In contemporary education and in our culture, "Mongols" is practically a synonym for barbarians, since for hundreds of years, the rulers of antiquity faced off with them constantly, both east and west. A distaste for the mongols is generally a worldwide phenomenon. When down syndrome was first being studied by the doctors of the past, in Europe and Asia, their explanation for the physiognomy of those with the affliction was that in their ancestry, a Mongol warrior had raped a woman, and his seed had brought itself in the child.
In literature, music, and movies, the Mongols are universally depicted as brutalizers, rapists, and killers. In reality, this is a misconception. The nomadic warrior culture exhibited by the mongols was built into them. They were efficient, strong, loyal, and honorable. They were the most strategic and intelligent fighters whom ever fought in a battlefield. Most modern armies can trace their tactics back to the Mongols. European and East Asian armies alike were amazed by their cunning ability and masterful tactics in battle. They defied all natural conventions of war and always came out on top. The culture of the Mongols then revolved entirely around war.
They lived exceptionally healthy lives. Their society and diet was perfect for the needs of the human body. They were the only society in the world which did not participate in Agriculture, instead subsisting mostly off of meat and dairy, as a result, they were stronger, taller, and lived longer lives than their counterparts of the era.
The mongols were benevolent rulers. Despite conquering almost a quarter of the earths land, they built no cities, forced no religion on to their subjects, took no taxes and had no slaves. The mongols were an extremely ethical and beneficial society. When conquering a city, they always gave their victims the option to surrender first with no bloodshed. To submit to Mongol rule and pay a tribute would be to live. To deny them meant certain destruction.
The mongols adversaries were often many times more numerous than them. The Chinese were more centralized, had far more people, and rigid command structures. Yet were defeated almost every time in battle by the warriors of the steppe. Unlike armies of then and of now, no Mongol soldier was a "disposable grunt" or cannon fodder. Every single soldier had the best equipment there was to offer, and was just as skilled as any other. On their horses they swept through entire continents. A Mongol soldier might kill as many as 40 enemies before his death, while his Chinese rival may kill only 1 or none at all before dying a unceremonious, undramatic death before he even may swing his sword.
The Mongols probably built more bridges than any other society on earth not only across rivers, but across cultures and nations, discovering more uncharted land and crossing more rivers than any empire before or after them. So efficient and powerful was their culture and society that at their peak, their empire stretched from Korea to Poland, and from India to Siberia, across all of China and the middle east, and into Arabia. Though they spurred the building of many castles and forts, the mongols did not leave behind many artifacts of their society, however the mark left by their existence is the foundation of our culture today. The mongols brought German Miners to China, and Chinese doctors and medicine to Europe and Persia. They brought noodles and dumplings from Asia to Eastern Europe and Italy, they spread the use of carpets everywhere they went. They brought playing cards, tea, and board games from China to the west. They financed the buildings of Christian churches in Russia, Buddhist temples in Cambodia, and Muslim Quranic Schools in central Asia. The mongols swept across the Globe as undefeated conquerors, but also as Civilizations unrivaled cultural carriers. The connectors of worlds.
The Mongols combined in new and novel ways the inventions of cultures on opposite sides of the world. Their innovation propelled the old world hundreds of years ahead of the cultures and societies in the Americas. When the Mongols brought their experienced engineers from China and the creators of gunpowder, with their subjects in Persia and their flamethrowers, and the ballcasters of Europe, they created the first Canon. A completely new invention which completely changed warfare forever, and later became the Musket, the precursor to today's rifles and firearms. They revolutionized alphabets, and calendars, and built more universities, libraries, and schools than the rest of the world combined at that time. The mongols created paper currency and universal education, and they sponsored the most extensive and accurate maps ever assembled, to chart their globe spanning empire. Genghis Khans grandson, Kublai Khan, was the first ruler in history to provide free schooling for all children, with his goal to make Mongol society 100% literate.
In nearly every society touched by the Mongols, the initial bloodshed and destruction of conquest, quickly faded and was replaced by unseen levels of cultural communication, expanded trade, and improved education, health, and happiness.
Their legacy lives on today in every single nation on earth. Their inventions, innovations, cultural creations, and institutions live on today. Despite their influence on the world, they built no monuments, statues, or tombs. Genghis Khan, the man who conquered one quarter of the worlds population, has no grave or burial site. He was buried in his homeland, somewhere in southern Siberia.