History of the Mongols

In 2020, the doctor of historical sciences V. V. Trepavlov turns 60 years old. The article describes the biography and career path of the scientist. Interest in the history of Eurasian nomads appeared in V. V. Trepavlov in his school and student years, and the first scientific result was his Candidate’s dissertation on socio-political continuity in the state system of the Great Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan. His doctoral dissertation was devoted to the famous history of the Nogai Horde. At the Institute of Russian History V. V. Trepavlov passed all stages of career growth, after graduate school he worked as a laboratory assistant, junior, senior, leading and chief researcher, now he is the head of the Center for the History of the Peoples of Russia and Interethnic Relations. For several years, he simultaneously served as deputy director of the Institute on scientific work. The main monographic works of the scientist of the day are briefly described.

This booklet is by the late Professor/Dr Kwei-Sun Wei.

FOREWORD

With the posthumous publication of "THE MOGHULS, Chingizid and Timurid: Connections and Differences" by Professor Wei Kwei-Sun, the Society pays tribute to the scholarly achievements of an outstanding Chinese scholar who spent a large part of his life in this country.

Professor Wei came to India in 1943, with an M.A. from the National Ching-Hua University at Beijing, and was awarded a Ph. D. by the Aligarh Muslim University for his thesis on 'A History of the Mongol Dynasty in 1946. He joined the Cheena Bhavan at Visva-Bharati, where he served as Professor and Head of the Department of Chinese Language and Culture from 1976 to 1980. Professor Wei, who passed away in 1995, specialized in a field that remains an inadequately explored-the world of trans-Asiatic connections and movements, political and cultural. His publications include The Secret History of the Mongol Dynasty (1957), A Trans-Asiatic Link of Bud- dhist Chronology (1991), The Length of Fa Xian's Account of his Trav- els and the Chronological Data therein (1991). With his knowledge of several Asian languages, his painstaking study of manuscripts, and his analytic mind, he was able to bring to light several aspects of the history of the region that has remained undiscovered.

His last work, THE MOGHULS, Chingizid and Timurid : Connections and Differences, provides a rich store of information and insights that should contribute substantially to future studies in the field, particu- larly in terms of the clarifications that Professor Wei offers. The Society takes pride in being able to add yet another item to its prestigious list of publications.

The Asiatic Society Anil K. Sarkar
General Secretary (Acting)
2 December 1996

Regarding the context of the titles Qaghan (Khaqan) and Khan, and their relations with each other, a consensus has not been reached until now among scholars studying the organization of Turkic and Mongol polities. Some scholars are of the opinion that Khan was a title below in rank from Qaghan, while some scholars thought the opposite. The fact that the greatest ruler administrating the Mongol Empire held the title Qaghan while other members of the dynasty administrating various parts of the empire carried the title Khan seems to be supporting the former view. According to another opinion on this matter outside these two views, both of these titles were the same in the beginning but had differentiated in later periods. Starting from the Türks (Köktürks, Tujue 突厥) up to the Qarakhanids, it can be seen that the titles Qaghan and Khan did not have any differences yet, while Khan was actually used as an abbreviation of Qaghan. However, differences between these two titles began to emerge among the Qarakhanids. It was the title Khan that was generally used among groupings such as the Qara Khitans, Kereyids and Naimans that ruled during the 12th and early 13th centuries. Among the Mongols, Khan’s usage started in the 12th century and Qaghan’s usage started in the 13th century. Although it is understood that the Mongols differentiated between these two titles, it can be observed that there are some conflicting accounts in both Mongol and foreign sources regarding the usages of these titles among the Mongols. As to the Oghuz-Turkmens, usages of the titles Khan and Khaqan intensified during the Mongol period and afterwards. When it comes to the Ottoman period, these two titles started to be used for one another just like in the Türk-Uyghur periods. Besides, the title Khan was sometimes perceived as an equivalent of Beg during the post-Mongol period. In this study, emphasize has been put on the usages of the titles Qaghan and Khan in Turko-Mongol polities starting from the 12th century, relying on the cases of various historical sources alongside opinions of modern researchers, while the course of this process’ development is put forward.

Lorsqu'ils découvrirent les immensités asiatiques après avoir subi l'assaut des armées mongoles en 1241, les Occidentaux furent pris d'un immense vertige, dont une des formes les plus spectaculaires fut le départ de missionnaires, pour la plus grande part franciscains, jusqu'à l'autre bout du monde. Toutefois, cet élan ne fut pas une simple réaction évangélique. Il est aussi le signe d'une société en pleine transformation, marquée par l'apparition de nouvelles manières de vivre le christianisme, dont un des marqueurs fut justement cette mobilisation autour du thème de l'évangélisation, qui prolongeait plus qu'elle ne contredisait une croisade entendue d'abord comme rêve d'unité du monde tout entier au-tour d'un ordre chrétien. Ce rêve fut recueilli par une Église-monde, et organisé par l'administration centralisée d'une papauté impériale. C'est de ce vaste mou-vement que naquit la mission telle que nous la connaissons, c'est-à-dire une évangélisation portée par un corps spécialisé et par une administration en mesure de penser des stratégies globales. Mais plus profondément, c'est ce mouvement qui permit de mobiliser l'Occident latin autour d'une culture de l'expansion nourrie par un discours prophétique sur les succès futurs de la chré-tienté – et ce jusqu'en Amérique. Après tout, Marco Polo, comme Christophe Colomb, furent peut-être davantage des missionnaires que des marchands.

В настоящей статье автор изучает отдельные стороны истории распространения ислама среди ойратов в иль-ханской Персии. Одним из видных ойратов, принявших ислам, был Ноуруз – сын Аргун-аки, буддиста, известного правителя Хорасана при ранних иль-ханах. Именно Ноуруз убедил нового иль-хана Газана принять ислам и запретить иные религии, в частности, буддизм, преобладавшие при дворе этих монгольских правителей Персии. Сам Ноуруз стал мусульманином по политическим причинам. Эти же причины, а также экономические, социальные и др., стали основанием для принятия ислама многими ойратами Персии и Ближнего Востока во второй половине XIII – первой половине XIV вв. Исламизация ойратов привела к потере ими своей идентичности с последующей ассимиляцией мусульманским окружением.

Yüzyıllar boyunca Orta Avrupa, çeşitli halkların (Cermen, Vizigot vb.) istilasına uğramış, bundan büyük zararlar almıştır. Ancak Avrupa’ya esas zararı Asya steplerinden süratli atları ve güçlü teşkilatçı yapıları ile üzerlerine gelen kavimlerin şiddetli istilaları vermiştir. Attila önderliğindeki Hunlar, bunu ilk başlatan kavim olmuş, Galya ve İtalya’ya kadar inmişlerdir. Bu esnada önlerine katıp göçe zorladıkları kavimler, Avrupa’nın demografik yapısında önemli ölçüde değişikliklere neden olmuştur. İkinci büyük istilayı ise Çoçi’nin oğlu Batu ve meşhur Moğol komutan Sübetey’in liderliğindeki Moğollar gerçekleştirmişlerdir. Karadeniz’in kuzeyinden çizdikleri bir rota ile önce Kıpçakları ve Bulgarları, ardından Rusları boyundurukları altına almışlar, en sonunda Macaristan’ı istila etmişlerdir. Çalışmamızda Orta Avrupa’nın Moğollar tarafından istilası, bu süreci hazırlayan olaylar kronolojik bir şekilde ele alınacak ve istilanın genel bir değerlendirmesi yapılacaktır.

For centuries, Central Europe was invaded by various peoples (Germanic, Visigoth, etc.) and suffered great damage from that. However, the main damage to Europe was the violent invasions of the tribes that came from the Asian steppes with their fast horses and strong organizational structures. The Huns, led by Attila, were the first tribe to initiate that, and they went down to Gaul and Italy. In the meantime, the tribes that they brought in and forced to migrate caused significant changes in the demographic structure of Europe. The second major invasion was carried out by the Mongols led by Batu, the son of Jochi, and the famous Mongolian commander Subetei. With a route drawn from the north of the Black Sea, they first subjugated the Kipchaks and Bulgarians, then the Russians, and finally invaded Hungary. In our study, the invasion of Central Europe by the Mongols, the events that prepared this process will be discussed chronologically and a general evaluation of the invasion will be made.