While the Mongol army of the 13th century is often presented as a vast disorganized
horde overwhelming its foes through sheer numbers, this could not be further from reality.
The army of the Great Khans was a well disciplined and strictly organized host, with a level
of complexity which was part of the key to Mongol military successes across Eurasia.
In this video, we will discuss the structure of the Mongol army, and how it contributed
to their dominance over their enemies.
We are happy to present the sponsor of this video World Anvil!
As voracious readers, rpg enthusiasts and hopefuls to write and publish a novel down
the line, we are happy to receive the support of World Anvil.
World Anvil is the award-winning ULTIMATE Worldbuilding Toolset & RPG Campaign Manager
made for gamemasters, writers, roleplayers and other creatives interested in designing
their own universe!
It allows the users to build a living world for your incredible novels, games and art
using their inspirational toolset.
World Anvil gives creative people a tool to collaborate, showcase and monetize their world
and the universes forged in World anvil are completely secure – each account is backed
up every day to multiple servers, so you will never lose your progress!
The feature that we like the most is the interactive maps – you can bring in your custom map
to the platform and make it interactive linking every city, dungeon and place to the wiki-like
articles.
World Anvil will be your best friend on the path to writing your bestselling novel or
running a perfect homebrew campaign.
So, what are you waiting for?
Support our channel and your hobby, by clicking the link in the description and using our
code KNG to get 25% OFF all 12-month Memberships!
Most Turkic and Mongolic nomadic armies of the great Eurasian steppe were organized through
the decimal system, dating back to the time of the Xiongnu.
In this system, warriors were grouped in multiples of ten; 10, 100, 1,000, up to 10,000.
These divisions were kept within tribal lines: men from one tribe would not make up a decimal
unit with men from another tribe.
It was the innovation of Chinggis Khan during his unification of the Mongols to largely
break down these tribal ties.
With few exceptions of tribes like the Onggut who showed their loyalty, Chinggis Khan dissolved
the old tribal organization and reformed the Mongol tribes into these decimals units for
social organization.
As new nomadic tribes were added to his empire, Chinggis was able to likewise integrate their
warriors among these units.
All new recruits of this system were held to the same rigid standards of discipline
set out by Chinggis Khan, mandating strict adherence to the orders of the commander;
non-Mongol nomads even had to shave their heads in a distinctive Mongol hairstyle.
Instead of a confederation of tribes agreeing to follow a single leader, by the time Chinggis
Khan began attacking sedentary powers in 1209, he was followed by a host which had assumed
the ‘Mongol’ identity, a unified single entity.
By largely removing the original tribal allegiances and the old tribal chiefs from power, Chinggis
ensured all ties of loyalty led directly to him, and that tribal feuding would not be
able to tear apart his empire.
Further, Chinggis Khan extended this decimal system to their families as well.
Each unit from 10 men to 1,000 had its corresponding ‘civilian’ unit made up of their families,
supplying much of the equipment and serving as the new basis for taxation.
The base unit of the Mongol decimal system was the arban, or ten lightly armoured horse
archers, supplying their own bows and horses.
The smallest organizational unit, it was quite comparable to the similarly sized contubernium
of the Roman legions.
These were men who had to live, train, hunt, and fight together, a unit designed to be
self sufficient and move on its own as necessary.
Carried with these ten men were their spare horses, tools for repairing equipment and
clothes, cooking utensils, and other supplies.
Often, they traveled with a felt tent (ger, or in Turkish, yurt) for shelter, as well
as goats, sheep, or even cattle or camels for hauling a cart with their extra equipment.
Down to its lowest levels, the Mongol army was intended to be as self-sufficient and
mobile as possible, so when travelling long distances or designating a meeting point,
each unit could move on its own.
Building on this foundation, Mongol army units could move independently to surround larger,
less maneuverable enemy armies.
Discipline for the arban was strict: should one man within the arban flee a battle, then
the other 9 men would be put to death.
With the intention that strong bonds of loyalty would build between them, such a threat was
a burden few were willing to bear.
More important than draconian punishment was reward.
Men could be expected to be rewarded for meritorious service.
One of Chinggis Khan’s promulgations was to forbid looting until after the battle was
won; only then would all the loot be collected, tallied and distributed among the soldiers.
This ensured the army would not break down into men scrambling for loot and allow the
enemy to escape, and that every soldier could now earn a share for his service.
Further, the widows and children of fallen soldiers were cared for as well.
From his own difficult childhood, Chinggis Khan knew what social upheaval was caused
by the abandonment of families.
By keeping soldiers content with the knowledge their families would be protected, Chinggis
Khan prevented the societal infighting that could tear his union apart and reduce the
effectiveness of his armies.
