The hidden tales of the Mongols are the historical basis of the work. The hidden tale of the Mongols
- (otherwise “The Hidden Legend of the Mongols”), the first of the historical and literary monuments of the Mongols that have come down to us. Written in 1240; author unknown. Includes the genealogy of the Borjigat family, the biography of Genghis Khan, who came from this family,... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary
- “THE SECRET STORY” (“Secret Confession of the Mongols”, “Yuanchao Bishi and Mongolun Nyucha Topchaan”), the first of the famous historical and literary Mongolian monuments. “The Legend” for a long time was not accessible to anyone except the Chinggisids (see... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Secret Confession of the Mongols), the first of the famous historical and literary Mongolian monuments. Appeared no earlier than 1240; author unknown. Includes the genealogy of the Borjigat family, the biography of Genghis Khan, who came from this family, information about... ... Modern encyclopedia
- (aka Secret Confession of the Mongols) the first of the known historical and literary Mongol monuments (appeared no earlier than 1240); contains fragments of ancient myths, epic epics, legends... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (“Secret Legend”), the first of the famous historical and literary monuments of the Mongols. Written no earlier than 1240, author unknown. Includes the genealogy of the Borjigat family, the biography of Genghis Khan, who came from this family, information about... ... Big Soviet encyclopedia
- (Secret history Mongols) Mong. ist. chronicle. Written in mid. 13th century, author unknown. S. s. consists of the genealogy of the Borjigit family, from which Genghis Khan came, a biography of Genghis Khan and information about the reign of Ogedei Khan. S. s. first mong... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia
- (otherwise “Secret Confession of the Mongols”), the first of the known historical and literary Mongol monuments (appeared no earlier than 1240); contains fragments of ancient myths, epic epics, legends... encyclopedic Dictionary
Mongol conquests ... Wikipedia
Mongol Empire Mongolian Ezent Guren 1206 1368 ... Wikipedia
The secret legend of the Mongols (in literature until the 1930s, often Yuan chao bi shi or Yuan chao mi shi, a Chinese translation of the Mongolian title Mongγol un Niγuča Tobčiyan) is the most ancient Mongolian literary and historiographical monument, ... ... Wikipedia
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- The Secret Legend, Genghis Khan. New volume series "Great Rulers" introduces the reader to the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire - Genghis Khan. Distinctive feature the book is its exceptional...
And the chronicle, and the chronicle, and the poem
Researchers find it difficult to give an unambiguous description of its genre. None of the definitions adopted for medieval literature - chronicle, chronicle, epic poem - exhausts its content and artistic merits. For the genres of chronicle and historical chronicle, it contains an excessive amount of texts, which are usually classified as fiction and folklore. Along with an accurate description of historical events, a significant part of the SMS is presented in poetry and magnificent prose, supplemented by folklore fragments. Some researchers attributed it to the genre of heroic epic. But this genre is distinguished by blurred historicism, or even its complete absence. SSM is concrete and historical. There is no apologetics for the main character; it shows both the strengths and weaknesses of Genghis Khan and others central characters. In general, the SSM style is very far from the poetics of the heroic epic.
“The Secret History of the Mongols” was ahead of its time, including European literature, whether romance, epic tales or chronicles. It more fully revealed the features of future literature - the literature of the New Age.
The difficult fate of the “Secret Legend”
The Secret History of the Mongols had a difficult fate. There are many mysteries in and around the work itself. Let's start with its name. IN Lately in scientific literature it is increasingly called “The Secret History of the Mongols.”
At the same time, another version has been put forward, suggesting that the original had a different name - “Genghis Khany Yazguur” - “The Origin of Genghis Khan”. And the now accepted name “Mongolian Nuuts Tovchoo” was added by Chinese translators of the Ming dynasty, which overthrew the Yuan dynasty of the Mongol emperors. The Chinese, who were denied access to the Mongolian archives, perceived them as secret. This point of view was first expressed in 1907 by the Japanese scientist N. Michiyo. Subsequently, it was supported by E. Ishihima (Japan), N. Poppe (USA), E. Hanisch (Germany), B. Pankratov and N. Munkuev (USSR), I. de Rachewiltz (Australia).
We adhere to the name “Secret Legend” since it has already firmly established itself in cultural usage, starting from the time of the most famous translation into Russian by S. Kozin in 1940. It seems to us that the definition “Secret Legend” more accurately conveys the internal, Mongolian point of view, and “Secret History” - external, in this case, of medieval Chinese scientists. SSM is written as an emotional confession about his time for the edification of posterity.
The Mongolian originals of the SSM were probably lost in the fires of the imperial library and when the Ming rebels destroyed captured convoys of the retreating Mongols. However, if some Chinese destroyed, other Chinese made a lot of efforts to preserve cultural heritage Mongol Yuan dynasty. The Mongolian texts of the SSM were copied in Chinese transcription with an interlinear semantic translation in Chinese attached. It was these texts transcribed in hieroglyphs in the Mongolian language that made it possible to restore the SSM.
In search of the original
There is sometimes speculation that the SSM was written in Chinese by Chinese authors. These versions arise either due to ignorance or as an envious provocation.
The existence of the original in the Mongolian language is additionally evidenced by the text “Altan tovch” - “The Golden Legend” of Luvsandanzan (mid-17th century), where the main text of the “Secret Legend” is attached, and its third part about the years of the reign of Ogedei Khan is missing. The brief mention of Ogedei Khan is given in a completely different way, from a different cultural and ideological position - the promotion of Buddhism, which is absent in the SSM. Such an interpretation could have appeared much later, at least since the time of Kublai Khan, or even in the 16th-17th centuries.
The Persian “Collected Chronicles” of Rashid ad-din (early 14th century), dedicated to Mongolian history, was created, among other things, on the basis of written materials specially delivered from the imperial archives. The information from the “Collected Chronicles” sometimes coincides, and sometimes does not, with the data of the SSM. Such discrepancies and coincidences of late Chinese historical works with the SSM also suggest the existence, in addition to the SSM, of other written Mongolian historical works of the period of Genghis Khan and his successors.
The question of the date of writing the SSM was controversial. Previously, it was supposedly called 1940. However, upon closer analysis, the year 1228 is increasingly called - a period of ongoing mourning in the memory of Genghis Khan. This point of view is shared by the most authoritative SSM researchers such as V. Kleevez (USA), I. de Rachewiltz (Australia), S. Ozawa (Japan), Mansan (PRC), D. Tserensodnom (Mongolia), etc.
The third part about the reign of Ugedei Khan was written in 1240.
Genealogies of the “Secret Legend”
“The Secret Legend” can be divided into three parts.
