Which country once had the largest contiguous empire in history?
We’ve all heard of the Roman Empire - apparently, men think about it more often than we thought. And some of us have heard of other empires like the Spanish, French, British, and Russian. Even some less obvious ones like the Mayan, Persian, and Incan. But there’s one empire that was once the largest contiguous empire in history, putting all others to shame.
Welcome to Not Trivial! A podcast that takes a deeper dive into the stories behind the trivia questions you may or may not have heard at the pub. My name is Liz, and I’ve been a trivia nerd since I was young. My parents and I would play Trivial Pursuit very often. I’ve hosted and played pub trivia, and I’m a collector of random history, language, and world culture facts. One of my greatest passions is sharing what I’ve collected with others. I’m hopeful this podcast makes the trivia questions feel less trivial, and more important to understanding how the past creates the present, and subsequently the future. Let’s get started…
Today, we’re not going so far back into history as the Roman Empire. Which was pretty big, stretching from Spain in the west, to England in the north, to Egypt in the southeast. And yes, the Roman Empire is clearly one of the most important empires - it shaped modern Europe in a multitude of ways: culturally, religiously, and logistically. But that’s ancient history. Literally. No, today’s empire was much larger than the Romans’. And it needed to evolve after some of the other ancient empire games had already been played out.
The largest contiguous empire in history is the Mongol Empire. By landmass alone it cannot be beat. And we’ll find out how they managed to accomplish this as we go today. But let’s break down what an empire is first. Because this is not a current thing we live with. It’s evolved into something very different due to the geopolitical nature of our current world. Empires sound like something of the distant past, but it shouldn’t. OK, we’re maybe not experiencing the rampant growth of a singular entity across thousands of miles - as was experienced under the Mongol, Roman, or Persian empires, for example.
This is the old version of empire that we’re talking about today. An extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority. When you think about empire of old, you think of a capital city like Rome or Constantinople or St Petersburg and the broad expanse of the empire’s lands that regard the emperor as its ruler. Think of the British Empire. Clearly London was the central hub, but colonies in America, India, Africa, and Polynesia all paid tribute to the king or queen/emperor or empress. King Charles’ grandfather, George VI, was the last British emperor.
Empires have historically risen and fallen due to a variety of factors. If a population grows exponentially and there’s an increasing demand on resources, a leader may initiate campaigns to overtake nearby resources. In order to maintain a population. If an elite class of citizenry exists, then political infighting can lead to warfare and military conquest. In order to satisfy personal or family desires for ever-increasing power. There could also be environmental factors. Climate fluctuations, deforestation, floods or famine. All can put stress on leaders, who have to work towards improving their peoples’ lives. And all of these variables can lead to an empire’s fall. Crops can fail, disease can run rampant, warfare can decimate a population and deplete resources. And of course, the classic tale of someone on the inside of the military or government who stages a coup, an assassination, or sides with the enemy.
Yet, all empires come from somewhere. They’re not created in a vacuum. The Mongolian plateau had been occupied by numerous tribes through into the 11th century. In northern China, the Jin dynasty rose in the early 12th century. The Jin leaders pursued a policy of divide and rule, not divide and conquer. They encouraged disputes between the tribes, especially the Tatars and Mongols. Better for them to fight amongst themselves, than to fight against the Jin. In the 1130s, the Jin were faced with a Mongol resistance force led by Khabul Khan. Apparently, some of the tribes had confederated and wanted to have a go at the Jin.
The Jin successfully repelled the resistance, but they were now aware they had a bigger problem on their hands: an army willing to battle them. By 1147, the Jin signed a peace treaty with the Mongols. They withdrew many of their soldiers from forts on the outskirts of their lands. But that wasn’t the end of the infighting. Since the Tatars had betrayed the Mongols inside the confederation, and the khan had died because of it, the Mongols struck back at the Tatars in revenge. For decades, the Mongols and Tatars fought each other. Again, the Jin took notice and picked a side. They joined with the Tatars and ultimately defeated the Mongols in 1161.
It was around this time that the legendary ruler Genghis Khan was born. Known in his childhood as Temujin, he was the son of Yesugai, a Mongol chieftain. His family was torn apart when he was eight. His chieftain father died and his tribe ejected him and his older half-brothers. In impoverished circumstances with no path to any form of success, Temujin opted for violence and a search for power. He killed one of his older half-brothers, in order to secure a position in his own family. Temujin was charismatic and didn’t always need to use violence to prove his point. He seduced and persuaded just as often as he used a sword.
By the age of fiteen, Temujin sought the hand of a bride who could further his search for power. His first wife, Borte, was the daughter of a powerful clan leader who could make a good ally. Very soon after their marriage, they moved into the lands of Toghrul. Toghrul was a khan of his tribe and was in sore need of loyal followers. When Temujin gifted him a sable cloak, which was part of his bride’s dowry, Toghrul was grateful. Shortly after that, Temujin had his first child with Borte, a daughter.
There’s much that happens in Temujin’s early married life that leads to him becoming a great khan. His wife Borte is abducted by raiders. With Toghrul’s help, he successfully recovered her and had three more sons and four more daughters over the years. When Temujin’s friend and ally started to fight with him over the smallest details, Temujin opted to go his own way and took his loyal followers with him. His persuasive and charming manner helped him grow an independent following. Shamans of various tribes had also prophesied that Temujin would achieve a great destiny. There was then a rivalry between Temujin and his old friend and ally, who had also garnered support of other tribal khans. It’s at this point that Temujin suffers a defeat so clear and definitive that Temujin actually ends up as a slave in Jin territory.
Temujin lived in Jin territory for nearly a decade, disgraced and out of power. But because of who he was, he used this time wisely. By 1196, Temujin is in his thirties by this point, and he joins the Jin on a campaign against the Tatars. Sounds good, right? The Tatars were responsible for killing his father, Yesugai, and if Temujin could persuade the Jin that he was a fit ruler, he could possibly gain resources to return to the plateau. Which is exactly what happened! Temujin used this campaign against the Tatars to use resources in favor of Toghrul - who had since had his leadership usurped by a relative. In this manner, Temujin is now seen by Mongol tribes as a peer of Toghrul, equal to the task of defeating a foe and obtaining a powerful position.
Together, Temujin and Toghrul ran roughshod over other tribes on the steppe. Conquering and persuading and consolidating a new confederacy. As Temujin’s prowess increased, so did his reputation with his uncles. His uncles were of family blood and also heir to possibly become khan. Temujin’s policy of sharing any loot from the enemy with soldiers and their families, instead of only sharing the loot with the aristocracy, irritated his uncles. Temujin to them was an insolent disruption, not a possible khan for the people. This led to an internal war, which Temujin won. In 1206, Temujin was crowned as the khagan or emperor and it’s at this point he takes the name Genghis Khan.
This is the official start of the Mongol Empire, the crowning of Genghis Khan. In 1206, the lands included in this empire were roughly 1.5 million square miles large. That’s most of modern-day Mongolia. It was confined to the Mongolian plateau where Mongol tribes had lived for a long time. And since Genghis Khan had used Jin resources to aid his own campaigns, he had an initial problem with the displeased Jin rulers. Clearly, the Mongol empire origins are based on political power struggles, as opposed to resource requirements or something else. However, in the early 1200s, the weather helped Genghis out in a big way.
Usually, the steppe of the Mongolian plateau would be cold and dry. For a millenia, the area was parched and dusty. Not exactly a great environment for horses. But as the 1200s dawned, the weather changed. The steppe was increasingly wet and mild, providing grasses of all types to grow on the steppe. Now that’s a great environment for horses to thrive. Due to this weather pattern change, war horses and other livestock could be bred more quickly and more successfully. And most historians agree that this aided Genghis’ plans to conquer other areas of Asia.
This new Mongol empire was now as consolidated and united as it had ever been. Genghis needed to focus on the Jin, but he also had growing concerns from other entities, like Tibet and Qara Khitai. Qara Khitai was located where modern-day Kazahkstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan exist. Before Genghis focused on them, he was able to conquer other parts of Central Asia. The Mongol devastation, as it became known, is considered one of the deadliest eras of human history. Oddly enough, the initial neighbor that Genghis focused on was Siberia. The taiga’s resources of grain and gold would come in very handy to the empire’s needs. The local tribes there were easily swung to his side and governed according to Genghis’ new methods of organization. Genghis divided his army into decimal subsections. So, 10 soldiers was an arban, 100 soldiers was a zuun, 1000 soldiers was a Mingghan, and a tumen was 10,000 soldiers. Siberia was organized into three tumens.
Defeating the Jin dynasty was more difficult. There would be successive campaigns and battles to do the job, something that not only Genghis planned but his successors as well. The Jin were not defeated until 1234, well after Genghis had died. The empire waged campaigns against the Qara Khitai, devastating cities and towns in Central Asia as they galloped through. By 1218, the Qara Khitai people had been fully enveloped by the Mongols. The Mongols were so swift and stunning in their victories in Central Asia, and the conquered area so vast, that fleeing tribesmen ended up in Hungary.
Throughout its continuous growth and conquest, the Mongol Empire was also a cultural invasion. Genghis Khan himself set out to begin a social revolution of sorts. As the conquering expanded over the decades, each new territory brought into the empire could be allowed to retain its own society and culture. But Mongols themselves rarely adopted or integrated themselves. Mongol society was decidedly nomadic. Still is at heart. Mongols lived in yurt tents and herded livestock on their beloved horses. Only for new territory fortification were Mongol armies and certain nobility swayed to live in “cities”.
Mongols divided their food groups into summer versus winter. Summer foods are “white”, like yogurt, cheese, and “airag” (fermented mare’s milk). Winter foods are “red”, like wild rabbit, deer, squirrels, and marmots. Ice fishing also occurred. Meat, if boiled, was flavored with wild onions and garlic. Animal blood was a vital component of the Mongol diet, so slaughter was done in a specific way so as not to compromise the blood supply. I won’t break that procedure down for you.
And naturally, Mongols drank liquor. Chinese rice wine and Turkestani grape wine was most popular, although Genghis Khan thought grape wine was too strong. Turkestani influence can be seen with the introduction of noodles, cardamom, and chickpeas into the Mongol diet also. As the empire grew and more foods could be traded within the empire, the Mongol diet became more varied. Millet with butter, unleavened bread, mead, vinegar, and dried fruit all became part of the khan’s meal plan, so to speak. Cooks were appointed and kept in very high regard, being a close confidante of the khans and other nobility. They were essentially officers of the imperial guard.
The Mongol Empire and culture was patriarchal. Clans were known to be either wife-taking or wife-giving. And a clan was held in a superior position in society if it was wife-giving. The eldest son would receive the largest portion of the family herd when he married. The youngest son stayed on to take care of his parents until death, and then inherited his father’s remaining herd and lands. Not as imbalanced as medieval European patrilineal traditions. In medieval Europe, the eldest son inherited everything, while younger sons would have to join the military or church to achieve any kind of distinction.
Religion was highly tolerated in the Mongol Empire as well. Buddhism, Eastern Christianity, Islam, and a few others that don’t exist in today’s world. Genghis Khan’s religion is Tengrism was prevalent on the steppe. Based in shamanism and animism. But complete religious freedom was granted and enforced. There were even organized events for religious debate, which would draw crowds in high volumes. Certain religious leaders and followers were tax-exempt and absolved from public service. But also, as the empire aged, certain religious practices were banned. Halal butchering and circumcision, for example. And don’t be fooled into thinking that a nomadic people wouldn’t build a temple or building of religious importance! They most certainly did. These structures simply didn’t stand the test of time, likely made of wood instead of stone.
Let’s talk about Mongol women now. Don’t get downhearted by hearing that society was patriarchal. Mongol women had power to influence society in many ways. Wives were treated as counsel or advisors to their husbands, not strictly subservient. Mothers also. Women rode horseback and fought in battles. They tended to the livestock herds. Even the practice of arranged marriages and bridal dowries went out of fashion at one point. Men were allowed to practice polygamy. However, it ended up being very egalitarian rather than truly hierarchical. Not like the Chinese whose polygamist husbands may have showered wealth on a first wife and merely used a third or fourth wife as a concubine. No, Mongol wives were not jealous and knew each other well. Especially as they all tended to the livestock and land together, sharing tasks as much as their husband’s bed. Wives were devoted to their husbands, even after death. Remarriage was extremely rare. Widows were taken care of by their youngest son.
