Title: The Conquerors of Asia: Who Were the Mongols? | History Hit
Headings: The Conquerors of Asia: Who Were the Mongols?
The Conquerors of Asia: Who Were the Mongols?
Léonie Chao-Fong
The founding of the Mongol Empire
The Mongol army
Expansion and conquest
After Genghis Khan
The legacy of the Mongols

Content: The legacy of the Mongols
The Mongols’ greatest legacy on world culture was to make the first serious connections between the East and West. Previously the Chinese and Europeans had viewed each other’s lands as a semi-mythical place of monsters. The vast Mongol Empire stretched across one-fifth of the globe, across which the Silk Routes paved the way for communication, trade and knowledge. British Museum Curator St John Simpson talks about the Sasanian empire, the Silk Road and new archaeological evidence for trade and movement across the frontiers of Late Antiquity. Watch Now
As missionaries, merchants and travellers like Marco Polo (1254-1324) freely crossed to Asia, contact increased and ideas and religions were spread. Gunpowder, paper, printing, and the compass were introduced to Europe. Genghis Khan was also known to have granted religious freedom to his subjects, abolished torture, established universal law and created the first international postal system. It has been estimated that a total of around 40 million deaths can be attributed to Genghis Khan’s wars. However the exact number is unknown – partly because the Mongols themselves deliberately propagated their vicious image. Tags: