@@Norwegianization Pretty much, when they hear mongol attacking Khwarazm they praise them as King David the descendant of Prester John but when Mongol start attacking Volga they call them magogali
@@tepasaliro8588 Little they knew that Mongolians accidentally took over Ukraine and made the link to Europe. They were in an expedition to scout the area and some Turkish tribes provoked war against Kievien Rus.
opugilist My understanding is that the mongols had already spread themselves way too thin and when Gengis Khan died the grabs for power tore their empire apart which was exasperated by the spread of disease.
"This city is going to rebel against you in the future" "Okay, build a new city right next to it, and move all the people to the new city" What IS this 9000 IQ play right here?
It was his astrologist that suggested the movement of the city. Educate yourself on what all an astrologist learned and had to know at that time. It probably had a lot to do with the Leylines of the old city ( earths energygrid ) the enlightenment to the stars and buildings, which had a lot to do with the energy flow as well as feng shui, the alignment and position of the buildings, etc.. yes, all of this would have an influence on the energy of the people and would determine if they were compliant or rebellious Considering they moved it to the other side of the river. Also do some research on the energy of water, I would up my own IQ before putting down the IQ of others. JS
Ugh the saying ‘educate yourself’ instantly makes you sound like a bag of dicks no matter what is said prior, the guy was joking. Stop taking it so seriously lol
@@Garblegox Not true. Mongolian children were learning how to code from the age of two on the steppe. They were so gifted at it, that they could code on horseback.
Consider how fortunate Polo was that he was given a chance to see the Mongol Empire first hand. Pretty amazing and shows just what type of man Kublai must have been.
@@daveoliver5838 That is logical and I too first thought that was the case. But the more I consider it, the more it would be a waste of time to do all the things Kublai did to protect Polo just if he wanted data. I mean, the Mongols had a very big reputation as the type of society that would take or torture to get what they wanted and there are never any stories about them safeguarding a foreign individual. Literally none. So for them to have done what they did to protect him and allow him into their society, they must have legit liked the guy.
I read Marco Polo's Travels a few years ago. It was a marvelously interesting read, even though it was a bit repetitive at some points especially when going through the lesser cultures and peoples. I can hardly imagine travelling through Asia today, let alone in the distant past. It must have been infinitely enthralling.
Millions comes from the popular name of the branch of Polo is family belong to, which was Milion. Almost if not every branch of relatives has a nickname to distinguish it from other people with the same surnames. This happens in Venice and sorroundings
@@alexandernorman5337 Some of my anthropology classes similar was the crop: rice. I thought it was also that rice is a work intensive crop. I had some personal thoughts on the different cultures too; my understanding Chinese and even Indians bathed more and had access to better medical procedures that actually worked or at least didn't make the problem worse. Addition, the drinking of teas requiring boil water also mitigated deaths due to cholera even though many cholera strains would originate from the tropical areas of Indonesia and make its way to Europe. Some other ideas that could be statistically testable is the numbers of failed pregnancies and maternal deaths in child baring. I'm not sure if there is or isn't any difference in the necessities that would require C-section; in the pre-city building and during ancient civilization that was a death sentence to the mother, and/or to the baby. The grain of rice and other foods might be more abundant and more hearty of crop or more consistent growing seasons, less chances of starvation that leads to poor immunity, higher child morbidity rates, lower fertility rates, and leads to more conflicts of war. All humans pre-industrial especially, have a statistical propensity to multiple as much as biologically possible. So the populations aren't different because of some philosophical retrain on child rearing.
Alexander Norman I think you’re right... in the right climate rice can be harvested twice or three times a year (as opposed to once for wheat). I’d add another factor though... Rivers (The Indus & Ganges in 🇮🇳 and Yellow & Yangtze in 🇨🇳) depositing large amounts of nutrients needed in the soil. In contrast, Only one river in Europe is within the top 40 rivers by water volume (the Volga...and that is in a far less hospitable climate).
I could really do with learning more about the Mongols, particularly with how big an impact they had on this time period. Another fascinating video guys! Stay well out there everybody, and Jesus Christ be with you friends.😊
I used to regard History as merely collection of stories. But when I see videos like this and hear of the way people lived and the principles that ran their society then (1:43- 1:56), it's mind-blowing to see how those values have been overtaken by others in these modern times. Back then, even in times of hardship and scarcity, common man took it in stride and went out in search of food/ work and subsisted on what was available. He was too proud to accept charity, it was serious injury to personal pride. Contrast that with the times of today. Personal pride is everywhere and stronger than ever before, but in modern times, it is injured by hardships and scarcity, never by charity.
Conn Iggulden's book series about the mongols is my all time favourite. The Conqueror. Excellent research and excellent writing. It's a must if you're into this.
What did Marco Polo think of the Mongol invasions of Japan? Did Marco Polo ever visit Japan? I am playing Ghost of Tsushima now. That's why I want to know. Very fun game.
When you hear so many accounts, they all sound similar... and definitely not in a bad way! Each writer approaches their subjects with inquire and wonder. To each other they were hole other beings, when in truth, past the barrier of language they are the same with just as many questions and thoughts.
