Places spared by the Mongols

Why were the rich regions of India and Southeast Asia spared from Mongol conquest? Did they actually invade and were repulsed? If not, why then did they instead conquer the relatively less wealthy regions of Russia and Eastern Europe?

Weren't the Mughals Mongols or were they Turks?  I forgot how to spell it, Mughals or Moghals.  Well anyway, they conquered India.

They actually did try and conquer South East Asia. Vietnam, as always, was a particularly hard nut. The Vietnamese repulsed the Mongols three times and maintained effective independence.

Why not India then? If I am not mistaken, India was extremely wealthy, though perhaps not in the same league as China. Why invade the poor, backwards Europeans when you could take the wealth of a region like India?

If Alexander the Great had a hard time conquering India, so would the Mongols.  In terms of terrain and climate, India was much harder to conquer than China or Persia.  Russia, however, was better suited for Mongol conquest because of its vast steppes.  Mongol warfare, at least in the beginning, relied heavily on cavalry.  Most of India was unsuited for massive cavalry expeditions.  It was a wise decision not to take over India, for even if the Mongols did succeed in battle, they would have a difficult time maintaing their hold in India.  As to Southeast Asia, the Yuan Dynasty did initiate campaigns in Burma and Vietnam, but to little success (and the Mongls relied mostly on non-Mongol infantry during the incursions.)

Originally posted by Belisarius The Mughals were not Mongols per se. They were a mixed race of Mongols, Turkomens, Persians and Afghans. They were not part of the Mongol Empire as Timur Lenk's empire was not part of the Mongol Empire.

This is incorrect. The Moguls who concurred India had nothing to do with Persians and Afgans. They were Turkish and Mongol tribes, brought together by Cengiz Khan.

Tim�r was from a Mongol clan, the Barulas clan. he was ethnically a Mongol but his clan was of course Turkified. he was a Transoxanian if anything.