Drawing upon research carried out in several different languages and across a variety of disciplines, The Mongol World documents how Mongol rule shaped the trajectory of Eurasian history from Central Europe to the Korean Peninsula, from the thirteenth century to the fifteenth century.
Contributing authors consider how intercontinental environmental, economic, and intellectual trends affected the Empire as a whole and, where appropriate, situate regional political, social, and religious shifts within the context of the broader Mongol Empire. Issues pertaining to the Mongols and their role within the societies that they conquered therefore take precedence over the historical narrative of the societies that they conquered. Alongside the formation, conquests, administration, and political structure of the Mongol Empire, the second section examines archaeology and art history, family and royal households, science and exploration, and religion, which provides greater insight into the social history of the Empire -- an aspect often neglected by traditional dynastic and political histories.
With 58 chapters written by both senior and early-career scholars, the volume is an essential resource for all students and scholars who study the Mongol Empire from its origins to its disintegration and legacy.
Introduction Section 1: Conquest & State Formation Section 1 Introduction : Conquest & State Formation Part 1: Chinggis Khan & State Formation 1. Mongolia Before Chinggis Khan 2. The Rise of Chinggis Khan 3. The Early Mongol State Part 2: The Mongol Conquests 4. The Mongol Conquest of Xi Xia 5. The Mongol Conquest of the Jin Empire, 1211-1234 6. The Mongol Conquest of the Song Empire, 1234-1279 7. The Conquest of Qara Khitai and Western Siberia 8. Conquest of the Dasht-i Qipchaq 9. The Mongol Conquest of Rus’ 10. The Mongol Invasions of Europe 11. The Mongol Conquest of Iran 12. The Mongol Conquest of Transcaucasia 13. The Mongol Conquest of the Near East Part 3: The Mongol Successor States 14. The Jochid Ulus 15. The Yuan Empire 16. The Ilkhanate 17. The Middle Empire Part 4: Administration and Political Structure 18. The Yasa 19. Jarqu and Jarquchin 20. Daughters, Consort Families, and the Military 21. Mongol State Formation and Imperial Transformation 22. The Keshig 23. The Jam System Section 2 The Social History of the Mongol Empire Section 2 Introduction Part 5: Family and Royal Households 24. Consort Families in the Successor States 25. Elite Women in the Mongol Empire Part 6: Finance, Trade, & Economy 26. Mongol Monetary Trends 27. Maritime Silk Road: The Mongols & the Indian Ocean 28. Taxation in the Jochid Ulus 29. Overland Trade in the Mongol World Part 7: Archaeology and Art History 30. The Archaeology of the Mongol Empire 31. The Art History and Material Culture of the Yuan Empire 32. The Visual World of the Ilkhanids and Chaghadaids 33. Archaeology and the Material Culture of the Ulus Jochi (Golden Horde) Part 8: Religion 34. Shamans at the Court of the Qa’an 35. Nestorian Christianity Among the Mongols 36. The Islamization of the Mongols 37. Daoism in the Mongol Empire 38. Confucianism in the Mongol Empire 39. Buddhism in the Mongol Empire 40. Judaism and the Mongol Empire Part 9: Science & Exploration 41. Arabic Medicine in China and in the Mongol World 42. Mapping & Exploration Section 3 The Mongols in World History Section 3 Introduction Part 10 The Mongols in the Eyes of the Conquered 43. Yuan Chinese Attitudes Towards the Mongols 44. The Mongols in the Eyes of the Armenians 45. The Mongols in the Eyes of the Koryo People 46. The Mongols in the Eyes of the Uyghurs 47. From Brutes to Bodhisattvas: The Mongols in Tibetan Sources 48. The Mongols in the Eyes of the Iranians 49. The Mongols in the Eyes of the Rus’ 50. The Mongols in the Eyes of the Papal & Royal Missions to Mongolia and China (c. 1245-1370) Part 11: Beyond the Borders of the Mongol Empire 51. Mongols in the Mamluk Sultanate 52. The Outer Limits of Steppe Power: Mongol Excursions in Southeast Asia 53. The Mongols in South Asia 54. The Mongol Invasions of Japan and Their Legacy Part 12: The Mongol Legacy 55. The Chinggisid Legacy in the Middle East 56. Timur’s Empire 57. Rescuing Legitimate Narrative by Re-imaging Qubilai Qa’an 58. The Legacy of the Mongol Empire in Mongolia
Timothy May (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) is Professor of Central Eurasian History at the University of North Georgia and serves as Associate Dean of Arts & Letters. A scholar of the Mongol Empire, he focuses on Mongol military history and strategy. He is the author of The Mongol Art of War (2007), The Mongol Conquests in World History (2012), The Mongol Empire (2018), The Mongols (2019), and Simply Chinggis (2021). In 2014, he was named the University of North Georgia Alumni Distinguished Professor, and he earned the UNG Distinguished Teaching Award in 2021. Michael Hope (Ph.D., Australian National University) is Associate Professor of History at Yonsei University, Korea. He specializes in the political and cultural history of the Mongol Empire with a particular focus on the Ilkhanate. He is the author of Power, Politics, and Tradition in the Mongol Empire and the Ilkhanate of Iran (2016).