Mongols - Active Drivers of Globalisation?

The Mongols were essential to the development of the world as it is and truly ushered in the modern era by creating a globalised world. The Mongols globalised through not only tolerance, but also through pragmatism and economic globalisation within their vast empire. Although they may be considered passive drivers of globalisation, the Mongols were highly active, thinking of constant strategic methods to globalise not only within their empire, but also outside of it.

In general, the Mongols were highly tolerant, and it was this tolerance which helped in spreading and upholding the Mongol empire. As the Mongols respected all religions allowed any religion to practise, they greatly increased the number of satisfied people within the empire, making it more stable. This in turn allowed them to bring focus at all times to conquering as well, as armies didn’t have to constantly put down revolts against the Mongol rule – people were mostly contented. However, tolerance – and in many cases, even “random” acts of kindness – were by no means optional. “He [Genghis Khan] ordered that all religions were respected and that no preference was to be shown to any of them” (“Great Yasa [Law Code] of Genghis Khan”[1]) This tolerance of all religions was very important as it allowed for stability within an empire. Arguably a decrease in the stability of an empire results in less security, meaning that it is more difficult to trade and travel, hampering both cultural and economic globalisation. The tolerance of the Mongols, and their enforcement of it, was what brought the Mongol empire to new heights of greatness in globalisation, both cultural and economic.

The Mongols had a very tolerant approach to gender. In the “Great Yasa of Genghis Khan”[2], the 19th law states that “he [Genghis Khan] ordered women accompanying the troops to do the work and perform the duties of the men, while the latter were absent fighting.” This again showcases the Mongols’ tolerant approach to empirical organisation, and it was this tolerance, one large example of simple pragmatism, which held the empire together – people respected each other and people in the empire were equal. In turn, this pragmatism and unity resulted in security within the empire and allowed for globalisation to occur.

Pragmatism was another key aspect which helped in the cultural globalisation of the Mongol empire. The Mongols had a highly pragmatic approach to ruling methods, imperial intermediaries and military strategy. Using the ideas of tolerance which were central to their empire, they could adapt their ruling method to fit into different situations. One of the large parts of adaptation of ruling strategy can be seen in China. There, in order to be respected as a ruler, Kublai Khan had to become an “emperor” instead of a “khan” and give the dynasty a different name from the Mongol empire (the Yuan dynasty). By having his “emperorship proclaimed by edict in 1272” (“Empires”[3]), giving the dynasty a Chinese name, ruling like a Chinese emperor from a palace and being an “emperor” people appreciated Kublai Khan as their emperor and believed that it had the Mandate of Heaven like all other Chinese dynasties, even though it was ultimately rule by a foreign power. This way, the Mongols kept China under their rule for a significant amount of time without upsetting the Chinese, thereby creating security and order within their empire and using these to allow for economic and cultural globalisation, both of which largely rely on travel, which relies on a stable empire.

The Mongol approach to imperial intermediaries was again highly pragmatic. The Mongols used a tree-like structure of imperial intermediaries, each of which controlled others. At the final branches, the intermediaries would actually be the ones enforcing the rules. However, the Mongols made very strategic decisions regarding what the intermediaries could influence and where they could enforce rules. “The Mongol way of managing intermediaries included moving them around the empire” so that no intermediary could become too comfortable with the people he was ruling and thereby possibly spark revolt. By moving intermediaries far from their place of birth – this could even be in a place with a different language – the Mongols could allow any civilian to become an intermediary and, as the civilians were moved far from their birthplace, it would be unlikely that they would be able to convince people to revolt seen as they would not know who was a Mongol supporter and may end up alerting strong Mongol supporters who could then report these rebellious intermediaries. As the intermediaries were moved by great distances, this resulted in cultural globalisation – the moved intermediaries could spread their culture to new places where they enforced rules. This cultural globalisation resulted in foods, culture and goods spreading as imperial intermediaries moved from place to place. Most imperial intermediaries were moved several times in their life, and each time they brough with them the culture of their birth place, of the places where they had been since and of the vast range of people they had met, such as merchants who were travelling on the Silk Road.

Additionally, the intermediaries were not allowed to have a say or participate in military matters – military service was strictly restricted to Mongols. The military was a key part of the Mongol empire and having someone who may threaten rebellion in the military was something which had to be avoided. This may have contributed to some controversy in the Mongol empire, especially seen as the Mongols seemingly put a lot of emphasis on tolerance for “nonimportant” things like sharing and conveying rules, whereas the military and the actual conquering was “important” and limited to only the Mongols, showcasing that the rulers likely preferred Mongols, although this was very hidden and only seemed to come up in the issue of the military. This brings up a strong sense of pragmatism, and it was largely this pragmatism which made the Mongol empire a globalised network.

