Chapter 12- Pastoral Peoples on the Global Stage

Chapter 12- Pastoral Peoples on the Global Stage

The Mongol Moment

1200-1500

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate the significance of pastoral societies in world history
• Analyze the conditions of nomadic life
• Analyze the impact of the Mongol Empire on world history
• Discuss the implications of the Eurasian trade sponsored by the Mongols

Big Picture Questions:

1. Prior to the rise of the Mongols, in what ways had pastoral peoples been significant in world history?
2. What accounts for the often negative attitudes of settled societies toward the pastoral peoples living on their borders?  Why have historians often neglected pastoral peoples' role in world history/
3. In what ways did the Mongol Empire resemble other empires, and in what ways did it differ from them?  Why did it last a relatively short time?
4. In what different ways did Mongol rule affect the Islamic world, Russia, China, and Europe?
5. How would you define both the immediate and the long-term significance of the Mongols in world history?
6. How would you assess the perspective of this chapter toward the Mongols?  Does it strike you as negative and critical of the Mongols, as bending over backward to portray them in a positive light, or as a balanced presentation?

Key Terms:

• "age-set"
• Black Death
• Chinggis Khan
• "fictive kinship"
• Ghazan Khan
• Hulegu Khan
• Karakorum
• khagan
• Khanbalik
• Khubilai Khan
• Kipchat Khanate
• Masai
• Modun
• the Mongol World War
• pastoralism
• Temujin
• Turks
• Xiongnu
• Yuan dynasty