Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the November 21, 2001 edition
of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Genghis Khan’s War Machine
In the illustrated companion book to "Modern
Mongolia:
Reclaiming Genghis Khan," exhibit curator Paula L. W. Sabloff
presents theories of why the proclaimed Genghis Khan was so
spectacularly
successful as a political and military leader.
It could be that his nation of meat-eating warriors, whose diet was
then (and to a large extent still is) limited to meat and dairy
products,
simply had more physical stamina that the protein-deprived armies
they overran. According to Sabloff, Mongols today have raging
cholesterol,
but "beautiful teeth."
Mongol domination may equally have been due to their mastery of what
was then state-of-the-art military technology and transport, which,
in the 12th and 13th centuries, meant the bow and the horse. Both
the Mongols’ saddles and armor allowed for maximum movement on
horseback,
while their composite bows — made of wood, sinew, and antler horn,
according to Sabloff — had a range superior to other bows being
used at the time.
And Genghis Khan possessed real political savvy. He slaughtered people
only when he met resistance. When he did not, he tolerated other
religions
and included wise men from conquered cultures among his counselors.
While he united the Mongolian clans, he also organized them in
military
units of 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000 men. That organization made a
more effective fighting machine and broke down the old tribal
loyalties
that had caused centuries of strife.
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