This course deals with the empire built by the Mongols in the 13th century—the largest land empire in the world. All readings will be from translated primary sources of the 13th and 14th centuries, written by the Mongols themselves and also by Persian, Chinese, Eastern Christians, Europeans, and other peoples that fought, surrendered to, or traded with the Mongol conquerors. The course will explore the Mongols, the most spectacular example of the nomadic conquerors who played such a large role in all Eurasian history, and survey how their empire affected themselves and the peoples they conquered. By using primary sources, the course will also provide a survey of civilizations in Eurasia in the 13th and 14th centuries, and give a hands-on example of how historians build historical knowledge from varied sources.
Exams and Course Requirements: There will be the following graded assignments: two map quizzes, a chronology quiz, a genealogy quiz, a midterm and a final. There will also be a weekly one-two page review of the reading which be graded on a pass-fail basis. The reading reports and class attendance will be 25%; the four quizzes, 5% each; and the midterm 20% and the final 35%. There is no term paper.
Graduate Requirements: Graduate students have additional required reading, which will be discussed during four extra sessions of the class (time and place TBA). Undergraduates are welcome also to do this reading and attend the discussion sessions. Graduates will have no choice on the questions for the midterms and finals. In addition graduates will write a 15-20 page research paper, due on April 30. Topics will be chosen by the student in consultation with the professor. Graduate grade percentages are: reading reports/class participation, 15%; four quizzes, total 10%; midterm 20%; final 25%; paper 30%.
Class organization: Monday and Wednesday sessions will be primarily lecture, in which I will give you a background of ideas and concepts that help make sense of the topic for the week, as well as additional important information not given in the readings. Friday is a discussion session, in which we will look at the specific readings for the week and analyze them in terms of the arguments they put forth to make sense of the Mongol conquests. For this reason, it is imperative that you do the reading before Friday. The one-two page reviews of the reading will be due at the beginning of class at each discussion session.
Note: All students are each given two (only!) free passes on the reading reviews.
Readings:
Three books (Cleaves, trans., Secret History of the Mongols, Dawson, ed., Mission to Asia; Latham, trans., Travels of Marco Polo) are available for purchase at TIS and the IU bookstore. Juvaini’s History of the World Conqueror is out of print and is on sale in a xeroxed reprint also at TIS and the IU bookstore.
Two required out of print books are available in xeroxed reprint from the Central Eurasian Studies department office (Goodbody Hall 157):
The final group of required readings is available in a packet the Central Eurasian Studies department office (Goodbody Hall 157). It includes:
Website: The class has a website which contains the syllabus, the lecture outlines and other materials. The outlines are intended to be used to prepare for class, and to ease note-taking, not a substitute for class!
URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~ceus/mongol_conquest.htm
IMPORTANT NOTE: There are MANY editions of Marco Polo in stores and the library. The one I am using for my page numbers is that translated by Ronald Latham and published by Penguin Press in paperback. Note also that while most editions of this book number the pages consecutively through the translator’s introduction, so that Marco Polo’s own story starts on p. 33, some editions have the introduction numbered separately, so that the story itself starts on p. 3. If your book is one of these editions, you will need to subtract 30 from every page number in the syllabus.
*See the note on the pagination of Marco Polo on the second page of the syllabus.
First map quiz: in class, Jan. 29
Second map quiz: in class, Feb. 19
Midterm: in class, March 7
*See the note on the pagination of Marco Polo on the second page of the syllabus.
Spring Break
Chronology Quiz: in class, March 24 29
Genealogy Quiz: in class, April 14
Final: 2:45-4:45, Friday, May 9.
*See the note on pagination in Marco Polo on the second page of the syllabus.
Note on pronunciation
In our readings on the Mongolian world empire, certain letters or symbols are commonly used which may be difficult to pronounce. The following is a brief guide:
Letter Approximate English equivalent
č
Just like English "ch" as is "cheese" γ or gh, or ™ A back spirant, something like an uvular French ‘r’ as in "au revoir." Can be approximated as ‘g’V
Approximated as English short -i-, as in "sit"Just like English ‘j’ as in "jam"
ö
Approximated as English long -o-, as in English "home"q A back or ‘swallowed’ k. May be approximated as English -k- for Persian writers, for Mongolian similar to kh above.
š
Just like English ‘sh’ in "ship"ü
Approximately as English -u- as in "rule"
Chinese spelling systems
For Chinese words there are two systems for Latin-script spelling, one, the Wade-Giles, used predominantly before 1979, and the other, the Pinyin, becoming more and more common since 1979. Some readings use Wade-Giles, but newer ones use Pinyin, and I will attempt to give both spellings in lecture when ever Chinese words are used (if I forget, please remind me!). Both contain letters which have unexpected pronunciations:
Wade-Giles:
p and p’ Like English ‘b’ and ‘p’, respectively
t and t’ Like English ‘d’ and ‘t’, respectively
k and k’ Like English ‘g’ and ‘k’ respectively
ch and ch’ Like English ‘j’ and ‘ch’ (as in ‘cheese’ or ‘chirp’), respectivelyts, tz Like English ‘dz’ in "adze" but at the beginning of the syllable
ts’, tz’ Like English ‘ts’ as in "bats" but at the beginning of the syllable
hs Like English ‘sh’ as in "sheet"
-ih Resembles English ‘-ir’ as in "sir"
ss Like English ‘s’
tzu, tz’u, ssu Rhyme with English -uh as in ‘huh’
Pinyin:
x Like English "sh" as in "sheet"
q Like English "ch" as in "cheese"
z Like English ‘dz’ in "adze" but at the beginning of the syllable
c Like English ‘ts’ as in "bats" but at the beginning of the syllable
zh Like English "j" as in "jam"
zhi, chi, shi, ri All rhyme with "sir"
Chronology Quiz
In this quiz students will be required to do two things: 1) put a scrambled list of ten khans and regents in proper sequence, and 2) give the event that happened on the given date for the ten dates listed below. Each correct reply is worth 5 points of the quiz’s total 100 points. Minor misspellings will not be counted against the student; partial credit will still be given for names that have major misspellings (as long as they are recognizable).
The khans and regents are:
Chinggis Qan (1206-1227)
regent: Tolui (1227-1229)
Ö
regent: Töregene Qatun (1242-1246)
Güyüg Khan (1246-1248)
regent: Oghul Qaimish (1248-1251)
Möngke Qa’an (1251-1259)
Qubilai Qa’an (1260-1294)
Temür Qa’an (1294-1307)
Haishan Qa’an (1307-1311)
(The dates of the khans and regents are provided for your convenience; you do not need to know them on the exam)
The dates are: