Marco Polo on Chinese Society Under the Mongol Rule
Translated by W. Marsden and rendered into modern English by A.J. Andrea
Typically when one thinks of Marco Polo one thinks of a great explorer who went to many distance lands to bring back secrets untold. Marco Polo was indeed a talented person for as a linguist he was able to learn in detail multiple languages. His father was a trader that traveled to new and adventurous lands. Through this travel Polo was able to become part of distant courts, meet high ranking rulers and gather wisdom and riches of these lands. Polo reportedly kept extensive journals of his travels and peoples he encountered. Though these journals have came under suspicion in both past and present day as to the validity of his travels to China, Polo did leave interesting information on the Mongols and Turks.
As Polo writes it is not hard to realize he had a kind of admiration for the Mongols. He writes of the richness of the people, how the well off are dressed in silks and furs. The men have multiple marriages, yet maintain a content household. He seemed to admire how the men’s households are enriched by the thriftiness of the wives. Polo also wrote of the ceremonies associated with the passing of a Khan. Polo goes on to tell of how fierce the people are as warriors and how they were able to be mobile so they could invade and control distant lands.
The Mongols were a band of roving horsemen that became highly skilled warriors to control the best grazing lands for their livestock. The Mongols were able to become successful in their invasions under the rule of Genghis Khan. According to our text, The West, Genghis was able to unite the quarreling tribes under his rule and sweep through other societies to become one of the most extensive empire in the history of the world. The Mongols were able to become such a force because of their mobility and the cavalry tactics they used in battle. The Mongols are also to only force that were able to launch a successful winter campaign against Russia. The Mongols started to loose power when their reputation to be invincible was lost in a defeat against Syria. The tribes started to fall apart as there was much contention to become the Khan and the Mongols were never able to recapture the glory of the empire again as in Genghis’ days.

When Genghis was alive he promoted the trade routes that cross his lands. Once he conquered a new territory he established Mongol Peace and promoted the trade routes. After his death though with the internal turmoil between the tribes, one had to feel a little uncomfortable or wary to travel the caravans that took the trades cross land. One leader by the name of Tamerlane had victories that equaled Genghis’ but his troops pillaged the rich cities along the trade routes causing the rest of the Western civilization to look for safe trade routes to China.
So how did all of this effect the west? If the Mongols had not virtually stopped trade the West would have not started looking for safer trade routes. Christopher Columbus went in search of a sea route to the Indies for gold and spices. Once Columbus came back from his expedition without falling off of the map and finding new land that no one had even thought had existed, it set others in search of places to either provide safe trade routes, provide slaves, produce crops, pillage for spices and gold, or be colonized for the land in which the explorer came. So the Mongols had inadvertently set into motion the settlement, of far distant lands.
Translated by W. Marsden and rendered into modern English by A.J. Andrea
Typically when one thinks of Marco Polo one thinks of a great explorer who went to many distance lands to bring back secrets untold. Marco Polo was indeed a talented person for as a linguist he was able to learn in detail multiple languages. His father was a trader that traveled to new and adventurous lands. Through this travel Polo was able to become part of distant courts, meet high ranking rulers and gather wisdom and riches of these lands. Polo reportedly kept extensive journals of his travels and peoples he encountered. Though these journals have came under suspicion in both past and present day as to the validity of his travels to China, Polo did leave interesting information on the Mongols and Turks.
As Polo writes it is not hard to realize he had a kind of admiration for the Mongols. He writes of the richness of the people, how the well off are dressed in silks and furs. The men have multiple marriages, yet maintain a content household. He seemed to admire how the men’s households are enriched by the thriftiness of the wives. Polo also wrote of the ceremonies associated with the passing of a Khan. Polo goes on to tell of how fierce the people are as warriors and how they were able to be mobile so they could invade and control distant lands.
The Mongols were a band of roving horsemen that became highly skilled warriors to control the best grazing lands for their livestock. The Mongols were able to become successful in their invasions under the rule of Genghis Khan. According to our text, The West, Genghis was able to unite the quarreling tribes under his rule and sweep through other societies to become one of the most extensive empire in the history of the world. The Mongols were able to become such a force because of their mobility and the cavalry tactics they used in battle. The Mongols are also to only force that were able to launch a successful winter campaign against Russia. The Mongols started to loose power when their reputation to be invincible was lost in a defeat against Syria. The tribes started to fall apart as there was much contention to become the Khan and the Mongols were never able to recapture the glory of the empire again as in Genghis’ days.

When Genghis was alive he promoted the trade routes that cross his lands. Once he conquered a new territory he established Mongol Peace and promoted the trade routes. After his death though with the internal turmoil between the tribes, one had to feel a little uncomfortable or wary to travel the caravans that took the trades cross land. One leader by the name of Tamerlane had victories that equaled Genghis’ but his troops pillaged the rich cities along the trade routes causing the rest of the Western civilization to look for safe trade routes to China.
So how did all of this effect the west? If the Mongols had not virtually stopped trade the West would have not started looking for safer trade routes. Christopher Columbus went in search of a sea route to the Indies for gold and spices. Once Columbus came back from his expedition without falling off of the map and finding new land that no one had even thought had existed, it set others in search of places to either provide safe trade routes, provide slaves, produce crops, pillage for spices and gold, or be colonized for the land in which the explorer came. So the Mongols had inadvertently set into motion the settlement, of far distant lands.
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