I know about the Mongols not only as the force that shattered through the Muslim Empire that had by 13th century well spread across the globe, but also as a heretical link. We, the Hazaras, originally belong from the land of Afghanistan, but a majority of us now reside in Pakistan, specifically in Quetta city in the province of Baluchistan, and other small numbers all across the world like Australia, US, UK, and Europe.
Our story is a story of bloodshed and immigration; first from Afghanistan to Pakistan after the horrific mass persecutions of Hazaras under the rule of Abdur Rehman Khan (1893) that almost killed us to a few people. And then successive target killings and suicide bombings on Hazaras in Quetta city for about two decades (2000-2021), and still counting, which forced many of our men to migrate to foreign countries for earning their bread.
One of the epithets that Hazaras are referred to, mostly in forces, is ‘Changezi’ (derived from Chinggis), showing our linkage to the Genghis Khan. The fact that it is a very brutal and bloody heritage to be linked to and that the Changezi epithet is used mostly in forces beckons to the motives of relentless courage and warriorism - something much needed in armed forces. Although generally, this epithet, given its ferocity, is received rather welcomingly by our youngsters, I however feel uncomfortable by it, knowing how destructive Genghis and his empire was.
John Man, as I’ve come to know through this book, has quite the reputation as the historian of The Mongol Empire. In this book, he has brought together the extracts of all his previous book written on Mongols, China, Genghis, Kublai, in one place to make a complete book that starts from Genghis is a young, orphaned boy in early 1200s, all the way to Kublai’s, Genghis’s grandson, reign over China, Russia, Middle-East, and some parts of Europe.
If one thing’s for sure, it is that Mongol Empire’s rapid rise and wide-spread rule is an unprecedented example of world domination.
Although the Mongol Empire started with Genghis Khan, he only remains for seven chapters of this book, and we see that the expansion of his empire as well as most of the horrific and bloody attacks that haunt our history come from his successors, and not from Genghis himself. Man also highlights key contributions from Mongolian women in stabilizing the empire after Genghis’s death and raising strong heirs to sustain the empire as it expanded.
Yet as singularly and profoundly dominant as the Mongol empire was, it was however short lived and unsuccessful overall in leaving any lasting impact on the world and its civilizations. We can count the population of sixteen million people being of Genghis’s heritage as a success, but the Mongol empire failed to produce arts, religion, science, or any real progress for the humankind.
The story of Mongol Empire is the example of ‘one man and god (in this case the Heaven) being a majority’; the belief that the Heavens wanted Genghis to rule the world indeed made a majority which, almost, did rule the whole world. Kublai, though, deserves his own recognition in making this strong religious belief into a reality.
Mongol’s particular patience and appreciation for other beliefs, talents, and race, along with their relentless drive towards exploring and ruling new territories did indirectly help with a few eventual foundations of new lands and human progress in general.
Ratings: 3.5/5 **** July 20, 2021_