The name of Genghis Khan has long become a household name. It is a symbol of devastation and colossal wars. The Mongol ruler created an empire whose size amazed the imagination of his contemporaries.
Childhood
The future Genghis Khan, whose biography has many blank spots, was born somewhere on the border modern Russia and Mongolia. They named him Temujin. He adopted the name Genghis Khan as a designation of the title of ruler of the vast Mongol empire.
Historians have never been able to accurately calculate the date of birth of the famous commander. Various estimates place it between 1155 and 1162. This inaccuracy is due to the lack of reliable sources relating to that era.
Genghis Khan was born into the family of one of the Mongol leaders. His father was poisoned by the Tatars, after which the child began to be persecuted by other contenders for power in his native uluses. In the end, Temujin was captured and forced to live with stocks placed around his neck. This symbolized the slave position of the young man. Temujin managed to escape from captivity by hiding in the lake. He was underwater until his pursuers began looking for him elsewhere.
Unification of Mongolia
Many Mongols sympathized with the escaped prisoner who was Genghis Khan. The biography of this man is a vivid example of how a commander created a huge army from scratch. Once free, he was able to enlist the support of one of the khans named Tooril. This elderly ruler gave his daughter to Temuchin as his wife, thereby cementing an alliance with the talented young military leader.
Very soon the young man was able to meet the expectations of his patron. Together with his army, ulus after ulus. He was distinguished by his uncompromisingness and cruelty towards his enemies, which terrified his enemies. His main enemies were the Tatars, who dealt with his father. Genghis Khan ordered his subjects to destroy all these people, except for children, whose height did not exceed the height of a cart wheel. The final victory over the Tatars occurred in 1202, when they became harmless to the Mongols, united under the rule of Temujin.
Temujin's new name
In order to officially consolidate his leading position among his fellow tribesmen, the leader of the Mongols convened a kurultai in 1206. This council proclaimed him Genghis Khan (or Great Khan). It was under this name that the commander went down in history. He managed to unite the warring and scattered uluses of the Mongols. The new ruler gave them the only goal - to extend their power to neighboring peoples. Thus began the aggressive campaigns of the Mongols, which continued after Temujin’s death.
Genghis Khan's reforms
Soon reforms began, initiated by Genghis Khan. The biography of this leader is very informative. Temujin divided the Mongols into thousands and tumens. These administrative units together made up the Horde.
The main problem that could hinder Genghis Khan was internal hostility among the Mongols. Therefore, the ruler mixed numerous clans among themselves, depriving them of the previous organization that had existed for dozens of generations. It bore fruit. The horde became manageable and obedient. At the head of the tumens (one tumen included ten thousand warriors) were people loyal to the khan, who unquestioningly obeyed his orders. The Mongols were also attached to their new units. For moving to another tumen, those who disobeyed faced the death penalty. Thus, Genghis Khan, whose biography shows him as a far-sighted reformer, was able to overcome the destructive tendencies within Mongolian society. Now he could engage in external conquests.
Chinese campaign
By 1211, the Mongols managed to subjugate all the neighboring Siberian tribes. They were characterized by poor self-organization and could not repel the invaders. The first real test for Genghis Khan on distant frontiers was the war with China. This civilization had been at war with the northern nomads for many centuries and had enormous military experience. One day, the guards on the Great Wall of China saw foreign troops led by Genghis Khan (a short biography of the leader cannot do without this episode). This fortification system was impregnable to previous uninvited guests. However, it was Temujin who was the first to take possession of the wall.
The Mongol army was divided into three parts. Each of them set out to conquer hostile cities in their own direction (in the south, southeast and east). Genghis Khan himself reached with his army all the way to the sea. He made peace. The losing ruler agreed to recognize himself as a tributary of the Mongols. For this he received Beijing. However, as soon as the Mongols retreated back to the steppes, the Chinese emperor moved his capital to another city. This was regarded as treason. The nomads returned to China and again filled it with blood. In the end, this country was subjugated.
Conquest of Central Asia
The next region that came under Temujin's attack was the local Muslim rulers who did not resist the Mongol hordes for long. Because of this, the biography of Genghis Khan is studied in detail in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan today. Summary his biography is taught in every school.
In 1220, the khan captured Samarkand, the oldest and richest city in the region.
The next victims of the nomadic aggression were the Polovtsians. These steppe inhabitants asked some Slavic princes for help. So in 1223, Russian warriors first met the Mongols at the Battle of Kalka. The battle between the Polovtsy and the Slavs was lost. Temujin himself was in his homeland at that time, but closely monitored the success of his subordinates' weapons. Genghis Khan, Interesting Facts whose biographies are collected in various monographs, received the remnants of this army, which returned to Mongolia in 1224.
Death of Genghis Khan
In 1227, during the siege of the Tangut capital, he died. A brief biography of the leader, set out in any textbook, will certainly tell about this episode.
