Genghis Khan, Makers of History Series
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Title: Genghis Khan, Makers of History Series
Author: Jacob Abbott
Release date: May 2, 2009 [eBook #28667]
Most recently updated: January 5, 2021
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GENGHIS KHAN, MAKERS OF HISTORY SERIES ***
Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was
produced from scanned images of public domain material
from the Google Print project.)
Makers of History
Genghis Khan
BY
JACOB ABBOTT
WITH ENGRAVINGS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
1901
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and sixty, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of
New York.
* * * * *
Copyright, 1888, by BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT, AUSTIN ABBOTT,
LYMAN ABBOTT, and EDWARD ABBOTT.
[Illustration: INAUGURATION OF GENGHIS KHAN.]
PREFACE.
The word khan is not a name, but a title. It means chieftain or king.
It is a word used in various forms by the different tribes and nations
that from time immemorial have inhabited Central Asia, and has been
applied to a great number of potentates and rulers that have from time
to time arisen among them. Genghis Khan was the greatest of these
princes. He was, in fact, one of the most renowned conquerors whose
exploits history records.
As in all other cases occurring in the series of histories to which
this work belongs, where the events narrated took place at such a
period or in such a part of the world that positively reliable and
authentic information in respect to them can now no longer be
obtained, the author is not responsible for the actual truth of the
narrative which he offers, but only for the honesty and fidelity with
which he has compiled it from the best sources of information now
within reach.
CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
I. PASTORAL LIFE IN ASIA 13
II. THE MONGULS 23
III. YEZONKAI KHAN 41
IV. THE FIRST BATTLE 52
V. VANG KHAN 68
VI. TEMUJIN IN EXILE 76
VII. RUPTURE WITH VANG KHAN 86
VIII. PROGRESS OF THE QUARREL 100
IX. THE DEATH OF VANG KHAN 114
X. THE DEATH OF YEMUKA 123
XI. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE 136
XII. DOMINIONS OF GENGHIS KHAN 150
XIII. THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE KUSHLUK 163
XIV. IDIKUT 175
XV. THE STORY OF HUJAKU 184
XVI. CONQUESTS IN CHINA 198
XVII. THE SULTAN MOHAMMED 213
XVIII. THE WAR WITH THE SULTAN 236
XIX. THE FALL OF BOKHARA 244
XX. BATTLES AND SIEGES 264
XXI. DEATH OF THE SULTAN 281
XXII. VICTORIOUS CAMPAIGNS 297
XXIII. GRAND CELEBRATIONS 318
XXIV. CONCLUSION 330
ENGRAVINGS
Page
THE INAUGURATION OF GENGHIS KHAN _Frontispiece._
ENCAMPMENT OF A PATRIARCH 20
SHOOTING AT PURSUERS 35
MAP--EMPIRE OF GENGHIS KHAN 44
PURTA IN THE TENT OF VANG KHAN 62
DRINKING THE BITTER WATER 107
PRESENTATION OF THE SHONGAR 173
THE MERCHANTS OFFERING THEIR GOODS 222
THE GOVERNOR ON THE TERRACE 261
THE BATTLE OF THE BOATS 277
GENGHIS KHAN.
CHAPTER I.
PASTORAL LIFE IN ASIA.
Four different modes of life enumerated.--Northern and southern
climes.--Animal food in arctic regions.--Tropical regions.--Appetite
changes with climate.--First steps toward civilization.--Interior of
Asia.--Pastoral habits of the people.--Picture of pastoral life.--Large
families accumulated.--Rise of patriarchal governments.--Origin of the
towns.--Great chieftains.--Genghis Khan.
There are four several methods by which the various communities into
which the human race is divided obtain their subsistence from the
productions of the earth, each of which leads to its own peculiar
system of social organization, distinct in its leading characteristics
from those of all the rest. Each tends to its own peculiar form of
government, gives rise to its own manners and customs, and forms, in
a word, a distinctive and characteristic type of life.
These methods are the following:
1. By hunting wild animals in a state of nature.
2. By rearing tame animals in pasturages.
3. By gathering fruits and vegetables which grow
spontaneously in a state of nature.
4. By rearing fruits and grains and other vegetables by
artificial tillage in cultivated ground.
By the two former methods man subsists on animal food. By the two
latter on vegetable food.
As we go north, from the temperate regions toward the poles, man is
found to subsist more and more on animal food. This seems to be the
intention of Providence. In the arctic regions scarcely any vegetables
grow that are fit for human food, but animals whose flesh is
nutritious and adapted to the use of man are abundant.
As we go south, from temperate regions toward the equator, man is
found to subsist more and more on vegetable food. This, too, seems to
be the intention of nature. Within the tropics scarcely any animals
live that are fit for human food; while fruits, roots, and other
vegetable productions which are nutritious and adapted to the use of
man are abundant.
In accordance with this difference in the productions of the different
regions of the earth, there seems to be a difference in the
constitutions of the races of men formed to inhabit them. The tribes
that inhabit Greenland and Kamtschatka can not preserve their
accustomed health and vigor on any other than animal food. If put upon
a diet of vegetables they soon begin to pine away. The reverse is true
of the vegetable-eaters of the tropics. They preserve their health
and strength well on a diet of rice, or bread-fruit, or bananas, and
would undoubtedly be made sick by being fed on the flesh of walruses,
seals, and white bears.
In the temperate regions the productions of the above-mentioned
extremes are mingled. Here many animals whose flesh is fit for human
food live and thrive, and here grows, too, a vast variety of
nutritious fruits, and roots, and seeds. The physical constitution of
the various races of men that inhabit these regions is modified
accordingly. In the temperate climes men can live on vegetable food,
or on animal food, or on both. The constitution differs, too, in
different individuals, and it changes at different periods of the
year. Some persons require more of animal, and others more of
vegetable food, to preserve their bodily and mental powers in the best
condition, and each one observes a change in himself in passing from
winter to summer. In the summer the desire for a diet of fruits and
vegetables seems to come northward with the sun, and in the winter the
appetite for flesh comes southward from the arctic regions with the
cold.
When we consider the different conditions in which the different
regions of the earth are placed in respect to their capacity of
production for animal and vegetable food, we shall see that this
adjustment of the constitution of man, both to the differences of
climate and to the changes of the seasons, is a very wise and
beneficent arrangement of Divine Providence. To confine man absolutely
either to animal or vegetable food would be to depopulate a large part
of the earth.
It results from these general facts in respect to the distribution of
the supplies of animal and vegetable food for man in different
latitudes that, in all northern climes in our hemisphere, men living
in a savage state must be hunters, while those that live near the
equator must depend for their subsistence on fruits and roots growing
wild. When, moreover, any tribe or race of men in either of these
localities take the first steps toward civilization, they begin, in
the one case, by taming animals, and rearing them in flocks and herds;
and, in the other case, by saving the seeds of food-producing plants,
and cultivating them by artificial tillage in inclosed and private
fields. This last is the condition of all the half-civilized tribes of
the tropical regions of the earth, whereas the former prevails in all
the northern temperate and arctic regions, as far to the northward as
domesticated animals can live.
From time immemorial, the whole interior of the continent of Asia has
been inhabited by tribes and nations that have taken this one step in
the advance toward civilization, but have gone no farther. They live,
not, like the Indians in North America, by hunting wild beasts, but by
rearing and pasturing flocks and herds of animals that they have
tamed. These animals feed, of course, on grass and herbage; and, as
grass and herbage can only grow on open ground, the forests have
gradually disappeared, and the country has for ages consisted of great
grassy plains, or of smooth hill-sides covered with verdure. Over
these plains, or along the river valleys, wander the different tribes
of which these pastoral nations are composed, living in tents, or in
frail huts almost equally movable, and driving their flocks and herds
before them from one pasture-ground to another, according as the
condition of the grass, or that of the springs and streams of water,
may require.
We obtain a pretty distinct idea of the nature of this pastoral life,
and of the manners and customs, and the domestic constitution to which
it gives rise, in the accounts given us in the Old Testament of
Abraham and Lot, and of their wanderings with their flocks and herds
over the country lying between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean
Sea. They lived in tents, in order that they might remove their
habitations the more easily from place to place in following their
flocks and herds to different pasture-grounds. Their wealth consisted
almost wholly in these flocks and herds, the land being almost every
where common. Sometimes, when two parties traveling together came to a
fertile and well-watered district, their herdsmen and followers were
disposed to contend for the privilege of feeding their flocks upon it,
and the contention would often lead to a quarrel and combat, if it had
not been settled by an amicable agreement on the part of the
chieftains.
[Illustration: ENCAMPMENT OF A PATRIARCH.]
The father of a family was the legislator and ruler of it, and his
sons, with their wives, and his son's sons, remained with him,
sometimes for many years, sharing his means of subsistence, submitting
to his authority, and going with him from place to place, with all his
flocks and herds. They employed, too, so many herdsmen, and other
servants and followers, as to form, in many cases, quite an extended
community, and sometimes, in case of hostilities with any other
wandering tribe, a single patriarch could send forth from his own
domestic circle a force of several hundred armed men. Such a company
as this, when moving across the country on its way from one region
of pasturage to another, appeared like an immense caravan on its
march, and when settled at an encampment the tents formed quite a
little town.