Speaking of sons, Genghis Khan had four of them: Jochi, Chagatai, Ogedai, and Tolui. Jochi predeceased Genghis, but his gift of land extending into Siberia evolved into the Golden Horde. Chagatai was an inflexible legal pedant and Genghis never agreed for him to be a successor, and his gift of land was mostly Qara Khitai territory. Ogedai went on to become Genghis’ successor and had a gift of land in western China, to the south of the steppe. Tolui never became khan, but two of his sons would become khan after Ogedai. Tolui’s gift of land was near the Altai mountains on the edge of the steppe.
All five of Genghis’ daughters were married into politically beneficial situations, ensuring powerful rulers inside the Empire would continue to link themselves to Genghis and his successors. Genghis Khan lived from roughly 1162 to 1227. After twenty years of expanding his empire from 1.5 million square miles to 5.2 million square miles, effectively ruling from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Siberian Pacific in the east, Genghis fell from his horse in the winter of 1226/27 and fell gravely ill very quickly after. He was on campaign in China, and his illness and subsequent death severely slowed the campaign, as you can imagine. His death was initially kept a secret, in order for the campaign to continue and ultimately succeed.
The manner of his death is hotly disputed. Legends and myths have cropped up ever since. From being struck by lightning to being attacked with a dagger by a sexual partner who was not his wife. It’s much more likely that he contracted bubonic plague, malaria, typhus, or some other illness that could easily kill a man in his sixties. His burial was also a tight-lipped story. And to this day, nobody can say for sure where his burial site actually is.
Ogedei and Tolui were the only real candidates for succession, and while Tolui was the more strategic and commanding military figure, Ogedei’s generosity and popularity won in the end. Ogedei was crowned khan in 1229, although Tolui had been interim regent for those two years after Genghis’ death. So, here’s Ogedei. Brand new khan, but not a brand new Mongol. He had been fighting alongside his father for decades, helping to expand the empire to twice the size of the Roman Empire at its height. And he wanted more.
As well as the eternal foe of the Jin dynasty in China, Ogedei skirmished against tribes in the west of the empire. Battles were happening simultaneously almost on opposites ends of the map. The Jin dynasty fell, as did southern Persia. But Ogedei’s attempt to annex the Korean peninsula was met with fierce resistance and was highly unsuccessful. Ogedei also established, finally, a capital city. Oh yes, Genghis had done all his empire building without a capital city! Karakorum was built up from a yurt tent site, temples and a palace and all. It’s nearly smack bang in the middle of modern-day Mongolia, currently an excavation site. It lasted as a capital from 1235 to 1260.
During Ogedei’s reign, the empire grew further. The Mongols invaded what is now Armenia and Georgia in the Caucasus. They invaded Bulgaria, the Kievan Rus, and a brief occupation of Hungary. Poland, Serbia, Croatia, Austria - all fell to the Mongol horsemen. Ogedei granted his commanders permission to invade into Europe, all the way to the “Great Sea” AKA the Atlantic. However, this never came to pass. Ogedei died in 1241 and his European advance had halted. With Ogedei’s death, a new khan needed to be chosen, so commanders and high military officers were forced to return. Well, that and European defenses were formidable. Even if Ogedei had lived longer or the nobles were not needed to return, central and western Europe would’ve been a hard and long task of conquest for the Mongols.
Unlike the previous regency, after Genghis’ death, Ogedei’s widow took over as regent for five whole years. She championed education and religion, building cathedrals and palaces on an imperial scale. She was involved in the intrigue of family politics, hoping her son Guyuk would be crowned khan. But other family members stalled and delayed their arrival to Karakorum for the election. For years! Her son Guyuk did ultimately become the next khan, but he was an alcoholic by then and was only elected in on the back of his previous war campaigns. He was only khan for two years. And then after three years of regency, Mongke was elected khan. He was one of Tolui’s sons, essentially a grandson of Genghis.