The first is genealogical. It presents the genealogies of more than twenty generations, going back centuries. Not the very first in this chain, Bodonchar, as scientists have calculated, lived in the tenth century. Not only the genealogy of the ancestors of Genghis Khan is indicated, but also of other families that, like them, descended from the legendary Bortechino and his wife Maral-goa. Moreover, this is not just a list of names, not just a diagram of a family tree. In many cases, various details are set out or the etymology of the names of the founders of future clans and tribes is explained.
Let us take, for example, a fragment that we will need in subsequent discussions: “Father Alan goo is Khor Tumeda noyon Horilardai Mergen, and mother is Barguzhin goo; Alan Goo was born in the inheritance of the Khor Tumeds in an area called Arig us. Her mother Barguzhin goo is the daughter of Bargudai Mergen, the leader of the Khul Barguzhin Tukhum tribe, whose lands lie in the far distance. And the people with whom Alan Goo roamed, therefore, her father’s tribe - Khorilardai Mergen.
Khorilardai Mergen moved away from the borders of the Tumed Khors due to strife that broke out between nearby clans, who wanted to win from each other inheritances abundant in animals - sable and squirrel. Khorilardai Mergen and his people separated themselves, and they were called the Khorilar tribe after the name of their noyon. Having learned that in the vicinity of Burkhan Khaldun there were animals in abundance, the Khorilars migrated to the inheritance of Shinchi Bayan of Urianhai, who placed an idol on Mount Burkhan Khaldun to worship the guardian spirits of that mountain” (translation by A. Melekhin).
The detail of the prehistory of Alan-goa is related to its significance as the foremother of the family of Temujin, the future Genghis Khan. It also shows how the names of clan leaders become ethnonyms - names of clan and tribe. Since it was accepted that the genus separated from the previous one after nine generations, it can be assumed that there are gaps in the genealogical schemes of the SSM. Probably, the authors of the SSM omitted intermediate links, naming only the founders of the clan.
It is characteristic that the genealogies mention those clans and tribes that are later found in the main narrative about the life of Temujin - Genghis Khan and his contemporaries. For example, “From Belgunudey came the Belgunud clan. From Bugunudey - the Bugunud clan. From Bugu Khatagi - the Khatagin clan. From Bugutu Salzhi - the Salzhud clan. From Bodonchar - the Borzhigin family” (translation by A. Melekhin). After Bodonchar, genealogies focus mainly on his descendants, among whom was Genghis Khan.
Composition of “The Hidden Legend”
The text of the “Secret Legend” is conventionally divided into three parts. The first is genealogical, where pedigrees are presented. The second is a story about the events of the 12th-13th centuries. The third is about the reign of Ogedei Khan, the son of Genghis Khan.
Despite its brevity, the first, genealogical part of the SSM touches on the history of generations over several centuries. The second, main and largest part of the work tells about the events of six to seven decades associated with Temujin - Genghis Khan, his entourage and opponents. Here the nature of the narrative changes radically. It is more detailed, attentive to details, to the behavior and character of people, to the world around them. However, these details are not presented for their own sake, but in connection with the development of the action, in order to more accurately clarify it. The plot captures the reader's attention with its dynamics and drama. At the same time, the sense of truthfulness and reality of events and human destinies is not lost.
Drama of the story and style of narration
There are many dramatic knots in the story. For example, the death of Yesugei, the father of Temujin and his brothers. The heroic efforts of their mother Hoelun-eh, who remained a widow and is trying to save her family - young children - in an unequal struggle with the related Taychuud tribe. Or the kidnapping of Borte-dinner, the young wife of Temujin, by the Merkits and her subsequent rescue from captivity. A special place is occupied by the history of friendship and rivalry between Genghis Khan and Jamukha, who became sworn brothers in childhood and cemented their friendship in their youth, but then entered into a fierce rivalry for leadership in the Mongolian steppes. No less emotional are the scenes of the relationship between Genghis Khan and his father’s brother-in-arms, Wang Khan, whom the logic of the struggle for power turned from allies into enemies.
The battles are described in the spirit of artistic prose. Pictures of battles, with all the restraint of style, are very colorful, but fundamentally different from those in heroic epic. Each battle is described in its own way, depending on the balance of forces, tactics and strategy, the place where it takes place, the mood and motives of the participants. People manifest themselves in these battles each in their own way, depending on courage or cowardice, intelligence or stupidity. The outcome of battles is largely determined by these qualities.
However, the outcome of battles is prepared long before direct clashes. This includes the search for allies, diplomatic efforts, intelligence, and information warfare. Genghis Khan conducts successful psychological preparations before the decisive battle with a powerful group led by Wang Khan and Jamukha. He sends ambassadors to all the tribal leaders of the hostile coalition, finding for each of them those words that, sowing doubts, deprive them of peace of mind.
The prosaic, epically calm “objective” narrative is constantly replaced by poetic fragments, stylistically reminiscent of songs, lyrical monologues, shamanic invocations or heroic epics. But in terms of their meaning and scope, they only accompany the main narrative, complementing or shading its content and introducing an original, unique coloring to the entire work.
Later, when describing the events of the turn of the 12th-13th centuries, a new style emerges, bringing SSM closer to the genre of chronicle. Focus of attention from the person, from the characters, from Everyday life moves on to history, to events of national scale. Here direct documentaryism appears: zarliks-decrees of Genghis Khan are inserted, his monologues of gratitude addressed to his most honored associates.
Chronicle of the times of Ugedei Khan
The third part is smaller than the others in volume. It tells about new conquests after the death of Genghis Khan, during the reign of his middle, third, son - Ugedei Khan. Despite its comparative brevity, there are quite a lot of interesting stories here. Although the proportion of actual narrative “fiction” texts is less than in the second, main part.
It talks about the campaigns of the Mongol generals and Ogedei Khan himself, who continued the conquests of Genghis Khan. Bat (Batu) complained to Ugedei Khan about the arrogant behavior of his son Guyuk after the conquest of Rus'. Ugedei Khan took the side of Bata: “he called Guyug to him and reprimanded him for his unworthy deeds: “They told me how during the campaign you whipped my husbands mercilessly, you didn’t leave a single healthy seat in the squad; You made such a face at my Rathai that the skin fell off in shreds from your face. Don’t you think that the Russians, only fearing your anger, submitted to us?! Didn’t you imagine, son, that you conquered Rus' alone, and therefore you are allowed to mock your elder brother like that and will go against him?! (...) Indeed, it is only up to Batu to decide military matters, and therefore let him judge Guyug and Argasun!” (translation by A. Melekhin).
It is also courageous for Ugedei Khan to acknowledge his four greatest achievements and his four unforgivable mistakes and sins.
Among his achievements, he names both military and infrastructural achievements: the conquest of Northern China, the establishment of distillation stations and roads throughout the vast empire, the installation of wells and irrigation in waterless places, and the introduction of a uniform structure of local government.
