Jump to content

Yassa: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Minor corrections
Monkbot (talk | contribs)
Bots
3,695,952 edits
m Task 20: replace {lang-??} templates with {langx|??} ‹See Tfd› (Replaced 8);
 
(34 intermediate revisions by 11 users not shown)
Line 4: Line 4:
{{self-contradictory|date=July 2023}}
{{self-contradictory|date=July 2023}}


'''Yassa''' (alternatively: ''Yasa'', ''Yasaq'', ''Jazag'', ''Zasag'', {{lang-mn|Их Засаг}}, ''Ikh Zasag'') was the oral law code of the Mongols declared in public in [[Bukhara]] by [[Genghis Khan]].<ref>re Y-chromosome C, C haplogroup, Os Mongóis, Civilizações book series available from Santarém municipal library.</ref> It was the ''[[de facto]]'' law of the [[Mongol Empire]], even though the "law" was kept secret and never made public. The Yassa seems to have its origin in wartime decrees, which were later codified and expanded to include cultural and lifestyle conventions. By keeping the Yassa secret, the decrees could be modified and used selectively. It is believed that the Yassa was supervised by Genghis Khan himself and his stepbrother [[Shikhikhutag]], then the high judge (in {{lang-mn|links=no|улсын их заргач}}) of the [[Mongol Empire]].<ref>The Secret History of the Mongols</ref> Genghis Khan appointed his second son, Chagatai (later [[Chagatai Khan]]), to oversee the laws' execution.
The '''Yassa''' (alternatively ''Yasa'', ''Yasaq'', ''Jazag'' or ''Zasag''; {{langx|mn|Их Засаг|Ikh Zasag}}) was the oral law code of the Mongols, gradually built up through the reign of [[Genghis Khan]]. It was the ''[[de facto]]'' law of the [[Mongol Empire]], even though the "law" was kept secret and never made public. The Yassa seems to have its origin in wartime decrees, which were later codified and expanded to include cultural and lifestyle conventions. By keeping the Yassa secret, the decrees could be modified and used selectively. It is believed that the Yassa was supervised by Genghis Khan himself and his adopted son [[Shigi Qutuqu]], then the high judge (in {{langx|mn|links=no|улсын их заргач}}) of the [[Mongol Empire]].<ref name=":1" /> Genghis Khan appointed his second son, Chagatai (later [[Chagatai Khan]]), to oversee the laws' execution.


==Overview==
==Etymology==
The word ''yasa'' (or ''Yassa'') exists in both Mongolic and Turkic languages. It is believed that the word derives from the [[Proto-Mongolic language|Proto-Mongolian]] verb *''jasa-'' (Modern {{Langx|mn|засах|translit=zasakh}}), which means "to set in order".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nugteren |first=Hans |title=Mongolic phonology and the Qinghai-Gansu languages |publisher=LOT |year=2011 |isbn=9789460930706 |location=Utrecht |pages=383 |type=dissertation}}</ref> The Turkic verb ''yasa-'', which means "to govern; to create", was probably borrowed from Mongolian.
The Yasa decrees were thought to be comprehensive and specific, but no Mongolian scroll or codex has been found. There are records of excerpts among many chronicles including those of [[al-Maqrizi]], [[Vardan Areveltsi]], and [[Ibn Battuta]]. Moreover, copies may have been discovered in Korea as well. The absence of any physical document is historically problematic. Historians are left with secondary sources, conjecture and speculation, which describe much of the content of the overview. Historical certainty about the Yassa is weak compared to the much older [[Code of Hammurabi]] (18th century BCE) or the [[Edicts of Ashoka]] (3rd century BCE). The latter was carved for all to see on stone plinths, 12 to 15 m high, which were located throughout Ashoka's empire (now India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan). The Yassa, which is thought to be written in the [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] Mongolian script and written on scrolls, was preserved in secret archives and known only to and read only by the royal family. Beyond being a code of laws, the Yassa may have included philosophical, spiritual and mystical elements and so may have been thought of as a quasi-sacred or magic text.


In the earliest text in Mongolian, [[Secret History of the Mongols|the Secret History of the Mongols]], the word ''yassa'' seems to refer specifically to authoritative (military) decrees. ''Čerig žasa-'' ({{Langx|xng|扯<sup>舌᠋</sup>里<sub>克᠌</sub> 札撒}}) - roughly equivalent to modern {{Langx|mn|цэрэг засах|links=no}} - is a phrase commonly found in the ''Secret History'' that means "to set the soldiers in order", in the sense of rallying the soldiers before a battle. In modern Mongolian, the verb ''zasaglakh'' ({{Langx|mn|засаглах|links=no|label=none}}) means "to govern".
The exoteric aspect of Yassa outlined laws for various members of the Mongol community such as soldiers, officers and doctors. The Yassa aimed at three things: obedience to Genghis Khan, a binding together of the nomad clans and the merciless punishment of wrongdoing. It concerned itself with people, not property. Unless a man confessed, he was not judged guilty.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lamb|first=Harold|title=Genghis Khan – Emperor of All Men|url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/mongols-sup.htm|publisher=International Collections Library, Garden City, New York, 1927|access-date=21 April 2014|archive-date=28 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228140304/http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/mongols-sup.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The purpose of many decrees was probably to eliminate social and economic disputes among the Mongols and future allied peoples. Among the rules were the ban on [[stealing]] of livestock from other people, the requirement to share food with travelers, the selling of women from other families and the lack defection among soldiers. It represented a day-to-day set of rules for people under [[Mongol]] control that was strictly enforced.<ref>{{cite web|last=Carlin|first=Dan|title=Show 43 - Wrath of the Khans I|url=http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/e/2/a/e2a1d0358bc915f8/dchha43_Wrath_of_the_Khans_I.mp3?c_id=4619666&expiration=1398066953&hwt=3e0454db57c70e2f92d950306155c453|work=Podcast|access-date=21 April 2014}}</ref>


Another word, which is sometimes equated with ''yassa'', is ''yosun'' (Modern {{Langx|mn|ёс|translit=jos}}). This term refers, broadly, to rules deriving from tradition, including for example rules of etiquette. Early chroniclers from Europe and the Middle East oftentimes did not clearly distinguish between the two terms - sometimes for ideological reasons - resulting in sources that often contain a mixture of laws and customs.<ref name=":3" />
The Yassa also addressed and reflected Mongol cultural and lifestyle norms. Death via decapitation was the most common punishment unless the offender was of noble blood, when the offender would be killed by way of back-breaking, without shedding blood. Even minor offences were punishable by death. For example, a soldier would be put to death if he did not pick up something that fell from the person in front of him. Those favored by the Khan were often given preferential treatment within the system of law and were allowed several chances before they were punished.