The Mongols had key measures to ensure that the system was self-sustaining, meaning each soldier would keep a check and make sure the others are correctly doing their job, which can be seen from “Mission to Asia”[4] where Carpini states that “when they [the Mongols] are in battle, if one or two or three or even more out of a group if then run away, all are put to death; and if a whole group of a hundred are all put to death, if they do not flee too.” This and other measures resulted in an empire where people had to work together or be killed, resulting in a strong military unit. It was this military unit which helped in conquering new territory for the empire and also played a large part in maintaining stability within the empire, even though cases where people rebelled were rare. In turn, this stability resulted in it being easier for cultural globalisation as people from within the empire could travel and it was easy for external merchants to come as well.

One of the more direct ways in which the Mongols were drivers of globalisation was through economic globalisation. One of the most recognisable and prominent features of this form of globalisation was paper money – a new form of currency which changed how people traded across the world. However, trade into and out of the empire, a form of economic globalisation, also had profound effects, especially the spreading of culture. Culture could be spread by the hundreds of merchants who travelled the Mongol empire and sold their wares, and the wares themselves carried a cultural heritage which could be passed on, resulting in a mixing of many different cultures across Eurasia.

Arguably the most important feature of a currency is that it must be widely accepted. Kublai Khan established a widespread paper money system which was essentially widespread due to its acceptance rate everywhere. Merchants from as far as the eastern Mongol empire accepted the paper money as they knew “well that they would not have so much from any other [they would not get the value of the paper money in gold], they are paid for them at once and because they change them afterwards” (“The Description of the World”[5]) for anything, including goods anywhere within the Mongol empire. Additional to the reasons Marco Polo listed, the paper currency was enforced within the entire Mongol empire. By spreading his currency, Kublai Khan made it easy to trade within his empire. He spent and continued printing money to buy all sorts of goods from merchants, which helped build up the Mongol treasury and therefore also further back the Mongol currency. By putting a lot of paper money into circulation and getting people to exchange their wares for the money, Kublai Khan economically globalised his empire and encouraged merchants to travel as trade had been made much easier, thereby enabling more cultural globalisation as merchants moved from place to place bringing their ideas with them.

By having a large empire with many people, all of which needed things, this attracted more merchants to come to the Mongol empire, as Kublai Khan continued to buy their wares and give them the full price. With a circulation of merchants, who stopped regularly in towns along the Silk Road, even more cultural globalisation occurred. As well as the protection of the empire offered by the military, the sheer amount of merchants travelling the Silk Road helped in increasing its safety. Similarly, merchant towns were set up for merchants to stop on their journey. “The road you travel from Tana to Cathay is perfectly safe, whether by day or night” (“Cathay and the way Thither”[6]) due to the immense amount of globalisation which occurred within the Mongol empire. Through the military, the Mongols were also able to keep this road safe not only through the unity of their empire, but through strict laws which the military could enforce. This included laws like “The man in whose possession a stolen horse is found must return it to its owner and add nine horses of the same kind: if he is unable to pay this fine, his children must be taken instead of the horses, and if he have no children, he himself shall be slaughtered like a sheep” (“Great Yasa of Genghis Khan”[7]) All of these measures, including measures taken to make the Silk Road a safe road network which people could travel, resulted in more economic globalisation as the Mongol paper currency spread and goods were exchanged, as well as cultural globalisation, as merchants and travellers could safely travel through the empire and visit cities where they could spread their wares and way of life.

As well as directly making a new currency, the Mongols had a lavish lifestyle which involved the purchasing of many items and also using money from the emperor’s treasury and paying people with it. As can be seen from “Compendium of Chronicles”[8], Ögodei helps many people, such as by giving a person with no money 1,000 gold coins, 500 to pay back his debt and 500 in order to take part in trade. Ögodei also paid all merchants who came to his palace the full price for their goods, “and it usually happened that he would give them away without having looked at them.” His main aim was not to increase the amount of goods he had in his possession, but instead to attract merchants to the Mongol empire. By bringing merchants to the empire, the Mongols encouraged cultural globalisation as the merchants came to the empire and spoke with locals and the emperor, but they also encouraged economic globalisation, as the merchants would also trade with other people within the Mongol empire other than the emperor himself.

In conclusion, the Mongols were an essential part of the world’s history, creating a stable empire which helped foster global connectivity and globalisation. They were drivers of economic globalisation, which was done through a mixture of military strategy, paper currency and strict laws, as well as of cultural globalisation which was done through tolerance, pragmatism and also through trade and travel. Their strategic approach to the rule of their empire resulted in a pragmatic empirical organisation which allowed people to be happy with their rule, allowed the empire to be safe, and allowed it to globalise within and to the rest of the world.

[1] Genghis Khan, "Great Yasa of Genghis Kahn," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 1-2. [2] Genghis Khan, "Great Yasa of Genghis Kahn," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 1-2. [3] Burbank, F. and Cooper, J., Empires, 93-114 [4] John of Plano Carpini, "Mission to Asia," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 27-36. [5] Marco Polo, "The Description of the World," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 128-129. [6] Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, "Cathay and the Way Thither," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 149-152. [7] Genghis Khan, "Great Yasa of Genghis Kahn," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 1-2. [8] Rashid al-Din, "Compendium of Chronicles," in Unknown, ed. Unknown editor (Unknown publisher, unknown publishing date), 123-127.