Asian empires — domestic developments and foreign relations
Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersWhat is the Yassa?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 12 Flashcards — Asian empires — domestic developments and foreign relations
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
What is the Yassa?
Answer
The law code issued by Genghis Khan around 1206, covering loyalty, order, and protections including tax/service exemption for clergy of all faiths.
Question
How did the Mongols generally treat religion in conquered lands?
Answer
With tolerance — no forced conversion; Kublai Khan employed Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and Confucian advisers at his court.
Question
What was the yam?
Answer
A relay postal system of staging posts about a day's ride apart, letting messengers change horses to carry news and orders quickly across the empire.
Question
What is the pax Mongolica?
Answer
The roughly century-long period from the mid-1200s when Mongol control made Silk Road trade routes safer and busier across Eurasia.
Question
Name two goods/ideas that spread west along Silk Road trade during the pax Mongolica.
Answer
Chinese silk and porcelain moved west; gunpowder technology and Persian/Arab science moved east — exchange flowed both directions.
Question
What negative consequence also travelled along Mongol-controlled trade routes?
Answer
The Black Death (plague), which devastated populations across Asia and Europe in the 1300s.
Question
How did the Mongols usually administer newly conquered settled societies?
Answer
Pragmatically — they kept existing local systems running (e.g. Chinese civil service, Persian bureaucrats) but placed Mongol or foreign overseers on top.
Question
Into what four khanates did the Mongol Empire split after succession disputes?
Answer
The Golden Horde (Russia/Central Asia), the Ilkhanate (Persia), the Chagatai Khanate (Central Asia), and the Yuan Dynasty (China/Mongolia).
Question
Give an example of a state that resisted Mongol conquest and was destroyed.
Answer
Baghdad, destroyed with mass killing in 1258 after resisting Mongol demands.
Question
Give an example of a state that submitted to the Mongols after prolonged resistance and paid tribute.
Answer
Korea (Goryeo), which resisted for decades before accepting Mongol overlordship and tribute payments.
Question
Who was Marco Polo and why does he matter to this topic?
Answer
A Venetian merchant who travelled to Kublai Khan's court in the 1270s–1295; his account became a key European source on Yuan China and Mongol foreign contact.
Question
Compare conquest/tribute and diplomacy as Mongol foreign-relations tools.
Answer
Conquest/tribute used military force or the threat of it to extract submission and payment (e.g. Song China, Korea); diplomacy used envoys, foreign advisers and marriage alliances to build relationships without war (e.g. missions to European courts, Kublai Khan's foreign advisers).
Read the notes
Full study notes for Asian empires — domestic developments and foreign relations
Topic 12.1 hub
Asian kingdoms and empires (c.750–1500)
More from Topic 12.1
All flashcards in this topic
History (2028+) exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free