Deck 13: The World the Mongols Made

Question 1

An environmental explanation for the Mongol conquests that has been put forth is that

A) temperatures rose and increased the desert areas and that pushed the Mongols south and west.
B) temperatures fell and declining pastureland caused a need for expansion.
C) high rainfall in the Mongol homeland led to flooding and the destruction of Mongol agriculture.
D) a series of earthquakes destroyed Mongol communities and led to their dispersal.

Answer 1

temperatures fell and declining pastureland caused a need for expansion.

Question 2

The statement that "The Mongols are the most obedient people in the world with regard to their leaders… there are no wranglings among them, no disputes or murders" was the observation of

A) a Chinese Buddhist.
B) a Syrian Muslim.
C) a Mongol member of Genghis Khan's court.
D) a European Christian.

Answer 2

a European Christian.

Question 3

In order to encourage Chinese trade on the Silk Roads, the Great Khan

A) took over and ran trade with the West.
B) eliminated taxes on trading companies.
C) sent embassies to the West inviting them to engage in trade with local companies.
D) gave low-cost loans to trading companies.

Answer 3

gave low-cost loans to trading companies.

Question 4

At its furthest extent, the Mongol Empire stretched from

A) the Rhine River to the Yellow River.
B) the Euphrates to the Yangtze River.
C) the Rhone River to the Pacific Ocean.
D) the Volga River to the Pacific Ocean.

Question 5

William of Rubruck

A) claimed to be a spy in the employ of Europe's rulers.
B) claimed to be a simple missionary but behaved like a spy and was treated like an ambassador.
C) was an official ambassador of the Russian Empire but behaved like a missionary and spy.
D) was a missionary sent by the Eastern Orthodox Church to convert the Mongols.

Question 6

What were two groups of individuals imported into China from Persia that helped advanced learning and knowledge there?

A) military men and printers
B) ceramicists and mathematicians
C) mathematicians and astronomers
D) printers and gunpowder makers

Question 7

After 1295, the government of the Ilkhan Empire in Persia began to

A) become militantly Muslim, excluding Jews, Christians, Buddhists, and others.
B) allow the service of Jews and Christians, along with Muslims.
C) allow only Buddhists to serve as administrators.
D) permit only Sunni Muslims to serve in government and persecuted Shiites, as well as members of other faiths.

Question 8

In ruling China, Kubilai Khan

A) used the Confucian elite and adopted traditional forms of rule in China.
B) favored Buddhists primarily in filling government posts, as well as people from the lower classes.
C) gave women posts of importance and imported educated Muslims to form a new ruling elite.
D) tried to impose Mongol traditions on the Chinese people as a way of uniting China with other parts of the Mongol Empire.

Question 9

The Mongols attempted and failed to maintain control over

A) the islands of Java.
B) Japan.
C) Vietnam.
D) All the answers are correct.

Question 10

In terms of religion, twelfth-century Mongol communities largely practiced

A) Islam.
B) various religions.
C) Christianity.
D) Buddhism and Christianity.

Question 11

The dominant animal in the life of Mongols on the steppe was:

A) the cow.
B) the horse.
C) the goat.
D) the pig.

Question 12

Once on the steppes, the Mongol society was largely centered on

A) agriculture.
B) pastoralism.
C) commerce.
D) a centralized state.

Question 13

One of the benefits that the Mongols brought to Russian lands was

A) lower taxes than had existed earlier.
B) the introduction of paper money.
C) new farming technologies and an end to serfdom.
D) defense against German adventurers.

Question 14

The ideology developed by the Mongols during the reign of Genghis Khan was that

A) Allah gave the Mongols the job of conquering the world in his name.
B) Genghis Khan was really a bodhisattva who had come to lead others to enlightenment.
C) eternal heaven decreed that the Mongols rule the world.
D) Mongol government represented a new, more just way of ruling than any other that had come before.

Question 15

In ruling over Russia, the Mongols of the Golden Horde

A) created a centralized state that they ran from Moscow.
B) ran a loose confederacy of Mongol states from their capital at Sarai.
C) made local native rulers pay them tribute.
D) ruled from Kiev, until they later moved their capital to Moscow.

Question 16

In Mongol society, the phrase "crane catching" referred to

A) successful leaders forcing submission from rivals.
B) the popular pastime of hunting birds.
C) the success of Mongol merchants in establishing long-term contracts with buyers.
D) a mysterious religious practice that is little understood today.

Question 17

In terms of developing a system of law for governing a growing empire, Genghis Khan

A) ignored this completely.
B) gradually developed a code that regulated a variety of social and military aspects.
C) quickly instituted a single, comprehensive code .
D) was concerned with creating a bureaucracy of Muslim ministers based on Sharia.

Question 18

The title Genghis Khan means something close to

A) desert ruler.
B) big ruling man.
C) barbarian-killing general.
D) ocean-king.

Question 19

The most important contribution the Mongols made to encouraging trade along the Silk Road was

A) providing security.
B) building a permanent road.
C) lowering taxes for merchants.
D) building permanent inns for travelers.

Question 20

Which of the following were aspects of the Mongol military forces that were key to their success over their enemies?