===Historical and current use===
As Genghis Khan had set up an institution that ensured complete religious freedom, people under his rule were free to worship as they pleased if the laws of the Yassa were observed.


''[[Jasagh]]'' during the [[Mongolia under Qing rule|Qing dynasty]] referred to native provincial governors in Mongolia. The local office (the [[Lifan Yuan]]) served as their court of the first instance, and included secretaries and other officials.
==Conjectured laws==
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2012}}


The supreme executive body of the present-day Mongolian government is called the ''Zasgiin gazar (''{{Langx|mn|засгийн газар|links=no}}), which means "the place of ''Zasag''", i.e. "the place of order".
Many sources provide conjectures about the actual laws of the Yassa. The Yassa was so influential that other cultures appropriated and adapted portions of it or reworked it for ends of negative propaganda. For instance, the number of offences for which the death penalty was given was well known by contemporaries.


==History==
This section presents a compiled list of the laws mentioned by modern scholars, such as [[Harold Lamb]] and [[George Vernadsky]]. The first 24 are taken over from an early biography of Genghis Khan by [[François Pétis de la Croix]], ''The history of Genghizcan the Great, first emperor of the antient Moguls and Tartars'' (1710). De la Croix compiled these laws from Persian and Arabic chroniclers, such as [[Mirkhvand]] and [[Rashid al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al-Din]], as well as from accounts by European travellers such as [[Rubruquis|Fras Rubruquis]] and [[Giovanni da Pian del Carpine]]. [[Harold Lamb]]'s later work ''Genghis Khan: The Emperor of All Men'' (1927) was influenced by this work.


===Date and textual history===
The laws conjectured to consitute the Great Yassa are as follows:
[[File:Temüjin proclaimed as Genghis Khan in 1206 Jami' al-tawarikh manuscript.jpg|thumb|Temüjin being proclaimed as Genghis Khan, as illustrated in a 15th-century [[Jami' al-tawarikh]] manuscript.]]


