1. An adulterer is put to death without any distinction whether he is married or not.
2. Whoever is guilty of sodomy is also punished by death.
3. Whoever lies with intent or sorcery, or who spying on the behavior of another, or intercedes between two disputants and helps one against the other, is also put to death.
4. He who urinates in water or on ashes is also put to death.
5. Whoever takes the goods and goes bankrupt, then takes the goods again and goes bankrupt again, then takes the goods again and goes bankrupt again, shall be put to death after the third time.
6. Whoever gives food or clothing to a prisoner without the permission of the captors, he is put to death.
7. Whoever finds a runaway slave or a runaway captive and does not return him to the one who had him in his hands, is subject to death.
8. When they want to eat an animal, they must tie its legs, open its belly and squeeze the heart with your hand until the animal dies, and then you can eat its meat; but if anyone slaughters an animal, as Muslims slaughter, that one should be slaughtered himself...
10. He (Genghis Khan) decided that taxes and taxes should not be imposed on the descendants of Alibek Abu-taleb, every single one, as well as on none of the fakirs, readers of al-Koran, legislators, doctors, men of science who devoted themselves to prayer and hermitage, muezzins and washing the bodies of the dead were not subject to taxes and taxes.
11. He decreed that all confessions be respected, with no preference given to any. All this he prescribed as a means of being pleasing to God.
12. He forbade his people to eat from the hands of another, until the presenter first tastes of what is offered himself, even if he is a prince (emir), and the recipient is a prisoner; he forbade them to eat, whatever it was in the presence of another, without inviting him to take part in the meal; he forbade one to eat more than his comrades and to walk through the fire of the refectory and through the dish on which they eat.
13. If someone rides near people when they are eating, he must get off his horse, eat with them without their permission, and none of them should forbid him to do so.
14. He forbade them to dip their hand into the water and ordered them to use something from the vessel to draw water.
15. He forbade washing their dress while wearing it until it was completely worn out.
16. He forbade anyone to say about any object that it is unclean; He maintained that all things are pure and made no distinction between pure and impure.
17. He forbade them to give preference to any of the sects, to pronounce words using honorific names, and when addressing the Sultan or anyone else, they should simply use his name ...
19. He prescribed that the women accompanying the troops should perform the labors and duties of men while the latter were away for battle...
21. He ordered them to present at the beginning of each year all their daughters to the khan (sultan), so that he would choose for himself and for his children ...
23. He legitimized that the oldest of the emirs, when he stumbles and the sovereign sends the last of the servants to him to punish him, give himself into the hands of the latter and prostrate before him until he fulfills the punishment prescribed by the sovereign, even if it is deprivation of the stomach. ..
25. He ordered the Sultan to establish permanent posts, in order to know soon about all the events in the state.
26. He ordered his son Chagatai bey Genghis Khan to watch the execution of Yasa...
28. Murder (execution for a crime) can be paid off with a fine by paying forty gold coins (profit) for a Muslim, and for a Chinese by paying with one donkey.
29. Whoever has a stolen horse is obliged to return it to its owner with an addition of ten such horses; if he is not able to pay this fine, then instead of horses, take children from him, and when there were no children, then slaughter himself like a ram.
30. Genghis Yasa forbids lies, theft, adultery, prescribes to love your neighbor as yourself, not to cause offense and forget them completely, to spare countries and cities that submit voluntarily, to exempt from any tax and to respect temples dedicated to God, as well as ministers his.
31. (Yasa prescribes): love each other, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not be a traitor, honor the elders and the poor, for violation - the death penalty.
32. Genghis Yasa prescribes: a person who chokes on food should be dragged under the headquarters and immediately killed, and put to death in the same way, whoever stepped foot on the threshold of the governor's headquarters.
33. If there is no longer any remedy for drinking, then one should get drunk three times a month; if he goes over three times, he is to blame; if you get drunk twice a month, it's better; if once - even more commendable, and if he does not drink at all, then what can be better than this? But where can one find such a remedy, and if found, then it is worthy of all respect.
34. Children adopted from a concubine are considered legitimate and receive, by order of the father, an appropriate share of the inheritance. The division of property is based on such a provision that the elder receives more than the younger; the younger son inherits the father's household. The seniority of children is considered according to the degree of their mother, from among the wives, one is always the eldest, mainly by the time of marriage.
35. After the death of the father, the son controls the fate of his wives, with the exception of his mother, he can marry them or marry them to another.
36. It is strictly forbidden to use any of the things of the deceased, with the exception of the legitimate heirs ...
38. (On the release of clerics of all confessions from duties.)
39. It is forbidden, under pain of death, to proclaim someone emperor (khan), unless he has been previously elected princes, khans, nobles and other Mongolian nobles at a general council.
40. It is forbidden for the heads of peoples and tribes subordinate to the Mongols to wear honorary titles.
41. It is forbidden to make peace with the monarch, prince or people until they have expressed complete obedience ...
46. ​​(On the observance of certain rules when slaughtering animals for food.)
47. (On the permission to eat the blood and entrails of animals.)
48. (List of benefits in the service and benefits to the chiefs and officers of the Empire.) ...
50. (Various penalties for theft: from the death penalty to corporal punishment - from 7 to 700 strokes.)
51. None of the subjects of the Empire has the right to have a Mongol as a servant or slave. Every man, with rare exceptions, is obliged to serve in the army.
52. (On the prohibition on pain of death to hide runaway slaves, feed them, etc.)
53. The Marriage Law prescribes that a man must redeem his wife and that marriages in the first and second degree of kinship are not permitted. A man is allowed to marry two sisters or have several concubines (the duties of a wife in the house and household follow next). Men are only allowed to engage in war and hunting (hereinafter referred to as the rights of offspring from different wives).
54. Adultery is punishable by death. Perpetrators of such can be killed at the scene of the crime.
55. (On the permission of parents to conclude marriage conditions between minor children, etc.)
56. It is forbidden to bathe or wash clothes in running water during a thunderstorm.
57. Spies, false witnesses, all people subject to shameful vices, and sorcerers are sentenced to death ...
When Genghis Khan established the basic rules and punishments for them and conveyed everything in writing in a book, al-Makrizi narrates, he gave the name Yasa or Yasaka. Makrizi further reports: “When the edition of the book was completed, he (Genghis Khan) ordered these laws to be carved on steel boards, and made them a code for his nation ...”
(According to various sources)

Bilik Genghis Khan said: their children did not listen to the moralizing thoughts of their fathers, the younger brothers did not pay attention to the words of their elders; the husband did not have confidence in his wife, and the wife did not follow the command of her husband, the father-in-law looked unfavorably at the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law did not respect the father-in-law, the big ones did not educate the little ones, and the small ones did not follow the instructions of the elders; the nobles stood close to the hearts of the servants, and did not bring external people under the power, rich people saw good, but did not make powerful government officials and did not provide fortification; yusun, the language and the way of reason and contentment was not known.
For this reason, there were oppositionists, thieves, liars, rebels and robbers. The sun did not appear to such people in their own dwelling; they robbed; horses and herds had no rest; the horses that were ridden in the van had no rest until inevitably those horses died, withered, rotted and were destroyed. Such was this tribe without order, without meaning.
When the happiness of Genghis Khan appeared, they came under his command, and he ruled over them by means of a firmly established law. Those who were smart and well done, he made beks (chiefs) of the troops; those who were nimble and dexterous, having given their belongings in his hands, he made herdsmen; foolish, giving them a small whip, he sent to the shepherds. For this reason, his (Genghis Khan's) work, like a young moon, increases from day to day; from Heaven, by the power of the Most High God, victorious help descends, and on earth prosperity came with its help; his summer wanderings became a place of rejoicing and feasting, and his winter wanderings were pleasant and appropriate. When, by the goodness of the Great God, I acquired these meanings and sought out these thoughts by myself, then for this reason, calmness, jubilation and feasting have reached this time. After that, and up to five hundred years, up to a thousand, ten thousand years, if the descendants who will be born and take my place preserve and do not change such a yusun and the law of Genghis Khan, which is suitable for everything from the people, then prosperity will come to them from Heaven, continuously they will be in merrymaking and feasting; The Lord of the world (the Universe) will send them prosperity; people will pray for them, they will be long-lived, and they will enjoy the blessings. This is followed by the following sayings:
1. From good quality, severity - the strength of the state.
2. If the children of many sovereigns who appear after this (him), the nobles, heroes and beks who are with them do not strictly observe the law, then the work of the state will be shaken and interrupted. Again they will willingly look for Genghis Khan and they will not find him.
5. Anyone who can purify his insides can purify his possessions from thieves...
7. Any word in which three knowledgeable (intelligent) agreed can be said everywhere; otherwise, you cannot rely on it.
Compare your word and the word of others with the words of those who know: if it is in agreement, then you can say it, otherwise you should not speak at all.
8. Anyone going to the elder should not say a word until that elder asks; then, according to the question, let him answer accordingly. If he says a word before, well, if he hears; otherwise, he forges cold iron.
9. Any horse that runs well and in a fat body, and if it also runs in half a body, such a horse can be called good.
But you cannot call a good horse that runs well in only one of these positions ...
12. Every word that is said, I think that it is strong if it is said seriously, and if it is joking, it cannot be fulfilled.
13. How a person knows himself, let him know others.
14. A man is not the sun to appear in all places to people; the wife should, when her husband is engaged in hunting or war, keep the house in splendor and order, so that if a messenger or a guest enters the house, he will see everything is in order, and she will prepare a good meal, and the guest will not need anything, she will certainly deliver husband a good reputation and will exalt his name in the congregations, like a mountain that lifts a peak. Good husbands are known by good wives. If the wife is bad and stupid, without reason and order, the bad qualities of her husband will be visible from her. A half-line to this: in the house everything is like the owner ...
16. We go hunting and kill many mountain bulls; we go to war and kill many enemies. When the Most High God gives the way, and this makes things easier, they forget and change...
19. After us, our family will wear clothes embroidered with gold, eat fat and sweet dishes, ride good-natured horses, hug fine women, and they will not say: (all this) our fathers and older brothers gathered, and they will forget us and that great day, (when it was).
20. A person who drinks wine and vodka, when intoxicated, cannot see anything and becomes blind. When his name is called, he does not hear and becomes mute; when spoken to, he cannot answer. When he becomes drunk, he is like a person who is in the position of the deceased: if he wants to sit up straight, he cannot; and it will be like a man who has been wounded in the head, to remain insensible and dazed. In wine and vodka there is no use for the mind and art, there are also no good qualities and morals; they dispose to bad deeds, murders and strife; they deprive a man of the things he has and the arts that he knows, and the path and his deeds become shameful, so that he loses a certain path. The sovereign, greedy for wine and vodka, cannot produce great deeds, thoughts and great institutions. Beck, greedy for wine and vodka, cannot keep thousands, hundreds and dozens in order. A simple warrior who will be greedy in drinking wine, this person is subjected to a very big clash, i.e. he will be in great trouble. A simple man, i.e. from the mob, if he is greedy for drinking wine, he will lose his horse, herd and all his property and become a beggar. A servant who is greedy for drinking wine will spend his life continuously in confusion and suffering. These, wine and vodka, do not look at the face and heart of the intoxicated, intoxicate both the good and the bad, and do not say: bad or good. The hand is made weak, so that it refuses to take up its trade; the leg is made unsteady, so that it refuses to move and come, the heart and brain are made weak, so that they cannot think sensibly: all the senses and organs of understanding are rendered useless. If there is no longer a remedy for drinking, then one should get drunk three times a month: if it goes over three, it is a misdemeanor; if you get drunk twice a month, it's better, and if once - even more commendable, and if you don't drink, then what could be better than that? But where will they find such a person who would not get drunk? If found, he is worthy of all respect.
21. Genghis Khan at the time when he undertook a campaign in the Chinese regions and went to war against Altan Khan, according to the method, as it was determined by him, he alone was on the top of the hill, untied his belt, put it on his neck, untied the ties of his cloak, fell on his knees and said, “O ancient Lord! You know and know that before Altan Khan caused confusion and started enmity. He innocently killed Ukin-Barkhakh and Ambagay Khan, who were captured by the Tatar tribes and sent to him, and these were the elder brothers of my father and grandfather. I am the seeker of their retribution and vengeance. If you know that this is my right intention, send strength and victoriousness from above to help me and command me to be helped from above by angels, people, peris and divas and give me help.
Such was his prayerful proclamation with the most perfect humility. After that, he set off and moved on. Due to his purity and right intention, he defeated Altan Khan, who was such a powerful and great sovereign, who had no end to his numerous army, vast state and his solid fortresses. He took possession of all those areas of his and his children.
22. One day, Genghis Khan stopped on a hill called Altai, and, glancing at the sides and surroundings, and seeing hordes and servants, he said: my arrows and soldiers turn black like numerous forests; wives, daughters-in-law and girls are reddening like a red-colored flame.
My care and intention is to delight their mouths with sweet sugar, to decorate their front, back and shoulders with brocade clothes, to put them on good geldings, to drink them from clean and tasty rivers, to favor their quadrupeds in good and abundant grass places, to order to remove from the high roads and paths that serve as paths for the people, rubbish, branches and everything harmful; and prevent lumps and sloes from growing in the yurt.
23. If anyone from our family lets go contrary to the approved law once, let him be admonished with a word; if he does it twice in spite of himself, let him act on him with eloquence; the third time, let them send him to a remote place Baldzhiyun-Khuljur. When he goes down there and returns, he will be attentive. If he does not come to his senses, let them put him in chains and prison. If he comes out of there good-natured and sensible - very good; otherwise, let all the relatives gather, make a general meeting and decide what to do with it ...
26. When he sent Mukhali-govan with an army to Nankiyasu (China), and he, having taken 72 fortresses of that country, sent an ambassador to serve Genghis Khan with a notice of his conquests and asked whether there would be permission to return or not, then the command of the label followed, not to stop until he takes other fortresses. Upon the return of the ambassador, Mukhali-govan asked: “When did you come to the service of Genghis Khan and reported the speech, what did he do?” He said, "He squeezed his thumb." Muhali-govan asked: "Did you put your finger on me too?" Answer: "I put it." Muhali said: “Therefore, it is not in vain that I serve until my death and show perfect diligence and diligence.” He also asked: “Who did the other put his finger on?” Put your finger sign of promotion in merit. The ambassador replied: “He put his finger: Boorch, Borokhul, Khubilai, Jilogen, Harajar, Jadai, Badai and Kishlyk, all of them, and (Genghis Khan) said: all of them behind and in front of me served skillfully as help and benefits, well shot arrows, held about clockwork horses, birds of prey on the arm and hunting dogs in torks "...
28. “I once rode with Boorchu. Twelve people on top of the mountain range were sitting in ambush. Boorchu rode behind. I did not wait for him and, relying on my strength and power, rushed to attack them. All twelve of them suddenly shot arrows, and arrows flew from all sides around me, and I went on the attack, when suddenly one arrow hit my mouth. I fell and from a strong wound fell into unconsciousness. At that time, Boorchu arrived and saw me that from the wound, like a man in agony, kicking my feet on the ground and rolling like a ball. Immediately he heated water and brought it. I gargled and spat out the gore. The departed soul again came to the body: feelings and movements were revealed. I got up and rushed to the attack. They were afraid of my fortress, rushed down from that mountain and gave their souls. The reason for the Tarkhanism of Boorchu Noyon is that at such a time he made a commendable effort.
29. Genghis Khan, during his youth, one early morning got up from sleep. A few dark hairs in ringlets had turned white. The assembly of close associates asked: “Oh, Sovereign! Your youthful age is happy, you have not yet reached the beginning of old age. How did the gray hair appear in your curls? He said in response: “Since the Almighty Lord wanted to make me the elder and the leader of those and thousands and hoist the banner of prosperity through me, he showed me the sign of old age, which is the sign of seniority.”
30. Once Genghis Khan asked Boorchu-noyon, who was the head of the beks: “What is the pleasure and exultation of a person?” Boorchu said: “It consists in taking on the hand of his blue-colored falcon, which fed on kerkes and changed feathers in winter, and sitting on a well-fed gelding, hunt for blue-headed birds in early spring and dress in good dresses and clothes.” Genghis Khan said to Borokhul: "Say also you."
Borohul said: "The pleasure is that animals like the gyrfalcon fly over the cranes until they are overthrown from the air with wounds of their claws and take them."
After that, he asked Khubilai's children the same way, they answered: "The bliss of a person consists in hunting and in the ability to make (at will) birds fly." Then Genghis Khan replied: “You (all) spoke badly. The pleasure and bliss of a person consists in crushing the rebellious and defeating the enemy, uprooting him from the root, taking what he has (the dearest), making their servants cry out, making tears flow down their face and nose, sitting on their pleasantly walking fat geldings, admire the rosy cheeks of their wives and kiss, and suck on sweet red lips.
(According to various sources)