The Tanguts lived in northern China and, despite the fact that the Mongols had long since subjugated them, rebelled. Then Genghis Khan himself led the army, which was supposed to punish the disobedient.
According to the chronicles of that time, the leader of the Mongols hosted a delegation of Tanguts who wanted to discuss the terms of the surrender of their capital. However, Genghis Khan felt ill and refused the ambassadors an audience. He died soon after. It is not known exactly what caused the leader’s death. Perhaps it was a matter of age, since the khan was already seventy years old, and he could hardly endure long campaigns. There is also a version that he was stabbed to death by one of his wives. The mysterious circumstances of the death are also complemented by the fact that researchers still cannot find Temujin’s grave.
Heritage
There is little reliable evidence left about the empire that Genghis Khan founded. The biography, campaigns and victories of the leader - all this is known only from fragmentary sources. But the significance of the Khan’s actions is difficult to overestimate. He created the largest state in human history, spread over the vast expanse of Eurasia.
Temujin's descendants developed his success. Thus, his grandson Batu led an unprecedented campaign against the Russian principalities. He became the ruler of the Golden Horde and imposed tribute on the Slavs. But the empire founded by Genghis Khan was short-lived. At first it split into several uluses. These states were eventually captured by their neighbors. Therefore, it was Genghis Khan Khan, whose biography is known to any educated person, who became a symbol of Mongol power.
According to the historical chronicles that have reached us, Great Khan The Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan, made incredible conquests around the world. No one before or after him managed to compare with this ruler in the greatness of his conquests. The years of life of Genghis Khan are 1155/1162 to 1227. As you can see, there is no exact date of birth, but the day of death is very well known - August 18.
The years of Genghis Khan's reign: general description
In a short time, he managed to create a huge Mongol Empire, stretching from the shores of the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Wild nomads from Central Asia, armed only with bows and arrows, managed to conquer civilized and much better armed empires. Genghis Khan's conquests were accompanied by unimaginable atrocities and massacres of civilians. Cities that came across the path of the horde of the great Mongol emperor were often leveled to the ground when disobedient. It also happened that, by the will of Genghis Khan, it was necessary to change river beds, flowering gardens turned into piles of ashes, and agricultural lands into pastures for the horses of his warriors.
What is the phenomenal success of the Mongol army? This question continues to concern historians today. In the past, Genghis Khan’s personality was endowed with supernatural powers, and it was believed that he was helped in everything by otherworldly forces with whom he made a deal. But, apparently, he had a very strong character, charisma, remarkable intelligence, as well as incredible cruelty, which helped him subjugate peoples. He was also an excellent strategist and tactician. He, like the Goth Atilla, was called “the scourge of God.”
What the great Genghis Khan looked like. Biography: childhood
Few people knew that the great Mongol ruler had green eyes and red hair. Such features of appearance have nothing to do with Mongoloid race. This suggests that mixed blood flows in his veins. There is a version that he is 50% European.
The year of birth of Genghis Khan, who was named Temujin when he was born, is approximate, since it is marked differently in different sources. It is preferable to believe that he was born in 1155, on the banks of the Onon River, which flows through the territory of Mongolia. Genghis Khan's great-grandfather was called Khabul Khan. He was a noble and wealthy leader and ruled all the Mongol tribes and successfully fought with his neighbors. Temujin's father was Yesugei Bagatur. Unlike his grandfather, he was the leader of not all, but most of the Mongol tribes with a total population of 40 thousand yurts. His people were the complete masters of the fertile valleys between Kerulen and Onon. Yesugei-Bagatur was a magnificent warrior; he fought, subjugating the Tatar tribes.
The story of the cruel tendencies of the Khan
There is a certain tale of cruelty, the main character of which is Genghis Khan. His biography, since childhood, has been a chain of inhuman actions. So, at the age of 9, he returned from a hunt with a lot of prey and killed his brother, who wanted to snatch a piece of his share. He often became furious when someone wanted to treat him unfairly. After this incident, the rest of the family began to be afraid of him. Probably, it was from then on that he realized that he could keep people in fear, but to do this he needed to prove himself cruelly and show everyone his true nature.
Youth
When Temujin was 13 years old, he lost his father, who was poisoned by the Tatars. The leaders of the Mongol tribes did not want to obey the young son of Yesugei Khan and took their peoples under the protection of another ruler. As a result, their large family, headed by the future Genghis Khan, was left completely alone, wandering through forests and fields, feeding on the gifts of nature. Their property consisted of 8 horses. In addition, Temujin sacredly kept the family “bunchuk” - a white banner with the tails of 9 yaks, which symbolized 4 large and 5 small yurts belonging to his family. The banner featured a hawk. After some time, he learned that Targutai had become his father’s successor and that he wanted to find and destroy the son of the deceased Yesugei-Bagatura, since he saw him as a threat to his power. Temujin was forced to hide from persecution by the new leader of the Mongol tribes, but he was captured and taken prisoner. Nevertheless, the brave young man managed to escape from captivity, find his family and hide with her in the forests from his pursuers for another 4 years.