According to some scholars, the Yassa was proclaimed by Genghis Khan at [[Genghis Khan#Kurultai of 1206 and reforms|the kurultai of 1206]],<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Morgan |first=David |title=The "Great Yasa of Chinggis Khan" Revisited |date=2005-01-01 |work=Mongols, Turks, and Others |pages=291–308 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789047406334/B9789047406334_s015.xml |access-date=2024-03-12 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-474-0633-4}}</ref> when he officially assumed the title of Genghis Khan. In the ''Secret History'', Genghis Khan tells his adopted son Shigi Qutuqu to create a register of jurisprudence, which implies the existence of such a document:<blockquote>"Furthermore, writing in a blue-script register all decisions about the distribution and about the judicial matters of the entire population, make it into a book. Until the offspring of my offspring, let no one alter any of the blue writing that Šigi Qutuqu, after deciding in accordance with me, shall make into a book with white paper. Anyone who alters it shall be guilty and liable to punishment."<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=de Rachewiltz |first=Igor |url=http://cedar.wwu.edu/cedarbooks/4/ |title=The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century |journal=A Collection of Open Access Books and Monographs |publisher= Western Washington University|year=2015 |pages=127–128|doi=10.25710/31qa-rh81 }}</ref></blockquote>
# "It is ordered to believe that there is only one God, creator of heaven and earth, who alone gives life and death, riches and poverty as pleases Him—and who has over everything an absolute power, a different version states that there was liberty to worship God in whatever way suitable. [[Plantagenet Somerset Fry|[Plantagenet Somerset Fry]]]
# He [[Chingis-Khan]] ordered that all religions were to be respected and that no preference was to be shown to any of them. All this he commanded so that it might be agreeable to Heaven. [[Al-Maqrizi|[al-Maqrizi]]]
# Leaders of religion, lawyers, physicians, scholars, preachers, monks, persons who are dedicated to religious practice, the [[Muezzin]] (this latter appearing to be from the later period of Kublai Khan unless this was further translated there had been no specific reference made to any Muezzin and cities including mosques were levelled), physicians and those who bathe the bodies of the dead are to be freed from public charges. [al-Maqrizi]
# It is forbidden under penalty of death that anyone, whoever he be, shall be proclaimed emperor unless he has been elected previously by the princes, khans, officers, and other Mongol nobles in a general council.
# It is forbidden to make peace with a monarch, a prince or a people who have not submitted. (It is apparent that they presented certain proposals to the different states or kingdoms that existed that they should participate with them.)
# The ruling that divides men of the army into tens, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousand is to be maintained. He put leaders (princes/bogatyrs/generalsloanss) at the head of the troops and appointed commanders of thousands, hundreds, and tens. [al-Maqrizi] This arrangement serves to raise an army fast and to form the units of command.
# The moment that a campaign begins, each soldier must receive his arms from the hand of the officer who has them in charge. The soldier must keep them in good order and have them inspected by his office before a battle. He ordered his successors to personally examine the troops and their armament before going to battle, to supply the troops with everything they needed for the campaign and to survey everything even to needle and thread. If any of the soldiers lacked a necessary thing, that soldier was to be punished. [al-Maqrizi]
# It is forbidden, under the death penalty, to pillage the enemy before the general commanding gives permission, but after that permission is given, the soldier must have the same opportunity as the officer and must be allowed to keep what he has carried off if he has paid his share to the receiver for the emperor.
# He ordered that soldiers be punished for negligence and hunters who let an animal escape during a community hunt ordered to them be beaten with sticks and, in some cases, to be put to death. [[Mirkhvand|[Mirkhvand]]] (may appear excluded from some accounts, can be a more restricted Siberian-originating practice, but seems genuine).
# To keep the men of the army exercised, a great hunt shall be held every winter. On that account, it is forbidden for any man of the empire to kill from March to October deer, bucks, roe-bucks, hares, wild ass and some birds.
# It is forbidden to cut the throats of animals slain for food. When an animal is to be eaten, its feet must be tied, its belly ripped open and its heart squeezed in the hand until the animal dies. Then, its meat may be eaten, but if anyone slaughters an animal after the [[Islamic dietary laws|Mohammedan fashion]], he is to be himself slaughtered. [al-Maqrizi] (Women were not supposed to slaughter animals this way, possibly due to being weaker, there is no prohibition in the Yassa.)
# It is permitted to eat the blood and entrails of animals though this was forbidden before now.
# Every man who does not go to war must work for the empire without reward for a certain time.
# The man in whose possession a stolen horse is found must return it to its owner and add nine horses of the same kind. If he cannot pay the fine, his children must be taken instead of the horses, and if he has no children, he shall be slaughtered like a sheep. [al-Maqrizi] In the versions in which the provisions appear, the method of execution is likened to sheep and so it may be presumed for the law for the slaughter of animals (it is unclear in another version as of when their bodies should be cut in two parts). For lesser thefts the punishment shall be, according to the value of the thing stolen, several blows of a staff-seven, seventeen, twenty-seven, up to seven hundred. The bodily punishment may be avoided by paying nine times the worth of the thing stolen. (Another older version mentions no punishment for thefts under the value mentioned but is not so specified.)
# No subject of the empire may take a Mongol as a servant or slave. Every man, except in rare cases, must join the army.
# Whoever gives food or clothing to a captive without the permission of his captor is to be put to death. [al-Maqrizi]
# Whoever finds a runaway slave or captive and does not return him to the person to whom he belongs is to be put to death. [al-Maqrizi] The [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] word ''bool,'' here translated as "slave", means "captive taken for labor". The opponents of the Mongols were usually regarded by them as facing a punishment for resisting the universal principles/the Mongol system, or what it aspired to via its codes and measures. The concept was passed on also to their descendants, based on the concepts of sedentary populations that degrade the people and criminal tribes, criminal often simply by their concept of resisting to the above-referred Mongol system. The word ''bool'' is related to the modern word ''boolt'', "band for tying". Another related word, ''booch'' (ch as in 'chaver' in Hebrew), is a verb in modern Mongolian both associated with the type of binding and the process used in capture. A person thus captured was a ''bool'', a "slave". However, other lands with which the mongols were allied employed different definitions of slavery.
# The law required the payment of a bride's price. Though not mentioned in other sources, it may be a dowry reference since the bride price is usually a custom restricted to specific Mongol tribes (but that may have appeared later). This may have been practiced earlier, but [[Chinggis Khan]] himself had never followed this custom, and it was little (if at all) referred to in the Nuvs Tobchaan Mongolyn. The bride price might have been considered a useful deterrent to trade in women or simply a modernizing experimental inversion from a dowry, but the Tatars' neighbors traded in women, which was prohibited, as was reported, by the Yassa and that marriage between the first and second degrees of kinship is forbidden. A man may marry two sisters or have several concubines, but under Buddhism and shamanism there was a progressive tendency for a marriage ceremony. Some Buddhist forms revived some casualties without marriage. The women should attend to the care of property, buying and selling at their pleasure, in another version, "Os Mongóis", by a Portuguese publisher of summarized histories of culture, the law is quoted as defining trade as their sphere. There is no exclusion from military participation, but it was reported as more popular among Tatars according to Islamic law, which was possible to follow only via [[sufism]]. Men should occupy themselves only with hunting and war.
# Children born of a concubine are to be considered legitimate and to receive their share of the heritage according to the disposition of it made by the father. The distribution of property is to be carried out based on the senior son receiving more than the junior, the younger son inheriting the household of the father. The seniority of children depends upon the rank of their mother; one of the wives must always be the senior, to be determined chiefly by the time of her marriage. After the death of his father, a son may dispose of the father's wives except his mother. He may marry them or give them in marriage to others. All except the legal heirs are strictly forbidden to make use of any of the property of the deceased. [[George Vernadsky|[Vernadsky]]]
# An adulterer is to be put to death without any regard as to whether he is married or not. [al-Maqrizi] The Yasa prescribes these rules: to love one another, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to give false witness, not to be a traitor, and to respect old people and beggars. Whoever violates these commands is put to death. [Mahak'ia] Here are the laws of God which they call Iasax which were given to them [g288]: first, that they love one another; second, that they not commit adultery; not steal; not bear false witness; not betray anyone; and that they honour the aged and the poor. And should perpetrators of such crimes be found among them, they should be killed." [[Gregory of Akner|[Gregory of Akner]]]
# If two families wish to be united in marriage and have only young children, the marriage of the children is allowed if one is a boy and the other a girl. If the children are dead, the marriage contract may still be drawn up.
# It is forbidden to bathe or wash garments in running water during thunder.
# Whoever intentionally lies or practices sorcery, spies upon the behaviour of others or intervenes between the two parties in a quarrel to help the one against the other is also to be put to death. [al-Maqrizi] (Intentional liars are included in this section in one of the versions, but it is not as definable in practice and may refer to methodical lying, which also appears in areas of earlier Asiatic influence in Europe but becomes particularly defined together with a Germanic version, which may have legal undertones and a Latin practicality. It is a version intended to cause grievous harm to people and damage them and further, particularly as a means of sabotage, but it is not completely clear. It can also have an aspect of those who practice lying for frivolous purposes.)
# Officers and chieftains who fail in their duty or do not come at the summons of the Khan are to be slain, especially in remote districts. If their offense is less grave, they must come in person before the Khan."
# Whoever is guilty of sodomy is also to be put to death [al-Maqrizi]
# Urinating in water or ashes is punishable by death. [al-Maqrizi]
# It was forbidden to wash clothing until completely worn out. [al-Maqrizi]
# He forbade his people to eat food offered by another until the one offering the food tasted of it himself even though one is a prince and the other a captive. He forbade them to eat anything in the presence of another without having invited him to partake of the food. He forbade any man to eat more than his comrades and to step over a fire on which food was being cooked or a dish from which people were eating. [al-Maqrizi]
# One may not dip their hands into the water and must instead use a vessel for the drawing of water. [al-Maqrizi]
# When the wayfarer passes by a group of people eating, he must eat with them without asking for permission, and they must not forbid him from that. [al-Maqrizi]
# It was forbidden to show preference for a sect or to put emphasis on a word. When talking to someone, do not speak to them by a title, call them by their name. That applies to even the Khan himself. [al-Maqrizi]
# At the beginning of each year, everyone must present their daughters to the Khan so that he may choose some of them for himself and his children. [al-Maqrizi]
* Also, minors not higher than a cartwheel may not be killed in war.
* Also, abduction of women and sexual assault and or abuse of women is punishable by death.
* In cases of murder (punishment for murder) one could ransom himself by paying fines: for a Mohammedan - 40 golden coins (Balysh); and a Khitayan (a term for Qara-Khitai and former subjects of the Jin dynasty including Khitans, Jurchens & northern Chinese) - one donkey. [Mirkhvand]. Southern Chinese from the Southern Song were [[Names of China|called]] ''Nangkiyas'', or ''Manzi/Mangi'' by Persian speakers, and were never called Khitayan.
* Genghis Khan officially banned halal and kosher slaughter of animals and circumcision for Jews and Muslims.
* A Muslim bought a sheep at a market to secretly slaughter inside the privacy of his house in the halal fashion to avoid being punished by the anti-Halal law in Yassa. A [[Kipchaks|Qipchaq]] Turk stalked this Muslim and climbed onto the roof of his house and kidnapped him to stop him from doing halal slaughter on an animal. The Qipchaq Turk dragged the Muslim to the Ogedei Qa'an's court expecting the Muslim to be punished for breaking the anti-Halal law above, but instead the Ogedei executed the Qipchaq for stalking, breaking into his house and kidnapping the Muslim. [<nowiki/>[[Ata-Malik Juvayni|Juvayni]] and [[Rashid al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al-Din]]]
* The Khan established a postal system so that he might quickly learn about the empire's news.
* He ordered his son [[Chagatai Khan]] to see that the Yassa was observed. [al-Maqrizi]


