1260 Ain Jalut—Can the Mongols Be Stopped? ..............................

Lecture 12

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hat do these warriors have in common: a tribesman wielding
a blowgun and poisoned darts on the island of Java; a German
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a member of the fanatical Ismaili Muslim sect known as the Assassins,
living in a mountain fortress in Syria; a Japanese samurai raised to follow
the bushido code; a tough Afghan tribesman serving the sultan of Delhi in
northern India; a Mamluk warrior of Egypt; a soldier of the Song dynasty
in China; a Russian lord in Novgorod; and a Burmese war-elephant
driver? The answer: Within just a few decades, all fought against the same
enemy—the Mongols.

Great Conquerors
x The Mongols were arguably the greatest conquerors of all time. In
three generations, they burst out of their homeland and swept across
Europe and Asia, conquering every empire and civilization they
encountered. By the end, their dominion stretched nearly 10,000
miles and constituted the largest contiguous land empire in history.

x The Mongols are notable for the astonishing diversity of their

enemies, the range of environments in which they fought, and the

different styles of warfare they outmatched.

o The stereotypical Mongol warrior is a swift-moving nomadic

horse archer, but many of their greatest successes resulted from

mastery of siege warfare. From Syria to Korea, they captured

walled cities and fortresses that were said to be impregnable by

creatively employing a wide range of high-tech siege engines

and weapons.

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amphibious invasions seen before the 20th century.