Gunpowder Technology of the Mongol Army
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
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The Kings and Generals animated historical documentary series on Mongol History and the evolution of the Mongol armies continue with a video on the gunpowder technology employed by the armies of Genghis Khan. We will look at the overall development of gunpowder as a military mechanism.
Our podcast on Mongol history: kingsandgenera...
Evolution of the Mongol Army: • Mongol Army: How it Al...
Logistics of the Mongol Army: • How Genghis Khan Suppl...
How the Mongol Army Integrated Turks, Chinese, and others: • How the Mongol Army In...
Previous videos in our series on Mongol history: bit.ly/3eezUnW
Armies and Tactics: • Armies and Tactics
Support us on Patreon: / kingsandgenerals or Paypal: paypal.me/kings... or by joining the youtube membership: / @kingsandgenerals We are grateful to our patrons and sponsors, who made this video possible: docs.google.co...
The video was made by our friend Arb Paninken bit.ly/2Ow3oC8, while the script was developed by Jack Wilson - The Jackmeister. Check out his channel dedicated to the history of the Mongols: / @thejackmeistermongolh... .
This video was narrated by Officially Devin ( / @offydgg & / @gameworldnarratives )
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#Documentary #Mongols #Gunpowder
2 million subscribers! Thanks for being with us! discord.gg/DpuRAMa75V We have officially opened our discord to all of our fans. If you want to become a member of our growing community where you can get extra content, behind the scenes, and participate in a unique game where four historical factions compete in various writing challenges, each with a set of bonuses related to the faction timeline. Tomorrow we will host a live interview with the creators of the 2 videos on the Fourth crusade who will answer your questions and give you a sneak peek behind the scenes.
Do Soviet Afghan war
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj pls
Congratulations on 2 mil subs! I think i joined when you guys were about 500k. I am glad to see this channel grow unlike some other channels like Infographics this channel is actually accurate in its information and does actual research. When I see people saying they use Infographics as their information source always have to face palm and send them over this way. The only thing more dangerous then information is misinformation. Keep up the great work Kings and Generals. Hope you guys get many millions more subs.
@@Cherry-sg4zg Only that there are many times when the information that they present isn't accurate. It has high entertainment value though. People should watch for entertainment but be wary about all the facts actually being factual.
Please make video on sikh empire. And congratulations 👏 for 2 million subs
The history major part of my brain *LOVES* that you all take the time to elaborate on possible interpretations and rather than just picking and choosing what you think would make the best narrative, you share a bunch of potential options and cite the flaws based on the sources given. (2nd Hand, lacking proper terminology, or not having access to the weapons themselves). This episode really helps put our understanding of history into context, and I love that about this.
Exactly
yeah I hate how some people are so ridged in their view as historians
abosoloutly amazing channel!
Yeah I've given these fools hundreds of views by now, when I wash dishes at work I play the Early Muslim expansion video on my headphones
🙏 UA-cam premium
I swear me bringing up that I was "a history major" wasn't intended as a Flex. There really is a huge difference between how one values citations and academic sources when you study academically.
"You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war"
- Napoleon Bonaparte
He fight too often in Spain
Amazing how Napolean could talk big...but lose to Russian art of war, he got schooled badly by Russians hahahah
@@mrdoctor3496 The French fought and won multiple wars against most of Europe at the same time. He walked the walk.
@@mrdoctor3496 I mean, he beat the Russians before he lost to them. The Russians lost to Napoleon in the wars of the fourth and third coalitions.
@@mrdoctor3496 the Russians didn’t beat Napoleon in Russia, nature did
"Whoa pow" is the most perfect name for a bomb flung from a catapult.
I like to think the first soldier killed by a ricochet was called Ping ding Ow.
With the narrator's British accent, war pow might have been closer to the Mandarin pronunciation for him
dxmn perfect translation!
Huo Pao*
Ho @@leeboy26 Fuuk
This channel give me so many interesting facts I talk about at parties even when no one cares but me.
This is UA-cam filtered history facts, don't rely too much on them, especially when talking to someone who learned real uncensored history.
Lmaooo.