A) technological advantages
B) psychological warfare
C) adaptability
D) All the answers are correct.

Question 21

The idea that excessive deference to authority was a cause of ignorance was held by

A) the Parisian professor Siger of Brabant.
B) the Franciscan monk Roger Bacon.
C) the Nestorian scholar Rabban Bar Sauma.
D) the Dominican monk Thomas Aquinas.

Question 22

The Mongols helped the development of the Sultanate of Delhi

A) by directly providing military support to them as a client state.
B) by eliminating potential invaders.
C) by signing treaties that guaranteed trade concessions with the Sultanate.
D) by providing the Sultanate with a law code.

Question 23

How did the Mongols manage and expand trade across the Silk Roads?

Question 24

Why was the North American prairie an inhibiting geographical influence to communication and trade?

A) because of its size and lack of navigable rivers
B) because it is aligned on a north-south axis across climatic zones
C) because Native Americans never developed effective ways of traveling across it
D) because it is too high in altitude and is impassable for much of the year

Question 25

Two key inventions that found their way from China to the West during the twelfth to thirteenth century were

A) the concept of zero and movable type.
B) the magnetic compass and paper.
C) gunpowder and the manufacture of silk.
D) paper money and movable type.

Question 26

What were the reasons/events that kept the Mongols from conquering Europe, Syria and Egypt, India, and Japan?

Question 27

The Mamluk rulers of Egypt during the thirteenth century were mostly

A) originally black African slaves.
B) originally Turkic slaves.
C) originally recruited from the general Egyptian population.
D) originally children taken from Christian subjects.

Question 28

What changes did Temujin bring to Mongol society? How did these changes enhance his control of the steppes and the Mongol ability to expand?

Question 29

In what regions did Latin Christendom expand during the period of the early Mongol expansion?

A) Middle East and Spain
B) Prussia and North Africa
C) Finland and Estonia
D) Britain and Spain

Question 30

What were the methods the Mongols used in order to conquer their empire?

Question 31

How were the Mongols able to hold onto this vast empire and to rule it?

Question 32

Mongol armies did not overrun the Delhi Sultanate during the thirteenth century largely because of

A) defeat in the battle of Herat.
B) a lack of interest in further conquest to the south.
C) respect for the birthplace of Buddhism.
D) internal politics and dissensions.

Question 33

The most important outcomes of the Mongol peace were

A) the establishment of a stable, coherent government across Eurasia.
B) the transfer of goods and technology from East to West.
C) the adoption of Islam.
D) the spread of Western ideas to the East.

Question 34

What were the results for the areas that remained unconquered by the Mongols?

Question 35

The Delhi Sultanate ruler Radiyya first took power chiefly because

A) she wore men's clothes.
B) her father chose her as successor.
C) she proved herself in battle.
D) she killed her brother.

Question 36

The African Sahel probably did NOT become a corridor of communication comparable to the Eurasian steppe because of its

A) poverty.
B) lack of adequate rivers.
C) mountains.
D) richness.

Question 37

The battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 between the Mongols and the Mamluks is significant because

A) it allowed the Mongols to establish their rule in the Middle East.
B) it ended the existence of the crusader states.
C) it limited the Mongol advance to the West.
D) it ended the Mongol advance into Europe.

Question 38

What were the main characteristics of Mongol society before the rise of Temujin to power?

Question 39

Two European inventions that would eventually provide an advantage over the East were in

A) gunpowder and printing.
B) lenses and paper.
C) glass making and clockwork.
D) the stirrup and the magnetic compass.

Question 40

Who was Temujin and how have different peoples (including the Mongols themselves) portrayed him through the ages?

Question 41

How did the Mongols come to play a unique and constructive role in the history of Eurasia?

Question 42

How did the Mongols affect the development of civilization in China, Persia, Russia, and India? What are two specific ways they had an impact in each of these areas?

Question 43

Discuss how inventions and innovations imported to Europe in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries facilitated the expansion of science, building technology, and overseas exploration.

Question 44

Explain how Genghis Khan and the Mongols built an empire that spread from Central Asia to China, Russia, and Asia Minor. Discuss the tactics, technologies, and governance practices that enabled such a dramatic and enduring expansion.

Question 45

How did the creation of the Mongol empire differ from the creation of the Roman or Chinese empires?
In Perspective

Question 46

What was the impact on the Mongols and their empire of regionally-based methods of rule?

Question 47

How did geography hinder the development of the continent-wide empires in Africa and the Americas?

Question 48

What cultural, religious, and scientific changes were happening in Europe during the time of the Mongol Peace?

Question 49

What role did the Mongol Peace play in the development of areas beyond Mongol rule?

Question 50

Did the Mongols, as creators of their empire, benefit the most from it? Why or why not?

Question 51

What were the overall effects that the creation of the Mongol Empire had on the history of Eurasia?

Question 52

How did the Mongol empire allow a transfer of new ideas and inventions across Eurasia? What are two specific examples of such a transfer?

Question 53

In what ways did the Mongols manage their empire across Eurasia? How did they incorporate regional customs and ideas into their systems of government and control?