LESSON 10.4 Who were the Mongols?
LEARNING INTENTION By the end of this lesson you should be able to discuss what life was like for Mongolian people before the rule of the great khans.
Tune in SOURCE1 shows that the Mongolian people could take their home with them when they migrated.
SOURCE1 A traditional Mongolian yurt was easily collapsed and transported.
1. Consider your lifestyle: • If you had to move tomorrow, could you pack up your essential items? • How would a nomadic lifestyle impact the things you keep or value? 2. Examine the landscape around the yurt. How do you think this environment would force people to stay mobile and move to a new area regularly? The Mongol homeland The Mongols were nomadic people from Mongolia, a cold and rough land north of China. Their homeland was bordered by the Altai Mountains to the west, the Gobi Desert to the south and Lake Baikal to the north. 10.4.1 The Mongols raised animals like cattle, goats, yaks and sheep on the vast grasslands. They used the animal wool for clothing and to line their yurts (tents). Sheep manure was used for fuel, and they made cheese and butter from milk. Mutton was a major part of their diet. Camels were used for desert crossings, oxen for heavy loads and horses for transport, hunting and warfare. Every year, the Mongols moved from the open plains in summer to sheltered mountain valleys in winter. Their life was tough due to the harsh climate, so Mongol lands had few people. They traded or raided for grain, metals, textiles and tea from the settled people of China. From 400 BCE, Chinese emperors built walls to defend against northern tribes’ raids. Chinese people lived in river valleys, growing crops and building roads and cities. The Great Wall marked the boundary between the rich and sophisticated imperial China and the poor and simple nomadic Mongolia. The Chinese called the Mongols ‘ barbarians ’.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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