It was the efforts at this level which instilled the fierce Mongol discipline and loyalty to
their commanders noted by all of the medieval authors who encountered them.
Ten arbans formed a jagun, 100 men.
10 of these formed a minggan, or 1,000 men, and 10 minggans formed the most famous unit,
the tumen, 10,000 men.
While the tumen is more well-known, the minggan was the more important and common in terms
of administration and command.
When Chinggis Khan declared the Mongol Empire in 1206, the Secret History of the Mongols,
the chronicle written for the imperial family after his death, informs us of 95 minggans,
and who was assigned to command each of them.
The numbers of each minggan were only nominally 1,000: some would be greater and some lesser,
due to the realities of battlefield losses or incorporation of new tribes.
Nonetheless, it allows us to estimate the Mongol army in 1206 had about 95,000 men,
soon enlarged with the submission of neighbouring tribes over the following years.
Based off this number, assuming a ratio of warriors to the general population of 1:4
or 1:5, the population of the region has been estimated at around 600-800,000 people, with
higher estimates of 1 million; similar figures for the region at the beginning of the 20th
century.
Nomadic societies did not distinguish between warriors and civilians: all men between the
ages of 15-60 could be called up for war, and since all nomads learned to ride a horse
and shoot a bow, each had the skills for war.
Compared to sedentary societies in China, Europe, and the Islamic world, a far greater
portion of the male population could be considered warriors, and called up for battle.
This is how the comparatively small population of Mongolia could raise armies large enough
to combat the great strength of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty.
Each division was given considerable freedom in how they achieved their goals.
Aside from setting the target and the timeline to accomplish the task, interference from
higher command was minimal.
Numerous Mongol commanders consistently operated independently from the Great Khan, separated
at times by thousands of kilometres.
In the early 1220s, picked generals like Jebe and Subutai in the western steppe and Mukhali
in North China campaigned independently of Chinggis Khan, at that time conquering the
Khwarezmian Empire.
Unlike Temur, who never let a campaign be led by anyone but himself, the military system
of the Great Khans allowed them to place complete trust in their commanders, who routinely led
armies across the continent and returned without hint of seeking independence.
The Mongol high command was a flexible and very experienced body.
The men chosen to lead the imperial armies at the beginning of the conquests had fought
alongside Chinggis Khan for years, joining him when he was a minor warlord and sticking
beside him throughout his early trials.
These were the nököd, followers who had risen through the ranks, proving not just
their loyalty but their ability.
Their background on the steppe hierarchy was diverse: some his distant relations, some
members of the original steppe aristocracy, while others were simple herders who had shown
military ability or aided the Khan.
Their elevation and position relied on the Khan’s continued favour, making them utterly
loyal to him.
With the declaration of the Mongol empire in 1206, perhaps the most important institution
of the Mongolian military was the keshik, the imperial bodyguard.
Established in 1204 and carrying over many members of the nököd, the keshik was expanded
to 10,000 men in 1206.
Made up of younger sons and brothers of the commanders of 10, 1000 and 10,000, sons of
subject rulers, and worthy commoners, the keshik served as the Khan’s bodyguard, elite
units, royal household, and much of the imperial administration.
The keshik was divided into three main groups: 8,000 turaq’ut, who protected the Khan during
the day, 1000 quiverbearers - qorchi - the only men who could wear arrow quivers in the
presence of the Khan, and an elite unit of 1,000 called kebte’üd who guarded the Khan
at night, and only fought on the battlefield if the Khan himself was present.
Within the dayguard was a further thousand man unit of braves, or bahadurs in Mongolian,
who formed the heavily armoured vanguard of the keshik.
Discipline was strict: no one approached the Khan’s person without first being searched
and vetted by the keshik.
All keshik commanders outranked commanders of equivalent sized units in the regular army.
The keshik also served as a military college.
The young men brought into the keshik learned the ropes of command, and the necessities
of strategy, tactics, logistics, and training, so they could be appointed to lead minggans
and armies.
Many a well known Mongol general had earned his position through meritorious service in
the keshik, such as Chormaqun, Baiju, Kitbuqa, and Subutai.
Qarachar Noyan, the ancestor of Temur, served in the keshik of Chinggis Khan, and later,
his son Chagatai.
Aside from the purely military role, the keshik also acted as the closest servants of the
Khan.
Numerous offices of the keshik are named, the Khan’s elite bodyguards also maintaining
his personal herds, equipment, weapons, clothing, camp, and musical instruments, organizing
hunts, and preparing his meals.
One office was specifically for the collection of items and animals left behind when the
imperial camp moved, while another was for holding a parasol over the Khan.