When Genghis Khan established the basic rules and punishments for them and conveyed everything in writing in a book, al-Makrizi narrates, he gave the name Yasa or Yasaka. Makrizi further reports: "When the edition of the book was completed, he (Genghis Khan) ordered these laws to be carved on steel boards and made them a code for his nation ..."

The fragments of the Yasa that have come down to us read as follows:

1. An adulterer is put to death without any distinction whether he is married or not.

2. Whoever is guilty of sodomy is also punished by death.

3. Whoever lies with intent or sorcery, or who spying on the behavior of another, or intercedes between two disputants and helps one against the other, is also put to death.

4. He who urinates in water or on ashes is also put to death.

5. Whoever takes the goods and goes bankrupt, then takes the goods again and goes bankrupt again, then takes the goods again and goes bankrupt again, shall be put to death after the third time.

6. Whoever gives food or clothing to a prisoner without the permission of the captors, he is put to death.

7. Whoever finds a runaway slave or a runaway captive and does not return him to the one who had him in his hands, is subject to death.

8. When they want to eat an animal, they must tie its legs, open its belly and squeeze the heart with your hand until the animal dies, and then you can eat its meat; but if anyone slaughters an animal, as the Moslems slaughter, he must be slaughtered himself.

10. He (Chinggis Khan) decreed that taxes and taxes should not be imposed on the descendants of Ali-bek Abu-taleb, every single one, as well as on none of the fakirs, readers of al-Koran, lawmakers, doctors, men of science , devoted themselves to prayer and hermitage, muezzins and washing the bodies of the dead, taxes and taxes were not imposed.

11. He decreed that all confessions be respected, with no preference given to any. All this he prescribed as a means of being pleasing to God.

12. He forbade his people to eat from the hands of another, until the presenter first tastes of what is offered himself, even if he is a prince (emir), and the recipient is a prisoner; he forbade them to eat anything in the presence of another, without inviting him to take part in the meal; he forbade one to eat more than his comrades and to walk through the fire of the refectory and through the dish on which they eat.

13. If someone rides near people when they are eating, he must get off his horse, eat with them without their permission, and none of them should forbid him to do so.

14. He forbade them to dip their hand into the water and ordered them to use something from the vessel to draw water.

15. He forbade washing their dress while wearing it until it was completely worn out.

16. He forbade anyone to say about any object that it is unclean; He maintained that all things are pure and made no distinction between pure and impure.

17. He forbade them to give preference to any of the sects, to pronounce words using honorific names, and when addressing the Sultan or anyone else, they should simply use his name.

19. He prescribed that the women accompanying the troops should perform the labors and duties of the men while the latter were away for battle.

21. He ordered them to present at the beginning of each year all their daughters to the Sultan (Khan), so that he would choose for himself and for his children.

23. He legitimized that the oldest of the emirs, when he stumbles and the sovereign sends the last of the servants to him to punish him, give himself into the hands of the latter and prostrate before him until he fulfills the punishment prescribed by the sovereign, even if it is deprivation of the stomach.

25. He ordered the Sultan to establish permanent posts in order to know soon about all the events in the state.

26. He ordered his son Chagatai bey Genghis Khan to watch the execution of Yasa.

According to Mirkhovend (or Mirkhond)
<...>

28. Murder (execution for a crime) can be paid off with a fine by paying forty gold coins (profit) for a Muslim, and one donkey for a Chinese.

By Ibn Battuta

29. Whoever has a stolen horse is obliged to return it to its owner with an addition of ten such horses; if he is not able to pay this fine, then instead of horses, take children from him, and when there were no children, then slaughter himself like a ram.

According to Vardapet

30. Genghis Yasa forbids lies, theft, adultery, prescribes to love your neighbor as yourself, not to cause offense and forget them completely, to spare countries and cities that submit voluntarily, to exempt from any tax and to respect temples dedicated to God, as well as ministers his.

According to MACAGIA

31. (Yasa prescribes): love each other, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not be a traitor, honor elders and beggars, for violation - the death penalty.

FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES

32. Genghis Yasa prescribes: a person who chokes on food should be dragged under the headquarters and immediately killed, and put to death in the same way, who stepped foot on the threshold of the governor's headquarters .

33. If there is no longer any remedy for drinking, then one should get drunk three times a month; if it goes over three times - it's to blame; if you get drunk twice a month - it's better; if once - even more commendable, and if he does not drink at all, then what can be better than this? But where can one find such a remedy, and if found, then it is worthy of all respect.

34. Children adopted from a concubine are considered legitimate and receive, by order of the father, an appropriate share of the inheritance. The division of property is based on such a provision that the elder receives more than the younger; the younger son inherits the father's household. The seniority of children is considered according to the degree of their mother, from among the wives, one is always the eldest, mainly by the time of marriage.

35. After the death of the father, the son controls the fate of his wives, with the exception of his mother, he can marry them or marry them to another.

36. It is strictly forbidden to use any of the things of the deceased, except for the legitimate heirs.

By LEMU

38. (On the release of clerics of all confessions from duties.)

39. It is forbidden, under pain of death, to proclaim someone as emperor, unless he has been previously elected by princes, khans, nobles and other Mongolian nobles in a general council.

41. It is forbidden to make peace with the monarch, prince or people until they have expressed complete obedience.

46. ​​(On the observance of certain rules when slaughtering animals for food.)

47. (On the permission to eat the blood and entrails of animals.)

48. (List of benefits in the service and benefits to the chiefs and officers of the Empire.)

50. (Various punishments imposed for theft: from the death penalty to corporal punishment - from 7 to 700 strokes.)

51. None of the subjects of the Empire has the right to have a Mongol as a servant or slave. Every man, with rare exceptions, is obliged to serve in the army.

52. (On the prohibition on pain of death to hide runaway slaves, feed them, etc.)

53. The Marriage Law prescribes that a man must redeem his wife and that marriages in the first and second degree of kinship are not permitted. A man is allowed to marry two sisters or have several concubines. (Followed by the duties of the wife in the house and household.) Men are only allowed to engage in war and hunting. (Next - about the rights of offspring from different wives.)

54. Adultery is punishable by death. Perpetrators of such can be killed at the scene of the crime.

55. (On the permission of parents to conclude marriage conditions between minor children, etc.)

56. It is forbidden to bathe or wash clothes in running water during a thunderstorm.

57. Spies, false witnesses, all people subject to shameful vices, and sorcerers are sentenced to death.

Plan.

· The history of the emergence of "Yasa".

The influence of "Yasa" on the law of the state of Genghis Khan:

A. International law

B. State and administrative law.

1. Supreme power (Khan)

3. Fortress Charter.

4. Tarkhan privileges (immunity)

5. Military Charter.

6. Hunting Charter (Charter on fishing).

7. Management and administrative orders.

8. Tax Charter.

B. Criminal law.

D. Private law.

D. Commercial law.

E. Judicial law.

G. Strengthening the laws.

· Final analysis.

· Bibliography.

The history of the emergence of "Yasa"

Mongolotatars, or, as they said in the Christian world, "Tatars", for centuries were perceived as "fiends" and enemies of civilization, and their leader and ruler Genghis Khan for many generations of both Europeans and Asians was the personification of blind destructive power, the Scourge of God, the second Attila .

But at the end of the 20th century, fashionable various "competitions" for the title of "man of the past millennium" began. And suddenly it turned out that one of the most popular candidates for this role is the very Scourge of God. The Washington Post wrote that no one did more to turn the world into a modern "global village" than this illiterate nomad. So what was the Mongol Empire and who was Genghis Khan, who created it exactly 800 years ago?

In the XII century. there was no single state on the territory of Mongolia; tribal relations were the basis of Mongolian society. The family was a social unit, several families formed aimans (clans), several clans united into a khoton (village), several auls constituted a horde (tribe), and nationalities - uluses - were formed from the tribes. They led a semi-sedentary lifestyle.

At the end of the XII century. among the Mongol tribes rises under Yesuchai, whose son Temuchin began to fight for unification. In the process of this struggle, the military-feudal system of the nomadic empire of Temujin was formed. It was created on the division of all Mongolian tribes into military districts - "thousands". The army was more than 200 thousand people and was devoted to Temuchin.

In 1206 a kurultai took place, at which Temujin proclaimed himself ruler and took the title of Dengiz Khan (Genghis Khan), which meant "ruler of the ocean." At the kurultai, a code of laws "Yasa" was adopted, which determined various types of legal relations in the Mongolian state.

As the historian Mikhail Geller aptly put it: "A nomadic state is an army on the march."

"Yasa" covered all aspects of the life of the empire. Writing based on the Uighur alphabet, borrowed by the Mongols at the behest of Genghis Khan from the defeated Naimans, made it possible to write down this originally oral set of rules. The Khan's heirs believed in the magical power of Yasa and hid the "sacred book" from any foreigners, conquered or free for the time being. It was believed that she brings victory in battle. Unfortunately, the full text has not come down to us, but the mention of many provisions of Yasa in the works of ancient historians allows us to understand its essence.

In those decrees that he sent to the district countries, calling them to obedience, he did not resort to intimidation and did not increase threats, although it was a rule for rulers to threaten with a lot of land and the power of forces and preparations. On the contrary, in the form of an extreme warning, he wrote only that if (enemies) do not humble themselves and do not obey, then "we can know what we can know. The ancient God knows." In this case, reflection on the word of those who rely on God falls to mind: The Lord Most High said: whoever relies on God, then he is satisfied, and without fail, whatever they had in their hearts and whatever they asked, they all found and everything reached.

Since Genghis Khan did not obey any faith and did not follow any confession, he avoided fanaticism and from preferring one religion to another, and from exalting one over the other. On the contrary, he revered, loved and honored scholars and hermits of all kinds, considering them mediators before the Lord God, and as he looked at Muslims with respect, so he had mercy on Christians and idolaters. His children and grandchildren, several people each, chose one of the faiths according to their inclination: some imposed Islam (on their necks), others followed the Christian community, some chose the veneration of idols, and some more observed the ancient rule of grandfathers and fathers and did not they did not bow to the side, but there are few of them left. Although they accept (different) faiths, they move away from fanaticism, and do not deviate from Genghis Khan's Yasa, which orders all rumors to be counted as one and differences between them not to be made.

And they also have a laudable custom that they closed the doors of veneration, boasting of titles and (forbidden) extremes of self-aggrandizement and inaccessibility, which are in the factory of the lucky ones of fate and in the custom of kings. Whoever sits on the Khan's throne, one name is added to him Khan or Kaan, and nothing more. They don’t write more than this, but his sons and brothers are called by the name that was given to them at birth, whether to the face or behind the eyes, whether simple or noble. When appeals are written in letters, one name is written, and there is no difference between a sultan and a commoner. They write only the essence and purpose of the case, and reject unnecessary titles and expressions.

