Mongols Changing over Time

Compare and Contrast Essay

The Mongols stormed into control though means of expansion across the continents of Asia and Europe. Their rule was brutal at times, but nevertheless had a lasting affect on many cultures and societies. Although affecting various regions across the Eastern hemisphere, the Mongols probably had their biggest affect on Russia and China. Despite an overall negative impact to these societies, the Mongol rule drastically changed the political and economic systems in Russia and China.

In altering the economic system of both Russia and China, the most distinct change was the rise and use of a trading system under Mongol rule. The Mongols introduced China into trade and the merchant class and China took full advantage of the new opportunities in international trade, broadening their horizons for the first time in their history. This is so significant because up until this, China had been a very isolated society, relying on tradition and their own beliefs, and not using many outside influences. Due to increased trade made possible by the Mongol links, some Russian towns made huge profits. In addition to the new obsession in trade, new systems were proposed in China for more efficient tax collection. The Mongols seemed to have an overall huge impact on the Chinese economy, opening China to influences from Arab and Persian lands, and even to contacts with Europe.

Mongol rule also changed many facets of the political systems in Russia and China. In Russia, the prominent change was the rise of Moscow into its main city, along with the decline of the Golden Horde. The Mongol rule created a new style for Russian leaders. The Russian princes were forced to submit as vassals of the Khan of the Golden Horde and pay tribute. The Mongol example influenced the desire of Russian princes to centralize their control and reduce the limitations paced on their power by the landed nobility, clergy, and wealthy merchants. Similar to Russia, the Mongol rule centralized the power of the government in China. In Chinese government at the time of the Mongol rule, ethnic Chinese from both north and south ran the Yuan bureaucracy at the regional and local levels. The Mongols, along with Asian nomads and Muslim allies, held most of the offices at the highest levels of bureaucracy. Another interesting change included Chabi, Kubilai Khan's wife, who became one of Kubilai's most