The khan does not justify himself in the fact that, “despite the fact that he was sitting on his father’s throne,” he allowed “guilt to overcome him.” In addition, “succumbing to feminine charms, he ordered to bring girls from Uncle Otchigin’s ulus.” Thirdly, Ogedei Khan blames himself for the death of the slandered Dogolhug, a loyal ally of Genghis Khan. And finally, rightly, “my brothers reproached me for the fact that, out of greed, so that [hunting prey] would not go to them, I built fences and walls, preventing [the freedom] of animals born by the will of Heaven and Earth” (translation by A. Tugutova).
Buryat motives in the “Secret Legend of the Mongols”
Delving into the past, it is almost impossible to separate the history of the Buryats from the general Mongolian one. Moreover, this applies to the content of the SSM, to the turbulent period of the 12th-13th centuries, and, taking into account the genealogy of prehistory, to the 9th-10th centuries. Nevertheless, we can dwell on some points that draw a direct connection to our time.
The Buryat language has retained certain features of the ancient Mongolian language - Middle Mongolian, according to N. Poppe - in which “The Secret History of the Mongols” is written. For more than seven, almost eight centuries, the language, of course, has undergone significant changes. For new generations, ancient monuments have to be translated into modern language. In Mongolia, such work was carried out through the efforts of academicians Ts. Damdinsuren and D. Tserensodnom. It is characteristic that in both translations some words understandable to the Buryats are specially explained for the Khalkha Mongols. For example, the word tugaar, which often appears in the text, has recently been supplemented with the word saya, which is more understandable for a modern Khalkha-Mongol.
There is also a translation of the SSM into the Buryat language, made by the poet Ts.-R. Namzhilov based on the text by Ts. Damdinsuren.
The connection between the present time and the period described in the SMS is emphasized by ethnonyms and toponyms - ethnic and geographical names. One of the most famous examples is about the origin of the ancestor of Alan-goa from the Khori-Tumat tribe who lived in Bargudzhin-Tukum. The area Arig us - Clean Water - is also mentioned. Elsewhere in the text, the Khori-Tumats capture the noyon (prince) Khorcha due to his predilection for the fair sex. He wanted to select for himself the thirty most beautiful girls in this tribe, but only there they did not understand his feelings and rebelled against the khan’s envoy. Genghis Khan had to send a special military expedition to save him, which was able to break through to the rear of the Khori-Tumats only through impassable mountain passes, cutting a path through dense forest thickets.
Other ethnonyms are also mentioned - names of clans and tribes that are preserved among the Buryats to this day. This is the actual ethnonym of the Buryats, which probably did not yet carry the current unifying meaning, referring to a certain Mongol-speaking tribe that lived to the west of the modern area of residence of the Buryats, which narrowed significantly compared to the 12th-13th centuries. There are ethnonyms Iheresy, Bulgachin. The gender of the author of these lines - noyod - also appears repeatedly in the SSM. It is first mentioned in its first part, among the genealogy of the Borjigid clans coming from Bodonchar. The main narrative lists both Genghis Khan's closest supporters and opponents. The first were subsequently left in the central ulus, moving into the troubled XVII-XVIII centuries. to the Angara bulagats. In Mongolia they live near Lake Khubsugul. The latter were scattered among other uluses, now found among the Xinjiang Oirats, Russian Kalmyks, and are mentioned in the Kyrgyz epic “Manas” as allies of the protagonist.
The valleys of the Selenga, Onon, and Khilgo (Khilka) rivers appear as the setting. This is where the Merkits come from. There, in order to rescue his young wife Borte-dinner, Temujin goes there along with Jamukha and Van Khan, at that time his allies stronger than him.
Heroes of the “Secret Legend” in Buryat folklore
The memory of the heroes of the “Secret Legend” is preserved in Buryat folklore and in folk toponymy. Our collection “Heavenly Swan Maiden” (I.E. Tugutov, A.I. Tugutov) published a rare version of the legend of Alan-goa, recorded by I.E. Tugutov in 1964 in the village. Galtai, Mukhorshibirsky district, from the storyteller Solya Tsyrempilova. In the Buryat version, the heroine's name is Elen-guuba. Some plot elements have also been changed. In SSM, Alan-goa gives birth to children from a celestial man who enters the yurt, “emitting a glow.” In Solya Tsyrempilova, Elen-guuba explains that “in the morning at dawn, the rays of the sun fell on me. From these rays are your younger brothers.”
In another legend by Solya Tsyrempilova - “Fat Bodhookhon”, despite its brevity, the motives of two entire episodes of the SSM are recognizable - the abduction of Temujin’s wife by the Borte-dinner Merkits and the campaign against the Hori-Tumats in the name of saving the woman-loving Khorcha. Some details of the SSM change: another name for the kidnapper of the khan’s wife is Milkhareg instead of Chileger in the SSM, the localization of events by the Tugnui Valley, etc. The whole story is presented as if from the perspective of the inhabitants of the Tugnui Valley, and not of Mongolia. For example, it is stated that “the subjects of Targan Bodhookhon buried Milkherek on the banks of the Khilk,” while the SSM describes the return of the troops of Temujin, Jamukha and Van Khan to their homeland. Chilegar, by the way, flees for his life.
The legends of Solya Tsyrempilova reached the mid-twentieth century. orally. While written sources were practically inaccessible. The Russian translation of SSM S. Kozin was published in 1000 copies and almost all of it was sent to foreign countries. I doubt that it reached Buryatia, and if it did, a few copies would have been destroyed or hidden away in the heat of the fight against pan-Mongolism. Personally, I first read “The Secret Legend” at the BAN, in the Leningrad Academy of Sciences library, and then thanks to family connections. The actual Mongolian texts of the SSM were then a bibliographic rarity.
“The Secret Legend” and the creativity of writers of Buryatia
The plots and characters of “The Secret Legend” receive new life in creativity modern writers. In the famous novel by the prose writer from Buryatia I. Kalashnikov, “The Cruel Age,” almost all the main motifs of the “Secret Legend of the Mongols” are resurrected. It is clear that many other sources were also used, but one can feel the Buryat writer’s desire to correspond to the high spirit of the work that came from the depths of centuries.
Alexey Gatapov, the author of the novel “Temudzhin,” said in one of his interviews that he found some proverbs and sayings, customs that existed among modern Buryats in “The Secret History of the Mongols.” He believes that thanks to cultural continuity he can better understand the psychology and motives of his heroes. This is his advantage over his foreign colleagues, who turned in their work to the themes raised in The Secret Legend.
There are monuments to the “Secret Legend” on the territory of Buryatia, which are destined to have a long life. Because these are natural monuments - high mountains, passes, to which the names of the characters in “The Legend” are given. However human memory, despite its apparent fragility and ephemerality, is no less durable than blocks of stone.
Art of the peoples of Buryatia
Ethnic characteristics of the shamanic pantheon of the Buryats (XIX-early XX centuries)
One of characteristic features The traditional religion of the Buryats is the extreme breadth and complexity of its pantheon. “The Buryat pantheon,” says S. A. Tokarev, “is unusually rich and at the same time represents a harmonious, hierarchically structured system. At the top are the heavenly gods - Tengris, who are in charge of celestial phenomena: thunderstorms, rains, etc., below are the “kings” (khans), mostly the souls of heroes, famous shamans; even lower - zayans and ezhins: spirits that control individual areas or individual events in a person’s life (illnesses, certain activities); these are also the spirits of deceased shamans, etc. Finally, at the bottom there are small spirits, evil, but weak - the anakhai of hell. In addition to this hierarchical division of the world of spirits... there is a division in it into “western” and “eastern” halves: the first includes light, benevolent deities and spirits, the second - dark, evil.
In the past millennium, Asia gave birth to two great invasions - the Huns and the Tatar-Mongols. But if the first, after the defeat on the Catalaunian fields from the combined forces of the Romans and barbarians, subsided and disappeared like water into sand, then the second determined the military, political and economic future of hundreds of peoples for many centuries to come.
Genghis Khan (1162-1227) - an extraordinary personality, a great warrior around whom this passionary hurricane revolved, was not only a brilliant commander, but also an unsurpassed diplomat and a great state builder.
The conqueror of the Universe, the great son of humanity and, of course, the son of his time: cruel, uncompromising, merciless, in literally two decades he gathered dozens of disparate tribes into a single state - Great Mongolia. He created an empire that was several times larger than any empire known in history and stretched from the Pacific coast to the Black Sea.
He laid the foundations of government that survived his creation - the Mongol Empire - and formed the basis of government in countries stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans.
A hundred years ago he was considered a bloody conqueror, a barbarian, a destroyer of civilizations. And now he is recognized as “Man of the Millennium” by all international institutions that compile ratings of historical figures. The descendants of Genghis Khan ruled not only the Mongols, but also many nations until the 20s of the 20th century. Dozens of famous Russian boyar families trace their origins back to Genghis Khan. The consolidated genealogy of Genghis Khan was conducted until the twentieth century. Only through the male line there are now 16 million direct descendants of Genghis Khan living in the world.
We bring to the attention of the domestic reader a book that, with all possible completeness, presents the reader with a double portrait: the main character - and the era in which he lived and which he created. A distinctive feature of the book is its exceptional completeness: the publication is based on the oldest Mongolian literary and historical monument - “The Secret History of the Mongols” in a modern translation, supplemented by fragments of yas (laws) and biliks (statements of Genghis Khan). The appendices present extracts from Turkic, Persian, Chinese and European sources compiled by contemporaries of the reign of Genghis Khan and his successors. Content, authenticity and fascination are the main advantages of the proposed book.
The electronic publication includes the full text of the paper book and a selected portion of illustrative documentary material. And for true connoisseurs of gift editions, we offer a classic book. Like all publications in the “Great Rulers” series, the book is equipped with detailed historical and biographical comments. The book contains an excellent selection of illustrative material: the text is accompanied by more than 250 rare illustrations from domestic and foreign sources, many of which modern reader meet for the first time. Elegant design, beautiful printing, the best offset paper make this series a wonderful gift and decoration of the library of the most discerning reader.
The work was published in 2014 by the publishing house: Eksmo. The book is part of the "Great Rulers" series. On our website you can download the book "The Hidden Legend of the Mongols. The Great Yasa" in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format or read online. The book's rating is 5 out of 5. Here, before reading, you can also turn to reviews from readers who are already familiar with the book and find out their opinion. In our partner's online store you can buy and read the book in paper form.
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Epics, legends and tales
A sacred tale or Mongolian everyday collection
I. GENEALOGY AND CHILDHOOD OF TEMUJIN (CHINGGIS)
§ 1. The ancestor of Genghis Khan was Borte-Chino, born by the will of the Highest Heaven. His wife was Goa-Maral. They appeared after swimming across the Tengis (inland sea). They roamed at the sources of the Onon River, on Burkhan-khal-dun, and their descendant was Bata-Chigan.
§ 2. The son of Bata-Chigan is Tamach. Tamachi's son is Khorichar-Mergan. The son of Khorichar-Mergan is Auchzham-Boroul. The son of Auchzham-Boroul is Sali-Khachau. The son of Sali-Khachau is Eke-Nidun. The son of Eke-Nidun is Sim-Sochi. Sim-Sochi's son - Kharchu.
§ 3. Kharchu’s son, Borchzhigidai-Mergan, was married to Mongol-jin-goa. The son of Borchzhigiday-Mergan - Torogoljin-Bayan - was married to Borochchin-goa, had a servant boy named Boroldai-Suyalbi, and two racing geldings - Dayir and Boro. Torogoljin had two sons: Duva-Sokhor and Dobun-Mergan.
§ 4. Duva-Sokhor had one single eye, in the middle of his forehead, with which he could see as many as three distances.
§ 5. One day Duva-Sokhor, together with his younger brother Dobun-Mergan, climbed Burkhan-khaldun. Observing Burkhan-khaldun from above, Duva-Sokhor saw that some group of people was wandering down the Tengelik River.
§ 6. And he says: “The young woman is good in the wagon of a covered wagon among these wandering people!” And he sent his younger brother Dobun-Mergan to find out, intending to marry her to Dobun-Mergan if it turned out that she was unmarried.
§ 7. Dobun-Mergan visited those people, and in fact there was a young woman there, named Alan-goa, beautiful, of a very noble family and not yet even betrothed to anyone.
§ 8. And regarding that tribal group it turned out like this: Bargujin-goa, the daughter of Barkhudai-Mergan, the ruler of Kol-bargujin-Dogum, was married to Khorilartai-Mergan, the noyon of Khori-Tumat. The named Alan-goa was the daughter who was born to Khorilartai-Mergan from Bargujin-goa in the Khori-Tumat land, in the area of Arikh-usun.
§ 9. Due to the fact that in their homeland, in the Khori-Tumat land, there were mutual bickering and quarrels over the use of hunting grounds, Khorilartai-Mergan decided to separate themselves into a separate clan called Khorilar. Having heard about the famous Burkhan-Khaldun trappers and beautiful lands, he now moved, it turns out, with his nomads to Shinchi-Bayan-Uriankhai, on which the deities, the rulers of Burkhan-Khaldun, were installed. It was here that Dobun-Mergan asked for the hand of Alan-goa, the daughter of Khori-Tumat Khorilartai-Mergan, born in Arich-usun, and in this way Dobun-Mergan got married.
§ 10. Entering the house of Dobun-Mergan, Alan-goa gave birth to two sons. They were Bugunotai and Belgunotai.
§ 11. The eldest brother, Duva-Srkhor, had four sons. Meanwhile, his elder brother Duva-Sokhor died. After the death of Duva-Sokhor, his four sons, not even recognizing their uncle Dobun-Mergan as a relative and blaspheming him in every possible way, separated, abandoned him and migrated. A special generation of Dorbens was formed. This is where the Dorben-Irgen quadruple tribe came from.
§ 12. One day, then, Dobun-Mergan went up to hunt on the hill of Togotsakh-undur. In the forest he met some Uriankhaian who, having killed a three-year-old deer; cooked his rib roast, the top short ribs.
§ 13. Dobun-Mergan and says: “My friend, give it to the roast!” “I’ll give it to you too!” - he answered and, keeping the skin and the lung part of the animal for himself, he gave the rest of the meat of the three-year-old deer to Dobun-Mergan.
§ 14. Having loaded the venison, Dobun-Mergan left. On the way, he meets some poor man who is leading his little son.
§ 15. When asked by Dobun-Mergan who he was, he answered: “I am Maalich, Bayaudaets (“get rich”), but I live like a beggar. Give me some of this game, and I’ll give you this boy of mine.”
§ 16. Then Dobun-Mergan separated and gave him half of the reindeer stag, and took that boy to his home; It was he who became his domestic worker.
§ 17. Whether long or short, Dobun-Mergan died. After the death of Dobun-Mergan, Alan-goa, being husbandless, gave birth to three sons. They were: Bugu-Khadagi, Bukhatu-Salzhi and Bodonchar the simpleton.
§ 18. Belgunotai and Bugunotai, the eldest sons born from Dobun-Mergan, began to quietly talk about their mother Alan-goa: “Our mother gave birth to three sons, and yet there are no father’s brothers, relatives or cousins, with her, no husband. The only man in the house is Maalich, a Bayaudian. These three sons must be from him.” Alan-goa found out about their secret gossip.
§ 19. And then one spring, she cooked a ram that had been dried until yellow for future use, sat next to her five sons, Belgunotai Bugunotai, Bugu-Khadagi, Bukhatu-Salzhi and Bodonchar the simpleton, and gave them all one twig so that they would break it. One at a time was easily broken. Then she again gave them, with a request to break, about five twigs tied together. All five of them grabbed it together and squeezed it in their fists, but still couldn’t break it.
§ 20. Then their mother, Alan-goa, says: “You, my two sons, Belgunotai and Bugunotai, condemned me and said to each other: “I gave birth to these three sons, but from whom are these children?” Your suspicions are well founded.
§ 21. “But every night, it happened, through the chimney of the yurt, at the hour when the light inside (went out), a light-haired man would come in to me; he strokes my womb, and his light penetrates my womb. And he leaves like this: at the hour when the sun and the moon converge, he scratches and leaves like a yellow dog. Why are you talking all this nonsense? After all, if you understand all this, then it turns out that these sons are marked with the seal of heavenly origin. How could you talk about them as being suitable for mere mortals? When they become kings of kings, khans over all, only then will they understand all this simple people!»
§ 22. And then Alan-goa began to instruct her sons like this: “All five of you were born from my single womb and you are like the five twigs of old. If you each act and act only for yourself, then you can easily be broken by everyone, like those five twigs. If you agree and are unanimous, like those twigs tied in a bundle, then how can you become someone’s easy prey?” Whether long or short, their mother, Alan-goa, died.
§ 23. After the death of their mother, the five brothers began to divide property among themselves. At the same time, it turned out that four brothers - Belgunotai, Bugunotai, Bugu-Khadagi and Bukhatu-Salzhi - took everything for themselves, and Bodonchar was not given his share at all, considering him stupid and uncouth and not even recognizing him as a relative.
§ 24. “Since my relatives don’t recognize me, what should I do here?” - said Bodonchar. He saddled Orok-shingul, with abrasions on his back, with a thin tail, like a whistling arrow, and sent him aimlessly down the Onon River. “To die, to die! I live, I live!” - he said. I drove and drove and reached the Balchzhun-aral tract. Here he built himself a booth out of grass and began to live and live.
§ 25. He began to notice how a gray-gray female falcon catches and devours partridges. He made a trap from the hair of the tail of his bare-tailed Orok-Shinkhul, with abrasions on its back, lured it, caught the bird and began to tame it.
§ 26. Having no other food, he shot into the gorges of the animals driven there by wolves, but no, he ate wolf scraps. So he spent the winter safely that year, feeding both himself and his falcon.
§ 27. Spring has come. When the ducks arrived, he began to fly his falcon at them, first starving it to death. He planted wild ducks and geese: on each stump - the hind parts (khonshiut), and on each branch - the stinking parts (khunshiut), and he hung so many that the smell came out.
§ 28. Along the northern slope of the mountains, from behind a dark forest, some ancestral tribe of Bolyuks migrated, moving downstream of the Tungelik River. During the day, Bodonchar began to come to them to drink kumiss, when he happened to fly his falcon in their direction. At night, he used to go to spend the night in his grass hut.
§ 29. When it happened that people asked Bodonchar for his falcon, he did not give it. And they lived among themselves in such a way that they did not ask Bodonchar where he was from or who he was, and he did not mutually try to find out what kind of people they were.
§ 30. His elder brother, Bugu-Khadagi, knowing that his younger brother, Bodonchar the simpleton, had gone down the Onon River, came here to look for his brother. He began to ask those people who arrived here, wandering down the Tungelik River: had such and such a person been here, on such and such a horse?
§ 31. Those people answered: “There is a man and a horse here, just like you ask. He is a falconer. Every day he comes to us, treats himself to kumis and leaves. And at night he spends the night somewhere. With the north-west wind, the down and feathers of geese and ducks caught by a falcon fly here, like snow flakes in the wind. He must be not far here: now the time of his usual arrival is approaching. Wait a minute." That's what they said.
§ 32. Meanwhile, a man arrives, following upstream the Tungelik River. That was Bodonchar. As soon as he saw it, his elder brother, Bugu-Khadagi, immediately recognized him. He took his brother with him and set off at a trot up the Onon River.
§ 33. Trotting after his brother, Bugu-Khadagi, Bodonchar says to him: “Brother, oh brother! It is good for a man to have a head, and a fur coat to have a collar.” His brother, Bugu-Khadagi, did not understand what these words meant.