Chinggis Khan kept a strict trap, saying that de hunting of animals befits military leaders: those who carry weapons and fight in battles should learn and practice it (in order to know) when the hunters finish their game, how to hunt, how to line up, and how surround the game, looking at the number of people. When they gather to hunt, let them send out people on patrol and inquire about the type and number of game. When they are not engaged in military affairs, let them certainly be zealous about hunting and accustom the army to this. The goal is not only the hunt itself, but more so that the warriors become accustomed and tempered, and mastered with arrow throwing and exercise. And as soon as the khan moves on to the great fishing, - his time is up: as soon as the winter time comes, he sends orders that those troops that are in the center of the headquarters and in the neighborhood of the hordes should prepare for fishing, so that, as it will be indicated, so many people out of ten they mounted a horse, and so that, according to each place where there would be a hunt, they gathered tackle, weapons, and everything else. Then he determines (khan) the right and left wings and the middle, distributes them among the great emirs, and (himself) acts with katuns, concubines, dishes and drinks. The ring for fishing is covered in a month, or in two or three months, and the beast is driven gradually and gently and take care that it does not go beyond the ring. And if at any time the beast jumps out of the circle, they will discuss and investigate the cause to the last detail, and in that case they will beat thousands, centurions and foremen with sticks, it often happens that they kill them to death. And if, for example, someone does not observe the order, which they call perge, and they step out of it, or retreat from it, the punishment is great and there is no descent. In this order, for two or three months, day and night, they drive the game, as if a herd of rams, and send ambassadors to the khan and give him information about the beast and its number, which they have reached and where they are scared away, until, finally, the ring closes. Then, for two or three farsakhs, ropes will be tied one by one and felt will be thrown (on them). The army stands still, shoulder to shoulder, and the game within the circle is wailing and worrying, and various animals, by lowing and howling, express that the announced time has come when the animals will gather together; tigers get used to wild donkeys, hyenas make friends with foxes, and wolves converse with hares. When the ring is shy to the extreme, so that there is no time for wild animals to move, first the khan with several close associates will enter the circle and shoot arrows and smash game for an hour, and when he gets bored, he will descend to the ground on a high place among the nerga to admire that , as the princes enter, and after them, in order, warriors, chiefs and ordinary people. In this way, several days will pass until there is nothing left of the game but singles or couples, wounded and defeated. Then the old and the dejected for years will humbly approach the khan, offer up a prayer and intercede for prolonging the life of the remnants of the beast, so that they release it through the place where it is closer to water and grass. All the game that was beaten is collected, and if it is impossible to count, count and enumerate different breeds of animals, they count only predatory animals and wild donkeys. One friend said that in the days of the reign of Kaan (Ogedei) there was hunting in this way one winter, and Kaan, for the sake of admiring and entertainment, sat on a hill. Beasts of all kinds rushed to his throne and under the hill raised cries and cries as if asking for justice. Kaan ordered all the animals to be released and the hands of violence taken away from them. He also ordered that in the middle of the country of Hatai, in the place of winter quarters, a wall of wood and earth should be built, and on it doors, so that many animals would gather there from distant places and that they would be hunted in this way. Also within the limits of Chagataev Almalyk and Kuyash, he arranged the same place for hunting. (Isn't) this the essence and customs of war, killing, counting the dead and sparing those who remain; so they are step by step, for what is left alive in the (conquered) countries consists of a handful of the poor, few in number and infirm.

As for the organization of the army, from the time of Adam to the present day, when most of the climates are under the dominion and obedience of the Genghis Khan family, it has not been read in any history and it has not been written in any book that ever any king, the former master of the nations, managed to have an army similar to the Tartar, which is patient in difficulties and noble in peace, which in joy and misfortune is equally submissive to the commander, not because of the aspirations of salary and food, and not because of the expectation of profit and income - and this is the best order for troops. Lions, until they get hungry, do not go to catch and do not attack any animal. Persian proverbs say that "there is no hunting from a well-fed dog," and it is said: involuntarily, let your dog follow you.

What army in the world can be like the Tatar, which (even) among the (military) business hunts to overcome and despise wild animals; on days of rest and leisure, it behaves like a herd of sheep, bringing milk, wool, and many benefits; but in the midst of labors and misfortunes, it is free from division and opposition of souls. An army like peasants who carry out various (duties) of supplies, and do not show dokuki when doing what is ordered, be it kopchur, avariz, expenses for travellers, maintaining pits, supplying carts, preparing food for animals. Peasants in the form of an army, that during military affairs from small to large, from noble to low, they all chop with sabers, shoot with bows and stab with spears and go to whatever is required at that time. If there is a fear of war from enemies or intrigues from rebels, they prepare everything that comes in handy in that case: various weapons and other equipment, down to banners, needles, ropes, riding and pack animals, donkeys and camels. Thus, in dozens and hundreds, each performs his duty, and on the day of the review they present equipment, and if at least a little is not enough, then such a person gets severely and is severely punished. And even though they were in the midst of the battle itself, everything that is required for various expenses is obtained through them. As for their women and people left with cargo or at home, the deliveries that were made while the person himself was at home remain in force, so much so that if by chance the duty of that one person is his personal help, and the man does not turn out to be, then the woman (of that court) will come out in person and do the work.

The place of review and registration of the troops are arranged in such a way that through them the need for a review order is eliminated, and the employees of such and their assistants quit. All people are divided into dozens, and among each one person is appointed the head of the other nine; Of the ten chiefs, one was given the name of a centurion, and the whole hundred were subordinate to him. In this way, things go up to a thousand and reach ten thousand, over which a leader is appointed, who is called the thousandth. In this accordance and order, no matter what case arises, whether a person or thing is needed, the case is transferred to the temnik, this last to the thousandth, and so on up to the foreman

For equality: each person works like another, they don’t make a difference, and they don’t look at wealth and support. If an army is suddenly needed, then it is ordered: "so many thousands are needed at such and such an hour," and on that day or evening they are in that place. They do not slow down the hour, they forestall it, and not for the twinkling of an eye do they have haste or delay.

Obedience and obedience are such that if the head of darkness - be he from the khan at a distance separating the east from the west - makes a mistake, (the khan) sends a horseman to punish him, as ordered; they will order a "head" - they will remove it, they want gold, they will take it. Not like other kings, who have to speak with caution with a slave bought with their own money, as soon as a dozen horses are in his stable. Needless to say, if they put a whole army under the command of this slave, and he will gain wealth and support. They cannot change (?) him. Most often, he rises in rebellion and rebellion. And if these kings go against the enemy, or the enemy starts something against them, it takes months and years to gather an army, and overflowing treasuries to spend them on the salaries and feed of the chiefs. When they receive salaries and raises, their number exceeds hundreds and thousands, and when it comes to battle, their ranks are empty from edge to edge and none of them enters the battlefield.

So once there was an account with the shepherd. "How many sheep on the face turned out?" the counter was talking, and the shepherd asked, "Where?" They say: "On the order lists." The shepherd replies: "That's why I asked; they are not in the herd." This is a true parable for the army (of those kings), for each chief, in order to increase the salary leave, “by name,” he says, “I have so many people,” and when it comes to the show, he substitutes one for the other so that the account comes out right.

And also the Yasa is this: so that none of the thousands, hundreds or tens to which he is assigned should dare to go to another place, or take refuge with others, and no one should allow that person to see him, and if someone acts contrary to this order, then the one who runs across will be killed publicly, and the one who sheltered him will be thrown into chains and punished. Therefore, no one else can admit to himself. For example, if there is a prince, then he will not allow even the smallest title of a person to come to him and will refrain from violating the Yasa. Of course, no one can be conceited before his boss, and others do not dare to seduce him.

And one more thing: where moon-like girls are found in the army, they are collected and transferred from dozens to hundreds, and everyone makes his own special choice, right up to the temnik. After the choice, the girls are taken to the khan or princes, and there they choose again: whichever one turns out to be worthy and beautiful in appearance, the one is proclaimed: to keep according to the law, and to the rest: to dismiss for good, and they enter the service of the Katuns; if the khan and princes want, they give them; if they want, they sleep with them.

And one more thing: when the stretch of their kingdom lengthened and expanded, and important events began to happen, it became impossible without reports on the position of the enemies. It was also necessary to transport valuables from west to east, and from the far east to west. Therefore, pits were established across the entire breadth and length of the country, and the supplies and expenses for each pit were determined, the (number) of people and animals and the (number) of food, drink and other supplies were laid out, and the layout was made into darkness: one pit for two darkness, so that the layout is according to the number, and that the dues are collected, so that the way of passage of the ambassadors is not lengthened due to the (inconvenience) of landing on the messengers, and so that neither the army nor the peasants endure constant anxiety.

And he gave strict orders to the ambassadors to protect animals and everything else - it will be a long talk about this. Every year the pits should be inspected: if there is any deficiency or decline, it is necessary to take a replacement from the peasants.

And how did the countries and people become under (Mongolian) rule, according to the established provision, censuses were introduced (among them) and titles of tens, hundreds and thousands were assigned, and the following were determined: recruitment of troops, yamskaya (duty), expenses (for travelers) and feed for livestock , not counting the money (fees), but on top of all these hardships, they imposed another smoke.

And they also have such an order that if an official or a commoner dies, what remains after him, how many, whether you never know, they don’t make attachments and no one interferes. If the deceased heir did not have it, they give (property) to his student or to a serf, and under no circumstances take the goods of the deceased to the treasury, and consider it incomparable.
Hulagu sent me to Baghdad and appointed me. The hereditary part in all those districts was present, and I canceled those (old) orders, and added up the duties that had been in the Shushter and Bayat land since ancient times.

Conclusion

And there are many more such yaras. It will take a long time to describe each. Let's end this

The influence of "Yasa" on the law of the state of Genghis Khan:

A. International law.

The general task of the international law of the Mongols was the establishment of universal peace. This goal was to be achieved either through international negotiations on the subordination of other peoples to the will of the Khan, or, in case of refusal of subordination, through war. In the fragments of the Yasa that have come down to us, only hints have been preserved of these common goals of international law and the international politics of the Mongols. But these tasks are quite clearly expressed in the diplomatic correspondence of the Mongol khans with the Pope of Rome and some European states.

“When (the Mongols) need to write to the rebels or send ambassadors to them, one should not threaten the reliability and abundance of one’s army, but only declare: if you obey, you will find goodwill and peace. If you resist, what do we know? God Almighty knows what will happen to you.”

From this prescription of Yasa it is clear that Genghis Khan believed that he himself and his people were under the auspices and guidance of divine Providence. “And in this (the Mongols), - notes Abul Faraj, - they showed the confidence they placed on the Lord. And with that they won and are winning.”

It must be borne in mind that although Genghis Khan himself did not belong to any of the specific religions, he was undoubtedly imbued with a deep religious feeling. He was always glad to have long conversations with the sages of various faiths on the fundamental issues of life and government. We know something about his conversations with the Taoist monk Chan-Chui. It was faith in his divine mission that gave Genghis his inherent confidence in all his enterprises and wars.

Guided by this faith, Genghis demanded universal recognition of his power. All the enemies of his empire are only "rebels" in his eyes.

So, one of the main provisions of the international law of Yasa was a certain form of declaring war with a guarantee of security for the population of a hostile country in the event of voluntary submission.

Another important beginning of the international law of the Mongols should be considered the immunity of ambassadors, although the fragments of the Yasa that have come down to us do not say anything about this. But remember that the campaign against Turkestan in 1219 was undertaken by Genghis Khan to avenge the murder of ambassadors by Khorezmshah Mohammed. And the Russian princes in 1223 incurred the wrath of the Mongols precisely by beating the Mongolian ambassadors, which resulted in the disaster at Kalka.

The honor with which Genghis treated the ambassadors is evident from the fact that, according to Yasa, the ambassadors had the right to use the pit service of the empire free of charge.

B. State and administrative law.

1. Supreme Power (Khan)

The supreme power is concentrated in the face of the Khan. The khan's title is the only attribute of supreme power. The Mongols are forbidden to “give (kings and nobility) various flowery titles, as other peoples do, especially Muslims. To the one who sits on the throne, only one title befits - Khan or Kaan.

2. People

From the original point of view of Mongolian state law, only the Mongols constituted a state capable people in the empire. And only during the period of interregnum, the Mongolian people could fully exercise their right, taking part in the election of a new khan. Every new khan must by birth belong to the house of Genghis. After the death of the ruling khan, members of his family, senior dignitaries, troops, tribal and tribal elders come together to the Kurultai, where a new khan is elected. The most capable of the descendants of Genghis Khan should be chosen. No one can be a khan without approval at the Kurultai.

With the election of a new khan, the political role of the people ends. Kurultai, gathered by the khans on various issues during their reigns, were, in essence, only meetings of army officers and tribal elders to take into account and implement the decisions of the khan regarding the upcoming campaign or other important matters.

The social system of the Mongols and Turks was based on tribal and tribal law. In the surviving fragments of the Great Yasa, we find few indications of the internal social relations of the Mongol tribes and clans.

3. Fortress Charter

The empire of Genghis Khan was based on the general attachment of the population to the service of the state. Each had his own specific place in the army or taxable area, and from this place he could not leave. This principle of fortification of the face of the state later became the foundation of the Muscovite Kingdom of the 16th-17th centuries, and of course the Muscovite order developed precisely on the foundations laid by the Mongol dominion.

“Let no one leave his thousand, hundreds or ten, where he was numbered. Otherwise, let him and the head of the unit that received him be executed.” (Juvain).

In the Petit de la Croix compilation we find the following ruling regarding compulsory service:

“In order to expel idleness from his possessions, he (Genghis Khan) ordered all his subjects to work for society in one way or another. Those who did not go to war had to work a certain number of days on public buildings or do other work for the state at a certain time of the year, and one day every week to work for the Khan.

Each chief, even if he is of the highest rank, must unquestioningly obey every order of the Khan, even if it is betrayed through a messenger of a lower official rank.

