The emergence and stages of development of the Mongol Empire.

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 XII century, in a vast area from the Great Chinese wall to Southern Siberia, from the upper reaches of the Irtysh to the Amur, several large unions of Mongol tribes roamed.

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 general concept"Tatals", hence - "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. ended a long period drought. This contributed to the shift of the boundaries steppe zone south to the Gobi Desert, an increase 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.”

As a result of tribal enmity, as well as China's traditional policy of pitting nomads against each other to prevent their unification, robbery, theft, arbitrariness, lawlessness, and 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 remedy acquisition of 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 manning the army, headed by tenth, sotsky, thousandths and temniks. Military leaders were appointed not on the basis of kinship or nobility (although both were always taken into account), but on the basis of the characteristic of the early political structures the principle of meritocracy, i.e. 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 at any time required amount warriors.

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 - Russia, Europe.

The first blow Genghis Khan brought down in 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 rich territories and cities. 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”).

AT 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 was taken, the most Big city on earth, which also suffered a "general slaughter".

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 Russia (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 Russia, 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 according to 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 of 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 Russia 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 Russia, 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).

According to the Chinese chronicles of the Tang era (7th-9th centuries), the Mongols were part of the Shiwei tribes, who spoke mainly Mongolian languages. According to various versions, the Mongols lived along the southern bank of the river. Amur or along the lower reaches of the Shilka and Argun rivers and in the upper reaches of the Amur. In the X - XI centuries. began the gradual advance of the Mongol tribes to the west in Khalkha and the displacement of the Turkic-speaking peoples who lived there, as well as partial assimilation with them.

In the middle of the XII century. the first Mongolian state was formed - Khamag Mongol Ulus ("State of all Mongols"), which, however, collapsed around 1160 due to rivalry and power struggles of members of the Khan's house.

At the turn of the XII and XIII centuries. In the 18th century, the Mongolian-speaking and part of the Turkic-speaking ethnic groups of Central Asia were united under the rule of Temujin, who in 1206 at a meeting of representatives of the Mongolian nobility (kurultai) was elected supreme ruler with the title of Genghis Khan. The whole of Mongolia was divided into 95 military-administrative regions - "thousands", which were obliged to field about a thousand cavalry soldiers led by noyons. According to the code of laws of the new Mongolian state "Yase", people in "thousands" were attached to their place of residence. All services (economic, military) were improved, armed forces were formed, unquestioningly obeying the authority of Genghis Khan as the representative of Heaven on Earth and the orders of his military leaders. Around 1211, the state of Genghis Khan became known as Yekhe Mongol ulus (“Great Mongol State”).

Having conquered all the Mongol tribes, Genghis Khan in 1209 and 1211. clashed with large states lying south of the Great Steppe - the Jin Empire and the Tangut state of Xi Xia. In 1215 Beijing (Yanjing) was taken by the Mongols. In 1218 Semirechie was conquered.

The first invasion of the Mongol army into Central Asia and Iran took place in 1219-1222. Here Genghis Khan faced the states of the Kara-Kitais and Khorezmshahs.

Khorezmshah Muhammad ibn Tekish (1200-1220) rejected the proposal of Genghis Khan to conclude an agreement on peace and patronage. As a result, the Mongol detachments took Otrar, Khujand, Urgench and other cities; Bukhara and Samarkand surrendered without a fight. In 1221 Khorezm was captured. Military operations were transferred to the territory of modern Afghanistan, where the fight against the Mongols was continued by the son of the Khorezmshah - Jalal ad-Din (1220 - 1231). However, in 1221 the army of the latter was defeated.

Despite the fact that by 1225 the main Mongol army had gone to Mongolia, the detachment of the commanders of Jebe and Subetai continued the war in the west. Through Northern Iran, he invaded Transcaucasia, where he devastated part of Georgia and Azerbaijan, along the coast of the Caspian Sea penetrated into the lands of Ases (Ossetians) (1222) and, having defeated them, went out into the Polovtsian steppes. In the battle on the river Kalka On May 31, 1223, the Mongol detachment defeated the united Russian-Polovtsian army.

