The Rise to power of Genghis Khan
Inquiry 1: Why and how
did Temujin’s childhood and early experiences shape his character and attitudes?
Family Tree |
Map of the Mongolian Tribes |
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Key people in the life of genghis khan
| important_people_–_the_mongol_empire.docx |
Early life of Genghis Khan
| gk_key_enquiry_chap_1.docx |
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Inquiry 2: In what way
did Genghis’ relationship with Jamukha become a defining feature of his ascent to power over the steppe tribes?
Below is a summary of one of Genghis Khan's closest friends, Jamukha:
Jamukha c.1160-1220
Jamukha was the childhood companion of Temüjin (Genghis Khan) who became his chief political and military rival for power in the unification of the steppe tribes during the late 12th century and early 13th century.
He was born into the Jadaran, an affiliated tribe of the Khamag Mongol Confederation; a tribe originating from the Mongolian Plateau in the early 12th century.
Jamukha first met Temüjin when Temüjin was living with his mother away from the protection of the Taichud. The two young boys became best friends and cemented their friendship and mutual loyalty by becoming blood brothers through the anda. Jamukha joined Temüjin and his adopted father Toghrul Ong (Wang) Khan in the operation to rescue Genghis’s bride Borte from the Merkit. After this the two friends joined forces and renewed their brotherhood bond and loyalty. Genghis presented Jamukha with a golden belt.
Eighteen months after their successful campaign against the Merkit, the two blood-brothers broke camp and went their separate ways. Jamukha, became the legitimate ruler of the Jadarat tribe, and garnered support from the more conservative and traditionalist Mongol elements who upheld the solidarity of the nobility and the constitution of the tribe. Whereas Temüjin, whose noble lineage had been effectively severed by the defection of his own tribe following his father’s death, began relying on personal loyalty and on those who would question the traditional tribal hierarchy or who sought refuge from the claims and strictures of clan and bondage.
In 1187, Jamukha launched an attack on Genghis. There are no accounts of the resulting Battle of Dalan Balzhut but Genghis was defeated. After the battle Jamukha murdered several of Genghis’s followers by boiling them in cauldrons. The Secret History reports that this drove many to join Genghis.
In 1201 the leaders of tribes opposed to Genghis, including the Merkit and Naiman, elected Jamukha as their Ger Khan or "universal Khan". This led to a conflict between the two. Jamukha was defeated at a battle in the autumn of that year but escaped with a portion of his forces. In 1204 Jamukha joined Ong (Wang) Khan in battle against Genghis. He was again defeated and fled the battlefield. After hiding out for some time several of his followers handed him to Genghis. He was executed by Genghis after apparently refusing an offer to renew their brotherhood.
[Adapted from https://mongolhistorypodcast.wordpress.com/jamukha/].
Jamukha c.1160-1220
Jamukha was the childhood companion of Temüjin (Genghis Khan) who became his chief political and military rival for power in the unification of the steppe tribes during the late 12th century and early 13th century.
He was born into the Jadaran, an affiliated tribe of the Khamag Mongol Confederation; a tribe originating from the Mongolian Plateau in the early 12th century.
Jamukha first met Temüjin when Temüjin was living with his mother away from the protection of the Taichud. The two young boys became best friends and cemented their friendship and mutual loyalty by becoming blood brothers through the anda. Jamukha joined Temüjin and his adopted father Toghrul Ong (Wang) Khan in the operation to rescue Genghis’s bride Borte from the Merkit. After this the two friends joined forces and renewed their brotherhood bond and loyalty. Genghis presented Jamukha with a golden belt.
Eighteen months after their successful campaign against the Merkit, the two blood-brothers broke camp and went their separate ways. Jamukha, became the legitimate ruler of the Jadarat tribe, and garnered support from the more conservative and traditionalist Mongol elements who upheld the solidarity of the nobility and the constitution of the tribe. Whereas Temüjin, whose noble lineage had been effectively severed by the defection of his own tribe following his father’s death, began relying on personal loyalty and on those who would question the traditional tribal hierarchy or who sought refuge from the claims and strictures of clan and bondage.
In 1187, Jamukha launched an attack on Genghis. There are no accounts of the resulting Battle of Dalan Balzhut but Genghis was defeated. After the battle Jamukha murdered several of Genghis’s followers by boiling them in cauldrons. The Secret History reports that this drove many to join Genghis.
In 1201 the leaders of tribes opposed to Genghis, including the Merkit and Naiman, elected Jamukha as their Ger Khan or "universal Khan". This led to a conflict between the two. Jamukha was defeated at a battle in the autumn of that year but escaped with a portion of his forces. In 1204 Jamukha joined Ong (Wang) Khan in battle against Genghis. He was again defeated and fled the battlefield. After hiding out for some time several of his followers handed him to Genghis. He was executed by Genghis after apparently refusing an offer to renew their brotherhood.