Mongke reigned for eight years and was able to reform the empire administratively, as well as invade into southern China and the Middle East. His infamous siege of Baghdad was felt throughout the Islamic world, since Baghdad had been a central city and important power in the region for more than 500 years by this time. By 1257, the Mongol empire was at its peak, its height. Not only in terms of size, it had ballooned up to 9 million square miles, but also in its wealth. Mongke continued the construction projects in Karakorum. One famous example was a large silver tree with cleverly designed pipes that dispensed various drinks. The tree, topped with a triumphant angel, was crafted by a Parisian goldsmith. Mongke reduced tax rates on civilians and disavowed any member of nobility that issued edicts in their lands without authorization. He didn’t want the average Mongol to be abused by those in power, both financially or legally.
Mongke successfully captured the Yunnan province, and even made efforts to make the Tran dynasty in Vietnam submit to Mongol rule. The Vietnamese rulers were too crafty and well-resourced at the time and defeated the Mongols three separate times. In general, Mongke was a fair and esteemed khan. All he ever did was for the benefit of the empire and those within it. So, when he died in 1259 after contracting an illness while on campaign in China, another power vacuum occurred. Every time a khan died, an election congress would need to convene. This drew the powerful military commanders from the field. And this time around, there was more infighting than ever before.
This is a good century after Genghis was born, and his very large family of sons and nephews and grandsons was now divided. Mongke’s brother Hulagu had to break off his highly successful advance into Syria. As he withdrew, so did a majority of his troops. And this is in the 1200s, when all the Muslim and Christian forces of the old world were on Crusade. Well, the Christians were on Crusade. Imagine the city of Acre, ancient and deep-seated in religious history, mostly run by those of the Christian faith, encircled by all three forces: Crusaders, Muslims, and the Mongols. And as the Mongols “retreated” for lack of a better word, the Christian and Muslims took advantage. The Christians allowed the Muslims to advance to Acre from Egypt, resupply themselves, and take on the smaller Mongol force just north of Galilee.
1260. This is when the Mongols were halted for the last time in the Levant. They never again regained any success farther than Syria. Meanwhile, in a separate part of the empire, Kublai heard of Mongke’s death. He was also his brother and had been on campaign in China near the Yangtze River. Instead of returning to the capital, he maintained his position and made headway. He absence in Karakorum allowed their younger brother Ariqboke to sneak in and claim the title of khan. Kublai heard this news and immediately called his own election. A Mongol civil war erupted between brothers.
1261. Just a year later, and Ariqboke has control of Karakorum. Kublai’s loyal brother Hulagu was out there ruling and also making waves. Intrigue-ridden and sneaky waves, but waves nonetheless. There were suspicious deaths in Hulagu’s lands. The booty from conquered lands was distributed unequally. Muslims were being massacred over seemingly petty reasons. This angered a former ally, who then betrayed Kublai and Hulagu and sided with Ariqboke. For three years, the civil war raged. Hulagu suddenly died in February 1264, and Kublai immediately supplanted Hulagu’s sons in key leadership positions, effectively creating alliances over large swathes of the empire. Ariqboke didn’t have much momentum left at that point and surrendered.
For the next thirty years, Kublai Khan reigned over the Mongol Empire. It was Kublai that finally invaded the Korean peninsula successfully. Also, down into the most southern points of China including modern-day Shanghai and Macau. By 1279, the empire stretched from the Kievan Rus in the northwest to Turkey and northern Iraq in the southwest. Down into the coast of Pakistan, and touching the South China Sea as well as the Pacific north of the Korean peninsula. An astounding size by anyone’s measure.
Kublai became emperor of the Yuan dynasty in China, he considered China to be his main base. He had spent so much of his life waging war in the region and had never traveled to far west in the empire. A good number of his high officials were Muslim. This is at a time when Muslims had a reputation for being learned and scholarly. Kublai championed Muslim engineers and cartographers, physicians and astronomers. By this time, Genghis’ original organization of the empire was still intact. Kublai had his tumens of 10,000 soldiers in each corner of the empire. And he was reaping the benefits of a well-oiled military machine.