Whenever the head of one of these wandering families died, the
tendency was not for the members of the community to separate, but to
keep together, and allow the oldest son to take the father's place as
chieftain and ruler. This was necessary for defense, as, of course,
such communities as these were in perpetual danger of coming into
collision with other communities roaming about like themselves over
the same regions. It would necessarily result, too, from the
circumstances of the case, that a strong and well-managed party, with
an able and sagacious chieftain at the head of it, would attract other
and weaker parties to join it; or, on the arising of some pretext for
a quarrel, would make war upon it and conquer it. Thus, in process of
time, small nations, as it were, would be formed, which would continue
united and strong as long as the able leadership continued; and then
they would separate into their original elements, which elements would
be formed again into other combinations.
Such, substantially, was pastoral life in the beginning. In process of
time, of course, the tribes banded together became larger and larger.
Some few towns and cities were built as places for the manufacture of
implements and arms, or as resting-places for the caravans of
merchants in conveying from place to place such articles as were
bought and sold. But these places were comparatively few and
unimportant. A pastoral and roaming life continued to be the destiny
of the great mass of the people. And this state of things, which was
commenced on the banks of the Euphrates before the time of Abraham,
spread through the whole breadth of Asia, from the Mediterranean Sea
to the Pacific Ocean, and has continued with very little change from
those early periods to the present time.
Of the various chieftains that have from time to time risen to command
among these shepherd nations but little is known, for very few and
very scanty records have been kept of the history of any of them. Some
of them have been famous as conquerors, and have acquired very
extended dominions. The most celebrated of all is perhaps Genghis
Khan, the hero of this history. He came upon the stage more than three
thousand years after the time of the great prototype of his class, the
Patriarch Abraham.
CHAPTER II.
THE MONGULS.
Monguls.--Origin of the name.--A Mongul family.--Their
occupations.--Animals of the Monguls.--Their towns and villages.--Mode
of building their tents.--Bad fuel.--Comfortless homes.--Movable
houses built at last.--The painting.--Account of a large movable
house.--The traveling chests.--Necessity of such an arrangement.--Houses
in the towns.--Roads over the plains.--Tribes and families.--Influence
of diversity of pursuits.--Tribes and clans.--Mode of making
war.--Horsemen.--The bow and arrow.--The flying horseman.--Nature
of the bow and arrow.--Superiority of fire-arms.--Sources of
information.--Gog and Magog.--Salam.--Adventures of Salam and
his party.--The wonderful mountain.--Great bolts and bars.--The
prisoners.--Travelers' tales.--Progress of intelligence.
Three thousand years is a period of time long enough to produce great
changes, and in the course of that time a great many different nations
and congeries of nations were formed in the regions of Central Asia.
The term Tartars has been employed generically to denote almost the
whole race. The Monguls are a portion of this people, who are said to
derive their name from Mongol Khan, one of their earliest and most
powerful chieftains. The descendants of this khan called themselves by
his name, just as the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob called
themselves Israelites, or children of Israel, from the name Israel,
which was one of the designations of the great patriarch from whose
twelve sons the twelve tribes of the Jews descended. The country
inhabited by the Monguls was called Mongolia.
To obtain a clear conception of a single Mongul family, you must
imagine, first, a rather small, short, thick-set man, with long black
hair, a flat face, and a dark olive complexion. His wife, if her face
were not so flat and her nose so broad, would be quite a brilliant
little beauty, her eyes are so black and sparkling. The children have
much the appearance of young Indians as they run shouting among the
cattle on the hill-sides, or, if young, playing half-naked about the
door of the hut, their long black hair streaming in the wind.
Like all the rest of the inhabitants of Central Asia, these people
depended almost entirely for their subsistence on the products of
their flocks and herds. Of course, their great occupation consisted in
watching their animals while feeding by day, and in putting them in
places of security by night, in taking care of and rearing the young,
in making butter and cheese from the milk, and clothing from the
skins, in driving the cattle to and fro in search of pasturage, and,
finally, in making war on the people of other tribes to settle
disputes arising out of conflicting claims to territory, or to
replenish their stock of sheep and oxen by seizing and driving off the
flocks of their neighbors.
The animals which the Monguls most prized were camels, oxen and cows,
sheep, goats, and horses. They were very proud of their horses, and
they rode them with great courage and spirit. They always went
mounted in going to war. Their arms were bows and arrows, pikes or
spears, and a sort of sword or sabre, which was manufactured in some
of the towns toward the west, and supplied to them in the course of
trade by great traveling caravans.
Although the mass of the people lived in the open country with their
flocks and herds, there were, notwithstanding, a great many towns and
villages, though such centres of population were much fewer and less
important among them than they are in countries the inhabitants of
which live by tilling the ground. Some of these towns were the
residences of the khans and of the heads of tribes. Others were places
of manufacture or centres of commerce, and many of them were fortified
with embankments of earth or walls of stone.
The habitations of the common people, even those built in the towns,
were rude huts made so as to be easily taken down and removed. The
tents were made by means of poles set in a circle in the ground, and
brought nearly together at the top, so as to form a frame similar to
that of an Indian wigwam. A hoop was placed near the top of these
poles, so as to preserve a round opening there for the smoke to go
out. The frame was then covered with sheets of a sort of thick gray
felt, so placed as to leave the opening within the hoop free. The
felt, too, was arranged below in such a manner that the corner of one
of the sheets could be raised and let down again to form a sort of
door. The edges of the sheets in other places were fastened together
very carefully, especially in winter, to keep out the cold air.
Within the tent, on the ground in the centre, the family built their
fire, which was made of sticks, leaves, grass, and dried droppings of
all sorts, gathered from the ground, for the country produced scarcely
any wood. Countries roamed over by herds of animals that gain their
living by pasturing on the grass and herbage are almost always
destitute of trees. Trees in such a case have no opportunity to grow.
The tents of the Monguls thus made were, of course, very comfortless
homes. They could not be kept warm, there was so much cold air coming
continually in through the crevices, notwithstanding all the people's
contrivances to make them tight. The smoke, too, did not all escape
through the hoop-hole above. Much of it remained in the tent and
mingled with the atmosphere. This evil was aggravated by the kind of
fuel which they used, which was of such a nature that it made only a
sort of smouldering fire instead of burning, like good dry wood, with
a bright and clear flame.
The discomforts of these huts and tents were increased by the custom
which prevailed among the people of allowing the animals to come into
them, especially those that were young and feeble, and to live there
with the family.
In process of time, as the people increased in riches and in
mechanical skill, some of the more wealthy chieftains began to build
houses so large and so handsome that they could not be conveniently
taken down to be removed, and then they contrived a way of mounting
them upon trucks placed at the four corners, and moving them bodily in
this way across the plains, as a table is moved across a floor upon
its castors. It was necessary, of course, that the houses should be
made very light in order to be managed in this way. They were, in
fact, still tents rather than houses, being made of the same
materials, only they were put together in a more substantial and
ornamental manner. The frame was made of very light poles, though
these poles were fitted together in permanent joinings. The covering
was, like that of the tents, made of felt, but the sheets were joined
together by close and strong seams, and the whole was coated with a
species of paint, which not only closed all the pores and interstices
and made the structure very tight, but also served to ornament it; for
they were accustomed, in painting these houses, to adorn the covering
with pictures of birds, beasts, and trees, represented in such a
manner as doubtless, in their eyes, produced a very beautiful effect.
These movable houses were sometimes very large. A certain traveler who
visited the country not far from the time of Genghis Khan says that he
saw one of these structures in motion which was thirty feet in
diameter. It was drawn by twenty-two oxen. It was so large that it
extended five feet on each side beyond the wheels. The oxen, in
drawing it, were not attached, as with us, to the centre of the
forward axle-tree, but to the ends of the axle-trees, which projected
beyond the wheels on each side. There were eleven oxen on each side
drawing upon the axle-trees. There were, of course, many drivers. The
one who was chief in command stood in the door of the tent or house
which looked forward, and there, with many loud shouts and flourishing
gesticulations, issued his orders to the oxen and to the other men.
The household goods of this traveling chieftain were packed in chests
made for the purpose, the house itself, of course, in order to be made
as light as possible, having been emptied of all its contents. These
chests were large, and were made of wicker or basket-work, covered,
like the house, with felt. The covers were made of a rounded form, so
as to throw off the rain, and the felt was painted over with a certain
composition which made it impervious to the water. These chests were
not intended to be unpacked at the end of the journey, but to remain
as they were, as permanent storehouses of utensils, clothing, and
provisions. They were placed in rows, each on its own cart, near the
tent, where they could be resorted to conveniently from time to time
by the servants and attendants, as occasion might require. The tent
placed in the centre, with these great chests on their carts near it,
formed, as it were, a house with one great room standing by itself,
and all the little rooms and closets arranged in rows by the side of
it.
Some such arrangement as this is obviously necessary in case of a
great deal of furniture or baggage belonging to a man who lives in a
tent, and who desires to be at liberty to remove his whole
establishment from place to place at short notice; for a tent, from
the very principle of its construction, is incapable of being divided
into rooms, or of accommodating extensive stores of furniture or
goods. Of course, a special contrivance is required for the
accommodation of this species of property. This was especially the
case with the Monguls, among whom there were many rich and great men
who often accumulated a large amount of movable property. There was
one rich Mongul, it was said, who had two hundred such chest-carts,
which were arranged in two rows around and behind his tent, so that
his establishment, when he was encamped, looked like quite a little
village.
