World History I

Chapter 12: Sultanates, Song, and the Mongol Super Empire: Contrasting Patterns in India, China, and Inner Asia
600-1600 CE

57: Wed, Apr 8, 2026

Please post in the forum for the day a short essay in response to this question:

India under the Sultanate of Delhi was able to defeat Mongol invasions, but China was not. Here are some sources to consider when trying to understand the different outcomes of standing up to Mongol invasions. Consider:

• Geography:
  • Map of Khanates: https://thewire.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/mongol-map.jpg
  • What routes did the Chagatai Khanate have to invade India? What advantages/disadvantages did it face?
  • What routes did the Great Khan Khanate have to invade China? What advantages/disadvantages did it face?
• Army Organization:
  • Read about Alauddin_Khalji in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alauddin_Khalji
    • What general advantages did he have in defending the Delhi Sulltanate against invasion?
    • What specific army advantages did he have? (What is a standing army?)
• These Paintings:
  • Mongol warriors in the 14th C: two clans fighting
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/DiezAlbumsArmedRiders_I.jpg/732px-DiezAlbumsArmedRiders_I.jpg
  • 19th C Sultan AlDin put to flight
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Sultan_Alau%27d_Din_put_to_Flight.jpeg
  • Mongol-Chinese battle:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_conquest_of_China#/media/File:Bataille_entre_mongols_&_chinois_(1211).jpeg
  • Song warriors:
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Northern_song_Cavalry.jpg
  • For all of these paitings:
    What kinds of armor and weapons does each force have in the Mongol/Sultanate pictures? What kinds of armor and weapons does each force have in the Mongol/Chinese pictures?
• One other point to consider: What does climate have to do with defensive success in northern India and defensive failure in northeastern China?

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