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The Golden Horde was part or Ulus of the Mongol Empire, which occupied 5/6 of the territory of Eurasia. The foundation of this Empire was laid by tribes that roamed north of the borders of China and were known from Chinese sources as the Mongol-Tatars. The Mongol-Tatar tribes made up part of the population that roamed the steppe spaces of the flat strip, starting at the Sea of Okhotsk, stretching across all of Asia, the continuation of which was the Black Sea steppes of Eastern Europe, and ending at the river. Dniester This vast steppe strip provided excellent pastures for livestock, and hordes of nomadic herders with herds of livestock moved along it from time immemorial.
According to Chinese chroniclers, for centuries the borders of China were subject to attacks by the Mongol-Tatars, who lived mainly along the river. Orkhon. The life of nomads is the past of all humanity, a relic of the past, when man was at the stage of a primitive state, closely connected with nature. The means of subsistence of the nomads were cattle breeding, hunting, fishing and natural resources. Nomads could not produce complex household products, did not engage in agriculture, but obtained the missing items from settled peoples, either by exchanging for livestock products or by robbery. The production of pastoralists was limited to the processing of wool and leather products.
In the half of the 12th century. The Mongol-Tatars were united under the rule of the leader Yesugai-Bogatur. After his death, the hordes under his control disintegrated and turned into separate tribes, losing their belligerence. The Bogatura family was abandoned even by its closest related tribes. The eldest son in the family was thirteen-year-old Timuchin, who had to take care of the existence of his widowed mother and family. In addition, he had to take measures against his relatives, who saw in him a future contender for power among the Mongol tribes. He was subjected to their threats, and was even captured by one of his more ardent opponents. Timuchin miraculously escaped, and having matured, began to fight against his tribal enemies.
During the difficult struggle, Timuchin united more related tribes under his rule, after which he began the struggle to unite all the Mongol-Tatar tribes, and then all the nomadic peoples of East Asia.
Having united the Mongol-Tatar and other nomadic tribes, Timuchin set out with them to conquer China and the settled peoples of Central Asia. He conquered Northern China and moved into Central Asia against the vast Muslim state of Khorezm, and against the very significant semi-sedentary, semi-nomadic state of Kara-Kitaev. The lands of the conquered peoples formed a vast Empire, occupying territories from the Sea of Okhotsk in the east to the Ural Mountains in the west, including Northern China, Central Asia and part of Persia. At a meeting of his comrades, Timuchin was proclaimed Genghis Khan or a protege of Heaven.
The basis of the state structure was based on laws written at the direction of Genghis Khan called Jasak or Yasa. All power in the conquered countries belonged exclusively to his family and their successors. At the head of the Empire was the Supreme Khan: the Empire was divided into Uluses, headed by ulus Khans. Management was built on aristocratic selection and strict hierarchy. The country was divided into topics, thousands, hundreds, dozens, and at the head of each division were the corresponding chiefs. In peacetime, these units constituted administrative units; with the outbreak of war, they turned into military units, and their commanders became military commanders. With the outbreak of the war, the entire country turned into a military camp; All physically fit male population were obliged to perform military service.
The main unit of the Mongolian state was the “Kibitka”, which consisted of a separate family. Ten Kibitoks fielded three warriors. All property and extracted products were common property. Land for grazing livestock was determined for individual Uluses by boundaries indicated by the Khans. The main branch of the Mongol army was cavalry, divided into heavy and light. According to the Mongol, the battle could only be fought with cavalry. Genghis Khan said: “Whoever falls from his horse, how will he fight? If he gets up, how will he go against the horse and maybe be the winner?
The core of the Mongol army was the Khan's guard or the "Nuker" squad. Nukers were selected from the families of the Mongolian nobility: the sons of noyons, temniks, thousanders, centurions, as well as from people of free status, from whom the strongest, strongest and most capable were selected. Nukers made up a corps of ten thousand.
The Mongol armament consisted of a bow, which was coated with a special varnish that protected the wood from dampness and drying out. Each horseman had several bows and quivers of arrows. Spears with iron hooks at the ends were needed to pull the enemy off the horse, curved sabers and light long pikes. Each warrior had a lasso, which he wielded with great skill both in hunting and in war.
