Cultural Integrations in Four Mongol Successor States

Introduction

In 1206, with the proclamation of Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire was officially established. In the next decades, the Mongol Empire expanded fast and occupied a large part of the Eurasia, and many successor states were established. In 1260, with the civil war between Kublai and Ariq Böke fighting for the throne, the Mongol Empire formally split into five parts. The main part was the Yuan Dynasty in China ruled by Kublai, and the rest four big successor states, namely Jochid, Touid, Chaghatayid, and Ögedeid. The Yuan Dynasty, as the ruling party of these four successor states, occupied the most flourishing regions of China and set its capital in Peking.

The Jochid State was mainly in the Eastern and Middle Europe, with an eastern frontier of the Ertix River, a western frontier of the Danube, and a southern frontier of Caucasus Mountains. At that time, the Jochid State claimed the absolute ownership of the Principality of Russia, the previous form of Russia in that period of history. There were many different races and religions in this state, with the Russian people as its main race. Its ruling was comparatively stable due to the strategy of the flourishing army but the heavy tax aroused complaints among various races (Elverskog 2010).

The Chaghatayid State was in the region around Mt. Tianshan, a region including the current Sinkiang Province of China. Due to the two different ruling strategies, this state was then split into two and full of violence.

The Ögedeid State had the shortest life span among the four successor states. It was in the upstream of Etrix River and the east of Balkhash. The Ögedeid State refused to submit to the Yuan Dynasty and tried to ally with neighboring forces in Middle Asia to revolt. Its politics was unstable, and there was no absolute authority in the ruling class.

The Toluid State was in the Middle East, with an eastern frontier of the Amu Darya, a western frontier of the Mediterranean, a northern frontier of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and a southern frontier close to the Persia. It was the cultural and economic bridge connecting the Asia and the Europe (Bawden 1968). This state paid attention to the economic reforms and the cultural communication with Islamic countries. The main cultural here was the Islamic culture.

In the process of managing the state, all these four states met the cultural conflicts with local cultures. Though Mongols were the ruling race, they shared a small proportion of the population of the state. The direct cultural colonization or oppression might bring the social instability and riots. Thus, it was essential for these states to balance their Mongol culture with local cultures. This paper aimed at analyzing how Mongol culture was balanced and integrated with local cultures, taking the Jochid State and the Toluid State as examples. The analysis showed that although the ruling dynasties of the Mongol of the Mongol successor state retained some sense of their Mongol and Chinggisid identity, and certain Mongol institutions, by the early fourteenth century they had adapted to its local cultural context so that they were no longer distinctively Mongol states.

The Jochid State: Turkification

To begin with, the Jochid State performed the Turk reforms to adapt this state to the surrounding cultures and endowed the subordinate states enough autonomy to maintain the social stability. The Jochid State had the largest size of land among the four successor states. This state was combined by multiple races. The Mongol people, as the ruling race, only occupy a small percentage in the demographic composition. The Eastern and Southern Europe, especially the Kipchak Prairie, were occupied by the Kipchaks. The population of the Jochid State was combined by Kipchaks, Bulgarians, Khwarezmia people, and other Turk races. Among these races, Kipchaks and Turkmens were the main races. An effective management of these two races meant a stable political and cultural environment of this state.

The first cultural integration was the widespread use of a common language for effective communications. Though Mongol people was the ruling race of this state, their cultural influence was still limited due to their small proportion in the demographic composition (Gibb 1971). They were surrounded by a large number of Kipchaks and Turkmans. In order to harmonize the cultural environment, the Jochid State took Turki language and words as the common language and words used for communications in this state, instead of the Mongol languages and words. This meant that even though the Mongol people were the ruling class of this state, they still had to learn another language and words for communications.

The second cultural integration was the alliance with other races. In the Jochid State, though Mongol people were the ruling class, they try to keep an alliance relationship with other races, not simply a colonization or suppression. As long as other races show respect to the Jochid State, they will not be forced to lose their racial identities. The most typical example was the alliance with Russia. Mongol people allowed Russia to manage most of the country for the social stability. Mongol officers only manage a few Mongol officers to achieve the purpose of military conscription and taxation. The Jochid State didn’t force other races or states to become its subordinates. Due to its disadvantage of the population, it used a democratic strategy to claim its authority and at the same time, maintain the cultural identity of other races (Morgan “The Mongols’”). Russia kept its own judicial system and religious beliefs. In some degree, the Jochid State allied with Russia, the most powerful race in this state, to oppress other and manage other less powerful races. And the Jochid State took advantage of the internal conflict within the Russian Principality to confirm its authority over Russia.

The third cultural integration was the religious promotion of Islamic. To maintain the stability of its ruling, the Jochid State introduced Islamic as its main religious belief within the state. Mongols were encouraged to abandon their inherent Shamanism and turned to Islamic beliefs. Islamic was the main religion in Eastern Asia. The promotion of this religious belief showed Mongols’ determination to adapt to the local belief and won popularity in other races.