Marriage
When Temujin was 9 years old, his father chose a bride for him - a girl from their tribe named Borte. And so, at the age of 17, he, taking with him one of his friends, Belgutai, came out of hiding and went to the camp of his bride’s father, reminded him of the word given to Yesugei Khan and took the beautiful Borte as his wife. It was she who accompanied him everywhere, bore him 9 children and with her presence graced the years of Genghis Khan’s life. According to information that has reached us, he later had a gigantic harem, which consisted of five hundred wives and concubines, whom he brought from various campaigns. Of these, five were the main wives, but only Borte Fujin bore the title of empress and remained his most respectable and senior wife throughout her life.
The story of Borte's kidnapping
There is information in the chronicles that after Temujin married Borta, she was kidnapped by the Merkits, wanting to take revenge for the theft of the beautiful Hoelun, Genghis Khan’s mother, which was committed by his father 18 years ago. The Merkits kidnapped Borte and gave her to Hoelun's relatives. Temujin was furious, but he had no opportunity to attack the Merkit tribe alone and recapture his beloved. And then he turned to the Kerait Khan Togrul - the sworn brother of his father - with a request to help him. To the joy of the young man, the khan decides to help him and attacks the tribe of kidnappers. Soon Borte returns to her beloved husband.
Growing up
When did Genghis Khan manage to gather the first warriors around him? The biography includes information that his first adherents were from the steppe aristocracy. He was also joined by Christian Keraits and the Chinese government in order to fight against the Tatars who had strengthened their positions from the shores of Lake Buir-nor, and then against the former friend of the Khan Zhamukh, who stood at the head of the democratic movement. In 1201, the khan was defeated. However, after this, a quarrel occurred between Temujin and the Kerait khan, since he began to support their common enemy and attracted some of Temujin’s adherents to his side. Of course, Genghis Khan (at that time he did not yet bear this title) could not leave the traitor unpunished and killed him. After this, he managed to take possession of all of Eastern Mongolia. And when Zhamukha restored the Western Mongols, called Naimans, against Temujin, he defeated them too and united all of Mongolia under his rule.
Coming to absolute power
In 1206, he proclaimed himself emperor of all Mongolia and took the title Genghis Khan. From this date, his biography begins to tell the story of a series of great conquests, brutal and bloody reprisals against rebellious peoples, which led to the expansion of the country’s borders to unprecedented proportions. Soon more than 100 thousand warriors gathered under Temujin’s family banner. The title Chinggis Kha-Khan meant that he was the greatest of rulers, that is, the ruler of everyone and everything. Many years later, historians called the years of Genghis Khan’s reign the bloodiest in the entire history of mankind, and he himself - the great “conqueror of the world” and “conqueror of the Universe,” “king of kings.”
Taking over the whole world
Mongolia has become the most powerful military country in Central Asia. Since then, the word “Mongols” has come to mean “victors.” The remaining peoples who did not want to obey him were mercilessly exterminated. To him they were like weeds. Moreover, he believed that the best method to get rich is war and robbery, and religiously followed this principle. Genghis Khan's conquests indeed increased the country's power significantly. His work was continued by his sons and grandsons, and as a result, countries began to be included in the Great Mongol Empire Central Asia, Northern and Southern parts of China, Afghanistan and Iran. Genghis Khan's campaigns were directed towards Rus', Hungary, Poland, Moravia, Syria, Georgia and Armenia, the territory of Azerbaijan, which in those years did not exist as a state. The chroniclers of these countries talk about terrible barbaric plunders, beatings and rapes. Wherever the Mongol army went, Genghis Khan's campaigns brought devastation with them.
Great Reformer
Genghis Khan, after becoming Emperor of Mongolia, first of all carried out military reform. The commanders who participated in the campaigns began to receive awards, the size of which corresponded to their merits, while before him the award was given by right of birth. The soldiers in the army were divided into dozens, which united into hundreds, and those into thousands. Young men and boys from fourteen to seventy years of age were considered liable for military service.
A police guard was created to keep order, consisting of 100,000 soldiers. In addition to her, there was a ten-thousand-strong guard of the emperor’s personal bodyguards “keshiktash” and his yurt. It consisted of noble warriors devoted to Genghis Khan. 1000 Keshiktash were bagaturs - the warriors closest to the khan.
Some of Genghis Khan's reforms carried out in Mongol army in the 13th century, subsequently used by all armies of the world even today. In addition, by decree of Genghis Khan, a military charter was created, for violation of which there were two types of punishment: execution and exile to the north of Mongolia. Punishment, by the way, was due to the warrior who did not help a comrade in need.
The laws in the charter were called “Yasa”, and their guardians were the descendants of Genghis Khan. In the horde, the great kagan had two guards - day and night, and the warriors included in them were completely devoted to him and obeyed him exclusively. They stood above the command staff of the Mongol army.
Children and grandchildren of the great kagan
The clan of Genghis Khan is called the Genghisids. These are direct descendants of Genghis Khan. From his first wife, Borte, he had 9 children, of which four were sons, that is, continuers of the family. Their names: Jochi, Ogedei, Chagatai and Tolui. Only these sons and their offspring (male) had the right to inherit higher authority in the Mongol state and bear the family title of Genghisids. Besides Borte, Genghis Khan, as already noted, had about 500 wives and concubines, and each of them had children from their lord. This meant that their number could exceed 1000. The most famous of Genghis Khan’s descendants was his great grandson - Batu Khan, or Batu. According to genetic studies, in modern world several million men are carriers of the genes of the great Mongol Kagan. Some of the government dynasties of Asia descended from Genghis Khan, for example, the Chinese Yuan family, the Kazakh, North Caucasian, South Ukrainian, Persian and even Russian Genghisids.
- They say that at birth, the great kagan had a blood clot in his palm, which, according to Mongolian belief, is a sign of greatness.
- Unlike many Mongols, he was tall, had green eyes and red hair, which indicated that European blood flowed in his veins.
- In the entire history of mankind, the Mongol Empire during the reign of Genghis Khan was the greatest state and had borders from of Eastern Europe to the Pacific Ocean.
- He had the largest harem in the world.
- 8% of men of the Asian race are descendants of the Great Kagan.
- Genghis Khan was responsible for the death of more than forty million people.
- The grave of the great ruler of Mongolia is still unknown. There is a version that it was flooded by changing the river bed.
- He was named after his father's enemy, Temujin-Uge, whom he defeated.
- It is believed that his eldest son was not conceived by him, but is a descendant of his wife's abductor.
- Golden Horde consisted of warriors of the peoples he conquered.
- After the Persians executed his ambassador, Genghis Khan massacred 90% of Iran's population.
The great ruler Genghis Khan is a Mongol conqueror who united the Mongol people and conquered many countries.
During the reign of Genghis Khan, a huge Mongol empire was created. He was born around 1162. Genghis Khan's father was the leader of one of the tribes that lived in Mongolia. When the Great Khan was born, his father named him Temujin, in honor of one of his overthrown rivals. At the age of nine, Temujin was left without a father. His father was killed by one of the warriors of the warring tribe. For many years, Genghis Khan's family lived in fear. The beginning of difficulties came to Temujin in early childhood, but he survived, and there were more difficult trials along the way.
At a young age, he was captured by a rival tribe. He was kept on a chain, and a wooden collar was put on his neck - this was so that he would not run away. Captivity turned Temujin from a helpless youth into strong in spirit and the will of a man. Over time, he became a powerful conqueror on earth. His fame came to him when he escaped from enemy captivity.
Teaming up with Tokhril, who was a friend of his father, gave Temujin a good position. Tokhril was a tribal leader and relative of Genghis Khan. At that time, there were small wars between tribes in Mongolia. During the internecine wars, Temujin gradually made his way to the peak of glory. Many tribes learned about him.
Warriors from the Mongol tribe were known as excellent horsemen and brave warriors. They raided the northern part of China. But while Temujin was not khan, many tribes wasted their strength and resources on wars against each other. Having adopted different tactics - heroism in battle, a diplomatic approach, ruthlessness and organizational talent, Temujin was able to unite all the tribes in 1206. The Council of Mongolian elders named him Genghis Khan - “great khan” and proclaimed him the khan of the entire united tribe. Genghis Khan created a huge army, which he sent to neighboring countries.
The Xi-Xia state is marked on the map with symbols XI XIA
First military attack was produced for the state of Xi-Xia, which was located in the northwestern part of China. Afterwards, the horde went to the state of Jin, the northern region of China. During the capture of the Chinese regions, the Khorezmshah Muhammad and Genghis Khan quarrel, and the conflict between them increases. Khorezmshah Muhammad - ruler of Persia and Central Asia. And so in 1219, the horde of Chinggi Khan went to war against the Khorezmshah. The Mongol horde devastated the Persian lands and Central Asia, and the empire of the Khorezm Shah was torn to shreds.
At that time, a large Khan's army invaded Rus'. Then Genghis Khan went to war in Afghanistan and Northern India. The Great Khan returned to his native lands in 1225 and died in Mongolia in 1227. On the verge of death, the Great Khan handed over his government to his third son Ogedei.
This choice was reasonable, because Ogedei was a brilliant warrior and a strong military leader. During his reign, the Mongol horde continued its progressive actions in the Heavenly Empire (China), conquered almost all of Rus', and attacked European countries. 1241 is a year of enormous conquests. The Mongols defeated armies of Hungarian, German and Polish soldiers. The horde passed far beyond Budapest. But in the same year, the great ruler Ogedei dies, and the Mongol army leaves Europe forever.
After strong rulers in Mongolia, there was a pause, during which the Mongol leaders chose who would take the place of the Great Ruler. Under the next two khans, who were the grandsons of Genghis Khan - Kublai and Monak, the passage of the Mongols into Asian lands resumed.
Kublai Khan
In 1279, Kublai Khan completed his victory over China, and the Mongols held the largest territory in their history. The Mongol Empire included the following countries: Central Asia, East Asia, Rus', China, Persia. Kublai Khan's army raided Poland and the northern regions of India with great success. In Korea, Tibet, and parts of Southeast Asia, the sovereignty of the domains of Kublai Khan existed.
But the domination of the highest scale could not last with the communications that were primitive at that time, and the Mongol empire soon suffered a split. But even after the split Mongol rule lasted a long time in some countries. In 1368, a huge number of Mongols were expelled from China. There was a long reign in Rus'. The Great Golden Horde (that was the name of the Mongol Empire, which was founded by the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan) lasted until the sixteenth century, and in the Crimea the Khanate existed until 1783.
Other sons and descendants of Genghis Khan were the founders of dynasties. They ruled in Central Asia and Persia. These two territories were conquered by Timur (Tamerlane), he claimed that he was a true descendant of Genghis Khan and that true Mongol blood flowed in him. But by the end of the fifteenth century, Tamerlane’s empire had fallen. But this still did not put an end to the conquest and rule of the Mongols. In India, the Mongol dynasty was founded by Tamerlane's great-great-grandson, Babur. The Mongol government in India lasted until the mid-eighteenth century.
History has a number of individuals who tried to take over the whole world and they achieved tremendous success. The most famous conquerors of history: Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler. Why do these four individuals occupy such a great position in historical moments? Isn't the army itself anything important? Without further ado, I agree with the idea that the pen ultimately defeats the dagger. Each of the legendary four ruled vast territories and had such a huge impact on the existence of their contemporaries that it is impossible to dismiss them all as ordinary bandits. History has revealed to us many heroes and many conquerors.
In the 13th century, Rus' was attacked by the troops of Khan Batu, after which the Mongol-Tatar yoke began. However, here’s the question: why are these invaders called Mongol-Tatars? Who were they really and what did they call themselves? In addition, the definition, consisting of two ethnonyms “Mongols” and “Tatars”, appeared relatively recently - in the 19th century. What were their names called by their contemporaries from Europe and Asia?
Wild, white and black
The famous historian Lev Gumilev recognized the fact that an ethnic group and its name do not always correspond to each other. This happened with the Tatars. In the 8th century it was a small tribe that roamed the Baikal region. But over time it grew, and three centuries later the community called the Tatars already included about 30 clans. They all lived in the basin of the Kerulen River, which flows through the territory of modern Mongolia.
Since the Tatars lived on the lands bordering China, the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire began to call all the tribes of nomads that settled from Great Wall to Siberia. That is, according to the Chinese, the Tatars were Mongolian, Turkic-speaking tribes, as well as inhabitants of the taiga.
Therefore, it is not surprising that local chronicles divide the Tatars into three categories: black, wild and white. In the first group, the chroniclers of the Celestial Empire included the Tungus, Yakuts, Buryats and other peoples of Siberia. People whose main activity was hunting were considered wild by Chinese authors, and wrote so in their historical works. The White Tatars included the Tatars themselves, who lived near the Great Wall. They were heavily culturally influenced by their neighbors: they wore silk clothes, followed the teachings of Confucius, and were familiar with hieroglyphic writing. The Chinese often hired these people to protect their borders from attacks by warlike nomads, considering the White Tatars to be more civilized.
As you already understood, the chroniclers of the Celestial Empire included the Mongolian tribes in the first category. The so-called “black Tatars” were engaged in cattle breeding. They resisted “cultivation” by the Chinese and highly valued their identity and freedom. And those who were ready to become like their rich and influential neighbors for money, trying to achieve the title of civilized people among them, were openly despised by the Mongols.
They were often at enmity with the Tatars (White Tatars, according to the Chinese classification). Both tribes carried out predatory raids on each other, and the steppe was always restless.
Since it was the Chinese who meticulously kept records in those days, later residents of all other countries also mistakenly began to call the Mongols Tatars. Although these were different peoples, this is evidenced by their mentality and way of life.
They made mistakes in Europe too
Following their Chinese colleagues, Russian chroniclers made the same mistake. Throughout the entire existence of the Golden Horde, the authors of medieval chronicles, which were written in various principalities, persistently and unambiguously called the invaders Tatars.
