Nomad imperialism

The story of China was repeated in Persia, with certain noteworthy variations; once their rule was firm and unchallenged, the Mongol princes looked around for trained and experienced administrators to rebuild the shattered economy and augment the revenues of the state. Because of the gigantic scale of their conquests, the Mongols were the first and only nomadic people to face in its acutest form the problem of ruling, with no previous experience, ancient sedentary societies whose population derived sustenance and wealth from the cultivation of the soil. At the opposite end of Asia, Mongol power had been bloodily imposed on the civilized land of Persia. The deaths of Kubilai in China in 1294 and of Ghazan in Persia in 1304 mark the end of the era of Mongol imperialism. Thus in China and Persia Mongol rule disappeared in less than a century, while the slave Sultans of Egypt prolonged their government above 250 years.

Political science · China's Global Influence and Migration