The style of building adopted among the Monguls for tents and movable
houses seemed to set the fashion for all their houses, even for those
that were built in the towns, and were meant to stand permanently
where they were first set up. These permanent houses were little
better than tents. They consisted each of one single room without any
subdivisions whatever. They were made round, too, like the tents, only
the top, instead of running up to a point, was rounded like a dome.
There were no floors above that formed on the ground, and no windows.
Such was the general character of the dwellings of the Monguls in the
days of Genghis Khan. They took their character evidently from the
wandering and pastoral life that the people led. One would have
thought that very excellent roads would have been necessary to have
enabled them to draw the ponderous carts containing their dwellings
and household goods. But this was less necessary than might have been
supposed on account of the nature of the country, which consisted
chiefly of immense grassy plains and smooth river valleys, over which,
in many places, wheels would travel tolerably well in any direction
without much making of roadway. Then, again, in all such countries,
the people who journey from place to place, and the herds of cattle
that move to and fro, naturally fall into the same lines of travel,
and thus, in time, wear great trails, as cows make paths in a pasture.
These, with a little artificial improvement at certain points, make
very good summer roads, and in the winter it is not necessary to use
them at all.
The Monguls, like the ancient Jews, were divided into tribes, and
these were subdivided into families; a family meaning in this
connection not one household, but a large congeries of households,
including all those that were of known relationship to each other.
These groups of relatives had each its head, and the tribe to which
they pertained had also its general head. There were, it is said,
three sets of these tribes, forming three grand divisions of the
Mongul people, each of which was ruled by its own khan; and then, to
complete the system, there was the grand khan, who ruled over all.
A constitution of society like this almost always prevails in pastoral
countries, and we shall see, on a little reflection, that it is
natural that it should do so. In a country like ours, where the
pursuits of men are so infinitely diversified, the descendants of
different families become mingled together in the most promiscuous
manner. The son of a farmer in one state goes off, as soon as he is of
age, to some other state, to find a place among merchants or
manufacturers, because he wishes to be a merchant or a manufacturer
himself, while his father supplies his place on the farm perhaps by
hiring a man who likes farming, and has come hundreds of miles in
search of work. Thus the descendants of one American grandfather and
grandmother will be found, after a lapse of a few years, scattered in
every direction all over the land, and, indeed, sometimes all over the
world.
It is the diversity of pursuits which prevails in such a country as
ours, taken in connection with the diversity of capacity and of taste
in different individuals, that produces this dispersion.
Among a people devoted wholly to pastoral pursuits, all this is
different. The young men, as they grow up, can have generally no
inducement to leave their homes. They continue to live with their
parents and relatives, sharing the care of the flocks and herds, and
making common cause with them in every thing that is of common
interest. It is thus that those great family groups are formed which
exist in all pastoral countries under the name of tribes or clans, and
form the constituent elements of the whole social and political
organization of the people.
In case of general war, each tribe of the Monguls furnished, of
course, a certain quota of armed men, in proportion to its numbers and
strength. These men always went to war, as has already been said, on
horseback, and the spectacle which these troops presented in galloping
in squadrons over the plains was sometimes very imposing. The shock of
the onset when they charged in this way upon the enemy was tremendous.
They were armed with bows and arrows, and also with sabres. As they
approached the enemy, they discharged first a shower of arrows upon
him, while they were in the act of advancing at the top of their
speed. Then, dropping their bows by their side, they would draw their
sabres, and be ready, as soon as the horses fell upon the enemy, to
cut down all opposed to them with the most furious and deadly blows.
If they were repulsed, and compelled by a superior force to retreat,
they would gallop at full speed over the plains, turning at the same
time in their saddles, and shooting at their pursuers with their
arrows as coolly, and with as correct an aim, almost, as if they were
still. While thus retreating the trooper would guide and control his
horse by his voice, and by the pressure of his heels upon his sides,
so as to have both his arms free for fighting his pursuers.
These arrows were very formidable weapons, it is said. One of the
travelers who visited the country in those days says that they could
be shot with so much force as to pierce the body of a man entirely
through.
[Illustration: SHOOTING AT PURSUERS.]
It must be remembered, however, in respect to all such statements
relating to the efficiency of the bow and arrow, that the force with
which an arrow can be thrown depends not upon any independent action
of the bow, but altogether upon the strength of the man who draws it.
The bow, in straightening itself for the propulsion of the arrow,
expends only the force which the man has imparted to it by bending it;
so that the real power by which the arrow is propelled is, after all,
the muscular strength of the archer. It is true, a great deal depends
on the qualities of the bow, and also on the skill of the man in using
it, to make all this muscular strength effective. With a poor bow, or
with unskillful management, a great deal of it would be wasted. But
with the best possible bow, and with the most consummate skill of the
archer, it is the strength of the archer's arm which throws the arrow,
after all.
It is very different in this respect with a bullet thrown by the force
of gunpowder from the barrel of a gun. The force in this case is the
explosive force of the powder, and the bullet is thrown to the same
distance whether it is a very weak man or a very strong man that pulls
the trigger.
But to return to the Monguls. All the information which we can obtain
in respect to the condition of the people before the time of Genghis
Khan comes to us from the reports of travelers who, either as
merchants, or as embassadors from caliphs or kings, made long journeys
into these distant regions, and have left records, more or less
complete, of their adventures, and accounts of what they saw, in
writings which have been preserved by the learned men of the East. It
is very doubtful how far these accounts are to be believed. One of
these travelers, a learned man named Salam, who made a journey far
into the interior of Asia by order of the Calif Mohammed Amin
Billah, some time before the reign of Genghis Khan, says that, among
other objects of research and investigation which occupied his mind,
he was directed to ascertain the truth in respect to the two famous
nations Gog and Magog, or, as they are designated in his account,
Yagog and Magog. The story that had been told of these two nations by
the Arabian writers, and which was extensively believed, was, that the
people of Yagog were of the ordinary size of men, but those of Magog
were only about two feet high. These people had made war upon the
neighboring nations, and had destroyed many cities and towns, but had
at last been overpowered and shut up in prison.
Salam, the traveler whom the calif sent to ascertain whether their
accounts were true, traveled at the head of a caravan containing fifty
men, and with camels bearing stores and provisions for a year. He was
gone a long time. When he came back he gave an account of his travels;
and in respect to Gog and Magog, he said that he had found that the
accounts which had been heard respecting them were true. He traveled
on, he said, from the country of one chieftain to another till he
reached the Caspian Sea, and then went on beyond that sea for thirty
or forty days more. In one place the party came to a tract of low
black land, which exhaled an odor so offensive that they were obliged
to use perfumes all the way to overpower the noxious smells. They were
ten days in crossing this fetid territory. After this they went on a
month longer through a desert country, and at length came to a fertile
land which was covered with the ruins of cities that the people of Gog
and Magog had destroyed.
In six days more they reached the country of the nation by which the
people of Gog and Magog had been conquered and shut up in prison. Here
they found a great many strong castles. There was a large city here
too, containing temples and academies of learning, and also the
residence of the king.
The travelers took up their abode in this city for a time, and while
they were there they made an excursion of two days' journey into the
country to see the place where the people of Gog and Magog were
confined. When they arrived at the place they found a lofty mountain.
There was a great opening made in the face of this mountain two or
three hundred feet wide. The opening was protected on each side by
enormous buttresses, between which was placed an immense double gate,
the buttresses and the gate being all of iron. The buttresses were
surmounted with an iron bulwark, and with lofty towers also of iron,
which were carried up as high as to the top of the mountain itself.
The gates were of the width of the opening cut in the mountain, and
were seventy-five feet high; and the valves, lintels, and threshold,
and also the bolts, the lock, and the key, were all of proportional
size.
Salam, on arriving at the place, saw all these wonderful structures
with his own eyes, and he was told by the people there that it was the
custom of the governor of the castles already mentioned to take horse
every Friday with ten others, and, coming to the gate, to strike the
great bolt three times with a ponderous hammer weighing five pounds,
when there would be heard a murmuring noise within, which were the
groans of the Yagog and Magog people confined in the mountain. Indeed,
Salam was told that the poor captives often appeared on the
battlements above. Thus the real existence of this people was, in his
opinion, fully proved; and even the story in respect to the diminutive
size of the Magogs was substantiated, for Salam was told that once, in
a high wind, three of them were blown off from the battlements to the
ground, and that, on being measured, they were found but three spans
high.
This is a specimen of the tales brought home from remote countries by
the most learned and accomplished travelers of those times. In
comparing these absurd and ridiculous tales with the reports which are
brought back from distant regions in our days by such travelers as
Humboldt, Livingstone, and Kane, we shall perceive what an immense
progress in intelligence and information the human mind has made since
those days.
CHAPTER III.
YEZONKAI KHAN.
1163-1175
Yezonkai Behadr.--Orthography of Mongul names.--Great
diversities.--Yezonkai's power.--A successful warrior.--Katay.--The
Khan of Temujin.--Mongol custom.--Birth of Genghis Khan.--Predictions of
the astrologer.--Explanation of the predictions.--Karasher.--Education
of Temujin.--His precocity.--His early marriage.--Plans of Temujin's
father.--Karizu.--Tayian.--Death of Yezonkai.
The name of the father of Genghis Khan is a word which can not be
pronounced exactly in English. It sounded something like this,
_Yezonkai Behadr_, with the accent on the last syllable, Behadr, and
the _a_ sounded like _a_ in _hark_. This is as near as we can come to
it; but the name, as it was really pronounced by the Mongul people,
can not be written in English letters nor spoken with English sounds.
