BOOK REVIEW

Who will be next?

Kublai Khan , by John Man, 2007 Bantam paperback, 443 pp, Available at Asia Books and leading book stores, 495 baht

BERNARD TRINK

Human history is filled with the carnage of dynastic wars and rebellions. This applies to religions as well as to kingdoms. How many wars were fought, contenders for the crown assassinated to ensure who sat on the throne?

Nowhere was this more true than in Mongolia a millennium ago, when ambitious mothers plumped for one or more of their sons to be declared great khan. They weren't above poisoning or strangling the rivals.

Genghis had no royal blood, his single mother raising him while tribal leaders treated them as little better than beggars. The lad turned this to his advantage by sympathising with and assisting others held in disdain. They tended to look to him as their leader.

When many did, his mother pushed him to assert himself. Which he did by persuading the tribes that they had more to gain uniting than feuding. Genghis took this a step further. To take all of Mongolia, then conquer adjacent lands. Why not the whole world?

In Kublai Khan, British historian John May details how the Kha-Khan (great khan) and more particularly his successors carried out his dream. The Mongols - the West called them Tartars - had knifed through much of Russia and Central Asia when he died in 1227.

His generals wanted to divide the conquests for themselves. But his son Monkhe succeeded him and expansion continued. With his death in 1259, Kublai was in line. However a brother disputed this, thousands of lives lost before the issue was decided. He decided to push south into China.

In time, the Mongols defeated the Middle Kingdom and prepared an invasion of Japan. The combination of the tenacious defenders and a fortuitous tsunami sank their fleet. In the West the Mamluks (former slaves who became the cream of the Seljuk Turkish army) beat the Mongols.

The author has mixed feelings about the visit from Venice of trader Marco Polo in 1275. At best, he vividly described what he saw (and heard). At worst, the figures he wrote about were grossly exaggerated (believe no more than 10 percent).

Kublai passed away in 1294, just short of his 80th birthday. The Ming Dynasty, from 1368, sent the Mongols packing. With one major exception, the lands they conquered reverted to their former owners. The exception was Tibet. Formerly independent, it has been claimed ever since by China.

Historian Man doesn't mince his words: "Information about Dali/Nanzhao (Yunnan) remains scanty and contentious. Thai legends, for instance, refer to Nanzhao as the original homeland of the Thais, where they had ruled in glory until chased away by the Mongols.

"Today, the consensus among scholars is Thais were insignificant warrior groups living in the far south."

Which land will next try to conquer the world, I wonder?

Bangkok Post

Last Updated : Sunday April 08, 2007