Protective equipment was leather helmets with iron plates, and for the commanders, chain mail.
Light cavalry was made up of conquered peoples and in battles played the role of advanced troops, the first to start battles. She had no protective equipment.
The Mongols borrowed siege weapons from the Chinese and Persians and used them by specialists recruited from among them.
For the peoples subjected to the Mongol invasion, they were a terrible destructive force, the “scourge of humanity.” The conquered countries established their own power, and the entire country was placed under the brutal control of the victors. The population that survived the destruction was subject to tribute - a tenth of all property, and the following was taken to replenish the army: a tenth of the young population; the same number of women were also taken. Masters of all specialties were selected and assigned to work at the Headquarters of the Khans.
During the course of external conquests, the Mongol army grew rapidly. The Mongol army consisted of military units of all conquered peoples. The Mongols were a tiny minority among the conquered peoples, but they had all the highest military and administrative command and control. Khans were placed at the head of the conquered countries, and Baskaks were placed for administrative control and management, and a complex network of officials collected all kinds of taxes and taxes. The highest command of the units formed from the conquered peoples belonged to the Noyons and the Mongols.
According to information left by the historian of Genghis Khan, Abulhazi, Genghis Khan at the beginning of his conquests had 40,000 soldiers, dying, he left his sons 120,000 Mongols and Tatar troops. These troops served as the main forces in the further conquests of the resulting vast Empire, divided into several Uluses.
In terms of culture, the Mongols were incomparably lower than all conquered peoples. They did not have a written language or firmly established religious ideas and used the writing of one of the people they conquered, the Uyghur tribe. Their religious ideas were limited to fortune telling and primitive ritual dances of shamans, which is why among the Mongolian nobility there were many people who professed the cults of other peoples, which explained their tolerance for the religions of the conquered peoples.
Having conquered Eastern Siberia, Northern China and Central Asia, Genghis Khan did not limit himself to these conquests. According to Mongol custom, despite the unlimited power of the Supreme Khan, all issues related to general policy were resolved at meetings of the entire khan's family and the Mongol nobility, who gathered at the "Kurultai", first assembled by Genghis Khan, where plans for conquest were drawn up. It was assumed that China, Persia, Egypt, and the peoples of Eastern Europe living west of the Urals would be conquered.
During the life of Genghis Khan, a cavalry detachment of 20,000 under the command of the best commanders Subutai and Jebi was sent from Central Asia for the purpose of reconnaissance of the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. The preliminary task of this detachment was to pursue the Shah of Khorezm, who, with a detachment of 70,000 more devoted warriors, hid in Mezederzhan. The Shah and his troops were driven to one of the islands of the Caspian Sea, where he died.
Subutai and his detachment walked through the southern possessions of Khorezm, caused destruction everywhere and entered the Caucasus. He was met by troops of Georgian knights, who, numbering 30,000, took up an advantageous position. Unable to envelop the Georgian troops, the Mongols used their characteristic tactics. They rushed to run, which caused the Georgians to leave their positions and begin pursuit. Having left their strong position, the Georgians were attacked by the Mongols and suffered complete defeat. Having defeated the Georgian detachment, the Mongols turned to the east, and, moving along the coast of the Caspian Sea, reached the Polovtsian steppes. Here they met resistance from the Polovtsians, Lezgins, Circassians, Alans, Rus of the Azov region and Brodniks. The Mongols used their characteristic tactics - weakening the enemy, acting on their tribal discord. They convinced the Polovtsians that they had come to fight not against them, but against peoples alien to them by blood. The Russians were told that they had come to fight against the “grooms” of the Polovtsians. This tactic was successful, and the Mongols entered the borders of Tavria, where they spent the winter within the Russian possessions, in which, in all likelihood, they found allies. In the spring, a Mongol detachment entered the Don steppes and attacked the Polovtsians. Some of the Rus with their leader Plaskiney were already with the Mongol detachment. The Polovtsians, under pressure from the Mongols, rushed to flee to the west, and their khan, Kotyan, whose daughter the Galician prince Mstislav Udaloy was married to, began to ask the Russian princes to help him against the emerging common enemy, the Mongols. In 1223, the Russian princes, who had just completed campaigns in the lands of Vladimir-Suzdal and Novgorod in order to pacify the princely civil strife, gathered in Kyiv for a meeting.
