In the 12th century CE, before the Mongol Empire formed, the East Asian steppe was home to scattered groups of Mongol and Turkic pastoral nomads led by Khans.

在西元 12 世紀，蒙古帝國建立前，東亞大草原上散佈了大大小小由可汗率領的的蒙古及土耳其遊牧民族。

The people herded sheep, cattle, yaks and camels.

這些人放牧羊群、牛隻、犛牛以及駱駝。

They lived in felt tents and moved between summer and winter campsites.

他們居住在絨氈帳篷裡，在夏季和冬季的露營地之間遷徙。

Nomadic women held significant authority, managing these migrations, many of the flocks and trade.

遊牧民族的女性握有大權，控管遷徙、牲畜以及貿易。

Meanwhile, men specialized in mounted warfare.

與此同時，男性專於騎馬打仗。

These nomadic groups often fought each other.

這些遊牧群體經常互相交戰。

That was to change under Temujin, who was born into an aristocratic Mongol family.

不過鐵木真的出現將改變這個情況，他出身蒙古貴族世家。

Despite losing his father at an early age and growing up in poverty, he quickly rose to power by forging strategic alliances with other leaders.

儘管幼年失怙且生長於貧窮，他藉由和其他領導者的戰略結盟迅速掌握大權。

Unlike those khans, Temujin promoted soldiers based on merit and distributed spoils evenly among them.

與其他可汗不同在於，鐵木真依照功績提拔戰士，並且公平分發戰利品。

His most brilliant move was to scatter the nomads he conquered among his own soldiers so they couldn't join together against him.

他最聰明的作法，是將統治下的各遊牧群體分散在自己的士兵間，這麼一來他們無從群起反抗。

These innovations made him unstoppable, and by 1206, he had united the people of the felt-walled tents and become Chinggis Khan.

這些創新讓他勢不可擋，到了 1206 年，他統一所有絨氈帳篷遊牧民族，成為了成吉思汗。

The Mongols were shamanists, believing that the spirits of nature and their ancestors inhabited the world around them.

蒙古人信奉薩滿教，相信大自然以及已逝先祖的靈存於生活周遭。

Over all arched the Sky god Tenggeri.

上頭則由天空之神長生天主宰。

Chinggis Khan believed that Tenggeri wanted him to conquer the entire world in his name.

成吉思汗相信，長生天希望他以祂之名統治整個世界。

With the nomads of the Mongolian plain united, this seemed within reach.

蒙古草原上的遊牧民族都已統一，這個目標看來企踵可待。

Anyone who resisted the Mongols was resisting Tenggeri's will, and for this insubordination, had to die.

任何抵抗蒙古統治的人都是在抵抗長生天的意志，因著反抗應當受死。

Under Chinggis Khan, the Mongols first subdued northern China and the eastern Islamic lands.

在成吉思汗的帶領下，蒙古人首先拿下了中國北方及回教國度的東部。

After his death in 1227, the Divine Mandate passed to his family, or the Golden Lineage.

在他於 1227 年逝世後，這項神聖指令就傳承給他的家族，別名黃金家族。

In the 1230s, Chinggis Khan's sons and daughters conquered the Turks of Central Asia and the Russian princes, then destroyed two European armies in 1241.

在 1230 年代，成吉思汗的兒女征服了中亞的突厥人及俄羅斯諸侯，並於 1241 年摧毀兩支歐洲軍隊。

In the 1250s, the Mongols seized Islamic territory as far as Baghdad, while in the East their grasp reached southern China by 1279.

在 1250 年代，蒙古人在伊斯蘭國度的疆域已遠至巴格達，在 1279 更把東方的觸角深入至中國南方。

Life within the Mongol Empire wasn't just war, pillage and destruction.

蒙古帝國下的生活並非只有燒殺擄掠和摧毀。

Once the Mongols conquered a territory, they left its internal politics alone and used local administrators to govern for them.

蒙古人一旦統治一地，他們會放手讓內部政治發展，並且利用當地行政為他們管轄。

The Mongols let all religions flourish, as long as the leaders prayed for them.

蒙古人開放宗教自由，前提是宗教領導人必須為他們禱告。

Although they routinely captured artisans, scholars and engineers, they appreciated what those specialists could do and forcibly settled them across Asia to continue their work.

雖然他們照慣例會捕捉工匠、學者和工程師，卻讚賞他們的專業，並將他們強制安放到亞洲各處、持續工作。

The most valuable produce in the Empire was gold brocade, which took silk from China, gold from Tibet and weavers from Baghdad.

帝國內最有價值的產品是金織錦，絲綢取自中國、黃金取自西藏，並在巴格達編織。

Gold brocade clothed the Mongol rulers, covered their horses and lined their tents.

蒙古領導人身披金織錦，坐騎和帳篷都覆蓋了金織錦。

The Mongols particularly prized gunpowder technicians from China.

蒙古人特別欣賞來自中國的火藥技師。

With much of Eurasia politically unified, trade flourished along the Silk Road, helped by an extensive system of horse messengers and relay posts.

隨著歐亞大陸的統一，絲路貿易蓬勃發展，沿途有廣泛的坐騎信差和接力崗位系統支援。

Robust trade continued at sea, especially in blue-and-white porcelain, which combined white pottery from Mongol China with blue dye from Mongol Iran.

海上也有穩定進行貿易，特別是青花瓷，結合了帝國下中國的白瓷和伊朗的藍染。

But this was not to last.

但統治並非永久。

Succession to the Great Khan didn't automatically go to the eldest son, but rather allowed brothers, uncles and cousins to vie for leadership with senior widows acting as regents for their sons.

可汗一位並非自動由長子繼承，而是任由兄弟、叔父及親戚間爭奪，年長的寡婦則成為他們兒子的攝政者。

By the 1260s, Chinggis Khan's grandsons were in a full- blown civil war over inheritance and fragmented the realm into four separate empires.

到了 1260 年代，成吉思汗的曾孫們為了王位繼承全面開戰，並將帝國疆域分裂為四個帝國。

In China, Kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty is remembered as a golden age of science and culture.

在中國，忽必烈的元朝被視為科學與文化的黃金時期。

In Iran, the Ilkhanate inaugurated the development of new monumental architecture and Persian miniature painting.

在伊朗，伊兒汗國開創了新式紀念建築以及波斯細密畫。

In Central Asia, the Chagatai Khanate brought forth leaders like Timur and his descendant Babur, who founded the Mughal Empire in India.

在中亞，察合台汗國出現了領導人帖木兒及他的繼位者巴布爾，後者開創了印度的蒙兀兒帝國。

And in Eastern Europe, the Golden Horde ruled for years until a trading post named Muscovy grew into a major world power.

而在東歐，欽察汗國統領了數年，直到一個叫做莫斯科的貿易站興起，茁壯為一個世界強權。

Even though the Empire lasted only a short while, the Mongols left a legacy of world- domination that remains unmatched today.

儘管帝國維持得不算久，蒙古人卻在歷史上留下了當今無可匹敵的統治傳奇。