3:29 Your cat is not impressed by your website... XD You are a very talented story teller, my frend, your voice is soothing and kind, making the listener more interested in the story. The music also gently accompanies your tales to soothe and caress the listener. The stories of Marco Polo are indeed fascinating and i hope to acquire that book one day. TY for making this beautiful and calm content.
Should take a look at Fernão Mendes Pinto. He has some interesting descriptions of Southeast Asia, China and Japan. Bit of a scoundrel, enslaved a couple of times, a cheeky fellow to be sure. It's not a very 'accurate' guy per se, but even so some consider him the best European source for XVI century Asia.
I love your videos i have always loved the idea of of all the lives that have been lived before us. Real people and their lives thankyou brother for your work. God bless you
Where did the wood for arrows come from ? Did they return to the battlefield to retrieve them? The steppes are largely treeless, aren't they ? Thank you for your time and effort on our behalf. Pat. America
Answering to a very old comment but perhaps others have the same impression. Its not in fact accurate, or not wholly accurate shall we say. Mongols were interested in empire building, not merely pillaging and looting and so it was not in their interest to burn every blade of grass and to slaughter all the people who crossed their path. They viewed cities and towns as valuable economic assets and often improved upon their previous administration with a much fairer and efficient one of their own. This way the population quickly accepted their rule and were less unwilling to pay their taxes which as I just said, in many case,s were fairer and less onerous than those imposed by whomever ruled them before. However it served the Mongols well to promote an image of themselves as merciless and unstoppable. Kublai Khan's top two Ambassadors each carried a bronze disk on which were engraved the following words. "I am the Emissary of the Khan. If you defy me you die." Its called the world's first diplomatic passport. :) Such was the terror they struck in mens' hearts that cities and towns would surrender at the very news that the Mongol Army had turned and looked in their direction. So a large proportion of Mongol expansion was achieved with very little actual bloodshed. Of course to maintain this image they did occasionally raze a city or town so "no stone was left standing upon another" and kill all its inhabitants whether 2 legged or 4. But usually only after that city had defied or shown disrespect. Of course the demonisation of the Mongol also served their enemy's PR just as well. Easier to raise an army or centralise and concentrate political power by creating and amplifying the spectre of a boogyman, an intractable,barbaric, godless and souless enemy. And that's the message we, who mainly have read only western histories, continue to receive. You might notice that its a political strategy that is as much in use today as it was 900 years ago.
Food for 30 000, while the population of China(nota bene, only China, not the whole Mongol Empire) at the time was 70 million....Oh yeah, I can see the "resemblance".
Just imagine hearing an outsider power, nomads living in tents and animals skins, were able to conquer, the vast empires of the East and then, the very same power, attacks your European village
@@jykalmames829 I think there are many reasons: 1. Some mongols were already too far from the center of their world. 2. mongols always counted to about just over a million people, there were too few of them. 3. The Ogodei Khan died, there were politicks to vote for the new khan, that continued for 5 years straight, delaying conquests of Europe, Muslim states. 4. The time went on. The ever expanding mongols were already losing their cohesiveness. Now those mongols were the grandchildren or even grand-grand children of the mongols that fought with Chinggis Khan that experienced the civil wars, the unification, the real steppe warriors. The unity that the mongols had already withered, the civil wars that would span for centuries were about to come. I think if Ogodei Khan lived for 15-30 more years, there would have been a real chance to conquest whole Europe and Asia bar some desolate countries. Just imagine Eurasia, not just a continent, but a one big country.
Another outstanding vocal performance paired with strong sense of place images, music, and video clips. Everything else feels overproduced by comparison, especially those horrid personal view documentaries where the face of the host never leaves the frame. A notable exception was John Romer's docs in the '80s but I digress. Oddly we still get Marco Polo docs, as if the authenticity of his extraordinary journey must be proven afresh to each generation 😂 🤣
@10:48 Sorry, am I interpreting this correctly? Rather than metal coinage they, in all Mongol-controlled provinces/territories during this particular time, used standardized sheets of paper from mulberry tree bark as currency?
@@zoarduskhan2339 Thanks. That's really interesting. On one hand I think it's very cool to use the medium of literacy, paper, as something of inherent worth, and on the other hand I can't help but wonder how quickly the paper currency would decay, being relatively more degradable compared to metal coins.
@Abraham Girt In that sentence I was using one of the definitions of medium (noun): "one of the means or channels of general communication". Or: "a substance regarded as the means of transmission" Paper is one "medium" of literacy. Another "medium" could be a wax tablet or parchment.
@@CeramicShot well in all fairness that wasn't the biggest problem, the Yuan Dynasty starting with Kublai printed way too many notes way too quickly without any monetary backing e.g. silver standard. The previous dynasty called Song used it somewhat better as they always had their silver to go back to.
