Assyrian vs. Mongol Empires: reading from the book "Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world"

[ASHOOR]

I am currently reading a fascinating book about Genghis Khan and the Mongolian empire called ‘Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world’ by Jack Weatherford.

I am more than half way done and hope to finish the book in 2 weeks or so. In fact, the book has been so good to read, I sometimes could go for over 1-2 hours reading it and don’t want to put it down (Kindle version)

I have been making notes throughout, and I hope to share some of it here and try to make comparisons with the Assyrian empire and their rule.

But for now, I just have to note that despite their amazing strength and speed with which they took over half of Asia and some parts of Europe, their dominance only lasted around a century or so (1206-1294) which when compared to the dominance of the Assyrian empire is like a blip on the radar. Assyrian history as a dominant empire is so long that it is divided its into three distinct periods, starting from the Bronze Age and all the way to the Neo-Assyrian period until the fall of the empire in 612 B.C.


It is also important to note, while I will try to make some general comparisons and contrast between the two empires, it is a futile attempt to answer the question of "who is stronger" or "who would win in a battle" : this is similar to another popular debate we often hear in soccer (Pele vs. Messi) or in basketball (Jordan vs. Bryant) where you are comparing players and systems from two very different eras. But it is even harder to compare these two empires, since they are separate by clsoe to 2 millenniums (Assyrian empire fell in 612 B.C while the Mongol empire rose to prominence in 1220 A.D) . But it is understandable that such comparisons can be fun, especially for history and ancient military enthusiasts.

 

[ASHOOR]

I have now finished the full book. Amazing book, fully recommended!

I will share some of the notes I took from the book, how Genghis Khan grew up, and all the turning points in his life that led to him becoming one of the greatest leaders in history, and by extension the Mongol empire that he founded from almost nothing.

Note:
Temujin = Genghis Khan's birth name (1158 –1227)
Hoelun = Genghis Khan's mother
Begter = half-brother of Genghis Khan
Khasar = Genghis Khan's younger brother
Jamuka = GK's childhood friend, who later turns into an enemy
Ong Khan. = a khan of the Keteyid tribe as well as a spiritual adviser to GK in his early years
Genghis Khan = will refer to him as GK in most cases

The implication of the story seemed clear; Hoelun would accept Begter as her husband when he became old enough, thereby making him the head of the family in every sense. Temujin, however, decided not to tolerate such a situation with Begter. After the emotional confrontation with his mother over Begter, Temujin threw aside the felt covering over the doorway, a highly offensive gesture in Mongol culture, and angrily rushed off, followed by his younger brother Khasar.

After his dad was killed by another tribe, Genghis Khan' half brother (Begter) would essentially have t marry his step mom to replace the dead father, as Mongol traditions dictated. This enraged GK and stormed out, marking in my opinion - in addition to the death of his dad-one of the earliest turning points in his life. One that would likely lead to his shaping.

By putting Khasar, who was the better shot, in front while he himself took the rear, he also showed his tactical acumen. Like the horse that must be first in every race, Temujin had determined he would lead, not follow. In order to achieve this primacy of place, he proved himself willing to violate custom, defy his mother, and kill whoever blocked his path, even if it was his own family member.

Here, we can see GK developing acumen for early life leadership and military strategy.

The story of Temujin’s escape from this impossible situation is further testament to his character, which would shape his rise to power.

This is in reference to a story where GK was abducted and held hostage by a rival tribe, but through sheer luck, bravery and acumen, he managed to survive and escape. Easily one of the biggest turning points in his life, one that would teach him so much about defeating his enemies.

Though he had sought to create a quiet life apart from the constant turmoil of steppe warfare, the Merkid raid had taught him that such a life was simply not to be had. If he did not want to live the life of an impoverished outcast, always at the mercy of whatever raiders chose to swoop down on his encampment, he would now have to fight for his place in the hierarchy of steppe warriors; he would have to join in the harsh game of constant warfare he had thus far avoided.

This realization was a huge turning point in his young life. The Merkid, in addition to the Tayichiuds, were two rival tribes that constantly attacked GK's family and tribe. Having had enough of these raids , he decided to start playing offence and no sit ideal and be restricted to defending only. I don't think we would have a remarkable Mongol Empire if not for this simple realization by GK.

