Were the Mongols something new in the realm of pastoral empires?

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jozinnia · Answer

Pastoral empires were those located on the grassy steppes on Eurasia. They were made up of nomadic peoples, organised into small family or tribal groupings who moved throughout the seasons to provide adequate grazing for their stock, particularly horses. Given the subsistence nature of this life and that the groupings were very in terms of population, the amount of power any one could hold was limited. Political aspirations were limited and mass migrations tended to be in response to another more powerful empire conquering land rather than capture new land for capital gain. Trade was limited to immediate neighbors though these bonds were often very strong and mutually beneficial.The Mongols shared much in with other pastoral empires in its location, nomadic nature and fierce tribal groupings it was founded on. Despite this it quickly became something completely new. Under Chinggis or Genghis Khan multiple tribes were united as a force. His religious beliefs about the sky god or Tenggeri made him feel compelled to expand his empire across the world in an act of unification, giving political direction and force to the empire.Trade was drastically altered compared to previous empires as trade with their immediate neighbours declined due to the political aspiration and direction of the Chinese dynasties of the period, particularly the Jin.  Having lost opportunities to trade with their immediate neighbours the impetus to unite, expand and find new trading partners was unique in pastoral empires to that point. The Mongols quickly united as blood brothers and rapidly expanded across Central Asia. This too was unique as rather than seeing themselves as discrete tribal groups they saw themselves as tribal units within a greater identity:Mongols. Previous pastoral empires has not had such a wide reaching view of their identity, nor the large numbers within a single force.References:Timothy May. (2015). Pastoral nomads. In: Craig Benjamin (ed.) The Cambridge World History. pp. 235-268. [Online]. The Cambridge World History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available from: Cambridge Histories Online <http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139059251.011> [Accessed 21 July 2016].Columbia University. The Mongols in World History.  http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/index.html

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Were the Mongols something new in the realm of pastoral empires?

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