@@zoarduskhan2339 Oh, for sure! I was kind of just surprised that paper money was that old (beyond just promissory notes or whatever). I was wondering about the dimensions of the sheets, trying to imagine how they were stored, whether they'd be especially vulnerable to moisture compared to modern bills and so on.
Marco Polo.... He would have simply been a freak, to Mongols, that they would have kept for amusement, at first! but he did something more, he survived, among one of the hardest, harshest cultures ever developed on Earth, unique he was? Khan used him, to show other cultures, what? How strangely accepting he could bring! Mongols were about capitulation, more than conquering!
No dentists, mouth wash, etc. back then, but lots of malnutrition. And the second thing that happens if you're malnourished is your teeth and gums begin to rot and smell.
Can someone explain to me why he refers to the Mongolians as Tartars? The Horde must have swept through that region of the Tartars but surely it was established that the Khans hailed from further east?
Funny, because they rode mares. Which made encountering european knights interesting since knights believed stallions to be superior. And a certain percentage of mares are always in heat, so...
I find it interesting how Marco described them as Tatars, when we now know that Tatars are more Turkic as opposed to being their own people. This was probably due to their heavy usage of horseback and nomadic lifestyle. It's like how the Romans called all outsiders barbarians.
@Joe Becker but at the beginning there was a mongol tribe with the name tatar however they arent the ones you often hear the name became associated with those turks who inhabited the black sea region
@Joe Becker Some are but a minority the majority of us turkic tatars are kipchaks and related to the old bulgars/volga bulgars who were also turks from the onoghurs not slavic like modern day bulgars there are unfortunately many naming misconceptions like this, one example the 'mughals' carried a turkic identity and called themselves kuregens or gurkanis meaning related to genghis khan but mogul(mughal) was used as a sobriquete for them by persians so today they are known as mughals which means mongols the founder of the empire also called himself a turk in his diary baburnama same with avars the caucasian avars arent the same as the pannonian turkic avars our history is confusing 🙈
Europeans themselves are partly from the Eurasian steppes. They have ancestors from the Yamnaya peoples. Also the Proto Indo European god is very similar to the god of Tegrism... Funny how little the world actually is
Watcher the oldest religion in the world is the religion of the Egyptians and Sumerian’s so what the hell are you talking about? And the religion of the proto indo Europeans was similar to Zoroastrianism.
@@ChromeMan04 no Zoroastrianism is based on Proto Indo European religion and no oldest religious writings doesn't mean Egyptian religion was the oldest and yes Tegrism is very similar to Proto Indo European religion it's a scientific fact do some research
Yep, in fact, modern-day European languages are believed to have come from the steppes, known as Indo-Europeans. Their language would be the ancient root for most European languages, Iranian languages, and North Indian languages. They were among the first on the steppes to tame horses. In fact, all horses in the world, from Mongolia to Brazil to America, are related, descendants of the horses tamed by those nomads. They migrated and settled in modern-day Ukraine and Russia. The only European languages that are not descendants of them are Basque and the Uralic languages like Hungarian, Estonian, and Finnish, etc. They spread the Indo-European languages to the far east, such as the Tocharians who settled in the Tarim Basin. They slowly disappeared, being absorbed by other peoples like the Uyghurs, Chinese, and others, especially the Uyghurs, who were expelled from Mongolia by the Kyrgyz.
I have a feeling this was a boast of sorts. Note he says this is something they could do, should they need to. I imagine it's something people would say about them, either out of pride or fear of the Mongolian forces.
Considering they were eating a low-carb, practically carnivore, diet. It's not strange: they were permanently in ketosis. The longer treks were outright fasting, and the horse blood must have worked as an electrolyte supplementation. If they drank the blood exclusively, they wouldn't have peed out the essential nutrients, and been able not to suffer the worse effects of starvation. This is how ancient man ate, before inventing gay carb, how make you feel? Carb make you gay and fat, mongol ride on horse, steal woman!!
Plenty of Europeans knew about the Eastern regions and the Mongol empire long before Marco Polo. The only people who didn't believe him were the common people who were fooled then just like they are today. They didn't believe him because the merchants maintained a campaign of misinformation to discredit any information that would reveal their trade secrets. Venice and Genoa was in contact with mongol merchants long before Marco Polo. They had colonies on the Black sea. Even in this passage the narrator mentions that there were already different sectors of lodging, including Lombards and Germans when Marco Polo arrived in the capital city. There was plenty of contact between EU and the Mongols long before Marco Polo. However, anyone who tried to share that information with the uninitiated would be punished harshly.
That is a really cool part of the story. Its interesting to see how many of the small kingdoms in India remained independent from the Mongols and how varied the cultures were
No wonder why people thought that he's lying. The society he describes here is completely alien to Medieval Europe.
medieval europe was also nasty on its own way.
@@Norwegianization Pretty much, when they hear mongol attacking Khwarazm they praise them as King David the descendant of Prester John but when Mongol start attacking Volga they call them magogali
@@tepasaliro8588 Little they knew that Mongolians accidentally took over Ukraine and made the link to Europe. They were in an expedition to scout the area and some Turkish tribes provoked war against Kievien Rus.