Indeed, in all languages so entirely distinct from each other as the
Mongul language was from ours, the sounds are different, and the
letters by which the sounds are represented are different too. Some of
the sounds are so utterly unlike any sounds that we have in English
that it is as impossible to write them in English characters as it is
for us to write in English letters the sound that a man makes when he
chirps to his horse or his dog, or when he whistles. Sometimes writers
attempt to represent the latter sound by the word _whew_; and when,
in reading a dialogue, we come to the word whew, inserted to express a
part of what one of the speakers uttered, we understand by it that he
whistled; but how different, after all, is the sound of the spoken
word _whew_ from the whistling sound that it is intended to represent!
Now, in all the languages of Asia, there are many sounds as impossible
to be rendered by the European letters as this, and in making the
attempt every different writer falls into a different mode. Thus the
first name of Genghis Khan's father is spelled by different travelers
and historians, Yezonkai, Yesukay, Yessuki, Yesughi, Bissukay,
Bisukay, Pisukay, and in several other ways. The real sound was
undoubtedly as different from any of these as they were all different
from each other. In this narrative I shall adopt the first of these
methods, and call him Yezonkai Behadr.
[Illustration: Map of the Empire of Genghis Khan.]
Yezonkai was a great khan, and he descended in a direct line through
ten generations, so it was said, from a deity. Great sovereigns in
those countries and times were very fond of tracing back their descent
to some divine origin, by way of establishing more fully in the minds
of the people their divine right to the throne. Yezonkai's residence
was at a great palace in the country, called by a name, the sound of
which, as nearly as it can be represented in English letters, was
_Diloneldak_. From this, his capital, he used to make warlike
excursions at the head of hordes of Monguls into the surrounding
countries, in the prosecution of quarrels which he made with them
under various pretexts; and as he was a skillful commander, and had
great influence in inducing all the inferior khans to bring large
troops of men from their various tribes to add to his army, he was
usually victorious, and in this way he extended his empire very
considerably while he lived, and thus made a very good preparation for
the subsequent exploits of his son.
The northern part of China was at that time entirely separated from
the southern part, and was under a different government. It
constituted an entirely distinct country, and was called Katay.[A]
This country was under the dominion of a chieftain called the Khan of
Katay. This khan was very jealous of the increasing power of Yezonkai,
and took part against him in all his wars with the tribes around him,
and assisted them in their attempts to resist him; but he did not
succeed. Yezonkai was too powerful for them, and went on extending
his conquests far and wide.
[Footnote A: Spelled variously Kathay, Katay, Kitay, and in other
ways.]
At last, under the pretense of some affront which he had received from
them, Yezonkai made war upon a powerful tribe of Tartars that lived in
his neighborhood. He invaded their territories at the head of an
immense horde of Mongul troops, and began seizing and driving off
their cattle.
The name of the khan who ruled over these people was Temujin. Temujin
assembled his forces as soon as he could, and went to meet the
invaders. A great battle was fought, and Yezonkai was victorious.
Temujin was defeated and put to flight. Yezonkai encamped after the
battle on the banks of the River Amoor, near a mountain. He had all
his family with him, for it was often the custom, in these
enterprises, for the chieftain to take with him not only all his
household, but a large portion of his household goods. Yezonkai had
several wives, and almost immediately after the battle, one of them,
named Olan Ayka, gave birth to a son. Yezonkai, fresh from the battle,
determined to commemorate his victory by giving his new-born son the
name of his vanquished enemy. So he named him Temujin.[B] His birth
took place, as nearly as can now be ascertained, in the year of our
Lord 1163.
[Footnote B: The name is intended to be pronounced _Tim-oo-zhin_.]
Such were the circumstances of our hero's birth, for it was this
Temujin who afterward became renowned throughout all Asia under the
name of Genghis Khan. Through all the early part of his life, however,
he was always known by the name which his father gave him in the tent
by the river side where he was born.
Among the other grand personages in Yezonkai's train at this time,
there was a certain old astrologer named Sugujin. He was a relative of
Yezonkai, and also his principal minister of state. This man, by his
skill in astrology, which he applied to the peculiar circumstances of
the child, foretold for him at once a wonderful career. He would grow
up, the astrologer said, to be a great warrior. He would conquer all
his enemies, and extend his conquests so far that he would, in the
end, become the Khan of all Tartary. Young Temujin's parents were, of
course, greatly pleased with these predictions, and when, not long
after this time, the astrologer died, they appointed his son, whose
name was Karasher, to be the guardian and instructor of the boy. They
trusted, it seems, to the son to give the young prince such a
training in early life as should prepare him to realize the grand
destiny which the father had foretold for him.
There would be something remarkable in the fact that these predictions
were uttered at the birth of Genghis Khan, since they were afterward
so completely fulfilled, were it not that similar prognostications of
greatness and glory were almost always offered to the fathers and
mothers of young princes in those days by the astrologers and
soothsayers of their courts. Such promises were, of course, very
flattering to these parents at the time, and brought those who made
them into great favor. Then, in the end, if the result verified them,
they were remembered and recorded as something wonderful; if not, they
were forgotten.
Karasher, the astrologer's son, who had been appointed young Temujin's
tutor, took his pupil under his charge, and began to form plans for
educating him. Karasher was a man of great talents and of considerable
attainments in learning, so far as there could be any thing like
learning in such a country and among such a people. He taught him the
names of the various tribes that lived in the countries around, and
the names of the principal chieftains that ruled over them. He also
gave him such information as he possessed in respect to the countries
themselves, describing the situation of the mountains, the lakes, and
the rivers, and the great deserts which here and there intervened
between the fertile regions. He taught him, moreover, to ride, and
trained him in all such athletic exercises as were practiced by the
youth of those times. He instructed him also in the use of arms,
teaching him how to shoot with a bow and arrow, and how to hold and
handle his sabre, both when on horseback and when on foot. He
particularly instructed him in the art of shooting his arrow in any
direction when riding at a gallop upon his horse, behind as well as
before, and to the right side as well as to the left. To do this
coolly, skillfully, and with a true aim, required great practice as
well as much courage and presence of mind.
Young Temujin entered into all these things with great spirit. Indeed,
he very soon ceased to feel any interest in any thing else, so that by
the time that he was nine years of age it was said that he thought of
nothing but exercising himself in the use of arms.
Nine years of age, however, with him was more than it would be with a
young man among us, for the Asiatics arrive at maturity much earlier
than the nations of Western Europe and America. Indeed, by the time
that Temujin was thirteen years old, his father considered him a
man--at least he considered him old enough to be married. He was
married, in fact, and had two children before he was fifteen, if the
accounts which the historians have given us respecting him are true.
Just before Temujin was thirteen, his father, in one of his campaigns
in Katay, was defeated in a battle, and, although a great many of his
followers escaped, he himself was surrounded and overpowered by the
horsemen of the enemy, and was made prisoner. He was put under the
care of a guard; for, of course, among people living almost altogether
on horseback and in tents, there could be very few prisons. Yezonkai
followed the camp of his conqueror for some time under the custody of
his guard; but at length he succeeded in bribing his keeper to let him
escape, and so contrived, after encountering many difficulties and
suffering many hardships, to make his way back to his own country.
He was determined now to make a new incursion into Katay, and that
with a larger force than he had had before. So he made an alliance
with the chieftain of a neighboring tribe, called the Naymans; and, in
order to seal and establish this alliance, he contracted that his son
should marry the daughter of his ally. This was the time when Temujin
was but thirteen years old. The name of this his first wife was
Karizu--at least that was one of her names. Her father's name was
Tayian.
Before Yezonkai had time to mature his plans for his new invasion of
Katay, he fell sick and died. He left five sons and a daughter, it is
said; but Temujin seems to have been the oldest of them all, for by
his will his father left his kingdom, if the command of the group of
tribes which were under his sway can be called a kingdom, to him,
notwithstanding that he was yet only thirteen years old.
CHAPTER IV.
THE FIRST BATTLE.
1175
Temujin's accession.--Discontent.--Taychot and Chamuka.--Arrangements
for the battle.--Temujin's ardor.--Porgie.--Exaggerated
statements.--The battle.--Bravery of Temujin and Porgie.--Influence
of Temujin's example.--Taychot slain.--The victory.--Rewards and
honors.--Temujin's rising fame.--His second wife.--Purta carried
away captive.--Customary present.--Purta and Vang Khan.--Purta's
return.--Birth of her child.--Jughi.--Temujin's wonderful
dream.--Disaffection among his subjects.--A rebellion.--Temujin
discouraged.--Temujin plans a temporary abdication.--Arrangement
of a regency.--Temujin's departure.
In the language of the Monguls and of their neighbors the Tartars, a
collection of tribes banded together under one chieftain was
designated by a name which sounded like the word _orda_. This is the
origin, it is said, of the English word _horde_.
The orda over which Yezonkai had ruled, and the command of which, at
his death, he left to his son, consisted of a great number of separate
tribes, each of which had its own particular chieftain. All these
subordinate chieftains were content to be under Yezonkai's rule and
leadership while he lived. He was competent, they thought, to direct
their movements and to lead them into battle against their enemies.
But when he died, leaving only a young man thirteen years of age to
succeed him, several of them were disposed to rebel. There were two of
them, in particular, who thought that they were themselves better
qualified to reign over the nation than such a boy; so they formed an
alliance with each other, and with such other tribes as were disposed
to join them, and advanced to make war upon Temujin at the head of a
great number of squadrons of troops, amounting in all to thirty
thousand men.