§ 34. When he repeated the same words, his brother still did not understand anything and did not say anything to him in response. And Bodonchar rode and kept repeating the same thing. Then his elder brother says: “Why are you still repeating the same thing?”
§ 35. Then Bodonchar says: “The people of today who live on the Tungelik River are all equal: they have neither men nor masters; no head, no hoof. Insignificant people. Let's capture them!"
§ 36. “Okay! - answered the elder brother. “But let’s just go home first and consult with all the brothers, and then we’ll go to captivate those people.” So they talked.
§ 37. Returning home, they conferred with their brothers and set out on a campaign. Bodonchar himself was allowed to serve as the forward gunner.
§ 38. Going head-on, Bodonchar captured a half-pregnant woman: “Who are you?” - he asked. “I am,” she says, “I am from the Chzharchiut tribe, named Adanhan-Uryankhajina.”
§ 39. Then the five brothers captured those people, and they became their slave servants, in the herd and kitchen.
§ 40. A woman who was half pregnant entered Bodonchar and gave birth to a son. Since he was considered the son of a foreign tribe, they named him Zhadaradai. He became the ancestor of the Zhadaran clan. That Chjadaran had a son named Tukhuudai. The son of Tukhuudai was Buri-Bulchiru, the son of Buri-Bulchiru was Khara-Hadaan. The son of Khara-Hadaan was Zhamukha. This is the origin of the Zhadaran family.
§ 41. This woman gave birth to another son, this time from Bodonchar. And because he was descended from a captive, his son was nicknamed Baariday. He became the ancestor of the Baarin family. Baariday's son is Chiduhul-Boko. Chiduhul-Boko had many wives. Something like this was born to him and his sons. They became the ancestors of the Menen-Baarin tribe.
§ 42. Belgunotai became the ancestor of the Belgunot tribe. Bugunotai became the ancestor of the Bugunot tribe. Bugu-Khatagi became the ancestor of the Khatagi tribe. Buhutu-Salzhi became the ancestor of the Salzhiut tribe. Bodonchar became the founder of the Borchzhigin generation.
§ 43. That descendant of Bodonchar, who was born from the first, eldest wife, bore the name Barin-Shiratu-Habichi. Bodonchar also had a concubine, who entered his house along with the dowry of the mother of this same Habichi-Baatur. And she gave birth to one son. His name was Zhouredai. At first, Zhouredai enjoyed the right to participate in the ancestral sacrifice of Zhugeli.
§ 44. However, after the death of Bodonchar, this Zhouredai was excluded from participating in the ancestral sacrifices of the Zhugeli under the pretext that a certain Adankha-Uriankhadai was a regular at home and that he must have descended from him. He formed a special clan division-obok, under the name Zhoureid, and thus became the ancestor of the Zhoureid people.
§ 45. The son of Habichi-Baatur was Menen-Tudun. Menen-Tudun had seven sons: Khachi-Kuluk, Khachin, Khachiu, Khachula, Khachiun, Harandai and Nachin-Baatur.
§ 46. Khachi-Kuluk's son, Khaidu, was descended from Namoluna on his mother's side. Khachinov’s son was given the name Noyagidai. Because of his extreme arrogance (noуаnshiу aburitu) his family began to be called Noyakin. Khachiu's son's name was Barulatai. He was big in stature and eager to eat. His family was called Barulas. The sons of Khachula also formed the Barulas clan, and because of the greed of both brothers for food, the family nicknames Eke-Barula and Uchugan-Barula came from, and from here came the Barulas clan divisions: Erdemtu-Barulas, Todoen-Barulas, etc. The children of Harandai became the ancestors the Budaad-Kashnikov tribe, which was named so for the reason that they, like mixed porridge, had neither an elder nor a head. Khachiun had a son named Adarkidai. He became the founder of the tribe, nicknamed Adarkin-sutyagi because of the feuds that he started between the brothers. The sons of Nachin-Baatur were nicknamed Uruudai and Mangutai. From them came the Uruud and Mangud tribes. From his first, eldest wife, Nachin-Baatur also gave birth to Shizhuudai and Doholodai.
§ 47. Khaidu had three sons: Baishingor-Dokshin, Charahai-Linghu and Chaozhin-Ortegay. The son of Baishingor-Dokshin is Tumbinay-Sechen. The sons of Charahai-Linhu - Sengun-Bilge, Ambagai and others - formed the Taichiud tribe. The descendant of Charakhai-Linhu, descended from his daughter-in-law, was called Besutai. This is where the Besud clan comes from. From the sons of Chaozhin-Ortegai came the following tribes: Oronar, Khonkhotan, Arulad, Sonid, Habturkhas and Geniges.
§ 48. Tumbinay-Sechen had two sons: Khabul Khan and Sim-Sechule. Sim-Sechuley's son is Bultegu-Baatur. And Khabul Khan had seven sons, namely: the eldest - Okin-Barhag, then Bartan-Baatur, Khutukhtu-Mungur, Khutula Khan, Khulan, Khadaan and the youngest - Todoen-otchigin.
§ 49. Okin-Barkhag has the son of Khutukhtu-Yurki. Khutukhtu-Yurka had two sons: Seche-beki and Taichu. From them came the generation of Yurkins.
§ 50. Bartan-Baatur had four sons: Mangetu-Kiyan, Nekun-taizhi, Yesugai-Baatur, Daritai-otchigin. Khutuktu-Mangurov's son was Buri-Boko. It was he who cut Belgutai’s shoulder at the feast in Ononskaya Dubrava.
§ 51. The sons of Khutul Khan are Zhochi, Girmau and Altan. Khulan-Baatur has a son, Eke-Tseren. It was he who was the noyon of Badai and Kishlik (who later became free from slaves), darkhans. Neither Hadaan nor Todoen had any offspring.
§ 52. Khabul Khan was in charge of all the Mongols. After Khabul Khagan, who had seven sons, the son of Sengun-Bilgei, Ambagai Khagan, began to be in charge of all the Mongols, according to Khabul Khagan, although Khabul Khagan had seven sons of his own.
§ 53. One day, Ambagai Khan personally went to see off his daughter, whom he was marrying off to the Tatars from the Airiud-Buyruud tribe, on the Urshiun River between lakes Buyur-naur and Kolen-naur. At this time, Ambagai Khan was captured by the Tatars of the Zhuin tribe and taken to Altan Khan of Kitad. Then Ambagay, through his envoy Balagachi, a man from the Besud clan, ordered to convey to the middle of the seven sons of Khabul Khan, Khutule, so that he, in turn, would convey the following to Khadaan-taizhiu of all ten sons: “Avenge me, who personally escorted his daughter as a national kagan and sovereign of the people. Take revenge and tirelessly repay for me, not only until you lose the nails of five fingers, but also until all ten fingers are gone.”
