Final answer:
The Mongol conquests were limited by effective resistance from local armies, a lack of naval experience, and internal conflicts. Environmental and logistical challenges also posed significant hurdles in regions such as South Asia.
Step-by-step explanation:
Factors Limiting Mongol Conquests
Several factors prevented the Mongols from extending their conquests further into South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Successful resistance by local armies, such as the Mamluks in Egypt, posed significant challenges. Lack of naval expertise hindered Mongol advances in regions requiring sea invasion or where river systems played a crucial role, such as in southern China. Furthermore, internal conflict and succession disputes consumed resources and attention, limiting their ability to continue expansion.
In areas like South Asia, environmental challenges such as the long summer rain and endemic diseases made extended campaigns difficult. Combined with difficulties in logistics and the ability of settled societies to eventually mount effective defenses, these factors collectively impeded Mongol advances in these regions.
While the Mongol army's discipline and cavalry tactics were effective on the steppes and in land-based conquests, their lack of technological advancements in naval warfare and the complex logistics of sustained overseas campaigns ultimately restricted their expansion in maritime Southeast Asia and beyond.