Genghis Khan and his successors created the largest land empire the world has ever seen. While history often paints them as mindless barbarians, the Mongols actually established a sophisticated society with strict laws and advanced technology. For instance, they practiced religious tolerance long before Western nations did. Furthermore, they created a massive communication network that allowed messages to travel hundreds of miles in a single day. Prepare to ride across the steppe with the Lords of the Bow.
Mongolian Empire
Mongolian Empire created the first international postal system. Genghis Khan established the “Yam,” a network of relay stations spaced one day’s ride apart. Consequently, riders could swap tired horses for fresh ones, allowing messages to travel up to two hundred miles a day across the empire.
Soldiers drank their horses’ blood to survive. On long campaigns without food, a Mongol warrior would open a vein in his horse’s neck and drink the blood. This survival technique allowed the army to travel vast distances without stopping to hunt or cook.
They used biological warfare to conquer a city. During the siege of Kaffa, the Mongol army catapulted the bodies of bubonic plague victims over the city walls. Historians believe this act helped spread the Black Death to Europe when fleeing Genoese merchants carried the disease home.
Royal executions in Mongolian Empire required that no blood touch the ground. The Mongols believed spilling royal blood offended the sky god Tengri. Therefore, they wrapped noble enemies in carpets and trampled them to death with horses, or suffocated them under heavy floorboards during a banquet.
A warrior princess won 10,000 horses by wrestling. Khutulun, the great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan, refused to marry any man unless he could defeat her in a wrestling match. She defeated every suitor and collected a massive herd of horses as her winnings.
They practiced total religious freedom. The Khans allowed Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, and Taoists to practice their faiths openly. In fact, the capital city of Karakorum contained mosques, churches, and temples standing side by side.
Their composite bows could shoot further than English longbows. Mongol artisans crafted bows from layers of horn, wood, and sinew. As a result, these weapons generated immense power and could hit targets over 350 meters away, outranging almost any enemy they faced.
Commanders used whistling arrows to direct troops. Officers carried special arrows with hollow tips that made a shrill sound when fired. They shot these arrows to signal the direction of attack, and the soldiers instantly followed the sound without needing voice commands.
Genghis Khan’s burial site remains a total mystery. Legend says his funeral escort killed anyone who saw the procession to keep the location secret. Furthermore, soldiers diverted a river over the grave to ensure no one would ever disturb the Great Khan’s rest.
A single general conquered thirty-two nations. Subotai, the primary military strategist of the empire, won sixty-five pitched battles during his lifetime. He directed armies in China and Europe simultaneously using a system of flags and messengers.
They turned the Tigris River black with ink. When Hulagu Khan sacked Baghdad in 1258, his troops threw the contents of the House of Wisdom’s library into the river. Witnesses claimed the water ran black from the ink of countless destroyed books.
The empire made the Silk Road perfectly safe. The strict laws of the “Pax Mongolica” deterred bandits so effectively that a popular saying emerged. People claimed a maiden could walk from one end of the empire to the other carrying a pot of gold without fear of molestation.
In Mongolian Empire, they drank fermented mare’s milk called “Airag.” This alcoholic beverage served as the staple drink for the nobility and the common people. Even today, people on the Mongolian steppe continue to ferment horse milk as a traditional summer treat.
Kublai Khan invented the modern concept of Beijing. The grandson of Genghis moved the capital to Dadu, which eventually became modern Beijing. He designed the city grid that still influences the layout of the Chinese capital today.
Finally, they recruited enemy engineers instead of killing them. Whenever the Mongols conquered a city, they spared the lives of anyone with useful skills. Thus, they acquired Chinese siege engineers who taught them how to build catapults and gunpowder bombs.
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