they possibly
contribute to the cultures of those conquered lands?
o Every modern army - Desert Storm = this is exactly how Dschingis Khan would have
done it
o They were the ultimate warriors, the most successful conquerors – but lousy rulers.
o Chu-Tsai, the Chinese advisor of Dschingis Khan said: The Empire was won on
horseback, but it won’t be governed on horseback.
o In 1294 the death of the Khan Kublai marked the end of the Mongol Empire. There
already was infighting between several factions of the imperial family, which resulted in
the weakening of the Empire. The Mongols were either ousted by the conquered
population or were absorbed into their civilization. There was never a decisive defeat –
they just faded away.
Perhaps this is their real legacy:
o In 1241, when the Mongols marched towards Cracow in Poland, a trumpeter sounded the
alarm from the highest tower in the city and continued through the storming of the city,
until a Mongol arrow struck him down. To this day, every 24th of March, a trumpeter
from the Cracow fire department sounds the alarm call from the cathedral tower; he ends
it abruptly at the time, when the original trumpeter was struck down
o All that is left today is this lingering panic in the collective sub-conciseness of Russians,
Persians, Koreans, Chinese and Europeans, this fear the terrible Mongol hordes might
come back one day - to finish their conquest of the earth.