The Yassa may have later been written down in the [[Uyghur script]], preserved in secret archives and known only to and read only by the royal family.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} [[Ata-Malik Juvayni|Juvyani]], in the ''[[Tarikh-i Jahangushay]]'', writes of the role of the ''yasas'' during a [[kurultai]] (a military council):<blockquote>These rolls are called the ''Great book of the Yasas'' and are kept in the treasury of the chief princes. Whenever a khan ascends the throne, or a great army is mobilized, or the princes assemble and begin [to consult together] concerning affairs of state and the administration thereof, they produce these rolls and model their actions thereon;<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Juvayni |first=ʿAla al-Din ʿAta-Malik |author-link=Ata-Malik Juvayni |title=Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |year=1958 |volume=1 |location=Manchester |pages=25, 34 |translator-last=Boyle |translator-first=J.A. |trans-title=The history of the world-conqueror |orig-date=13th century |translator-link=John Andrew Boyle}}</ref></blockquote>The Yasa decrees were thought to be comprehensive and specific, but no Mongolian scroll or codex has been found. There are records of excerpts among many chronicles including those of [[al-Maqrizi]], [[Vardan Areveltsi]], and [[Ibn Battuta]]. The first of these may have relied on the work of Ata-Malik Juvayni, an [[Ilkhanate]] official.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ayalon |first=David |date=1971 |title=The Great Yāsa of Chingiz Khān. A Reexamination (Part A) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1595029 |journal=Studia Islamica |issue=33 |pages=97–140 |doi=10.2307/1595029 |jstor=1595029 |issn=0585-5292}}</ref> Moreover, copies may have been discovered in Korea as well. {{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
Y.P. Verkhovsky, a Russian scholar and translator of Rashid al-Din's ''[[Jami' al-tawarikh|Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh]],'' reports that the Yassa begins with an exhortation to honor men of all nations based on their virtues. The pragmatic admonition is borne out by the ethnic mixture created by Genghis Khan in the Mongolian medieval army for the purpose of unity (Ezent Gueligen Mongolyn), the United Mongol Warriors.
* Genghis Khan consulted teachers of religions, such as imams and probably rabbis and Christian priests, in compiling his law codex.


In the end, the absence of any physical document is historically problematic.<ref name=":0" /> Historians are left with secondary sources, conjecture and speculation, which describe much of the content of the overview. Historical certainty about the Yassa is weak compared to the much older [[Code of Hammurabi]] (18th century BCE) or the [[Edicts of Ashoka]] (3rd century BCE). The latter was carved for all to see on stone plinths, 12 to 15 m high, which were located throughout Ashoka's empire (now India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan).
==After Genghis Khan==

[[Ogedei Khan]], the third son of Genghis Khan and the second Great Khan, proclaimed the Great Yassa as an integral body of precedents, confirming the continuing validity of his father's commands and ordinances and added his own. Ogedei codified rules of dress,the conduct of the [[kurultai]]s, the military council. His two immediate successors followed the tradition of the Yassa.
===Among the successors of Genghis Khan===
[[File:CoronationOfOgodei1229.jpg|thumb|Coronation of Ögedei in 1229, by [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al-Din]], early 14th century]]
[[Ögedei Khan]], the third son of Genghis Khan and the second Great Khan, proclaimed the Great Yassa as an integral body of precedents at his coronation at [[Ögedei Khan#Position as heir|the kurultai of 1229]].<ref name=":0" /> He confirmed the continuing validity of his father's commands and ordinances, and added his own. Ögedei codified rules of dress, as well as the conduct of the kurultais. His two immediate successors followed the tradition of proclaiming the Yassa at their coronation.


The Mongols who lived in various parts of the empire began to add laws that were needed in their areas.
The Mongols who lived in various parts of the empire began to add laws that were needed in their areas.


