Many today think of the Mongols as nomadic barbarians, whose horses were an integral part of their culture. A few know that the Mongols conquered China. Still fewer realize that the Mongol conquest was the result of transforming themselves into mariners. They then turned the Middle Kingdom into the world’s first naval superpower. For a century, China ruled the waves, much as Britain would in the 19th century.
How and why this happened is told in “Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China” by Jack Weatherford. It is a biography of Genghis Khan’s grandson and a history of the Yuan Dynasty he founded.
Weatherford shows Kublai Khan to be an unlikely conqueror. A younger grandson of Genghis Khan, he was viewed as a weak leader in his early life, more interested in intellectual than military pursuits, a scholar rather than a warrior. He was initially passed over as Mongol emperor in favor of an older brother.
Yet after that brother died, Kublai, at age 44, politically outmaneuvered his remaining siblings and other contenders to gain approval of the Mongol tribal congress to become their leader. Overcoming internal rebellion and foreign attacks, he established himself firmly in control of the empire.
Once he took control of the Mongol empire, Kublai turned to China. He'd been trying and failing to conquer China for nearly a decade before becoming emperor. He realized that the Song kingdom’s success in resisting the Mongols lay in its control of the rivers and seas. Kublai led the Mongols to master naval warfare, first on China’s rivers and next in the ocean. It led to his conquest of southern China and the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty.
Kublai also realized that true power lay in commerce rather than conquest. He used the Mongols’ geographic position to establish lucrative trade routes throughout Eurasia and Africa. The Mongol army guarded the Silk Road to Europe, while his new navy protected merchant ships from pirates. A global trade network developed, creating a world economy.
“Emperor of the Seas” dispels modern myths about the Mongols and medieval China. It shows how the Mongols created a commercial empire even stronger than the military one that initially boosted them to power. It also shows the debt the European Age of Exploration owes to that commercial empire. It created the markets that later drew Europe out into the world. This book will change your views on the Mongols, China, and today’s market economy.
