Prof. Michael Hope is Professor History at Underwood International College, Yonsei University in Korea. He is a historian of the Mongol Empire and the Ilkhanate of Iran, author of Power, Politics, and Tradition in the Mongol Empire and the Īlkhānate of Iran, and co-editor, with Timothy May, of The Mongol World. In this first of two parts, we start with the causes of renewed interest in Mongol history: world history, the cultural turn, cuisine and distillation, new voices from Mongolia, and archaeology after the Soviet freeze. We talk sources, such as The Secret History of the Mongols, the Blue Book, the lost Golden Notebook, Rashid al-Din, and Christopher Atwood’s recent work on who actually wrote the Secret History and when. From there we stay on the steppe: what nomadic pastoralism is, the five animals, how a small population built the largest contiguous empire in history, the war with the Jin, siege craft, succession after Chinggis, the uluses, two-way assimilation, and how Ögedei’s administration held the empire together across thousands of miles of postal roads. Part 2 picks up with women, power, and the rest of the conversation. Chapters 00:00 – Chinggis, not Genghis: How Do You Pronounce the Khans? 03:08 – Why the Mongols Are Back: World History and the Cultural Turn 07:15 – Soju, Archi, and Araq: Cuisine, Distillation, and Cultural Exchange 08:58 – Democratic Mongolia, Soviet Taboos, and What Archaeology Might Still Find 11:37 – The Secret History, the Blue Book, and Rashid al-Din 13:11 – Who Wrote the Secret History? Atwood, Many Hands, and a Later Finish 20:44 – Life on the Steppe: Nomadic Pastoralism vs. Hunter-Gatherers 26:43 – Who Were the Mongols? The Five Animals and a Diversified Herd 34:46 – Temüjin, Clans, and What Changes After Unification 46:37 – A Small People, a Vast Empire 49:54 – The Jin War, Sieges, and Using Captives as Cannon Fodder 01:00:20 – Method in the Chaos: Refugees, Logistics, and Battle-Hardened Generals 01:05:38 – After Chinggis: Ögedei, Jebe, Sübe’etei, and the Uluses 01:20:43 – Two-Way Assimilation: Islam in the Ilkhanate and Local Rule 01:35:09 – Practical Empire: Reading the Mongols Without Modern Morality 01:46:54 – Ögedei the “Joyful Uncle,” Taxes, and Keeping Specialists Alive 02:01:17 – Ruling at a Distance: The Postal Roads, Remounts, and Princes in the Provinces Follow Michael Book: Power, Politics, and Tradition in the Mongol Empire and the Īlkhānate of Iran, https://a.co/d/06tvjugAEdited volume: The Mongol World (with Timothy May), https://a.co/d/06NMegCPFaculty: Yonsei University, Underwood International College, https://yonsei.academia.edu/MichaelHope Follow Cuppa Americano X: https://x.com/cuppaamericanoIG: https://www.instagram.com/cuppaamericanoTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cuppaamericanoYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cuppaamericano