==Present-day influence==
===Present-day influence===
In the modern [[Turkish language]] (as used presently in [[Turkey]]), the word "law" is ''yasa'', and the adjective "legal" is ''yasal''. The word for a [[constitution]], including the [[Constitution of Turkey]], is ''Anayasa'' ("mother-law").
In the modern [[Turkish language]] (as used presently in [[Turkey]]), the word for "law" is ''yasa'', and the adjective "legal" is ''yasal''. The word for a [[constitution]], including the [[Constitution of Turkey]], is ''Anayasa'' ("mother-law").


==Overview of contents==
==Etymology==
The contents of the Yassa are not known from one single document, but scholars have reconstructed their contents from numerous sources relating to them. Among these, of particular interest are of course the ''Secret History'', but also the ''Tarikh-i Jahangushay'' of Juvyani, and other works by contemporaries. Most detailed non-Mongolian sources don't distinguish clearly between legal decrees (''yassa'') and customs (''yosun'').<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Aigle |first=Denise |date=2004-12-01 |year=2004 |title=Mongolian Law versus Islamic Law: Between Myth and Reality |url=https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_ANNA_595_0971--mongolian-law-versus-islamic-law.htm |journal=Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales |language=fr |volume=59 |issue=5 |page=972 |issn=2268-3763}}</ref>
The word ''yasa'' or ''Yassa'' exists in both Mongolic and Turkic languages. It is believed that the word comes from the Mongolian verb ''as-'' or ''yas-'' which means "to set in order". ''Tsereg zasakh'' is a phrase commonly found in old Mongolian texts like the ''Secret History'' that means "to set the soldiers in order" in the sense of rallying the soldiers before a battle. The supreme executive body of the present-day Mongolian government is called the ''Zasag-in gazar'', which means the "place of Zasag", the "place of order". Zasag during the Qing dynasty referred to native provincial governors in Mongolia. The local office called Zasag-in gazar served as a court of the first instance and included secretaries and other officials. The verb ''zasaglakh'' means "to govern" in Mongolian. The Turkic verb ''yas-'', which means "to spread", probably originated in Uighur Turkic and was first used by [[Uyghurs|Uighur Turks]].<ref>Nişanyan - Türkçe Etimolojik Sözlük</ref>

=== Contents according to the ''Secret History'' ===
In the ''Secret History'', Genghis Khan tells Shigi Qutuqu, his adopted son, to create a blue-script book, which may be one of the books that formed the basis for what was later understood as the Yassa. In this book, as Genghis tells Shigi Qutuqu, the following items should be collected:<blockquote>"[all] decisions about the distribution and about the judicial matters of the entire population"<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>According to David Morgan, this amounts to: (1) "Matters pertaining to [the] division (...) of spoils and property"; and (2) "Matters pertaining to trials".<ref name=":0" /> Elsewhere in the ''Secret History'', individual decrees of Genghis Khan are mentioned, but to what extent these should be understood as permanent laws is not always clear.

=== Contents according to the ''Tarikh-i Jahangushay'' ===
In the ''Tarikh-i Jahangushay'', a work by the Ilkhanate official Ata-Malik Juvyani, there appears one chapter dedicated to commenting on the ''yassas.'' This chapter is by no means comprehensive, as stated by the author himself:<blockquote>There are many other ''[yassas]'' to record each of which would delay us too long; we have therefore limited ourselves to the mention of the above.<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>However, some of the organisational matters discussed by Juvyani match pretty well with the brief statement in the ''Secret History'' about the contents of Shigi Qutuqu's blue-script book. He mentions both matters of tax, provisions and the divvying up of spoils, as well punishable offences, most of which appear to apply specifically to the peasantry that made up the army.

On the one hand, for example, he states that there is a requirement to [[hospitality law|share food with travelers]], a rule of selling women from other families, and a duty to maintain provisions for the ''ǰamči'''s (post stations). On the other hand, he paints a picture of strict army dicipline, mentioning a ban on [[defection]] for soldiers, with the alleged punishment being summary public execution of the defector, and severe punishment for whoever offers shelter to the defector.

Throughout the rest of the work, Juvyani also mentions individual ''yassas'', sometimes specifically ascribing them to Genghis Khan or his successors, and sometimes without further specification.

=== Further conjectured laws ===
The exoteric aspect of Yassa outlined laws for various members of the Mongol community such as soldiers, officers and doctors. The Yassa aimed at three things: obedience to Genghis Khan, a binding together of the nomad clans and the merciless punishment of wrongdoing. It concerned itself with people, not property. Unless a man confessed, he was not judged guilty.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lamb|first=Harold|title=Genghis Khan – Emperor of All Men|url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/mongols-sup.htm|publisher=International Collections Library, Garden City, New York, 1927|access-date=21 April 2014|archive-date=28 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228140304/http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/mongols-sup.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The purpose of many decrees was probably to eliminate social and economic disputes among the Mongols and future allied peoples. Among the rules were the ban on [[cattle raiding]]. It represented a day-to-day set of rules for people under [[Mongol]] control that was strictly enforced. {{Citation needed|date=February 2024|reason=Previously sourced from an inappropriate source (a podcast)}}

The Yassa also addressed and reflected Mongol cultural and lifestyle norms. Death via decapitation was the most common punishment unless the offender was of noble blood, when the offender would be killed by way of back-breaking, without shedding blood. Even minor offences were punishable by death. For example, a soldier would be put to death if he did not pick up something that fell from the person in front of him. Those favored by the Khan were often given preferential treatment within the system of law and were allowed several chances before they were punished.