Women were also required to serve, replacing men in the yurt who were not drafted.

Attachment to the service will be connected with another principle - equality in the bearing of official burdens. Strict discipline is established in all branches of the service, but equal effort is required from everyone and no one is allowed to impose excessive burdens on anyone.

Equality in work requires equality in food. Yasa forbids anyone to eat in the presence of another without sharing food with him. In the common meal, no one should eat more than the other.

4. Tarkhan privileges (immunity)

Some groups of the population could be exempted from the general serf charter or exempted from taxation. Such withdrawals were sometimes made for religious reasons (khan's labels to churches), sometimes for reasons of special value for the state of groups withdrawn from the general serf charter (doctors, technicians, artisans).

Exemptions were made in favor of the mentioned categories of the population in view of the fact that a service of a special nature was expected from them, which could not be agreed with the general charter.

The application of this law in real life is best evidenced by the khan's labels in favor of the Russian church. These labels provided the Russian clergy with freedom from military service and taxes. They were renewed with each change of khan in the Golden Horde. What is especially important for us now is that in these labels we find direct references to the Great Yasa.

In addition to the clergy, exemptions from the serf charter were given to doctors and lawyers. Technicians and artisans, being excluded from the operation of the general charter, were subject to labor service in their specialty.

5. Military Charter

The commanders received awards according to merit, and not by birthright. Warriors were deployed in tens, hundreds and thousands and were required to serve from fourteen to seventy years. In order to keep order, in addition to the hundred thousandth army, a ten thousandth guard was created, which served to protect the Khan's yurt. The guard (keshiktash) was created from noble warriors personally devoted to Genghis Khan. As part of the guard, a thousand of the most devoted and strong warriors, “bagaturs”, also stood out.

Two punishments were established: the death penalty and “exile to Siberia” - to the desert north of Mongolia. A distinctive feature of this establishment was the introduction of punishment for failure to provide assistance to a comrade in trouble. This law was called Yasa, and the second son of Genghis Khan, Chagatai, was appointed the guardian of Yasa (supreme prosecutor). In such a warlike and diverse crowd of people, it was necessary to maintain strict order, which always requires real strength. Genghis Khan foresaw this and created two guards from among the most proven warriors, day and night. They carried round-the-clock duty in the horde, were inseparable from the Khan and obeyed only him. It was the Mongol apparatus of coercion, placed above the army command staff: the ordinary guardsman was considered to be higher than the thousandth in rank. Thousands were appointed 95 noyons, elected by the army.

The Mongolian army was a close-knit cavalry formation. Unlike other nomads, the tactics of the Mongols included the principle of ramming - compact masses in deep formations, which were supposed to increase the force of impact (shock) to the maximum possible in order to, for example, break through the enemy's center, one of his wings, etc. But the Mongols, in addition, had a high degree of maneuverability, and their light cavalry played a very active and not at all a secondary role in battle.

The first cavalry units not only made a crushing blow to one or another sector of the enemy front, but could push him to the flank, and also be thrown to his rear. Thanks to this ability to maneuver, there was no need to plan the point for the main attack in advance: it could also be determined during the course of the battle, depending on the situation. The light cavalry, on the other hand, not only reconnoitred and covered, but performed mainly the task of actively preparing the impending decisive strike. This is the famous "Mongolian lava". With extraordinary mobility, maneuvering in front of the enemy’s front, the horsemen jumped into his flanks, and, if possible, into the rear. These dexterous riders, armed with throwing weapons, sitting on their horses trained like dogs, now opening up, now gathering in more or less dense groups, sent clouds of well-aimed arrows and darts into the ranks of the enemy, threatening him first in one, then in the other. place an attack and, themselves, usually not accepting a close attack of the enemy, turned into a feigned flight, luring him and leading him to ambushes.

By such actions, they upset, exhausted the enemy physically and mentally so much that he sometimes surrendered the rear even before the Mongol heavy cavalry entered the business. If the enemy turned out to be steadfast, then the actions of the light cavalry, in any case, made it possible to determine its location, weak points or the most advantageous areas for delivering the main blow, where heavy horse masses were brought up quickly and covertly, with skillful application to the terrain. built in several lines.

Due to their high maneuverability, these masses had an advantage even over the valiant knightly cavalry of Europe, famous for their powerful striking power and the art of single combat, but extremely clumsy.

As a feature of the Mongol tactics, it can also be noted that the cavalry on the battlefield usually maneuvered "silently", i.e. not by commands, but by conventional signs given by the badge (flag) of the chief. In night battles, they were replaced by colored lanterns. Drums were used to give signals only in camps.

In accordance with the tactical methods of the Mongolian army, the armament of its two main "arms" was also determined - light and heavy cavalry, otherwise called archers and swordsmen. As the name itself shows, the main weapon of the first was a bow with arrows; they themselves and their horses had no or only the most primitive and light protective devices; archers had two bows and two quivers, one expendable, the other spare. The spare quiver was designed to keep the arrows dry. The arrows were unusually sharp. The Mongols were masters in their manufacture and sharpening. Being trained in archery from the age of three, the Mongol was an excellent marksman. Some of the archers were additionally armed with darts. As an additional weapon for possible hand-to-hand combat, there were light sabers.

In the heavy cavalry, people had chain mail or leather armor; their headdress consisted of a light leather helmet with a strong butt pad to protect the neck from saber blows. The horses of the heavy cavalry had protective weapons made of thick patent leather. The main offensive weapons of the swordsmen were curved sabers, which they owned to perfection, 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, as well as in skirmishes in small parties, the Mongols tried to throw or pull enemies off their horses; for this purpose, hooks attached to pikes and darts, as well as horsehair lassos, which were thrown at the enemy from a certain distance, served. The enemy horseman, captured by the noose of a lasso, was pulled off his horse and dragged along the ground; the same technique was used against a foot enemy.

Large and medium military units, for example, thousands or hundreds, were mounted on horses of the same color. This is reliably known about the guards "thousand bagaturs", which all had black horses.

The most important point in the structure of the Mongolian army, unlike other nomadic peoples, was that they widely used various engineering devices for the siege of cities: catapults, battering rams, digging techniques, etc. Chinese prisoners were used as specialists. For example, in the Central Asian campaign, we see an auxiliary engineering division in the Mongol army, serving a variety of heavy combat vehicles, used mainly in sieges, including flamethrowers. The latter threw various combustible substances into the besieged cities: burning oil, the so-called "Greek fire", etc.

As E. Khara-Davan points out, preparations for a particular campaign were carried out according to one scheme:

1. A kurultai was meeting, at which the issue of the upcoming war and its plan was discussed. They also decided there everything that was necessary for compiling an army - how many soldiers to take from each ten wagons, etc., and also determined the place and time for the collection of troops.

Spies were sent to the enemy country and "languages" were obtained.

3. Hostilities usually began in early spring, when grass grows, and in autumn, when horses and camels are in good shape, and water obstacles freeze. Before the opening of hostilities, Genghis Khan gathered all the senior commanders to listen to his instructions.

The supreme command was exercised by Genghis Khan himself. The invasion of the enemy's country was carried out by several armies in different directions. Genghis Khan demanded that the commanders receiving such a separate command present a plan of action, which he discussed and usually approved, only in rare cases amending it. After that, the executor is given complete freedom of action within the limits of the task given to him, in close connection with the headquarters of the supreme leader.

4. When approaching significant fortified cities, the main armies left an observation corps to observe them. Supplies were collected in the vicinity and, if necessary, a temporary base was set up. As a rule, the main body continued the offensive, and the observation corps, equipped with machines, proceeded to taxation and siege.

5. When a meeting in the field with an enemy army was foreseen, the Mongols usually followed one of two methods: either they tried to attack the enemy by surprise, quickly concentrating the forces of several armies to the battlefield, or, if the enemy turned out to be vigilant and it was impossible to count on surprise, they directed their forces in such a way as to achieve a bypass of one of the enemy flanks.

But their military initiative was not exhausted by these methods. For example, a feigned flight was made, and the army covered its tracks with great skill, disappearing from the eyes of the enemy until he split his forces and weakened the security measures. Then the Mongols mounted fresh clockwork horses, made a quick raid, appearing as if from under the ground in front of a stunned enemy. In this way, Russian princes were defeated in 1223 on the Kalka River. It happened that during such a demonstrative flight, the Mongol troops dispersed so as to engulf the enemy from different sides. If it turned out that the enemy was concentrated and prepared to fight back, they let him out of the encirclement in order to attack him later on the march. In this way, in 1220, one of the armies of Khorezmshah Muhammad, which the Mongols deliberately released from Bukhara, was destroyed.

They also point out such an interesting fact: before the battle, the Mongol put on silk underwear (Chinese scarf). This tissue has the ability to be drawn into the wound along with the tip, delaying its penetration. The tip cannot pierce the tissue, and the tip removal operation becomes easy.

6. Charter of Lova (Hunting)

“When there is no war with enemies, let them indulge in the business of fishing - they teach their sons how to drive wild animals so that they get used to battle and gain strength and endurance and then rush at the enemy, like wild animals, without sparing (themselves).”

Genghis Khan regarded hunting as the best school of military training. The great winter raid occupied a serious place in Mongolian public life. This raid was one of the important factors in the economic, social and state life of the Mongols.

A large raid required the participation of entire corps of the Mongolian army in order to surround and drive herds of wild animals - predatory animals, wild donkeys, antelopes, etc. The round-up played approximately the same role in the preparation of the army as the big maneuvers at the present time.

The whole campaign sometimes dragged on for two or three months. Every negligence or violation of the order on the part of the chief and the rank and file was subject to severe punishment. As soon as the game was driven into the inner ring, the khan had the right to primacy in shooting; then dignitaries and military leaders spoke, and finally ordinary soldiers. The game that fell into the round-up was not completely destroyed: a part was released for wiring.

Internal management

Administrative decrees

The general task of government, according to Yasa, is to maintain peace and order.

obeyed Genghis Khan, he condemned some of their customs, such as theft and adultery, and decided to destroy them in order to decorate their states with order and justice. Cities and high roads became free and open to merchants of every kind. He wanted to provide them with such security and tranquility that everyone within the limits of his dominion could carry gold on his head without any danger (of being robbed) in the same way that people carry simple pots.

In accordance with these goals, one of the most important tasks of administration was the construction of postal stations (pits) along all imperial routes. The arrangement of pits was distributed among the population of the country in such a way that for every two darkness, care was assigned to a certain section of the road.

In addition to such basic branches of internal administration as yamskoe and taxation, special decrees were issued on some issues of a narrower meaning, some of which were included in Yasu. There were three such types of decrees:

· A decree directing everyone, under pain of death, to return a runaway slave to its rightful owner.

Edicts prescribing the observance of known rules for the slaughter of livestock in accordance with Mongolian customs

· Decrees prescribing the observance of certain rules for entering the water and washing clothes in the water or, in some cases, the prohibition of these actions. The motives behind the issuance of these decrees are twofold. On the one hand, here is a ritualistic fear of nature - the fear of human contamination of one of the main elements, which could offend the Supreme Being.

On the other hand, very practical ones acted here - you can

say, scientific - considerations: the desire to avoid people being struck by lightning if they come into contact with water during a thunderstorm. The prohibition to enter the water and wash clothes in the water was originally valid only during a thunderstorm.

Financial and tax management.

Due to the predominance of the so-called subsistence economy among the Mongols and Turks, the tasks of financial management in the original Mongolian state could not have been particularly difficult. The chiefs and warriors themselves had to take care of the horses, fodder and a certain amount of food for the campaign. During the campaign, the Mongol army was fed at the expense of the enemy and military booty.

However, as the Mongol empire expanded, the maintenance of both the khan's court and the administrative institutions required the establishment of a more permanent system of appeal. In all likelihood, Yasa contained a fairly developed tax charter, but we find only a brief note on this in Juvain. “After the country and the peoples were subjected to the dominion (of the Mongols), a census was established and taxable titles (ism) were assigned according to the plots of tens, hundreds and thousands; also determined: the recruitment of the army, the pit service of duty and fodder for livestock, not to mention monetary taxes, and on top of everything, kopchur was also imposed.

To the aforementioned taxable titles, one should add more darkness, which is mentioned in the yam charter. The taxable device was adapted in the same way to military units. It should be noted that this is how the tax administration in Russia was organized after the Mongol conquest.

Taxes were established both in kind and in money. The labor service of the population must also be taken into account.

An important source of income was supposed to be military booty, especially during the early expansion of the empire.

B. Criminal law.

The main task of Yasa's criminal law is to ensure peace and order in society and the state. This task is outlined by the Armenian historian Magakia in the following terms: Yasa prescribes “firstly, to love one another; secondly, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to bear false witness, not to be a traitor; to honor the elders and the poor, and if there is anyone among them who violates these commandments, they should be put to death.

Thus, the criminal law of Yasa strives to achieve its main ideal task in practice through the most severe sanctions.

1. Types of crime

Yasa considers the following types of offenses to be a punishable crime: a) crimes against religion, morality and established customs; b) crimes against the khan and the state; c) crimes against the life and interests of individuals.

A. Crimes against religion, morality and established customs.

These are recognized as:

· Harassment of any of the existing churches or clergy.

Intentional lie

Insults of a ritualistic nature: desecration of water and ashes

Slaughter of livestock in violation of the established Mongolian custom

Adultery

Sodomy

B. Crimes against the khan and the state

The main type of these crimes is recognized as violation of the serf charter, especially on the part of higher authorities.

The same category should include the fact that it was forbidden to use the Mongol as a forced servant. At first glance, this norm seems natural to refer to the next section (crimes against the freedom of a person). In fact, the real motive of this decree was the intention to prevent people from slipping into private dependence on serf service to the state.

Other abuses of the same kind:

· Abuse of power by military and civilian leaders, especially by regional governors.

Violation of military discipline.
Violation of Yasa in general.