I have always wanted a sabre, but it is illegal, even plastic. Vietnam, glorius nation
You gotta also translate it to be more engaging to those around you. Make it more fun to hear and more people will be thrilled to hear historical facts from you
@sebâstian turnayev Ottomans are Turkish, I think
I feel like we need a sequel to this to see how gunpowder continued developing over the centuries and made its way from cannons into muskets, or how differently gunpowder technology developed across the world in the centuries after the Mongol invasions
@sebâstian turnayev Spambot cringe 😬😬😬😬😬😬
Yes I’d like to see videos of gunpowder advancements especially in the Islamic gunpowder empires. They were the ones who primarily traded with Europe and propagated technology and ideas there for most of history.
Quite interesting indeed.
Shimari allah nuouman abdula abzeri
Yeah I also asked this on this comment section, specfically about East Asian gunpowder technology weaponry
Ancient Chinese military according to Western media : flashy martial arts using beautifully crafted weapons
Actual ancient Chinese military : *shotgun spear*
Wish we had more Chinese history much like sothers so much is lost of forgotten to sands of time
@alix11000 China's Ming and Qing Dynasties, in the war against Mongolia, made full use of the advantages of firearms, heavy infantry and cavalry
ikr
imagine combining the 2
@@CatsRock11000 we doo have much its just not jn english or easy to find. Its like most people in my asian country thought europe medieval army consists of only knights and no peasants
Speaking of Fire Lances,they were like flamethrowers at home...
It also appears that the "Pax Mongolia" also allowed for the diffusion of other technologies known to the Chinese including the Blast furnace, Canal lock and Printing to Europe between the 13th and 15th Centuries
Ah yes, the Mongolian Peace, that followed what was perhaps the greatest incident of mass killing the world has ever seen. Some estimate up to 10% of world population were lost during their conquests, an incredible figure that well outweighs both world wars in terms of population ratio.
@@Conorp77 You very confused, if saying lightly. Black terror is not mean to kill, you not list KG carefully.
This is fascinating! I didn't imagine how many gunpowder weapons were used in that time period.
John, grow up!
There's nothing more terrifying than a Mongol warrior with an AK-47
Don’t piss off a modern Mongolian soldier then.
A Mongol? They never attack alone.
@@Paciat , they attack in squads or companys at most
Don’t forget a pet snow leopard.
Mongols are overrated
Nothing makes you more happy than a kings and general video on mongols
I hope there's going to be a video on the Jin-Song war, the first war that featured gunpowder weapons, and a war that gave the Mongols their chance in China.
"Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World" by Jack Weathorford goes into some detail about gunpowder use by Mongols during their conquest of the west.
He's considered a bit biased in favor of the Mongols by the rest of the field, but that book is an eminently readable introduction to the field all the same. Just keep reading. David Morgan would be a great counterbalance; he's as down on the Mongols as Weatherford is up, and they both bring good scholarship to the table. I tend more towards Morgan myself, but I appreciate Weatherford's perspective and the field needs more enthusiasts and researchers regardless.
Europe after seeing a black powder that can obliterate an army in seconds
EUROPE: I'LL TAKE YOUR ENTIRE STOCK!!!
Fire lances became especially popular with European knights, due to the increased shock value of their charge
@sebâstian turnayev 1) False. The celts spread much further, even had an enclave down in turkey.
2) False. They were Kurds
3) Kinda True. It was the Venetians that got the Fourth Crusade to sack Constantinople, who saw themselves as Romans.
4) True.
5) Hard to say, maybe both There were multiple turkic peoples and the Seljuks were a dynasty.
6) Complicated. It was founded by a descendant of Timur and Genghis, but by that time they had pretty much integrated into local cultures from my understanding.
7) Turkic
@@dragon12234 2nd one is little bit complicated, they were iranic which includes kurds or Persians
@sebâstian turnayev stop spamming in comments
@@badfoody I'd say they can be used for good stuff as well
Imagine how far the Mongol would have reached if they discovered and mass produced cannons first. *Horse archers + Hand cannons*
Not sure if that'd work very well since horses spook easily
Probably about the same. Conquest further into Europe was halted via heart attack and death of the then great khan. Figure that butterfly out.
