Great Yasa of Genghis Khan

About the Author

The document as we have it is written by several authors: al-Makrizi (called simply “Makrizi” in the document), Mirkhwand (“Mirhond”), Ibn Battutah (“ibn Batuta”), Vardan (“Vartang”), Mahakia, and, of course, Ghengis Khan (“Jenghiz Khan”).

Taqi al-din Ahmad al-Makrizi (1364–1442) was a writer from the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and Syria. Although the Ilkhanate disappeared well before al-Makrizi was born, the Yasa remained an important topic. In addition to being the enemy of the Ilkhanate, the Mamluk Sultanate had long been an ally and (at least from the Golden Horde's perspective) vassal of the Golden Horde. Thus, an understanding of Mongol law was necessary. In addition, deserters from the Ilkhanate who could not flee to the Golden Horde took refuge in Mamluk territories, where they were received with honor. According to al-Makrizi, Ghengis Khan had the Yasa engraved onto steel tablets, although al-Makrizi drew most of his knowledge of the Yasa from Ata Malik Juvaini, a Persian who served in the Ilkhanate under Hülugü, including a period as governor of Baghdad. Although Juvaini worked for the Mongols, most of what he wrote concerning the Yasa consisted of some decrees and more maxims intended as guides rather than as absolute laws. Al-Makrizi interpreted Juvaini's writings differently.

Muhammad ibn Kavand-Shah ibn Mirkhwand (1433–1498) did not live under Mongol rule. Born in Bukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan, Mirkhwand lived and wrote in Balkh, in present-day Afghanistan. He enjoyed the patronage of various Timurid princes, the descendents of Emir Timur. The Yasa remained important in the Timurid Empire, although the Timurid prince Shah Rukh attempted to banish its use in 1411. Nonetheless, it remained the primary instrument of law among the nomadic soldiery of the Timurids. Mirkhwand eventually ended up in the employ of Sultan Husayn Bayqarah (r. 1469–1506), the last ruler of Timurid Persia and eastern Afghanistan. Mirkhwand wrote a six-volume history known as the Rowzat os safal (Garden of Purity), although there is some discussion about whether he wrote all of it or whether his grandson, Khwandamir, completed it.

Ibn Battutah (1304–1368) traveled through much of the Mongol world, including all four of the khanates, in his many journeys. He spent considerable time in each of the khanates and had contact with high-ranking officials. He was thus in a good position to observe many details, though he wrote very little about Mongol legal proceedings.

Vartang is more properly known as Vardan (d. 1271), an Armenian monk and writer. Vardan wrote his thirteenth historical compilation around 1267, which is approximately when the chronicle ends. Most of the focus is on Armenia from the biblical era to the death of Hülegü in 1265. Vardan lived during the time of the Mongol conquest of Armenia in the 1230s and the subsequent rule of the Mongols. Vardan does not avoid describing the atrocities of the conquests, but he also recognized the security and practical rule of the Mongols.

Mahakia was another Armenian chronicler. We do not know much of his life other than that he wrote his chronicle in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Ghengis Khan was born in about 1162 in Mongolia, not far from today's capital of Ulaanbaatar. His family belonged to a nomad tribe, and he came to power by uniting various nomad tribes of northeastern Mongolia, beginning with an alliance formed with his father's blood brother Toghrul (also known as Wang Khan). By 1206 he had unified or subdued the Merkits, Naimans, Mongols, Keraits, Tatars, Uighurs, and several other tribes under his rule. When he set out to create the Mongol Empire, he realized the need for a rational legal system to maintain order. Beginning in 1202 the Mongolian sources refer to the Yasa, although it was not written down at that time, primarily because the Mongols were a preliterate society. Not until 1204 did Ghengis Khan order his scribes to adapt the Uighur writing system (a form of Syriac) to the Mongolian language. When he was crowned, he also decreed that his adopted brother, Shiqi-Qutuqtu, should be the chief judge of the empire and that he should record the decrees of the empire. In the ensuing years, Ghengis Khan consolidated his authority and pushed the empire westward to what is today Iran, Iraq, and part of Russia, among other lands. He died in 1227 during a military campaign against the Tangut people.