@opugilist did they....?
opugilist My understanding is that the mongols had already spread themselves way too thin and when Gengis Khan died the grabs for power tore their empire apart which was exasperated by the spread of disease.
"This city is going to rebel against you in the future"
"Okay, build a new city right next to it, and move all the people to the new city"
What IS this 9000 IQ play right here?
Out of sight, out of mind
Genius level knowledge.
Mmmm. To show that he can
It was his astrologist that suggested the movement of the city. Educate yourself on what all an astrologist learned and had to know at that time. It probably had a lot to do with the Leylines of the old city ( earths energygrid ) the enlightenment to the stars and buildings, which had a lot to do with the energy flow as well as feng shui, the alignment and position of the buildings, etc.. yes, all of this would have an influence on the energy of the people and would determine if they were compliant or rebellious Considering they moved it to the other side of the river. Also do some research on the energy of water, I would up my own IQ before putting down the IQ of others. JS
Ugh the saying ‘educate yourself’ instantly makes you sound like a bag of dicks no matter what is said prior, the guy was joking. Stop taking it so seriously lol
The Mongols had a free trial of Square Space that helped them to expand their prtesence
They didn't even need to know how to code.
@@Garblegox Not true. Mongolian children were learning how to code from the age of two on the steppe. They were so gifted at it, that they could code on horseback.
The Mongol Empire wouldn't have collapsed if Temujin had installed NORD VPN!
Huh???
@@analogalbacore7166 way over ur head dweeb
@6:40 That has to be the most polite way of calling someone fat that I've ever heard.
Lmao
Timothy Dexter very cool. Explains the terms becoming (young/strong) and shapely.
Until very recently, fat was a sign of wealth and universally respected as such.
@Timothy Dexter ahh so like power lifters they just look like a jacked thumb of a person
@@rokkfel4999 Look at how modern Mongolian wrestlers look. They are strong.
Consider how fortunate Polo was that he was given a chance to see the Mongol Empire first hand. Pretty amazing and shows just what type of man Kublai must have been.
Kublai probably wanted info on which European countries were worth invading and looting ?
@@daveoliver5838 That is logical and I too first thought that was the case. But the more I consider it, the more it would be a waste of time to do all the things Kublai did to protect Polo just if he wanted data. I mean, the Mongols had a very big reputation as the type of society that would take or torture to get what they wanted and there are never any stories about them safeguarding a foreign individual. Literally none. So for them to have done what they did to protect him and allow him into their society, they must have legit liked the guy.
Egyptian description of the Minoans
Great suggestion.
@Joe Blow they have illustrations of the trade they made with each other
@Timothy Dexter and Why's that?
"Hot and gay"
Omg yes!!! I want to see that
People say it's good to be the King. I say, it's better to be the Khan.
im mongolian and Khan means literally means king haha
@@dakreakeskiez7447I literally have it in my name.
@@dakreakeskiez7447i guess us non mongolians perceive the word “khan” as say, “lord of the steppe”.
I read Marco Polo's Travels a few years ago. It was a marvelously interesting read, even though it was a bit repetitive at some points especially when going through the lesser cultures and peoples. I can hardly imagine travelling through Asia today, let alone in the distant past. It must have been infinitely enthralling.
where did you read his travels? I want to read it
@@quincy189you can find copies in some bookstores. Online libraries have it too. There's good translations
@@quincy189 "Il milione" is the Italian title of the book that can be translated with the word "the million"
I feel proud when I do my own research and manage to find some of the same images/maps he uses in the videos.
I usually find them on pinterest. But pinterest has become very repetitive and I dont think it's where I should be looking.
“Marco the Millions” was was the mocking he received.Europeans could not comprehend the numbers so he must be exaggerating or lying.
@sneksnekitsasnek which account?
Millions comes from the popular name of the branch of Polo is family belong to, which was Milion.
Almost if not every branch of relatives has a nickname to distinguish it from other people with the same surnames. This happens in Venice and sorroundings
@@htoodoh5770 Romans often did
People more than europeans specially
Europeans: Millions? Preposterous, I say!
Chinese: TRUST US IT’S NOT
Because of rice. Very high yield per acre in comparison to most other crops. India's population was nearly as large for the same reason.
@@alexandernorman5337 Some of my anthropology classes similar was the crop: rice. I thought it was also that rice is a work intensive crop.
I had some personal thoughts on the different cultures too; my understanding Chinese and even Indians bathed more and had access to better medical procedures that actually worked or at least didn't make the problem worse.
Addition, the drinking of teas requiring boil water also mitigated deaths due to cholera even though many cholera strains would originate from the tropical areas of Indonesia and make its way to Europe.
Some other ideas that could be statistically testable is the numbers of failed pregnancies and maternal deaths in child baring. I'm not sure if there is or isn't any difference in the necessities that would require C-section; in the pre-city building and during ancient civilization that was a death sentence to the mother, and/or to the baby.