§ 54. At that time, while one day hunting along the Onon River for a bird, Yesugai-Baatur met Merkitsky Eke-Chileda, who was coming from a wedding, having taken a girl from the Olkhonut tribe. Looking into the cart and struck by the rare beauty of the girl, he hastily returned home and brought with him his elder brother, Nekun-taizhia, and his younger brother, Daritai-otchigin.
§ 55. In view of their approach, Chiledu was afraid, but under him was the horse of Khurdun-huba. He whips his hubby on the thighs, tries to hide from them behind the hills, but the three of them relentlessly follow on his heels. While Chiledu, having circled the cape, returned to his cart, Hoelun-uchin said to him: “Didn’t you guess the intention of these people? You can see from their faces that this is about your life. But if you were alive and well, there would be girls in every cart, there would be wives in every wagon. If only you were alive and well, and you would find a girl-wife. Apparently, you will have to call a girl with a different name the same name Hoelun. Save yourself, kiss me and go!” With these words, she took off her shirt, and when he, without getting off his horse, reached out and accepted it, those three had already flown up from behind the cape. Spurring his Khurdun-khub, Chiledu rushed, escaping from pursuit up the Ononu River.
§ 56. Three rushed after him, but, having chased him over seven ridges, they returned. Yesugai-Baatur led the horse Hoelun-uchzhin by the reins, his elder brother, Nekun-taizhi, rode in front, and his younger brother, Daritai-otchagin, rode closely next to her. They drive like this, and Hoelun-uchin says:
“My father, Chiledu!
The headwind never blew your curls
In the desert land you never went hungry.
How does it feel now?
And dropping both her braids, now on her back, now on her chest, now forward, now back, she wailed so loudly, “How does it feel to be leaving now?” so loud that
The Onon River was worried
There was an echo in the forest.
Already close to home, Daritai-otchigin began to calm her crying:
“Your kissed one has crossed many passes,
Your lamented fermented many waters.
No matter how much you cry, he will not rush to look at you,
No matter how much you search, there is no trace of him.
Shut up already." So he calmed her down. Yesugai immediately took Hoelun-uchin to his house. This is how Yesugai abducted Hoelun-ujina.
§ 57. Since Ambagai Khan named the names of Khadaan and Khutula in the news sent, all the Mongol-Taichiuds, having gathered at the Onon tract Khorkhonakh-zhubur, installed Khutula as khan. And the Mongols began to have fun with feasts and dances. Having placed Khutulu on the Khan's table, they danced around the spreading tree on Khorkhonakh. They danced so much that, as they say, “the potholes were thigh-deep, and the piles of dust were knee-deep.”
§ 58. When Khutula became khan, Khadaan-taizhi went against both Tatars. Thirteen times he fought against both, at Koton-Barakh and at Zhili-Bukh, but still could not avenge Ambagai Khan with vengeance, repay with retribution.
§ 59. It was then that Yesugai-Baatur returned home, having captured the Tatar Temujin-Uge, Khori-Bukh and others. It was then that Hoelun-uchzhin was in the last stages of her pregnancy, and it was then that Genghis Khan was born in the Deliun-baldakh tract, on Onon. And when it came to him to be born, he was born, squeezing in right hand his clot of blood, the size of a finger. Considering that his birth coincided with the drive of the Tatar Temujin-Uge, he was therefore named Temujin.
§ 60. From Hoelun-uchina four sons were born to Yesugai-Baatur: Temujin, Khasar, Khachiun and Temuge. One daughter was also born, named Temulun. When Temujin was nine years old, Zhochi-Khasar was seven years old at that time, Khachiun-Elchi was five years old, Temuge-otchigin was in his third year, and Temulun was still in the cradle.
§ 61. When Temujin was nine years old, Yesugai-Baatur decided to marry him a bride from his maternal uncles Hoelun, from her relatives from the Olkhonut clan, where he went with his son Temujin. On the way, between the tracts of Tsektser and Chikhurgu, he met Khonkhiradsky Dei-Sechen.
§ 62. “Where are you going, matchmaker Yesugai?” - Dei-Sechen asks him. “I’m going,” says Yesugai-Baatur, “I’m going to woo a bride for this son of mine from his maternal uncles, from the Olkhonut tribe.” Dei-Sechen says: “Your son has a look like fire, and a face like the dawn.”
§ 63. “I dreamed, matchmaker Yesugai, I had a dream that night, as if a white falcon had descended into my hand, clutching the sun and the moon in its talons. Regarding this dream of mine, I told people: You can see the sun and the moon only with your gaze; and then this falcon flew in with the sun and moon in its talons and descended onto my hand, the white one descended. Does he foreshadow something? - I just thought, as I see: you are approaching, matchmaker Yesugai, you are with your son. How can such a dream happen? It is not otherwise that it was you - in the spirit of your Kiyat tribe - who appeared in my dream and predicted!
§ 64. We, the Ungirat tribe,
Famous since ancient times
The beauty and stateliness of the maidens from their Ungirat wife.
We don't love abuse, but we love our dear maidens
We're taking you to your khans as friends.
A black camel in a Cossack single-cart
Harnessed, and they set him off at a trot...
We will seat her in your royal place.
We are not looking for abuse. Only,
Having raised nice girls,
We'll fit it in a covered cart,
With a gray camel in harness...
We're getting married. To your high place
We'll seat the dear half.
From time immemorial Ungirat wives
Like a shield they are unapproachable, and the virgins are humble.
The beauty of the maidens from the Ungirat wife
We have been famous since ancient times.
§65. Our youths look beyond the steppe,
Our virgins captivate our eyes with their beauty.
[“Ungirat tribe, since ancient times we have been famous, without any rivals, for the beauty of our granddaughters and the good looks of our daughters. We, to your royal family, place our beautiful-skinned maidens in an arba (Cossack cart) drawn by a black-brown camel and, letting it trot, deliver it to you, to the khan’s bed. We don’t argue with tribes-peoples. Having raised our beautiful maidens, placing them in a covered cart and taking them away on a gray camel harnessed, we place them on a high bed, placing the (dearest) half of them. Since ancient times, among us, the Ungirat tribe, wives are famous for their shields, and maidens for their meekness. We are glorious for the charm of our granddaughters and the beauty of our daughters. Our guys look after the nomads, and our girls draw everyone’s attention to their beauty...”]
Come to me, matchmaker Yesugai. My girl is a little girl, but I need to see the matchmaker.” With these words, Dei-Sechen escorted him to his place and unseated him from his horse by the elbow.
