Speech-Noah Welch

Noah Welch

Everyone who has ever walked the face of the earth has shaped it in some way.   It is important as denizens of this planet to understand the culmination of the events that helped create the environment we live in today; examining all factors with an unbiased viewpoint so we are not deceived by a false representation of a groups past.

One such people that history sorely misrepresents are the Mongols. The Mongols were not the despicable beings of pure evil the Western world considers them today. In case you have forgotten their history or were completing a much more important action when we learned about them in history class, let me refresh your memory. Mongols were wandering nomads who lived on the northern steppes of central Asia. They had a strong code of honor, hospitality, and tolerance. They eventually, through conquest, gained the largest empire the world has ever seen. Most historians and people consider them no more than brutal savages who killed, raped and destroyed everything in their path.

While some of these accusations are true, it’s important for us to realize that most people are not all bad or all good.  Once we recognize this we can see the benefits of the Mongols. They helped promote trade and were extremely religiously tolerant.  Additionally, they helped spread technology and gave settlements a chance to surrender before they attacked them. These events show that Mongols were not the demons, we as a western nation thought they were.

Mongols were one of the most religiously tolerant nations ever known on this earth. Their own personal beliefs were tied to their home land, so they viewed it as a sacrilege to forcibly convert and kill people over their religious beliefs. In fact, Mongols actively invited educated religious scholars to their court to try to advance their knowledge of the world. Mongols actively promoted learning and tolerance while Christians, at the time, were famous for torturing, slaughtering and stealing from groups with contrary religious beliefs. Jews, Muslims, other Christians, no one was safe from the Inquisition’s purges. Mongols, in matters of religion, were virtual saints and maintained an extremely modern outlook on religion that groups today should aspire to maintain, the Mongolian vision of religious tolerance and peace.  

In the Middle Ages, trade with the East faltered until it was nonexistent. People were not able to travel for great distances without fear of being robbed by bandits on the road.  In general, people wouldn’t much travel farther than the nearest town. This all changed when the Mongols seized control of a tumultuous Asia. With a supreme power guarding the roads, people were free to trade and travel as they pleased. It was said that while the Mongols ruled, a man could walk form one side of the empire to another balancing a golden platter on his head without fear of being robbed. This trade promoted growth, learning and exploration; all important elements of civilization. In fact it is indirectly due to the Mongols that America was discovered.  Columbus sailed west trying to avoid the Muslim blockade between Europe and Asia, trade that would not have been pertinent without the Mongol protection.

Mongols had a deep and rich culture, full of honor and chivalry, that we as the west do not consider. In Mongol society, hospitality was sacred and oaths were considered to be unbreakable. Genghis Khan swore loyalty to a childhood friend of his. This event was almost identical to western knights’ formation of brotherhood in arms. In both cases each party swore to care for their brother, to support his endeavors, to pay his ransoms, and if need be die for him. Mongol codes of loyalty and chivalry were almost identical to our concepts of the virtues of European knights.  Mongols were not as different from the west as westerners seek to believe.

          Mongol conquest patterns were extraordinarily similar to those of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire. In all cases the standard practice was to approach a town and offer them a chance to surrender with their honor and dignity intact. If the settlement surrendered they were given the full protection of the Empire, were forced to pay taxes to the government, but citizens were not raped and slaughtered. However if the town defied their attacker, declaring that they would not surrender, well, all three empires made an example of this foe. The important distinction to make is that Mongols first gave their opponents a chance to surrender peaceably, but when provoked struck back. Men, like Alexander the Great, whom we admire used this strategy at Tyre with devastating effectiveness. I will not claim that Mongols never destroyed towns or sacked cities, but in doing so they convinced other towns to surrender, saving the lives of countless thousands.

          Another great benefit of the Mongols was how they helped spread technology to the West.  Mongols were masters of innovation and creativity that helped enlighten the West on new inventive techniques. Before their conquests Mongols had never sieged a city, never managed an extensive government and did not know about extensive logistics or transportation. However during these exploits the Mongols would capture inventors and pay them to help enlighten the Mongols on the latest technology. With these advancements from scholars and old discoveries they had mastered, Mongols were able to consolidate advanced technologies, expand their use and share them with the West.

         The Mongols were one of the first groups to promote people based on their skill rather than their background. It didn’t matter to the Mongols if you were a Jew or a Christian, a peasant or a lord, a rich man or a poor man, all the Mongols cared about were results. This led their governments to be effective and relatively free of corruption. It also made their armies even more effective and devastating. The Mongols had an extremely modern outlook of promotion and promoted their soldiers, governors and scientists based on their skill. A practice used by civilized nations around the world.

        Why does this matter? Why have I taken up your valuable time describing the benevolence of the Mongols?  It is important for everyone to know and consider both sides of the coin good and bad before condemning a group of people. Was this group of people completely innocent of committing war crimes? Of course not. However if we only judge nations by their evil actions, then everyone would be considered a demon from hell. We Americans are no exception. If history focused on our flaws, slavery, the abuse of native Americans, our imperialist tendencies, our appalling treatment of poor and women, then in the next thousand years people might consider our free nation an example of sin and evil. At all costs we must examine every historical angle, consider every possible motive, look at all actions a group commits or our history could become as dark and lopsided as the Mongols.

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Cope, Tim. On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey through the Land of the Nomads. New York: Bloombury USA, 2013. Print.

Di Cosmo, Nicola. "Black Sea Emporia And The Mongol Empire: A Reassessment Of The Pax Mongolica." Journal Of The Economic & Social History Of The Orient 53.1/2 (2010): 83-108. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 June 2014.

Leger, Heinz, dir. "The Secret History of Genghis Khan." Timewatch. BBC. West London, England, 20 May 2012. You Tube/THE SECRET HISTORY OF GENGHIS KHAN - Documentary. Web. 26 June 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNonYbb4dnA>.

Sayf Al-vâhidî Et Al. Mongols Besieging Baghdad in 1258. Circa 1430. Bibliothèque Nationale De France, Département Des Manuscrits, Division Orientale, Supplément Persan 1113, Fol. 180v-181, Paris,France.File:Bagdad1258.jpg. Wikipedia, 1 Aug. 2009. Web. 30 June 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bagdad1258.jpg>.