The Mongol Conquests
Explore the Mongol Conquests — the devastating military campaigns that destroyed empires, killed millions, and created the largest land empire in history.
The Mongol Conquests (1206–1260s) were the most devastating military campaigns in pre-modern history. Beginning with Genghis Khan's unification of the Mongol tribes in 1206, the Mongols systematically conquered the Khwarezmian Empire, northern China, Central Asia, Persia, Russia, and much of the Middle East, creating the largest contiguous land empire the world has ever seen.
The Mongol military machine was devastatingly effective for reasons that went beyond brute force. Mongol warriors were expert horsemen who trained from childhood, capable of firing arrows accurately at full gallop. Their armies employed sophisticated tactics: feigned retreats that lured enemies into ambushes, psychological warfare that encouraged surrender before siege, and an intelligence network that knew enemy dispositions before battle began. When cities resisted, the Mongols often massacred the entire population — a calculated terror strategy that encouraged rapid surrender.
The destruction was staggering. The sack of Baghdad in 1258 ended the Abbasid Caliphate and destroyed what had been the Islamic world's greatest center of learning. Entire regions of Central Asia and Persia were depopulated. Some historians estimate that the Mongol conquests caused the deaths of 30–40 million people. Yet in the conquest's wake came the Pax Mongolica — a period of relative peace and connectivity that facilitated unprecedented exchange between East and West.