The grain of rice and other foods might be more abundant and more hearty of crop or more consistent growing seasons, less chances of starvation that leads to poor immunity, higher child morbidity rates, lower fertility rates, and leads to more conflicts of war.
All humans pre-industrial especially, have a statistical propensity to multiple as much as biologically possible. So the populations aren't different because of some philosophical retrain on child rearing.
Alexander Norman I think you’re right... in the right climate rice can be harvested twice or three times a year (as opposed to once for wheat). I’d add another factor though... Rivers (The Indus & Ganges in 🇮🇳 and Yellow & Yangtze in 🇨🇳) depositing large amounts of nutrients needed in the soil. In contrast, Only one river in Europe is within the top 40 rivers by water volume (the Volga...and that is in a far less hospitable climate).
I remember asking for this awhile back. It was a long time, and I appreciate it.
10:34 Is he talking about prostitutes? 10:41 Yeaaaaah, he's probably talking about prostitutes.
"public women"
Gives "she belongs to the streets" a new meaning 😂
I find it fascinating that both dead people and prostitutes were banished from the city....
Last time I was this early the Xiangnu still populated the steppes.
* Xiongnu or Xianbei.
De Alvarado weren’t the yamyna from the Pontic steppes?
@@-haclong2366 Привет и Скажи мне Был Крестовый поход на Монголию🇲🇳⚔🇵🇹🇨🇳
You should do a video on Friar William Rubruck's description of the Mongol Empire.
Seconded! The Russian Novgorod Chronicle also has a section on the Mongols from when they were attacked by Batu Khan.
I could really do with learning more about the Mongols, particularly with how big an impact they had on this time period. Another fascinating video guys!
Stay well out there everybody, and Jesus Christ be with you friends.😊
This and his swimming pool game were his greatest contributions to history.
Absolutely fascinating and astounding. To think that an hour ago I had no idea such writings existed. Please upload more.
But the question remains:
"Do the dog headed men have souls?"
I used to regard History as merely collection of stories. But when I see videos like this and hear of the way people lived and the principles that ran their society then (1:43- 1:56), it's mind-blowing to see how those values have been overtaken by others in these modern times. Back then, even in times of hardship and scarcity, common man took it in stride and went out in search of food/ work and subsisted on what was available. He was too proud to accept charity, it was serious injury to personal pride.
Contrast that with the times of today. Personal pride is everywhere and stronger than ever before, but in modern times, it is injured by hardships and scarcity, never by charity.
Beautiful thought :)
Modern Mongolians in the countryside are still exceptionally hardy people--as tough as how they were during Chinggis Khaan' time.
Such great work you do on this channel. Always well researched and well spoken. We must Not forget or erase history so that we never repeat it!
10:34 - "Public woman".
Nice way of putting it.
Or a prostitute. Damn! This conception of associating any woman who engages in public life as a whore still lingers on
@Alma shatri Not necessarily if you ask me.
“...And tis wonderful what a vast number of these there are, for the foreigners.”
-Marco Polo, a foreigner
@@almasdancing No? You can get in trouble with TH-cam.
Conn Iggulden's book series about the mongols is my all time favourite. The Conqueror. Excellent research and excellent writing. It's a must if you're into this.
What did Marco Polo think of the Mongol invasions of Japan? Did Marco Polo ever visit Japan? I am playing Ghost of Tsushima now. That's why I want to know. Very fun game.
Next week: Marco Polo on The Mongol Invasion of Japan, not even kidding.
Voices of the Past really interesting to hear what the mongols would say to him after their defeats! Maybe they told him they won!
@@VoicesofthePast this is how you play with the YT algorithm :)
@@VoicesofthePast Can't wait
@Ninja Crackpot tru tru
When you hear so many accounts, they all sound similar... and definitely not in a bad way! Each writer approaches their subjects with inquire and wonder. To each other they were hole other beings, when in truth, past the barrier of language they are the same with just as many questions and thoughts.
Thanks!
*Mongolian Throat Singing intensifies*
A Video about scythians would be cool
Yes ,please !!!!
The Scythians were a large part of The "Lost" 10 Tribes of Israel.
@@ManyThingsSeem nope. Scythians were Iranics.
@@ia285 nope... you only say so because of language but dig a little deeper
@@ManyThingsSeem Ukrainian steppe tribes perhaps.
3:29 Your cat is not impressed by your website... XD
You are a very talented story teller, my frend, your voice is soothing and kind, making the listener more interested in the story. The music also gently accompanies your tales to soothe and caress the listener.
The stories of Marco Polo are indeed fascinating and i hope to acquire that book one day.
TY for making this beautiful and calm content.
Should take a look at Fernão Mendes Pinto. He has some interesting descriptions of Southeast Asia, China and Japan. Bit of a scoundrel, enslaved a couple of times, a cheeky fellow to be sure. It's not a very 'accurate' guy per se, but even so some consider him the best European source for XVI century Asia.
I love your videos i have always loved the idea of of all the lives that have been lived before us. Real people and their lives thankyou brother for your work. God bless you
I can see the asian waifu dates back a very long time
Apparently so, they expected nothing less than unquestioned loyalty, trust, and devotion.