AT. Crimes against the life and freedom of individuals

Only one of the surviving fragments of the Yasa is devoted to murder, and it speaks of murder in relation to special categories of persons - Muslims and Chinese. All other cases of violation of the interests of individuals are classified as crimes against property. Their main types are as follows:

Withdrawal or acceptance of another's slave or captive

horse stealing and livestock

Malicious bankruptcy.

2. Types of punishments.

The law says: “If children do not respect their parents, younger elders, the wife does not listen to her husband, the subject is the manager, they should be severely punished ... Those who debauchery with the wives of others, and men among themselves, they should be punished by execution.”

Genghis Khan established a social order to strengthen the dominance of the Mongol Empire and approved a law that kept the nomadic nation within the bounds of firm law. It was stated: “Those who leave home by deceit (as if to study in the army) and secretly flee from paying taxes, they should be reported to the service and punished for committing a crime, so that cases of cunning deception and unworthy behavior stop.” Honored lawyer O. Lkhamsuren assessed all this as follows: “During the reign of Genghis Khan, this criminal law became even more specific and complete.”

Let us briefly quote those provisions of the law according to which punishment by execution follows: those who killed people, wholed with the wife of another, men who fornicated among themselves, the slave who fled and followed him, who killed others in a particularly perverted way, who supported one of the two fighting, who deliberately slandered others, who lied, who spent the third time the property of others that was in storage, who hid what he found, who did not return the clothes, property and weapons found in the battle to the owner. Here everything is said clearly and firmly. At first glance, some of the provisions seem too rigid, however, if they are considered in the context of the conditions of that time, then this is not at all the case. At that time, for those who squandered the property of others for the third time or were an incorrigible thief, deceiver or slanderer, there was no other punishment than the death penalty. This severity of the law had a favorable impact on the social system and life of that time, the implementation of the law was clear.

The diplomat Ming Khun Nanhyadov during the reign of Genghis Khan did not see quarrels and struggles inside Mongolia. One writer from distant Arabia wrote: "There were no horse thefts in Mongolia." Italian Ambassador Plano Carpini, while in Mongolia, wrote: “In Mongolia, there are no internal strife and struggle at all, there are no cases of killing people, everyone treats each other peacefully and gently, very rarely there are any cases and lawsuits, since there are no thieves and robbers, chests and any other things are stored without locks. Sometimes there are cases of loss of livestock, the finder kept it at home.

From such facts of that time we can understand the significance of this great law. This is all a concrete fact that explains why the law Consider the following block of crimes against property under Mongolian customary law. Shikhi-Khutag (a contemporary of Genghis Khan) was appointed the highest litigator (judge), who was supposed to "punish for theft throughout the state, apply laws, kill those who should have been killed, punish those who needed to be punished." Also, according to this decree, Shikhi-Khutag "had to punish for theft throughout the country, eliminate lies." Another task given to him was the distribution of property, as well as issues related to property relations between citizens. Such a legal need for a judge who has the highest authority to decide all issues related to criminal and civil law is today a general pattern.

Mr. Shikhi-Khutag himself was a living confirmation of legal thinking. Let's cite one document. When in 1216 the Mongol warriors attacked the "Golden State" and captured its capital, the city of Zhundu fell under Mongol influence. Minister Dchurgeni Khada met with a special gift Shikhi-Khutag, who arrived to make a register of property and goods of the captured city of Zhundu. To this, Shikhi-Khutag made the following remark: “Earlier, the city of Zhundu belonged to the “Golden State”, now it belongs to Genghis Khan. However, Minister, you are going to bribe me with our Khan's property. What does it mean?" - and did not take a gift.

Speaking about the humanity and justice of the highest judge of the Mongolian state, let us give the following example: “When interrogating a person, he strictly forbade the use of methods of threat and intimidation, as well as suppression of the spirit. If evidence was obtained under such conditions, then the decision of such a case was considered a distortion of the law. He specifically warned people suspected of any crime that “you can’t tell lies out of fear.” This document is a Mongolian legal document, and the legal practice was even more humane and benevolent compared to the ideological practice of such laws in force at the time as Sharia (Islamic religion), the laws of Christ and the Daoxian religions. The first figures of law and law of that time made efforts to form a system of laws and social thinking, tried to apply the principle of freedom from any influence, which also later became the main content of judicial practice. The first major figure in Mongolian law Shikhi-Khutag from 1206 to 1252. for 47 years he performed the duties of the highest state litigator.

According to Rubruk, “great thieves were punished by execution. However, if the “small” thief, for example, who stole a sheep, was not caught at the scene of the crime, then he was condemned and left without punishment. From these provisions, we see that in the period under review, theft was seriously fought. For example, in the 53rd fragment it says: "If the stolen thing is not important, then you should punish with a whip." This is described in detail in the notes of Marco Polo: “If someone stole some thing, then he must pay its price. The punishment depended on the type of theft. For example: “You can punish with lashes seven, seventeen, twenty-seven, thirty-seven, forty-seven or one hundred and seven times.”

The property of the deceased must be inherited by their children and cannot be transferred to a public fund. All these provisions really protected the rights of children and women. A characteristic feature was that this is a historical provision, the content of which was traditionally conveyed in all the laws of the Yuan dynasty and the laws issued in the 13th-14th centuries. Russian scientist P.S. Palma wrote about the punishments in law imposed in the Mongol Empire in the period of the 13th-14th centuries: “If a woman informs her master that the punishment of someone is too heavy, then one should respect her and lighten the heavy punishment and replace it with a light punishment ... Nobody has the right to touch a woman sitting on the left wing next to the hearth. However, if she moves from there, she will lose her special rights.”

Thus, the new state of the Mongols took a special approach to the rights of children and women and adhered to the idea of ​​​​not a discriminatory approach, but a respectful attitude towards them, in some cases women were respected more than men.

The Roman ambassador Plano Carpini, who arrived in the Mongolian state in 1247, noted: “There are no quarrels, struggles and murders in Mongolia, people are mutually peaceful, there are rarely crimes, since there is no robbery and theft, then chests and other things are stored without locks. If sometimes they lose cattle, then someone keeps it or returns it to the owner.

The khans of the Great Mongolian State (Chinggis, Ogedei), especially supporting trade, strictly forbade trade unfairly, exploit ordinary citizens and worsen their lives. All the more severely punished or expelled from their native lands merchants who tried, instead of selling consumer goods to the people and pastoralists, by deceit to sell luxury goods on the outside. They did not forget the procedure for collecting customs duties according to international standards from wealthy merchants, depending on their income.

According to the fundamental law of the development of the country's economy, the most important and initial condition for such a system is the guarantee of the legal protection of the country and its citizens.

An analysis of these customary legal norms indicates that criminal offenses were divided into the following main types: state crimes, crimes against religion and its representatives, official crimes, crimes against society, crimes against a person, property crimes.

State crimes included the following categories: insulting a person of khan origin, failure to report the appearance of a significant enemy army, leaving the prince during the battle, failure to appear at war in full gear, ruining one’s otok by a noyon, being late for military training for more than three days. Some articles of the steppe laws criminalized desertion. So, if “a person of khan origin, tabunang or borjigin runs away during the battle, take from them a thousand horses, a hundred camels and a hundred shells. If a commoner with a shell escapes, take the shell and four horses from him.

It was forbidden to kill a captured enemy. For this crime, criminal liability was established in the form of deprivation of one camel. The one who saved during the battle a person of khan origin was declared a darkhan. And the one who abandoned the khan was threatened with the death penalty.

Crimes against religion and its representatives were enshrined in the Monastic Law of 1617 and the Religious Law of the 20s of the 17th century. These regulations testified to the spread of the yellow faith (Lamaism) and the strengthening of its position. For example, a person of khan origin who offended a temple by an action was prosecuted under the "Law of Seven Khoshuns", and a commoner was sentenced to death for the same crime. For insulting the highest lamaist figures, it was supposed to pay a large fine.

If a traveler was denied lodging for the night, then a fine was imposed in the form of one sheep, if a thirsty person was not given water to drink himself or to water a saddled horse, if they polluted the water, then a large fine was imposed in the form of confiscation of a horse and a cow - all this was considered a crime against society. Among the crimes against the person stood out, first of all, premeditated murder. Steppe laws do not differentiate punishments according to different estates. For example, the provision is fixed that "if someone kills a person, take three hundred and thirty anzu from him." According to E.I. Kychanov, in traditional Chinese law, “when considering cases of murder, the most important place was given to clarifying the question of who the killer and the victim were, their relationship with each other in the system of blood relations and systems of social class division of society. There was no single (abstractly understood) price of human life.

Crimes against the person included causing injury in the form of deprivation of an eye, breaking the bones of the hand. A clearer definition of these acts is enshrined in the “Great Law of 1620”: “If someone breaks someone’s arm and if the victim remains capable, take three nines from the guilty. If he becomes incapacitated, take the guilty anzu as if by the back. For each knocked out tooth, nines were taken. For a broken index and ring fingers - a fine of three nines, for other fingers - one nines.

Insult by word and action was apparently explained by the wide distribution of these acts among the entire population of Mongolia. As rightly noted by the researcher of law, including ordinary law, L.S. Mamut, "feudal law willingly neglects the individual traits of a member of society, but scrupulously takes into account his position on the estate-hierarchical ladder" .

For insulting a tabunang, a fine of one nine was imposed, for insulting an alchi - one nine and a horse, for insulting a more noble person, a more severe punishment was imposed. So, for insulting a teacher, a fine of three nines was provided, which, according to Mongolian scholars, was a consequence of the influence of Lamaism with its veneration of the “teacher”.

In the customary legal and decree norms, a system of punishment was well developed, depending not only on the identity of the victim, but also on what instrument caused the harm. For example, for hitting a person with a point (a stabbing object), the punishment followed in the form of three nines. A blow with a stone or a stick entailed criminal liability in the form of one nine, a blow with a fist or a whip - with a heel.

In the studied customary legal norms, criminal liability for insults was also assigned to persons of the upper classes. So, if “the khan insults his younger one, then take nines from him: eight horses and one camel. If the younger noyon offends his elder, take three nines and three camels from him.

Criminal slander was a serious crime and entailed the death penalty with confiscation of the property of a person who quarreled between two noyons. For insulting a tushimol, criminal liability was imposed in the form of a fine of one nine and one camel. If one commoner insulted another commoner, then the guilty person was obliged to pay a fine of three nines and one camel

As noted, property crimes were widespread in Mongolia. Participants in a group theft, primarily the ringleader and instigator of the crime, were subject to the death penalty. In most cases, the subject of theft was cattle - the main wealth of nomadic cattle breeders. For the kidnapping of a stallion or a camel, a fine of ten nines was levied. For the theft of a lactating camel - twelve nines. Anyone who just sneaked into the herd had to pay a fine of six nines. Those who did not prevent cattle rustling were also punished. For connivance, he was obliged to pay a fine for stolen cattle, since he was considered as an accomplice of the criminal.

An analysis of legal sources shows that the punishment for theft could depend not on the position held by the perpetrator, but on his gender. It was noted that “if shigechin, commanders, shibinars or bodyguards commit theft, then the punishment for all is the same: a woman is fined ten nines, a man eight.”

Representatives of all segments of the population, without exception, were criminally liable for concealing a thief. If such a noyon turned out to be, he was supposed to be detained, if a petty official, he was deprived of his post. For assistance in catching a thief, a reward in the form of one sheep was assigned.

Fraud took place in the system of crimes and punishments - "fraudulent assignment of the title of Elchi, the use of carts and allowances." For these actions, a person was punished with a fine of three nines.

In the conditions of the steppe life of the Mongols, a fire was a terrible disaster. Therefore, in the legal acts, the articles relating to arson determined the perpetrator of a severe punishment: the perpetrator of the fire had to pay for the burnt and a five-ruble fine.

The foregoing indicates that the criminal law of the Mongolian state in the period under review and somewhat later was of a specific, casual nature. Many of the adopted and time-tested articles served as the basis for later legislation in the future.

So, we note that the law of Genghis Khan was punishable by death for murder, fornication of a man and infidelity of his wife, theft, robbery, buying up stolen goods, hiding a runaway slave, sorcery aimed at harming one's neighbor, triple bankruptcy, i.e. failure to return debt and weapons accidentally lost owner on a campaign or in battle. Leaving a comrade without help was equated with the most serious crimes. The punishment for serious crimes was usually the death penalty.

D. Private law.

Our information about the private law of Yasa is very scarce. This probably explains not the defectiveness of the existing fragments of Yasa, but the fact that private law issues were mainly regulated by customary law, and therefore Yasa only partially concerned them.

a. Family law

In the compilation of Petit de la Croix, we find the news that Genghis Khan issued a law on marriage, in which it was said "that a man should buy himself a wife and that no one should marry a girl with whom he is related in the first or second degree, but in all in other degrees, marriage was allowed ... Polygamy was allowed, as well as the use of slaves as concubines.

Ryazanovsky cites a fragment of Yasa, according to which "after the death of his father, the son controls the fate of his wives, with the exception of his mother, he can marry them or marry them to another."

Among the Tatars, “the management of family property belongs to women. They buy and sell what and how they see fit. Men are engaged in hunting and war and do not enter into anything else.

“Children born of slave girls are considered just as legitimate as those born of wives; but the children of wives, and especially the children of the first wife, enjoy special honor with their father.

b. Inheritance law.

In matters of inheritance law, the Yasa appears to have affirmed the norms of customary law. After the death of the head of the family, the property was divided among the sons so that the share of the eldest son was greater than the others. The yurt (house) went to the youngest son.

The seniority of sons was established in accordance with the rank of their mothers in the father's family. As already mentioned in the previous subsection, children born of concubines were considered legitimate and received, by order of the father, a share in the inheritance. In the reference to the will of the father, one can already see the beginning of testamentary succession, which takes the place of a simple distribution of property according to the norms of customary law.

Khan should not have interfered in hereditary relations, even if the deceased had no relatives.