I think the reason Mongol/China did not further develop cannons/guns in Asia is because they became by far the dominant country in Asia (unlike Europe which had centuries of warfare among similar sized forces).
@@Scott-zi7xv Not necessarily, carabiniers were a thing after (mounted gunners).
They had handcannons. It was part of their auxiliary infantry.
"Then some damn fool invented gunpowder, and a bigger damn fool split the atom. That's when I decided to leave mankind to it's folly and retire here. Into this world of memories." - Captain Manzini
The Mongols not bringing much gunpowder for their conquests on Europe is ironic, given what would come centuries later.
The southern Song Dynasty was on the verge of an industrial revolution before the mongols attacked.
@@TheZachary86
Song don't have energy technology in that time either steam or anything so no they aren't
Gunpowder weapons were too unreliable for the time and more potent weapons like the musket weren't invented yet hence it makes little sense to bring much of it
@@Cortesevasive I think this is based on the amount of steel production, which I think was only reached again during the UKs industrial revolution
@sebâstian turnayev You are in every Kings and Generals video with your homework questions. Go learn to do your own research, kid.
Mongols: "we're not bringing gunpowder to Europe"
Theodosian Walls: "sigh in relief"
Mehmed II: Hello
sadly a gate was left open, the turkish cannons found their match into theodosian walls
But the cannons there were made by Hungarian engineers. They were not "Turkish canons".
@@nick3175 Would have been kinda poetic if the cannons were created by Bulgarians. Like revenge for Basil II
@@TheJaviferrol Basil II was a better ruler to Bulgarians in 7 years of rule than 80% of Bulgarian monarchs smh. The number blinded was inflated by Byzantine propaganda and some are not even sure if it actually happened.
Bulgaria was already conquered by the Ottomans unlike Hungary thou.
@@tylerellis9097 I bet they did. Still a pretty gruesome episodes though. Even if they were conquered, they could still make the cannons for the Ottomans
The Calvary in the opening sequence is the luckiest I have ever seen.
*cavalry, as opposed to calvary, the open air representation of the crucification of Jesus Christ.
I know that feeling. Used to do that all the time.
@@NL-ws5fv Same here, same here. Still sometimes type up the wrong word in fact.
I greatly appreciate your channel. Amazing content; so well written, narrated, illustrated, produced and presented.
I'll do what I can to support you.
Keep doing it.
Thanks
I have to say this video was a blast to watch! It blew my mind! It was pretty explosive!
I'm on fire after seeing this.
Smh
We've seen firsthand the destruction of a Mongol hand cannon thing. Remember to dodge or interrupt with the Moon stance when a brute takes aim.
Got did not have enemy's with guns
@@wingedhussar1453 The brutes carried portable cannons.
"Definitely do not mix salt peter, potassium nitrate, sulfur, coal and especially don't add arsenic to it."
*the entire world:*
_"actually-"_
Things I won't work with -
"Hold my Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane"
Also
*The entire world of Chemistry:* Arsenic??!!
Congrats on 2 million
You deserve it and more beacuse of this crazy good quality ❤❤
It would be very eye-opening for western audiences to continue to go over on with how gunpowder weapons technology was used in East Asian warfare after the Mongols, especially in the mid to late 14th century and 15th century in early Ming China, late Koryo & early Joseon Korea. The fast development of the use of gunpowder weaponry in naval warfare in East Asia against massive pirate invasions during the mid to late 14th century is the most interesting.
I was literally just researching Mongolian gun powder weapons like two week ago. Awesome!!
9:02 I love how the gate looks like it has a basketball net on it, for when "Boom goes the Dynamite" gets taken a little too literally.
When you give rocket/fire arrows to a civilization that mostly compose their army with horse archers...
Sounds like it’s really terrifying...
@@yulusleonard985 Interestingly nomads on Mongolian and Manchurian plains were never a single people. They were all military complex, like the Huns, The Xianbei (which contains some Hun tribes), The Turks (which contains Huns and Xianbei tribes), The Mogols (which contains Huns, Turks, Tatars, Jurchen tribes), The Manchurians (contains Mongol and Han Chinese)...
