>The population of China dropped drastically in only 50 years of Mongol rule, down to 50% by some accounts. Actually, the population of china rose during mongo

>The population of China dropped drastically in only 50 years of Mongol rule, down to 50% by some accounts. Actually, the population of china rose during mongol rule. The population of some parts of northern china declined since many chinese fled to southern. But that got conquered too. > Iranians were plagued with famine due to the Mongols, and millions died. No they weren't and no they didn't. > They killed half a million people invading Rus - this argument that they left the rural people alone, therefore 'peaceful' is nonsense. Really half a million? Why did russia's population grow so much during the mongol rule then? Russia went from nothing to one of the greatest empire during mongol rule. Wonder how that happened? Also, most of the deaths occurred in kiev and other "rus" urban areas. Not in the countryside. Russia is a vast territory. A few thousands mongols would have died of exhaustion hunting down and murdering 500K russians over thousands of miles at the very least. > Saying "oh, they only destroyed cities" is hardly a testament to them being peacable. I didn't say they were peaceful. I said the mongol empire was peaceful ( pax mongolica ) and the mongols brought stability and rule of law into a wide region. > They pressed captured men into service as soldiers, on pain of death. They did? You mean like every empire in human history? > How is this different to most other empires? That's my point. They weren't different. But they are "caricatured" as bloody thirsty savages. > The British Empire happily accepted all races, religions, and ideologies, Except for the aborigines and the natives the british exterminated. The british are a poor example since theirs was a race based empire. Anyways, my point is that the mongols were just another empire like any other more or less. Just bigger than most and far more inclusive. The nonsense about the mongols exterminate this and that and were bloodthirsty is just historically incorrect. Just like the ludicrous assertion that half of china died under the mongol rule. Feel free to study the Yuan Dynasty. Nothing of the sort happened. It would have been biologically impossible. As I said, the mongol armies were a few thousand to maybe 20 to 30 thousand strong. Claiming they killed tens of millions of people over the vast territory of asia is ridiculous.