Stayer 12, the Pastoral Moment

13/1/2013

Sorry I didn't get this sooner. I'll check in in a few hours to see how you're doing.

Jeremiah Pratt

13/1/2013 05:56:35

Woohoo! Time to tackle the first margin question!

In what ways did pastoral societies differ from their agricultural counterparts?

•Pastoral societies had less productive economies and required more land, so they generally supported smaller populations.
•People lived in widely scattered encampments based on kinfolk/kinship
•There were values stressing equality, although some pastoral societies ranked clans as noble or common
•Nomadic societies offered women a higher status, fewer restrictions, and a greater role in public life

Yay for first post!

Bingham

13/1/2013 06:22:45

Yeah, the clan kinship thing is important, because it makes kingdoms or any political structure difficult to establish.

Jeremiah Pratt

13/1/2013 06:00:26

In what ways did pastoral societies interact with their agricultural neighbors?

•Could not survive on their own output alone, and relied on agricultural neighbors for foodstuffs, manufactured goods, and luxury items.
•By forming confederations or nomadic states, the nomads could more effectively and fairly deal with their agricultural neighbors.
•These states could extract wealth through raiding, trading, and extortion.
•Nomadic peoples, at one time or another, adopted all of the major religions including Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam.

Jeremiah Pratt

13/1/2013 06:06:38

Am I the only one who is impressed that the Bedouin Arabs were able to control the trade routes through Arabia thanks to BATTLE CAMELS??

Patrick

13/1/2013 12:42:17

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_cavalry

Steffannie Alter

13/1/2013 06:11:39

In what ways did the Xiongnu, Arabs, and Turks make an impact on world history?

The Xiongnu created a huge military confederation that transformed pastoral societies into a more centralized and hierarchical political system. In this system, power was given to a divinely sanctioned ruler and differences between "junior" and "senior" clans was more prominent. They extracted tribute from other nomads and China, forcing China's emperor to acknowledge them as equals. The Xiongnu Empire created a mottle that the Turk and Mongol empires later emulated.
Islam was derived from the Arabs and carried by the Turks. Arabs domesticated the camel, giving them the military advantage needed to control the rich trade routes running through Arabia. These nomads also served as the shock troops of Islamic expansion. The Arab empire acted as the foundation of a new and distinctive civilization. Meanwhile, the Turks created a series of nomadic empires through the formation of fragile alliances between various tribes. The Turkic states confronted China, Persia, and Byzantium, raiding them, allying against common enemies with them, trading with them, and extorting tribute payments from them. Additionally, Turkic language and culture spread. Turkic people were a major carrier of Islam and migrated into the Middle-East, where they served first as slave soldiers and then took political and military power themselves. There, they claimed the Muslim title of "sultan." Turkic people planted Islam in India and Anatolia, resulting in a massive fusion of Turkic culture, language, and people and the building of the Ottoman Empire, transforming these pastoral people into rulers of an agricultural civilization.

Christina Hong

13/1/2013 13:04:58

What accounts for the political and military success of the Mongols?

•social structure was reorganized into military units of 10, 100, 1k, and 10k warriors, allowing for effective command and control. old tribalism declined
•all were subject to the death penalty if one or two members of a unit deserted during battle
•loyalty was cemented by the leaders' willingness to share the hardships of their men
•disciple and loyalty of the army made possible decisive, elaborate tactics in battle
•enormous flow of wealth from conquered civilization benefited all Mongols
•acquired Chinese techniques and technology of siege warfare
•incorporated huge numbers of conquered peoples into their military forces and demanded that they serve as laborers, building roads and bridges and ferrying supplies over long distances
•reputation for ruthless brutality and utter destructiveness, also served as a form of psychological warfare
•ability to mobilize both the human and material resources of their empire
•effective system of relay stations provided a means of rapid communication and fostered trade
•beginnings of a centralized bureaucracy with various specialized offices took shape in Karakorum, where scribes translated official decrees into various languages of the empire
•Mongol rulers often offered merchants 10 percent or more above their asking price and allowed them the free use of relay stations
•Chinese and Muslim officials held many advisory and lower-level positions in China and Persia in administering the conquered regions
•supported many religious traditions including Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Daoism as long as they did not become the focus of political opposition

Patrick S.

