The Mongolian ruler Genghis Khan is one of the greatest commanders that history has ever seen. Genghis Khan; He established a great empire by bringing together the tribes living in Central Asia in a nomadic state. On his way to dominate the whole world, he captured China and brought his lands to very wide borders. In his time, the Mongols experienced their strongest period.
Genghis Khan laws; The rules, also known as “Steppe Laws”, which Genghis Khan followed clearly and were accepted among the Mongols. Genghis Khan himself made important additions to these rules.
Some of Genghis Khan’s Laws
1- Whoever makes a mistake on the battlefield is punished by the commander there, and the losers have no right to impose conditions.
2- Regardless of whether he is married or not, the penalty for adultery is death.
3- Livata incident is strictly prohibited and those who do it are executed.
4- Those who do witchcraft, those who carry news against others, those who lie deliberately and those who help the other by taking sides instead of separating those who fight are executed.
5- The penalty for people who urinate and pollute the water is death.
6- If people dealing with trade go bankrupt and this bankruptcy is repeated 3 times in a row, that person will be executed.
7- The punishment of those who give food and drink to their slaves without the permission of the owner is death.
8- If the person who finds the escaped slaves or captives does not return them, he will be executed.
9- Before the animal to be eaten, its feet must be tied, its abdomen must be torn open and its heart must be squeezed until it dies. Only animals that die in this way can be eaten.
10- If a person’s gun falls out of his hand during the war, the other person must get off his horse and give it to its owner. The penalty for a person who does not get off his horse and hand the gun to its owner is death.
11- Those who read the book of Allah, physicians, scholars, lawyers, and those who devote themselves to worship will not pay taxes and will not work.
12- Genghis Khan gave all his orders to believe in God. For this reason, all religions will be respected and no discrimination will be made between them.
13- The person who gives food to others will taste the food himself first. Others will not eat without that person looking. When the meal is eaten, the others will be invited, if not invited, the meal will not be eaten with the others. No one will eat more than anyone else, no one will step on the fire where the food is cooked and the bowl where the people eat.
14- If a passenger passes by the diners, he must be invited to dinner.
15- It was forbidden by Genghis Khan to put hands into water to get water and it was ordered to use a container.
16- The clothes will not be washed without getting too dirty.
17- It is forbidden to say bad and immoral words. Genghis Khan ordered everything to be moral.
18- Genghis Khan ordered not to show any privileges to any sect. The use of honorific titles is prohibited. If speaking to the Sultan or an important person, only his name should be mentioned.
19- Before going to war, everything that soldiers need should be reviewed and inspected. If one of the soldiers brings non-essential needs, that soldier should be punished.
20- It was ordered by Genghis Khan that when men went to war, a military unit of women would accompany them to do their work.
21- Soldiers returning from the war were ordered to perform the services of the Khan.
22- In order to choose a wife for Genghis Khan himself and his children, all the girls should be presented to him on New Year’s Eve.
23- Noyans lead and command the units that leave as thousands, hundreds and tens.
24- A messenger is sent to punish an old person who commits a crime. The old man must surrender himself to the messenger. Before the sentence is imposed, the guilty man must bow down in front of Genghis Khan.
25- No one other than the ruler can show Genghis Khan another interlocutor. Whoever presents himself with another interlocutor should be executed.
26- The postal organization was established in order to be informed about what is going on in the country. The place of post cannot be changed without permission, the person who changes it must be executed.
27- An order was given to his son Çağatay to implement the laws of Genghis Khan.
28- It has been ordered to punish those who cause the hunt to escape and show negligence during the hunt. If the person’s crime is serious, he should be executed.
29- The penalty for murder is death. But if he pays the ransom, he can save himself. The ransom to be paid is 40 gold coins for believers in the Prophet Muhammad and a donkey for the Chinese.
30- If a stolen horse is found in the property of a person, that person must add 9 horses of the same breed and return it to its owner. If the person cannot pay the fine, their children are taken instead. If the person has no children, the penalty is death.
31- According to the laws of Genghis Khan, it is forbidden for a person to lie, steal or commit adultery. One should love one’s neighbor as well as himself. People should not injure or harm each other. His attacks on him should be forgotten and he should not take revenge.
32- Countries and cities that surrender voluntarily should be forgiven, and temples dedicated to the god should be exempted from taxation. The penalty for disobeying orders is death.
33- A person who drowns while eating should be immediately removed from the camp and killed. Anyone who puts his foot on the threshold of the tent where the army commander lives should be executed.
34- If a person cannot stop drinking, he can get drunk 3 times a month. A person who gets drunk more than 3 times a month is found guilty. A person who gets drunk twice a month is good. It is better if he gets drunk once a month. If he doesn’t drink at all, there is nothing better than this. If there is someone who has never smoked, that person deserves the highest respect.
35- Children born from a concubine will be considered legitimate and will receive appropriate inheritance rights in the shares made by their fathers. The older child gets more rights than the younger one. Other than the legal heirs, another person cannot use the property of the deceased person.
36- A child whose father has died can marry or give it to someone else by marrying with his father’s other wives, excluding his mother.
37- The families of the enemies are divided equally among the soldiers. A soldier can have as many concubines as he wants, and children from concubines are considered natural children.
38- The penalty for choosing a sect of any religion is death.
39 – A Mongolian who has been sentenced to death can kill himself by having his back broken if he wishes. This is a very old Mongolian tradition. If nobles are to be executed among the Mongols, it is done in what is considered a noble death. In other words, their backs are broken and they are left in the Steppe.
