Tell about Mongol Empire ?

The Mongol advance toward the Baltic Sea was brought to a standstill only by the Russian winter; the rich trading centre of Novgorod was thus one of the few Russian towns not to be sacked.

Resistance in Russia ceased after the fall of Kiev (December 1240). Further raids hit Poland, Galicia, and Volhynia; advance parties even reached Breslaù (Wrocław) in Silesia.

A joint force of German and Polish knights under Duke Henry II of Silesia suffered a crushing defeat near Legnica (April 9, 1241), but the Mongols preferred not to penetrate farther into central Germany. Instead, they turned south in order to join forces with their armies operating in Hungary.

The attack on Hungary did not come as a surprise to King Béla IV. The Kipchaks, a Turkish nomad people in southern Russia, had been subject to Mongol rule, but under their chieftain Kuten a great part of them had fled from the Don and Dnieper steppes into Hungary and placed themselves under the protection of the Hungarians.

. Batu claimed that the Kipchaks were his vassals and asked the king of Hungary to send them back to Russia, announcing his intention to fight Hungary if his request was not granted. When he received no reply, he sent his southern army against Hungary.

This army, led by Subutai, an able general, succeeded in defeating the Hungarians at Mohi in April 1241. King Béla IV was forced to flee into Croatia

It does not seem that the Mongols ever intended to establish themselves permanently in Silesia and Moravia. In Hungary, however, they began to create a nucleus of Mongol administration and even struck coins, some of which have survived.

The Hungarian plains may have appealed to them as possible pasturelands because of their similarity to the grasslands of southern Russia where the Mongols installed themselves permanently (as the later Golden Horde).

During the preceding years Mongol armies had also been operating in Iran, Georgia, and Greater Armenia

The Khwārezm sultan, who had fled before Genghis Khan’s attacks, became ruler of a kingdom in northwestern Iran and tried in vain to defend himself against the Mongols. He was murdered in 1231. Georgia had to recognize Mongol sovereignty in 1236.

The advance of the Mongols in Europe and the Near East was, however, stopped by the death of the great khan Ögödei (December 11, 1241).

The necessity to be present at the kuriltai, which had to elect a successor, and the necessity to assert their claims made some of the descendants of Genghis change their plans.

Batu and his generals gave up whatever territory they had held in eastern Europe.

The year 1241 therefore marks a turning point of the greatest importance in European history because in all probability Hungary at least would have become a Mongol dominion but for the sudden death of Ögödei.

The election of a new great khan proved difficult because no agreement could be reached. In the meantime Töregene, Ögödei’s widow, ruled by common consent of the Mongol nobles (1242–46).

She wished the appointment of her son Güyük but met with bitter opposition from Batu, who believed he had a better claim, as a descendant of Genghis’s eldest son.

She succeeded in securing Güyük’s election in 1246. There is an eyewitness account of this election by Giovanni da Pian del Carpini, who happened to be in Karakorum at that time as papal envoy.

Güyük himself was, as a person, very different from his rival Batu. He was strongly influenced by Nestorianism and favoured Christian advisers, whereas Batu still adhered to traditional Mongol shamanism and was entirely indifferent to any outside religion.

The two rivals began to prepare for war against each other, but Güyük’s premature death (1248) ended both the family feud with Batu and the chance of a Mongol court dominated by Christian influence.

The empire was entrusted to Güyük’s widow Ogul-Gaimish, who ruled as regent for three years before the nobles could reach agreement

Batu himself still showed some eagerness to assume the supreme power of great khan but gave up in the end because of old age and persuaded the Mongol nobles to give their votes to Möngke Khan, son of Tolui.

This meant that the overlordship of the empire passed away from the house of Ögödei and went to the descendants of Genghis’s youngest son.

The Chagatai branch of the family felt slighted after Möngke’s election (1251), and bitter hostility soon developed between the two families.

Möngke himself had won fame during Batu’s western campaigns and distinguished himself in the field. He was a benevolent monarch and continued Güyük’s policy of universal tolerance toward all religions.