The names of the two leaders of this rebellion were Taychot and
Chamuka.
Young Temujin depended chiefly on his mother for guidance and
direction in this emergency. He was himself very brave and spirited;
but bravery and spirit, though they are of such vital importance in a
commander on the field of battle, when the contest actually comes on,
are by no means the principal qualities that are required in making
the preliminary arrangements.
Accordingly, Temujin left the forming of the plans to his mother,
while he thought only of his horses, of his arms and equipments, and
of the fury with which he would gallop in among the enemy when the
time should arrive for the battle to begin. His mother, in connection
with the chief officers of the army and counselors of state who were
around her, and on whom her husband Yezonkai, during his lifetime, had
been most accustomed to rely, arranged all the plans. They sent off
messengers to the heads of all the tribes that they supposed would be
friendly to Temujin, and appointed places of rendezvous for the
troops that they were to send. They made arrangements for the stores
of provisions which would be required, settled questions of precedence
among the different clans, regulated the order of march, and attended
to all other necessary details.
In the mean time, Temujin thought only of the approaching battle. He
was engaged continually in riding up and down upon spirited horses,
and shooting in all directions, backward and forward, and both to the
right side and to the left, with his bow and arrow. Nor was all this
exhibition of ardor on his part a mere useless display. It had great
influence in awakening a corresponding ardor among the chieftains of
the troops, and among the troops themselves. They felt proud of the
spirit and energy which their young prince displayed, and were more
and more resolved to exert themselves to the utmost in defending his
cause.
There was another young prince, of the name of Porgie, of about
Temujin's age, who was also full of ardor for the fight. He was the
chieftain of one of the tribes that remained faithful to Temujin, and
he was equally earnest with Temujin for the battle to begin.
At length the troops were ready, and, with Temujin and his mother at
the head of them, they went forth to attack the rebels. The rebels
were ready to receive them. They were thirty thousand strong,
according to the statements of the historians. This number is probably
exaggerated, as all numbers were in those days, when there was no
regular enrollment of troops and no strict system of enumeration.
At any rate, there was a very great battle. Immense troops of horsemen
coming at full speed in opposite directions shot showers of arrows at
each other when they arrived at the proper distance for the arrows to
take effect, and then, throwing down their bows and drawing their
sabres, rushed madly on, until they came together with an awful shock,
the dreadful confusion and terror of which no person can describe. The
air was filled with the most terrific outcries, in which yells of
fury, shrieks of agony, and shouts of triumph were equally mingled.
Some of the troops maintained their position through the shock, and
rode on, bearing down all before them. Others were overthrown and
trampled in the dust; while all, both those who were up and those who
were down, were cutting in every direction with their sabres, killing
men and inciting the horses to redoubled fury by the wounds which
they gave them.
In the midst of such scenes as these Temujin and Porgie fought
furiously with the rest. Temujin distinguished himself greatly. It is
probable that those who were immediately around him felt that he was
under their charge, and that they must do all in their power to
protect him from danger. This they could do much more easily and
effectually under the mode of fighting which prevailed in those days
than would be possible now, when gunpowder is the principal agent of
destruction. Temujin's attendants and followers could gather around
him and defend him from assailants. They could prevent him from
charging any squadron which was likely to be strong enough to
overpower him, and they could keep his enemies so much at bay that
they could not reach him with their sabres. But upon a modern field of
battle there is much less opportunity to protect a young prince or
general's son, or other personage whose life may be considered as
peculiarly valuable. No precautions of his attendants can prevent a
bomb's bursting at his feet, or shield him from the rifle balls that
come whistling from such great distances through the air.
At any rate, whether protected by his attendants or only by the
fortune of war, Temujin passed through the battle without being hurt,
and the courage and energy which he displayed were greatly commended
by all who witnessed them. His mother was in the battle too, though,
perhaps, not personally involved in the actual conflicts of it. She
directed the manoeuvres, however, and by her presence and her
activity greatly encouraged and animated the men. In consequence of
the spirit and energy infused into the troops by her presence, and by
the extraordinary ardor and bravery of Temujin, the battle was gained.
The army of the enemy was put to flight. One of the leaders, Taychot,
was slain. The other made his escape, and Temujin and his mother were
left in possession of the field.
Of course, after having fought with so much energy and effect on such
a field, Temujin was now no longer considered as a boy, but took his
place at once as a man among men, and was immediately recognized by
all the army as their prince and sovereign, and as fully entitled, by
his capacity if not by his years, to rule in his own name. He assumed
and exercised his powers with as much calmness and self-possession as
if he had been accustomed to them for many years. He made addresses
to his officers and soldiers, and distributed honors and rewards to
them with a combined majesty and grace which, in their opinion,
denoted much grandeur of soul. The rewards and honors were
characteristic of the customs of the country and the times. They
consisted of horses, arms, splendid articles of dress, and personal
ornaments. Of course, among a people who lived, as it were, always on
horseback, such objects as these were the ones most highly prized.
The consequence of this victory was, that nearly the whole country
occupied by the rebels submitted without any farther resistance to
Temujin's sway. Other tribes, who lived on the borders of his
dominions, sent in to propose treaties of alliance. The khan of one of
these tribes demanded of Temujin the hand of his sister in marriage to
seal and confirm the alliance which he proposed to make. In a word,
the fame of Temujin's prowess spread rapidly after the battle over all
the surrounding countries, and high anticipations began to be formed
of the greatness and glory of his reign.
In the course of the next year Temujin was married to his second wife,
although he was at this time only fourteen years old. The name of his
bride was Purta Kugin. By this wife, who was probably of about his own
age, he had a daughter, who was born before the close of the year
after the marriage.
In his journeys about the country Temujin sometimes took his wives
with him, and sometimes he left them temporarily in some place of
supposed security. Toward the end of the second year Purta was again
about to become a mother, and Temujin, who at that time had occasion
to go off on some military expedition, fearing that the fatigue and
exposure would be more than she could well bear, left her at home.
While he was gone a troop of horsemen, from a tribe of his enemies,
came suddenly into the district on a marauding expedition. They
overpowered the troops Temujin had left to guard the place, and seized
and carried off every thing that they could find that was valuable.
They made prisoner of Purta, too, and carried her away a captive. The
plunder they divided among themselves, but Purta they sent as a
present to a certain khan who reigned over a neighboring country, and
whose favor they wished to secure. The name of this chieftain was Vang
Khan. As this Vang Khan figures somewhat conspicuously in the
subsequent history of Temujin, a full account of him will be given in
the next chapter. All that is necessary to say here is, that the
intention of the captors of Purta, in sending her to him as a present,
was that he should make her his wife. It was the custom of these khans
to have as many wives as they could obtain, so that when prisoners of
high rank were taken in war, if there were any young and beautiful
women among them, they were considered as charming presents to send to
any great prince or potentate near, whom the captors were desirous of
pleasing. It made no difference, in such cases, whether the person who
was to receive the present were young or old. Sometimes the older he
was the more highly he would prize such a gift.
Vang Khan, it happened, was old. He was old enough to be Temujin's
father. Indeed, he had been in the habit of calling Temujin his son.
He had been in alliance with Yezonkai, Temujin's father, some years
before, when Temujin was quite a boy, and it was at that time that he
began to call him his son.
[Illustration: PURTA IN THE TENT OF VANG KHAN.]
Accordingly, when Purta was brought to him by the messengers who had
been sent in charge of her, and presented to him in his tent, he said,
"She is very beautiful, but I can not take her for my wife, for she is
the wife of my son. I can not marry the wife of my son."
Vang Khan, however, received Purta under his charge, gave her a place
in his household, and took good care of her.
When Temujin returned home from his expedition, and learned what had
happened during his absence, he was greatly distressed at the loss of
his wife. Not long afterward he ascertained where she was, and he
immediately sent a deputation to Vang Khan asking him to send her
home. With this request Vang Khan immediately complied, and Purta set
out on her return. She was stopped on the way, however, by the birth
of her child. It was a son. As soon as the child was born it was
determined to continue the journey, for there was danger, if they
delayed, that some new troop of enemies might come up, in which case
Purta would perhaps be made captive again. So Purta, it is said,
wrapped up the tender limbs of the infant in some sort of paste or
dough, to save them from the effects of the jolting produced by the
rough sort of cart in which she was compelled to ride, and in that
condition she held the babe in her lap all the way home.
She arrived at her husband's residence in safety. Temujin was
overjoyed at seeing her again; and he was particularly pleased with
his little son, who came out of his packing safe and sound. In
commemoration of his safe arrival after so strange and dangerous a
journey, his father named him Safe-arrived; that is, he gave him for a
name the word in their language that means that. The word itself was
Jughi.
The commencement of Temujin's career was thus, on the whole, quite
prosperous, and every thing seemed to promise well. He was himself
full of ambition and of hope, and began to feel dissatisfied with the
empire which his father had left him, and to form plans for extending
it. He dreamed one night that his arms grew out to an enormous length,
and that he took a sword in each of them, and stretched them out to
see how far they would reach, pointing one to the eastward and the
other to the westward. In the morning he related his dream to his
mother. She interpreted it to him. She told him it meant undoubtedly
that he was destined to become a great conqueror, and that the
directions in which his kingdom would be extended were toward the
eastward and toward the westward.
