Nomadic Peoples: Decline of the Mongols, Rise of the Ottomans

Aims

1. Describe the fall of the Mongols
2. Identify factors leading to the rise of the Ottomans

The Mongols and Eurasian Integration

• Impact: Mongols caused significant destruction but also promoted interaction across Eurasia.
• Encouragement of Travel & Communication:
  • Developed a system for news, information, and government orders.
  • Utilized fresh horses and riders to facilitate:
    • Trade
    • Diplomatic travel
    • Missionary efforts
    • Movements of peoples

The Mongols

Trade

• Dependent on commerce with settled societies.
• Ensured safety of trade routes.

Diplomatic Missions

• Essential for Mongol strategy.
• Benefited ambassadors and merchants.
• Maintained communication between rulers in China, Persia, and beyond.

Missionary Efforts

• Encouraged the spread of religions across Eurasia.

Resettlement

• Resettled peoples to fulfill needs for specialized skills.
• Recruited from allies and conquered peoples:
  • Example: Uighur Turks provided administrators and soldiers.
• Increased communication and exchange between cultures.

Mongolian Decline

Mongols in Persia: Collapse of the Ilkhanate

• Post-Kublai Khan challenges:
  • Excessive spending → Treasury debt
  • Halted commerce due to unpaid debts
  • Internal conflicts
  • 1355: Collapse of the Ilkhanate

Mongols in China: Decline of the Yuan Dynasty

• Financial struggles due to unbacked paper currency.
• Political struggles:
  • Emergence of plague in the 1330s
  • Uprisings among the population
  • 1368: Chinese rebels expelled Mongols from Khanbaliq

Checkpoint: Causes of Mongol Decline

• Disease, civil war, financial, political struggles, and power conflicts.

Surviving Mongol Khanates

• Some khanates persisted:
  • Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia
  • Golden Horde in Russia/Caucasus
  • Continued threats to China and Russia

After the Mongols

• Turkish peoples resumed campaigns disrupted by the Mongols.
• 1300s-1400s: Turkish-Mongol conqueror influenced Turkish Muslim states:
  • Mughal Empire in India
  • Safavid Empire in Persia
  • Ottoman Empire in Anatolia

The Foundation of the Ottoman Empire

Osman

• Post-Mongol conquest, Turks migrated to Anatolia.
• Charismatic leaders led conquests.
• 1299: Osman declared independence, forming the basis for the Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman Conquests

• By the 1380s, Ottomans dominated the Balkan Peninsula.
• Positioned to capture Constantinople by end of the century.

The Capture of Constantinople

• Significance: Capturing Constantinople marked the end of Byzantine rule and rise of the Ottoman Empire.

Exit Ticket: Factors Leading to the Rise of the Ottomans

• Successful conquests and declaration of independence from the Seljuq Sultan.