EMPIRE

Steppe empires rather than steppe confederations were built by immensely charismatic, ambitious, and powerful men. A Great Khan (Qa'an) ruled a steppe empire, whereas a khan reigned over a steppe confederation. Chinggis Khan was the greatest of the steppe khans. As the expectations of his followers rose, so too did his own ambition, and neither were disappointed.

The Great Khan might well have achieved his position as undisputed leader of the tribes after a long and bloody civil, intertribal war and possibly also an intratribal succession conflict. A reckoning would invariably follow with payoffs and paybacks all being called for. A quriltai (a Mongol princely assembly) would be summoned, and all the leading players, tribal chiefs, military commanders, and factional elements would be called upon to participate and decide the fate of the rebels. Part of the fate of the rebels or losing side would be their becoming the source of booty from which the allies of the winner could be rewarded.

Eventually the losing side would be incorporated into the winning supratribal entity, and the enlarged force would then seek richer pastures. In order to retain the loyalty of the increasing number of equally ambitious subordinate khans and chiefdoms, the leader of the steppe empire would have to find increasingly challenging and rich adventures and sources of wealth to occupy his expanding army of warriors and tents. As the last of the Eurasian steppe tribes fell to his forces, Chinggis Khan found himself in this position in the early thirteenth century. For the Great Khan, therefore, there seemed only one natural and obvious choice he should make.

He should turn his attentions to that inexhaustible source of booty and plunder: the urban centers of Manchuria and China.

Relations with the settled peoples were not always antagonistic. The nomads were nonautarkic in the economic, political, and cultural spheres. Trading was mutually advantageous, and protection was a commodity that the tribes were always willing to barter. Metals for their tools and weapons, grain for bread, textiles for their tents and clothing and for their lords and ladies, precious metals and gems, and especially tjasij, or brocades and fine fabric. s, embroidered in gold and silks, were among the items that they sought to procure in exchange for meat, wool, horses, and hides.”

Though Chinggis Khan is credited toward the end of his days with the desire to return to the simple life away from fineries and pomp, among the elite and the steppe aristocracy an appetite for epicurean indulgence in more sophisticated food and drink was growing. Koumiss, the alcoholic

Mongol seal, Hohhut Museum. Courtesy of Xinjiang Qinshan Culture Publishing

Fermented mare's milk of the steppe, could not compete with the fine wines available in the towns and cities. Though these nomad lords continued to view the settled realms with arrogant disdain, they were appreciative of the luxuries and comforts this rival world had to offer.