My PBA this week~ full view is highly recommended :)

1. Rise of the Mongols A Ballad by Erika Grandstaff

2. The Mongols were the epitome of nomadic tribes They herded animals and traded their hides Although they intervened occasionally in world history Their ultimate rise would not begin until the 1170s The rise of the Mongols first began With the birth of a boy named Temujin He was the son of a Mongol chief But his early life would be brief Mongols herding their animals.

3. Poor Temujin had to grow up too fast Alas that his childhood couldn’t last For his father was poisoned by rivals, And the allies of Temujin’s tribe doubted the boy’s survival Temujin was taken from his homeland Thrown into slavery, captured by a warrior band Caged like an animal, young Temujin was afraid But he was a fierce Mongol, and his escape was made A captured Temujin.

4. He hid in the woods with his family and friends But soon he allied himself with a greater chieftain Temujin was safe and protected at last And his rise to power would happen fast In 1206 there was a kuriltai, a meeting of chieftains And here Temujin was elected the khagan The man who had been through so much was a ruler strong And he took the name of Chinggis Khan.

5. Here the Mongols first began To start campaigns under their Khan The greatness of this Mongol chief Would lead offensives that were brutal and brief The Mongols were great warriors On horseback they were unequaled in furor With deadly shortbows and a nature to match They pitied the fate of anyone they would catch Mongols in battle.

6. The warriors burst into the Chinese kingdom of Tangut They wreaked immense havoc and humbled it And any town that tried to fight back The Mongols were guaranteed to sack A conquered empire Chinggis soon reigned And received tribute from across the land He turned his gaze south and east To see if the lands there would provide him a feast

7. He battled and won the Khwarazme empire And many Turk horsemen he was able to hire Despite the Khan’s fierce reputation His rule brought peace to many nations He consulted with scholars from foreign lands Trying to see and to understand The lands he ruled had integrity And crimes were committed very rarely Chinggis Khan

8. Chinggis Khan of course still fought He wasn’t one for long political thought The rest of his life he spent in China fighting But of course Chinggis Khan had to end up dying The rise of the Mongols still flourished Even after Chinggis Khan had perished His empire was divided among his four sons For Mongol power would not die after Chinggis Khan The Mongol Empire after Chinggis Khan's death.

9. This empire stretched from Siberia to India And from the Middle East to China The life of Chinggis Khan was not an idle one But now the task of ruling fell to his sons Ogedai, the new great Khagen Was a clever diplomat and chieftain Unlike his brawny brothers, he was more inclined To concentrate on matters of the mind

10. The Mongol army was directed to the West, Into Russia, but this collection of petty kingdoms was merely a test For the real prize the Mongols sought – It was Western Europe for which they really fought. Batu, the grandson of Chinggis Khan Led a fearsome force into lands Russian Known as the Tartars, or “people from hell” Their coming was, for many, the death knell A Mongol horseman.

11. Many cities in Russia were razed to the ground; Kiev was no longer Russia’s crown After it had been destroyed and sacked But cities who surrendered were spared any further attack Europe had first thought of the Mongols As a mythical kingdom of Christians Ruled by the King called “Prester John” But when the Mongols arrived they proved them very wrong

12. Europeans crumpled before the Mongol army And countries like Poland, Germany, and Hungary Were all in very dire danger of being overrun When the Mongols left all of a sudden Since Ogedai had recently passed away Batu was called back home one day Western Europe was spared further destruction But the Mongols still owned everything Russian The Mongols' tour of Europe.

13. In the Islamic heartland, things went unhappily As the Mongols made another bloody foray The caliph was killed and the land in a panic Yes, things went badly for those who were Islamic However, soon the invaders had to make tracks Their home security had grown quite lax Under pressure from the Egyptian Mamluks and the Golden Horde They had to call for their plan to abort. A depiction of the attack on Baghdad.

14. Meanwhile in China the Yuan dynasty ruled Overseen by Kubilai Khan, who wasn’t cruel He defended the Chinese and the lands they had But Confucian scholars still saw him as bad “ He was a Mongol, still,” they said “And the only good Mongol is one that’s dead He wouldn’t reinstate the Confucian tests, And he says that merchants and actors are best Kubilai Khan

15. “ He takes much advice from Chabi, his wife This man has no inkling of the Confucian life Mark my words, his dynasty cannot last The Mandate of Heaven for him will run out fast.” It was true that after the death of Kubilai Khan Things did not go too well for the Yuan His successors did not rule as noble kings So soon the dynastic cycle passed to the Ming Chabi

16. The rise of the Mongols was great and strong And it all began with Chinggis Khan It would end with a Turk named Timur the Lame What a horrifying warrior he became A bust of Timur the Lame .

17. Timur utterly destroyed the lands he took over Everywhere he went people ran for cover From Russia to India he wreaked total havoc And did nothing good to make up for it Luckily for his subjects, Timur died In the year of 1405 The last nomadic challenge had passed The conquered could breathe easy at last

18. The Mongols weren’t all bloody and cruel They brought many good things under their rule From trade to militant strategies to cultural diffusion The Mongols tried to make up for their intrusions Although by accident they transmitted the plague Good things about the Mongols will hopefully not fade They were bloody and brutal and warlike clans But they brought good things to the regions they ran

19. The rise of the Mongols truly began With a Mongol by the name of Chinggis Khan It would end with a Turk named Timur the Lame What a brilliant empire the Mongols became!