genghis khan and the making of the modern world by jack weatherford

He says that they encouraged scientific advances, and improved agriculture and production methods. They did this by sponsoring lucrative international trade. Weatherford's book claims that the Mongols sought to increase that wealth by encouraging their subjects to be more productive and enterprising instead of increasing the tax burden on them. Since the Mongols were nomadic horsemen of the steppes, they were dependent on taxes from the subjugated peoples for wealth and luxury goods. The resulting terror helped color the historical portrayal of the Mongols. These massacres were a method of psychological warfare to alert those populations not yet conquered. Those populations that resisted could be massacred as a warning to other towns/cities. These benefits were enjoyed only by populations who surrendered immediately to the Mongol invaders. He suggests their rule was less burdensome than that of European nobility due to lighter taxes, tolerance of local customs and religions, more rational administration, and universal education for boys. Weatherford explores the Mongol treatment of the general population (peasants, tradesmen, merchants) under Mongol rule. Survivors of the upper classes wrote the histories and expressed resentment of Mongol brutality toward them. The Mongols practiced killing the ruling classes in order to subdue the general population, a technique used by other cultures as well. The book suggests that the western depiction of the Mongols as savages who destroyed civilization was due to the Mongols' approach to dealing with the competing leadership classes. Howorth have argued that the Mongol empire contributed to opening up intellectual interactions between China, the Middle East, and Europe. In 1979 Paul Ratchnevsky wrote about the Khan's knack for forging alliances, his fairness in dividing the spoils, and his patronage of the sciences. Weatherford made use of three major non-Western sources: The Secret History of the Mongols, the Ta' rīkh-i jahān-gushā of Juvayni and the Jami al-Tawarikh of Rashid-al-Din Hamadani. In the last section, he reviews the historiography of Genghis Khan in the West and argues that the leader's early portrayal in writings as an 'excellent, noble king' changed to that of a brutal pagan during the Age of Enlightenment. Weatherford provides a different slant on Genghis Khan than has been typical in most Western accounts, attributing positive cultural effects to his rule. It is a narrative of the rise and influence of Mongol leader Genghis Khan and his successors, and their influence on European civilization. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (2004) is a history book written by Jack Weatherford, Dewitt Wallace Professor of Anthropology at Macalester College. The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire

Genghis khan and the making of the modern world by jack weatherford