Shortly before his death, Genghis Khan divided the conquered lands between his sons: Tului (Tolui) received Mongolia; Ogedei (Ogedei) - Western Mongolia, Tarbagatai and, probably, Altai; Chagatai - the territory from the Southern Altai to the Amu Darya and from the borders of the Uyghur possessions to Samakand and Bukhara, as well as Balkh and Khorezm (they made up the ulus of the Chagataids); the heirs of Jochi received lands to the west of the Irtysh, including the Volga region, the lower reaches of the Don and the Caucasus.

At the kurultai of 1229, the third son of Genghis Khan, Ogedei, was elected the Mongolian Great Khan. The Mongol conquests continued in three directions: in the east, the conquest of Northern China was completed (1231-1234) and in 1231-1232. a war with Korea began, most of which was conquered by 1273. The conquest of Iran also continued. The Mongol army under the command of Noyon Chormagun devastated Khorasan and entered Iran. Under the onslaught of the Mongols, the last Khorezmshah Jalal ad-Din retreated to Southern Kurdistan along with the remnants of his troops. In 1231 he was killed. In 1243 Khorasan and the occupied regions of Iran were transferred to Emir Arghun.

In 1236 the Mongol army invaded the Volga-Kama Bulgaria; in 1237 a campaign against North-Eastern Russia began. In the Polovtsian steppes (1238 - 1240) the Mongol army waged a protracted war with the Polovtsy, made campaigns in the Crimea, in Mordovian land. In the autumn of 1240, Batu Khan (Batu) began his campaign against Russia. In the spring of 1241, the Mongol army moved further west. After the capture of Hungary, the Polish, Moravian and Slovak lands were devastated. Through Austria and Croatia, Batu Khan moved to the Adriatic Sea. However, already in 1242 he began to retreat.

After the conquest of Transcaucasia (1236), the Mongol army defeated the Rum Sultanate in Asia Minor. In 1251, at the kurultai, it was decided to organize a new campaign to the west, headed by one of the brothers of the great khan Mongke (Mongke) (1251 - 1259), Hulagu Khan (1256 - 1265). In 1256 Hulagu conquered Iran. In 1258 Baghdad fell. Mongolian troops penetrated into Syria, preparing to invade Egypt, but in 1260 they were defeated by the Egyptian Mamluks.

In the second half of the XIII century. Mongol troops captured the countries surrounding the South Sung Empire: the state of Dali (1252 - 1253), Tibet (1253). In 1258, they invaded South China, which was conquered a little later by the Great Khan Kublai (1260 - 1294), the founder of the Yuan state. In 1281, an attempt was made to conquer Japan, but the ships of the Mongol fleet were destroyed by a typhoon. Expansion into South-East Asia also ended in failure.

The Mongol conquest caused serious damage to the development of the economy of the conquered countries. Many rural settlements and cities were destroyed; agricultural oases have been turned into nomadic pastures and camps. The process of naturalization of the economy began, strengthening the role of cattle breeding at the expense of agriculture, reducing domestic and international trade which led to a general decline.

Genghis Khan is the legendary founder and first great khan of the Mongol Empire. Many lands were collected under a single command during the life of Genghis Khan - he carried out many victories and defeated many enemies. At the same time, one must understand that Genghis Khan is a title, and given name the great conqueror - Temujin. Temujin was born in the Delune-Boldok valley either around 1155 or in 1162 - there is still debate about the exact date. His father was Yesugei-bagatur (the word "bagatur" in this case can be translated as "valiant warrior" or "hero") - a strong and influential leader of several tribes of the Mongolian steppe. And the mother was a woman named Oulen.