Representatives of many peoples conquered by the Mongols served in the army of Batu Khan, which attacked Russian lands in 1236. There were also Tatars among them, but not many. However, European merchants, who often dealt with the Chinese, buying goods delivered along the Great Silk Road, adopted their use of in a broad sense ethnonym "Tatars". And even before the famous invasion of Batu’s troops, this name was assigned to all nomads living in Asia.
In the 19th century, wanting to correct the mistake, Russian and European historians began to call the invaders Mongol-Tatars, which caused even more confusion. Based on the logic of this designation, it turned out that Rus' was captured by two peoples who were in a friendly alliance, which was not at all true.
We are Mongols
It is clear that the Mongols themselves would never and would never call themselves Tatars: this contradicts the self-awareness of the nomads.
As you know, the founder of the huge empire Temujin (Temuchin) was the son of Yesugei-Baghatur and came from the Borjigin clan of the Kiyat tribe of the Mongol people. He subjugated all the neighboring tribes of nomadic herders and in 1206 convened a kurultai (a congress of representatives of various Mongol clans), at which he was proclaimed Genghis Khan. Then the scattered and warring tribes united for the first time. And it was accepted historic decision about the beginning of aggressive campaigns on the lands of other peoples.
Speaking at the kurultai after the official assumption of supreme power, Genghis Khan called his people the Keke Mongols, which can be roughly translated as “the happiness of heaven” or “heavenly happiness.” So the ruler wanted to make it clear to his subjects that under his rule the Mongols would follow the will of higher powers.
Myngu or Tatanians?
The Chinese often distorted and altered the names of neighboring peoples. Therefore, they called the Tatars “ta-ta”, or even “da-da”. And the ethnonym “Myngu” (Mongols) was first mentioned in the chronicle “ Old story Tang Dynasty" dated 945. It is noteworthy that it says “myngu da-da,” that is, Mongol-Tatars. Maybe that's when the confusion began?
And although Genghis Khan officially called his empire “Eke Mongol Ulus” (Great Country of the Mongols), the authors of Chinese historical chronicles with enviable consistency continued their tradition and called the state founded by the legendary commander “House of Tatan” (Country of the Tatars). This continued until the 16th century.
The persistent use of an erroneous ethnonym is all the more surprising since Temujin in 1202 almost completely exterminated all the Tatars. Since this tribe was often at enmity with the ancestors and relatives of the legendary commander, Genghis Khan, having defeated him, together with his inner circle, made a tough decision on his complete extermination. There was no Geneva Convention regulating the treatment of prisoners of war at that time, and the memory of the misfortunes experienced during the Tatar raids was strong. The Mongols made an exception only for small children, as well as some young and beautiful women who were taken as concubines.
Subsequently, the handful of surviving Tatars were forced to join the Mongol army and serve their invaders. If they were in the troops of Khan Batu, who conquered Rus' in the 13th century, then clearly not in such numbers as to speak of a union of two peoples.
An interesting fact is that modern Tatars - Kazan, Astrakhan, Siberian, Crimean - are representatives different nations, formed on the fragments of the Golden Horde. All of them went through a difficult path of ethnogenesis, but they have practically nothing to do with the tribe killed by the troops of Genghis Khan in 1202.
UDC 94 (4); 94(517) 73
BBK 63.3 (0)4(5Mon)
G.G. Pikov
13TH CENTURY EUROPEANS ABOUT THE MONGOL EMPIRE AND GENGIGI KHAN
The views of European authors of the 13th century are analyzed. on the history and culture of the Mongols who created the Eurasian empire. The focus is on the reasons for the strengthening of the Mongols, cultural features, and the results of conquests. Special attention Europeans paid attention to the Mongolian phenomenon in general and to the image of Genghis Khan.
culture, Mongol conquests, civilization, Genghis Khan.
The formation of the Mongol Empire made a huge impression on contemporaries. Already in the 13th century. Specific images of the Mongols and their leader Genghis Khan, the “Shaker of the Universe” (East Asian, Mongol-Siberian, Islamic, European) emerged, largely contradicting each other. Among the sources on the topic of interest to us, a number of works stand out in which attempts are made to create a kind of encyclopedic codes about the Mongols and relationships with them - Giovanni Plano del Carpini, Willem de Rubruck, Roger Bacon, Marco Polo. The “Book” of Marco Polo has been studied for a long time and thoroughly: .
European sources are also interesting because the continent retained freedom and reacted to the newcomers not so much emotionally as logically, paying attention to the place of these events in “sacred history”, i.e. their connection with the general civilizational paradigm. For the first time, perhaps, an attempt was made to see events as a fact of universal human or “world” history. The meeting of two civilizations always gives rise to the need, comprehending the unexpected appearance of “strangers,” to connect them with one’s own history, to find them a “niche” in the chain of significant events consecrated by traditions and religion.