At Kotyan's request, the Russian princes decided to oppose the Mongols. This was the first meeting of Russian troops with the Mongols.
At this time, Genghis Khan with his main forces remained within Samarkand and continued the further conquest of Khorezm.
After the death of Shah Mohammed, his son continued the war against the Mongols. He defeated the Mongol detachment. Genghis Khan opposed him, drove him to India, and decided to attack the possessions of Kara-Kitay. He moved against the ruler of the Kara-Kitaev, who had insulted him, who, in response to Genghis Khan’s request for help against the Shah of Khorezm, replied: “If you are strong, then you do not need my help, but if you are weak, then do not come out.” The lands of Kara-Kitai were conquered, but in 1227 Genghis Khan died; according to information, he was killed by a woman sent to him for this purpose.
The empire was divided into Uluses between his sons. His third son, Ogedei, was appointed his successor, who received Mongolia with the eastern part of Siberia, with the lands of the Neumanns and Kyrgyz. The northern part of China, the lands of the Uyghurs and Kara-Kitay, as well as Manchuria, were received by the youngest son, Tulu. The lands of the former Khorezm were received by the second son, Jaghatai. The western part of Siberia, inhabited by Kipchaks and Kazakhs, was assigned by Genghis Khan to his eldest son, who was slandered by envious brothers and killed by order of his father. These possessions went to the next son, Batu.
In 1237, further conquests of the Mongols began and Batu moved to conquer Russian lands.
Those who study history will definitely come across a section dedicated to the huge state founded by nomads led by Genghis Khan and his successors. Today it is difficult to imagine how a handful of steppe inhabitants could defeat highly developed countries and take cities hidden behind powerful walls. However, the Mongol Empire existed, and half of the then known world was subject to it. What kind of state was it, who ruled it and why was it special? Let's find out!
Preface to the Mongol conquests
The Mongol Empire was one of the largest and most powerful in the world. It arose in the early thirteenth century in Central Asia thanks to the unification of the Mongol tribes under the firm hand of Temujin. In addition to the emergence of a ruler capable of conquering everyone to his will, climatic conditions were favorable to the success of the nomads. If you believe historians, then in the 11th-12th centuries there was a lot of rainfall in the eastern steppe. This led to an increase in livestock numbers, as well as rapid population growth.
But towards the end of the twelfth century, weather conditions change: droughts cause a reduction in pastures, which can no longer feed the large herds and surplus population. A fierce struggle for limited resources begins, as well as invasions of settled tribes of farmers.
Great Khan Temujin
This man went down in history as Genghis Khan, and legends about him still excite the imagination. In fact, his name was Temujin, and he had an iron will, lust for power and determination. He received the title “Great Khan” at the kurultai, that is, at the congress of the Mongol nobility in 1206. Yassa is not even laws, but records of the commander’s wise sayings, stories from his life. Nevertheless, everyone was obliged to follow them: from a simple Mongol to their military leader.
Temujin's childhood was difficult: after the death of his father Yesugei-Baghatur, he lived in extreme poverty with his mother, his father's second wife, and several brothers. All their livestock was taken away, and the family was driven out of their homes. Over time, Genghis Khan will brutally get even with his offenders and become the ruler of the largest empire in the world.
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire, which began to take shape during the lifetime of Genghis Khan after a number of his successful campaigns, reached amazing proportions under his successors. The young nomadic state was very viable, and its army was truly fearless and invincible. The basis of the army were the Mongols, united by clan, and conquered tribes. A unit was considered a ten, which included members of one family, yurt or village, then stoni (consisting of a clan), thousands and darkness (10,000 warriors). The main force was the cavalry.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the northern parts of China and India, Central Asia, and Korea came under the rule of nomads. The tribes of the Buryats, Yakuts, Kyrgyz and Uyghurs, the peoples of Siberia and the Caucasus submitted to them. The population was immediately subject to tribute, and the warriors became part of an army of thousands. From more developed nations (in particular China), the Mongols adopted their scientific achievements, technology, and the science of diplomacy.