The harsh childhood and youth of Temujin

The future Genghis Khan grew up in an atmosphere of constant strife between the leaders of the Mongol tribes. When he was nine years old, Yesugei picked up his future wife - a ten-year-old girl Borte from the Ungirat tribe. Yesugei left Temujin in the house of the bride's clan, so that the children could get to know each other better, and he went home. On the way, Yesugei, according to some historical sources, visited the Tatars' camp, where he was vilely poisoned. After suffering for a few more days, Yesugei died.

The future Genghis Khan lost his father quite early - he was poisoned by enemies

After the death of Yesugei, his widows and children (including Temujin) found themselves without any protection. And the head of the rival Taichiut clan Targutai-Kiriltuh took advantage of the situation - he expelled the family from the inhabited areas and took away all their cattle. Widows and their children spent several years in complete poverty, wandering through the steppe plains, eating fish, berries, meat of caught birds and animals. And even in the summer months, women and children lived from hand to mouth, as they had to prepare supplies for the cold winter. And already at this time, the tough character of Temujin appeared. Once, his half-brother Bekter did not share food with him, and Temujin killed him.

Targutai-Kiriltuh, who was a distant relative of Temujin, declared himself the lord of the lands once controlled by Yesugei. And, not wanting the rise of Temujin in the future, he began to pursue the young man. Soon, an armed Taichiut detachment discovered the shelter of the widows and children of Yesugei and Temujin was captured. They put a block on it - wooden boards with holes for the neck. It was a terrible test: the prisoner did not have the opportunity to drink or eat on his own. It was impossible even to brush a mosquito off the forehead or from the back of the head.

But one night, Temujin somehow managed to slip away and hide in a nearby lake. The Taichiuts, who went to search for the fugitive, were in this place, but they did not manage to find the young man. Immediately after the flight, Temujin went to Borte and officially married her. Borte's father gave the young son-in-law a luxurious sable fur coat as a dowry, and this wedding gift played a big role in Temujin's fate. With this fur coat, the young man went to the most powerful leader at that time - the head of the Kereit tribe, Tooril Khan, and brought him this valuable thing. In addition, he recalled that Tooril and his father were brothers. Ultimately, Temujin acquired a serious patron, in partnership with whom he began his conquests.

Temujin unites the tribes

It was under the patronage of Tooril Khan that he carried out raids on other uluses, increasing the number of his herds and the size of his possessions. The number of Temujin's nukers also grew steadily. In those years, he, unlike other leaders, tried to leave a large number of fighters from the enemy's ulus alive during the battle, in order to then lure them to him.

It is known that it was with the support of Tooril that Temujin in 1184 defeated the Merkit tribe in the territory of modern Buryatia. This victory greatly increased the authority of Yesugei's son. Then Temujin got involved in a long war with the Tatars. It is known that one of the battles with them happened in 1196. Then Temujin managed to put his opponents to flight and get a huge booty. The leadership of the then influential Jurchen Empire for this victory awarded the leaders of the steppes (who were in vassal dependence on the Jurchens) honorary titles and titles. Temujin became the owner of the title "Jauthuri" (commissioner), and Tooril - the title of "Van" (since then he began to be called Van Khan).

Temujin made many victories, even before becoming Genghis Khan

Soon there was a discord between Wang Khan and Temujin, which subsequently led to another tribal war. Several times the Kereites led by Wang Khan and Temujin's detachments met on the battlefield. The decisive battle took place in 1203 and Temujin, having shown not only strength, but also cunning, was able to defeat the Kereites. Fearing for his life, Wang Khan tried to escape to the west, to the Naimans, another tribe that Temujin had not yet subdued to his will, but he was killed on the border, mistaking for another person. And a year later, the Naimans were defeated. Thus, in 1206, at the great kurultai, Temujin was declared Genghis Khan - the ruler of all existing Mongol clans, the ruler of the all-Mongolian state.

At the same time, a new code of laws appeared - the Yasa of Genghis Khan. Here the norms of behavior in war, trade and peaceful life were laid down. positive qualities courage and loyalty to the leader were proclaimed, and cowardice and betrayal were considered unacceptable (for this they could be executed). The entire population, regardless of clans and tribes, was divided by Genghis Khan into hundreds, thousands and tumens (tumen was equal to ten thousand). The leaders of the tumens were appointed people from the confidants and nukers of Genghis Khan. These measures made it possible to make the Mongol army truly invincible.