“From the property of the deceased, who has no heir, the Khan will not take anything, but his property is all given to the one who went after him (before death).”

D. Commercial law.

It is known that Genghis Khan attached great importance to the development of trade. One of the main tasks of his administration was to ensure the security of trade routes.

Taking this into account, we can think that Yasa contained a more or less developed trading charter.

“Whoever takes the goods and goes bankrupt, then takes the goods again and goes bankrupt again, will be put to death after the third time.”

E. Judicial law.

People of the khan's blood were subject to the supreme court of the khan's family, composed of tribal elders. If a person of khan blood violated the Yasu, then the tribal elders had to admonish him twice. If he violated the Yasa for the third time, then he was subject to exile in remote places. If he did not repent after that, he was imprisoned and kept there until he repented. If he remained indomitable, the assembly of the whole family had to decide what to do with him.

With regard to general jurisprudence, reference may here be made to one of the existing fragments of the Yasa. According to this fragment, there are three witnesses for the power of a verbal statement.

In the presence of written documents, the rules were probably different.

G. Strengthening the law. Ancillary Legislation.

According to Genghis Khan, the code of laws approved by him was to be fixed forever. Any change in Yasa, in his opinion, could only lead to the death of the state. Chingis appointed his eldest son Jagatai as the guardian of Yasa during his lifetime.

Each new khan, whether he ruled the entire empire or only his ulus, had to begin his reign with the confirmation of Yasa. The descendants of Genghis Khan had to gather annually together with the highest dignitaries of each ulus in order to make sure that not a single khan or prince of Genghis blood violated the Yasy during this time. The one guilty of violating it was to be deposed. “Whoever violates the Yasu will lose his head” - such was the decree of the first Khan of the Golden Horde.

The presence of the Yasa as a firm set of laws did not, however, exclude the possibility of further legislation by Genghis successors. But this legislation was only of auxiliary importance for meeting the local needs of each ulus on the unshakable basis of Yasa. In this order, the khans of the Golden Horde issued a fairly large number of decrees and orders, known to some under the name of labels. This includes labels in favor of the Russian Church. These labels directly refer to the Great Yasa as the main source of the indicated legal capacity of the khans.

We must, therefore, distinguish the Great Yasa from the local yas (sudniks) of ulus significance. Despite the presence of these gradually developing codes of law, the Great Yasa long after the collapse of the Mongol Empire was recognized as the highest code in all uluses and regions that were once part of this empire.

Final Analysis

Until now, Yasu was viewed only as a codification of the norms of customary law of the Mongolian tribes. But discussed above leads to completely different conclusions.

From all that has been said above, it is clear that Yasa's task was not to codify the norms of customary law, but to create new norms of law in accordance with the needs of the new Empire, for the construction of which the former tribal state was only a starting point.

Most issues of the so-called customary law - tribal and tribal - Yasa does not even touch. That was not her purpose. In the life of the clan and family, Yasa almost does not interfere and in this respect does not codify, but only confirms - mostly silently - the existing norms. In a number of other cases, such as in relation to criminal law, Yasa, on the contrary, explicitly cancels the effect of the previous norms, and here again one cannot speak of a simple codification of the norms that were in force earlier.

Finally, in most cases, Yasa creates new rules of law, which was necessary to adapt the khan's legislation to the newly emerging demands and needs of the expanding empire.

The main task of Genghis Khan, when publishing Syay, was thus to create a new system of law - the law of the khans or imperial, which was to be established as a superstructure over the former customary law. In fact, the new khan's law in many respects was the result of the merging of new concepts of the Khan-Emperor with the former concepts of the Khan-patrimony and tribal elder. The state in Yas continues to some extent to be regarded as a khan's ulus, a fiefdom.

On the other hand, however, a new imperial idea is clearly manifested in Yasa. Both Genghis Khan himself and his immediate successors consciously sought to turn the Mongol state into a world empire. This aspiration is clearly seen in the whole plan of Yasa.

What are the sources of Genghis ideas of the imperial state and imperial law? It is very likely that one of these sources were Chinese state-legal concepts.

On the other hand, one can think that the Christian idea of ​​the Universal Empire was not without influence on Yasu. It should be remembered that in the first edition, Yasa was approved by Genghis Khan shortly after his victory over the Naimans and Kereites, and it was precisely among these two peoples that Christianity - of the Nestorian persuasion - was highly developed. It is known that as a result of the inclusion of the Naimans and Kereites, and later the Uighurs, into the Mongolian state, Christianity began to play an important role at the court of Genghis Khan himself and his successors. Some of the influential dignitaries of the young empire were Christians by faith.

It can be thought that it was through them that the Christian idea of ​​the Universal Empire, based on religious foundations, could be perceived by Yasa.

But bearing in mind these possible (and even probable) influences from the outside, one should not forget about the personality of Genghis Khan himself as the creator of Yasa. It should be recognized that Genghis Khan was not only a brilliant commander, but also a statesman of great scope, the creator of the new imperial law.

Bibliography.

1. Vernadsky G.V. History of law St. Petersburg: "Lan", 1999

2. Journal for prosecutors and investigators 1999-2007 article B. MOLCHANOV, M. ZHANCHIVDORZH "CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR CRIMES UNDER MONGOLIA CUSTOM LAW"

3. Republican weekly newspaper "Start from Monday" article by Rafael BEZERTINOV, Kazan, No. 41 (703), October 19 - 25, 2007 "Turkic Customary Law".

4. A.M. Juvaini. About the orders instituted by Genghis Khan after his appearance, and about the Yass, which he commanded

5. Vladimirtsov B.Ya. The social structure of the Mongols. Mongolian nomadic feudalism. L, 1934. P.7

6. Secret legend of the Mongols. Translation by S.A. Kozin. Ulan-Ude, 1990. P.102

7. Magazine "Around the World" No. 1 2001 The Mongolian yoke behind the Chinese wall

8. Journal "Questions of History" No. 5 article by F.F. Mukhametov "Mongolian "Yasa" and its role in the system of social relations of the empire of Genghis Khan".

9. Gumilyov L.N. In search of a fictional realm. Shamrock mound. /

10. Khara-Davan E. Genghis Khan as a commander and his legacy. / http://gumilevica.kulichki.net

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The history of the emergence of the Great "Yasa" of Genghis Khan

The Mongol-Tatars, or, as they said in the Christian world, "Tatars", for centuries were perceived as "devils of hell" and enemies of civilization, and their leader and master Genghis Khan for many generations of both Europeans and Asians was the personification of blind destructive power. What was the Mongol Empire and who was Genghis Khan, who created it exactly 800 years ago?

In the 12th century, there was no single state on the territory of Mongolia; tribal relations were the basis of Mongolian society. The family was a social unit, several families made up aimans (clans), several clans united into a khoton (village), several auls constituted a horde (tribe), and nationalities - uluses - were formed from the tribes. They led a semi-sedentary lifestyle. At the end of the 12th century among the Mongol tribes rises the clan of Yesugei, whose son Temuchin began to fight for unification. In the process of this struggle, the military-feudal system of the nomadic empire of Temujin was formed. It was created on the division of all Mongolian tribes into military districts - "thousands". The army was more than 200 thousand people and was devoted to Temuchin. In 1206 a kurultai took place, at which Temujin proclaimed himself ruler and took the title of Genghis Khan, which meant "ruler of the ocean." At the kurultai, a code of laws "Yasa" was adopted, which determined various types of legal relations in the Mongolian state.

"Yasa" covered all aspects of the life of the empire. The writing based on the Uighur alphabet, borrowed by the Mongols at the behest of Genghis Khan from the defeated Naimans, made it possible to write down this originally oral set of rules. The Khan's heirs believed in the magical power of Yasa and hid the "sacred book" from any foreigners, conquered or free for the time being. It was believed that she brings victory in battle. Unfortunately, the full text has not come down to us, but the mention of many provisions of Yasa in the works of ancient historians allows us to understand its essence.

In Yasa, the ideas of the imperial state and imperial law are clearly traced. It is very likely that one of these sources were Chinese state-legal concepts.

It is also likely that Yasu was influenced by the Christian idea of ​​a Universal Empire. In the first edition, Yasa was approved by Genghis Khan shortly after his victory over the Naimans and Kereites, and it was precisely among these two peoples that Christianity - of the Nestorian persuasion - was highly developed. It is known that as a result of the inclusion of the Naimans and Kereites, and later the Uighurs, into the Mongolian state, Christianity began to play an important role at the court of Genghis Khan himself and his successors. Some of the influential dignitaries of the young empire were Christians by faith. It can be thought that it was through them that the Christian idea of ​​the Universal Empire, based on religious foundations, could be perceived by Yasa.

But bearing in mind these possible (and even probable) influences from the outside, one should not forget about the personality of Genghis Khan himself as the creator of Yasa. It should be recognized that Genghis Khan was not only a brilliant commander, but also a statesman of great scope.

According to Genghis Khan, the code of laws approved by him was to be fixed forever. Any change in Yasa, in his opinion, could only lead to the death of the state. Chingis appointed his eldest son Jagatai as the guardian of Yasa during his lifetime.

Each new khan, whether he ruled the entire empire or only his ulus, had to begin his reign with the confirmation of Yasa. The descendants of Genghis Khan had to gather annually together with the highest dignitaries of each ulus in order to make sure that not a single khan or prince of Genghis blood violated the Yasy during this time. The one guilty of violating it was to be deposed. “Whoever violates the Yasu will lose his head” - such was the decree of the first Khan of the Golden Horde.

The presence of the Yasa as a firm set of laws did not, however, exclude the possibility of further legislation by Genghis successors. But this legislation was only of auxiliary importance for meeting the local needs of each ulus on the unshakable basis of Yasa. In this order, the khans of the Golden Horde issued a fairly large number of decrees and orders, known to some under the name of labels. This includes labels in favor of the Russian Church. These labels directly refer to the Great Yasa as the main source of the indicated legal capacity of the khans.

We must distinguish Velikaya Yasa from local yas (sudniks) of ulus significance. Despite the presence of these gradually developing codes of law, the Great Yasa long after the collapse of the Mongol Empire was recognized as the highest code in all uluses and regions that were once part of this empire.

The meaning of "Yasa" according to international law

The general task of the international law of the Mongols was the establishment of universal peace. This goal was to be achieved either through international negotiations on the submission of other peoples to the will of the Khan, or, in case of refusal of submission, through war. In the Yasa fragments that have come down to us, only hints have been preserved of these common goals of international law and the international policy of the Mongols: obey, find goodwill and peace. If you resist, what do we know? God Almighty knows what will happen to you.” From this prescription of Yasa it is clear that Genghis Khan believed that he himself and his people were under the auspices and guidance of divine Providence. “And in this (the Mongols), - notes Abul Faraj, - they showed the confidence they placed on the Lord. And with that they won and are winning.” Genghis Khan himself did not belong to any particular religion, but was probably imbued with a deep religious feeling. He talked for a long time with the sages of various faiths on the fundamental issues of life and government, for example, it is authentically known about his conversations with the Taoist monk Chan-Chui.

The objectives of the international policy of the Mongols are quite clearly expressed in the diplomatic correspondence of the Mongolian khans with the Pope of Rome and some European states. Guided by faith, or by his goals, Genghis demanded universal recognition of his power. All the enemies of his empire are only "rebels" in his eyes. One of the main provisions of the international law of Yasa was a certain form of declaration of war with a guarantee of security for the population of a hostile country in the event of voluntary submission.

Another important beginning of the international law of the Mongols should be considered the immunity of ambassadors, although the fragments of the Yasa that have come down to us do not say anything about this. But a campaign against Turkestan in 1219 was undertaken by Genghis Khan to avenge the murder of ambassadors by Khorezmshah Mohammed. And the Russian princes in 1223 incurred the wrath of the Mongols precisely by beating the Mongol ambassadors, which resulted in the disaster at Kalka. The honor with which Genghis treated the ambassadors is evident from the fact that, according to Yasa, the ambassadors had the right to use the pit service of the empire free of charge.

State Administration and Administrative Orders for Yasa

The supreme power, according to Yasa, is concentrated in the face of the Khan. The khan's title is the only attribute of supreme power. The Mongols are forbidden to “give (kings and nobility) various flowery titles, as other peoples do, especially Muslims. To the one who sits on the throne, only one title befits - Khan or Kaan.

From the original point of view of Mongolian state law, only the Mongols constituted a state capable people in the empire. And only during the period of interregnum, the Mongolian people could fully exercise their right, taking part in the election of a new khan. Every new khan must by birth belong to the house of Genghis. After the death of the ruling khan, members of his family, senior dignitaries, troops, tribal and tribal elders come together to the Kurultai, where a new khan is elected. The most capable of the descendants of Genghis Khan should be chosen. No one can be a khan without approval at the Kurultai.

With the election of a new khan, the political role of the people ends. Kurultai, gathered by the khans on various issues during their reigns, were, in essence, only meetings of army officers and tribal elders to take into account and implement the decisions of the khan regarding the upcoming campaign or other important matters.

The social system of the Mongols and Turks was based on tribal and tribal law. In the surviving fragments of the Great Yasa, we find few indications of the internal social relations of the Mongol tribes and clans.

The empire of Genghis Khan was based on the general attachment of the population to the service of the state. Each had his own specific place in the army or taxable area, and from this place he could not leave. “Let no one leave his thousand, hundreds or ten, where he was numbered. Otherwise, let him and the head of the unit that received him be executed.”

This principle of fortification of the face of the state can be compared with the Muscovite kingdom of the 16th and 17th centuries.

In the compilation of Yasa Petit de la Croix, we find the following ruling regarding compulsory service:

“In order to expel idleness from his possessions, he (Genghis Khan) ordered all his subjects to work for society in one way or another. Those who did not go to war had to work a certain number of days on public buildings or do other work for the state at a certain time of the year, and one day every week to work for the Khan.

