Ancient History Resources for Homeschool and Personal Study. This weeks topics: Mongols, Huns, Kipchak Peoples and Uyghurs. This week's events occur in Medieval times but without the emphasis on the West/Europe.

Ancient History is studied through the collection of archeological evidence, written records and oral stories or myths. Just because evidence shows a particular belief or custom was common at a particular time does not mean that everyone in that civilization shared that belief. When you study the topics for this week, you can either go deep on one topic for the week and skip the others or you can do a new topic each day. This outline is just a suggested pace, you can go slower or faster as needed. This outline is intended to provide you with a place to start. You will still need to do your own research.

Silver Tree of Karakorum image on the Bank note of Mongolia

Homeschool Topics for Week 28

Mongols

Huns

Kipchak Peoples

Uyghurs

Discussion Questions

Mongols

The Mongols are a confederacy of tribes. They lived in Western China and on the northern steppe. The traditional Mongol family was patriarchal. Each son received a part of the family herd except the youngest who was expected to care for his aging parents until they died. At that time the youngest received his parents tent and some animals. Families were organized into clans. All of the Great Khans from the royal family were of the same clan. Their capital city is Karakorum. The Persians used the word Mughals to refer to the Mongols. Their Mughal leaders were descended from Mongols but distanced themselves from the atrocities committed by their predecessors.

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan was the first Great Khan. His marriage was arranged when he was nine years old and he was delivered to his bride's family. However his father was poisoned by enemies on the way home from this event and Genghis returned home with his new wife to claim his title as heir. His family was rejected by the tribe, but he survived. His first wife was kidnapped. He won her back with the help of a friend who was the Khan of his tribe. However, he and his friend fell out as both wanted to be the great Khan of all the tribes. He is known for unifying the control of the Silk Road which enhanced trade. His conquests were marked by testimonies of total destruction of the cities and all the inhabitants if they would not surrender.

Kulug Khan

Kulug Khan was a Yuan Emperor and the seventh Great Khan. His economy was based on a monopoly in salt but he faced civil unrest when inflation caught up to him after years of unmitigated government spending. He tried to change the currency but his plan was defeated. In a break with tradition, he gave influential government posts to both royals and nonroyals. He died in the fourth year of his reign.

The Silver Tree of Karakorum

The name Karakorum means city of the black castle. A Parisian goldsmith was commissioned to create a metal sculpture of a tree with serpents entwined on it's trunk and silver fruit for the palace courtyard of Karakorum. The tree was a mechanical dispenser of alcoholic beverages. When Ogedei Khan wanted to serve his guests he pushed a lever which made a mechanical angel raise a trumpet to it's lips and open the spout for the drink to be dispensed.

Huns

The Huns are a short-lived civilization from the Eurasian steppe without much archeological evidence. They succeeded in defeating the Goths and raiding the Roman Empire enough times to incite a mass migration. They were a mixed race of people with some Asian and some Iranian members. They were nomadic and lived in tents but after succeeding in plundering the Romans their economy changed to parasitic.

Atilla the Hun

Atilla made an alliance with Valentinian, a West Roman Emperor, in his plans to attack the Visigoths. Valentinian's sister Honora petitioned Atilla to save her from an arranged marriage. Atilla inferred this request as a proposal for marriage. Valentinian did not approve and nearly killed his sister but was convinced to exile her. Atilla disrupted the Frankish kingdom and attacked Italy during a severe drought. When he came back for Honora after his raids, she was in exile and there is no record that he ever married her.

Kipchak Peoples

Kipchak peoples were a confederation of tribes that lived on the Eurasian Steppe. Living in the same general area were the Cumans. So the confederation is sometimes referred to the Kipchak-Cuman confederacy. They were the main target of the Mongol invasion. Some of them fled to King Bela of Hungary for protection in exchange for converting to Christianity. After the Mongolian invasion, King Bela of Hungary invited some Cumans to resettle the steppe with his permission. The Cuman language fell out of use and became lost. Current descendants live in Hungary, Moldova and Ukraine.

Uyghurs

The Uyghurs traditionally inhabited a series of oases in the Taklamakan desert called the Tarim basin. They are Turkik farmers. They were conquered by the Han and Tang dynasties of China. After the death of Genghis Khan, they converted to Islam and ruled the Eurasian steppe.

Tarim Mummies

The Tarim Mummies are the remains of early inhabitants of the Tarim basin. Some have caucasian features and red hair where others have mongoloid features. A notable group of mummies are the women buried in conical black felt hats with a black brim. A mummified man with a recent surgical incision sewn up with horse hair. A woman was found buried with pieces of cheese. A note on the black hats from Wikipedia "Though modern Westerners tend to identify this type of hat as the headgear of a witch, there is evidence that these pointed hats were widely worn by both women and men in some Central Asian tribes. For instance, the Persian king Darius recorded a victory over the "Sakas of the pointed hats".

Resources: