People accepted and relied upon his paper money. He expanded, for example, the use of paper money to enhance commerce throughout the land. Genghis Kahn’s grandson, Kubilai Kahn, became the leader of China in 1260. Genghis Kahn used conquered people with special knowledge and skill to improve his war machine ( e.g., creating innovative siege engines for conquering fortresses) and to administer his growing empire ( e.g., creating a pony-express system of communication throughout the empire). For those who did not remain loyal, Genghis Kahn returned and destroyed them. Most became loyal to their conqueror and then succeeded economically through trade. Often, they did not miss their pre-Mongol overlords. Those who remained kept their religion and kept their land. He defeated the soldiers, killed the aristocracy, took the city’s valuables (including any person with special knowledge or skill) as plunder and left, expecting only future loyalty and tribute from those who remained. When Genghis Kahn conquered a city, he did not occupy it. So, southern areas of Asia (like the Arabian Peninsula and India) stood beyond the reach of Mongolian conquest. They suffered in the heat of southern climes. ![]() They liked, for example, crossing rivers and lakes on ice. The empire reached beyond Moscow and Kiev to the west (forests and mountains of Eastern Europe are the Empire’s northwestern limit) and, from there, all the way east to the Pacific Ocean (including Beijing and Korea).Īlso, since Mongolia is in the far-north of Asia, cold weather is what the Mongolians and their war horses preferred and needed. When the Mongols conquered a farming area, they often destroyed the crops and returned the land to grass so their war horses could better-use the area in future campaigns. And that’s what they needed to support their war horses and to wage war most effectively: dense forests and jagged mountains were impediments. By then, the Mongolian Empire stretched across the entire extent of Asia’s grasslands and farmlands. Genghis Kahn began life in 1162 as an insignificant child of herders and hunters on the sparsely populated, cold and dangerous steppes of Mongolia.Ī century later, people across much of the known world had become subjects of his grandchildren. The following is a quick overview, from that book, of the context for the Mongolian bankruptcy laws of the 1200s. Such an impression is incomplete, according to the book footnoted below. And my impression of the Mongolian Empire has always been of conquest, cruelty and plunder-not of advanced economies or laws. The existence of a bankruptcy law tends to signify an advanced economy and an advanced legal structure. Such descriptions of an ancient bankruptcy law-and a Mongolian one at that-are a surprise. “On the third time he faced the possible punishment of execution.” “no merchant or customer could declare bankruptcy more than twice as a way to avoid paying debts” and ![]() ![]() Mongol law in China “provided for declarations of bankruptcy.” Here are some details: Centuries ago (during the 1200’s) the Mongols ruled China.
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