Asian empires — maintaining power, challenge and decline
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Flip to reveal answersWhat three methods did the Mongols use to maintain power over their empire?
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Question
What three methods did the Mongols use to maintain power over their empire?
Answer
Military strength (a feared, mobile army), administration (census, yam relay stations, safe trade routes), and co-option of local elites (letting cooperative rulers/officials keep status).
Question
Kurultai
Answer
A council of Mongol chiefs and nobles who chose or confirmed a new great khan.
Question
Yam
Answer
The Mongol horse-relay postal and supply system that let messages and orders travel quickly across the empire.
Question
What triggered the 1260–1264 Mongol civil war?
Answer
The death of the great khan Mongke in 1259 led to a disputed succession between his brothers Kublai and Ariq Boke.
Question
Name the four khanates the Mongol Empire split into after 1260.
Answer
The Yuan dynasty (China), the Golden Horde (Russia/steppe), the Ilkhanate (Persia/Middle East), and the Chagatai Khanate (Central Asia).
Question
When did Kublai Khan complete the conquest of China and found the Yuan dynasty?
Answer
1279 (Yuan dynasty formally founded 1271); the Song dynasty fell in 1279.
Question
What happened to the Mongol invasion fleet sent against Japan in 1281?
Answer
It was destroyed by a typhoon the Japanese called the 'kamikaze' (divine wind), a major failed overextension.
Question
What two natural disasters hit the Yuan dynasty in the 1330s–1340s?
Answer
The Black Death (plague pandemic) and repeated Yellow River floods, both devastating the population and economy.
Question
Who led the rebellion that ended Yuan rule, and what dynasty did he found?
Answer
Zhu Yuanzhang, a Red Turban rebel leader, captured the Yuan capital Dadu in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty.
Question
Compare the 'internal weakness' and 'external shock' arguments for Yuan decline.
Answer
Internal weakness: broken succession, overextension, weak later emperors. External shock: Black Death and floods devastated the tax base and triggered rebellion. Strongest essays argue both combined — weakness created vulnerability, shocks provided the trigger.
Question
Why did the Mongols tolerate diverse religions and keep some local officials in place?
Answer
It reduced resistance and made conquered peoples more willing to cooperate and pay taxes rather than rebel.
Question
Overextension
Answer
Expanding or spending beyond what an empire can sustainably support, e.g. Kublai Khan's costly failed invasions of Japan, Vietnam and Java.
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Topic 12.1 hub
Asian kingdoms and empires (c.750–1500)
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History (2028+) exam skills
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