Mongol Empire · 1227-1294

The Mongol Empire: the largest land empire

Within 70 years of Genghis Khan's rise, his heirs ruled from Korea to eastern Europe. Students explore the largest land empire in history, how relay stations and passports held it together, and why it split into four khanates.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1279 to AD 1254
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Within 70 years of Genghis Khan's rise, his heirs ruled from Korea to eastern Europe. Students explore the largest land empire in history, how relay stations and passports held it together, and why it split into four khanates.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Mongol Empire at its height and the four khanates that followed.
  • Explain how the Mongols held their empire together with relay stations, passports and trade.
  • Explain why the empire split after 1260.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1279

Four khanates

Open the map in 1279 and zoom out. Find the Great Khanate in China and the Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanate and the Golden Horde to the west. Which seas mark the edges of the Mongol world?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1260

The Mongol Storm

Click Stories at the top left and play The Mongol Storm from the start. In which battle, and in which year, were the Mongols stopped for the first time?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1254

The khan's capital

Zoom in on Karakorum in the Orkhon valley. In 1254 a European friar met Buddhists, Muslims and Christians at the khan's court here. Why would a world empire's capital be so mixed?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. How could a small number of Mongols rule many millions of people?
  2. Merchants and envoys travelled more safely across Asia under the Mongols. Why would the khans want safe roads?
  3. In 1241-1242 Mongol armies withdrew from Europe. Historians disagree why. What reasons can you think of?
  4. After 1260 the empire split into four khanates. Why is a huge empire so hard to keep united?
  5. The Mongol conquests killed huge numbers of people, but also linked Europe and Asia. How should we remember them?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Genghis Khan. Let students take turns making rulings. Then discuss: which of his choices would still work for his grandsons, who had to rule settled lands from China to Persia?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.