Spices Tea Impacted Global Trade. Reference Book:

¶ … Spices Tea impacted global trade. Reference Book: A History World Societies, Eighth Edition, Volume 1 by: McKay, Hill, Buckler, Ebrey, Beck, Crowston, & Wiesner-Hanks

By the time of the death of Chinggis, the Mongol Empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Caspian Sea in the west. How can we account for this astounding expansion?

"Perhaps no empire in history has risen so spectacularly as that of the Mongols. In less than 80 years, a band of warriors originally comprised of several men grew to an empire that encompassed all from the Pacific Ocean to the Danube River" (The Mongol Empire, 2001, All Empires). The reasons for the domination of the Mongols are rooted partially in their superior military and tactical skills. In contrast to the heavy armor of medieval knights, Mongols dressed lightly and rode small, speedy horses. Their austere lifestyle made them well-suited to battle. "These were hardy men who grew up on horses and hunting, making them better warriors than those who grew up in agricultural societies and cities. Their main weapon was the bow and arrow. And the Mongols of the early 1200s were highly disciplined, superbly coordinated and brilliant in tactics" (Genghis Khan and the great Mongol Empire, 2012, Macro History). Finally, the Mongols also had an additional advantage in terms of their diet over those whom they fought against -- they ate mainly meat and dairy products, and found it easier to do without eating for days, versus their opponents who relied upon a grain-based diet (Genghis Khan and the great Mongol Empire, 2012, Macro History)

Genghis (Chinggis) Khan was the first leader to unite the disparate tribes of the nomadic Mongols. As well as an able military leader, he was also an effective politician and administrator. He was famed just as much as a law-maker as a warrior. "He declared all children legitimate, whomever the mother. He made it law that no woman would be sold into marriage. The stealing of animals had caused dissension among the Mongols, and Genghis Khan made it a capital offense" (Genghis Khan and the great Mongol Empire, 2012, Macro History). He created formal methods of record-keeping.

Chinggis was utterly ruthless in his determination to dominate the known world yet also willing to establish alliances if they served his purposes. "To his south he made an alliance with the Uighurs, who were closer than the Mongols were to the Silk Road and to wealth" and married his daughter to the ruling family, to establish an alliance (Genghis Khan and the great Mongol Empire, 2012, Macro History). When conquering, the Mongols were not mindlessly bloodthirsty or cruel but rather "used divide and conquer tactics, using benevolence toward those who sided with them and terror and bloodshed against those who did not" (Genghis Khan and the great Mongol Empire, 2012, Macro History). Peasants indifferent to who controlled the land thus had a great incentive to capitulate to Mongol rule. In fact, on many occasions Chinggis would offer food to those who submitted and when faced with an army of European crusaders who had been taken captive by the caliph of Baghdad, he set them free rather than conscripted them and told them to spread the word of the Mongol conquest in Europe (Genghis Khan and the great Mongol Empire, 2012, Macro History).