In the ancient Siberia, u wanna find whatever resources u can, including humans. And in wartime everyone on your side is your people. I guess that was the rule for those nomad military complexes.
earliest dragoons
Great video as usual best channel on UA-cam
Genghis: So Anyway, we started blasting...
There's a good book about the Mongols by an author named John Man and he talked about this a bit and other siege weapons they use. It's very interesting.
I love the music you use for the Mongols
Mongols: THIS IS MY BOOMSTICK!
"Guns don't kill people... I do!"
-Warcraft Rifleman
-Ramirez
guns kill people if accidentally ignited or triggered
@@cat3784 accidentally ignited you dont know jackshit about guns do you?
@@kalebloshbough1551 if pistol fall there's chance that pistol will shot
(but little)
4:09 A possible inspiration for the Fire Spears in the first two games of the Suikoden series.
They also invaded what is now modern Java and lost and inadvertantly made their enemies develop matchlocks and breech loading cannons
cetbang
Your Mongol education videos are astonishing
Tao: please guys don’t mix these materials
Chinese:Haha fire sprites go sprrrr
Taoism masters crying on their keyboards...
THE MONGOLS HAVE ARRIVED!!! jokes aside, as a mongolian who grew up in the US thanks for the history lessons about my country love ur contents!!!
The article was on the subject of medieval Mongol Army and the use of fireworks, not Mongolia People’s Republic, the modern state in between Russia and China. Your claim is similar to a Mexican rejoicing over any PBS special on the merits of Mayans, who happened to thrive with an empire in the southern part of modern Mexico.
@@kenh758 dude its still history
@@kenh758 are you ok bro ?
@@kenh758Mongolian People's Republic hasnt existed in over 30 years.
@@RemoveChink you are so right. The rejuvenated polity in Mongolia is to revert back to the traditional Mongolian script, to be compatible with their brethren in China’s Inner Mongolia, after ditching the last vestige of Soviet/Russian cultural imperialism, Cyrillic in official documents starting from 2025.
Good informative historical video!
Judging the volumes of Mongol contents on this channel, we can attest their history is fascinating!
Can you do a video on cultural transference from the mongol empire as well? Italian pasta and pierogis seem distinctly Asian.
Make a video on Mongol army intelligence
Seconded.
torture not allowed on youtube :D
This series reminded tat Mughals were called an Empire of Guns in India. They introduced canons to India. And it's fascinating tat Mughals are islamicized Mongols
Today the size of India is by Mongols
@C&M K even at its largest the Mughal empire didn’t include many parts of modern India. The Deep South and northeastern India for example
Sangram is Actually ABDUL 😂😂😂
Even kings and generals is afraid of using the famous word "THE MONGOLS ARE COMING" because they might actually show up to the channel 😂🤣😂
They have Mongolian subscribers, I'm one of them..
@@pragueexpat5106 what do you do in Mongolia?
@@olliefoxx7165 The horses are still around of course, but there are no castles or forts, there never was since we were nomads.
@@ReapWhatYaSow What do you mean?
@@pragueexpat5106 do you have a job? Are you a herder? What do you do there?
Yeah they had the gunpowder, explosives, compasses, maps, and papers as well as calenders
Gunpowder is what finally allowed agricultural societies to finally decisively defeat the steppe warriors.
Agreed, the Princes of Moscow went from being minor Mongol tax collectors to Tsar's ruling over most of Siberia because of gunpowder.
Absolutely. Not just Mongol, Steppe horse archers were bane of civilized societies since ancient times (Scythians, Parthians, Pechenegs, Huns, Magyars, Cumans, Kipchaks, Turks, Hephthalites etc). Gunpowder saved the world from their might.
This is simply wrong. Actually steppe warriors used guns too even in larger quantities. If you mean the US history, then again wrong. After 90% of the native population was killed by diseases, the technology gap became nonessential. And most native Americans lived in developed agricultural societies. The first time when guns were used as primary weapon was in the Ottoman army. And there were two main forces. The janissaries, infantry armed with guns, and the sipahis, that were actually semi-nomadic horsemen, armed with bows and spears. The cavalry was pretty effective up to the WWII. USSR almost conquered Poland after WWI with large cavalry forces.
