6 myths about the Mongols and Genghis Khan you shouldn't believe in

Myth 1. Genghis Khan was blue-eyed and red-haired

The personality of the founder of the Mongol Empire Temujin (creative pseudonym - Genghis Khan) is shrouded in many legends. One of the most popular myths is related to his appearance. Allegedly, the real khan was not at all a typical slanting Mongol.

In fact, he was probably blue-eyed and red-haired (or even completely blond), which clearly indicated his European origin. Perhaps Genghis Khan comes from the same semi-legendary "true Aryans"!

However, there is no confirmation of such a theory.

Little is known about his appearance: in most sources, Genghis Khan is described as a tall, strong man with wide forehead and long beard, but his contemporaries had nothing about the color and shape of the eyes, blondness and reddishness mentioned.

Most likely, the rumor about Temujin's European appearance appeared thanks to the Persian chronicler of the 14th century Rashid ad-Din, who somehow mentionedR. hell ding. Collection of annals of Rashid ad-Dinthat the ruler of the Mongols had red hair and green eyes. But this is doubtful, since the author could not in any way see the khan in person: he died safely exactly 20 years before his birth. And the historian compiled the description from the words of people who spoke with those who allegedly once saw Temujin.

Supporters of Chinggis's blue eyes also cite his generic name - Borzhigin, which can be translated as "bluish-gray", as evidence. This is supposedly evidence that everyone in this family had blue eyes. However, with the same success, Temujin's surname can be translatedA. Ochir. Mongolian Ethnonyms: Issues of Origin and Ethnic Composition of Mongolian Peoples as a "gray wolf" or "pure and noble", so there are certain doubts here too.

In general, there is no exact data on what Genghis Khan looked like. However, his famous portraitC. P. Atwood. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire (which you can see at the beginning of the article) in the chronicle of the Yuan era of the XIV century was drawn under the guidance of the grandson of the ruler Kublai Khan. And, apparently, was approved by him. The latter was 12 when his grandfather died. And he could well remember him, as well as consult with those who also saw the khan. After all, Kublai himself was portrayed like this.

It can hardly be said with certainty that this man's grandfather was blue-eyed and blond.

Myth 2. Mongols have always won due to numerical superiority

When we say "horde", we imagine an immensely huge army - hundreds of thousands, or even a million soldiers. Rather like fantasy orcs - numerous, indestructible barbarians, taking in numbers in a frontal attack. However, the real Mongols were not like that.

Different researchers gave very different estimates of the size of the Mongol armies. For example, the famous Russian historian Nikolai Karamzin arguedN. M. Karamzin. A note on ancient and new Russia in its political and civil relationsthat in 1237 Russia was invaded by 500,000 nomads. Later, he realized that he had had enough, and provided a more modest, but still gigantic figure for those times - 300,000 soldiers. However, this estimate is greatly overestimated.

Much more realistic dataNS. Hara-Davan. Genghis Khan as a military leader and his legacy collected by another Russian historian, Erengen Khara-Davan. He set the maximum number of Mongol troops for the entire period of Genghis Khan's reign - 230,000 people. In particular, this is exactly how many were in the army of nomads during the campaign against Khorezm.

By the time of the death of the ruler in 1227, the Mongols, according toG. V. Vernadsky. Mongols and Russia from the chronicles of those times, there were 129,000 soldiers. This figure is confirmed and considered reliable by the Russian historian Georgy Vernadsky. Archaeologist Anatoly Kirpichnikov in his researchA. N. Kirpichnikov. Military affairs in Russia in the XIII-XV centuries found that there were about 100,000 nomads who invaded Russia, with a maximum of 150,000.

From afar, the Mongol army always seemed somewhat larger than it really is.

The reason is that the average nomadic warrior always took another 3-4 spare horses with him, periodically replacing and moving the load between them. This was done so that the ungulates were always fresh and not tired.

In addition, the myth of monstrously huge hordes (the word itself eventually acquired a meaning - a giant wild crowd) has become entrenched in history due to the fact that many Russian, Chinese, Persian and Arab chroniclers exaggerated the number of attackers on their native lands invaders.

After all, it is always easier to say “they were like stars in the sky, like grains of sand in the desert!” Than to bother yourself with some calculations. Besides, losing to an army twenty times yours is no shame. Not like being beaten by roughly equal forces.