Stereotypes come from somewhere
You should watch the Netflix series lol
@@noticemesenpai69 facts
@Kite
Marco Polo
If you can could you please do Constantine XI final speech during the siege of Constantinople. It’s an amazing speech
The rats he is talking about are marmots..
also known as groundhogs. They carry plague.
@@pyrovania in Mongolian land there is no rat, except the ones that are exported from abroad
Nooo not timon
@@wikipediaintellectual7088 no timon is a meercat lol
Marco Möngke
Whatever nerd
This was a great and informative video. Great job.
William of Rubruck is another great European source on the Mongols.
He and Giovanni del Carpine. Excellent spies.
Conn Igulden does a great series on Gengis the first book is called Wolf of the plains, very highly recommended.
Fantastic. His series on Caesar and Rome was great too
Where did the wood for arrows come from ? Did they return to the battlefield to retrieve them? The steppes are largely treeless, aren't they ? Thank you for your time and effort on our behalf. Pat. America
There was wood enough in the great forested mountains east of the steppes.
I like to think that the French who visited the Mongol cities complained about the quality of the food and wine.
Great video. Mongols were amazingly efficient yet militarily inhumane group of people. Puzzling in historical analysis.
Why puzzling?
@@MuhammadHamza-ou6zq because they killed so many people in the villages and city's they came across despite the tech and culture achievements.
Answering to a very old comment but perhaps others have the same impression. Its not in fact accurate, or not wholly accurate shall we say.
Mongols were interested in empire building, not merely pillaging and looting and so it was not in their interest to burn every blade of grass and to slaughter all the people who crossed their path. They viewed cities and towns as valuable economic assets and often improved upon their previous administration with a much fairer and efficient one of their own. This way the population quickly accepted their rule and were less unwilling to pay their taxes which as I just said, in many case,s were fairer and less onerous than those imposed by whomever ruled them before.
However it served the Mongols well to promote an image of themselves as merciless and unstoppable. Kublai Khan's top two Ambassadors each carried a bronze disk on which were engraved the following words. "I am the Emissary of the Khan. If you defy me you die." Its called the world's first diplomatic passport. :) Such was the terror they struck in mens' hearts that cities and towns would surrender at the very news that the Mongol Army had turned and looked in their direction. So a large proportion of Mongol expansion was achieved with very little actual bloodshed. Of course to maintain this image they did occasionally raze a city or town so "no stone was left standing upon another" and kill all its inhabitants whether 2 legged or 4. But usually only after that city had defied or shown disrespect.
Of course the demonisation of the Mongol also served their enemy's PR just as well. Easier to raise an army or centralise and concentrate political power by creating and amplifying the spectre of a boogyman, an intractable,barbaric, godless and souless enemy. And that's the message we, who mainly have read only western histories, continue to receive. You might notice that its a political strategy that is as much in use today as it was 900 years ago.
@@PolishBehemoth so did Romans Greeks and every other EuropeAn dictator
Great video!
Just found your channel tremendous 👌🎩
Can you do Pizarro's description of the Incas
cool video, keep them up
Man your videos are so dope 🔥🙏
10:40 now we know marco polo enjoyed a good public lady hahah
What a chad
He was italian....scratch that... he was Venetian... of course he was slaying that puss
@@user-zy9yg2eu5t ...As I recall, once he left the Mongo's it is said he went home to Naples, which is in Italy last I heard.
No one is immune to the good/easy life....
We humans are victims of our own success.
Netflix, please bring the show back.
The show is creepy, ahistorical andjust badly acted. Please NEtflix, sink this trash to the bottom of the sea.
That was not a very good show
Creepy?
Despise it’s historical inaccuracies I think the show was quite great and entertaining
I thought Benedict Wong made a great Kublai Khan but honestly the show sucked.
very good info
Kublai doing UBI before it was cool
Food for 30 000, while the population of China(nota bene, only China, not the whole Mongol Empire) at the time was 70 million....Oh yeah, I can see the "resemblance".
I love his description of Kubla
Do the Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV.
I know what you are thinking about, it's not real.
some argue that its actually fake and made up for propaganda purposes, but i could be wrong
Has anyone seen the documentary called Genghis Blues? its very strange, but awesome and worth a watch.
Marco Polo had a major crush on Kublai based on that letter
Just imagine hearing an outsider power, nomads living in tents and animals skins, were able to conquer, the vast empires of the East and then, the very same power, attacks your European village
Well, you just heard it. Extreme survival advantages and cohesive, well trained society.
Plamen Stoev I believe it was the death of a khan that caused the invasions to stop, right?
@@jykalmames829 I think there are many reasons: 1. Some mongols were already too far from the center of their world. 2. mongols always counted to about just over a million people, there were too few of them. 3. The Ogodei Khan died, there were politicks to vote for the new khan, that continued for 5 years straight, delaying conquests of Europe, Muslim states. 4. The time went on. The ever expanding mongols were already losing their cohesiveness. Now those mongols were the grandchildren or even grand-grand children of the mongols that fought with Chinggis Khan that experienced the civil wars, the unification, the real steppe warriors. The unity that the mongols had already withered, the civil wars that would span for centuries were about to come. I think if Ogodei Khan lived for 15-30 more years, there would have been a real chance to conquest whole Europe and Asia bar some desolate countries. Just imagine Eurasia, not just a continent, but a one big country.