As Genghis Khan had set up an institution that ensured complete religious freedom, people under his rule were free to worship as they pleased if the laws of the Yassa were observed.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Legal history]]
* [[Legal history]]
* ''[[Tarikh-i Jahangushay]]''


==References==
==References==

=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==Sources==
== Bibliography ==

{{refbegin}}
=== Ancient sources ===
* {{cite book|last=Lamb|first=Harold|author-link=Harold Lamb|publisher=Garden City Publishing|title=Genghis Khan: The Emperor of All Men|year=1927}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Blake |first1=Robert P. |author-link=Robert Pierpont Blake |last2=Frye |first2=Richard N. |author-link2=Richard N. Frye |date=1949 |title=History of the Nation of the Archers (The Mongols) by Grigor of Akancʻ; Hitherto Ascribed to Matakʻia The Monk: The Armenian Text Edited with an English Translation and Notes. |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |volume=12 |issue=3–4 |pages=269–443|doi=10.2307/2718096 |jstor=2718096 }}
* Vernadsky, George: "The Mongols and Russia," Yale University Press, 1953, page 102
* [[Bar Hebraeus]] (Abul-Faraj) [13th century AD]. ''Makhtbhanuth Zabhne (Chronicon)'' (vol. 2: ''Chronicon Ecclesiasticum'') - The current edition of the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum is by Jean Baptiste Abbeloos and Thomas Joseph Lamy, Syriac text, Latin translation.
* Vernadsky, George: "The Scope and Content of Chingis Khan's Yasa." Printed in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 3, 1938, pages 337-360
* {{Citation |title=The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354 (Volume 1) |year=1958 |editor-last=Gibb |editor-first=H.A.R. |place=London |publisher=[[Hakluyt Society]] |url=https://archive.org/details/travels-of-ibn-battuta/The%20Travels%20of%20Ibn%20Battuta-1325%E2%80%931354-Volume-I/page/ii/mode/2up }}.
* Akner, Grigor of, History of the Nation of Archers, previously attributed to Maghak'ia the Monk. The Armenian text with English translation by Robert Blake and Richard Frye printed in vol. 12 of the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies #3-4 (1949) pp.&nbsp;269–443
* {{Citation |title=The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354 (Volume 2) |year=1962 |editor-last=Gibb |editor-first=H.A.R. |place=London |publisher=Hakluyt Society |url=https://archive.org/details/travels-of-ibn-battuta/The%20Travels%20of%20Ibn%20Battuta-1325%E2%80%931354-Volume-II/page/ii/mode/2up }}.
* Bar Hebraeus (Abul-Faraj), Makhtbhanuth Zabhne, Chronicon, the second portion, Chronicon Ecclesiastical. The current edition of the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum is by Jean Baptiste Abbeloos and Thomas Joseph Lamy, Syriac text, Latin translation.
* Gibb, H.A.R. trans. and ed. (1958), The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354 (Volumes 1–3), London: Hakluyt Society. Gibb, H.A.R.; Beckingham, C.F. trans. and eds. (1994), The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354 (Volume 4), London: Hakluyt Society, {{ISBN|978-0-904180-37-4}}.
* {{Citation |title=The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354 (Volume 3) |year=1971 |editor-last=Gibb |editor-first=H.A.R. |place=London |publisher=Hakluyt Society |url=https://archive.org/details/travels-of-ibn-battuta/The%20Travels%20of%20Ibn%20Battuta-1325%E2%80%931354-Volume-III/page/iii/mode/2up }}.
* {{Citation |title=The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354 (Volume 4) |year=1994 |editor-last=Gibb |editor-first=H.A.R. |place=London |publisher=Hakluyt Society |isbn=978-0-904180-37-4 |editor-last2=Beckingham |editor-first2=C.F. |url=https://archive.org/details/travels-of-ibn-battuta/The%20Travels%20of%20Ibn%20Battuta-1325%E2%80%931354-Volume-IV/page/ii/mode/2up }}. This volume was translated by Beckingham after Gibb's death in 1971. A separate index was published in 2000.
* Areveltsi, Vardan(or Vardang), Havakumn Patmutsyun (Historical Compilation) at the Matenadaran in Yerevan, Armeni
* [[Vardan Areveltsi]] [13th century AD]. ''Havakumn Patmutyun'' (''Historical Compilation''). Currently preserved at the [[Matenadaran]] in [[Yerevan]], Armenia.
* Hamdani, (Rashid al-Din Hamadani) Jami' al-tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles')
* [[Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb]] [{{Circa}} 1306-1311 AD]. ''[[Jami' al-tawarikh]] (Compendium of Chronicles).''
* Juvayni (Juvaini) (Ala Ad Din Ata Malik Juvayni), Tarikh-i Jahangushay (History of the World Conqueror)
* [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]] [13th century AD]. ''[[Tarikh-i Jahangushay]] (History of the World Conqueror).''
* Mirhond (or Mirkhwand (byname of Muḥammad Ibn Khāvandshāh Ibn Maḥmūd), Rowzat oṣ-ṣafāʾ (Eng. trans. begun as History of the Early Kings of Persia, 1832
* [[Mirkhvand]] [{{Circa}}1497 AD]. ''[[Rawżat aṣ-ṣafāʾ]] (The Gardens of purity in the biography of the prophets and kings and caliphs)''. Eng. trans. begun as History of the Early Kings of Persia, 1832.
* Maqrizi (by name of Taqi al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Maqrizi (1364 – 1442), The History of the Ayyubit and Mameluke Rulers, translated into French by E Quatremére (2 vols. Paris, 1837–1845)
* [[al-Maqrizi]] [{{Circa}} 1442 AD]. ''Kitāb al-Sulūk li-Ma'rifat Duwal al-Mulūk (The History of the Ayyubit and Mameluke Rulers)''. Translated (into French) by E. Quatremére (2 vols. Paris, 1837–1845)
* Ayalon, D. "The Great ''Yasa'' of Chingiz Khan: a re-examination." A, ''Studia Islamica'' 33 (1971): 97–140.

