The Turkmen Beyliks were under the control of the Mongols, at least nominally, through declining Seljuk Sultans.

He found Christian prisoners from Germany in the heart of " Tartary " ( at Talas ), and was compelled to observe the ceremony of passing between two fires, as a bringer of gifts to a dead Khan, gifts which were of course treated by the Mongols as evidence of submission.

Many ethnic groups were involved, including ancestors of the Turks, Mongols, and Tibetans.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols were divided between those who wanted to remain based in the steppes and those who wished to adopt the customs of the Chinese.

This certainly was a successful device as water clocks of similar design were still being made in Baghdad when the Mongols captured the city in 1258 A. D. A variety of automatic devices have been used over the centuries to accomplish useful tasks or simply to just entertain.

Genghis Khan and the Mongols were well known for strongly insisting on the rights of diplomats, and they would often take terrifying vengeance against any state that violated these rights.

Khan claims that it was invading Mongols who introduced gunpowder to the Islamic world and cites Mamluk antagonism towards early musketeers in their infantry as an example of how gunpowder weapons were not always met with open acceptance in the Middle East.

Led by Ghengis Khan, the Mongols were a group of steppe nomads that established a decentralized empire that, at its height, extended from China in the east to Black and Baltic seas in Europe.

During the late 13th century and first half of the 14th century, Chinese under the Mongol-controlled Yuan Dynasty were not allowed to enter higher posts of government ( reserved for Mongols or other ethnic groups from Central Asia ), and the Imperial examination was ceased for the time being.

In 1380, at Kulikovo on the Don River, the Mongols were defeated, and although this hard-fought victory did not end Tatar rule of Russia, it did bring great fame to the Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy.

The Khwarazmians were nomadic Turks from central Asia, who had recently been displaced by the Mongols further to the east and were now residing in Mesopotamia.

He also made truces with the Ayyubids in Syria, and sent embassies to negotiate with the Mongols, who were beginning to threaten the Muslim world.

Some of the Mongols were Nestorian Christians, including Kitbuqa, one of the generals at the sieges of Baghdad and Damascus, but despite this, the nobles of Acre refused to submit.

As the kingdom was by now a relatively unimportant state, the Mongols paid little attention to it, but there were a few skirmishes in 1260: the forces of Julian of Sidon killed the nephew of Kitbuqa, who responded by sacking Sidon, and John II of Beirut was also captured by the Mongols during another raid.

The Mamluks of Egypt then sought, and were granted, permission to advance through Frankish territory, and defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in September 1260.

Modern Islamic libraries for the most part do not hold these antique books ; many were lost, destroyed by Mongols, or removed to European libraries and museums during the colonial period.

Explosive land mines were being used in 1277 AD by the Song Dynasty Chinese against an assault of the Mongols, who were besieging a city in southern China.

After the Khitans left Mongolia the Shiwei Mongols rose to prominence, when from the 1130s there were reciprocally hostile relations between the successive khans of the Khamag Mongol confederation ( Khaidu, Khabul Khan and Ambaghai Khan ) and the emperors of the Jin dynasty.

With the breakup of the Empire, the dispersed Mongols quickly adopted the mostly Turkic cultures surrounding them and were assimilated, forming parts of Tatars ( not confused with a tribe in ancient Mongolia ), Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Yugurs and Moghuls ; linguistic and cultural Persianization also began to be prominent in these territories.

Mongols were also exposed to Zoroastrianism ( Qormusta Tengri is still worshipped ), Manicheism, Nestorianism, Islam and Catholicism from the west.

Indigenous moral precepts of the Mongols were enshrined in oral wisdom sayings ( now collected in several volumes ), the anda ( blood-brother ) system and ancient texts such as the Chinggis-un Bilig ( Wisdom of Genghis ) and Oyun Tulkhuur ( Key of Intelligence ).

From the middle ages to early modern period the Khalkha, Uriankhai and Buryats were counted as eastern Mongols while the Oirats, living mainly in the Altay region, belonged to the western Mongols.

By the middle of the 14th century, the power of the Mongols was declining, and the Grand Princes felt able to openly oppose the Mongol yoke.

Although Clement's successors continued to engage in diplomatic contacts with the Mongols for the rest of the century, they were never able to coordinate an actual alliance.

After the European knights detached from the main body of allied forces in pursuit of the fleeing Mongols, the invaders were able to separate the knights from the European infantry and defeat them one by one.

The traditional European warfare method of hand-to-hand combat between knights ended in catastrophe when it was deployed against the Mongol forces, as the Mongols were able to keep a distance and advance with superior number.

The Mongols never again seriously looked westward for conquest, only raiding for loot, and even then they were not able to commit the bulk of their forces, which had to guard against other Mongols.

Ghazan, the Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate, sought a Franco-Mongol alliance with the Crusaders against the Egyptian Mamluks, but was never able to successfully coordinate military actionsFor generations, there had been communications between the Mongols and Europeans towards the possibility of forging a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Mamluks, but without success.

Until 1279, the Chinese were able to use their naval power to defend against the Jin to the north, until the Mongols finally conquered all of China.

Smaller caravans owned by Mongols of the Alashan ( the westernmost Inner Mongolia ) and manned by Han Chinese from Zhenfan, were able to make longer marches ( and, thus, cover longer distances faster ) than the typical Han Chinese or Hui caravans, because the Mongols were able to always use " fresh " camels ( picked from their large herd for just a single journey ), every man was provided with a camel to ride, and loads were much lighter than in the " standard " caravans ( rarely exceeding.

The Song generals were able to recapture Siyang-yang from the Mongols in 1239.

This pivotal battle marked the western limit for Mongol expansion, as the Mongols were never again able to make any serious military advances farther than Syria.

Since only castles built of stone and walled towns had been able to resist Mongol attacks, following the withdrawal of the Mongols the kings encouraged both the landowners and the townspeople to build stone fortifications.

For the rest of the century the Mongols attempted invasions of Syria but were never able to hold territory for more than a few months.

In the north Xuande was inspecting the border with 3, 000 cavalry troops in 1428 and was able to retaliate against a raid by Mongols.

Hethum made the long journey to the Mongol capital, and was successfully able to request aid from the Mongols.

One group of Mongols split off from Ghazan's army and was even able to launch some Mongol raids into Palestine, pursuing the retreating Egyptian Mamluk troops as far south as Gaza, pushing them back to Egypt.

The Mamluks were thereby able to defeat the Mongols at the historic Battle of Ain Jalut in September 1260.

As a result of the relatively lucid communication and ease of movement, the Mongols were able to govern their vast empire effectively, thus ensuring political and economic stability.

Demographically weakened, the Mongols were not able to exert their rule over remote domains in their empire, who began to revolt once the plague broke out.

It is said that the Mongols found a traitor who led them over the Cangshan mountains along a secret path, and only in this way were they able to penetrate and overrun the Bai defenders.

Wars with Tartars and Mongols were a major aspect of Medieval Russian history, but the Russians gained the upper hand long before the 19th Century, and no Tartar Khan at the time of writing was in a position to act as Feofar is described as doing ; depicting late 19th Century Tartars as able to face Russians on anything resembling equal terms is a manifest anachronism.