Around 1185, Temujin had earned the title of khan among his tribe. It took another 20 years for him to unite all the tribes of Mongolia and become the Great Khan, Chinggis. Once he attained that position, he created a new form of government to rule over such a large and ethnically diverse society. Most historians say Chinggis’s rise as a great conqueror rested as much on his political skill as his military brilliance.
Under Chinggis, military commanders loyal to him replaced many of the old clan and tribal leaders. When Chinggis was named Great Khan, he divided his army into 95 groups with 1,000 soldiers each, and he re-
Quired all healthy men to serve in the military. Among those tribes and clans that were hostile to him, he deliberately did not group the soldiers along tribal lines, as had always been the custom. The soldiers’ families were also expected to follow the orders of his military commanders. A commander’s son could inherit his father’s position. A commander could also lose his job if the khan wanted a different commander in charge.
God's Chosen One
The Mongol khans did not set up a theocracy (a government run by religious leaders), but religion often played a part in their political decisions. Chinggis based his authority, in part, on the idea that Eternal Heaven had chosen him to rule. After defeating the Kereits he said he was "protected by Everlasting Heaven"
(as quoted in The Secret History of the Mongols). At the quriltai in 1206 that confirmed Chinggis as Great Khan, a shaman said that Eternal Heaven—Mongke Teng-geri in Mongolian—had chosen Chinggis to lead.
Chinggis also developed the keshikten (Mongolian for “those with favor”), who served as the imperial guard. The keshikten consisted of day guards, night guards, and archers. These special soldiers, as Chinggis said (quoted in The Secret History of the Mongols), “watch over my ‘golden life.’” Along with protecting the Great Khan, the keshikten carried out his orders and made sure the troops were ready for battle. As the empire grew, the keshikten provided the staff for the royal government and often represented the Great Khan in distant lands.
The idea of group ownership of land did not end with the coming of the khans. Chinggis ruled the empire for his family, not just himself. The only difference from the old days was that his family’s lands stretched across an empire, not just a few pastures in Mongolia. The land and the power to rule it comprised the ulus. The Persian historian Juvaini (as quoted by Peter Jackson in The Mongol Empire and Its Legacy) described this arrangement: “Although authority and dominion [seem to] belong to one man, namely whoever is nominated khan, yet in reality all the children, descendants, and uncles partake of kingship and property.” That arrangement changed somewhat as separate uluses developed among Ching-gis’s sons, but within each khanate the royal family followed the traditional Mongol ideas of ownership.
World History