In 1284, Rabban Bar Sauma began travels not dissimilar to Marco Polo’s. Rabban was an ambassador of the Great Khan, as he was then called. We’ll get to his travels in a minute. Marco Polo had arrived for the first time to Kublai’s court in 1275. Which was not in Karakorum, but in Shangdu (just east of Karakorum across the border into moder-day China). Marco was only 21 years old and impressed the Great Khan with his intelligence and humility. Kublai appointed him to be his emissary in India and Burma. Vietnam had yet to be conquered, but that didn’t mean Kublai couldn’t send a Venetian messenger and advocate for the Mongols. Kublai effectively kept the Polo family captive and didn’t allow them to return to Europe. But eventually in 1291, Kublai granted their return to their homeland. After 15,000 miles and 24 years, Marco Polo returned to Venice a very wealthy man.
Rabban Bar Sauma was a Uighur monk by contrast. He was born in modern-day China, but in 1284 he took a student of his on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. All the way from Beijing! They traveled through the north of the Mongolian steppe, through the mountains of Central Asia, and past the southern edge of the Caspian Sea. At this point, the pair had yet to step foot outside of the Mongol Empire. Rabban and his student eventually ended up in Baghdad and remained there for some time. During their time there, the leadership in the region desired Mongol advocates to be sent into Europe. Rabban Bar Sauma was chosen, even though he was well into his sixties. He carried letters of diplomacy to European kings and even met with Cardinals and the Pope in the Vatican.
Rabban only spoke Persian, Turkic, and Chinese. No European language whatsoever. But European dignitaries could speak Persian, so they were able to translate on his behalf wherever he went. This is all thanks to the impact of the Silk Road and ancient trade routes with the Arab world. He visited Constantinople and wrote beautiful things about the Hagia Sophia. He witnessed the great eruption of Mount Etna as he passed Sicily. He visited St Peters Basilica, the Tuscan countryside, and the city of Genoa. Once he arrived in Paris, King Philip the Fair welcomed him with numerous gifts. While traveling back to Mongol lands, he ended up in Gascony and met with King Edward the First of England. You know, of Braveheart fame! Edward Longshanks or the Hammer of Scotland as he was known.
Rabban Bar Sauma’s writings and his travel from the Mongol Empire to Europe and back are less well-known than Marco Polo’s. But his book was published in both French and English in the early 20th century. It’s unique for its observations of medieval Europe during the end of the Crusading period, through the eyes of an observant outsider from a culture thousands of miles away. Rabban never made it back to Beijing, though he likely thought he never would return. He died in Baghdad in 1294.
Kublai Khan also died in 1294, having previously lost his favorite wife and a son who would have succeeded him as his chosen heir. He failed to invade Vietnam or Japan in the 1280s and both events haunted him until his death. He turned to food and drink and became very overweight, developing diabetes and gout. A la Henry the 8th some two hundred years later. At the age of 78, he finally succumbed to old age and the various impacts that come with unchecked diet and depression. His grandson became the second Yuan emperor in China.
Kublai's seizure of power in 1260 pushed the Mongol Empire into a new direction. Kublai and his predecessors' conquests were largely responsible for re-creating a unified, militarily powerful China. But Kublai’s legacy is mainly felt in China, and not elsewhere in the Mongol Empire. Almost immediately after his death, the empire began to fracture. Khanates were then their own states and not unified under the same emperor as before. There were four khanates: the Yuan dynasty in China established by Kublai, the Ilkhanate in modern-day Iran also ruled by the descendants of Tolui, the Golden Horde to the northwest founded by descendants of Jochi, and the central Asian Chagatai Khanate founded by Chagatai. Tolui, Jochi and Chagatai were all sons of Genghis Khan. Kublai was his grandson.