Another outstanding vocal performance paired with strong sense of place images, music, and video clips. Everything else feels overproduced by comparison, especially those horrid personal view documentaries where the face of the host never leaves the frame. A notable exception was John Romer's docs in the '80s but I digress. Oddly we still get Marco Polo docs, as if the authenticity of his extraordinary journey must be proven afresh to each generation 😂 🤣
God I wish there was a season 3.
This is so interesting
I love the story of Marco Polo
I CAN'T imagine how fine his concubine with such a strict selection... Even with their breath
@10:48 Sorry, am I interpreting this correctly? Rather than metal coinage they, in all Mongol-controlled provinces/territories during this particular time, used standardized sheets of paper from mulberry tree bark as currency?
Yes, in Kublai Khan's time they issued a standardised paper currency called "Chao".
@@zoarduskhan2339 Thanks. That's really interesting. On one hand I think it's very cool to use the medium of literacy, paper, as something of inherent worth, and on the other hand I can't help but wonder how quickly the paper currency would decay, being relatively more degradable compared to metal coins.
@Abraham Girt In that sentence I was using one of the definitions of medium (noun): "one of the means or channels of general communication".
Or: "a substance regarded as the means of transmission"
Paper is one "medium" of literacy. Another "medium" could be a wax tablet or parchment.
@@CeramicShot well in all fairness that wasn't the biggest problem, the Yuan Dynasty starting with Kublai printed way too many notes way too quickly without any monetary backing e.g. silver standard. The previous dynasty called Song used it somewhat better as they always had their silver to go back to.
@@zoarduskhan2339 Oh, for sure! I was kind of just surprised that paper money was that old (beyond just promissory notes or whatever). I was wondering about the dimensions of the sheets, trying to imagine how they were stored, whether they'd be especially vulnerable to moisture compared to modern bills and so on.
Please do a medieval account of the black plague
I never knew Tartars and Mongols were the same.
Tartar are one of the many tribes of the mogol nation they are known more then the other tribes because of The khan
That's cause Europeans thought the Mongols were demons from Tartarus.
Marco Polo....
He would have simply been a freak, to Mongols, that they would have kept for amusement, at first! but he did something more, he survived, among one of the hardest, harshest cultures ever developed on Earth, unique he was? Khan used him, to show other cultures, what?
How strangely accepting he could bring! Mongols were about capitulation, more than conquering!
I Wonder what the mongols considered sweet breath
it's probably nothing more than breath that doesn't gas people
I would think garlic breath.
No dentists, mouth wash, etc. back then, but lots of malnutrition. And the second thing that happens if you're malnourished is your teeth and gums begin to rot and smell.
I'd say not the rotting cadaver breath some people with ill teeth have.
In the context read in the clip, i think it smells like fish.
'I did not tell half of what i saw for i knew i would not be believed'
Thanks Marco for the Tatar Sauce!
*Tartar
4:28
-It's 6 PM, time for your daily bleeding to feed me.
-Yes honey.
He weeded out the snorers, what a pimp.
Please do going on DeSoto we travel through Alabama where he met Chief Tuscaloosa...He was a giant Indian! And De Soto Betrayed Him.
Transylvania has got nothing on the original vampires, THAT was metal (iron, more specifically).
Can someone explain to me why he refers to the Mongolians as Tartars? The Horde must have swept through that region of the Tartars but surely it was established that the Khans hailed from further east?
The one dislike is a mare.
Funny, because they rode mares. Which made encountering european knights interesting since knights believed stallions to be superior. And a certain percentage of mares are always in heat, so...
Or a *public woman*. o.o
@Johnny Bravo a female horse.
I expect that not only were they passing fair in battle that they individually and at some unrecorded moment were passing water as well.
I had no idea The Mongols invented 'decimalisation'! 😮
Popularised
HUZZAH i have come!
bro the intro has an absolutely awesome music
god damn it let me read the other comments youtube...
I find it interesting how Marco described them as Tatars, when we now know that Tatars are more Turkic as opposed to being their own people. This was probably due to their heavy usage of horseback and nomadic lifestyle.
It's like how the Romans called all outsiders barbarians.
@Joe Becker Tatars are kipchak turks they speak tatar Turkic and Golden Horde was also called Kipchak Khanate
@Joe Becker but at the beginning there was a mongol tribe with the name tatar however they arent the ones you often hear the name became associated with those turks who inhabited the black sea region
I think it might have been a conglomeration of Many Peoples before it was reset.....By death none the less...