Reason for success
The formation of the Mongol Empire seems illogical and impossible. Let's try to find the reasons for such a brilliant success of the army of Genghis Khan and his comrades.
- The states of Central Asia, China and Iran were not going through the best of times at that moment. Feudal fragmentation prevented them from uniting and repelling the conquerors.
- Excellent preparation for hikes. Genghis Khan was a good strategist and tactician, he carefully thought out the invasion plan, conducted reconnaissance, pitted peoples against each other and fanned civil strife, and, if possible, placed close people to the main military posts of the enemy.
- Genghis Khan avoided open battle with a large enemy army. He exhausted his forces, attacking individual units, valuing his warriors.
After Temujin's death
After the death of the legendary Genghis Khan in 1227, the Mongol Empire lasted for another forty years. During his lifetime, the commander divided his possessions between his sons from his eldest wife Borte into uluses. Ogedei got Northern China and Mongolia, Jochi got the lands from the Irtysh to the Aral and Caspian seas, the Ural Mountains, Chagatai got all of Central Asia. Later, another ulus was given to Hulagu, the grandson of the Great Khan. These were the lands of Iran and Transcaucasia. In the early years of the fourteenth century, Jochi's possessions were divided into the White (Golden) and Blue Hordes.
After the death of the founder, the united Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan gained a new great khan. He became Ogedei, then his son Guyuk, then Munke. After the death of the latter, the title passed to the rulers of the Yuan dynasty. It is noteworthy that all the khans of the Mongol Empire, as well as the Manchu emperors, were descendants of Genghis Khan or married princesses from his family. Until the twenties of the twentieth century, the rulers of these lands used Yassa as a code of laws.
The Mongol Empire or, otherwise, the Great Mongol State, became the result of the conquests of Genghis Khan and his descendants. Its territory was finally formed by the 13th century.
The rise of an empire
The founder of the Mongol Empire began his conquests by streamlining the life of his own people. In 1203-1204, he prepared and implemented a number of reforms, in particular, the reorganization of the army and the creation of an elite military detachment.
Genghis Khan's steppe war ended in 1205, when he defeated the Naimans and Merkits. And in 1206, at the kurultai, he was elected great khan. From this moment the formation of the Mongol Empire begins.
After this, the Mongol state begins a war with the Jin Empire. Previously, he defeated his potential allies, and in 1215 he already entered its capital.
Rice. 1. Genghis Khan.
After this, Genghis Khan begins the process of expanding the borders of the Mongol state. Thus, in 1219, Central Asia was conquered, and in 1223, a successful campaign was undertaken against the Polovtsian Khan, who, together with his ally, Mstislav of Kyiv, was defeated on the Kalka River. However, the victorious campaign against China never began due to the death of the khan.
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Mongol state under Ögedei
Genghis Khan's son Ogedei ruled the empire from 1228 to 1241, carrying out a number of important government reforms that helped strengthen the great state.
Rice. 3. Ogedei.
He established the equality of all subjects - both the Mongols and the inhabitants of the conquered territories had the same rights. Although the conquerors themselves were Muslims, they did not impose their religion on anyone - there was freedom of religion in the Mongol Empire.
Under Ogedei, a capital was built - the city of Karakorum, which was built by numerous prisoners captured during campaigns. The flag of this state has not reached us.
Western campaign
The lands after this aggressive campaign, the success of which the Mongols had no doubt, were included in the Ulus of Jochi. Batu Khan received the right to command the troops, which included warriors from several uluses.
In 1237, the army approached the borders of Kievan Rus and crossed them, successively conquering Ryazan, Moscow, Vladimir, Torzhok and Tver. In 1240, Batu took the capital of Rus', Kyiv, and then Galich and Vladimir-Volynsky.
In 1241, a successful offensive began against Eastern Europe, which was captured very quickly.
Rice. 3. Batu.
The news of the death of the Great Khan forced Batu to return to the steppe, since he himself laid claim to this title.