The main conquests of the Mongols under the leadership of Genghis Khan

First of all, Genghis Khan wanted to establish his dominion over other nomadic peoples. In 1207, he was able to conquer large areas near the source of the Yenisei and north of the Selenga River. The cavalry of the conquered tribes was attached to the general army of the Mongols.

Then came the turn of the state of the Uighurs, which was very developed at that time, which was located in East Turkestan. The giant horde of Genghis Khan invaded their lands in 1209, began to conquer rich cities, and soon the Uyghurs unconditionally admitted defeat. Interestingly, the Uighur alphabet, introduced by Genghis Khan, is still used in Mongolia. The thing is that many Uighurs went to the service of the victors and began to perform in Mongol Empire the role of officials and teachers. Probably, Genghis Khan wanted ethnic Mongols to take the place of the Uighurs in the future. And so he ordered that Mongolian teenagers from noble families, including his offspring, be taught the writing of the Uighurs. As the empire spread, the Mongols willingly resorted to the services of noble and educated people from the captured states, in particular, the Chinese.

In 1211, the most powerful army of Genghis Khan set off on a campaign to the North of the Celestial Empire. And even the Great Wall of China was not an insurmountable obstacle for them. There were many battles in this war, and only a few years later, in 1215, after a long siege, the city fell Beijing -capital city of northern China. It is known that during this war, the cunning Genghis Khan adopted from the Chinese advanced military equipment for that time - rams for beating walls and throwing mechanisms.

In 1218, the Mongol army moved to Central Asia, to the Turkic state Khorezm. The reason for this campaign was an incident that occurred in one of the cities of Khorezm - a group of Mongolian merchants was killed there. Shah Mohammed came out to meet Genghis Khan with a two hundred thousandth army. A grandiose massacre ultimately took place in the vicinity of the city of Karaku. Both sides here were so stubborn and furious that by sunset the winner had not been identified.

In the morning, Shah Mohammed did not dare to continue the battle - the losses were too significant, it was almost 50% of the troops. However, Genghis Khan himself lost many people, so he also retreated. However, this turned out to be only a temporary retreat and part of a cunning plan.

No less (and even more) bloody was the battle in the Khorezm city of Nishapur in 1221. Genghis Khan with his horde destroyed about 1.7 million people, and in just a day! Further, Genghis Khan conquered other settlements of Khorezm : Otrar, Merv, Bukhara, Samarkand, Khojent, Urgench, etc. In general, even before the end of 1221, the Khorezm state surrendered to the delight of the Mongol soldiers.

The last conquests and the death of Genghis Khan

After the massacre of Khorezm and the annexation of the Central Asian lands to the Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan in 1221 went on a campaign to the North-West of India - and he also managed to capture these very vast lands. But the Great Khan did not go further deep into the Hindustan peninsula: now he began to think about unknown countries in the direction where the sun sets. Having carefully planned the route of the next military campaign, Genghis Khan sent his best military leaders, Subedei and Jebe, to the western lands. Their road ran through the territory of Iran, the territories of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia. As a result, the Mongols ended up in the steppes of the Don, not far from Russia. Here at that time the Polovtsy roamed, who, however, did not have a powerful military force for a long time. Numerous Mongols defeated the Cumans without serious problems, and they were forced to flee north. In 1223, Subedey and Jebe defeated the united army of the princes of Russia and the Polovtsian leaders in a battle on the Kalka River. But, having won, the horde moved back, since there was no order to linger in distant lands.

In 1226, Genghis Khan began a campaign against the Tangut state. And at the same time, he instructed one of his official sons to continue the conquest of the Celestial Empire. The riots that broke out in the already conquered North China against Mongolian yoke made Genghis Khan worried.