Temujin chose to fight. He would find his wife, or he would die trying. After those three difficult days of pondering, praying, and planning on the mountain, Temujin followed....... Although the other two women were not rescued, Temujin had won his wife back again, and nothing else mattered now.

This is in reference to an episode where his wife was abducted and taken as a slave wife by another rival tribe. He basically went on the offence against a more powerful and experienced tribe, one that had been engaged in fly-by raids for years if not decades.

As already evidenced in his family relations, Temujin was not one to accept being treated as an inferior for long, and soon enough this situation proved unacceptable to him. .

A turning point that shows that Temujin doesn't want to be treated or seen as an inferior and wants to be the superior one in any relationship, including with his own friends and family.

After his split with Jamuka, at the age of nineteen, Temujin seems to have determined to become a warrior leader of his own, to attract his own followers and build a base of power, eventually aiming to become a khan, the leader and unifier of the unruly Mongol tribe

This was decided by GK at the mere age of 19! He knew he wanted to a leader from such an early age and this wasn't something that he developers much later in life.

Having received the support he deemed sufficient to function as the khan of a minor group, Temujin began a radical process of erecting a novel power structure within his tribe, calling on the lessons of his youth for guidance.

This is where he started to formalise his power and

The episode proved a decisive turning point for Temujin, who had lost the battle but gained public support and sympathy among the Mongols, who were increasingly fearful of the cruelty of Jamuka. Temujin’s warriors had been routed, but they would slowly collect together again behind their young khan

This is a reference to a battle that took place between GK and his childhood friend-now turned enemy- Jamuka.

Not only had the Jurkin failed to join Temujin’s force in the fight against the Tatars, they now took advantage of Temujin’s absence by raiding his base camp, killing ten of his followers and stripping the remainder of their clothes and other possessions.

The Jurkin was another Mongol tribe/clan, who betrayed GK by attacking his base and causing lots of causalities amongst his family and followers.

 

[ASHOOR]

At this point, Temujin instituted the second radical change in ruling style—the first being the appointment of loyal allies as opposed to family members to key positions in his entourage—that would mark his rise to power.

Having seen enough betrayal from his own family and friends, he did away from the system of appointing people to positions of power simply based on their family ties, relying instead on loyalty.

Temujin had rid himself of all the leaders of the Jurkin. The messages were clear to all their related clans on the steppe. To those who followed Temujin faithfully, there would be rewards and good treatment. To those who chose to attack him, he would show no mercy.

This is the neighbouring small tribe that was mentioned earlier as having betrayed and attacked GK's base and it was now time to take revenge and revenge he did, as he raided their camp and completely destroyed them.

It was during this revolt that Temujin’s father, Yesugei, became the ally of Ong Khan. By choosing this title, Jamuka was publicly challenging the power of Ong Khan as well as his subordinate, Temujin...If Jamuka could win this war, he would be the supreme ruler of the central steppe. He had on his side the important and aristocratic clans such as the Tayichiud, to which Temujin’s family had once been subservient and who had enslaved Temujin when he was a boy

Here is Jamuka again, GK's former childhood friend, now vying to become the main ruler of the Mongol tribes and the steppe ( a geographical reference to the mostly flat and open hills the Mongol tribes lived on. He continues to be the thorn in GK's side!

 

[ASHOOR]

According to the account in the Secret History, late in the day, an arrow pierced Temujin Khan’s neck

This happened during a fight with yet another rival tribe: the Taychiud. Imaging an arrow hitting your neck and surviving! That is how lucky GK's life was. It is as he meant to live to go on and became the leader he would become. in fact while gk had lost consciousness overnight, one of his loyal followers (Jelme) stayed by his side and literally sucked the blood from the wound (It is a Mongol taboo to see blood or let it flow and touch the ground)

The Tayichiud did not know of Temujin’s wound, and during the night many of them began to sneak off the battlefield

Again, how lucky is GK? Had they known he was wounded, it would have been a huge moral boost to them, and would have continued the battle until they crushed GK's warriors, and the rest would be history!