* Morgan, D.O. "The 'Great ''Yasa'' of Chingiz Khan' and Mongol law in the Ilkhanate." ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' 49/1 (1986): 163–176.
=== Modern sources ===
{{refend}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Aigle |first=Denise |date=2004 |title=Mongolian Law versus Islamic Law: Between Myth and Reality |url=https://www.cairn-int.info/journal-annales-2004-5-page-971.htm |journal=Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales |language=fr |volume=59 |issue=5 |pages=971–996 |issn=2268-3763}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ayalon |first=David |author-link=David Ayalon |date=1971 |title=The Great Yāsa of Chingiz Khān. A Reexamination (Part A) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1595029 |journal=Studia Islamica |issue=33 |pages=97–140 |doi=10.2307/1595029 |jstor=1595029 |issn=0585-5292}}
* {{cite book |last=Lamb |first=Harold |author-link=Harold Lamb |publisher=Garden City Publishing |title=Genghis Khan: The Emperor of All Men |year=1927}}
* {{cite book |last=Morgan |first=David O. |title=Mongols, Turks, and Others |date=2005 |pages=291–308 |author-link=David O. Morgan |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789047406334/B9789047406334_s015.xml |access-date=2024-03-12 |publisher=Brill |language=en |chapter=The “Great Yasa of Chinggis Khan” Revisited |isbn=978-90-474-0633-4}}
* {{cite journal |last=Vernadsky |first=George |author-link=George Vernadsky |date=1938 |title=The Scope and Content of Chingis Khan's Yasa |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |volume=3 |pages=337–360|doi=10.2307/2717841 |jstor=2717841 }}
* {{cite book |last=Vernadsky |first=George |author-link=George Vernadsky |publisher=Yale University Press |title=The Mongols and Russia |year=1953 |page=102}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.coldsiberia.org/webdoc9.htm The Yasa of Chingis Khan. A code of honour, dignity, and excellence]
* [http://www.coldsiberia.org/webdoc9.htm The Yasa of Chingis Khan. A code of honour, dignity, and excellence]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060112130533/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Pantheon/3055/yasa.htm Yasa: The law of the People]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060112130533/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Pantheon/3055/yasa.htm Yasa: The law of the People]
* [http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/kelime/yasa "yasa"] at {{cite web |year=2006 |title=Turkish Etymological Dictionary online |url=http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/ |access-date=2024-02-25 |publisher=Sevan Nişanyan |language=tr}}
* [http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/search.asp?w=yasa&x=0&y=0 Nişanyan - Türkçe Etimolojik Sözlük]


{{Mongol Empire}}
{{Mongol Empire}}

Latest revision as of 15:30, 9 November 2024

This article is about the legal code. For the West African dish, see Yassa (food). For the Biblical figure, see Jesse (biblical figure). For other uses, see Yasa (disambiguation).

The Yassa (alternatively Yasa, Yasaq, Jazag or Zasag; Mongolian: Их Засаг, romanized: Ikh Zasag) was the oral law code of the Mongols, gradually built up through the reign of Genghis Khan. It was the de facto law of the Mongol Empire, even though the "law" was kept secret and never made public. The Yassa seems to have its origin in wartime decrees, which were later codified and expanded to include cultural and lifestyle conventions. By keeping the Yassa secret, the decrees could be modified and used selectively. It is believed that the Yassa was supervised by Genghis Khan himself and his adopted son Shigi Qutuqu, then the high judge (in Mongolian: улсын их заргач) of the Mongol Empire.[1] Genghis Khan appointed his second son, Chagatai (later Chagatai Khan), to oversee the laws' execution.

Etymology

[edit]

The word yasa (or Yassa) exists in both Mongolic and Turkic languages. It is believed that the word derives from the Proto-Mongolian verb *jasa- (Modern Mongolian: засах, romanized: zasakh), which means "to set in order".[2] The Turkic verb yasa-, which means "to govern; to create", was probably borrowed from Mongolian.

In the earliest text in Mongolian, the Secret History of the Mongols, the word yassa seems to refer specifically to authoritative (military) decrees. Čerig žasa- (Middle Mongolian: 扯舌᠋里克᠌ 札撒) - roughly equivalent to modern Mongolian: цэрэг засах - is a phrase commonly found in the Secret History that means "to set the soldiers in order", in the sense of rallying the soldiers before a battle. In modern Mongolian, the verb zasaglakh (засаглах) means "to govern".

Another word, which is sometimes equated with yassa, is yosun (Modern Mongolian: ёс, romanized: jos). This term refers, broadly, to rules deriving from tradition, including for example rules of etiquette. Early chroniclers from Europe and the Middle East oftentimes did not clearly distinguish between the two terms - sometimes for ideological reasons - resulting in sources that often contain a mixture of laws and customs.[3]

Historical and current use

[edit]

Jasagh during the Qing dynasty referred to native provincial governors in Mongolia. The local office (the Lifan Yuan) served as their court of the first instance, and included secretaries and other officials.

The supreme executive body of the present-day Mongolian government is called the Zasgiin gazar (Mongolian: засгийн газар), which means "the place of Zasag", i.e. "the place of order".

History

[edit]

Date and textual history

[edit]
Temüjin being proclaimed as Genghis Khan, as illustrated in a 15th-century Jami' al-tawarikh manuscript.

According to some scholars, the Yassa was proclaimed by Genghis Khan at the kurultai of 1206,[4] when he officially assumed the title of Genghis Khan. In the Secret History, Genghis Khan tells his adopted son Shigi Qutuqu to create a register of jurisprudence, which implies the existence of such a document:

"Furthermore, writing in a blue-script register all decisions about the distribution and about the judicial matters of the entire population, make it into a book. Until the offspring of my offspring, let no one alter any of the blue writing that Šigi Qutuqu, after deciding in accordance with me, shall make into a book with white paper. Anyone who alters it shall be guilty and liable to punishment."[1]

The Yassa may have later been written down in the Uyghur script, preserved in secret archives and known only to and read only by the royal family.[citation needed] Juvyani, in the Tarikh-i Jahangushay, writes of the role of the yasas during a kurultai (a military council):

These rolls are called the Great book of the Yasas and are kept in the treasury of the chief princes. Whenever a khan ascends the throne, or a great army is mobilized, or the princes assemble and begin [to consult together] concerning affairs of state and the administration thereof, they produce these rolls and model their actions thereon;[5]

The Yasa decrees were thought to be comprehensive and specific, but no Mongolian scroll or codex has been found. There are records of excerpts among many chronicles including those of al-Maqrizi, Vardan Areveltsi, and Ibn Battuta. The first of these may have relied on the work of Ata-Malik Juvayni, an Ilkhanate official.[6] Moreover, copies may have been discovered in Korea as well. [citation needed]

In the end, the absence of any physical document is historically problematic.[4] Historians are left with secondary sources, conjecture and speculation, which describe much of the content of the overview. Historical certainty about the Yassa is weak compared to the much older Code of Hammurabi (18th century BCE) or the Edicts of Ashoka (3rd century BCE). The latter was carved for all to see on stone plinths, 12 to 15 m high, which were located throughout Ashoka's empire (now India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan).

