More Mongols.....

My blabbering continues herewith...

Do you know that in Genghis Khan' time, the laws of the Mongols allowed men to take as many wives they wanted. However, it was the rich who would ultimately take multiple wives. I suppose this was for practicality and survival of the tribe. I had read somewhere in the case of the Red Indians of North America they would simply leave the widows in the snow to die as a woman without a man to look after her, would impose a heavy burden on the rest of the tribe. It is after all looking at the same issue from a different angle. It is said that the polygamous practice ensured all women to be eventually married and hence the celibacy of their men.....

Marriage with their father's widow's were also allowed except their own mother. So would marriage with sisters except their sisters from the same mother.

Genghis was betrothed at the age of nine. According to tradition, prospective husband would stay with his prospective bride's family. The prospective couple would then be able to acclimatise with one another. However, you know that Genghis' died on the way home from the betrothal. So he was forced to return to his family after which many things befell him. History is told that he was able to return to his betrothed 7 years later.

Nothing much is said of his wedding but not long after that his wife was kidnapped by another tribe said to be in revenge for what his father had done. You see wife kidnapping had been a way of many Asian Minor tribes, some persist even until today. Gangis' mum had also been kidnapped from her tribe by his dad.

The mongols were regarded as disciplined. This may have been due to the death penalty for espionage, betrayal, stealing, adultery and 3 times bankrupt merchants.

Genghis is renown for his codes and laws. They were usually tolerant and indifferent towards religion. Priests and religious institutions were free from taxation. Traditionally the Mongols practised Sharmanism and the belief of life after death was evident in their funerary practices. It is also told how Genghis had ordered his commander, Jebe to lead twenty thousand Mongol soldiers across the length of Asia and defend the Muslims of Balasagun.

As the Mongols had conducted the campaign at the request of the Uighur Muslims, they did not allow plunder, destroy property, or endanger the lives of civilians. Instead, Jebe's army had defeated the army of Guchlug and beheaded him. Following the execution, the Mongols sent a herald to Kashgar to proclaim the end of religious persecution and the restoration of religious freedom in each community. According to the Persian historian Juvaini, the people of Kashgar proclaimed the Mongols "to be one of the mercies of the Lord and one of the bounties of divine grace."

Although Persian and other Muslim chroniclers recorded the episode in tremendous detail, the Secret History of the Mongols summed up the entire campaign in one simple sentence. "Jebe pursued Guchlug Khan of the Naiman, overtook him at the Yellow Cliff, destroyed him, and came home." From the Mongol perspective, that is probably all that mattered. Jebe had killed the enemy and returned home safely.