@Joe Becker Some are but a minority the majority of us turkic tatars are kipchaks and related to the old bulgars/volga bulgars who were also turks from the onoghurs not slavic like modern day bulgars there are unfortunately many naming misconceptions like this, one example the 'mughals' carried a turkic identity and called themselves kuregens or gurkanis meaning related to genghis khan but mogul(mughal) was used as a sobriquete for them by persians so today they are known as mughals which means mongols the founder of the empire also called himself a turk in his diary baburnama same with avars the caucasian avars arent the same as the pannonian turkic avars our history is confusing 🙈
for mediaval european Tartar=Mongol.
First Western account of Siam
yeah i can assure you I said that!
🇵🇹⚔🇲🇳
How did they manage to carry enough arrows?
Europeans themselves are partly from the Eurasian steppes. They have ancestors from the Yamnaya peoples. Also the Proto Indo European god is very similar to the god of Tegrism... Funny how little the world actually is
Indo European religon was not similar to shamanism
@@ChromeMan04 yes it was
tim van der velde no it wasn’t
Watcher the oldest religion in the world is the religion of the Egyptians and Sumerian’s so what the hell are you talking about? And the religion of the proto indo Europeans was similar to Zoroastrianism.
@@ChromeMan04 no Zoroastrianism is based on Proto Indo European religion and no oldest religious writings doesn't mean Egyptian religion was the oldest and yes Tegrism is very similar to Proto Indo European religion it's a scientific fact do some research
Polo not only Westerner see Mongols. Plus nomads been in contact with Europe long time
Yep, in fact, modern-day European languages are believed to have come from the steppes, known as Indo-Europeans. Their language would be the ancient root for most European languages, Iranian languages, and North Indian languages. They were among the first on the steppes to tame horses. In fact, all horses in the world, from Mongolia to Brazil to America, are related, descendants of the horses tamed by those nomads. They migrated and settled in modern-day Ukraine and Russia. The only European languages that are not descendants of them are Basque and the Uralic languages like Hungarian, Estonian, and Finnish, etc. They spread the Indo-European languages to the far east, such as the Tocharians who settled in the Tarim Basin. They slowly disappeared, being absorbed by other peoples like the Uyghurs, Chinese, and others, especially the Uyghurs, who were expelled from Mongolia by the Kyrgyz.
In can see why Mongols were so good at concoring and winning battles. Riding non stop for 10 days and drinking fresh horse blood 🙁🙁
I have a feeling this was a boast of sorts. Note he says this is something they could do, should they need to. I imagine it's something people would say about them, either out of pride or fear of the Mongolian forces.
Considering they were eating a low-carb, practically carnivore, diet. It's not strange: they were permanently in ketosis.
The longer treks were outright fasting, and the horse blood must have worked as an electrolyte supplementation. If they drank the blood exclusively, they wouldn't have peed out the essential nutrients, and been able not to suffer the worse effects of starvation.
This is how ancient man ate, before inventing gay carb, how make you feel? Carb make you gay and fat, mongol ride on horse, steal woman!!
Plenty of Europeans knew about the Eastern regions and the Mongol empire long before Marco Polo. The only people who didn't believe him were the common people who were fooled then just like they are today. They didn't believe him because the merchants maintained a campaign of misinformation to discredit any information that would reveal their trade secrets. Venice and Genoa was in contact with mongol merchants long before Marco Polo. They had colonies on the Black sea. Even in this passage the narrator mentions that there were already different sectors of lodging, including Lombards and Germans when Marco Polo arrived in the capital city. There was plenty of contact between EU and the Mongols long before Marco Polo. However, anyone who tried to share that information with the uninitiated would be punished harshly.
why?
Marco Polo's words paint pictures
Plz do accounts on Marco polo visit to India. Its a rarity.
That is a really cool part of the story. Its interesting to see how many of the small kingdoms in India remained independent from the Mongols and how varied the cultures were
Good old days
I wish I was born during the time.. I so wanna know what khutulun looked like
Tata sounds incredibly menacing. :D
Is that music from Zelda at 10.39?
4:49 "... medley [sic] ..." -- no singing is involved; "melee".
As an anatolian türkmen mongolian culture is very familiar to me
Marco Polo: They were the exception
I began to ask myself how does one arrive at having such power to bestow such charity and command such ahderence to their currency ...
They went to the levant/israel ?
ohh so thats actually you at 3:17 and you pay that guy to lip sync to your voice so youtube doesnt catch on that you are not human. Very Clever
i wonder if mnongols were terribly constipated or if the bacteria in the yogurt was a good enough pro-biotic to prevent that
if u eat lactose long enough you obviously get used to it. and the mongols and turks have been doing so since before they were mongols and turks...
Please put the sponsored message in the beginning or end.
Please become a Patron.
Don’t be silly, most people will click away if in beginning or skip it if in the end. It costs money to make these videos.
Its good to be the Khan.
"He has a becoming amount of flesh."
Okay, weirdo.
That's just a nice way of saying Kublai was a lardass
Boi was T H I C C
He wanted to raid those cheeks
@@JDHJDH1 no shit
@@JDHJDH1 lmaoo
Its about time you finish the Marco Polo series