For example: in battle on the Kalka River in 1223, the combined army - the Russians in alliance with the Polovtsians - with a total of 80,000 soldiers were completely defeated by the Mongol corps of Subedei and Chepe in numberSebastatsi. Chronicle in 20,000 people. The latter were inferior in size to the troops, but showed a clear superiority in discipline, tactics and organization. Doesn't really fit in with the stereotypical image of berserkers attacking a crowd, does it?

Myth 3. Mongols were barbarians and savages

This is a misconception closely related to the previous one. It is believed that the Mongol horde took in numbers, not military skill, because the nomads were savages and had no idea of ​​any organization.

However, this is not true. The Mongolian army was strictly disciplined and had a chain of command. She sharedMalov S. E. Monuments of ancient Turkic writing in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan on arbans (tens), jaguns (hundreds), mingans (thousands) and tumens (tens of thousands). All these units were subordinate to their commanders.

They had excellent plate armor, composite bows, military scouts, siege weapons and even cannons that were borrowed from the Chinese. And the commands of the army were given with the help of lanterns and flags - an incredible innovation for those times. There was in the empire and writing, and legislation, and currency, and logistics.

In addition, the developed civilization of the Mongols is evidenced by their postal and courier service.S. Bira. Mongolian Culture and Society in the Age of Globalism - one of the first in history. It was founded by the heir of Genghis Khan, Ogedei.

The Mongol horse messengers were able to deliver a letter from one end of the empire to the other in two weeks. They stopped along the wayV. A. Belobrov. About pits and drivers at post stations called “thayan yam” or simply “yam”.

By the way, the first Russian post office was created in the image of the Mongolian "pits". It was thanks to this word that the familiar to all of us "coachman" appeared.

And finally, the Mongols were among the first to come up with a thing called the salary. The nomadic warriors obeyed their commanders not out of heroism or out of fear - they received the contractual wages for service plus various allowances. So the Horde was not a bunch of savages, but a real contract army.

Myth 4. Mongol Empire - largest in the world

This is not entirely true. The nomad empire created by Temujin is indeed the largest land state in history. But the British Empire was larger from 1919 to 1922.R. Taagepera. Size and Duration of Empires: Systematics of Size / Social Science History in territorial coverage due to its numerous colonies.

Besides, controlling a territory doesn't mean settling it. The subjects and tributaries of the Mongol Empire during its heyday wereR. Taagepera. Size and Duration of Empires: Systematics of Size / Social Science History about 25% of the world's population.

However, the mentioned British Empire, as well as at various times the Umayyad Caliphate, China during the Qin dynasty, the Achaemenid State, The Macedonian Empire, the Mauryan Empire (a state in India) and the Gupta State (also in India) ruled even more people.

Myth 5. Mongols invented Russian mate

There is an opinion that all sorts of very bad words that we cannot publish here were brought to Russia by the Tatar-Mongols. And the Russians have got used to using these expressions for a long - about 250 years - period of the yoke. However, this is not true, which is easy to prove.

It is enough to read some ancient Russian birch bark letters, written when they had never heard of any Mongols.

For example, one such, designated A. A. Zaliznyak, V. L. Yanin. Birch bark letters from the Novgorod excavations in 2005 / Questions of linguistics Russian linguist Andrey Zaliznyak as "Novgorod birch bark letter № 955". Its text and transcript can be found here. It talks about female intimate organs, and in the very expressions that we use to this day. So swearing is not an invention of nomads.

Myth 6. All Russians are descendants of the Tatar-Mongols

No, the Russians are not descendants of the Mongols. As a matter of fact, it is not difficult to be convinced of this - a visual inspection is enough to notice that the average Russian person does not have the typical features of the Mongoloid race. For example, slanted eyes and heavy eyelids.

In the view of some fans of alternative history, during the yoke, the troops of the nomads drove through Russia, killing the indigenous males and raping all the women who came across them. However, in reality, everything looked quite different.

The Mongols did not occupy and did not populate the Russian lands - they were located on the very outskirts of their territory and were of interest only as a source taxes. The rulers of the uluses did not even appoint their governors, preferringC. J. Halperin. The Tatar Yoke: The Image of the Mongols in Medieval Russia to subjugate the princes and collect tribute from them, not from the peasants.

So most of the ordinary Russians of the XIII-XV centuries did not see any Mongols. They paid a reinforced quitrent to the prince, and he was already paying off the collectors of taxes from the Horde who came in from time to time.

But here are some representatives of the Russian nobility with nomadsG. V. Vernadsky. Mongols and Russia were related. For example, the Belozersk prince Gleb Vasilkovich married the Ordynka in 1257 - for political reasons.