Each chief, even if he is of the highest rank, must unquestioningly obey every order of the Khan, even if it is betrayed through a messenger of a lower official rank.

Women were also required to serve, replacing men who were not drafted.

Attachment to the service will be connected with another principle - equality in bearing official burdens. Strict discipline is established in all branches of the service, but equal effort is required from everyone and no one is allowed to impose excessive burdens on anyone.

Equality in work requires equality in food. Yasa forbids anyone to eat in the presence of another without sharing food with him. In the common meal, no one should eat more than the other.

Some groups of the population could be exempted from the general serf charter or exempted from taxation. Such withdrawals were sometimes made for religious reasons (khan's labels to churches), sometimes for reasons of special value for the state of groups withdrawn from the general serf charter (doctors, technicians, artisans).

Exemptions were made in favor of the mentioned categories of the population in view of the fact that a service of a special nature was expected from them, which could not be agreed with the general charter.

The application of this law in real life is best evidenced by the khan's labels in favor of the Russian church. These labels provided the Russian clergy with freedom from military service and taxes. They were renewed with each change of khan in the Golden Horde. In these labels we find direct references to the Great Yasa.

In addition to the clergy, exemptions from the serf charter were given to doctors and lawyers. Technicians and artisans, being excluded from the operation of the general charter, were subject to labor service in their specialty.

The general task of government, according to Yasa, is to maintain peace and order: “... obeyed Genghis Khan, he condemned some of their customs, such as theft and adultery, and decided to destroy them in order to decorate their states with order and justice. Cities and high roads became free and open to merchants of every kind. He wanted to provide them with such security and tranquility that everyone within the limits of his dominion could carry gold on his head without any danger (of being robbed) in the same way that people carry simple pots.

In accordance with these goals, one of the most important tasks of administration was the construction of postal stations (pits) along all imperial routes. The arrangement of pits was distributed among the population of the country in such a way that for every two darkness, care was assigned to a certain section of the road.

In addition to such basic branches of internal administration as yamskoe and taxation, special decrees were issued on some issues of a narrower meaning, some of which were included in Yasu. There were three such types of decrees:

A decree directing everyone, under pain of death, to return a fugitive slave to its rightful owner.

Decrees prescribing the observance of certain rules for the slaughter of livestock in accordance with Mongolian customs.

Decrees prescribing the observance of certain rules for entering the water and washing clothes in water or, in some cases, prohibiting these actions. The motives behind the issuance of these decrees are twofold. On the one hand, here there is a ritualistic fear of nature - the fear of defilement by man of one of the main elements, which could offend the Supreme Being.

On the other hand, very practical - one might say, scientific - considerations were at work here: the desire to avoid people being struck by lightning if they come into contact with water during a thunderstorm. The prohibition to enter the water and wash clothes in the water was originally valid only during a thunderstorm.

Due to the predominance of the so-called subsistence economy among the Mongols and Turks, the tasks of financial management in the original Mongolian state could not have been particularly difficult. The chiefs and warriors themselves had to take care of the horses, fodder and a certain amount of food for the campaign. During the campaign, the Mongol army was fed at the expense of the enemy and military booty.

However, as the Mongol empire expanded, the maintenance of both the khan's court and the administrative institutions required the establishment of a more permanent system of appeal. In all likelihood, Yasa contained a fairly developed tax charter, but we find only a brief note on this in Juvain. “After the country and the peoples were subject to the dominion (of the Mongols), a census was established and taxable titles were assigned according to the plots of tens, hundreds and thousands; also determined: the recruitment of the army, the pit service of duty and fodder for livestock, not to mention monetary taxes, and on top of everything, kopchur was also imposed.

To the aforementioned taxable titles, one should add more darkness, which is mentioned in the yam charter. The taxable device was adapted in the same way to military units. It should be noted that this is how the tax administration in Russia was organized after the Mongol conquest.

Taxes were established both in kind and in money. The labor service of the population must also be taken into account.

An important source of income was supposed to be military booty, especially during the early expansion of the empire.

The property of the deceased must be inherited by their children and cannot be transferred to a public fund.

The Yasa state was military-feudal and was ruled by military force. The commanders received awards according to merit, and not by birthright. Warriors were deployed in tens, hundreds and thousands and were required to serve from fourteen to seventy years. In order to keep order, in addition to the hundred thousandth army, a ten thousandth guard was created, which served to protect the Khan's yurt. The guard (keshiktash) was created from noble warriors personally devoted to Genghis Khan. As part of the guard, a thousand of the most devoted and strong warriors, “bagaturs”, also stood out.

Two punishments were established: the death penalty and exile to the desert north of Mongolia. A distinctive feature of this establishment was the introduction of punishment for failure to provide assistance to a comrade in trouble. This law was called Yasa, and the second son of Genghis Khan, Chagatai, was appointed the guardian of Yasa (supreme prosecutor). In such a warlike and diverse crowd of people, it was necessary to maintain strict order, which always requires real strength. Genghis Khan foresaw this and created two guards from among the most proven warriors, day and night. They carried round-the-clock duty in the horde, were inseparable from the Khan and obeyed only him. It was the Mongol apparatus of coercion, placed above the army command staff: the ordinary guardsman was considered to be higher than the thousandth in rank. Thousands were appointed 95 noyons, elected by the army.

In Yasa, a special place is given to the rules of hunting. “When there is no war with enemies, let them indulge in the business of fishing - they teach their sons how to drive wild animals so that they get used to battle and gain strength and endurance and then rush at the enemy, like wild animals, without sparing (themselves).”

Genghis Khan regarded hunting as the best school of military training. The great winter raid occupied a serious place in Mongolian public life. This raid was one of the important factors in the economic, social and state life of the Mongols.

A large raid required the participation of entire corps of the Mongolian army in order to surround and drive herds of wild animals - predatory animals, wild donkeys, antelopes, etc. The round-up played approximately the same role in the preparation of the army as the big maneuvers at the present time.

The whole campaign sometimes dragged on for two or three months. Every negligence or violation of the order on the part of the chief and the rank and file was subject to severe punishment. As soon as the game was driven into the inner ring, the khan had the right to primacy in shooting; then dignitaries and military leaders spoke, and finally ordinary soldiers. The game that fell into the round-up was not completely destroyed: a part was released for wiring.

It is known that Genghis Khan attached great importance to the development of trade. One of the main tasks of his administration was to ensure the security of trade routes. Taking this into account, we can think that Yasa contained a more or less developed trading charter. “Whoever takes the goods and goes bankrupt, then takes the goods again and goes bankrupt again, will be put to death after the third time.”

People of the khan's blood were subject to the supreme court of the khan's family, composed of tribal elders. If a person of khan blood violated the Yasu, then the tribal elders had to admonish him twice. If he violated the Yasa for the third time, then he was subject to exile in remote places. If he did not repent after that, he was imprisoned and kept there until he repented. If he remained indomitable, the assembly of the whole family had to decide what to do with him.

With regard to general jurisprudence, reference may here be made to one of the existing fragments of the Yasa. According to this fragment, three witnesses are needed for the strength of a verbal statement. In the presence of written documents, the rules were probably different.

Norms of different types of law according to Yasa

The main task of Yasa's criminal law is to ensure peace and order in society and the state. This task is outlined by the Armenian historian Magakia in the following terms: Yasa prescribes “firstly, to love one another; secondly, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to bear false witness, not to be a traitor; to honor the elders and the poor, and if there is anyone among them who violates these commandments, they should be put to death.

The criminal law of Yasa strives to achieve its main ideal task in practice through the most severe sanctions.

Yasa considers the following types of offenses to be a punishable crime: a) crimes against religion, morality and established customs; b) crimes against the khan and the state; c) crimes against the life and interests of individuals.

The main type of these crimes against the state is recognized as violation of the serf charter, especially on the part of higher authorities. The same category should include the fact that it was forbidden to use the Mongol as a forced servant. At first glance, this norm seems natural to refer to the next section (crimes against the freedom of a person). In fact, the real motive of this decree was the intention to prevent people from slipping into private dependence on serf service to the state.

Only one of the surviving fragments of Yasa is devoted to murder, and it speaks of murder in relation to special categories of persons - Muslims and Chinese. All other cases of violation of the interests of individuals are classified as crimes against property. Their main types are as follows: the removal or acceptance of another's slave or captive, horse-stealing and cattle-stealing, malicious bankruptcy.

The law says: “If children do not respect their parents, younger elders, the wife does not listen to her husband, the subject is the manager, they should be severely punished ... Those who debauchery with the wives of others, and men among themselves, they should be punished by execution.”

Genghis Khan established a social order to strengthen the dominance of the Mongol Empire and approved a law that kept the nomadic nation within the bounds of firm law. It was pointed out: "Those who deceitfully leave home (as if to study in the army) and secretly flee from paying taxes, then they should be reported to the service and punished for committing a crime, so that cases of cunning deception and unworthy behavior stop."

Let us briefly quote those provisions of the law according to which punishment by execution follows: those who killed people, wholed with the wife of another, men who fornicated among themselves, the slave who fled and followed him, who killed others in a particularly perverted way, who supported one of the two fighting, who deliberately slandered others, who lied, who spent the third time the property of others that was in storage, who hid what he found, who did not return the clothes, property and weapons found in the battle to the owner.

This severity of the law had a favorable impact on the social system and life of that time, the implementation of the law was clear.

The diplomat Ming Khun Nanhyadov during the reign of Genghis Khan did not see quarrels and struggles inside Mongolia. One writer from distant Arabia wrote: "There were no horse thefts in Mongolia." Italian Ambassador Plano Carpini, while in Mongolia, wrote: “In Mongolia, there are no internal strife and struggle at all, there are no cases of killing people, everyone treats each other peacefully and gently, very rarely there are any cases and lawsuits, since there are no thieves and robbers, chests and any other things are stored without locks. Sometimes there are cases of loss of livestock, the finder kept it at home.

The criminal law of the Mongolian state in the period under review and somewhat later had a specific, casual character. Many of the adopted and time-tested articles served as the basis for later legislation in the future.

Our information about the private law of Yasa is very scarce. This probably explains not the defectiveness of the existing fragments of Yasa, but the fact that private law issues were mainly regulated by customary law, and therefore Yasa only partially concerned them.

In the compilation of Petit de la Croix, we find the news that Genghis Khan issued a law on marriage, in which it was said "that a man should buy himself a wife and that no one should marry a girl with whom he is related in the first or second degree, but in all in other degrees, marriage was allowed ... Polygamy was allowed, as well as the use of slaves as concubines.

A fragment of Yasa has been preserved, according to which “after the death of the father, the son controls the fate of his wives, with the exception of his mother, he can marry them or marry them to another.” Among the Tatars, “the management of family property belongs to women. They buy and sell what and how they see fit. Men are engaged in hunting and war and do not enter into anything else. “Children born of slave girls are considered just as legitimate as those born of wives; but the children of wives, and especially the children of the first wife, enjoy special honor with their father.



The Mongolian word yasa (yasak, jasak) means "behavior" or "decree". Until recently, it was common to speak of the Great Yasa as a collection of generally accepted Mongolian legal regulations. This was partly because the Yasa articles relating to criminal law and punishment have received more attention from historians than any other part of the code.

There is no surviving complete copy of the Great Yasa, although eastern authors of the 13th-15th centuries testify that such lists existed. According to the historian Juvaini (d. 1283), a similar list was kept in the treasury of every descendant of Genghis Khan. Rashid ad-Din (1247-1318) mentions the existence of these lists many times. A Persian treatise on finance attributed to Nazir ad-Din Tuzi (d. 1274) makes many references to Yasa. Makrizi (1364-1442) was informed by his friend Abu Nashim about the list in the Baghdad library. On the basis of information from Abu-Hashim, Makrizi attempted to provide a complete account of the contents of the Yasa. In fact, he managed to outline only a part of the code, mainly articles devoted to criminal legislation and punishment. Rashid al-Din, for his part, quotes many of the ordinances and sayings of Genghis Khan, some of which may have been fragments of the Yasa, and others of the so-called "maxims" (bilik). For a long time, modern historians dealing with Yasa based their conclusions mainly on information provided by Makrizi and Rashid al-Din. Until recently, little attention has been paid to Gregory Ab-ul-Faraj's (Bar Habraeus (1225/1226-86)) summary of the Yasa, or to Juvaini's more extended retelling of the Yasa. Mongols.

From my point of view, Yasa as a whole can by no means be characterized as ordinary legislation. She was the Mongol imperial law formulated by Genghis Khan; and the Mongols themselves saw it in this light. For them, it was the generalized wisdom of the founder of an empire; and we know that they regarded Genghis Khan as the divinely inspired Son of Heaven. The Armenian historian Grigor from Alkanets wrote down the story of the appearance of Yasa on the basis of what he heard from the Mongols. Although it cannot be regarded as accurate in detail, it adequately conveys the spirit of the Mongol attitude towards Genghis Khan and his life's work. According to Grigor, when the Mongols " realizing their position, greatly depressed by their miserable and poor life, they turned to the help of God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and made a great agreement with him, in obedience to his commands. By order of God, an angel appeared to them in the form of an eagle with golden feathers. and spoke with their own speech and language with the leader, whose name was Chankez (Chingiz) ... Then the angel told them all the commands of God ... which they themselves call yasak ».

Juvaini also considers the divinely inspired mind of Genghis Khan as the source of Yasa: " While the Almighty (God) singled out Genghis Khan from among his contemporaries in terms of reason and intellect ... he (Genghis Khan), only relying on the depths of his soul and without tedious study of (historical) annals, without harmonizing with the (traditions) of ancient times, invented all the tricks (of public administration) .»

According to both Juvaini and Makrizi, Yasa was a talisman that ensured victory on the battlefield. As A.N. The Pole, the Mongols and the Turks attributed semi-magical power to the Great Yasa.