Among the successors of Genghis Khan

[edit]
Coronation of Ögedei in 1229, by Rashid al-Din, early 14th century

Ögedei Khan, the third son of Genghis Khan and the second Great Khan, proclaimed the Great Yassa as an integral body of precedents at his coronation at the kurultai of 1229.[4] He confirmed the continuing validity of his father's commands and ordinances, and added his own. Ögedei codified rules of dress, as well as the conduct of the kurultais. His two immediate successors followed the tradition of proclaiming the Yassa at their coronation.

The Mongols who lived in various parts of the empire began to add laws that were needed in their areas.

Present-day influence

[edit]

In the modern Turkish language (as used presently in Turkey), the word for "law" is yasa, and the adjective "legal" is yasal. The word for a constitution, including the Constitution of Turkey, is Anayasa ("mother-law").

Overview of contents

[edit]

The contents of the Yassa are not known from one single document, but scholars have reconstructed their contents from numerous sources relating to them. Among these, of particular interest are of course the Secret History, but also the Tarikh-i Jahangushay of Juvyani, and other works by contemporaries. Most detailed non-Mongolian sources don't distinguish clearly between legal decrees (yassa) and customs (yosun).[3]

Contents according to the Secret History

[edit]

In the Secret History, Genghis Khan tells Shigi Qutuqu, his adopted son, to create a blue-script book, which may be one of the books that formed the basis for what was later understood as the Yassa. In this book, as Genghis tells Shigi Qutuqu, the following items should be collected:

"[all] decisions about the distribution and about the judicial matters of the entire population"[1]

According to David Morgan, this amounts to: (1) "Matters pertaining to [the] division (...) of spoils and property"; and (2) "Matters pertaining to trials".[4] Elsewhere in the Secret History, individual decrees of Genghis Khan are mentioned, but to what extent these should be understood as permanent laws is not always clear.

Contents according to the Tarikh-i Jahangushay

[edit]

In the Tarikh-i Jahangushay, a work by the Ilkhanate official Ata-Malik Juvyani, there appears one chapter dedicated to commenting on the yassas. This chapter is by no means comprehensive, as stated by the author himself:

There are many other [yassas] to record each of which would delay us too long; we have therefore limited ourselves to the mention of the above.[5]

However, some of the organisational matters discussed by Juvyani match pretty well with the brief statement in the Secret History about the contents of Shigi Qutuqu's blue-script book. He mentions both matters of tax, provisions and the divvying up of spoils, as well punishable offences, most of which appear to apply specifically to the peasantry that made up the army.

On the one hand, for example, he states that there is a requirement to share food with travelers, a rule of selling women from other families, and a duty to maintain provisions for the ǰamči's (post stations). On the other hand, he paints a picture of strict army dicipline, mentioning a ban on defection for soldiers, with the alleged punishment being summary public execution of the defector, and severe punishment for whoever offers shelter to the defector.

Throughout the rest of the work, Juvyani also mentions individual yassas, sometimes specifically ascribing them to Genghis Khan or his successors, and sometimes without further specification.

Further conjectured laws

[edit]

The exoteric aspect of Yassa outlined laws for various members of the Mongol community such as soldiers, officers and doctors. The Yassa aimed at three things: obedience to Genghis Khan, a binding together of the nomad clans and the merciless punishment of wrongdoing. It concerned itself with people, not property. Unless a man confessed, he was not judged guilty.[7] The purpose of many decrees was probably to eliminate social and economic disputes among the Mongols and future allied peoples. Among the rules were the ban on cattle raiding. It represented a day-to-day set of rules for people under Mongol control that was strictly enforced. [citation needed]

The Yassa also addressed and reflected Mongol cultural and lifestyle norms. Death via decapitation was the most common punishment unless the offender was of noble blood, when the offender would be killed by way of back-breaking, without shedding blood. Even minor offences were punishable by death. For example, a soldier would be put to death if he did not pick up something that fell from the person in front of him. Those favored by the Khan were often given preferential treatment within the system of law and were allowed several chances before they were punished.

As Genghis Khan had set up an institution that ensured complete religious freedom, people under his rule were free to worship as they pleased if the laws of the Yassa were observed.[citation needed]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c de Rachewiltz, Igor (2015). "The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century". A Collection of Open Access Books and Monographs. Western Washington University: 127–128. doi:10.25710/31qa-rh81.
  2. ^ Nugteren, Hans (2011). Mongolic phonology and the Qinghai-Gansu languages (dissertation). Utrecht: LOT. p. 383. ISBN 9789460930706.
  3. ^ a b Aigle, Denise (2004-12-01). "Mongolian Law versus Islamic Law: Between Myth and Reality". Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales (in French). 59 (5): 972. ISSN 2268-3763.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ a b c d Morgan, David (2005-01-01), "The "Great Yasa of Chinggis Khan" Revisited", Mongols, Turks, and Others, Brill, pp. 291–308, ISBN 978-90-474-0633-4, retrieved 2024-03-12
  5. ^ a b Juvayni, ʿAla al-Din ʿAta-Malik (1958) [13th century]. Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy [The history of the world-conqueror]. Vol. 1. Translated by Boyle, J.A. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 25, 34.
  6. ^ Ayalon, David (1971). "The Great Yāsa of Chingiz Khān. A Reexamination (Part A)". Studia Islamica (33): 97–140. doi:10.2307/1595029. ISSN 0585-5292. JSTOR 1595029.
  7. ^ Lamb, Harold. "Genghis Khan – Emperor of All Men". International Collections Library, Garden City, New York, 1927. Archived from the original on 28 December 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2014.

Bibliography

[edit]

Ancient sources

[edit]

Modern sources

[edit]
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Yassa&oldid=1256360305"