[Adapted from https://mongolhistorypodcast.wordpress.com/jamukha/].
Inquiry 3: Why and how did Genghis succeed
in uniting ‘all the people of felt walls’?
| factors_in_uniting_the_tribes_gk.docx |
| genghis_v_tamuka_ppt.pptx |
The Kuriltai - 1206
Kuriltai of 1206:
The Kuriltai was extremely important to Mongol polity or unity. It was unthinkable not to attend one if summoned to a kuriltai. In fact, it was this commitment to them that probably saved mainland Europe from Mongol destruction:
Instead Europe was saved from a probably fatal continuation of the conquests of 1241 by the death of the Great Khan Ӧgedei in December of that year. When news of it reached the Mongol commanders in Europe they withdrew, ostensibly in order to attend a kuriltai in Mongolia...
[see J. R. S. Phillips, The Medieval Expansion of Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp.67-68].
In The Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire, p.229, it has in its entry:
QURILTAI. Assembly of Mongolian and other notables. Although quriltai are best known in terms of their important function in the election of the Mongol qan, they were, in fact, convened for other reasons as well. Most of the important issues of peace and war were discussed at quriltai, including future military strategy. In addition to talking and electing, the Mongols attending quriltai also feasted and celebrated, following an old Mongolian tradition that called for such activities during quriltai and other larger encampments.
The meaning of kuriltai given by Koon San in Dynastic China: An Elementary History, Malaysia: The Other Press, 2014, p.297, fn.77 is:
The root of the word “khural” means political “meeting” or “assembly” in Mongolian...at the Kurultai the assembly would discuss, determine, strategize and analyze military campaigns and assign individuals to leadership positions and titles. Genghis Khan was declared Khan in the 1206 Kurultai. The Kurultai, required the presence of the senior members of the tribes.
A kurultai (Mongolian: Хуралдай, Khuraldai; Turkish: Kurultay) was a political and military council of ancient Mongol chiefs and Khan which was later borrowed by Turkic peoples. The root of the word is "Kur/Khur" (assemble/discuss) and that helps form "Kurul/Khural" meaning political "meeting" or "assembly" in Mongolian languages. Kurultay, Khuraldai, khuruldai, or khuraldaan means "a gathering", or more literally, "intergatheration". This root is the same in the Mongolian word khurim, which means "feast" and "wedding" and originally referred to large festive gatherings on the steppe, but is used mainly in the sense of wedding in modern times.
The important functional aspects of the kuriltai included the following:
1] A leader (khan) is elected by those tribal clan members present in the assembly.
2] A military vision and objective is set out by the new Khan involving strategies and campaign planning.
3] Law was enacted or decreed in the kuriltai. Genghis Khan is said to have decreed the Yasa in order to present a unified Mongolian code.
4] Through the kuriltai, a sense of tribal/clan collegiality could be established and maintained.
5] The kuriltai offered a means to make law and custom flexible, i.e. a forum to propose, change and innovate.
The kuriltai was thus a kind of quasi-legal institution: Hodous explains its legal nature:
Moreover, the main reason for holding a quriltai was often to give legal force to decisions which, in fact had already been taken. Decisions about succession were often settled through military means or negotiation long before a quriltai, yet a quriltai gave the decision its legitimacy and legal force. Various concrete actions during the quriltai, such as an enthronement or the distribution of gifts, helped give legitimacy to the decisions taken but even these actions would not be sufficient for legitimacy if the attendance were not as expected. All this shows that the quriltais were a legal institution. The implications are very important: this shows that what Endicott-West describes as the “conciliar, deliberative style of decision-making [which] existed among the early thirteenth-century Mongols” was not limited to administrative, but extended to legal matters. The conciliar (or consultative) decision-making style was part and parcel of Mongol legal culture, and even crucial to it. It was an integral part of the Mongol approach to law.
[Florence Hodous, "The Quriltai as a Legal Institution in the Mongol Empire", Central Asiatic Journal 56 (2012/2013), pp.87-102].
The Kuriltai was extremely important to Mongol polity or unity. It was unthinkable not to attend one if summoned to a kuriltai. In fact, it was this commitment to them that probably saved mainland Europe from Mongol destruction:
Instead Europe was saved from a probably fatal continuation of the conquests of 1241 by the death of the Great Khan Ӧgedei in December of that year. When news of it reached the Mongol commanders in Europe they withdrew, ostensibly in order to attend a kuriltai in Mongolia...
[see J. R. S. Phillips, The Medieval Expansion of Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp.67-68].
In The Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire, p.229, it has in its entry:
QURILTAI. Assembly of Mongolian and other notables. Although quriltai are best known in terms of their important function in the election of the Mongol qan, they were, in fact, convened for other reasons as well. Most of the important issues of peace and war were discussed at quriltai, including future military strategy. In addition to talking and electing, the Mongols attending quriltai also feasted and celebrated, following an old Mongolian tradition that called for such activities during quriltai and other larger encampments.