Throughout its history, Europe has experienced a very strong cultural and information siege. Muslim culture presented its original interpretation of the Greco-Roman “ancient” ideas traditional for the Christian world and the Judeo-Christian religious tradition, which repeatedly sharply strengthened the “heretical” sentiments within European culture. The Mongols, this, from the Christian point of view, “unclean people” (gens immunda), were able to
to do overnight what Europeans could not achieve for a millennium, namely, to subjugate all of Asia. They did this with the help of force, and not “words,” because the Europeans did not see “culture” among the nomads at all.
This reflected the hostility inherent in the initially sedentary agricultural peoples towards the pastoral nomadic communities. The history of the study of nomads passed through numerous worldview and ideological “filters” of sedentary civilizations. Almost all Latin authors emphasized the inconsistency of nomads with all conceivable criteria of civilization. It is no coincidence that P. Carpini wrote about the Mongols as people who, by European standards, existed on the brink of survival. But there, as they already knew in the Middle Ages, there was also a powerful Qin Empire, ruled by Qin Shi Huangdi, and “Catay,” whose ruler was the Great Khan. It's a scarecrow medieval Europe, which does not yet clearly understand what to expect from trans-Islamic Asia - a military strike or a cultural attack.
It is worth noting that the first reaction of Europeans to the Mongols testifies to the Europeans’ understanding of the centuries-old connection between external challenges and internal problems and a vision of the systemic nature of the crisis that has engulfed the entire Christian world. Examples of such an understanding can already be found in the Bible, where the idea is clearly conveyed that the enemy will not come to the country that is “strong”, where there is “faith”, that is, there is ethnic and cultural cohesion. Latin authors actively use the Bible to identify the Mongols with any of the already known peoples. The first in this series were Gog and Magog.
Plano Carpini did not understand the reason for the incomprehensible and unacceptable religious tolerance of the Mongols for medieval Catholics. For a European this is evidence
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the existence of “paganism”, with which Christians have struggled throughout their history. Paganism is not just polytheism, but, in fact, a situation of a clash of many cultures (“pandemonium of the gods”) and information chaos. It periodically arises in the history of any civilization and is ultimately perceived as an intolerable crisis and a manifestation of anti-civilizational development. The religious tolerance of the Mongols will become for Europeans the main evidence of their lack of the possibility of development in a civilized way. The collapse of the Mongol Empire, from the point of view of Latin authors, is decisive proof of its artificial rather than divine origin. Hence, in many respects, also the idea of the fundamental difference between nomads and sedentary peoples, the perception of them as bandits.
The Mongols violate, first of all, criminal law, but since the time of Moses it has been one of the foundations of civilization. Europe sees in Genghis Khan not just an “alien,” but an “other.” Europeans begin to write their works when conquests have actually ceased and a new geopolitical situation has been established. The young Catholic civilization was defeated in its desire to establish its dominance even over the Abrahamic space, which remained under Muslim rule. In addition, both traditional worlds, Christian and Muslim, must adapt to the new Asian “masters” - the Turks and Mongols. The Catholic “revolution” was victorious only within the European subcontinent; as a result, Europe was forced to abandon the extensive (“feudal”) development option and try to choose new methods and means of solving a complex of problems of the transition period.
If we take into account the Renaissance ideas that were emerging in Europe at that time with their cult of the hero, then the very appearance of the figure of Genghis Khan was a serious information challenge for European culture. Another paradox was that, perhaps for the first time, Europe recognized a hero who did not come from the Mediterranean or Christian zones.
Already in the 13th century. The main body of works about Genghis Khan was formed. The common thing that unites all these works is the image of a great conqueror with an emphasis on organizational skills, psychological characteristics, biography, struggle. Europeans are willing to use information
Latin travelers, but ultimately the image of Genghis Khan in the European consciousness went from Hero to Bandit.
It is worth noting the variety of genres and perspectives used to describe the Mongols. These are reports of ambassadors (Rubruk, Carpini), scholastic “sums” (R. Bacon) and even a kind of “novel” (“book” by M. Polo), the latter became a kind of encyclopedia about nomads and a program of attitude towards them. It contained all the knowledge about nomadic peoples that Christians should have. European rulers (king, pope) and even simple people, if we recall the extraordinary popularity of the notes of the Italian M. Polo.
It means that new world interests many, it is incomprehensible, and European culture is undertaking a powerful intellectual assault on the new phenomenon, trying to compile some kind of encyclopedic essay about it. The papal ambassador P. Carpini is interested, first of all, in church and religious problems and the interests of the Roman Curia, the royal ambassador G. Rubruk is interested in political nuances, and the half-merchant, half-scout M. Polo is interested in economic problems. These are three “answers” that seem to synthesize information on these aspects. The basis for this already existed - work with the “revived” antiquity and its different interpretation by Muslims, respectively, the ideological struggle against Islam and, of course, an orientation towards new values - rationalism, democracy, humanism, individualism, economic interests.