As the morning light came, Temujin’s sight cleared, and he saw the blood around him and his half-dressed companion; he was confused and asked what had happened. Upon hearing the account of the night, his discomfort at the sight of his own blood on the ground so close to him made him ask, “Couldn’t you have spit it somewhere else?” Despite the apparent lack of gratitude, Temujin never forgot how Jelme saved him from the Tayichiud, and he later entrusted Jelme with some of the most important expeditions of the Mongol conquests.

Jerk much? or just recovering and confused about what had happened? It doens't really matter, as he had miraculously survived (If you are keeping count of his spirits, that is like the 5th one?)

By the next morning, most of the warriors had fled, and Temujin sent his warriors in pursuit. As he had done with the defeated Jurkin, Temujin killed off most of their leaders but accepted the rest as his own followers

Another turning point where his force and influence grew exponentially literally overnight. Imagine, less than 24 hours ago, he was virtually dead from the arrow and his entire camp could have been defeated as a result of that huge loss of their leader.

In another innovation, he ordered that a soldier’s share be allocated to each widow and to each orphan of every soldier killed in the raid. Whether he did this because of the memory of his own mother’s predicament when the Tatars killed his father, or for more political purposes, it had a profound effect. This policy not only ensured him of the support of the poorest people in the tribe, but it also inspired loyalty among his soldiers, who knew that even if they died, he would take care of their surviving families.

Did Saddam borrow this from Genghis Khan or what?

In traditional steppe systems of thought, everyone outside the kinship network was an enemy and would always be an enemy unless somehow brought into the family through ties of adoption or marriage. Temujin sought an end to the constant fighting between such groups, and he wanted to deal with the Tatars the same way that he had dealt with the Jurkin and the Tayichiud clans—kill the leaders and absorb the survivors and all their goods and animals into his tribe.

Another brilliant move at expanding his base and followers!

the Mongols took in so many Tatars, many of whom rose to high office and great prominence in the Mongol Empire, that the name Tatar became synonymous with, and in many cases better known, than the name Mongol, leading to much historic confusion through the centuries.

It seems Assyrians are not the only one with a confusing history, and all he naming issues etc. this one seems worse...

He allowed fathers and sons and brothers and cousins to stay together when practical, but by forcing them into new units that no man could desert or change, under penalty of death, he broke the power of the old-system lineages, clans, tribes, and ethnic identities

Another one of his brilliant invention that would ensure loyalty.

The entire Mongol tribe became integrated by means of the army. Under this new system, all members of the tribe—regardless of age or gender—had to perform a certain amount of public service. If they could not serve in the military, they were obliged to give the equivalent of one day of work per week for public projects and service to the khan. This included caring for the warriors’ herds, gathering dung for fuel, cooking, making felt, repairing weapons, or even singing and entertaining the troops. In the new organization, all people belonged to the same bone. Temujin the boy, who had faced repeated rejections ascribed to his lower-status birth, had now abolished the distinction between black bone and white bone. All of his followers were now one united people.

Talk about creating absolute unity and purpose!

Even as Temujin consolidated his rule over his greatly enlarged following, he would confront yet another great challenge that would put his new system to a decisive test. His next move would drive his lifelong rival Jamuka into an alliance with his ritual father Ong Khan to combat Temujin’s growing might and popularity.

This is the fact of life in the Mongolian tribes: anyone could turn against you, you just never know! In this case, this was an alliance between his former best friend together with his spiritual adviser (and one of his late father's best friends)

Ong Khan, while generally siding with Temujin, had continued to play the two subordinate khans off against one another.

As brilliant as GK as in reading people and knowing who to trust from an early age, he missed this one! He always trusted Ong Khan as his spiritual adviser and a second father, it turned out he was playing him in secret and pitting him against his childhood friend Jamuka!

 

[ASHOOR]

Exhausted and without provisions after days of constant flight, Temujin reached the distant shores of muddy Lake Baljuna. He looked around him to see how many men had survived the flight. He counted only nineteen of his men, and they now faced the possibility of starvation in this remote exile.

