EPISODE · Jun 13, 2025 · 1H 12M
The Mongols, Their Empire, and the Middle East | S2E10
from Scholars Unravel Middle East · host Adel Aali, History Behind News Program
The Mongols built the largest contiguous land empire in history, yet their story is often reduced to conquest and destruction. In this interview, Dr. Timothy May examines how the Mongols transformed tribal societies into a unified empire, why their armies consistently defeated larger opponents, how they governed the lands they conquered, and what their rule meant for the Middle East. The conversation also explores how later generations remembered the Mongols—and why many of the ideas we hold about them deserve a second look.🚩About My Guest: Dr. Timothy May is a professor of Central Eurasian History in the University of North Georgia. He is a specialist on the history of the Mongol Empire. and is the author or editor of several books on this subject, including the following"The Mongol Art of War" "The Mongol World""The Mongol Conquests in Human History ""The Mongol Empire""The Mongols"*****Chapters: 00:00 Highlights 02:55 Introduction04:45 From Tribal Warriors to a Mongol State09:07 Creating a Mongol Identity13:33 Meritocracy and the New Elite17:53 Building a Nation Under Arms19:56 Why the Mongols Kept Winning22:49 Training Mongol Generals31:54 The Mongols Were Outnumbered36:51 Mongol Destruction: Truth and Myth40:47 Were the Mongols Unusually Brutal?43:27 Persia, Memory, and Mongol Rule48:18 Were the Mongols Good Rulers?52:18 Mongol Rule in the Middle East54:52 Loyalty, Betrayal, and Reward56:30 Pragmatism, Trade, and Wealth1:00:36 What Happened to the Mongols?1:02:25 The End of Mongol Rule in the Middle East1:04:07 From Mongols to Tatars1:06:26 Why the Mongols Faded from HistorySupport Our Program: We rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance. ******🎶Music attributions: 1. Opening and closing music of the program: Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011. Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program. 2. Background music to guest introduction: The Desert | The Grand Scorehttps://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.htmlThe Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified. 3. Background music to promoting History Behind News episodes: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Musicpromoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
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The Mongols, Their Empire, and the Middle East | S2E10
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