Destruction under the Mongol empire

[Charon 2]

It's so mind boggling what they did.
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You see ISIS doing inhumane things, but compared to the Mongols it's a joke. Imagine living in China, Iran, etc. when they were coming though.....

Sad thing is, if the king doesnt initially surrender, they basically massacre the whole city. Regular people always getting screwed.

Yes but I don't think we should judge modern Mongols for it what their ancestors have done 800 years ago. They are peaceful Buddhists now.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

the technicalities @AUSTERLITZ can perhaps explain better. but from my understanding mongols had a very secular and efficient administrative structure so conquered territories were allowed their cultural freedoms to an extent with relatively less revolts which would otherwise slow down their campaign or hold them up much. as for battle tactics i remember reading that in an era when retreating was considered as defeat, mongols did not subscribe to same notions of honour but were very strategic. so their well fortified encampments were used very tactfully. chingiz khan and some of his progeny were real masters at tactical military warfare, very advanced for those days.

Reasons-
1)Psychological warfare- Mongols at the peak of genghis empire had around 130,000 able bodied male soldiers to maintain and expand their empire...they understood they couldn't afford garrisons..so there were none.Basically there were a couple of envoys in the major conquered territories governors with a small bodygiard..no garrisons.The rule was this...do whatever u want..worship whoever u want..just pay on time..revolt and total annihilation..every man woman,child.This kept the entire mongol manpower concentrated into its field armies..genghis policy of devastation was as much calculated butchery as savage ecstasy.

Mongols administration as u said was very secular and light handed.This combined with calculated use of terror doctrine prevented insurrections.People basically figured after watching the annihilation of several cities that it wasn't worth it.Given that the alternatives would be usually local despots with not much better in field of administration.Since mongols didn't impose culture/religion ..main 2 medieval sources of dissent were removed.Third source of dissent..crushing taxation on peasants was absent in the mongol empire as its economy was dependant more on animal husbandry and trade in the flat steppe regions rather than crop cultivation and land revenue.

 

[Charon 2]

@Charon 2

i disagree

It is claimed that Merv was briefly the largest city in the world in the 12th century.[1]

Merv in modern Turkmenistan was the biggest city in the 12th century and the Mongols killed all the inhabitans of the biggest city in the 12th century. I also don't think that they killed 80% of Irans population but I can't see that it is wrong to claim that they killed 80% of the population of the Khwarazmian dynasty.

In 1221, Merv opened its gates to Tolui, son of Genghis Khan, chief of the Mongols, on which occasion most of the inhabitants are said to have been butchered. The Persian historian Juvayni, writing a generation after the destruction of Merv, wrote

“The Mongols ordered that, apart from four hundred artisans. .., the whole population, including the women and children, should be killed, and no one, whether woman or man, be spared. To each [Mongol soldier] was allotted the execution of three or four hundred Persians. So many had been killed by nightfall that the mountains became hillocks, and the plain was soaked with the blood of the mighty.”


Oh and Urgench in modern Turkmenistan was also one of the biggest cities in the world and it experienced the same fate as Merv

In 1221, Genghis Khan destroyed the city in the Mongol invasion of Central Asia, in what is considered to be one of thebloodiest massacres in human history. Despite the devastating effects of the invasion, the city was revived and it regained its previous status, being described by the 14th-century Arabic traveller Ibn Battuta as "the largest, most considerable, most beautiful and majestic city of the Turks, with fine bazaars, wide streets, numerous buildings and impressive views".

Konye-Urgench - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia