Unified around 1200, the Mongols were a pastoral people, and rose to power in Asia very quickly. They were a great civilization and had an immense impact on history. The Mongol empire’s beginning is incomparable to the speed and vastness of the spread of any other kingdoms. Though great, they are a very controversial people, and questioned to be a negative or positive influence in history. Due to being revolutionary in many aspects of an empire, the Mongols are a mainly positive force in history.
To begin with, the Mongols were good influencers in history because of their effect on trade. The Mongols are given credit to creating the first great free trade zone. Charles Brady notes, “Cities among the caravan routes… prospered” (Brady, 11). Among the thriving caravan cities, the Persian industry flourished due to contacts opened with China because of the Mongol’s conquests. Trading had many benefits, such as cultural diffusion. With the trade of items came the traveling of food. Among this was rice, which was shared all throughout Eurasia due to the Mongol’s cross Eurasian trade.
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Another reason the Mongols are a positive force in history is their freedom regarding culture and religion. In the article, ‘Mongol Trade: Linking East to West’, the writer’s point out that, “Mongols opened their doors to all religions and diplomats from all over the known world. East learned of West and vice versa”. Their tolerance to religion, like their trade, brought cultural diffusion. Comparable to Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan (the conqueror of the Mongols) and his descendants respected people’s culture and religion, and instead of destroying it, used it to make his kingdom greater.
A third positive aspect of the Mongol empire is their messaging system. This messaging system was incredibly efficient, to the point where messengers would ride 200-sometimes 250-miles in a day. In his work, ‘The Mongols: How Barbaric Were the Barbarians?’, Charles Brady outlines, “Off they go with all the speed they can muster, till they reach the next post-house twenty-five miles away” (Brady, 13). Because they kept post-houses twenty-five miles away from each other, they had more than 200,000 horses across the empire. The yams (post-houses) are located among roads which spread out from the center of the city of Khanbalik, which made it easy to send and receive information for the Great Khan.
In conclusion, the Mongols - though a controversial empire - were overall a positive force in history. They were the first to create a great free trade zone, which was done throughout Eurasia. They also respected religion and culture, which led to advancements through the cooperation of the kingdom. They, furthermore, created a highly efficient messaging system which reached throughout the entirety of the Great Khan’s empire. All of these advancements were used or further built upon in future civilizations, showing the Mongols were important and advantageous in history.
Works Cited
- Brady, Charles, and Philip Roden. Document Based Questions in World History: [gr. 9-12]. Evanston, Ill: DBQ Project, 2005. Print.
- 'Mongol Trade: Linking East to West'. History on the Net, Salem Media. February 18, 2020.
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