As they paused to recuperate by the waters of Baljuna and decide what to do, a wild horse unexpectedly appeared from the north, and Temujin’s brother Khasar set out in pursuit of it. He brought the horse down, and the men quickly skinned it. Without flaming wood over which to roast meat or pots in which to boil it, they relied on their ancient cooking technique. After skinning the horse, they cut up the meat and made a large bag from the horsehide into which they put the meat and some water. They gathered dried dung to make a fire, but they could not put the hide kettle directly on the fire. Instead, they heated rocks in the fire until glowing hot, then they dropped the hot rocks into the mixture of meat and water. The rocks heated the water, but the water prevented the rocks from burning through the bag. After a few hours, the starving men feasted on boiled horseflesh.

Aside from Khasar, the men gathered with him were his friends, not his relatives. Some of his family members were temporarily temporarily lost on the steppe, but other relatives had deserted Temujin to join Ong Khan or Jamuka. In particular his uncle, one of his father’s two brothers who had helped him to kidnap Temujin’s mother from her Merkid husband, had joined Ong Khan against his own nephew. With little to comfort them or offer encouragement for the future, the exhausted men seized upon the appearance of the horse as a supernatural gift that offered them more than just food for their empty bellies. As the most important and honored animal in the Mongol world, the horse solemnized the occasion and served as a sign of divine intervention and support. The horse symbolized the power of Temujin’s destiny, and its sacrifice, as before any major battle or khuriltai, not only fed the men, but further empowered Temujin’s Spirit Banner. With only the muddy water of Baljuna to drink at the end of the horseflesh meal, Temujin Khan raised one hand to the sky, and with the other he held up the muddy water of Baljuna in a toast. He thanked his men for their loyalty and swore never to forget it.

The men shared in drinking the muddy waters and swore eternal allegiance to him. In the retelling of the episode in oral history, it became known in history as the Baljuna Covenant, and acquired a mythic aura as the lowest point in the military fortunes of Temujin Khan but also as the event out of which the identity and form of the Mongol Empire would arise. The event acquired a symbolic representation of the diversity of the Mongol people based on mutual commitment and loyalty that transcended kinship, ethnicity, and religion. The nineteen men with Temujin Khan came from nine different tribes; probably only Temujin and his brother Khasar were actually from the Mongol clans. The others included Merkid, Khitan, and Kereyid. Whereas Temujin was a devout shamanist who worshiped the Eternal Blue Sky and the God Mountain of Burkhan Khaldun, the nineteen included several Christians, three Muslims, and several Buddhists. They were united only in their devotion to Temujin and their oath to him and each other. The oaths sworn at Baljuna created a type of brotherhood, and in transcending kinship, ethnicity, and religion.

If there is one part of the book that symbolises GK's life, his early challenges and his constant willingness to survive and come out stronger, it is this episode above. Almost mythical, assuming it did indeed happen. It seems like just when we thought GK had gotten rid of all of his enemies and unified all the Mongol tribes, clans and families, something or someone else was to come in his way! It never ends in the Mongol steppe. You either kill or get killed, not much different from wild animals in a jungle, and i am not saying this in a mocking way but a matter of fact based on all we have read so far.

 

[ASHOOR]

Propaganda and control of public opinion were quickly emerging as Temujin’s primary weapons of choice.

While this is nothing new, with all major ancient empires having done it, it is interesting that he also employed the 'Control of Public Opinion'!

There was no group left where Jamuka might find refuge, and his end would come with a slow whimper, not with a climactic final struggle. In 1205, the Year of the Ox, a year after the victory over the Naiman, Jamuka’s followers, desperate and resigned to defeat, seized him and delivered him to Temujin. Despite the animosity between the two men, Temujin valued loyalty above all else. Rather than reward the men who brought Jamuka to him, Temujin had all of them executed in front of the leader whom they had betrayed.

Jamuka is no longer a threat, after decades of rivalry.

Jamuka had been Temujin’s first rival, and now he ended his life as the last of the Mongol aristocrats opposing him. In Temujin’s long quest for control of the Mongol clans, Temujin had defeated every tribe on the steppe and removed the threat of every aristocratic lineage by killing off their men and marrying their women to his sons and other

Summarizing how Temujin came to rule Mongolia! But is he done from his enemies, or in typical Mongol fashion, some will pop out from nowhere, to challenge him and his leadership once again. We will find out!

Temujin now ranked as undisputed ruler of a vast land, controlling everything from the Gobi in the south to the Arctic tundra in the north, from the Manchurian forests in the east to the Altai Mountains of the west. His empire was grass and contained far more animals than humans.