The legendary commander died during the campaign against the so-called Tanguts on August 25, 1227. At this time, the Mongol horde under his control besieged the capital of the Tanguts - the city of Zhongxing. The inner circle of the great leader decided not to immediately report his death. His corpse was transported to the Mongolian steppes and buried there. But even today no one can reliably say exactly where Genghis Khan was buried. With the death of the legendary leader, the military campaigns of the Mongols did not stop. The sons of the Great Khan continued to expand the empire.

The meaning of the personality of Genghis Khan and his legacy

Genghis Khan was certainly a very cruel commander. He destroyed settlements on the conquered lands to the ground, completely exterminated daring tribes and residents of fortified cities who dared to resist. This brutal intimidation tactic made it possible for him to successfully solve military tasks and keep the conquered lands under his command. But with all this, he can also be called a fairly intelligent man who, for example, valued real merit and valor more than a formal status. For these reasons, he often accepted brave representatives of enemy tribes as nukers. Once, an archer from the Taijiut clan almost hit Genghis Khan, knocking his horse out from under the saddle with a well-aimed arrow. Then this shooter himself admitted that it was he who fired the shot, but instead of execution he received a high rank and a new name - Jebe.

In some cases, Genghis Khan could pardon his enemies

Genghis Khan also became famous for having established an impeccable system of postal and courier communications between different points of the empire. This system was called "Yam", it consisted of many parking lots and stables near the roads - this allowed couriers and messengers to overcome more than 300 kilometers per day.

Genghis Khan really had a very strong influence on world history. He founded the largest continental empire in human history. At the time of its heyday, it occupied 16.11% of all land on our planet. The Mongolian state extended from the Carpathians to Sea of ​​Japan and from Veliky Novgorod to Kampuchea. And yet, according to some historians, about 40 million people died through the fault of Genghis Khan. That is, he exterminated 11% of the then population of the planet! And that in turn changed the climate. Since there are fewer people, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere have also decreased (according to scientists, by about 700 million tons).

Genghis Khan led a very active sex life. He had many children from women whom he took as concubines in conquered countries. And this has led to the fact that today the number of descendants of Genghis Khan simply cannot be counted. Genetic studies carried out not so long ago showed that about 16 million inhabitants of Mongolia and Central Asia are obviously direct descendants of Genghis Khan.

Today in many countries you can see monuments dedicated to Genghis Khan (there are especially many of them in Mongolia, where he is considered national hero), films are made about him, pictures are drawn, books are written.

However, it is unlikely that at least one current image of Genghis Khan corresponds to historical reality. In reality, no one knows what this legendary man looked like. Some experts believe that the great leader had red hair uncharacteristic for his ethnic group.

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

Brief information about the Mongols.

In the 12th century, the tribes that 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 Wall of China 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 basins 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). Standing out for his height and physical strength, as well as 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, returned 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 state.

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. Installed in the troops the strictest discipline. 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 aggressive campaigns. 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, especially paid serious 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. However, principles based on democratic form solutions to issues continue to operate.

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

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 (see for more details), however, the most likely, as it seems, is the assumption that it came from the Uighur toponym (in Turkic "Kara-korum" means "black mountains / stones"), apparently denoting the Khangai mountains, from which the river flows. 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 mark the city border rather than provide the city real protection, fenced off a significant territory, 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 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. small area up to ten metallurgical furnaces and many items were found, 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, on the order of 1350 °, which were achieved using complex system mechanical furs, driven by water flowing through the channels from the river. Orkhon, the remains of this system were found in a large metallurgical workshop in the city center (see). AT upper layers, when the city has already lost its metropolitan functions, traces of a very diverse ceramic production prevail (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 the supply of grain from China, which, of course, its population could not provide for itself, and this was destined to play a fatal role in its fate. 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 the Chinese version, Helin 和林. After the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, the son of the 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 (cm. ).

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. New town, called Kaiping 開平 (Beginning of calm), 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. one) 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, the widest "avenues" was laid quite frequent network narrower, straighter 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 axes N-S) 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).