What was the name of the city that was the capital of the Mongol Empire. Formation of the Mongolian state

as an indicator of Mongolian-Chinese cultural interference

The capital of the state is always more than just a city. A provincial city, whether it is a rich trade and craft center or a distant outpost forgotten by God and people, develops according to quite understandable, natural laws - its size, shape, quantity and quality of public buildings depend, first of all, on the capabilities and ideas of the local administration and the population, from the functions that the city performs and the surrounding landscape. The capital, in addition, is designed to embody the very essence of the state, which leaves a special imprint on it. The capital is often not only the seat of the ruler and the court, not only a showcase for foreign ambassadors who, having been in it, must bring stories about the power and greatness of their neighbor to their rulers. The capital is often almost the only place that is equally alien to all the subjects of the empire, the node that unites the provinces into an empire - both administratively and economically, as well as ideologically. Therefore, the capital may not be the most interesting city for studying a particular civilization and culture - but the most productive for studying the state and the political ideology that its rulers tried to follow.

In the early years of the Mongol Empire, during the reign of Genghis Khan (1162-1227, proclaimed great khan in 1206), the residence of the great khan, apparently, was a typical headquarters of a nomadic ruler - he was not inclined to tie himself to the construction of buildings, and , probably did not consider it necessary and worthy of the ruler of the Mongols. In addition, the founder of the empire had not so many quiet years when he was not busy with wars and campaigns. However, already during the reign of his son Ugedei (1186-1241, great khan from 1229), the influence of the representatives of the settled peoples who became part of the empire on the ruling stratum of nomads increased significantly, which resulted, in particular, in the beginning of construction in 1235 the city of Karakorum, proclaimed the capital of the empire (see).

The vast valley of Orkhon, on which the Karakoram is located, fed by many rivers and streams flowing down from the wooded slopes of Khangai, provides extremely favorable conditions for nomads. These places, which the Turks called Otuken (or Otuken black) were the ritual and economic center of a number of nomadic empires. According to dynastic history Zhou shu周書 (“History of the [Northern] Zhou”), the kagan of the First Turkic Khaganate (551-630) constantly stayed here, and here, under his leadership, regular sacrifices and prayers were held to the ancestors of the kagan family and to Heaven (see); here was the headquarters of the ruler of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate (689-745) (see) and the capital of the Uighur Khaganate that replaced him, Ordu-Balyk, destroyed by the Kirghiz in the middle of the 9th century.

The origin of the name of the first Mongolian capital is a separate scientific problem(for more details, see), however, the most likely, it seems, is the assumption that it came from the Uyghur toponym (in Turkic "Kara-korum" means "black mountains / stones"), apparently denoting the Khangai mountains, from which r . Orkhon. The word Karakorum is not of Mongolian, but of Turkic origin, which, most likely, is evidence of the enormous influence that Uigur advisers had at the court of Ogedei, who convinced him that the capital should be located near the ruins of Ordu-balyk, and not in the native places of Genghis Khan, near Onon and Kerulen.

Despite its location in the heart of traditional nomad camps, Karakorum was not only the palace of the khan, who wanted to join the settled comfort, surrounded by the dwellings of the guards and the necessary servants, but also a fairly large trade and craft center, which was finally proved by the excavations of 1948-1949, carried out expedition led by S.V. Kiseleva. Low city walls (the shaft did not exceed 2-2.5 m in thickness, a wattle palisade covered with clay stretched from above, all together it hardly exceeded 4-5 m in height; see), designed to designate the city border rather than provide the city with a real protection, fenced off a significant area, which is an irregular quadrangle, oriented to the cardinal points, somewhat tapering to the south. From north to south, the length of the city exceeded 2 km, from west to east it was about 1.5 km (see). Ugedei's palace was located in the southwestern corner of the city, was surrounded by the same low walls as the whole city, and was a regular square 255 by 225 m (see), i.e. occupied a not too significant part of the city area. The rest of the city, judging by the results of the excavations, was quite densely populated. At the eastern gate, to which the suburb adjoined, fragments of millstones and threshing stones were found, which indicates that people who were engaged in agriculture lived here, plows and millstones were found in different parts of the city (see). The creators of the city clearly wanted it to be at least partially self-sufficient in food, however, we know that the city was still heavily dependent on grain supplies from China. A street lined with houses led from the city center to the eastern gate. Judging by the especially frequent finds in this area of ​​the city of coins, trading shops were located here (see). According to Guillaume Rubruk, there were two main streets in the city, along one of which lived Muslims, mostly merchants, and along the other - Chinese, who were mainly engaged in crafts; it had twelve pagan temples of different peoples, two mosques and one Nestorian church (see). According to excavations, in the center of the city, at the intersection of two main streets, there were khan's workshops, which functioned very actively. In this place, during its short history, the city managed to form an unusually rich cultural layer, up to 5 m thick. and a lot of products, especially a lot of massive bushings for the axles of carts, camping boilers with legs, arrows and sabers (see. ). All this testifies to the fact that the industrial capacities of the Karakorum were actively used in preparation for the long-distance campaigns of the Mongol armies. Laboratory studies have shown that cast iron, used in a number of products, required very high temperatures for melting, of the order of 1350 °, which were achieved using a complex system of mechanical bellows, driven by water flowing through canals from the river. Orkhon, the remains of this system were found in a large metallurgical workshop in the city center (see). In the upper layers, when the city has already lost its metropolitan functions, traces of a very diverse ceramic production predominate (see). Throughout the Karakorum, many finds of imported items (porcelain, mirrors, silk) have been made, which, like a large number of coins found, speak of a wide distribution of trade (see). The remains of buildings are grouped mainly along the two main streets, the rest of the city is almost not built up - apparently, there were yurts (see). Despite a significant population, palaces and workshops, Karakoram was still a city of nomads, with all the contradictions that this somewhat paradoxical status gave rise to.

However, being in the heart of the steppe, Karakorum was very dependent on grain supplies from China, which, of course, its population could not provide for itself, and this was destined to play fatal role in his destiny. In 1260, Khubilai (1215-1294) was proclaimed a great khan (see). His younger brother Arig-Buga, also proclaimed great khan with the support of part of the Mongol nobility, dissatisfied with Khubilai's obvious inclination towards Chinese culture, occupied Karakorum, but this did not help him: Khubilai ordered to stop supplying grain to the capital, so famine soon began there (see. ), Arig-Boga left Karakorum and was soon defeated.

After losing the status of the capital, Karakorum began to rapidly lose population and deteriorate. It housed the headquarters of the military governor of the northern provinces, xuan wei si宣慰司 (Department of general sedation) (see). During the war between Khubilai and Kaidu (1230-1301) and the associated turmoil, Karakoram repeatedly changed hands, in 1295 it was looted and burned by the imperial army (see), and in 1312 it was renamed Henin 和寧 ( Harmony and peace) (see): probably by this time the Turkic name was no longer used, the renaming was based on Chinese version, Helin 和林. After the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, the son last emperor Togon-Temur, who died in 1370 in southeastern Mongolia, tried to gain a foothold in Karakorum, but did not succeed - the city, most likely already almost abandoned, was taken by the Ming troops and burned (see).

The beginning of changes in the state ideology of the Great Mongol state, which increasingly began to move away from the nomadic steppe traditions and turn into a bureaucratic empire of the Chinese persuasion - the Yuan empire (for more on this, see), is inextricably linked with the name of Khubilai.

Around 1251-1252, Khubilai was put in charge of managing the northern Chinese provinces of the empire (see). In 1256, he decided to acquire his own residence closer to China and instructed his adviser Liu Bing-zhong 劉秉忠 (1216-1274) to find, based on the principles of Chinese geomancy ( Feng Shui風水), an auspicious place, to develop a plan for the city and build it, which was done. The new city, called Kaiping 開平 (Beginning of Tranquility), was built in the steppes 275 km north of the modern. Beijing, not far from Lake Dolon Nor (25 km northwest of the modern city of Dolun in the southeast of Inner Mongolia). Shortly before the transfer of the capital from Karakoram to Dadu (see below), in the summer of 1263, the city was renamed Shangdu 上都 (“Upper Capital”) and until the end of the dynasty retained the status of the summer capital. Spending the hottest summer months in it or wandering in its vicinity, the emperor received representatives of the Mongol nobility in their usual nomadic atmosphere, albeit fabulously luxurious.