His rule and full authority is finally legit and with no disputed rivals! No more Jamuka, Ong Khan, Jurkins,Tayichiuds , Merkids, Tatars. He had defeated them all. He was now the undisputed survivor of Mongolia's survival of the fittest! And given the harsh reality of living and fending for yourself back then in Mongolia's harsh steppe, you must be really really really good at not only survival, but being a great warrior, leading a legendary army!

 

[ASHOOR]

With all the nomadic tribes united and Genghis Khan securely ensconced as their ruler, it seemed uncertain what should happen next. He had spent so many years locked into the drama with Jamuka and Ong Khan that without them, his large tribe seemed to lack an objective or purpose. Without enemies, they lacked a reason to hold together. Genghis Khan seemed to be searching for new ones, but he found no tribe worthy of the distinction. With no other potential targets, in 1207 he sent his eldest son, twenty-eight-year-old Jochi, and his tumen on a campaign into the area the Mongols called Sibir,

This is the point where the Mongols started their military adventures and invasions. Of course, they started small....

 

[ASHOOR]

Genghis Khan commanded a great army but presided over a largely impoverished people,

As we know, this is a recipe for either disaster or grand goals, where you have the power to invade others and take over their resources and wealth...

Genghis Khan placed no trust in the Jurched. The Mongols had much closer ethnic and linguistic affinity with the Khitan, whom the Jurched had defeated and now dominated. Sensing the power of the new Mongol ruler, many Khitan had fled from Jurched territory to find sanctuary under Genghis Khan. In 1208, four high court officials deserted to the Mongols and urged them to attack the Jurched, but, fearful of a trap or some other nefarious scheme, Genghis Khan refused.

‘I was not the author of this trouble; grant me strength to exact vengeance.’ Thereupon he descended from the hill, meditating action and making ready for war.”

Two example showing GK wasn't all that crazy and bloodthirsty . He actually used reason and logic, at least sometimes.

On and off the battlefield, the Mongol warrior was forbidden to speak of death, injury, or defeat. Just to think of it might make it happen.

Talk about believing in manifesting and affirmations, concepts highly popularised of late with books like "The Secret" and Abraham Hicks, and other "New Age" movement theories!

 

[ASHOOR]

He tried to teach them that the first key to leadership was self-control, particularly the master of pride, which was something more difficult, he explained, to subdue than a wild lion, and anger, which was more difficult than to defeat than the greatest wrestler"

"If you can't swallow your pride, you can't lead"
"Without the vision of a goal, a man can't manage his own, much less the lives of others"

We see true leadership wisdom and logic here. The importance of having goals and vision was important even back then.

In one of his most important lessons, he told his sons that conquering an army is not the same as conquering a nation. You may conquer an army with superior tactics and men, but you can conquer a nation only by conquering the hearts of the people

Another great example to show that there was a lot more to GK than what we hear in history books and the bloodshed his empire and army invasions caused for over a century. He was a real politician and tactician and not just a brilliant military leader. You have to give credit where credit is due.

Genghis Khan kept his immediate focus on the Khwarizm campaign; but once finished with it, he turned back toward the Tangut. As he again moved his army south, he almost certainly had plans for yet one more major campaign in which the Tangut war would only be an opening move. He probably intended to secure a base in the Tangut kingdom and then move on south toward the final goal of the Sung dynasty, a prize that had eluded the army he had left fighting in northern China when he invaded Khwarizm.

During the winter of 1226–1227, while en route across the Gobi to make war on the Tangut, Genghis Khan paused to hunt wild horses. He rode a reddish gray horse that shied when the wild horses charged him, and the skittish horse threw the Great Khan to the ground. Despite internal injuries, a raging fever, and the concerned advice of his wife Yesui, Genghis Khan refused to return home and instead pressed on with the Tangut campaign. Although his health never recovered after the fall, he continued the campaign against the Tangut king, whose name, by an odd coincidence, was Burkhan, which meant “god,” as in the sacred mountain Burkhan Khaldun.

The name was so sacred to Genghis Khan that once he defeated the Tangut, he ordered that the king’s name be changed before he was executed. Six months later and only a few days before the final victory over the Tangut, Genghis Khan died.