Interregnum and collapse of the empire
After Ogedei's death, various khans, including Batu, disputed the right to his title. The constant struggle for power weakened the central government, which led to the division of the Mongol state into separate uluses, each of which had its own ruler. The process of disintegration was also facilitated by the exorbitant size of the empire - even developed postal communications did not help keep its individual parts under constant control. The area of the state was more than 30 million square kilometers, which is difficult to imagine even now.
Thus, the historical legacy of Genghis Khan gradually disintegrated into separate states. The most famous heir of the Mongol Empire is the Golden Horde, which emerged from it.
The collapse of the Mongol Empire began in 1260, and this process ended in 1269. The Chingizids ruled for some time in the main part of the occupied countries, but as separate states.
What have we learned?
The Mongol Empire was a great eastern state, founded by Genghis Khan himself. The main events of his campaigns of conquest, as well as the events that followed them, were briefly reviewed. We learned about what the Great Mongol Empire was like under Ogedei and what the struggle for the title of Great Khan and power over all Mongol lands led to. The result of the disunity of Ogedei's heirs was the collapse of the empire, mainly along the borders of the uluses. The final collapse of the country dates back to 1269, and the most famous heir to the imperial traditions is the Golden Horde. The pros and cons of Mongol rule in the conquered territories are also indicated, Batu's Western campaign, during which Kievan Rus and Eastern Europe was captured, is considered.
The Mongolian feudal empire arose as a result of the aggressive campaigns of Genghis Khan and his successors in the 13th-14th centuries.
At the beginning of the 13th century. On the territory of Central Asia, as a result of a long inter-tribal struggle, a single Mongolian state arose, which included all the main Mongolian tribes of nomadic herders and hunters. In the history of the Mongols, this was significant progress, a qualitatively new stage of development: the creation of a single state contributed to the consolidation of the Mongolian people, the establishment of feudal relations that replaced communal-tribal ones. The founder of the Mongolian state was Khan Temujin (1162-1227), who in 1206 was proclaimed Genghis Khan, that is, the Great Khan.
A spokesman for the interests of the warriors and the emerging class of feudal lords, Genghis Khan carried out a number of radical reforms to strengthen the centralized military-administrative system of government and suppress any manifestations of separatism. The population was divided into “tens”, “hundreds”, “thousands” of nomads, who immediately became warriors in times of war. A personal guard was formed - the support of the khan. In order to strengthen the position of the ruling dynasty, all of the khan's closest relatives received large inheritances. A set of laws (“Yasa”) was compiled, where, in particular, the arats were prohibited from moving from one “ten” to another without permission. Those guilty of the slightest violations of Yasa were severely punished. Shifts were taking place in the cultural sphere. By the beginning of the 13th century. refers to the emergence of common Mongolian writing; in 1240 the famous historical and literary monument “The Secret History of the Mongols” was created. Under Genghis Khan, the capital of the Mongol Empire was founded - the city of Karakorum, which was not only an administrative center, but also a center of crafts and trade.
Since 1211, Genghis Khan began numerous wars of conquest, seeing in them the main means of enrichment, satisfying the growing needs of the nomadic nobility, and establishing dominance over other countries. The conquest of new lands, the seizure of military booty, the imposition of tribute on conquered peoples - this promised rapid and unprecedented enrichment, absolute power over vast territories. The success of the campaigns was facilitated by the internal strength of the young Mongol state, the creation of a strong mobile army (cavalry), well-equipped technically, welded together with iron discipline, controlled by skilled commanders. At the same time, Genghis Khan skillfully used internecine conflicts and internal strife in the enemy’s camp. As a result, the Mongol conquerors managed to conquer many peoples of Asia and Europe and capture vast regions. In 1211, the invasion of China began, the Mongols inflicted a number of serious defeats on the troops of the Jin state. They destroyed about 90 cities and took Beijing (Yanjing) in 1215. In 1218-1221 Genghis Khan moved to Turkestan, conquered Semirechye, defeated Khorezm Shah Muhammad, captured Urgench, Bukhara, Samarkand and other centers of Central Asia. In 1223, the Mongols reached the Crimea, penetrated into Transcaucasia, devastated part of Georgia and Azerbaijan, walked along the shores of the Caspian Sea into the lands of the Alans and, having defeated them, reached the Polovtsian steppes. In 1223, Mongol troops defeated the united Russian-Polovtsian army near the Kalka River. In 1225-1227 Genghis Khan undertook his last campaign - against the Tangut state. By the end of Genghis Khan’s life, the empire included, in addition to Mongolia itself, Northern China, Eastern Turkestan, Central Asia, the steppes from the Irtysh to the Volga, most of Iran and the Caucasus. Genghis Khan divided the lands of the empire between his sons - Jochi, Chagadai, Ogedei, Tuluy. After the death of Genghis Khan, their uluses increasingly acquired the features of independent possessions, although the power of the All-Mongol Khan was nominally recognized.