Temujin continued for about two years after this in prosperity, and
then his good fortune began to wane. There came a reaction. Some of
the tribes under his dominion began to grow discontented. The
subordinate khans began to form plots and conspiracies. Even his own
tribe turned against him. Rebellions broke out in various parts of his
dominions; and he was obliged to make many hurried expeditions here
and there, and to fight many desperate battles to suppress them. In
one of these contests he was taken prisoner. He, however, contrived to
make his escape. He then made proposals to the disaffected khans,
which he hoped would satisfy them, and bring them once more to submit
to him, since what he thus offered to do in these proposals was pretty
much all that they had professed to require. But the proposals did not
satisfy them. What they really intended to do was to depose Temujin
altogether, and then either divide his dominions among themselves, or
select some one of their number to reign in his stead.
At last, Temujin, finding that he could not pacify his enemies, and
that they were, moreover, growing stronger every day, while those that
adhered to him were growing fewer in numbers and diminishing in
strength, became discouraged. He began to think that perhaps he really
was too young to rule over a kingdom composed of wandering hordes of
men so warlike and wild, and he concluded for a time to give up the
attempt, and wait until times should change, or, at least, until he
should be grown somewhat older. Accordingly, in conjunction with his
mother, he formed a plan for retiring temporarily from the field;
unless, indeed, as we might reasonably suspect, his mother formed the
plan herself, and by her influence over him induced him to adopt it.
The plan was this: that Temujin should send an embassador to the court
of Vang Khan to ask Vang Khan to receive him, and protect him for a
time in his dominions, until the affairs of his own kingdom should
become settled. Then, if Vang Khan should accede to this proposal,
Temujin was to appoint his uncle to act as regent during his absence.
His mother, too, was to be married to a certain emir, or prince, named
Menglik, who was to be made prime minister under the regent, and was
to take precedence of all the other princes or khans in the kingdom.
The government was to be managed by the regent and the minister until
such time as it should be deemed expedient for Temujin to return.
This plan was carried into effect. Vang Khan readily consented to
receive Temujin into his dominions, and to protect him there. He was
very ready to do this, he said, on account of the friendship which he
had borne for Temujin's father. Temujin's mother was married to the
emir, and the emir was made the first prince of the realm. Finally,
Temujin's uncle was proclaimed regent, and duly invested with all
necessary authority for governing the country until Temujin's return.
These things being all satisfactorily arranged, Temujin set out for
the country of Vang Khan at the head of an armed escort, to protect
him on the way, of six thousand men. He took with him all his family,
and a considerable suite of servants and attendants. Among them was
his old tutor and guardian Karasher, the person who had been appointed
by his father to take charge of him, and to teach and train him when
he was a boy.
Being protected by so powerful an escort, Temujin's party were not
molested on their journey, and they all arrived safely at the court of
Vang Khan.
CHAPTER V.
VANG KHAN.
1175
Karakatay.--Vang Khan's dominions.--The cruel fate of Mergus.--His
wife's stratagem.--Nawr.--He falls into the snare.--Armed men in
ambuscade.--Death of Nawr.--Credibility of these tales.--Early life
of Vang Khan.--Reception of Temujin.--Prester John.--His letter to
the King of France.--Other letters.--The probable truth.--Temujin
and Vang Khan.
The country over which Vang Khan ruled was called Karakatay. It
bordered upon the country of Katay, which has already been mentioned
as forming the northern part of what is now China. Indeed, as its name
imports, it was considered in some sense as a portion of the same
general district of country. It was that part of Katay which was
inhabited by Tartars.
Vang Khan's name at first was Togrul. The name Vang Khan, which was,
in fact, a title rather than a name, was given him long afterward,
when he had attained to the height of his power. To avoid confusion,
however, we shall drop the name Togrul, and call him Vang Khan from
the beginning.
Vang Khan was descended from a powerful line of khans who had reigned
over Karakatay for many generations. These khans were a wild and
lawless race of men, continually fighting with each other, both for
mastery, and also for the plunder of each other's flocks and herds.
In this way most furious and cruel wars were often fought between near
relatives. Vang Khan's grandfather, whose name was Mergus, was taken
prisoner in one of these quarrels by another khan, who, though he was
a relative, was so much exasperated by something that Mergus had done
that he sent him away to a great distance to the king of a certain
country which is called Kurga, to be disposed of there. The King of
Kurga put him into a sack, sewed up the mouth of it, and then laid him
across the wooden image of an ass, and left him there to die of hunger
and suffocation.
The wife of Mergus was greatly enraged when she heard of the cruel
fate of her husband. She determined to be revenged. It seems that the
relative of her husband who had taken him prisoner, and had sent him
to the King of Kurga, had been her lover in former times before her
marriage; so she sent him a message, in which she dissembled her grief
for the loss of her husband, and only blamed the King of Kurga for his
cruel death, and then said that she had long felt an affection for
him, and that, if he continued of the same mind as when he had
formally addressed her, she was now willing to become his wife, and
offered, if he would come to a certain place, which she specified, to
meet her, she would join him there.
Nawr, for that was the chieftain's name, fell at once into the snare
which the beautiful widow thus laid for him. He immediately accepted
her proposals, and proceeded to the place of rendezvous. He went, of
course, attended by a suitable guard, though his guard was small, and
consisted chiefly of friends and personal attendants. The princess was
attended also by a guard, not large enough, however, to excite any
suspicion. She also took with her in her train a large number of
carts, which were to be drawn by bullocks, and which were laden with
stores of provisions, clothing, and other such valuables, intended as
a present for her new husband. Among these, however, there were a
large number of great barrels, or rounded receptacles of some sort, in
which she had concealed a considerable force of armed men. These
receptacles were so arranged that the men concealed in them could open
them from within in an instant, at a given signal, and issue forth
suddenly all armed and ready for action.
Among the other stores which the princess had provided, there was a
large supply of a certain intoxicating drink which the Monguls and
Tartars were accustomed to make in those days. As soon as the two
parties met at the place of rendezvous the princess gave Nawr a very
cordial greeting, and invited him and all his party to a feast, to be
partaken on the spot. The invitation was accepted, the stores of
provisions were opened, and many of the presents were unpacked and
displayed. At the feast Nawr and his party were all supplied
abundantly with the intoxicating liquor, which, as is usual in such
cases, they were easily led to drink to excess; while, on the other
hand, the princess's party, who knew what was coming, took good care
to keep themselves sober. At length, when the proper moment arrived,
the princess made the signal. In an instant the men who had been
placed in ambuscade in the barrels burst forth from their concealment
and rushed upon the guests at the feast. The princess herself, who was
all ready for action, drew a dagger from her girdle and stabbed Nawr
to the heart. Her guards, assisted by the re-enforcement which had so
suddenly appeared, slew or secured all his attendants, who were so
totally incapacitated, partly by the drink which they had taken, and
partly by their astonishment at the sudden appearance of so
overwhelming a force, that they were incapable of making any
resistance.
The princess, having thus accomplished her revenge, marshaled her men,
packed up her pretended presents, and returned in triumph home.
Such stories as these, related by the Asiatic writers, though they
were probably often much embellished in the narration, had doubtless
all some foundation in fact, and they give us some faint idea of the
modes of life and action which prevailed among these half-savage
chieftains in those times. Vang Khan himself was the grandson of
Mergus, who was sewed up in the sack. His father was the oldest son of
the princess who contrived the above-narrated stratagem to revenge her
husband's death. It is said that he used to accompany his father to
the wars when he was only ten years old. The way in which he formed
his friendship for Yezonkai, and the alliance with him which led him
to call Temujin his son and to refuse to take his wife away from him,
as already related, was this: When his father died he succeeded to the
command, being the oldest son; but the others were jealous of him, and
after many and long quarrels with them and with other relatives,
especially with his uncle, who seemed to take the lead against him, he
was at last overpowered or outmanoeuvred, and was obliged to fly.
He took refuge, in his distress, in the country of Yezonkai. Yezonkai
received him in a very friendly manner, and gave him effectual
protection. After a time he furnished him with troops, and helped him
to recover his kingdom, and to drive his uncle away into banishment in
his turn. It was while he was thus in Yezonkai's dominions that he
became acquainted with Temujin, who was then very small, and it was
there that he learned to call him his son. Of course, now that Temujin
was obliged to fly himself from his native country and abandon his
hereditary dominions, as he had done before, he was glad of the
opportunity of requiting to the son the favor which he had received,
in precisely similar circumstances, from the father, and so he gave
Temujin a very kind reception.
There is another circumstance which is somewhat curious in respect to
Vang Khan, and that is, that he is generally supposed to be the prince
whose fame was about this period spread all over Europe, under the
name of Prester John, by the Christian missionaries in Asia. These
missionaries sent to the Pope, and to various Christian kings in
Europe, very exaggerated accounts of the success of their missions
among the Persians, Turks, and Tartars; and at last they wrote word
that the great Khan of the Tartars had become a convert, and had even
become a preacher of the Gospel, and had taken the name of Prester
John. The word _prester_ was understood to be a corruption of
presbyter. A great deal was accordingly written and said all through
Christendom about the great Tartar convert, Prester John. There were
several letters forwarded by the missionaries, professedly from him,
and addressed to the Pope and to the different kings of Europe. Some
of these letters, it is said, are still in existence. One of them was
to the King of France. In this letter the writer tells the King of
France of his great wealth and of the vastness of his dominions. He
says he has seventy kings to serve and wait upon him. He invites the
King of France to come and see him, promising to bestow a great
kingdom upon him if he will, and also to make him his heir and leave
all his dominions to him when he dies; with a great deal more of the
same general character.
