The Mongol Horde (1 Viewer)

[phoenix2020]

I'd been loosely aware of the nomadic people of the Eurasian steppes and their story in history, but I did not fully grasp the magnitude of their lasting impact on our world today until I finally reached the end of this amazing, meticulously constructed video by a person who has my hands-down favorite Youtuber/podcaster.

(Warning - it's 6 hours long, but every minute is lovingly crafted.)

The consequences of the Mongol horde's reign of terror (and establishment of by far the largest empire in human history) had some unbelievable knock-on effects in the centuries to come, including but not limited to:

• Western Europe's Rennaissance and later Colonialism, which likely wouldn't have happened if not for the sudden dramatic injection of technological innovation brought by the conscripted slaves from other conquered empires.
• The transformation of China from the world's undisputed technological, naval, economic, military and exploratory power into a closed-off people who spent the next two centuries building a really big wall, and the rise of Japan who repelled the horde thanks to a fortuitous typhoon!
• The widespread prevalence of Indo-European languages with common roots across all of Europe and Asia.
• Religious expansion in history's largest secular and religiously tolerant empire.
• Numerous massive empires reduced to nothing, redrawing political boundaries that would give rise to entirely new powers e.g. the Ming, Ottoman, Muscovite...) including directly triggering the rise of Russia.

Of all the stories in our shared human history, few carry the sheer magnitude of impact that the story of the invading Mongol horde and the empire they built.

The video's worth watching, perhaps across a few sittings.

 

[WillyPete]

Yep, that's the GOAT for alternative historical theories.

The way I heard it was that a twist of fate is the only reason they didn't roll right over Europe, and flatten every city.

Apparently were setting up for just that, and then their king died and they all had to go home to fight over who was taking over.

 

[iliveonramen]

I used to read a ton of history when I was young. I was fascinated by the Mongols and the Mongol Empire. Thanks for sharing the video.

 

[phoenix2020]

Yep, that's the GOAT for alternative historical theories.

The way I heard it was that a twist of fate is the only reason they didn't roll right over Europe, and flatten every city.

Apparently were setting up for just that, and then their king died and they all had to go home to fight over who was taking over.

Yes! That was one of the amazing things I learned. Only the western-most regions of Europe were spared because the Khan died and the general leading the horde in Europe decided that his portion of the empire was large enough. The same happened to the South, with the horde at the Nile and preparing to move into Egypt. At its largest, the empire spanned all of what is today China, Mongolia, Korea, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Georgia, Afghanistan Pakistan, Ukraine, Belarus, Syria, Turkey, parts of Poland, Hungary, Romania... basically from Korea to Eastern Europe, from Siberia to the Persian Gulf. Amazing.

 

[soylentgreen]

The khan left more than just a written historical record.

the genetic line showed that about 8 percent of men in the region of the former Mongol empire, and therefore about one in 200 worldwide, share one single male ancestor – and based on a combination of logic, statistics, and common sense, that ancestor was almost certainly Genghis Khan.

 

[Slavister]

The khan left more than just a written historical record.

I wonder how he lived to 65 and not die from an STD (STI) earlier.