More Forgotten Peoples

This Time, Mongols

Photo by Usukhbayar Gankhuyag on Unsplash

I just read two thick tombs about the nomads of the Eurasian steppes, particularly about the Mongols. Obviously, one blog post is not going to cover all you need to know about a group of people who had an empire for centuries and sacked famous cities. That would be like covering all of Ancient Roman history in two minutes or, heck, covering American history in a post.

But once again, I was struck by how familiar the war and sacking part was- Kublai Khan taking over Song China, Genghis Khan conquering swathes of Asia Minor, Batu sacking Baghdad- compared to the personal, day to day workings of life on the Eurasian steppes. Did they have an alphabet? How did they get around? What did they eat and wear?

I’m not going to cover all of that in a blog post either, unless you want to read nothing else for the next 80 years.

But, for you fiction writers who might feel inspired to launder the Mongol Empire and their activities into your book:

1. The horse was a big deal to many of the nomads of the steppes, to the extent that Scythians and Mongols practiced sacrificing horses and their riders at the death of someone important. Cattle and sheep would be sacrificed to appease entities as well at other times.
2. Milk and fermented milk were ritually poured out to appeal to nature spirits.
3. The Mongols were big on shamans. In fact, Genghis Kahn had a favorite shaman named Kokchu that he relied on until the guy was caught intriguing against him to get elected in the kurultai. Genghis Kahn had him trampled by horses, a type of execution used for important people, but he still relied on shamans. He had a succession of preferred shamans take the schemer’s place.
4. The kurultai was kind of like the Senate. It was a gathering of everyone important, traditionally in the shadow of their sacred mountain, to vote on things such as who would be the Great Kahn or if they should sack China or Baghdad this year. It was an important body that became more ceremonial in time, but it clearly had real political weight. The regent Toregene got the meeting delayed for months so she could get her favorite Guyuk elected as Great Kahn, and then Batu and his ally Sochilgel (who had been screwed over by Guyuk’s dad when she was widowed) schemed to cast him off and then delayed the kurultai again until they could get their favorite, Montke, on the throne. (I feel like there’s a story in there.)
5. Kahns had multiple wives, but there would be chief wives who were, for all intents and purposes, queen. They might sit at the Kurultai, like Toregene and Sochilgel, and they would have secretaries, traders, and treasurers separate from their husbands. Concubines and secondary wives might live with her under her control. Kublai Kahn’s chief wife for most of his life was a woman named Chabi, and Genghis Kahn famously had his wife, Borte.
6. While the Mongols were originally animists, worshiping the great sky god Tengri, they were tolerant and, indeed, curious about, other religions. The Jochid branch of the Mongol Horde converted to Islam, Montke invited Catholic monks to the court and held a religious debate between a Buddhist, a Christian and a Muslim. The debate didn’t convince anyone, but it did end with everyone getting plastered; all’s well that ends well.
7. They were very much about hierarchy. The only people who could be elected in the kurultai were of old, respected tribes who called themself ‘of the white bone.’ Newer, less prestigious tribes were ‘of the black bone.’ At feasts, people were seated strictly according to class precedence, with women on the left side and men on the right.
8. Mongols set up separate mobile markets where people could buy and sell away from the herds and army. These would follow along the migratory paths.
9. Their postal service along the Silk Road was a thing of wonder, made of rest houses with fresh horses posted along roads.
10. Women only rode horses for short distances and for fun. Mostly, when it was time to move the group to a new grazing ground, they drove massive carts called gers. These they could lash together into trains and drive for miles.
11. These carts could also be tent-carts: yurts that were permanently embedded in the cart so it could be transferred flatbed cart to ground with one easy motion.
12. Other yurts were easily dismantled and reassembled so that they fit in a cart, even big ones. Think of our more deluxe camping tents fitting in the back of your Suburban.
13. The Mongols moved camp often so their horses and cattle could graze on fresh grass.
14. The entire camp- a tent city with a complex layout where every tent entrance faced south, and the hierarchy of the clan was built-in to tent placement — would have to pull stakes and set up in the exact same layout once a meadow was nibbled clean by the herds.

This was all very handy in ‘Family and War,’ when I included a nomadic group called the Luronians to dramatically create a diversion when Brynhild rescues Eric. I don’t know if I did them justice, but it helps to know about everyone in an area when writing.

Hope this clarifies a few ideas for anyone working on their world building.

Sources:

“Empires of the Steppes: A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization.” Kenneth W. Harl

“The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World” Marie Favereau