The keshik also served as the most important administrators of the empire, with the chief
judges, military leaders, governors and confidants of the Khan being members of the keshik.
Members of Mongke Khan’s keshik like Menggeser and Bulgai were the most powerful figures
of the empire below the Great Khan himself: the senior ministers, judges of state, as
well as head of the imperial guard.
Due to its close proximity to the Khan and the lead princes of the empire, it was therefore
a highly prestigious, and valuable, position to gain.
As the keshik was made up of sons of commanders and vassal lords, they were invariably hostages
to ensure the loyalty of their families.
Those of foreign royalty, when they returned to their homeland, were expected to serve
as loyal servants of the Khan upholding his rule.
Richly rewarded and their positions hereditary, the keshik was a reliable and powerful arm
of the Great Khan’s military and government.
At the highest level, the Mongol army was organized into ‘wings,’ associated with
directions within Mongolia.
The army of the Left Wing of Eastern Mongolia - jun-qar - the army of the Right Wing in
western Mongolia - bara’un-qar - and the Army of the Centre, the Imperial ordu, which
the keshik and the Khan’s personal troops were associated with.
The heads of each of these divisions were the closest, most trusted followers of Chinggis
Khan.
Together, these formed the Mongolian regular army.
Under this system, there was a dual level of elites: the altan urugh, the family and
descendants of Chinggis Khan, and the qarachu, the noyans, commanders, appointed often from
humble beginnings to lead armies.
Working alongside the regular army was the tamma.
First mentioned during the reign of Ogedai, the tamma was something of an occupation force.
Made up of a large percentage of non-Mongol troops and officers, and generally drawn from
the various minggans, it was often commanded by a member of the keshik called a tammachi.
The tamma was placed on the frontiers of the Mongol Empire, a largely cavalry force which
would situate itself in the best available pasture.
They were a consolidating force which would move with the frontier as the empire expanded;
unlike the great invasions which saw the Mongols rapidly pass through a region and depart,
the tamma was intended to spend years in the region, and if necessary, set up permanently.
Acting as temporary military governors, behind the advance of the tamma the permanent civilian
administration would be established, and the region thus fully incorporated into the Mongol
empire.
Crushing what remained of local resistance, the tamma raided, extorted, and subjugated
the independent powers on the Empire’s borders.
One tammachi, Chormaqun, completed the subjugation of the former Khwarezmian territory, Iran,
and into the Caucasus during his deployment.
Since the Mongols did not rebuild the fortifications they destroyed, the tamma also acted as the
empire’s borderguard, desolating and patrolling the borders as necessary to protect the empire
from attack.
The tamma comprised two main forces: the main body, situated in several camps in the pasture,
and an advance force of scouts posted closer to cities and between the camps called alginchi.
As the empire expanded, greater numbers of sedentary peoples were incorporated into the
military.
These roles could be shockingly inhumane, such as the hashar.
The hashar, so called in the Persian sources, was a forced levy of local peoples, driven
before the Mongols as living shields against enemy arrows, to push siege equipment, and
fill in enemy moats with dirt or their own bodies.
This was particularly common in Chinggis Khan’s campaigns in North China and against the Khwarezmian
Empire.
Yet, the Mongols also learned relatively quickly that sedentary peoples could provide knowledge,
military roles, and manpower the Mongols themselves lacked.
It was most notably in the form of Chinese siege engineers, but within a few years of
the invasion of the Jurchen Jin, more Han Chinese were fighting for the Mongols than
there were Mongols fighting in north China.
Likewise, as the Mongols expanded westwards, subject peoples served them in a variety of
supplementary roles.
The Mongols, primarily lightly armoured horse archers, were more than happy to allow their
subjects to take on more vulnerable positions on the battlefield.
These same groups also served the Mongols in other roles, especially as labour or manning
local garrisons.
These local forces, the cherig, are what Mongolian regional governors had to rely upon to put
down local uprisings, as Mongol horsemen were utilized for the expansion of the empire.
Sedentary kingdoms not destroyed in the initial invasions had to provide their own armies
and commanders to serve alongside and under the Mongols, such as the Tangut Kingdom and
Armenian Cilicia.
While continuing to fight in their traditional manner, and not directly incorporated into
the Mongol army, they had to follow the commands of a Mongolian general.
We will discuss the importance of these non-Mongolian troops in a future video in this series, so
make sure you are subscribed to our channel and have pressed the bell button.
We would like to express our gratitude to our Patreon supporters and channel members,
who make the creation of our videos possible.
Now, you can also support us by buying our merchandise via the link in the description.
This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we will catch you on the next one.