What’s Your Best Defense against the Mongols? That’s Right, It’s Trade

Introduction


The year is 1357, you are a Persian merchant from a small village 20 miles east of Baghdad. You have heard menacing tales of the Mongol horde making their way toward your village in a campaign that can very well destroy you and your family’s livelihood. Through psychological warfare (The use of intimidation to submit a foe), fear has spread to you and your people. Your leaders have decided to surrender to the Mongol force before they even arrive, as the Mongols have been known to spare those who are submissive. Your leaders have tasked you and your fellow band of merchants to make your way to the nearest Mongolian outpost to give a peace offering on behalf of your people. 

Task


You and your merry band of merchants must come up with a list of items that you would deem valuable to the Mongols. Unlike many merchants of the time, you have an advantage, THE INTERNET! Use the sources provided to research what items you think the Mongols would find value in, therefore accepting the peace offering from you and your people.

 

Students in groups of four will create a presentation in any form they wish (power point, board, poster, oral). Students will then present to the teacher and the class, addressing the teacher as the Mongolian Lieutenant to whom they are appealing too.

Process

-          Students will be broken into groups of 4, the teacher will then approve of these groups.

-          Students will then begin researching the Mongolian people either individually or in their group.

-          Students will rotate using the classroom computer 15 minutes at a time, so make your time count!

-          I will allow one cell phone to be used in the group for RESEARCH!

-          You will have one class period for research, and another for presentation prep. On the third day of class, everyone will give a 10              minute presentation/appeal. I expect presentations to last for two class periods.

-          Once your group has presented, there will be no do-overs. The Mongols don’t have time to be pestered with redo’s, they have half             the world to run.

  • Key questions to research are
    • What items would the Mongolian culture value?
    • What formalities would they require?
    • Where do the Mongols get their source of pride and accomplishment from?
    • What items would the Mongols expect from a Persian merchant such as yourself?
  • Use the following links to help you find your answers. 

 

  1. Youtube Crash Course: The Mongols

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szxPar0BcMo

  1. Columbia Universities Mongol Information Site

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/

  1. Primer on Mongolian Weaponry

http://ryanwolfe.weebly.com/weapons.html

  1. Current Trends of the Mongolian People

http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Mongols.html

  1. Mongolian Arts and Culture

http://www.historyonthenet.com/mongols/mongol-empire-arts-and-culture

  1. Academic Journal Regarding Mongol Arts and Culture

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41930343?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Evaluation

Grade

5 Great

4 Good

3 Passing

2 Fair

1 Poor

Historical Accuracy and Items Presented

Students present items that are valuable not just to the Mongolian war effort, but towards their culture in general.

Students are able to provide items to the Mongol’s concerning their love of warfare

Students are at least able to give reasoning behind their items, although it would not pass the peace offering.

Has random items that have no real meaning to them. Students are unable to explain why they used them.

Has little to no items to give to the Mongolian Officer.

Presentation

Students present to the teacher and class as if they were a Mongol counsel, and they put the extra effort to appease their customers.

Students present their items to the officer and are knowledgeable of their wares.

Students are able to present their information with maintaining limited eye contact with their audience

Students read their text and make little to no eye contact to the audience. (To the Mongols this is considered weakness!)

Students present little to no information

Visual Aid

Students make a visual aid presentation that would be eye catching to the Mongolian Officer with whom they are appealing.

Students present visual aid that catches the eyes of the students and the teacher

Students present their visual aid with pictures and text.

Students have very little visual aid, either just pictures, or just texts.

Students have little or no visual aid.

Conclusion


Students should now understand the basics of Mongolian culture and history, based off of the hypothetical items they produced for their presentation. By researching the Mongolian culture, students will understand what was valuable to the culture and in a way, what made them the exception from all of the other conquering nations throughout history.

 

Students, continue your studies of the Mongol Empire. See how they contributed to nations such as modern day China, Russia, and Iraq. By understanding these origins, you will be better able to understand the world of which you inherit.