Part 88 (1/2)
The empire which Baber established in India is known as that of the Moguls, an Arabic form of the word Mongol. The Moguls, however, were Turkish in blood and Mohammedans in religion. The Mogul emperors reigned in great splendor from their capitals at Delhi and Agra, until the decline of their power in the eighteenth century opened the way for the British conquest of India.
178. THE MONGOLS IN EASTERN EUROPE
MONGOL CONQUEST OF RUSSIA, 1237-1240 A.D.
The location of Russia [11] on the border of Asia exposed that country to the full force of the Mongol attack. Jenghiz Khan's successors, entering Europe north of the Caspian, swept resistlessly over the Russian plain.
Moscow and Kiev fell in quick succession, and before long the greater part of Russia was in the hands of the Mongols. Wholesale ma.s.sacres marked their progress. ”No eye remained open to weep for the dead.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA Erected by the Mogul emperor, Shah Jehan, as a tomb for his favorite wife, Muntaz Mahal. It was begun in 1632 A.D. and was completed in twenty-two years. The material is pure white marble, inlaid with jasper, agate and other precious stones. The building rests on a marble terrace, at each corner of which rises a tall graceful minaret. The extreme delicacy of the Taj Mahal and the richness of its ornamentation make it a masterpiece of architecture.]
INVASION OF POLAND AND HUNGARY BY THE MONGOLS, 1241 A.D.
Still the invaders pressed on. They devastated Hungary, driving the Magyar king in panic flight from his realm. They overran Poland. At a great battle in Silesia they destroyed the knighthood of Germany and filled nine sacks with the right ears of slaughtered enemies. The European peoples, taken completely by surprise, could offer no effective resistance to these Asiatics, who combined superiority in numbers with surpa.s.sing generals.h.i.+p.
Since the Arab attack in the eighth century Christendom had never been in graver peril. But the wave of Mongol invasion, which threatened to engulf Europe in barbarism, receded as quickly as it came. The Mongols soon abandoned Poland and Hungary and retired to their possessions in Russia.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Map, RUSSIA AT THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES]
THE ”GOLDEN HORDE”
The ruler of the ”Golden Horde,” as the western section of the Mongol Empire was called, continued to be the lord of Russia for about two hundred and fifty years. Russia, throughout this period, was little more than a dependency of Asia. The conquered people were obliged to pay a heavy tribute and to furnish soldiers for the Mongol armies. Their princes, also, became va.s.sals of the Great Khan.
MONGOL INFLUENCE ON RUSSIA
The Mongols, or ”Tartars” [12] are usually said to have Orientalized Russia. It seems clear, however, that they did not interfere with the language, religion, and laws of their subjects. The chief result of the Mongol supremacy was to cut off Russia from western Europe, just at the time when England, France, Germany, and Italy were emerging from the darkness of the early Middle Ages.
RISE OF MUSCOVY
The invasion of the Mongols proved to be, indirectly, the making of the Russian state. Before they came the country was a patchwork of rival, and often warring, princ.i.p.alities. The need of union against the common enemy welded them together. The princ.i.p.ality of Muscovy, so named from the capital city of Moscow, conquered its neighbors, annexed the important city of Novgorod, whose vast possessions stretched from Lapland to the Urals, and finally became powerful enough to shake off the Mongol yoke.
REIGN OF IVAN III, THE GREAT, 1462-1505 A.D.
The final deliverance of Russia from the Mongols was accomplished by Ivan III, surnamed the Great. This ruler is also regarded as the founder of Russian autocracy, that is, of a personal, absolute, and arbitrary government. With a view to strengthening his claim to be the political heir of the eastern emperors, Ivan married a niece of the last ruler at Constantinople, who in 1453 A.D. had fallen in the defense of his capital against the Ottoman Turks. Henceforth the Russian ruler described himself as ”the new Tsar [13] Constantine in the new city of Constantine, Moscow.”
179. THE OTTOMAN TURKS AND THEIR CONQUESTS, 1227-1453 A.D.
RISE OF THE OTTOMANS
The first appearance of the Ottoman Turks in history dates from 1227 A.D., the year of Jenghiz Khan's death. In that year a small Turkish horde, driven westward from their central Asian homes by the Mongol advance, settled in Asia Minor. There they enjoyed the protection of their kinsmen, the Seljuk Turks, and from them accepted Islam. As the Seljuk power declined, that of the Ottomans rose in its stead. About 1300 A.D. their chieftain, Othman, [14] declared his independence and became the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
OTTOMAN EXPANSION
The growth of the Ottoman power was almost as rapid as that of the Arabs or of the Mongols. During the first half of the fourteenth century they firmly established themselves in northwestern Asia Minor, along the beautiful sh.o.r.es washed by the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles. The second half of the same century found them in Europe, wresting province after province from the feeble hands of the eastern emperors. First came the seizure of Gallipoli on the Dardanelles, which long remained the princ.i.p.al Turkish naval station. Then followed the capture of Adrianople, where in earlier centuries the Visigoths had destroyed a Roman army. [15] By 1400 A.D. all that remained of the Roman Empire in the East was Constantinople and a small district in the vicinity of that city.
THE JANIZARIES
The Turks owed much of their success to the famous body of troops known as Janizaries. [16] These were recruited for the most part from Christian children surrendered by their parents as tribute. The Janizaries received an education in the Moslem faith and careful instruction in the use of arms. Their discipline and fanatic zeal made them irresistible on the field of battle.