The other letters were much the same, and the interest which they
naturally excited was increased by the accounts which the missionaries
gave of the greatness and renown of this more than royal convert, and
of the progress which Christianity had made and was still making in
his dominions through their instrumentality.
It is supposed, in modern times, that these stories were pretty much
all inventions on the part of the missionaries, or, at least, that the
accounts which they sent were greatly exaggerated and embellished; and
there is but little doubt that they had much more to do with the
authorship of the letters than any khan. Still, however, it is
supposed that there was a great prince who at least encouraged the
missionaries in their work, and allowed them to preach Christianity in
his dominions, and, if so, there is little doubt that Vang Khan was
the man.
At all events, he was a very great and powerful prince, and he reigned
over a wide extent of country. The name of his capital was Karakorom.
The distance which Temujin had to travel to reach this city was about
ten days' journey.
He was received by Vang Khan with great marks of kindness and
consideration. Vang Khan promised to protect him, and, in due time, to
assist him in recovering his kingdom. In the mean while Temujin
promised to enter at once into Vang Khan's service, and to devote
himself faithfully to promoting the interests of his kind protector by
every means in his power.
CHAPTER VI.
TEMUJIN IN EXILE.
1182
Temujin's popularity.--Rivals and enemies
appear.--Plots.--Yemuka--Wisulujine.--Yemuka's disappointment.--His
rage.--Conspiracy formed.--Progress of the league.--Oath of the
conspirators.--The oath.--Karakorom.--Plan formed by Temujin.--The
campaign.--Unexpected arrival of Vang Khan.--His story.--Temujin's
promises.--Result of the battle.--Temujin victorious.--State of things
at Karakorom.--Erkekara.--Preparations for the final conflict.--Erkekara
vanquished.--Vang Khan restored.--Temujin's popularity.
Vang Khan gave Temujin a very honorable position in his court. It was
natural that he should do so, for Temujin was a prince in the prime of
his youth, and of very attractive person and manners; and, though he
was for the present an exile, as it were, from his native land, he was
not by any means in a destitute or hopeless condition. His family and
friends were still in the ascendency at home, and he himself, in
coming to the kingdom of Vang Khan, had brought with him quite an
important body of troops. Being, at the same time, personally
possessed of great courage and of much military skill, he was prepared
to render his protector good service in return for his protection. In
a word, the arrival of Temujin at the court of Vang Khan was an event
calculated to make quite a sensation.
At first every body was very much pleased with him, and he was very
popular; but before long the other young princes of the court, and
the chieftains of the neighboring tribes, began to be jealous of him.
Vang Khan gave him precedence over them all, partly on account of his
personal attachment to him, and partly on account of the rank which he
held in his own country, which, being that of a sovereign prince,
naturally entitled him to the very highest position among the
subordinate chieftains in the retinue of Vang Khan. But these
subordinate chieftains were not satisfied. They murmured, at first
secretly, and afterward more openly, and soon began to form
combinations and plots against the new favorite, as they called him.
An incident soon occurred which greatly increased this animosity, and
gave to Temujin's enemies, all at once, a very powerful leader and
head. This leader was a very influential chieftain named Yemuka. This
Yemuka, it seems, was in love with the daughter of Vang Khan, the
Princess Wisulujine. He asked her in marriage of her father. To
precisely what state of forwardness the negotiations had advanced does
not appear, but, at any rate, when Temujin arrived, Wisulujine soon
began to turn her thoughts toward him. He was undoubtedly younger,
handsomer, and more accomplished than her old lover, and before long
she gave her father to understand that she would much rather have him
for her husband than Yemuka. It is true, Temujin had one or two wives
already; but this made no difference, for it was the custom then, as,
indeed, it is still, for the Asiatic princes and chieftains to take as
many wives as their wealth and position would enable them to maintain.
Yemuka was accordingly refused, and Wisulujine was given in marriage
to Temujin.
Yemuka was, of course, dreadfully enraged. He vowed that he would be
revenged. He immediately began to intrigue with all the discontented
persons and parties in the kingdom, not only with those who were
envious and jealous of Temujin, but also with all those who, for any
reason, were disposed to put themselves in opposition to Vang Khan's
government. Thus a formidable conspiracy was formed for the purpose of
compassing Temujin's ruin.
The conspirators first tried the effect of private remonstrances with
Vang Khan, in which they made all sorts of evil representations
against Temujin, but to no effect. Temujin rallied about him so many
old friends, and made so many new friends by his courage and energy,
that his party at court proved stronger than that of his enemies, and,
for a time, they seemed likely to fail entirely of their design.
At length the conspirators opened communication with the foreign
enemies of Vang Khan, and formed a league with them to make war
against and destroy both Vang Khan and Temujin together. The accounts
of the progress of this league, and of the different nations and
tribes which took part in it, is imperfect and confused; but at
length, after various preliminary contests and manoeuvres,
arrangements were made for assembling a large army with a view of
invading Vang Khan's dominions and deciding the question by a battle.
The different chieftains and khans whose troops were united to form
this army bound themselves together by a solemn oath, according to the
customs of those times, not to rest until both Vang Khan and Temujin
should be destroyed.
The manner in which they took the oath was this: They brought out into
an open space on the plain where they had assembled to take the oath,
a horse, a wild ox, and a dog. At a given signal they fell upon these
animals with their swords, and cut them all to pieces in the most
furious manner. When they had finished, they stood together and called
out aloud in the following words:
"Hear! O God! O heaven! O earth! the oath that we swear against Vang
Khan and Temujin. If any one of us spares them when we have them in
our power, or if we fail to keep the promise that we have made to
destroy them, may we meet with the same fate that has befallen these
beasts that we have now cut to pieces."
They uttered this imprecation in a very solemn manner, standing among
the mangled and bloody remains of the beasts which lay strewed all
about the ground.
These preparations had been made thus far very secretly; but tidings
of what was going on came, before a great while, to Karakorom, Vang
Khan's capital. Temujin was greatly excited when he heard the news. He
immediately proposed that he should take his own troops, and join with
them as many of Vang Khan's soldiers as could be conveniently spared,
and go forth to meet the enemy. To this Vang Khan consented. Temujin
took one half of Vang Khan's troops to join his own, leaving the other
half to protect the capital, and so set forth on his expedition. He
went off in the direction toward the frontier where he had understood
the principal part of the hostile forces were assembling. After a long
march, probably one of many days, he arrived there before the enemy
was quite prepared for him. Then followed a series of manoeuvres
and counter-manoeuvres, in which Temujin was all the time
endeavoring to bring the rebels to battle, while they were doing all
in their power to avoid it. Their object in this delay was to gain
time for re-enforcements to come in, consisting of bodies of troops
belonging to certain members of the league who had not yet arrived.
At length, when these manoeuvres were brought to an end, and the
battle was about to be fought, Temujin and his whole army were one day
greatly surprised to see his father-in-law, Vang Khan himself, coming
into the camp at the head of a small and forlorn-looking band of
followers, who had all the appearance of fugitives escaped from a
battle. They looked anxious, way-worn, and exhausted, and the horses
that they rode seemed wholly spent with fatigue and privation. On
explanation, Temujin learned that, as soon as it was known that he had
left the capital, and taken with him a large part of the army, a
certain tribe of Vang Khan's enemies, living in another direction, had
determined to seize the opportunity to invade his dominions, and had
accordingly come suddenly in, with an immense horde, to attack the
capital. Vang Khan had done all that he could to defend the city, but
he had been overpowered. The greater part of his soldiers had been
killed or wounded. The city had been taken and pillaged. His son, with
those of the troops that had been able to save themselves, had escaped
to the mountains. As to Vang Khan himself, he had thought it best to
make his way, as soon as possible, to the camp of Temujin, where he
had now arrived, after enduring great hardships and sufferings on the
way.
Temujin was at first much amazed at hearing this story. He, however,
bade his father-in-law not to be cast down or discouraged, and
promised him full revenge, and a complete triumph over all his enemies
at the coming battle. So he proceeded at once to complete his
arrangements for the coming fight. He resigned to Vang Khan the
command of the main body of the army, while he placed himself at the
head of one of the wings, assigning the other to the chieftain next in
rank in his army. In this order he went into battle.
The battle was a very obstinate and bloody one, but, in the end,
Temujin's party was victorious. The troops opposed to him were
defeated and driven off the field. The victory appeared to be due
altogether to Temujin himself; for, after the struggle had continued a
long time, and the result still appeared doubtful, the troops of
Temujin's wing finally made a desperate charge, and forced their way
with such fury into the midst of the forces of the enemy that nothing
could withstand them. This encouraged and animated the other troops to
such a degree that very soon the enemy were entirely routed and driven
from off the field.
The effect of this victory was to raise the reputation of Temujin as a
military commander higher than ever, and greatly to increase the
confidence which Vang Khan was inclined to repose in him. The victory,
too, seemed at first to have well-nigh broken up the party of the
rebels. Still, the way was not yet open for Vang Khan to return and
take possession of his throne and of his capital, for he learned that
one of his brothers had assumed the government, and was reigning in
Karakorom in his place. It would seem that this brother, whose name
was Erkekara, had been one of the leaders of the party opposed to
Temujin. It was natural that he should be so; for, being the brother
of the king, he would, of course, occupy a very high position in the
court, and would be one of the first to experience the ill effects
produced by the coming in of any new favorite. He had accordingly
joined in the plots that were formed against Temujin and Vang Khan.