The Toluid State: Islamic Reforms

In addition, the Toluid State took Islamic reforms to cater for local cultures and made its policies more acceptable to people of other races, making policies based on the inherent local policies, instead of imposing the original Mongol policies. The Toluid State was in a Middle East region, which included Caucasia, Iraqi, and Iran. The main race in this state is the Islamic race. To maintain the social stability, this state needed to solve the cultural conflict effectively.

The first cultural integration was the Islamic reform. To stabilize the political environment and alleviate social conflicts, after Ghazan Khan succeeded to the throne in 1295, he abandoned the traditional strategies and performed a series of Islamic reforms. The purpose of these reforms was to win the support from Islamic aristocrats and consolidate the Mongol ruling in this region (Guzman 2010). To effectively perform this reform, Ghazan Khan led his troops to give up their original religious beliefs and turn to Islamic belief. Islamic then became the national religious belief. This reform was a religious compromise to show Mongol’s determination to adapt to the local cultural context.

The second cultural integration was the promotion of agricultural development. For years, Mongol people had adapted to the nomadic life, and their lives largely depended on the fertile grassland and rivers. However, in order to solve the hunger problem and boost domestic developments. Ghazan Khan adopted the local agricultural practice. What was more, he encouraged farmers to dug up the wasteland and claim the ownership of the wasteland. Also, based on the different geographic situation, this state imposed taxes accordingly. The more difficult the wasteland was to develop, the fewer tax would be imposed. To solve the irrigation problem, Ghazan Khan led the public open channels for irrigation. And a part of the tax imposed was used to purchase castles, seeds, and tools for poor people to farm. In this way, Mongol people abandoned their inherent lifestyles and concentrated on developing the agriculture based on the local situations.

The third cultural integration was the confirmation of a common standard of metrology and legal system. The standards of metrology and the legal system took Islamic, Arabic, and Persian systems as a reference. Instead of setting up a new metrology and using the inherent Mongol legal system, the Toluid State took the local metrology and legal system as the basis, then added some Mongol characteristics based on the practical situations (Khodarkovsky 2002). In this way, the new metrology and legal system were easier for local people to adapt and avoided unnecessary conflicts. The law clearly regulated the power and responsibility of each officer. And the law strictly forbade Mongol people bullying people of other races. With this reform, the economy and legal system in the Toluid State developed rapidly and stably.

The last cultural integration was the appointment of Islamite as its officers. The Islamite Sid was appointed as the premier to take charge of the domestic reforms. The purpose was to get people of other races involved in the management of the state so that the ruling could be more stable combined with local cultures and characteristics. Meanwhile, the Toluid State paid attention to establishing diplomatic relationships with neighboring countries, like the England, France, and Rome (Zhao 2010). Mongol people abandoned their principle of using forces and violence to solve all disputes. Instead, they respected the local cultures and tried to learn the best part of these local cultures.

The comparison of the Jochid State and the Toluid State

Last but not least, both the Jochid State and the Toluid State showed a very similar characteristic in balancing their Mongol culture with local cultures. Instead of imposing the influence of Mongol cultures, these states paid attention to the localization of their cultures and adapted to local cultures. The Jochid State took its Turkification policy and took Turk language and characters as the main communication language in the state. Also, it introduced and promoted the Islamic religion among Mongols and abandoned their original Shamanism. The Toluid State performed the Islamic reforms to win supports of other races and adapted itself to the local cultural context. Neither of these two races tried to promote their Mongol culture to other races. Due to the limited population, though Mongols were the ruling class in the state, their cultural influences were still limited. If Mongols took a cultural colonization to force other races to accept the Mongol culture, the effect was not promising, and the cultural conflicts would intensify. If Mongols oppressed the cultural development of other races and separated itself from the influence of local cultures, people of other races would take it as a sign of hostility (Peng 2009). This cultural hostility was not beneficial for the long-term ruling of the state. Thus, both of these two states tried to adapt itself to the local cultural context and learned from other cultures, which was a sign of harmonious co-existence.

Furthermore, both these two states made policies based on the inherent local policy and the local situation. Though Mongols were the ruler of the state, they didn’t claim their absolute authority and oppressed other races or subordinate states. Instead, both of these two states took a cooperative method for managing other races or subordinate states. The Jochid State cooperated with Russia to maintain the political stability and endowed Russia enough right of autonomy. And the Toluid State got Islamite involved in the reforms and policy-making, concentrating on developing the local agriculture and economy. As long as the Mongol successor state got recognition and enough tax, the state would not waste too much energy on imposing strict managements.

Conclusion

When faced with the cultural conflict between the Mongol culture and local cultures from other races, the four Mongol successor states adapted to its local cultural context so that they were no longer distinctively Mongol states. The Turkification of the Jochid State and the Islamic reforms of the Toluid State were the best examples of Mongol successor states adapting to the local cultural context. Their reforms won supports of other races and made their policies more practical and easier for local people to accept. Mongol states paid attention to learning the essence of other cultures and combine its own cultural characteristics to make policies. Instead of colonization or suppression, Mongol states took a cooperative attitude in managing other subordinate states and provided them with a certain autonomy. The result of these cultural integrations was a stable social context and a flourishing development.