@sebâstian turnayev Lmao No
In China we actually have a meme: With the end of cold weapon warfare, the nomad people went from "骁勇善战" (fierce and martial superior) to "能歌善舞" (singing and dancing superior).
Kings and generals thank you for beautiful videos that you post!
Please don't forget to post videos about
-Aristotle teaching Alexander the great
-Tengrism
-Islamic golden age (achievements,discoveries,philosophers)
-Wisdom and teachings of Plato,Socrates,Aristotle,and all greek and arabic philosophers
I'm waiting for....
Ironic. Gunpowder, the very thing that helped the Mongols established the Great Yuan eventually turned to created its own downfall in the hands of the Red Turban rebels.
@@SimonAshworthWood I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me. Forgive me for having read about the Golden Horde for a while.
The more ironic thing is for the Chinese. They invented gunpowder which Mongols used to conquer Song, and several centuries later the British used to force opium into Qing...
Yes, but mostly poor central government helped Red Turban rise, militarily they were almost annihilated several times
No, the Yuan would’ve fallen quite quickly regardless because of money and the outsider factor.
Today: Drive by.
Back then: Ride by
The Promo for Conquerors Blade, such a great game. Ive been playing since November. Absolute blast.
Thank you , K&G .
Yet another great video!
Amazing video, incredibly entertaining and informative!
This is great stuff this stuff is really going to help me finish my Fantasy novel
3:58 You've mentioned ARROW (Huojian；火箭), then at 4:10 you've talked about FIRE-LANCE (Huojiang). But in fact, fire-lance is HUO QIANG (Traditional Chinese: 火槍；Simplified Chinese: 火枪), not huojiang. Also, 火箭 should be FIRE ARROW, since it is different from traditional arrow (jian；箭), but you did correct this part at 6:02.
7:55 Flying-fire Spears (Fei Huo Qiang；飛火槍)
Amazing video like always!
A spear that shoots out poison gas at the enemy sounds like a great idea until you realise that wind exists
Awesome video!
its really cool you added the Mongol theme from civ 6
I always love this channel 💟 because this channel documentary about the East and West civilization and it successful with it people.
The introduction of gunpowder weaponry to Japan becomes even more interesting with this context. I wonder if they already had some knowledge of the more violent uses of gunpowder before the Portuguese came into the picture.
I see Kings and Generals video about the Mongols, I click.
Gun powder is not only the only chemical we Chinese bring to Persia. We also teach them the wonder of chemistry. Things like ice cream and snow bowl from the usage of Potassium nitrate and narcotic effect of mushroom and thorn apple etc
The earliest recipe for gunpowder recorded outside China by the Arabs was possibly transmitted by peaceful or innocent means. While the Mongol wars with Southern Song and with Europe were raging, sea trades between Indian Ocean nations and China were still going on. It's quite possible that Arab merchants (who had been trading with China since the Tang Dynasty) obtained such recipe out of curiosity by talking to a Song tradesman who happened to know how to make gunpowder. At that time, firecrackers, fireworks were commonly used by the Song citizens to celebrate festivals, big family events such as weddings, etc. The knowledge to make them was no state secret to the Songs but only to the Mongols.
As far as I know they used "rocket kinda things" in the Battle of Muhi against the Hungarian crossbowmen
Congratulations on 2 million
Great video today keep it up your doing amazing job
Claiming gunpowder will only be used for peaceful purposes is like Aladeen saying they will use their programme of enriching weapons-grade Uranium for peaceful purposes.
we must ban gun and gunpowder
scary, gun can kill people 😱😱
@@SimonAshworthWood it is a joke about the main character from the Movie Dictator
Its always amazing to reflect on western education that virtually every important discovery that made Europe, came from the East. Claims of discovery and ownership
rifling the barrel is hard thing not even west capable in 15th century
only in 18th century rifling popular
renaissance era is mix of islamic, classic, and east technology mixed
This is a fact known to anyone with a basic education. Everything comes from the East.
@@michiecraig3071 and that is why the West scratched their head of why China is so behind by the 19th century.
@@michiecraig3071 cope harder dummie
Next Video: Russian Army during Grand Duchy of Moscow
Unlikely
Lovely!!
Interesting
Next Video: Fall of Yuan dynasty/ XuDa's North expedition & reclaiming BeiJing
Great Content my friend!!!!
Your channel is absolutely wonderful.
I hope you you make a video about Nader Shah one day
Please do a video on Tipu Sultan, generally considered the father of modern rockets and missiles. Thanks
A video about erekle 2 (heraclius of georgia) one of the best millitary commanders in history
Make a Video on Kakatiya Dynasty (1083-1323)
awsome tnx for the great work ;)
Is that the Mongol theme from Civ 6 at the beginning, I hear?
First time catching a vid early on this channel, wohoo
Very interesting stuff!
Ian gave this channel a shoutout on Timcast IRL last night.
Though the Mongols used gunpowder, it ended the OP horse archer unit in the field and the armored musketeers became the new OP unit which was only replaced 200 years later by a rifle unit first used effectively in the American Revolution at the battle of Cowpens.
*Mongol video*
Non Mongolians: We've been summoned
Mongol soldier: “I want to set those people on fire but I’m way to far away to get the job done. If only there was a way to throw fire on them.”
Chinese engineer:
As a huge Mongol nerd and a Gunpowder enjoyer, i approve.
I love the correct spelling of Chinggis Khan's name
In Kamakura jidai, Japanese army suffered from thhe Mongol's bomb called,"Tetsuhau" in Japanese.Some say that this fire wepon was ued to make worriors upset. However, these days,the latest research show that Tetsuhau has the metal inside so as to injure or kill the enemy.
“I am the god of destruction!”
-Mongols
destruction ??? The mongols did the exact opposite during their great empire
@@thekhans2823 didn't they wipe out a significant percentage of the Earth's population during their conquests?
@ @@zxil6 , nope because 1% isn’t a “ significant percentage
@@thekhans2823 Wasn't it 10%? (Wiki numbers)
Edit:Also I don't think 1% is small, keep in mind that WW1 caused 1% of global pops to be killed and people were writing about how it was the most horrible thing to have happened in the history of mankind and called it the war to end all wars.
@@zxil6 . lol no.
Waiting for it from yesterday ☺️😊
Magnificent Job, would like more content on the work of Joseph Needham, he is very underrated and not known by many..
Imagine putting on a modern display of fireworks display to every corner of the ancient world. With an extra $.5 million worth of grand finale.
You are the only guy who almost makes me want to download what youre talking about 😂😂😂
I read some comments of Chinese rule of Mongols or weak Mongols,
1. United China appeared only with Mongols look at Yuan dynasty map and you understand
2. Expanded Russia appeared only with Mongols, what they did proclaimed Tsar or Khan as a supreme ruler of Sky
3. Funny but true fact: who dominate Sumo for past 2 decades only Mongols, so myth of dismounted Mongols just funny as non-technological Germans
Awesome stuff
So what materials did they use to make the fire lance (huojiang) that could shoot fire? And how could they use that effectively at horseback?( there are some image of fire lance cavalry, but this weapon is not very quick to shoot, thus not very good at charing against enemy compare to lance. And it is very inaccurate and short ranged, thus not very good at skrimshing compare to bow)
As to the fire lance I suggest it might be a similar idea to that used today to eject the parachute on model rockets - a small independent charge behind wadding to eject the payload and something to help light it, maybe a standard fuse or another method.
They likely couldn’t use it effectively. Remember that the weapons were experimental in nature regardless, and were largely confined to being shock and terror weapons until the 15th century.
God I love every video you release.
Is Guo Baoyu related to Guo Kan, a famous general under Mongol employ?
Yes! Guo Baoyu was Guo Kan's father.
Guo Bayou was direct descendant of Guo Ziyi
17:07 Even today the character 砲 (including a variant with 'fire' radical in place of 'stone' )still refers to either a catapult or cannon in any languages that uses Hanzi script (including the Japanese).
Yes, 砲 means bombard of any kind (catapult, trebuchet) whereas 炮 means cannon which actually involves gunpowder.
Good content thanks