The “barbarians” did not have culture in the sense that was in all settled worlds, but the scale of their amazing deeds clearly exceeded anything that civilizations had hitherto known. The ancient wisdom, in particular, the curious historiosophical observations of Plato, had not yet “worked,” and the Bible was no longer enough to answer many questions. Other analytical forms were needed, which would be developed by the Age of Enlightenment, when a more complex and in some ways even more objective attitude towards the Mongols themselves and those created in the 13th century would be formed. texts about them.
It must be taken into account that in Europe a wealth of experience has been accumulated in the study of history in general and the history of the “barbarians” in particular, historical, philological, comparative methods have been developed, and a certain nomenclature has been developed
concepts and historical schemes, which still enjoys considerable success in other civilizations. This strictly scientific approach brought the history of the study of nomads to more high level analysis, but also significantly strengthened the historical stereotypes and cliches that had developed in the West and East.
If the Turks represented a very real double danger for Christians, carrying out territorial expansion and making claims to European “antiquity” and the Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition, then the Mongols became for them just a “hurricane” that suddenly swept over the whole of Eurasia and disappeared.
The Europeans actually defeated the nomads with a word - they took them out of the cultural brackets, declaring the creation of an empire the result of force, robbery, destruction, and a satanic act. This attitude was later strengthened by the understanding of the Middle Ages as a dark, barbaric period. If Muslims nevertheless partially accepted elements of the culture of the nomads (suffice it to recall the widespread cult of Genghis Khan in Siberia and Central Asia), then two imperial societies (European and Chinese) denied the nomads the presence of culture as a whole.
Religion and language were considered the main things in culture. For Latin authors, the Mongols are completely “uncultured”, because they have an “underdeveloped” language and no literature. Wisdom is alien to them - they have no philosophical schools, they take Buddhism or Christianity more in practice rather than theory. They do not have a single culture; each tribe adheres to its own traditions. In addition, the conquests of Genghis Khan opened the way to Mongolia for various cultures, the bearers of which were often forcibly resettled there. As a result, the Mongol “conquerors” often dissolved, and Mongolia did not become the political and cultural center of all zones.
The Mongols placed more importance on ethnicity. If in Europe religion was a culture-forming factor, then among the Mongols this role was played, in fact, by ethnicity as the “chosen people.” Europe, on the other hand, had already reached the macro-regional level, formed a trans-state approach and worked with enormous material both on its own history and on the history of other world religions.
The lack of “culture” among the Mongols (in the understanding of the Latins) was also due to the fact that
that the empire was a geopolitical core with a weak presence of all other components of the “classical” civilization (trade, a rather tough and militant paradigm, a program for building and broadcasting “peace”, developed economy). From here special meaning in the empire it was power relations, rather than economic or cultural processes, that acquired power.
The Europeans quickly noted the uniqueness of the Mongols, that is, they sensed the arrival of not just strangers or “barbarians,” but “others” - people with a new mentality. These “aliens” actually created a different world order. The arrival of people with a different mentality has always had serious consequences; just remember how the situation changed with the appearance of the Persians, Romans in the Mediterranean, Russians in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Siberia, Europeans in America and Africa.
In this regard, we can talk about a kind of Eurasian revolution, which, naturally, had as its components not only ethnic changes associated with the Mongols, but also a transition to a capitalist development option and the settlement of Europeans outside the mainland. A new “East” was taking shape, and Europe was beginning not only to visit it, but also to study it. A new “knowledge” of the East, similar to the biblical or Roman in degree of understanding, has not yet developed in some ways. Europeans knew the Persian, Egyptian and Arab East well, but much less the Turkic-Mongolian one. These “others” brought not only a different mentality, but also a different culture, economy, political system. This East is both more dynamic and less predictable; the situation there is constantly changing.
Genghis Khan also solved the problems of Asia, but Europe has other problems and it will solve them in the form of a transition to “capitalism”, the fight against “paganism” and “barbarism”, the “Renaissance” will begin as a negation of “barbarism” and the “Middle Ages” " The new civilization will begin to develop a new cultural paradigm associated with the rethinking of Christianity and the active use of the Greco-Roman heritage with an emphasis on the legal and individualistic component.
To summarize, we can say that the Latin authors of the 13th century. created a medieval image of Genghis Khan. It has actually become archetypal, basic. Genghis Khan in Europe was never associated with the figure of the Antichrist, because he did not come
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76 with a different “word”, nor with distortion the destruction he had already caused was perceived
famous "word". Genghis Khan did not become one of the last signs of the approaching
Antichrist, but his “robbery”, the force of the pressing “end of the world”.
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