§ 66. He looked at his daughter, and her face was like dawn, her eyes were like fire. He saw the girl, and she fell into his soul. At ten years old, she was one year older than Temujin. Name was Borte. We spent the night. In the morning he began to woo his daughter. Then Dey-Sechen says: “Is it an honor to give back after long negotiations, and is it dishonor to give back at the first word? It’s not a woman’s lot to grow old at her parents’ doorstep. I agree to give away my daughter. Leave your son as your son-in-law.” When the matter was finished, Yesugai-Baatur said: “My baby is afraid of dogs! You, matchmaker, take care of my boy from the dogs!” With these words, Yesugai gave him his clockwork horse, left Temujin as his son-in-law and rode off.
§ 67. On the way, in the Tsektser steppe-Shira-keer, the Tatars feasted. Having met them, Yesugai-Baatur decided to stay late at the festival, as he was thirsty. The Tatars, it turns out, knew him. “It is Yesugai-Kiyan who has appeared,” they reasoned and remembered their old grievances and scores. And so, with the intention of secretly poisoning him, they mixed him with poison. Leaving them, he felt ill, and three days later, when he got home, he became very ill.
§ 68. Then Yesugai-Baatur says: “I feel bad. Is there anyone around here? He was told that Munlik, the son of the Khonkhotan elder Charakhai, was nearby. Calling him to him, Yesugai-Baatur told him: “My child, Munlik! After all, I have small children. The Tatars secretly harassed me when I visited them on the road, having arranged for Temujin to be my son-in-law. I feel bad. Take all your children under your care: your little ones, your abandoned younger brothers, your widow, your daughter-in-law. My child, Munlik! Bring my Temujin as soon as possible!” Here he died.
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From the editor
ABOUT the assessment of the activities of a particular historical figure is always subjective. And it largely depends on the documents on which the researcher has to rely, and, of course, on his conscientiousness. European historical tradition often a priori classified everyone who bore the title “khan” into the category of “cruel barbarians.” And Genghis Khan and his warriors are truly “fiends of hell”! “The Mongols are the soldiers of the Antichrist who have come to gather the last, most terrible harvest,” these are the words of the great Roger Bacon...
But is the goal that Genghis Khan set for himself any different from the aspirations of other great rulers of the past - from Alexander the Great to Napoleon Bonaparte? Didn’t they all equally strive to create a powerful centralized state with the only effective form of government possible at that time - absolute power?
Genghis Khan became the creator of the Mongolian state, which united various groups and factions into a single people under a rule that in its form was an absolute monarchy in its highest manifestation. And then the time came for an empire that covered a vast territory. And let us remember: Alexander’s empire began to fall apart immediately after his death, and Napoleon died on the island of St. Helena, realizing that there was nothing left of his Great France.
And the entry into the inheritance of Genghis Khan’s son did not cause any protests or unrest, and the power of his descendants, who later nevertheless divided into separate kingdoms, extended over half the world for several more centuries.
To create a great state, great reforms and transformations are needed, often breaking existing foundations from top to bottom. Did Genghis Khan manage to do everything by himself, did his clearly structured empire appear out of the blue, with the wave of a magic wand? And again no. Genghis Khan was the greatest reformer; his will, authority, energy and organizational talent became his support in transformations.
Since the representatives of the Mongol-speaking tribes, who gathered in 1189 for the Great Khuraldai (kurultai), which was the official state institute Mongols, Temujin proclaimed Genghis Khan - that is, the "Ocean Khan", the Lord of the Universe, the supreme ruler of the tribal association Hamag Mongol ("All Mongols"), Mongolia, from the point of view of government and governance, was transformed beyond recognition. The rapid transition from a tribal nomadic structure to a single state was accompanied by equally rapid and large-scale reforms.
All supreme power was concentrated in the hands of the khan, his decrees were binding throughout the country. At the same time, the Great Khuraldai did not lose its role as an advisory body at which the Mongol aristocracy could express its opinion on the most important issues: the enthronement of a new khan, the declaration of war or the conclusion of peace, etc. The khan was endowed with the right of the highest judicial authority, however the structure of the judiciary was relatively independent.
The court under Genghis Khan turned from a public institution into a state one. The Khan understood that if the laws, no matter where they came from, were not observed in the most distant ulus, his empire was doomed to collapse and death. That is why control over the execution of court decisions was the most important task of the Supreme Judge, who administered justice on behalf of the khan.
The tax system became the financial foundation for the functioning of the Mongolian state. Genghis Khan's successor, Ogedei, introduced coins into circulation, and soon paper money appeared in certain parts of the Empire. Under Genghis Khan, a network of communications routes was organized, the uninterrupted operation of the courier service and intelligence, including economic intelligence, was established.
Vast territories and fragmentation of subjects, the need to constantly maintain forces in combat readiness required the creation of a very clearly structured system of organization. The foundation of such a military-administrative organization was the decimal system - Genghis Khan divided all the Mongols into tens, hundreds, thousands and tumens (ten thousand), thus “shuffling” the tribes and clans.
Specially selected people from Genghis Khan's associates and nukers were appointed commanders of the main structural units. All adult and healthy men were considered warriors, in Peaceful time they ran their own households, and in the military were obliged to take up arms at the first order.
Individual hundreds, thousands and tumens, together with land plots, were transferred into the possession of the feudal prince, the head of the aristocratic family - the noyon. The Khan, who by law was the owner of all the land in the state, distributed the land and workers into the possession of the noyons, who for this were obliged to perform certain duties, which primarily related to military service. Unauthorized transition from one dozen, hundreds, thousands or tumen to another was prohibited; workers were enslaved to noyons.
Such a system, quite naturally, is not ideal from the point of view of modern principles, but it was fully consistent with the conditions of that time, the way of life and traditions of the Mongol people. It would seem that a person who created such a system and made his state the strongest at that time in the world should, without any reservations, enter the host greatest rulers in history.
But it was not there. Despite the fact that Genghis Khan’s leadership talent was recognized by absolutely everyone, his merits as a ruler did not just remain in the shadows - it was as if they did not exist at all!
An outstanding scientist, academician B. Ya. Vladimirtsov once said: “Genghis Khan was the son of his time, the son of his people, therefore he should be considered acting in the context of his century and his environment, and not transfer him to other centuries and other places on the globe.” . Wonderful and correct words! But to give such an assessment of the activities of the first Mongol Khan Until recently, few were ready.
The reasons for this attitude are, in general, understandable. Genghis Khan's warriors swept across Asia and half of Europe in a destructive wave, sweeping away everything in their path. “They came, broke, burned and killed” - this image of the Mongol-Tatars and their leader became an archetype of cruelty and barbarity for a long time. Why did the Mongols become the “main offenders” at a time when everyone was fighting everywhere?
Because they were stronger and more organized than everyone else, and they were led by an outstanding ruler?.. The vanquished never like the winners and have difficulty recognizing their superiority...
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