Genghis Khan's successors, the khans Ogedei (reigned 1228-1241), Guyuk (1246-1248), Mongke (1251-1259), Kublai Khan (1260-1294) and others continued their wars of conquest. Grandson of Genghis Khan Batu Khan in 1236-1242. carried out aggressive campaigns against Rus' and other countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Dalmatia), moving far to the west. The huge state of the Golden Horde was formed, which was initially part of the empire. The Russian principalities became tributaries of this state, having experienced the full brunt of the Horde yoke. Another grandson of Genghis Khan, Hulagu Khan, founded the Hulagid state in Iran and Transcaucasia. Another grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, completed the conquest of China in 1279, founding the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China in 1271 and moving the capital of the empire from Karakorum to Zhongdu (modern Beijing).
The campaigns of conquest were accompanied by the destruction of cities, the destruction of priceless cultural monuments, the devastation of vast areas, and the extermination of thousands of people. A regime of robbery and violence was introduced in the conquered countries. The local population (peasants, artisans, etc.) was subject to numerous taxes and taxes. Power belonged to the governors of the Mongol Khan, their assistants and officials, who relied on strong military garrisons and a rich treasury. At the same time, the conquerors sought to attract large landowners, merchants, and the clergy to their side; obedient rulers from among the local nobility were placed at the head of some lands.
The Mongol Empire was internally very fragile; it was an artificial conglomerate of multilingual tribes and nationalities that were at different stages of social development, often higher than those of the conquerors. Internal contradictions intensified more and more. In the 60s XIII century The Golden Horde and the Khulagid state actually separated from the empire. The entire history of the empire is filled with a long series of uprisings and revolts against the conquerors. At first they were brutally suppressed, but gradually the forces of the conquered peoples grew stronger, and the capabilities of the invaders weakened. In 1368, as a result of massive popular uprisings, Mongol rule in China fell. In 1380, the Battle of Kulikovo predetermined the overthrow of the Horde yoke in Rus'. The Mongol Empire collapsed and ceased to exist. A period of feudal fragmentation began in the history of Mongolia.
The Mongol conquests caused innumerable disasters to the conquered peoples and delayed their social development for a long time. They had a negative impact on the historical development of Mongolia and on the position of the people. The stolen wealth was used not for the growth of productive forces, but for the enrichment of the ruling class. The wars divided the Mongol people and depleted human resources. All this had a detrimental effect on the socio-economic development of the country in subsequent centuries.
It would be wrong to unequivocally assess the historical role of the founder of the Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan. His activities were progressive in nature while there was a struggle for the unification of disparate Mongol tribes, for the creation and strengthening of a single state. Then the situation changed: he became a cruel conqueror, the conqueror of the peoples of many countries. At the same time, he was a man of extraordinary ability, a brilliant organizer, an outstanding commander and statesman. Genghis Khan is the largest figure in Mongolian history. In Mongolia, much attention is paid to the elimination of everything superficial, which was associated either with actual silence or with one-sided coverage of the role of Genghis Khan in history. The public organization “The Hearth of Chinggis” has been created, the number of publications about him is increasing, and a Mongolian-Japanese scientific expedition is actively working to find his burial place. The 750th anniversary of the “Secret Legend of the Mongols”, which vividly reflects the image of Genghis Khan, is widely celebrated.