13/1/2013 13:06:12

Ok so i'm really not sure about this question but i'll give it a shot anyways.
"Identify the major steps in the rise of the Mongol Empire"
1. Temujin was the son of a minor chief in his clan and later when his dad was killed. Temujin and his family were forced to relocate and move towards a life of hunting and fishing and stuff. At this time Temujin's inner leadership characteristics came out and helped him form a small group of followers that later defeated a rival tribe.
2. Later on things like shifting alliances, a growing number of military victories, indecisiveness of enemies and incorporating warriors from defeated tribes into his own forces made people realize that Temujin was the Chinggis Khan(Supreme leader of united Great Mongol Nation)
3. Once Temujin came into power and had all the tribes unified a question came to him. What would he do with this large group of followers? So he decided that to help maintain his supreme position he would led an invasion towards China(poor china ;____; )
4. Once he started a bunch of military campaigns, mass killings, etc. Temujin, his sons and grandsons set up an empire that had a bit of everything( China, Korea, Central Asia, Russia, Islamic Middle East, East Europe)

I hope i was at least kind of close to the right answer o_o

Emily Wallace

13/1/2013 13:14:51

Big Picture Question #1

Prior to the rise of the Mongols, in what ways had pastoral peoples been significant in world history?

They destroyed weaker cultures and military organizations and spread ideas, religions, technologies, foods, and goods that they got from the places they had traveled.
They facilitated trade and exchange with their mobile culture.
Example: 1. Arabs and Turks spread Islam
2.Xiongnu invade China and exact tribute under Modon
3. Christianity adopted by Gauls and Germans

They spread guns, germs, and steel, essentially.
they spread guns through military tactics and technology in constant warfare. They spread germs through contact in trade, warfare, and enslavement. They spread steel through a network
of trade and exchange of goods and messages in across large territories.

Patrick S.

13/1/2013 13:29:37

"How did Mongol rule change china? In what ways were the Mongols changed by china?"

- Mongols made use of Chinese administrative practices, techniques of taxation, and their postal system. They gave themselves a Chinese dynastic title, the Yuan, meaning "Great beginning"
- Changed capital to Beijing.
-improved roads, built canals, lowered taxes, patronized scholars limited the death penalty, and torture, supported peasant agriculture and prohibited Mongols from grazing their animals on peasants' farmland.
- Use of Confucian rituals, supported the building of some Daoist temples.
- Ignored Chinese examination system for government and instead relied on foreigners(particularly Muslims) to become officials, but kept top decision making posts for themselves.
-Mongols discriminated against chinese: Mongols couldn't intermarry, prohibited Chinese scholars from learning the Mongol script, Mongol women never adopted foot binding, Mongols supported merchants more than Confucianist

Christina Hong

15/1/2013 10:49:34

Also, for what changed in China:

•unification of China
•acceptance of Mongols as legitimate rulers, belief that they had been granted the Mandate of Heaven

Emily Wallace

13/1/2013 13:42:37

Big picture question #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?"

The people were afraid of being killed, enslaved, or forced to to work for people who wanted to extract goods and not grow the crops.
Itk makes the people question their faith and their whole world view (because everything would be destroyed). They would either grow away from the religion because they thought God was angry at them, or they grew stronger with their religion.
It made the leaders and people afraid of the mongols so that they would give the Mongols more goods then they would ever trade back to them.

Emily Wallace

13/1/2013 13:42:44

Emily Wallace

13/1/2013 13:42:56

Emily Wallace

13/1/2013 13:43:20

Emily Wallace

13/1/2013 13:45:09

Emily Wallace

13/1/2013 13:46:08

Sorry there was an error with my keyboard

Patrick

13/1/2013 14:44:53

"How was Mongol rule in Persia different from that in China?"

- Far more abrupt than the extended process of conquest in China.
- More destructive than the conquest of Song dynasty China.
-Heavy taxes, 20-30 times a year, forced peasants off land.
- migration of Mongol nomads brought deforestation and neglect to underground water left good agricultural land to waste.
- Wine production increased because Mongols liked their alcohol
- Silk industries benefited from close contact to China's silk.
- Mongols were changed by the culture of Persia:
- Mongols that conquered Persia converted to Islam.
- Some Mongols turned to farming, abandoning their nomadic ways and married local people.