The meaning of kuriltai given by Koon San in Dynastic China: An Elementary History, Malaysia: The Other Press, 2014, p.297, fn.77 is:
The root of the word “khural” means political “meeting” or “assembly” in Mongolian...at the Kurultai the assembly would discuss, determine, strategize and analyze military campaigns and assign individuals to leadership positions and titles. Genghis Khan was declared Khan in the 1206 Kurultai. The Kurultai, required the presence of the senior members of the tribes.
A kurultai (Mongolian: Хуралдай, Khuraldai; Turkish: Kurultay) was a political and military council of ancient Mongol chiefs and Khan which was later borrowed by Turkic peoples. The root of the word is "Kur/Khur" (assemble/discuss) and that helps form "Kurul/Khural" meaning political "meeting" or "assembly" in Mongolian languages. Kurultay, Khuraldai, khuruldai, or khuraldaan means "a gathering", or more literally, "intergatheration". This root is the same in the Mongolian word khurim, which means "feast" and "wedding" and originally referred to large festive gatherings on the steppe, but is used mainly in the sense of wedding in modern times.
The important functional aspects of the kuriltai included the following:
1] A leader (khan) is elected by those tribal clan members present in the assembly.
2] A military vision and objective is set out by the new Khan involving strategies and campaign planning.
3] Law was enacted or decreed in the kuriltai. Genghis Khan is said to have decreed the Yasa in order to present a unified Mongolian code.
4] Through the kuriltai, a sense of tribal/clan collegiality could be established and maintained.
5] The kuriltai offered a means to make law and custom flexible, i.e. a forum to propose, change and innovate.
The kuriltai was thus a kind of quasi-legal institution: Hodous explains its legal nature:
Moreover, the main reason for holding a quriltai was often to give legal force to decisions which, in fact had already been taken. Decisions about succession were often settled through military means or negotiation long before a quriltai, yet a quriltai gave the decision its legitimacy and legal force. Various concrete actions during the quriltai, such as an enthronement or the distribution of gifts, helped give legitimacy to the decisions taken but even these actions would not be sufficient for legitimacy if the attendance were not as expected. All this shows that the quriltais were a legal institution. The implications are very important: this shows that what Endicott-West describes as the “conciliar, deliberative style of decision-making [which] existed among the early thirteenth-century Mongols” was not limited to administrative, but extended to legal matters. The conciliar (or consultative) decision-making style was part and parcel of Mongol legal culture, and even crucial to it. It was an integral part of the Mongol approach to law.
[Florence Hodous, "The Quriltai as a Legal Institution in the Mongol Empire", Central Asiatic Journal 56 (2012/2013), pp.87-102].
| atl-kuriltai-1206.pdf |
Unification of the Mongols
Below are some of the factors that led to the rise of young Timujin (Genghis Khan) and his success in unifying the Mongol people to be finally selected as supreme Mongol ruler in the kuriltai of 1206:
Below are some of the factors that led to the rise of young Timujin (Genghis Khan) and his success in unifying the Mongol people to be finally selected as supreme Mongol ruler in the kuriltai of 1206:
- Elimination tactics: this involved removing any rivalry for supremacy. He was able to eliminate his best friend Jamuka as a competitor as well as other tribal leaders one by one through superior leadership skills, tactical ingenuity and perseverance.
- Alliances: (i) Genghis Khan tied bonds with Jamuka who was a son of a Taiychiud noble - the very family that abandoned Genghis's family after his father's assassination by Merkids. (ii) Genghis Khan received an extremely valuable sable coat given by his wife Borte which he later traded to Torghil - leader (Ong[/Wang] Khan) of the central Mongolian Kereyid tribal federation and anda to Genghis Khan's father Yesugei - for full protection. Torghil acted as a patron and early ally of Genghis Khan. It was this very alliance that enabled Genghis to recapture his kidnapped wife from the Merkids using the Kereyid forces.
- Assimilation: the tribes Genghis Khan defeated in inter-tribal rivalry were on occasions made his own. He absorbed these various tribes into a greater structure and leadership - of which he was head - and made them conform to his outlook and vision. This eradicated tribal discrimination that previously plagued the steppe. Although he still acknowledged kinship as a bond, he now looked towards formulating a supra-tribal identity - a trans-steppe nation. Such a formulation would mean expanding the circle of inclusion from just a narrow tribal group.
- Adaptation: For Genghis Khan, pragmatism was a principle he often abided by. If something worked, he had no objections in embracing it - even if it meant departing from steppe custom or inherited tribal practices. It was customary practice for example that tribal leaders put their family members or nobles in positions of leadership and influence. Genghis Khan, however, would put loyal and obedient people in such positions. Thus, he would favour meritocracy over tribal loyalty.
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