History Essay: The Mongols

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The Mongols
The Mongols are an ethnic group of people who are natives that dwell in Mongolia, a country in Far East Asia between China and Russia. Most historians believe that the Mongols originated from a group of people known as the Donghu, nomads who occupied Eastern Mongolia and Manchuria around 699-632BCE. Unfortunately, most of the Donghu tribe were defeated by King Modu Chanyu of the Xiongnu confederation and only the Xianbei and Wuhuan, a direct royal line of the Donghu, remained as the main remnants of the proto-Mongolic confederation. These two main tribes later divided and occupied different parts of Mongolia. In 555 AD, some of the smaller tribes were overshadowed by the Turkic Khaganate state, and other tribes were overshadowed by other states later on.
The Khitan tribe was the independent tribe that remained as a minor power in Manchuria until a man by the name Ambagai established the Liao Dynasty, which reigned from 907 to 1125. In 1125, the Liao Dynasty was overthrown by the Jin Dynasty, which the Jurchens founded. The Jin emperors often raised disputes among the five nomadic tribes that dwelt in the Mongolian Plateau in order to distract these tribes from uniting against their rule. This is a good example of how to divide and conquer. This system of governance was quite effective up to 1147 whereby the Jin decided to change their tactics and signed a peace treaty with the Mongols CITATION Tho92 \l 1033 (Barfield).
The Mongol Empire began in the early 13th Century. A man by the name of Teműjin went to war against the most powerful Mongol leader, who at the time was known as Kurtait (Wang Khan). Teműjin won the war, and later on, he changed his name to Chinggis Khan. He immediately enlarged his Mongol state, and it was at this point, all tribes that spoke Mongolic languages were referred to as Mongols. At the onset of his reign, Teműjin got into conflict with some powerful men of his tribe and other rival tribes over the policies he made. He went to war with most of them and defeated them, bringing them under his sway by 1205 CITATION Dav07 \l 1033 (Morgan). It was after these defeats that Teműjin was crowned the khagan, which means Emperor, of the Great Mongol State and assumed the title of Genghis Khan, the universal leader of the Mongols.
As emperor of the Mongols, Chinggis Khan introduced several innovative ways of organizing his army into different subgroups of tens, hundreds and even thousands. He introduced the Imperial guard, which was divided into two groups, those who protected him during the day and those who protected him at night. Chinggis Khan was a leader who valued loyalty, and those that were loyal to him were given positions of high rank in the organization of his army even though these people came from low-ranking clans. Additionally, Chinggis Khan forbade the selling of women, theft and fighting among the Mongols, and animals' hunting during the mating and breeding seasons. He appointed a supreme judge who kept the records of the empire, exempted the poor and the clergy from paying taxes, allowed the Mongols to be religiously free, promoted domestic and foreign trade and even encouraged learning among the Mongolian people.
After a firm ...