Bingham

14/1/2013 10:33:23

Good, now someone rewrite these as direct comparisons - and someone dig for reasons for the differences - and someone else draw Chinese /Russian comparisons.

Christina Hong

15/1/2013 11:38:41

Okay, hopefully this is accurate/covers everything.

Persia
•more abrupt conquest (1219-1221, 1251-1258)
•heavy taxes pushed peasants off land
•able to marry local peoples
•conquest was far more destructive- sacking in Baghdad ended the Abbasid caliphate
•Mongols who conquered Islamic Persia became Muslims
•were not driven out, simply assimilated
•made extensive use of Persian bureaucracy
•aspects of the Persian economy improved (increase in wine production, Persian silk industry flourished)

China
•longer conquest (1209-1279)
•policies included the lowering of some taxes
•forbade intermarriage
•Mongols' purpose was to accomodate the local population. outcome = unified China
•did not take on all aspects of the Chinese/become Chinese
•eventually driven out of China
•did not adopt Chinese political system (ignored examination system)
•experienced rapidly rising prices, caused Mongols to be forced out of China

Victoria Wren

14/1/2013 09:34:51

How was the Russian experience of Mongol domination different from that of Persia or China?

• The Mongols conquered Russia but did not occupy it as they had Persia and China. Instead, Russian princes received appointment from the khan and were required to send substantial tribute to the Mongol capital at Sarai
• Russia was still exploited, but the Mongol impact there was much more uneven than it had been in Persia or China
• The absence of direct Mongol rule meant that the Mongols were far less influenced by or assimilated within Russian cultures than their counterparts in China and Persia had been
• On the other hand, Russians were more affected by Mongol domination than the Persians and Chinese had been. Russian princes found it useful to adopt the Mongols’ weapons, diplomatic rituals, court practices, taxation system, and military draft

Bingham

14/1/2013 10:35:23

Excellent, but there's more. Also, what can you find that is common to interactions with the Mongols?

Victoria Wren

14/1/2013 09:36:03

In what ways did the Mongol Empire contribute to the globalization of the Eurasian world?

• The Mongols actively promoted international commerce, and the Mongol trading circuit that stretched from China to the Near East was a central element in an even larger commercial network that linked much of the Afro-Eurasian world in the thirteenth century
• The Mongol Empire also prompted diplomatic relationships from one end of Eurasia to the other, especially between Western Europe and the Mongols and between Persia and China
• The Mongol Empire also spurred a substantial exchange of peoples and cultures through its policy of forcibly transferring many thousands of skilled craftsmen and educated people from their homelands to distant parts of the empire
• The Mongol Empire, through its religious tolerance and support of merchants, facilitated the spread of religions
• The Mongol authorities actively encouraged the exchange of ideas and techniques. A great deal of Chinese technology and artistic conventions flowed westward, including painting, printing, gunpowder weapons, compass navigation, high-temperature furnaces, and medical techniques. Meanwhile, Muslim astronomers brought their skills and knowledge to China
• Crops were also exchanged

Bingham

14/1/2013 10:36:36

This is on the reading check and highly likely to be on the exam.

Victoria Wren

14/1/2013 09:36:40

Disease changes societies. How might this argument apply to the plague?

• The loss of population due to the plague created labor shortages that provoked sharp conflict between scarce workers and the rich, which in turn undermined the practice of serfdom in Europe
• Labor shortages also fostered a greater interest in technological innovation in Europe and created more employment opportunities for women
• The plague contributed to the downfall of the Mongol Empire
• The plague caused a significant disruption to trade routes to the east, and this trade disruption, along with a desire to avoid Muslim intermediaries, provided an incentive for Europeans to take to the sea in their continuing efforts to reach the riches of Asia

Steffannie Alter

14/1/2013 10:05:04

As far as effects of the plague that changed societies, I'd say that the blaming of the Jews for the plague, causing them to flee to Poland, applies as well. Also, I think Strayer mentioned that it caused some people to turn to religion and attempt to atone for sins through self-mutilation.

