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The Mongols

The mongols were a nomadic group that lived in vast open grasslands of Eurasia, also known as the Steppe. From 1206 to 1368 they became the largest contiguous empire in world history, thanks to a single man's leadership and brilliance, Genghis Khan. This empire spread like wildfire, ruling from the islands of Japan, all the way to Asia, Eastern Europe, China, Russia, Hungary, Iran, the Middle East, Mongolia, and Indochina. Genghis's goals from the start were to conquer all of the Mongolian tribes which had never before come together as one, and that goal he achieved for one hundred and sixty two years.
The reason behind my decision on the Mongols was how interesting I found them when learning about them in my AP World History class. They achieved what many attempted but never truly conquered. In a way they were also inspiring because despite not being a very large group at first and also being nomadic, they grew more than any empire had ever been able to grow. The reason for their downfall was that the empire over-expanded so much that they could not control all of the areas and they lost influence also due to the Black Death, later begining to be taken over by the Ming Dynasty. Their success simply caught my attention and I thought everyone should know who the Mongols are because they are actually pretty cool.