18 PICTURESQUEThe recent exhibition Lands
From The Mongol Empire presented
a compilation of visual stories
that connect the land, culture and
people of Eurasia that were linked
by the former Mongol Empire under
Genghis Khan, the ruler who united
the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia.
His campaigns were often brutal. By
the end of his life, the Mongol Empire
occupied a substantial portion of
Central Asia and China.
Instrumental in conquering large
swaths of territory across the region,
Genghis Khan brought the Silk Road
under collective political control,
which increased trade between the
East and West. His empire stretched
from the Caspian Sea to the Sea of
Japan by his death in 1227.
It was expanded further under his
successors, as Mongol armies made
their way into Persia, eventually taking
control of all of China in 1279, and
then pushing into Russia and eastern
Europe. This was the Mongol Empire at
the height of its power, stretching from
the Pacific to the Mediterranean.The vast territories were
subsequently fragmented into four
khanates: The Great Khan Khanate,
which included China and Mongolia;
the Chagatai Khanate, which consisted
of Central Asia, the Il-Khanate, which
covered Persia, and the Golden Horde,
which included Russia and Siberia.
The unification of China under
Kublai Khan was an unprecedented
period for the Mongols, whereby the
great khan became the emperor of the
Yuan Dynasty. Trade flourished along
the Silk Road, and Marco Polo travelled