How the Mongols used horses to create an empire - William T. Taylor
People have been captivated by horses
for a long time.
They appear more than any other animal
in cave paintings
dating back 30,000 years.
But how did horses make the journey
from wild animals
to ones humans could hitch
themselves to and even ride,
determining the fate of civilizations
and dramatically altering history?
Equids originally evolved
in North America.
Sometime after 4 million years ago,
ancient equid species began trotting
across the Bering land bridge.
Eventually, they spread
through Eurasia and into Africa,
diversifying into the lineages
that would lead to modern-day horses,
donkeys, and zebras.
Early humans, including generations of the
first people to live in the Americas,
hunted wild horses, sometimes
fashioning their bones into tools.
Then, between 15,000 and 5,000 years ago,
likely because of a changing climate,
hunting by humans,
and competition with bison,
horses disappeared from the American
archaeological record.
But they’d be back eventually.
In the meantime, on the other side
of the world around 2,000 BCE,
something very consequential happened:
people on the western Eurasian steppe
domesticated horses.
By then, people in western Asia had
already domesticated many animals
and begun using some of them
to pull carts.
But, because horses were generally faster
and more difficult to control,
steppe people developed
a bridle-and-bit system
and chariots with lighter, spoked wheels.
Horses were soon integrated
into many ancient cultures.
In contrast with
horse-drawn charioteering,
horseback riding appears to have been
less common at first.
Archaeological evidence suggests
that people who did mount horses
during this early stage
did so without structured saddles
or stirrups.
This sometimes altered or damaged
the skeletons of riders and horses alike.
People continued breeding
for less aggressive horses
with greater endurance
and weight-bearing abilities.
And they developed techniques and tools
for improved control and comfort.
After around 1000 BCE,
cavalry appeared in combat
across much of Asia.
Riders of steppe and desert cultures
became renowned
for their prowess on horseback.
Ceremonial horse sacrifice also made
its way into the funerary traditions
of some cultures.
One royal Scythian burial site
from around the 9th century BCE
contained the remains of approximately
200 horses fitted with riding gear.
Officials in ancient China recognized
how advantageous horses were
for their neighbors
and some coveted larger numbers of them
for their own empire.
Around 100 BCE, the Chinese emperor
reportedly ordered a 30,000-man army west
that laid siege to a city
and had its king killed—
all for 3,000 of the so-called
“heavenly horses” of Ferghana.
Between the 4th and 8th centuries CE,
steppe horsemen spread riding technologies
like stirrups across cultures.
And nomadic groups eventually coalesced
into unstoppable forces on horseback.
The Mongol Empire rose to power
in the 13th century,
and raided, traded, and toppled empires
over previously unthinkable distances.
They developed a horse-backed
postal relay system
that stretched more than
60,000 kilometers.
Their imperial successes relied
on the well-being of their horses—
and leaders knew it.
In 1252, before launching
his next military campaigns,
Möngke Khan sent officials
ahead to prohibit cattle grazing
so there’d be plentiful pastureland
for their steeds.
Horses continued to spread,
eventually spurring equestrian empires
reaching a south of the Sahara.
By the mid-14th century, the Mali Empire
was said to have had
a cavalry of more than 10,000
that controlled some 1 million
square kilometers of West Africa.
And by 1500, horses were finally
reintroduced to the Americas.
They appear to have escaped
Spanish control rapidly
as Indigenous people from the Pampas
to the Great Plains
exchanged them via
expansive trade networks.
Colonization and trade spread horses
even further around the globe.
And well into the 20th century they were
a widespread and essential means
of travel and transport.
This didn’t come without problems:
issues of hygiene
and animal welfare emerged,
especially in cities.
And many human hubs transformed
with the introduction
of non-living modes of transport,
like the automobile.
Nevertheless, people have maintained their
multifaceted relationships with horses—
riding, herding, racing, or admiring them—
from the steppes of Mongolia
to the prairies of Montana,
ever since.