Christina Hong

15/1/2013 10:19:19

I think these would fit, too. (?)

•in some places, authorities learned practical ways of dealing with disease by establishing quarantines, hiring doctors, and organizing burials
•flourishing of Jewish culture for several centuries
•some fled into hedonism (pursuit of pleasure), and others joined mystical movements aimed at escaping from the world in an intense personal relationship with God

Victoria Wren

14/1/2013 09:38:18

BPQ - 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?

• The Mongol Empire resembled other empires in that it relied on the military capabilities of pastoral peoples; brought together numerous pastoral clans under a single leader; and relied on the extraction of resources from settled societies to hold its confederation together.
• Intense factionalism among the Mongols, rapidly rising prices, furious epidemics of the plague, and growing peasant revolts forced the Mongols out of China by 1368, less than a century after they had finally conquered the Chinese
• A succession crisis in the Mongol regime in Persia resulted in the collapse of their rule in the 1330s and the subsequent assimilation of many Mongols into Persian society
• Division among the Mongols and the growing strength of the Russian state enabled the Russians to break the Mongols’ hold by the end of the fifteenth century
• On a broader level, the rapid spread of the Black Death in the 1330s and 1340s destabilized the Mongol Empire, decimated the pastoral populations of steppe lands, and damaged long-distance commerce.

Bingham

14/1/2013 10:40:06

This issue of disease as a force in world history is widely under appreciated. I sense it's a coming prompt in either the comparison or the CCOT.

Victoria Wren

14/1/2013 09:39:18

BPQ - In what different ways did Mongol rule affect the Islamic world, Russia, China, and Europe?
• In the Islamic world, the Mongol conquest of Persia resulted in the conversion of large numbers of Mongols to the Muslim faith. While Mongol domination of Persia did damage Persian agriculture, the Mongols had less of an impact on Persian government, as Mongol rulers made extensive use of the sophisticated Persian bureaucracy. Ultimately, a number of Mongols turned to farming, married local people, and were assimilated into Persian society
• The Mongols conquered but did not occupy Russia. Instead, Russian princes received appointment from the khan in return for sending substantial tribute. The impact of the conquest was uneven, but in general the absence of direct Mongol rule meant that the Mongols were far less influenced by or assimilated within Russian cultures than their counterparts in China and Persia had been. Russians, on the other hand, were profoundly affected by Mongol domination. Russian princes found it useful to adopt the Mongols' weapons, diplomatic rituals, court practices, taxation system, and military draft
• The Mongols united a divided China. However, in terms of governing techniques and the position of the emperor, the Mongols adopted many preexisting Chinese systems and ideas
• Europe was stimulated by a flow of ideas and technologies through Mongol-facilitated networks of exchange, by the opportunity for Europeans to travel the length of the Mongol Empire (expanding the mental horizon of Europe), and by the collapse of the Mongol Empire (which provided an incentive for Europeans to take to the sea in their continuing efforts to reach the riches of Asia). Europe was also affected adversely by the spread of the Black Death along these same networks of exchange

Bingham

14/1/2013 10:41:58

I hope everyone appreciates all your great work Victoria!

Victoria Wren

14/1/2013 10:56:45

Thanks, and I appreciate all of the people that posts before me :3
feel free to add anything that's missing

Emily Wallace

15/1/2013 13:50:43

5. “How would you define both the immediate and the long term significance of the Mongols in world history?”
They created a long-distance trading network for all.
They prompted diplomatic relationships from one end of Eurasia to another.
It brought Persian and china to trade together.
Brought the new city of Karakorum (capital of Mongolia)
Chinese culture spread westward.
The mongols facilitated the black death plague.
The Mongols facilitated and spread Islam in some places. (They became Muslim themselves)
They created a spread of ideas, technology, and practices across civilized world

Bingham

15/1/2013 20:22:34

Good. Just one thing, only some Mongols converted to Islam. In general they were firmly animistic.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Stayer 12, the Pastoral Moment

Leave a Reply.

Author

Categories