Traditional Reputation
Warriors assembled into masses of fighting forces, the Mongol's well organised army intimidated their enemies from miles away. The Mongol's military were known for their cunning strategies of drawing the opponent into their scheme, and mercilessly murdering them when they least expected it.
Their relentless plundering on cities, soon created a reputation of savage, killing warriors. The Mongols believed in terrorising their enemies into surrendering. This terror associated with the Mongols spread throughout neighbouring cities. Their reputation caused cities to surrender, once the Mongols only appeared at their city gates, in order to escape battle. Although the Mongol's traditional ruthless and intimidating reputation inflicted fear upon their enemies, the Mongols were actually beneficial leaders. The Mongols created laws that protected women from being molested. They also facilitated trade because they unified the Silk Road. After initially capturing cities, the Mongols would allow the conquered to continue living independently, because the Mongols were not extremely centralised rulers. Sometimes, the Mongols would adopt the religions and customs of the city they conquered. These examples demonstrate that the Mongol's traditional reputation when conquering differs from their actions and reputations created when ruling their conquered.
Their relentless plundering on cities, soon created a reputation of savage, killing warriors. The Mongols believed in terrorising their enemies into surrendering. This terror associated with the Mongols spread throughout neighbouring cities. Their reputation caused cities to surrender, once the Mongols only appeared at their city gates, in order to escape battle. Although the Mongol's traditional ruthless and intimidating reputation inflicted fear upon their enemies, the Mongols were actually beneficial leaders. The Mongols created laws that protected women from being molested. They also facilitated trade because they unified the Silk Road. After initially capturing cities, the Mongols would allow the conquered to continue living independently, because the Mongols were not extremely centralised rulers. Sometimes, the Mongols would adopt the religions and customs of the city they conquered. These examples demonstrate that the Mongol's traditional reputation when conquering differs from their actions and reputations created when ruling their conquered.
REVISIONS OR RE-INTERPRETATIONS OF THE MONGOL'S REPUTATIONS
There are several explanations as to why the Mongol's have contradicting interpretations of their reputations.
1) Firstly, the historical accounts were either written by a Mongol or someone conquered by the Mongols. This makes their historical record bias.
2) The people defeated by the Mongols would use hyperboles and over exaggeration to describe their attackers.
3) Due to their many oral traditions, there is a lack of written historical accounts. For the few written records found, the inability to translate the Mongolian language and literature results in mis-interpretations of the historical account.
4) Mongolian's ancient paintings left behind can be interpreted differently from historian to historian.
1) Firstly, the historical accounts were either written by a Mongol or someone conquered by the Mongols. This makes their historical record bias.
2) The people defeated by the Mongols would use hyperboles and over exaggeration to describe their attackers.
3) Due to their many oral traditions, there is a lack of written historical accounts. For the few written records found, the inability to translate the Mongolian language and literature results in mis-interpretations of the historical account.
4) Mongolian's ancient paintings left behind can be interpreted differently from historian to historian.
Page done by Jessica Gilchrist