Pastoral People

The Mongols got a bad rap because of the following several points:

1. The Mongols became infatuated with becoming the rulers of the entire world. 
2. Their tactics were vicious and crude. In one of their earliest encounters they attacked regular farmers. Additionally, they treated Chinese people like slaves. 
3. Even though they were conquering many tribes these such tribes were fragile alliances.
4. Rulers often changed religions for political reasons instead of holding true to their beliefs and values.   
5. Although woman in some ways were respected they were also not allowed to own their own animals. 

 

The Mongols do, however, deserve some respect for contributing to Eurasian in the following manner: 

1. It was the Pastoral people who developed who domesticated livestock, specifically, horses. The Mongols were able to domesticate horse to a point where they use them in battle allowing them to superiority over other tribes. 
2. The developed the "Fictive Kinship" which allowed them to make alliances with other than blood related relatives.
3. Mongols unified the unruly Mongol Nation under one supreme leader. 
4. Mongol women had a higher living status. Widows could remarry, initiate divorce, and were involved in productive labor. 
5. They valued and stressed equity within their people and relied on other tribes to trade goods, to a point where they revitalized the silk roads. 

References: 

Robert W. Strayer, Eric W. Nelson - Ways of the World_ A Brief Global History with Sources, Combined Volume (2015, Bedford_St. Martin’s) - libgen.lc.pdfhttps://mongolssection3group1.weebly.com/mongol-reputation.htmlhttp://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat65/sub423/entry-5256.html