Both versions of the name of the city were used by the Mongols, which is noted at least in the chronicles of the 17th century. (cm. ). There is a composite version of Keibting-Sangdu GEUbdieit seeIdO, but most often only the second name is used, perhaps because it did not sound completely alien to the Mongolian ear - shand ZeeIda , according to dictionaries, it translates as “a hollow where underground water is very close to the surface of the earth, a key, a well in a hollow”.

We know much more about Shandu than about Karakorum. The population of the city, according to Yuan shi(“History of Yuan”) was very large and amounted to 118,191 people (41,062 families) (see); the palaces of Shandu are described in detail by Marco Polo, who, apparently, has repeatedly been there (see). In 1359, the city was plundered and burned by rebellious Chinese peasants, in 1369 it was taken by the Ming troops and left in ruins. The city has been very well preserved to this day, because after the fall of the Yuan dynasty and the destruction of the Ming troops, it fell into decay and was finally abandoned in 1430 - the city remained on the territory not controlled by China, and the Mongolian nomads, for whom the 15th century. turned out to be one of the most difficult periods of chaos and the absence of almost any form of statehood in their history, a city in the steppe was not needed. The first archaeological studies of the city were carried out by Japanese scientists during the existence of Manchukuo (see), subsequently, large-scale work was undertaken by scientists from the University of Inner Mongolia in 1956 and 1973. (cm. ).

Shandu (see rice. 1) is oriented to the cardinal points, consists of two contours of the walls, and the smaller contour is located in the southeast corner of the larger one. The outer contour is a regular square with a side length of approx. 2200 m, the width of the adobe walls at the base was approx. 10 m, to the top they narrowed to 2 m, the height reached 5 m. The city had 7 gates - two each in the northern, eastern and southern walls, one in the western wall, outside the gates were protected by additional fortifications, in the northwestern and -Western corners found traces of a city moat approx. 25 m

The inner bypass is also a square with a side length of 1400 m, six gates are cut into the walls - two each in the western and northern walls and one each in the southern and eastern (these gates are common with a large bypass). All gates are equipped with external fortifications. The thickness of the walls at the base is approx. 12 m, at the top - approx. 2.5 m, height - approx. 5-6 m. At the four corners of the small bypass, corner towers were erected; every 150 m, platform extensions were arranged on the walls, on which, perhaps, there were wooden towers where arrows could hide.

Inside the small bypass there was its own internal division. In the center of it, closer to the north, there are another adobe walls - a rectangle 570 m (E-W) by 620 m (N-S), lined with brick on the outside. These walls were as powerful and high as in the outer contours, towers were erected at the four corners of the rectangle. In all walls, except for the northern one, gates were cut. This contour of the walls was the actual palace of the emperor. The western and eastern gates are connected by a wide street, the same street goes from the southern gate, they form a T-shaped intersection in the center of the complex. To the north of the intersection, an adobe platform measuring 60 by 60 m, 3 m high was found. On all sides, except for the south, an eight-meter strip of the territory adjacent to the platform was paved with bricks, from the south two smaller buildings adjoined the corners of the platform. Apparently, it was the throne room, the main palace building. On both sides of the street leading from the southern gate, two platforms 50 m (E-W) by 20 m (N-S), 5 m high were found - apparently, these were some kind of entrance pavilions flanking the main entrance to the palace.

In a smaller wall, a kind of "city of officials" adjacent to the palace, religious and official buildings were located. The main transport arteries were two wide streets - one of them, which had a width of approx. 25 m, led from the southern gate to the southern gate of the palace, the second, approx. 15 m, connected the southern pair of gates on the eastern and western walls and crossed the first one a little to the south of the front gates of the palace. Similar highways departed from the northern gates of the eastern and western walls, but they rested against the walls of the palace. Between these wider "avenues" was laid a fairly frequent network of narrower, straight streets, intersecting at right angles.

The largest bypass of the walls of the city was not uniform - the part of it, located to the north of the "city of officials", was separated by an adobe wall, and it was possible to get into this northern part only from the "city of officials". No traces of buildings were found on the entire territory of this part, except for a large stone-paved courtyard (350 m along axes E-W 200 m along the N-S axis) in the center. Archaeologists suggest that an imperial park could be located in the north of the city, in which the emperor, if desired, could install yurts for himself and his entourage. Parks of this size are not marked in any of the known Chinese capitals.

The rest of the city, somewhat less than a quarter of the total area, was the dwelling place of the townspeople. In this part there were three main, widest (about 20 m) streets, two of them went in the east-west direction and went out - one to the western city gates, the other to the southern gates of the western wall of the "city of officials"; the third "avenue" went north from the southern city gates. These streets formed large quarters, cut through by narrower streets; on the territory of this part of the city, the locations of the houses of commoners, as well as workshops, were found. Traces of handicraft production and markets are also found outside the city walls.

Thus, Shangdu did not deviate much from the Chinese urban tradition, although, to a large extent, it was a palace with the support systems attached to it, in which the part on which the townspeople lived was not too much of the urban area. The only element that breaks the tradition can be considered a huge park in the northern part of the city, which occupied almost a third of the city - a kind of tribute to the steppe past of the rulers. Apparently, Khubilai, despite his interest in Chinese culture and taste for settled comfort, could not imagine life without the opportunity to roam, albeit in a park surrounded by walls. In addition, such empty spaces inside the city walls are typical for later cities that the Mongols built - often they did not have capital buildings, except for the walls themselves, temples and several modest palaces, and the rest of the space was allocated for the installation of yurts for the non-permanent - and accustomed to this way of life - the urban population. There are entire blocks of yurts in modern Ulaanbaatar. One way or another, Shangdu is a good illustration of the gradual transformation that the Mongol Empire was undergoing at that time: its rulers could no longer imagine their life without the comfort of an urban settled life, but, at the same time, they could not yet completely break away from their nomadic roots. . In 1260, Kublai Khan was proclaimed a great khan in Kaiping (see), in 1264 the capital was officially transferred from Karakorum to China, to the area of ​​modern Beijing, and received the name Dadu 大都 (Great Capital).

The Mongol Empire or, in other words, the Great Mongol State, was the result of the conquests of Genghis Khan and his descendants. Its territory was finally formed by the 13th century.

Rise of an empire

The founder of the Mongol Empire began his conquests by organizing the life of his own people. In 1203-1204, he prepared and implemented a number of reforms, in particular, to reorganize the army and create an elite military detachment.

The steppe war of Genghis Khan ended in 1205, when he defeated the Naimans and Merkits. And in 1206, at the kurultai, he was elected great khan. From this moment begins the formation of the Mongol Empire.

After that, the Mongolian state starts 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 that, Genghis Khan begins the process of expanding the borders of the Mongolian state. So, 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 Kiev, was defeated on the Kalka River. However, the victorious campaign against China did not begin due to the death of the khan.

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Mongolian state under Ogedei

The son of Genghis Khan Ogedei ruled the empire from 1228 to 1241, while carrying out a number of important state reforms that contributed to the strengthening of 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 Ugedei, the capital was built - the city of Karakorum, which was built by numerous captives captured on campaigns. The flag of this state has not reached us.

western hike

The lands after this conquest, the success of which the Mongols did not doubt, were included in the Ulus of Jochi. Batu Khan received the right to command the troops, which included soldiers from several uluses.

In 1237, the army approaches the borders of Kievan Rus and crosses them, successively conquering Ryazan, Moscow, Vladimir, Torzhok and Tver. In 1240, Batu takes 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. Baty.

The news of the death of the great khan forced Batu to return to the steppe, since he himself claimed this title.