Genghis Khan had finally run out of spirits. All these close calls with death never materialised, and it took a fall from a horse for his death! Although, there are many different theories as to how he really died, including an an enemy arrow, poisoning, natural death etc.

 

[ASHOOR]

Post Genghis Khan Mongolia

If the Mongol Empire were to survive, Ogodei (the new Mongol Khan, taking over from his dad) had to take them to war against a new target, one that had not yet been looted. But which and where?

Just like today, war is sometimes fought to revive an economy! The Mongols did it back then, and we hear it now too, as a way to revive the U.S economy when it is in a recession or depression.

When the Mongols veered south from Hungary toward the Balkans and thereby failed to ride on Cologne, the clerics deducted that if the Mongols were not searching for the bones of the Three Kings, perhaps the invaders were exiled Jews who had failed to return home from the Babylonian captivity.

The Mongols had now made it all the way to Europe, some 4,000 KMs away from Mongolia! The passage above is amazing in its historical context: somehow, the Jews were linked to this whole thing without their fault! Easy target, just like they have have been before and since!

Despite the extensive spiritual beliefs that the Mongols and Europeans shared in common, the opening relationship had been so negative and misguided that in future years, the entire base of shared religion would eventually erode. The Mongols continued for another generation to foster closer relations with Christian Europe, but in the end, they would have to abandon all such hope, and with it they would, in time, abandon Christianity entirely in favor of Buddhism and Islam.

It is argued that European Catholicism is one big reason why Mongols moved away from Christianity!

 

[ASHOOR]

As part of his more Western orientation, Christianity temporarily resumed its ascendancy in Mongke’s court, a trend reinforced by the large number of Christian wives in the Golden Family and by the steadfast loyalty shown by Christian nations such as Georgia and Armenia.

Near the end of 1253, the Year of the Ox, William of Rubruck, a Franciscan monk, came to the Mongol court as an envoy from the French king. From his writings, an intriguing, although not always detailed, description emerged of the rivalries among the Christians and other religions in the Mongol court. Rubruck had the opportunity to see how the Mongol court celebrated Christmas, although he himself had little role to play other than singing “Veni Sancte Spiritus” for them.

Mongke Khan and his wife celebrated mass in church, with the two of them seated on a golden couch across from the altar. In keeping with Assyrian Christian tradition, the inside was void of excessive decoration and imagery, but the rafters of the church were draped with silk to give the building the feeling and appearance of a Mongol ger. After mass, the khan talked about religion for a short while with the priests. When he left, his wife stayed behind to distribute Christmas presents to everyone. She offered gifts of textiles to Rubruck, but he refused to accept them. Apparently the khatun did not notice the intended slight since Rubruck’s interpreter accepted the cloth for himself and later sold it back in Cyprus.

Nice to see this reference to the Assyrian Church of the East to which Mongke Khan's wife (grandson of Genghis Khan) belonged!

Despite the common religion, Rubruck greatly resented the Assyrian, Armenian, and Orthodox Christians at the Mongol court. Since he considered all non-Catholics to be heretics, he contemptuously designated the Mongol congregants of the Assyrian Church as Nestorians in reference to Nestorius, the fifth-century Patriarch of Constantinople who was condemned as a heretic by the Council of Ephesus in 431. Among the Assyrian beliefs that Rubruck held to be heretical was that the Virgin Mary was the mother of Christ, but not the mother of God. They also differed from the Catholics in their steadfast refusal to portray Christ on the cross as a violation of the Mongol taboos on depicting death or blood.

As you can see, European Catholicism's disdain and plain hate for Assyrian and Eastern Christianity in general was very evident and early on. It is no surprise that a few centuries later, they would use Assyrians (under a new re-invented Chaldean identity) to split the Assyrian nation and church.

Even when they admitted to being Christians, Mongols did not consider their religion as their primary identification. As one of the Mongol generals who was a follower of Christianity explained, he was no Christian—he was a Mongol.

Sounds like a typical Assyrian nationalist who always plays Assyrianism ahead of Christianity, if they even adhere to the religion to begin with!

 

[ASHOOR]

***To be continued*** ​