The four khanates were still part of the empire, but they made decisions solely for their own little corner of the world. There were four capitals as it were, instead of one. The Ilkhanate dissolved in the 1330s and 40s. The Yuan dynasty lost control of first Tibet and then the whole of China around the 1360s. The Ming dynasty would rise in its place. The Yuan retreated to the Mongolian plateau and tried to survive but didn’t thrive. Which then led to their own conquering in the 1630s by the Qing. The Golden Horde kept its rule until about the end of the 15th century, losing most of its western lands to the duchy of Moscow. The Chagatai khanate lasted in some form or other until 1687.
That’s much longer than you think in terms of empire. By the 1600s, the likes of King Louis XIV and Oliver Cromwell were alive and kicking. Peter the Great of Romanov fame in Russia was building his navy. Rembrandt was painting with oil and Johann Sebastian Bach was just being born and would eventually become the most famous Baroque composer. Thoughts of the Mongol Empire probably bring you to the visual of armed men on horseback and crude tent cities with firepits. And while it likely started that way, it didn’t end like that at all.
The Mongol Empire changed the demographics of Asia in profound ways. Anywhere from 30 to 80 million people are estimated to have been killed by Mongols. There was the introduction of a writing system, essentially the beginnings of the current Mongolian alphabet. The city of Moscow came to prominence under Mongol rule. Christopher Columbus wasn’t just trying to reach the spice islands by sea instead of land, he was trying to find passage to Shangdu where Kublai Khan resided. During the 1340s, it was very likely the Mongol armies that brought the Black Death to Europe. During a siege, the Mongols were being wrought by some illness and many died, and they then used the corposes of fallen soldiers as bio-weapons. The folks under siege then fled the city and carried the plague to ports in southern Europe.
Who’s to say that the world hasn’t been just as deeply impacted by the Mongols as any other empire to date? And that’s the deep dive into the reigns of Genghis, Ogedei, and Kublai Khan. The answer to the trivia question: Which country can claim to have once had the largest contiguous empire in history? Stay tuned for a small excerpt of Rabban Bar Sauma’s writings.
The Return to Rome
And from that place we came to the city of Genoa, in order to pass the winter there. And when we arrived there we saw a garden which resembled Paradise; its winter was not too cold, and its summer is not too hot. Green foliage is found therein all the year round, and trees, the leaves of which do not fall, and which are not stripped of their fruit. There is in the city a kind of vine which yields grapes seven times a year, but the people do not press out wine from them.
At the end of the winter there came from the country of Allemagne a man of high degree, who was the "Visitor" of the PAPA, and who was on his way to Rome. And when he heard that RABBAN SAUMA was there, he went to visit him and salute him. And when he entered his house they gave each other "Peace!” and they kissed each other in the love of Christ. And the Visitor said unto RABBAN SAUMA, "I have come to see thee. For I have heard concerning thee, that thou art a good and wise man, and also that thou hast the desire to go to Rome." And RABBAN SAUMA said unto him, "What shall I say unto thee, O beloved and noble man? I have come on an embassy from King ARGHON, and the Catholicus of the East to the PAPA on the subject of Jerusalem. Behold I have been a year of days since I came, and a Pope hath not sat. When I go back what shall I say and what answer can I make to the MONGOLS? Those, whose hearts are harder than flint, wish to take the Holy City, and those to whom it belongeth never allow the matter to occupy their minds, and moreover, they do not consider this thing to be of any importance whatsoever! We shall go and say we know not." Then the Visitor said unto him, "Thy words are true. I myself will go and show in their integrity the Cardinals all the words which thou hast spoken, and will urge them to appoint a Pope."
And that Visitor departed from him and went to Rome, and he explained the matter to the king, that is to say the PAPA, and that same day the Pope sent a messenger to RABBAN SAUMA and his companions bidding them to go to him. And as soon as ever the messenger had arrived, they set out for Rome with the greatest readiness and they arrived there in fifteen days. And they asked, "Who is this Pope whom they have appointed?" And the people said, "It is the bishop who held converse with you when ye came here the first time, and his name is NICHOLAS IV, who was elected Pope in February, 1288." And RABBAN SAUMA and his companions rejoiced greatly.
I hope you enjoyed this little tale of empire building, which is always at the expense of others! Another episode of Not Trivial is coming soon, so please subscribe - available wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you!