Interregnum and the collapse of the empire

After the death of Ogedei, the right to his title was disputed among themselves by various khans, including Batu. The constant struggle for power weakened the central government, which led to the division of the Mongolian state into separate uluses, each of which had its own ruler. Also, the disintegration process was facilitated by the exorbitant size of the empire - even the developed postal service did not help to 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 historical heritage Genghis Khan gradually broke up into separate states. The most famous heir to the Mongol Empire is the Golden Horde that 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 already 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 aggressive campaigns, as well as the events that followed them, were briefly considered. 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 Mongolian lands led to. The result of the disunity of the heirs of Ogedei 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 Golden Horde is considered the most famous heir to imperial traditions. The pros and cons of Mongol rule in the conquered territories are also indicated, the Western campaign of Batu is considered, during which Kievan Rus and Eastern Europe were captured.

» Kazakhstan during the Mongol conquest (XIII century). Golden Horde (1243 - mid-15th century). »

Brief information about the Mongols.

In the XII century, the tribes, which later became known as the Mongols, occupied vast steppe territories from the Amur in the east to the upper reaches of the Irtysh and Yenisei in the west, from the Great Chinese wall in the south to the borders of Southern Siberia in the north. The largest tribes of the Mongols, who played an important role in subsequent events, were the Tatars, the Kereites, the Naimans, the Merkits, and the Mongols proper. The Mongols occupied most of the basin of the Orkhon and Kerulen rivers.

Mongolian tribes in the XII century were engaged in cattle breeding and hunting. They lived in felt tents. They were forced to roam by the need to change pastures for their livestock.

The Mongols lived a tribal way of life. They were divided into clans, tribes and uluses. The Mongolian society of the XII century was divided into three classes: the steppe aristocracy, commoners (karach) and slaves. At that time, the Mongols professed shamanism.

The Mongolian tribes were not united. Each tribe or clan was ruled by its own khan and was, as it were, a small state, which included a certain number of families who were obliged to supply military detachments-uluses and had enough land-yurts to support them.

The struggle for the predominance of supreme power in the steppe between the nomads was long and stubborn. At the beginning of the 12th century, under Khabul Khan and Ambagai Khan, the Mongol tribe rose to prominence. However, in 1161 the Jurchens and Tatars inflicted a major defeat on the Mongols. The grandson of Khabul Khan, Yesugei was no longer a khan, but bore the title of bagatura. Nevertheless, he remained a major figure. Being successful in campaigns and raids on other tribes, Yesugei-bagatur had many subjects and large herds of cattle. He died suddenly around 1165, poisoned by his Tatar enemies. After the death of Yesugei-Bagatur, the ulus he had assembled disintegrated. The most powerful tribes are the Tatars, who roamed around Lake Buir-Nur. The ethnicity of the Tatars to this day remains the subject of discussion. Many historians believe that in terms of language they were not Mongols, but Turks, although they could have some Mongols subordinate, who, in this regard, also called themselves Tatars. Be that as it may, the name "Tatars" was later attached precisely to the Turkic peoples. The new rise of the Mongols took place under Yesugei's son, Temuchin.

Formation of the Mongol Empire.

Timuchin was born according to some sources in 1162, and according to others in 1155 in the family of an influential representative of the Mongolian nobility - Noyon Yesugei Bahadur.

According to the Mongolian legend, Temuchin came from the Kiyat-Borjigins on his father's side, and his mother Oelen-ehe (“cloud mother”) was from the Konrat tribe. Having lost his father early (9 years old), in his youth Temujin went through a difficult life test, hiding from his pursuers in the thickets of the Onon River with a heavy block around his neck and eating raw fish.

Once the leader of the Taichiuts, Targutai-Kiriltuk, sent his people to Temujin's camp, and they captured him. They put stocks on the young man and took him to the camp of the Taichiuts, where they began to keep him a prisoner, transferring every day from one yurt to another. However, after some time, Temuchin managed to escape.

Immediately after this, the great ascent of Temujin to the heights of power and might began. When he was 17 years old he married Borte (Dai-sehn Borte's father). Outstanding growth and physical strength, and also with his outstanding mind, the son of Yesugei first recruited a gang of daring people from his fellow tribesmen and engaged in robbery and raids on neighboring tribes, returning the herds stolen from him. Gradually, the number of his adherents grew, and in 1189 Temujin stood at the head of the revived Mongol ulus. After that, in alliance with the Kereites, he defeated the Tatars and in 1202 carried out a terrible massacre among them. The surviving Tatars were divided into Mongolian clans. Following this, Temujin unexpectedly attacked the Kereites and defeated them utterly. The leader of the Van Khan tribe, the most powerful ruler of the then Mongolia, was killed. The next opponents were the Naimans.

In 1204, Temujin moved against the Naimans and inflicted a severe defeat on them. Their leader Tayan Khan died. Then came the turn of the Merkits, who were also routed. However, their khan Toktai managed to escape. In 1206, Temujin made a campaign against the Altai and finally defeated the Naiman Khan Kuchluk and the Merkit Khan Toktoya. The latter was killed, and Kuchluk fled to Semirechye. Thus, Temujin became the ruler of the Mongols, uniting under his rule all the tribes living there.

In 1206, he convened a great kurultai (council) on the Onon River, which proclaimed him the ruler of the entire Mongolian people. It was then that Temujin officially took the title of Genghis Khan (“the greatest ruler”)1). All the tribes subordinate to him have since become known as the Mongols. Thus, in the 52nd year of Genghis Khan's life, his long-cherished dream came true. When Genghis Khan, confident that, having done away with the kings of the Merkit, Kereit and Naiman, he had already become the “autocrat of the peoples”, declared, “I ... directed the pan-lingual state on the path of truth and brought the peoples under my single reins” (“Secret Legend”, p. 168 ).

Now, when the sovereigns of these lands, each called Gurkhan, have been defeated by your right hand, and their regions have been given to you, then let your nickname be “Genghis”. You have become a king, of kings.” (Rashid-ad-Din).

This is how the great Mongol state was formed.

Military structure of the Mongol Empire.

Having firmly established himself on the throne, Genghis Khan continued to work actively to build his vast nomadic power.

One of the first concerns of Genghis Khan, after the unification of all the Mongol tribes into one power, was the creation of an armed force.

First of all, the Mongol Khan took care of the organization of his personal guard. The guard was called (“keshikten”), all the guards had to be of aristocratic origin. The personal guard, that is, the keshikten, enjoyed various privileges and special honor. All the guards were under the personal supervision of the emperor, he himself sorted out all their affairs.

Here is what is written in the “Secret Tale” - “those in charge of the security guards, without receiving verbal permission from me, should not arbitrarily punish their subordinates. In the case of a crime of any of them, they must certainly report to me, and then whoever should be beheaded will be cut off; Whoever needs to be beaten will be beaten.”

The army also had a particularly selective unit - "a thousand brave warriors." In battles, this detachment was used at decisive moments, and in calm times it was the personal security guard of the khan. 2)

From now on, military service and the duties of commanders were regulated. The strictest discipline is established in the troops. Genghis Khan divided the entire army and territory into three military administrative districts: the center (gol and kel) was headed by Kaya; the right wing - the western side - barungar - was commanded by noyon Bogurchi; the left wing - the eastern side - the zungars - was commanded by Mukali. Each district was divided into tumens (10 thousand people - 1 tumen), tumens are divided into thousands, and thousanders into hundreds, hundreds into tens. The military-administrative system created by Genghis Khan played an important role in the campaigns of conquest. Large divisions were headed by experienced and personally known to Genghis Khan chiefs (orkhons).

The main weapon of the light cavalry was a bow with arrows. The arrows were unusually sharp. Some of the archers were armed with darts and curved sabers.
In the heavy cavalry, people had chain mail or leather armor; headgear - a light leather helmet. Batu's army already wore iron helmets. The horses of the heavy cavalry had protective weapons made of thick patent leather. The main weapons of attack (shooters) were curved sabers and pikes; in addition, each had a battle ax or an iron club, which were hung from a belt or saddle. In hand-to-hand combat, the Mongols tried to throw or pull enemies off their horses; for this purpose, hooks attached to pikes and darts served, as well as horsehair lassos that were thrown from a certain distance. They used throwing weapons, battering rams, and burning oil during sieges. The Mongols knew how to produce a flood. They made digs, underground passages, etc.
This was the beginning of the magnificent Mongol army, which was to conquer half of Asia in the near future.

social device.

Genghis Khan laid the tribal life of the then Mongolian society as the basis of the state.

At the head of each clan was its leader. Several clans made up a tribe headed by a person of a higher rank than the leader of the clans, the leaders of the tribe (person) were subordinate to an even higher degree, and so on up to the khan himself. Tribal life raises the idea of ​​personality, subordination to the sole authority - in a word, beginnings close to the principles of military organization.

So, Genghis Khan exercised his power in the empire through a hierarchy of employees from the best “sons of the people”.

In his words, speeches, decrees, resolutions, Genghis Khan never addresses the people, like the Turkic kagan, but speaks only with princes, noyons and bagaturs.

But we must do justice to the great Mongol monarch that, despite his strictly aristocratic views, when he was appointed to the highest positions in the army and administration, he was never guided only by origin, but accepted according to knowledge, qualities, looked at the technical suitability of a given person, paid particular attention to moral qualities. He appreciated and encouraged such qualities in people as fidelity, devotion and steadfastness and hated treason, betrayal, cowardice, etc. According to these signs, Genghis Khan divided people into two categories.

The Mongolian state was ruled predominantly by nomads; from the urban population, he took only the “specialists” he needed. There was not a single "elected" body in the empire of Genghis Khan. He himself did not consider himself an elected emperor, much less an elected “people” (he was proclaimed head of clans and tribes).

Religion was also put at the basis of the state: Genghis Khan himself and his management staff were religious people and should have been, but no official religion was declared. The employees belonged to all faiths: among them were shamanists, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians.

To such a wide religious tolerance, which dominated in the kingdom of Genghis Khan of the XIII century, Europe reached only in the XVIII century, after it experienced Crusades for the mass extermination of "heretics" and "pagans" and after several centuries, during which the fires of the Inquisition burned.

The great kurultai of the Mongols elects a khan, resolves complex political issues. After the conquest and annexation of the population of agricultural, settled regions, the nature of the empire begins to change. It is losing its nomadic character more and more. Nevertheless, the principles based on the democratic form of resolving issues continue to operate.

The state system of the Mongols contributed to the hardening of the powers of the Altyn Orda and Muscovite Rus'. Rus' inherited from the Mongols the centralization of state power, transport taxes, a general population census, a military-administrative system, a monetary unit, a silver tenge coin.

Genghis Khan created the document "Uly Zhaza" ("Yasak" or "Great Punishment"). 13 out of 36 articles of this code of laws are devoted to various types of the death penalty. In 1223, the historian Chang-Chun, at the direction of Genghis Khan, wrote the chronicle “Altyn shezhire” (“Golden Chronicle”), in 1230 Chagatai “Kupyya shezhire” (“Secret Chronicle”), in 1240 Ogedei “Altyn dapter” (“Golden Notebook”) ”), thanks to which historians have the opportunity to explore the campaigns of Genghis Khan and his descendants.

Introduction

§1. Formation and stages of the Mongolian state

§2. Reasons for the aggressive policy

§3. The influence of the Mongol-Tatar yoke on the statehood of Rus'

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

In modern history, the name "Mongol-Tatars" is quite firmly rooted. Despite the fact that this people left an indelible mark on the history of the development of the Russian people, for the first time this term was used only in 1823. The name "Mongol-Tatars" was successfully used by P. Naumov, a professor at the University of St. Petersburg. During the direct rule of this nation in Rus', completely different names were used. They were called Tatars or Mongols. There was simply no exact information about this nationality in Rus'.

This conclusion can be reached by studying the Laurentian Chronicle. It emphasized that no one knows the exact origin of this people. The Genghisids themselves appropriated the name of the Mongols, and the empire was called the "Great Mongol Ulus".

What were the Mongols? They were nomadic pastoralists. Pastures were the main value for their existence, so military clashes with other nomadic tribes were quite common and did not surprise anyone. However, such military clashes led to the fact that the chaotic nomadic image was gradually reorganized into a strict military regime, thereby strengthening the military power of the Mongols themselves. Gradually, a nobility was formed, which produced leadership in the tribes.

Gradually, the tribal system lost its significance. In the first half of the 12th century, a state appeared on the territory of the Amur region under the leadership of Khabul Khan, which was called Khamag Mongol. The power of this state system was evidenced by the fact that the Jurchens could not subdue them to their will.

§1. Formation and stages of the Mongolian state

The history of the Jurchen Golden Empire is also quite interesting. It appeared in 1115 as a result of the struggle against the power of the Khitans. Having gained independence from their rule, the Jurchens became an independent and powerful empire, which had a rather serious influence on the development and culture of all the peoples of Primorye. But it was far from the first power that exerted such a powerful influence on the peoples of Primorye.

An earlier power, called Bohai, had such power. It appeared as a result of the independence of the Mukrian tribes from Tang China in 698. The social transformations taking place in it at that time, as well as a significant threat of its external expansion, prompted the creation of an independent state of Bohai, which subordinated to its rule a significant part of Primorye, as well as part of the state of Koguryeo that had survived from the Chinese invasion. Over time, the Uighurs also entered the state of Bokhur.

Gradually, the mighty Chinese Tang Empire was forced to recognize the position of Bohai and abandon further conquests in this territory. The military power of the state of Bohai was not inferior to the mighty Chinese empire, and therefore further conquests here were simply impossible. But the Uighur tribes after some time significantly undermined the power of this state. They had to invade the territory of this country, since the Uighurs themselves suffered a crushing defeat from the Yenisei Kyrgyz. This defeat of the Uighurs occurred in 840 and significantly affected further development Bohai.

The fall of Bohai also contributed to the western neighbors - the Khitans. Especially the pressure from their side became tangible after the proclamation in 916 of the independent Great Khitan state. This led to the fact that in 926 Bohai was completely defeated and destroyed by the Khitans. Nevertheless, throughout the subsequent history, a fierce struggle for independence was waged against the Khitans. This struggle lasted throughout the 10th century, and also partially affected the 11th century.

To the aid of the Bohai, the kindred Jurchens rose up, who in 1113 waged war with the Khitan under the leadership of Aguda. After a series of serious victories, Aguda in 1115 decided to announce the emergence of the Golden Empire. By 1125, the Liao empire had completely ceased to exist. Then Sung China was crushed. The most stubborn war was also waged with the Mongols, in which they lost to the Mongols.

Such a defeat led to the fact that the Mongols themselves forced the Jurchens to transfer 27 fortresses to the rule of the Mongols. They also pledged, as a sign of respect, to supply the specified amount of bread, as well as livestock. The Jurchens decided not to give up in their struggle against the Mongols and called the Tatars for help. As a result of such an alliance, the Mongols suffered a very large defeat in 1161. This led to the fact that the Khamag Mongol state itself was divided into three possessions, which were constantly at enmity with each other.

Temujin undertook to restore the former glory of the state, who, showing an iron will, was able to achieve the unification of most of these possessions into a single state in the 80s of the XII century. A new powerful political organism appeared, which became stronger and stronger. This was achieved by physically eliminating the most powerful rivals, who were from among the Mongol nobility.

This led to the fact that in 1206 a kurultai was convened, where he was officially declared Genghis Khan. Such recognition elevated him to the rank of the ruler of "all the Mongols." Having come to full power, he prepares for further campaigns. First of all, he is interested in the Golden Empire, as well as Siberia. It was there that the first military campaign was made, as a result of which the Buryats and Uighurs were conquered. Having strengthened himself, Genghis Khan insults the Jurchen envoy, which was tantamount to a declaration of war. This was followed by powerful military strikes by the Mongol troops, which led to the fall of the Golden Empire and its disintegration into several possessions, which were further controlled by the Jurchen commanders. They hastened to recognize their dependence on the Mongol Empire, thanks to which they remained in power. The conquest of the Golden Empire ended in the 30s of the XII century.

The strongest and most powerful resistance was provided by the Jurchen-Udige, who lived in the territory of Primorye. This led to the fact that most of them were exterminated by the Mongols. The survivors were forced to go into the wilds of the Ussuri taiga, where the Mongols' cavalry could not reach them. This led to the fact that the Udige tribes had to lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle, because of which they lagged far behind in their development.

The main direction of Genghis Khan was the war with China. In 1215, Beijing fell under the onslaught of the Mongols. As a result of the conquests of the Golden Empire and some part of China, the front line fell into the hands of the Mongols. military equipment. A staff of state officials also appeared, who helped in the management of the conquered territories. Genghis Khan's next blow was directed at Central Asia, Persia and Transcaucasia.

All of Central Asia was conquered in the period 1219-1221. At that time, Khorezmshah Mohammed was busy with internal political contradictions. Because of this, he was unable to appreciate the strength of the enemy. Thus, his troops were scattered and defeated.

The troops of Genghis Khan, commanded by Subedei and Jebe, scouted the lands of other countries. These were, for example, northern Iran and the Caucasus. In 1222, battles were fought in Azerbaijan and Georgia. From there, passing through the Shirvan Gorge, the troops were able to penetrate the plains of the northern Caucasus. In these places, the Mongol-Tatars were able to defeat the Polovtsy, as well as the Alans. Using the tactics of deceit and beautiful promises, they successfully divided the local peoples. As a result, the Polovtsy, who managed to stay alive, fled to the Russian land in the direction of the Dnieper.

Then Kotyan, the Polovtsian prince, asked his son-in-law, Mstislav Mstislavich Udaly, who was the Galician prince, for help. In response to this request, some of the princes of Southern Rus' united their forces.

In 1223, the famous battle took place on the Kalka River. Then the Russian-Polovtsian troops, united into one, were defeated under the blow of the Mongol-Tatars. The reason was the inconsistency of actions and the lack of endurance of the former. The damage was quite large, because only one warrior out of ten survived. Six Russian princes also died in this battle.

This was the first intelligence of the Russian lands. The second trip here was made by Batu Khan, or Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan. It happened in 1237. This campaign was preceded by the conquest of the Volga Bulgaria (1236) and the battle with the Polovtsians (1237). The first on the way of Batu was the Ryazan land. Then they suffered from the ruin of the principality of South, as well as North-Eastern Rus'. The Russian people put up strong enough resistance, but it turned out to be insufficient to repulse the skillful Mongol-Tatar troops.

In 1240, Kyiv was completely burned. After that, the conquerors went west. However, from the conquest Western Europe they were deterred by the news of the death of Genghis Khan's successor, Khan Ogedei. It happened in 1242, and the soldiers began to return to Mongolia. In addition, at that time the Mongol-Tatars had already noticeably weakened, because the resistance from Poland, Rus', Hungary and the Balkans was quite strong. After that, they never returned to Europe. However, since then, Rus' began to be under economic and political dependence on the khans of Mongolia.

§2. Reasons for the aggressive policy

The history of the Mongolian state is the history of conquests. The nomadic nobility lived by robbing their own people and neighboring peoples.

Thus, robbery, primarily of non-Mongolian peoples, is the main source of enrichment for the nobility and the main reason for the Mongol conquests. From the Great Wall of China to the Hungarian border - a grassy-steppe space;

Genghis Khan was faced with the task of distracting the nobility from separatist tendencies, and keeping the created empire from rapid collapse. This could be achieved by plundering Eurasia;

in the conditions of the Mongolian state, it was necessary to divert the attention of the masses from the deteriorating situation. So, from the sources you can find out that many Mongol warriors and cattle breeders did not have horses. A nomad without a horse in the conditions of the XIII-XIV centuries was neither a warrior nor even a shepherd. The impoverishment of the vast majority of the Mongols was a widespread phenomenon. At times, vagrancy was not only widespread among them, but also took on a huge scale.

In terms of the scale of expansion and the consequences of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, it can only be compared with the invasion of the Huns.

With a relatively small army, the Mongol expansion was carried out like a fan in 3 directions:

southeast - China, Korea, Japan, Indochina, Java island.

southwestern - Central Asia, Iran, the Caucasus, Arab Caliphate.

northwestern - Rus', Europe.

Genghis Khan brought down the first blow in a southerly direction, on the state of the Tanguts, Xi-Xia and Jin. The first blows against the Tangut state were delivered in 1205; in 1207 and 1209 - the second and third campaigns against the Tanguts. As a result of the victories of the Mongols, the Tanguts were forced to make peace with them and pay a large indemnity. Since 1211 campaigns against the Jurchens (in 1215 Beijing was taken).

In 1218, a western campaign was announced, which was preceded by victories over the Karakidans and the tribes of Southern Siberia. The main goals of the western campaign were the rich territories and cities of Central Asia (the state of Khorezmshah, Bukhara, Samarkand), which was conquered in 1222. The development of this direction led the Mongols to the Caucasus, to the southern Russian steppes.

Thus, Northern China (1211-1234) and Central Asia were hit hardest when Mongol expansion was on the rise. Northern China literally turned into a desert (a contemporary wrote: “Traces of terrible devastation were visible everywhere, the bones of the dead made up whole mountains: the soil was loose from human fat, the rotting of corpses caused diseases”).

Jochi from 1224 was the Khan of the Jochi ulus in the west of the Mongol Empire (the territory of northern Kazakhstan);

§3. The influence of the Mongol-Tatar yoke on the statehood of Rus'

empire mongol conquest rus

If we talk about the meaning of the yoke, then I want to first of all note the oppressive, enslaving force, in the literal sense of the word, the oppression of the conquerors over the vanquished.

Usually in this sense, it is used in phrases such as the Persian yoke, or the Mongol-Tatar yoke. It should be noted that the system of the Mongol-Tatar yoke is a system of tributary and political dependence of the Russian principalities on the Mongol-Tatar principalities. In turn, many researchers dealt with the problems of the history of the state and law of Rus' in the Golden Horde period.

However, there are no common points of view on this period of development of Russian statehood. The chronological framework of the study covers the period from the 13th to the 16th centuries. At this time, the foundations of the future centralized state of Moscow Rus were laid, as well as the Russian autocracy.

At the turn of the 12th-13th centuries, a number of strong and influential tribes and clans, and their leaders-leaders, among whom Temujin was the most powerful, emerged from the tribes roaming the expanses of Mongolia during civil strife. In 1206, he was elected general Mongolian ruler and received the name Genghis Khan. During 1215-1223. the hordes of Genghis Khan gradually defeated China, Khorezm, Afghanistan, carried out a campaign through Persia to the Caucasus. In 1223, the Mongols first met the Russian army in the battle on the Kalka River. During 1237-1241. under the successors of Genghis Khan, Batu (Batu) and Berke, the Mongols carried out the conquest of the Russian principalities.

After the Mongol-Tatar invasion in Rus', the Mongol-Tatar yoke was established.

Let's try to define what a yoke is. Yoke - an oppressive, enslaving force; in the narrow sense - the oppression of the conquerors over the vanquished. In this sense, it is usually used in a phrase. For example: Turkish yoke, Mongol-Tatar yoke, Persian yoke. Derived from prindoevre. *jugom "connection". That is, "yoke" - association, connection (for example, "Mongol-Tatar yoke"). The ancient Romans sometimes forced enemy troops who surrendered to pass "under the yoke".

mongo ?lo-tata ?Russian and ?go - a system of political and tributary dependence of the Russian principalities on the Mongol-Tatar khans (until the beginning of the 60s of the XIII century, the Mongol khans, after - the khans of the Golden Horde) in the XIII-XV centuries.

The relations of vassalage between the Russian principalities and the Golden Horde were not fixed by an agreement, but were simply dictated by the Mongols. The dependence of the Russian principalities was expressed, first of all, in the need for the Russian princes to receive a label from the khan for reigning, paying tribute to the Horde in the form of a tenth of all income from the population of the principality, as well as in providing horses, carts and food for the Mongol officials visiting the Russian principalities .

Over time, labels for reigning turned into an object of rivalry between the rulers of the Russian principalities, used by the Golden Horde khans as a pretext for predatory raids on Rus', and also as a means to prevent too much strengthening of its individual territories.

The tribute sent annually to the Horde was first collected in kind, and then was transferred to money. The units of taxation were city and Agriculture. The collection of tribute was at the mercy of Muslim merchants - bezermen, who often introduced additional arbitrary fees. Later, the collection of tribute was transferred to the Russian princes, which, along with the recall of the Basque officials, was one of the concessions made by the Golden Horde khans as a reward for the participation of individual Russian princes in suppressing the anti-Horde uprisings that took place in Rus' at the end of the 13th - first quarter of the 14th century.

It was the foreign policy factor - the need to confront the Horde and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - that played the main role in the process of forming a new unified state in Rus'. Therefore, this state, which was formed by the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century, had its own characteristics: a strong monarchical power, with a rigid dependence of the ruling class on it, as well as a high degree of exploitation of direct producers. The consequences of the influence of the conquerors determined many features of the new state and its social system.

Conclusion

Based on the information obtained, the following conclusions can be drawn. Of great importance in the historical fate of the Russian people, the peoples of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Transcaucasia, Crimea and the Volga region were the devastating conquests of the Mongolo-Tatars and the creation by them of the military-feudal states of the Genghisides.

In the XI - XII centuries. in the vast expanses of Mongolia, numerous pastoral tribes and smaller tribal and aiyl (family-related) groups roamed. At the same time, part of the Mongolian tribes - the forest Mongols - had not yet completely switched to cattle breeding, continued to live by hunting, fishing and gathering ready-made products of nature. The management of family, industrial and other public affairs continued to be based on the traditional consanguinity basis: ail - clan - a tribe headed by elders and leaders. The cult of ancestors, the deification of nature remained a characteristic form of consciousness for such a state of society.

The main military support of the domination of the Mongol conquerors was the numerous Mongol and other tribes and clans settled among the conquered peoples, roaming the steppe and foothill pastures and organized according to the decimal system. The common goals of the empire of Genghis Khan and the independent military-feudal ulus states that formed after its collapse were to strengthen and perpetuate the dominance of the descendants of the "golden family" of the Genghisids, numerous princes - members of this family, noyons. The means and methods for achieving these goals were:

The establishment of a merciless state-organized terror against the conquered peoples and tribes.

The use of the “divide and conquer” principle, which is characteristic of all enslavers. This principle was embodied in the granting of privileges to the Mongol nobility, the leaders of nomadic tribes, the establishment of various statuses for feudal lords, cities, the clergy, the use of a tax farming system for managing and squeezing taxes, tributes, extortions, etc.

Creation of a large financial apparatus for the systematic collection of huge amounts of money and other material resources from the conquered peoples, and for involving them in various duties and services. The officials of this apparatus periodically carried out population censuses and ensured the collection of taxes and other fees.

Constant military readiness to suppress the recalcitrant, organize raids and predatory campaigns against neighboring and distant states and peoples.

Legal pluralism: the preservation of the operation of local adat, Muslim law, the law of cities and the settled population under the prevailing position of common law, i.e. Yasa of Genghis Khan, labels, orders, orders of khans and their administrations.

Relative religious tolerance, since the Mongol feudal lords understood the importance of religion and the clergy to maintain their dominance over the conquered peoples. They themselves were quite superstitious and were afraid of the wrath of not only their own, but also foreign gods.

List of used literature

1. Vernadsky G.V. Mongols and Rus'. // G.V. Vernadsky - Tver, 1997, 189 p.

2. Grekov B.D., Yakubovsky A.Yu. The Golden Horde and its fall.//B.D. Grekov, A.Yu. Yakubovsky - M., 1998, 479 p.

Grekov B.D. Mongols and Rus'. Experience of political history.// B.D. Grekov - M., 1979, 156 p.

Gumilyov L.N. The search for a fictional kingdom.// L.N. Gumilyov - M., 1970, 398 p.

Ionov I.N. Russian Civilization 9-beginning. 20 centuries. // I.N. Ionov - M., 1985, 319 p.

Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State. T.1// N.M. Karamzin - M., 1991, 316 p.

Karamzin N.M. Note on ancient and new Russia.// N.M. Karamzin - St. Petersburg, 1914, 56 p.

Kargalov V.V. Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus'. // V.V. Kargalov- M., 1966, 136 p.

Klyuchevsky V.O. Russian history. Full course of lectures: In 3 books. - Book 1.// V.O. Klyuchevsky - M., 1995, 572 p.

Kostomarov N. The beginning of autocracy in Ancient Rus'// N. Kostomarov - St. Petersburg, 1872, 399 p.

Kuchkin V.A. Rus' under the yoke: how it was.// V.A. Kuchkin - M., 1990, 28 p.

Leontovich F.I. On the history of the law of Russian foreigners: the ancient Oirat statute of penalties. // F.I. Leontovich - Novorossiysk, 1879, 290 p.

Pashchenko V.Ya. Ideology of Eurasianism. // V.Ya Pashchenko - M., 2000, 160 p.

Platonov S.F. Lectures on Russian history.//S.F. Platonov - Petrograd, 1915, 746 p.

Soloviev S.M. History of Russia.// S.M. Solovyov - M., 1966, 498 p.

Trepavlov V.A. State structure of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. The problem of state succession. // V.A. Trepavlov - M., 1987, 168 p.

Golden Horde // encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.

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The formation of the Mongol state and the Mongol conquests

1. Mongolia before the formation of the state.

2. Creation of the Mongolian state.

3. The main directions, reasons for success and consequences of the Mongol conquests.

1. Mongolia before the formation of the state

By the end of the 12th century, several large unions of Mongol tribes roamed over a vast area from the Great Wall of China to Southern Siberia, from the upper reaches of the Irtysh to the Amur.

Ethnonym " Mongol" in the shape of « mengu", "mengu-mo", "mengu-wa" - first found in the Chinese chronicles of the Tang Dynasty. So the Chinese called a group of "barbarians" (all the steppe peoples) who roamed their northern borders, which obviously reflected their self-name. The Chinese called the northern Mongolian tribes "black" Tatars , and the nomads adjacent to the Great Wall of China "White" Tatars . There is also such a concept as "wild" Tatars, applicable to peoples engaged in hunting and fishing and living in the most remote northern regions of Mongolia. From this it can be assumed that during this period the Tatars dominated the steppe. The steppe peoples included nomads three tribes (Manchu, Mongolian, Turkic), but all these nomads called themselves the general concept of "Tatals", hence the "Tatars". As they moved away from China, the influence of settled peoples on nomadic peoples had a weaker effect or was completely absent.

natural conditions Mongolia (steppes, mountain pastures) from ancient times determined the main occupation of the Mongols - nomadic cattle breeding, that is, the Mongols - nomads nomads. In the steppes of Central Asia, nomadic pastoralism emerged from the primitive complex agricultural-cattle-breeding-hunting economy.

Chinese Chan Chun described the habitats of the Tatar-Mongol as "a giant valley, the size of which is 7-8 months of travel in length and width, ... abounding in water and grass," where people and herds "today go, tomorrow they stand, where there is water and grass." In the XI century. a long period of drought has ended. This contributed to the shift of the boundaries of the steppe zone to the south to the Gobi desert, the growth in the number of livestock and especially the population.

The main element of Mongolian society was the clan headed by the steppe aristocracy (bagaturs, noyons3). The clan jointly owned nomadic lands, performed religious rites. In the minds of most of the Mongols, the notion of collective responsibility for each member of the clan was stable. Joint farming and nomadism was called smoking (the camp-kuren was arranged around the yurt of the tribal elder and could number up to a thousand wagons, i.e. families)

Natives of the clan, who did not want to accept the rules of behavior and life within the team, became "people of long will." These people united in organized detachments under the leadership of military leaders. "People of long will" along with the Mongolian clans were a powerful force in the steppe.

The Mongols had tribal associations, which by the indicated time were not so much ethnic as political communities. Each of these associations had its own leader - Khan . As a rule, the khans at that time were already hereditary rulers, although the electoral system of the era of military democracy continued to exist, when the khan as a military leader was chosen by representatives of the tribal aristocracy. Sources indicate that in the XI-XII centuries. in Mongolian society, the steppe nobility stood out - “noyons”, people of the “white bone”. They bore special titles: "Bogatyr", "Sharpshooter", "Strongman", "Wise", etc.

From the second half of the XII century. the rivalry of individual aristocratic families for power, for the distribution of pastures, the removal of other people's herds and the kidnapping of brides of "foreign bone" intensified. Iranian scientist, vizier of the Mongolian Ilkhans, Rashid ad-Din (12471318) reports: “Each tribe had a sovereign and an emir. Most of the time they fought and fought each other, quarreled and robbed each other.”

Due to tribal feuds, as well as traditional politics China to pit the nomads against each other to prevent their unification, robbery, theft, arbitrariness, lawlessness, adultery have become commonplace. Thus, the need for political unification became obvious.

Even at the end of the XII century. Temujin (1154/1162(?) -Aug. 25, 1227), the son of Khan Yesugei, stood out among the Mongols, who experienced many disasters after the death of his father: childhood in the struggle of small nomads; in his youth, he was a prisoner in China, where he learned a lot, including learning about the weaknesses of the Middle Kingdom. He gathered young warriors ("people of long will"), who formed horde(team) and lived on military booty. They fought with their neighbors and accepted into their ranks everyone who was ready to submit to their way of life. Soon all the peoples of the Mongols submitted to the horde, and Temujin was proclaimed at the kurultai in 1206 (the year of the Tiger / Leopard) kaan , i.e. Genghis Khan ("Ocean Khan" - "Lord of the World"; in Turkic - Tengis Khan).

In the issue of unification, 2 trends emerged:

Most of the aristocracy preferred to unite at the level tribal confederation while maintaining their real power on the ground. But this could not ensure socio-political stability, because. tribal unions in Mongolia fell apart as quickly as they arose. This trend was driven by Jamukha , supported by the Tatars.

trend towards a highly centralized state the supporter of which was Genghis Khan, supported by the Mongols.

In a difficult war, Genghis Khan defeated the Tatars, almost completely exterminating them. Jamukha was executed. He persuaded the steppe aristocracy to create a state. Then Genghis Khan began the unification of the steppes. The internal struggle was very fierce and more difficult for the Mongols than subsequent external conquests.

These were typical steppe wars, after which the prisoners were boiled in cauldrons, "equated to the axis of the cart", pregnant women were ripped open. In Mongolian legends about this struggle it is written: “The starry sky used to turn. They didn’t lie down on the bed here, the mother wide earth shuddered - that’s what a pan-lingual strife was going on. Genghis Khan himself said that "the highest pleasure for a man is to defeat his enemies, drive them in front of him, take everything from them, see the faces of their loved ones in tears, squeeze their daughters and wives in the arms."

2. Creation of the Mongolian state

From 1206, the history of Mongolian statehood begins, which initially had an imperial tendency. The military character of the state was manifested in the oath taken to the Great Khan. The power of the Khan was also figuratively manifested in the rituals that accompanied the accession to the power of the Great Khan: the nearest nobles laid a sword in front of him, and he asked: “Is each of you ready to do what I command, go where I send, kill whom I will I order?" The nobles answered: "Ready." Then the Khan said to them: "From now on, let the word of my mouth be my sword."

The power of the Great Khan was also manifested in the fact that he was the ruler over life, death and property of each subject.

Factors hindering the peaceful development of the state:

During the process of centralization, nomadic pastoralism fell into decline, i.e. the basis of the economy. This pushed them to seize new herds and pastures from their neighbors.

The entire male population was mobilized into the army, trained in the art of war, aimed at war as the most effective means of acquiring material well-being.

Carrying out plans for aggressive campaigns, Genghis Khan, first of all, took up the military-administrative structure of the state.

The territory of Mongolia was divided into two parts: the left wing and the right wing, between which was the territory of Genghis Khan's own nomad camp. Such a division of the territory dates back to the time of the Huns and other tribal associations - the ancestors of the Mongols. Their experience greatly influenced the process of organizing the Mongol Empire.

Each of the three large districts (right and left wings and the center) was divided into "darkness" (10 thousand people), "thousands", "hundreds" and "tens". The territorial division corresponded to the principle of staffing the army, headed by tenth, sotsky, thousandths and temniks. of the best warriors, which played a huge role in strengthening the combat capability of the army. Companions of Genghis Khan were at the head of the territories, nukers And noyons .

Thus, Genghis Khan, having shown himself earlier as an outstanding commander, now showed himself as a talented organizer and politician. He turned the earlier warring tribes into a single powerful horde, placing it on a solid foundation. His domestic and foreign policy was aimed at protecting the interests of the noyonism. The administrative system also served these purposes. Under Genghis Khan, the city of Karakorum, the center of crafts and trade, became the capital of the empire.

Such a military-administrative structure of the state reflected the process of replacing former kinship ties with new administrative-territorial ones. Members of the former tribal collectives turned into vassals dependent on military leaders.

The positions of noyons (temniks, thousanders, centurions) were hereditary, but they did not have the right to own the nomad camp and the population that roamed on this land (they could not transfer or sell).

Relatives and closest associates of Genghis Khan received destinies and subjects for personal use. The latter were not included in the thousands and carried duties only in favor of their masters.

Such a mobile system of government was brought to life by the peculiar conditions of the aristocracy, which was looking for enrichment through military adventures and made it possible for Genghis Khan to mobilize the required number of soldiers at any time.

In addition to the power of the Khan, the Mongols were still subject to the harsh ancient law Great Yasa , which prescribed to each of the Horde members the observance of the basic rules of behavior and attitude towards their neighbors: deceit, failure to help a comrade in a war, strife between friends and any quarrels were especially severely punished.

Thus, the principles of the Mongol state laid down by Genghis Khan became the basis of the Mongol Empire. You can talk about " the dual nature of the "steppe empires" . Outwardly, they looked like despotic conquering states, because. were created to extract a surplus product outside the steppe. From the inside, these empires remained based on tribal ties without taxation and exploitation of pastoralists. The strength of the ruler's power was based on his ability to organize military campaigns and redistribute income from trade, tribute and raids on neighboring peoples.

3. Main directions, reasons for success and consequences of the Mongol conquests.

The history of the Mongolian state is the history of conquests. Reasons for the Mongol conquests:

The nomadic nobility lived by robbing their own people and neighboring peoples. Thus, robbery, primarily of non-Mongolian peoples, is the main source of enrichment for the nobility and the main reason for the Mongol conquests. From the Great Wall of China to the Hungarian border - a grassy-steppe space;

Genghis Khan was faced with the task of distracting the nobility from separatist tendencies, and keeping the created empire from rapid collapse. This could be achieved by plundering Eurasia;

In the conditions of the Mongolian state, it was necessary to divert the attention of the masses from the deteriorating situation. So, from the sources you can find out that many Mongol warriors and cattle breeders did not have horses. A nomad without a horse in the conditions of the XIII-XIV centuries was neither a warrior nor even a shepherd. The impoverishment of the vast majority of the Mongols was a widespread phenomenon. At times, vagrancy was not only widespread among them, but also took on a huge scale.

In terms of the scale of expansion and the consequences of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, it can only be compared with the invasion of the Huns.

With a relatively small army, the Mongol expansion was carried out like a fan in 3 directions:

southeastern - China, Korea, Japan, Indochina, Java.

southwestern - Central Asia, Iran, the Caucasus, the Arab Caliphate.

northwestern - Rus', Europe.

The first blow Genghis Khan brought down southbound , on the state of the Tanguts, Xi-Xia and Jin. The first blows against the Tangut state were delivered in 1205; in 1207 and 1209 - the second and third campaigns against the Tanguts. As a result of the victories of the Mongols, the Tanguts were forced to make peace with them and pay a large indemnity. Since 1211 campaigns against the Jurchens (in 1215 Beijing was taken).

