Few people realize that the Yuan dynasty in China (1271–1368) is part of Genghis Khan’s legacy through its founder, his grandson Khubilai Khan (r. Yet, the legacy of Genghis Khan, his sons, and grandsons is also one of cultural development, artistic achievement, a courtly way of life, and an entire continent united under the so-called Pax Mongolica (“Mongolian Peace”). Such an empire could not have been shaped without visionary leadership, superior organizational skills, the swiftest and most resilient cavalry ever known, an army of superb archers (the “devil’s horsemen” in Western sources), the existence of politically weakened states across Asia, and, of course, havoc and devastation. This famed clan leader and his immediate successors created the largest empire ever to exist, spanning the entire Asian continent from the Pacific Ocean to modern-day Hungary in Europe. 1162–1227) and the Mongols are invariably associated with terrible tales of conquest, destruction, and bloodshed.
The Assyrians were in turn replaced by the Persian Achaemenid Empire, which were replaced by… well you get the idea.Genghis Khan (ca. The Assyrians replaced the Akkadians with an even larger, more powerful empire. Though these two empires collapsed, they were inspirations and lessons for later empires. The financial and administrative burden of running the empire made it crumble from within and gave enemy armies an easier target. Dust they could handle, but this expansion was expensive and made a lot of enemies. By contrast, the Assyrian Empire, like many empires since, collapsed because it depended on military expansion. As dust and drought choked Mesopotamian agriculture, whole cities disappeared from the archeological record.
Several centuries of dry and dusty conditions-caused by climate change and over-farming-crippled the mighty Akkadian empire.
Why did it collapse so quickly? Archaeologists now believe they have identified the small but powerful culprit: dust. The Akkadian Empire lasted for somewhere between 100 and 200 years.
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