Without a complete copy of the Great Yasa, it is impossible to say for sure in what order the articles we possess were posted. Presumably, it began with a preamble, which served as the basis for the one used by the successors of Genghis Khan in their correspondence with foreign rulers. It was supposed to contain a mention of Heaven and a reference to the Supreme Khan of the Mongol nation, Genghis Khan. The third sentence of the preambular formula "command" must obviously have meant Genghis Khan's own command, since he was both the founder of the nation and the reigning emperor at that time. Then, probably in the order outlined by Juwayni and Ab-ul-Faraj, general principles and articles on international law and the organization of the army and the state were set forth.

I. General provisions

« The pure, the blameless, the just, the learned and the wise should be exalted and respected, no matter what kind of people they belong to; and condemn evil and unjust people» (Ab-ul-Faraj, section 2).

« The first is this: love one another; secondly, do not commit adultery; do not steal; bear no false witness; don't betray anyone. Respect the old and the poor"(Grigor from Alkanets).

« He (Genghis Khan) forbade them (the Mongols) to eat anything in the presence of another without inviting him to share the food; he forbade any man to eat more than his comrades» (Makrizi, sec. 12).

« Since Genghis did not belong to any religion and did not follow any faith, he avoided fanaticism and did not prefer one faith to another or exalt one over another. On the contrary, he maintained the prestige of the beloved and respected sages and hermits of any tribe, seeing this as an act of love for god.» (Juvaini, sec. 2).

« He (Genghis Khan) ordered to respect all religions and not to show preference for any of them» (Makrizi, sec. II).

This part of the Yasa became the basis of the Mongol policy of religious tolerance.

II. International law

When it is necessary to write to the rebels and send them a representative, do not intimidate them with the strength and great size of your army, but only say: “ If you voluntarily surrender, you will find good treatment and peace, but if you resist, what can we know from our side? Eternal God knows that happen to you» Ab-ul-Faraj, sec. I).

It should be noted that, from Yasa's point of view, every nation that refuses to recognize the supreme authority of the great khan is considered to be in revolt. As Eric Voegelin points out, this is contrary to our understanding of international law, which presupposes the existence of sovereign states: “ The Mongol Empire is not ... a state among other states of the world, but an imperium mundi in statu nascendi, but represents a World-empire-in-the-Progress". It should be remembered that the letters of the great khans Guyuk and Mongke to the rulers of the West faithfully followed the above proposal of Yasa.

An important principle of Mongolian international law was the principle of the inviolability of ambassadors. And in every case when the enemy violated this principle, severe retribution followed. There is, however, no direct expression of this in the existing Yasa fragments.

III. Government, army and administration

A. THE EMPEROR AND THE IMPERIAL FAMILY

In the surviving fragments of Yasa, only one article dealing with the imperial title deals with this subject.

« (Mongols) should not give their khans and noble people many exalting names or titles, as do other nations, especially the followers of Islam. And to the name of the one who sits on the throne of the kingdom, they should add one name, i.e. Khan or Kaan. And his brothers, sisters and relatives should call him by the first name given at his birth.”(Ab-ul-Fa-raj, section 3).

We can say that the title "kaan" (kagan) in itself expresses the fullness of imperial power. At the same time, for members of his family, the emperor remains the oldest in the family, a close relative; hence the personal form of address recommended to relatives.

We know from The Secret History that Genghis Khan issued special ordinances to maintain the imperial household and the allotments of members of the imperial family. Presumably, the basic rules regarding such things were included in the Yasu.

B. MONGOLIAN NATION

As we have seen, in the preamble of the Khan's letters to foreign rulers, Genghis is referred to as the Supreme Khan of the Mongolian nation. The stereotype of this preamble was to follow the Yasa preamble. Although there is no specific article regarding the power of the nation in the existing fragments of the Yasa, some indications of this may have been included in the laws of the Yasa. In the Chinese inscription of 1338, the Mongols are usually referred to as the “state clan” (kuo-tsu), i.e. "ruling nation". It was through the election of a new great khan after the death of his predecessor that the Mongol nation under the empire could express itself politically. Despite the fact that elected kurultais did not always work clearly, it is obvious that there was a certain set of rules for their meetings, although the established order was not always observed. In each ulus of the empire, local kurultai functioned to select their khans. Most of our information about these collections of uluses is connected with the possession of the il-Khans (Persia); the rules adopted here, most likely, followed the norms of the great kurultai. It is very likely that this stereotype was included in the laws of the Great Yasa.

B. ARMY AND ADMINISTRATION

1. Statute on hunting. “When the Mongols are not engaged in war, they must give themselves up to the hunt. And they should teach their sons how to hunt wild animals, so that they gain experience in the fight against them and gain strength, energy to endure fatigue and be able to meet enemies, as they meet wild and unaccustomed animals in the fight, not sparing (themselves) ”(Ab-ul-Faraj, sec. 4).

Obviously, hunting was not only the most popular sport of the Mongols, it was considered by Genghis Khan as a state institution and the basis of military training.

2. Army statute. “The fighters are recruited men from twenty years and older. For every ten, an officer must be appointed, and for every hundred, and an officer for every thousand, and an officer for every ten thousand ... Not a single warrior from the thousand, hundred or ten in which he was enrolled should go to another place; if he does this, he will be killed, and so will the officer who received him."(Ab-ul-Faraj, sec. 5 and 7).

"He (Genghis Khan) ordered the soldiers, after returning from a military campaign, to perform certain duties in the service of the ruler"(Makrizi, sec. 20).

The creation of the imperial guard was one of the most important reforms of the military organization of Genghis Khan. It is very likely that the high position of the guard was recorded by Yasa, although this is not mentioned in the existing fragments.

The principle of the decimal organization of the Mongol army, as well as the significance of the imperial guard as an institution, have already been discussed. In this regard, another principle of attaching each person to his place of service deserves attention. The army, especially during the period of the first conquests, was the backbone of the Mongol administration as a whole. Therefore, the principle of universal service, which assumed that each person has his own special place with which he is connected and which he cannot leave, became the basis not only of the Mongol army, but also of the Mongol Empire. We can call it the Statute of the Associated Service, and as Macrisi's statement makes clear, this service was not limited to the performance of military duties. An important aspect of the obligation to serve the state was that this duty was equally distributed among all the subjects of the khan.

« There is equality. Each person works as much as the other; there is no difference. No focus on wealth or importance”(Juvaini, sec. 5).

Not only men, but also women had to serve.

« He (Genghis Khan) ordered the women accompanying the troops to do the work and duties of the men when the latter were away fighting"(Makrizi, sec. 19).

The status of the bound service became the basis of the omnipotence of the great khan, which made such an impression on the monk John de Plano Carpini. However, there were exceptions to the seemingly ironclad rules. Priests of all religions, as well as physicians and scientists, did not have to perform regular services or pay taxes (Makrizi, sec. 10). Other returns were expected from them - spiritual or professional. In addition to exemption from the duties of the entire social category, individuals belonging to the number of ordinary citizens could also receive special privileges. The recipient of such immunity was known in Mongolian as a darkhan (in Turkic - tarkhan; in this form, the term was borrowed into Russian). This institution received its full significance only in the late period (XIV-XV centuries); he is not mentioned in the existing Yasa fragments.

Among other articles of the Great Yasa dealing with administrative law, the following can be mentioned: the establishment of post-horse stations (Ab-ul-Faraj, section 8; Juwayni, section 9; Makrizi, section 25); dues and taxes (Ab-ul-Faraj, sec. 6; Juwayni, sec. 9); the duty of the Mongols to represent their daughters (presumably also the captive girls they possessed) to beauty contests, where the most beautiful (“moon-faced girls,” according to Juvaini) were chosen as wives and mistresses of the khan and princes of the khan’s blood (Juvaini, sec. 7 ; Macrizi, section 21).

3. Criminal law. Yasa al-Maqrizi's version provides a solid body of evidence regarding Mongolian criminal law. To this may be added some scattered fragments from other sources.

The criminal legislation of Yasa had as its main goal the maintenance of peace and order in the state and society. His general moral prescription, according to Grigor Alkants, ended with the following sanction: “ If the violator of this is found among them, then the criminals are subject to death.". So, although the final goal seemed broadly humane, the law was enacted with relentless brutality.

In general, Yasa recognized the following groups of offenses as crimes subject to punishment: against religion, morality and established customs; against the khan and the state; and against the life and interests of the individual.

The main goal of punishment, in the understanding of Yasa, was the physical destruction of the offender. Therefore, the death penalty plays an important role in this code. Yasa recognizes the temporary isolation of the offender through imprisonment, deportation, removal from office, as well as intimidation through pain or fines. In some cases, not only the offender himself, but also his wife and children are subject to punishment.

The death penalty was prescribed for almost all types of crime. She followed a large part of the crimes against religion, morality or established customs; for most crimes against the khan and the state; for certain crimes against property; for the third bankruptcy; for horse stealing - in the case when the thief could not pay a fine.

Punishment through imprisonment and deportation was provided for the violation of Yasa by members of the khan's family. Each officer of a military unit was subject to demotion if he could not cope with his official duties. Warriors and hunters were punished by inflicting pain for minor offenses against military discipline. Murder was punishable by a fine. For the theft of a horse, the offender was subjected to repression, a fine, or even the death penalty.

Civil law. Evidence for the civil law of Yasa is scarce. This, perhaps, is explained not only by the incompleteness of the existing fragments, but also by the fact that such relations were regulated by a generally accepted generic law. However, one important article regarding inheritance was included in the Yasu: " From a deceased person who does not have an heir, nothing is confiscated in favor of the khan, but his property must be given to the person who cared for him» (Ab-ul-Faraj, section 9; Juwayni, section 10).

Commercial law. It is known that Genghis Khan paid great attention to trade. Keeping commercial routes safe for international trade was one of the important goals of his policy. Therefore, it is natural to assume that Yasa contained some kind of statute regarding trade. However, among the fragments there is only one surviving part of the commercial legislation: “ If someone takes the goods (on credit) and goes bankrupt, then takes the goods again and goes bankrupt again, and then takes the goods again and goes bankrupt, then to be sentenced to death after his third bankruptcy"(Makrizi, sec. 5).

Recognition of the stimulating role of Genghis Khan in the creation of Yasa does not interfere with the task of studying the sources of the code. Both Genghis Khan and his advisers lived in a certain environment and at a certain time; their ideas and decisions, of course, were conditioned by a holistic historical, economic and social background.

The sources of the Mongol imperial idea were discussed in the previous section. The moral prescriptions proclaimed by Yasa were closely related to the concept of a universal empire and, at least in part, belonged to the same cultural and spiritual cycle. As for the administrative statutes, they were, to a certain extent, a product of the Mongol-Turkic traditions, they also reflect some influence of the typological features of the adjacent states - Jin, Uighurs, Kara-Khidan. Pole suggests that one of the sources of the Great Yasa could be the local laws of the Muslim Turkic rulers of the Middle East. This is doubtful, and the hypothesis needs further development and confirmation.

In any case, the old Mongolian and Turkic traditions were carefully revised and transformed by Genghis Khan and his advisers, and a set of new ideas and attitudes was created. For example, the decimal system of army organization was an old institution among the Turks, as well as the Iranians, although it was usually established in parallel with tribal and tribal organization. Genghis Khan not only modernized the system, but also connected it with the principle of connected service, thus strengthening it more strongly than anyone before him. The severity of the new army organization was imposed on the connections of the old clans.

Yasa's articles on criminal law relied in part on Mongolian customary law; but here again it is necessary to take into account the norms of the law of neighboring empires. In general, Yasa's punitive legislation was apparently more cruel than the traditional and tribal law of the Mongols.

Both Rashid al-Din and Makrizi date the promulgation of the Yasa by the Great Kurultai in 1206. This, however, was only the first edition of the code. It was supplemented by new laws at the kurultais of 1210 and 1218. The code was also revised and supplemented after the return of Genghis Khan from the Turkestan campaign and after his last expedition against the Tanguts, i.e. around 1226

Genghis Khan intended to make the code of laws he created inviolable. He prescribed to his heirs the duty of keeping the code unchanged. His second son Chagatai, known for his loyalty and firmness, was appointed guardian of Yasa. " He ordered Chagatai... to monitor the observance of the Yasa"(Makrizi, sec. 26). Each new ruler of the empire or his own ulus began his reign by confirming the correctness of Yasa. According to Ibn-Batutu, the descendants of Genghis Khan were to meet once a year, together with the highest officers of each kingdom, to testify that not a single prince of Genghis blood had violated the Yasa in the past period. Any prince found guilty was to be deposed. " Whoever breaks the Yasu must lose their head”, reads a typical order from Batu, Khan of the Kipchaks.

The existence of the Great Yasa did not exclude additional legislation from the heirs of Genghis Khan. But such legislation should not be contrary to the principles of Yasa and was mainly of local importance. For example, the khans of the Golden Horde issued many charters and ordinances regarding the management of their khanate. They were known as label. Characteristically enough, the labels issued by the khans of the Golden Horde to the Russian Church contain a direct reference to the Great Yasa as the basis for exempting the clergy from taxation. There are also references to Yasu in the law code of the Yuan Dynasty in China.

It should be noted that due to the belief of the heirs of Genghis Khan in the semi-magical power of the Great Yasa, the code was usually hidden by the Mongol and Turkic rulers from the subject population and foreign nations. The only exception seems to have been Egypt. According to the Arab writer Ibn-Taghribirdi, the Egyptian emir Artash studied Yasa completely. Essuyuti states that Sultan Baibars intended to apply the laws and regulations of the Yasa in Egypt. In fact, the secular legislation of the Mamluk kingdom, called As-Siyasa, was actually based on the code of Genghis Khan. Egypt, however, was a special case. The Mamluk rulers of this country were of Turkic origin and, in addition, for some time considered themselves as vassals of the Khan of the Golden Horde. As Polyak showed, the general organization of the Mamluk state followed the Mongol type.