In 1218 it was announced western hike, which was preceded by victories over the Kara-Khitans and the tribes of Southern Siberia. The main goals of the western campaign were the rich territories and cities of Central Asia (the state of Khorezmshah, Bukhara, Samarkand), which was conquered in 1222. The development of this direction led the Mongols to the Caucasus, to the southern Russian steppes.

Thus, Northern China (1211-1234) and Central Asia were hit hardest when Mongol expansion was on the rise. Northern China literally turned into a desert (a contemporary wrote: “Traces of terrible devastation were visible everywhere, the bones of the dead made up whole mountains: the soil was loose from human fat, the rotting of corpses caused diseases”).

IN Central Asia everything that resisted was subjected to a "general massacre" ("katliamm"). Rashid ad-Din wrote that Genghis Khan gave the order to kill every living creature from any kind of people and any breed of cattle, wild animals and birds, not to take a single prisoner and no prey. Here, most of the cities were subjected to a "general massacre."

By 1233, some areas were conquered Iran and about the same time -

1236 - completed the conquest Caucasus;

1256 The Mongols re-invaded Iran as a result of which the valleys of Western Asia turned into a desert;

1258 - fell Abbasid Caliphate and Baghdad, the largest city on earth, was taken, which also underwent a "general massacre."

Only the Mameluks managed to defeat the Mongol detachment in Palestine (1260), thereby protecting Egypt from the Mongol invasion. It was a victory comparable to the victory of Charles Martel over the Arabs at Poitiers, because. it marked a turning point in repelling the wave of invasion.

Starting with the conquest of Rus' (1237), we can talk about the gradual attenuation of the Mongol expansion. At the turn of the expansion, between 1237 and 1241. The Mongols invaded Europe. Their onslaught, as in Asia, was cruel and intimidating. Having devastated Rus', southern Poland and a significant part of Hungary, in Silesia they destroyed the army of German knights (1241) near the city of Legnica, west of the Oder River.

From Western Europe, the Mongols began to retreat in 1241/42, despite the fact that all the battles of 1241-1242. have been won. Khan Batu (Khan of the Golden Horde from 1243 to 1255; grandson of Genghis Khan) did not meet powerful organized resistance in Europe. Apparently, only the problems associated with the choice of a successor to Genghis Khan (after the death of Khan Ogedei) forced the leaders of the Mongols to turn east after this victory. Khan Batu understood that he could not keep Poland, Hungary and the lands of the southern Slavs under his rule. By 1243, all the Mongol armies were withdrawn beyond the Carpathians. From Hungary, they managed to collect tribute only once.

In the 40s. 13th century Batu Khan created the Tatar-Mongolian state Golden Horde (Western Siberia; northern Khorezm; Volga Bulgaria; Crimea; steppes from the Volga to the Danube). Capital Cities : Sarai-Batu (Old Saray; modern Astrakhan region); Sarai-Berke (from the 1st half of the 14th century; New Saray; modern Volgograd region). The Russian principalities were in vassal dependence on the Golden Horde. From the 15th century the empire broke up into Siberian, Astrakhan, Kazan, Crimean and other khanates.

The extreme western limits of the invasion turned out to be the German city of Meissen and the countryside in Austria, where the Mongol detachment killed up to a hundred peasants.

Under Khubilai (1278-1294; 5th Great Khan), Mongol expansion reached extreme southern and eastern points: prolonged conquest of Vietnam, unsuccessful campaigns in Japan, unsuccessful invasion of the island of Java (resolute resistance of the people). Thus, the Mongol Empire could only exist as long as it was at war:

only conquests held it together.

Reasons for the success of the Mongol conquests: Reasons for internal order:

The military and diplomatic talent of Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan himself was remarkable for his amazing ability to adapt to unfamiliar conditions and willingly used Chinese and Muslim-Turkic "specialists" in his army. He organized a magnificent "service of informers", and merchants of all nationalities and religions delivered a lot of information to him, whom he encouraged in every possible way. Genghis Khan also succeeded in the cold-blooded, thoughtful use of diplomatic measures and military force in accordance with the circumstances. All these qualities allowed Genghis Khan, his gifted sons, grandchildren and military leaders to continuously win victories over the next enemy.

ideological justification the conquests of Genghis Khan was the idea of ​​his being chosen by the Eternal Sky as the khan of all peoples;

The social homogeneity of Mongolian society and the relative weakness of antagonism within it;

The presence of cavalry. In the steppe, a man is inseparable from a horse and a saber (“human centaur”). Horses were decorated with blankets made of human skin, and the skulls of dead enemies were hung from the saddles. In the steppe you have to kill first - otherwise they will kill you → you need to train in the ability to kill every day.

Under the command of Genghis Khan was an excellently organized and disciplined army; it consisted of horse archers and had exceptional mobility (up to 150 km per day) combined with superiority in long-range weapons. (Army of Genghis Khan≈129 thousand, Batu≈142 thousand); if a warrior fled from the battlefield, a dozen were punished; 10 people retreated - a hundred were punished. The army created by Genghis Khan was a decisive factor in the success of the relatively small ethnos of the Mongols.

The Mongol conquests, which crushed the civilization of the Middle Ages, became possible thanks to a fundamental discovery - Mongolian bow("saadak"). It was a complex killing machine, glued together from bone and wood. different breeds. An arrow from this bow pierced any armor for 400 meters. The Mongols taught children from the age of 3 to the bow, gradually increasing its size.

A variety of tactics used depending on specific conditions:

mercy tactics in surrender; the tactics of encircling a large area with several detachments and moving towards their center, surrounding and squeezing the enemy;

The empire of Genghis Khan united the military forces of the largest part of the nomads Central Asia(not only Mongolian, but also many Turkic, Manchu, Tungus, etc.).

Numerous, solidarity, submission to the power of one khan, who was the sovereign ruler over life and death, the person and property of all his subordinates.

Causes of the external order

The fragmentation of the conquered territories, the rulers of which were afraid to arm the people against the Mongols;

The betrayal of the merchants, which was a cosmopolitan force (informers, spies, guides for military detachments);

Crowd tactics (forward civilians, then Mongol warriors).

Consequences of the Mongol conquests

Describing the consequences of the Mongol conquests, Yelü Chutsai, who literally saved China from extermination, wrote: "The heavenly network was torn, the earth's axis was broken, human justice disappeared."

As a result of the conquests by Genghis Khan, his sons and grandsons, an empire was created, unprecedented in size (from Korea in the East to Syria in the West; including the territory of Central Asia, China, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Iran). The cities of Rus' were burned and taxed; devastating raids were made on Hungary, Drake, Moravia and Poland.

The consequences of the invasions were different for different regions: they were the most severe for Central Asia (huge human losses, destruction of the irrigation system). They were heavy for China, especially northern. But here we can also talk about assimilation:

Khubilai's heirs learned the basics of Chinese culture, including language and writing. In particular, the whale. lang. the biography of Genghis Khan was translated (only this translation has survived to this day). But for the indigenous population, they remained strangers;

In the XIV century. rulers various parts The Mongol Empire adopted Buddhism or Islam. This meant that in fact they were subjugated by the cultures in which they lived - Chinese, Persian or Arabic.

If we talk about Rus', then here we should talk, first of all, about the grave consequences in terms of spirituality. In present time there is a controversy: “Was there a yoke?”. Most major historians are supporters of the traditional point of view that the Mongol invasion played a completely negative role in the history of the Russian people. Others: Consequences both negative and positive. Thirdly, the consequence was the formation of an empire and an imperial space.

Metaphor: nomads are not only children, but also fathers of the desert. This fully applies to the Mongols, especially in relation to Northern China, Central Asia.

The territory of Mongolia was largely affected (after the creation of the empire, the population of Mongolia decreased sharply; the color of the Mongolian population settled throughout the continent). The aggressive policy slowed down not only the progressive development of the conquered countries, but also the development of the productive forces and culture of Mongolia itself. The Mongol Empire, created by fire and sword, on the blood of enslaved peoples, torn apart by internal contradictions, did not have a single economic base, in the end, fell under the blows of the conquered peoples.

Tului (youngest son; ruler of central and western Mongolia).