When people hear the word “barbarian” they usually think of wild, uncivilized people. The same word is applied to the Mongols. The term barbarian was “a negative term referring to the people who lived beyond the pale of civilization, people who were savage, evil.” In some ways, the Mongols lived up to the word and were quite barbaric but also strategic in their conquests.

The Mongols did more than just invade other regions. The Mongols thought out their plans rather than just running into countries blindly. For example, when Mongke, Genghis Khan’s grandson, targeted the Middle East and Southern China, he considered how they were big centers of culture and trade. Mongke’s plan has been referred to as “the most grandiose plans for world domination ever conceived.”

The Mongols used tactics along with their barbaric ways of slaughtering entire towns. The Mongols were so brutal that not even numbers could hinder their conquests, and as they continued, their empire only grew larger. The Mongols had a system for battle that goes to prove their intelligence. In battle, the Mongols would, take down entire fortresses – they would surround it and capture those inside. They utilized engines and arrows. The Mongols preplanned what they were doing and created strategies.

When deciding how barbaric the Mongols were, it is important to remember that to them, they were conquering with a purpose: for the betterment of their people, not just for fun. In comparison to other empires, they all killed and pillaged, but not to the same degree the Mongols did. All the empires of the time were barbaric, but just because pillaging was normal, it still did not justify what was done. The Mongol empire was indeed one of the most barbaric empires in history but is not the only one worthy of the title. There are even more aspects that can be taken into consideration when deciding the humanity of the Mongols, such as what they were like outside of battle.