People were divided into clans and tribes, though it should be noted that these were rather loosely organized institutions and not restricted to blood relationships at all. The fact that they were theoretically based on blood connections has led to many spurious genealogical claims and other misunderstandings. Most tribal groupings claim common heritage and ancestry, but this is generally agreed to be a political device to engender common cause and unity with little basis in reality. The loose tribal structure enabled Chinggis Khan to radically reorganize the tribal structure of nomadic Eurasian society and so enforce his own discipline and chain of command over his extraordinarily disparate, unruly tribal people. With his regrouping in tribally mixed units, loyalty was encouraged to the military commanders and certainly to the Golden family, fhough ultimately loyalty was engendered to Chinggis himself.
As units before and certainly after this radical reconfiguration of the clans, these Turco-Mongol tribes were not linguistically, racially, or
Mongol pniza from Hohhut Museum. Courtesy of Xinjiang Qinshan Culture Publishing
Religiously imited polities. So great was Chinggis Khan's prestige and so great were his conquests and the resulting wealth and prosperity that his successes generated that his name and authority were enough to embolden and inspire the reconstituted Turco-Mongol tribes. Within these tribes the clans formed a subdivision, hut even at this level blood ties did not necessarily take precedence, and the institution of luuiaf (sworn brotherhood) was commonplace. An exchange of blood accompanied the swearing of allegiance, loyalty, and trust when two friends declared themselves mtdn. One notable example of this kind of close tie was the case of the young Chinggis Khan, Temiijin, and his bovhood friend Jamuqa, detailed in the Secret History of the Mongols. Anrfa-ship was recognized as an equal, though voluntary, relationship to a blood tie and could be utilized as such as when Temiijin called on his late father's imdn, Toghril, the powerful leader of the Kereit tribe, to honor this relationship and come to his amln's son's aid. Another voluntary relationship that Involved renouncing other blood ties was the position of the uoker, which can be loosely translated as "comrade" or "associate," though with a suggestion of "follower" attached to the term. The subordinate status of the ndker became more pronounced later until eventually the term was used to denote a servant or lackey. Many of Chinggis Khan's greatest generals began their careers as his ndkers. The openness of the clan was further ensured by the strict practice of exogamy, or marriage outside the clan or tribe. One of the results of the constant warfare that characterized pre-Chinggisid steppe society was the incorporation of various tribes by their conquerors and the parceling out of the men and women as slaves or concubines. These people and their offspring could eventually be assimilated into the tribe, adding to its ethnic, religious, and linguistic mix.
World History