Indeed, he was considered, in some respects, as the head of their
party, and when Vang Khan was driven away from his capital, this
brother assumed the throne in his stead. The question was, how could
he now be dispossessed and Vang Khan restored.
Temujin began immediately to form his plans for the accomplishment of
this purpose. He concentrated his forces after the battle, and soon
afterward opened negotiations with other tribes, who had before been
uncertain which side to espouse, but were now assisted a great deal in
coming to a decision by the victory which Temujin had obtained. In the
mean time the rebels were not idle. They banded themselves together
anew, and made great exertions to procure re-enforcements. Erkekara
fortified himself as strongly as possible in Karakorom, and collected
ample supplies of ammunition and military stores. It was not until the
following year that the parties had completed their preparations and
were prepared for the final struggle. Then, however, another great
battle was fought, and again Temujin was victorious. Erkekara was
killed or driven away in his turn. Karakorom was retaken, and Vang
Khan entered it in triumph at the head of his troops, and was once
more established on his throne.
Of course, the rank and influence of Temujin at his court was now
higher than ever before. He was now about twenty-two or twenty-three
years of age. He had already three wives, though it is not certain
that all of them were with him at Vang Khan's court. He was extremely
popular in the army, as young commanders of great courage and spirit
almost always are. Vang Khan placed great reliance upon him, and
lavished upon him all possible honors.
He does not seem, however, yet to have begun to form any plans for
returning to his native land.
CHAPTER VII.
RUPTURE WITH VANG KHAN.
1182-1202
Erkekara.--State of the country.--Wandering
habits.--Yemuka.--Sankum.--Yemuka's intrigues with
Sankum.--Deceit.--Temujin's situation.--His military
expeditions.--Popular commanders.--Stories of Temujin's
cruelty.--Probably fictions.--Vang Khan's uneasiness.--Temujin.--Vang
Khan's suspicions.--A reconciliation.--Fresh suspicions.--Plans
laid.--Treachery.--Menglik.--Menglik gives Temujin warning.--The
double marriage.--Plans frustrated.--Temujin's camp.--Karasher.--Vang
Khan's plans.--His plans betrayed by two slaves.--How the slaves
overheard.--A council called.--Temujin plans a stratagem.
Temujin remained at the court, or in the dominions of Vang Khan, for a
great many years. During the greater portion of this time he continued
in the service of Vang Khan, and on good terms with him, though, in
the end, as we shall presently see, their friendship was turned into a
bitter enmity.
Erkekara, Vang Khan's brother, who had usurped his throne during the
rebellion, was killed, it was said, at the time when Vang Khan
recovered his throne. Several of the other rebel chieftains were also
killed, but some of them succeeded in saving themselves from utter
ruin, and in gradually recovering their former power over the hordes
which they respectively commanded. It must be remembered that the
country was not divided at this time into regular territorial states
and kingdoms, but was rather one vast undivided region, occupied by
immense hordes, each of which was more or less stationary, it is true,
in its own district or range, but was nevertheless without any
permanent settlement. The various clans drifted slowly this way and
that among the plains and mountains, as the prospects of pasturage,
the fortune of war, or the pressure of conterminous hordes might
incline them. In cases, too, where a number of hordes were united
under one general chieftain, as was the case with those over whom Vang
Khan claimed to have sway, the tie by which they were bound together
was very feeble, and the distinction between a state of submission and
of rebellion, except in case of actual war, was very slightly defined.
Yemuka, the chieftain who had been so exasperated against Temujin on
account of his being supplanted by him in the affections of the young
princess, Vang Khan's daughter, whom Temujin had married for his third
wife, succeeded in making his escape at the time when Vang Khan
conquered his enemies and recovered his throne. For a time he
concealed himself, or at least kept out of Vang Khan's reach, by
dwelling with hordes whose range was at some distance from Karakorom.
He soon, however, contrived to open secret negotiations with one of
Vang Khan's sons, whose name was something that sounded like Sankum.
Some authors, in attempting to represent his name in our letters,
spelled it _Sunghim_.
Yemuka easily persuaded this young Sankum to take sides with him in
the quarrel. It was natural that he should do so, for, being the son
of Vang Khan, he was in some measure displaced from his own legitimate
and proper position at his father's court by the great and constantly
increasing influence which Temujin exercised.
"And besides," said Yemuka, in the secret representations which he
made to Sankum, "this new-comer is not only interfering with and
curtailing your proper influence and consideration now, but his design
is by-and-by to circumvent and supplant you altogether. He is forming
plans for making himself your father's heir, and so robbing you of
your rightful inheritance."
Sankum listened very eagerly to these suggestions, and finally it was
agreed between him and Yemuka that Sankum should exert his influence
with his father to obtain permission for Yemuka to come back to court,
and to be received again into his father's service, under pretense of
having repented of his rebellion, and of being now disposed to return
to his allegiance. Sankum did this, and, after a time, Vang Khan was
persuaded to allow Yemuka to return.
Thus a sort of outward peace was made, but it was no real peace.
Yemuka was as envious and jealous of Temujin as ever, and now,
moreover, in addition to this envy and jealousy, he felt the stimulus
of revenge. Things, however, seem to have gone on very quietly for a
time, or at least without any open outbreak in the court. During this
time Vang Khan was, as usual with such princes, frequently engaged in
wars with the neighboring hordes. In these wars he relied a great deal
on Temujin. Temujin was in command of a large body of troops, which
consisted in part of his own guard, the troops that had come with him
from his own country, and in part of other bands of men whom Vang Khan
had placed under his orders, or who had joined him of their own
accord. He was assisted in the command of this body by four
subordinate generals or khans, whom he called his four intrepids. They
were all very brave and skillful commanders. At the head of this troop
Temujin was accustomed to scour the country, hunting out Vang Khan's
enemies, or making long expeditions over distant plains or among the
mountains, in the prosecution of Vang Khan's warlike projects,
whether those of invasion and plunder, or of retaliation and
vengeance.
Temujin was extremely popular with the soldiers who served under him.
Soldiers always love a dashing, fearless, and energetic leader, who
has the genius to devise brilliant schemes, and the spirit to execute
them in a brilliant manner. They care very little how dangerous the
situations are into which he may lead them. Those that get killed in
performing the exploits which he undertakes can not speak to complain,
and those who survive are only so much the better pleased that the
dangers that they have been brought safely through were so desperate,
and that the harvest of glory which they have thereby acquired is so
great.
Temujin, though a great favorite with his own men, was, like almost
all half-savage warriors of his class, utterly merciless, when he was
angry, in his treatment of his enemies. It is said that after one of
his battles, in which he had gained a complete victory over an immense
horde of rebels and other foes, and had taken great numbers of them
prisoners, he ordered fires to be built and seventy large caldrons of
water to be put over them, and then, when the water was boiling hot,
he caused the principal leaders of the vanquished army to be thrown
in headlong and thus scalded to death. Then he marched at once into
the country of the enemy, and there took all the women and children,
and sent them off to be sold as slaves, and seized the cattle and
other property which he found, and carried it off as plunder. In thus
taking possession of the enemy's property and making it his own, and
selling the poor captives into slavery, there was nothing remarkable.
Such was the custom of the times. But the act of scalding his
prisoners to death seems to denote or reveal in his character a vein
of peculiar and atrocious cruelty. It is possible, however, that the
story may not be true. It may have been invented by Yemuka and Sankum,
or by some of his other enemies.
For Yemuka and Sankum, and others who were combined with them, were
continually endeavoring to undermine Temujin's influence with Vang
Khan, and thus deprive him of his power. But he was too strong for
them. His great success in all his military undertakings kept him up
in spite of all that his rivals could do to pull him down. As for Vang
Khan himself, he was in part pleased with him and proud of him, and in
part he feared him. He was very unwilling to be so dependent upon a
subordinate chieftain, and yet he could not do without him. A king
never desires that any one of his subjects should become too
conspicuous or too great, and Vang Khan would have been very glad to
have diminished, in some way, the power and prestige which Temujin had
acquired, and which seemed to be increasing every day. He, however,
found no means of effecting this in any quiet and peaceful manner.
Temujin was at the head of his troops, generally away from Karakorom,
where Vang Khan resided, and he was, in a great measure, independent.
He raised his own recruits to keep the numbers of his army good, and
it was always easy to subsist if there chanced to be any failure in
the ordinary and regular supplies.
Besides, occasions were continually occurring in which Vang Khan
wished for Temujin's aid, and could not dispense with it. At one time,
while engaged in some important campaigns, far away among the
mountains, Yemuka contrived to awaken so much distrust of Temujin in
Vang Khan's mind, that Vang Khan secretly decamped in the night, and
marched away to a distant place to save himself from a plot which
Yemuka had told him that Temujin was contriving. Here, however, he was
attacked by a large body of his enemies, and was reduced to such
straits that he was obliged to send couriers off at once to Temujin to
come with his intrepids and save him. Temujin came. He rescued Vang
Khan from his danger, and drove his enemies away. Vang Khan was very
grateful for this service, so that the two friends became entirely
reconciled to each other, and were united more closely than ever,
greatly to Yemuka's disappointment and chagrin. They made a new league
of amity, and, to seal and confirm it, they agreed upon a double
marriage between their two families. A son of Temujin was to be
married to a daughter of Vang Khan, and a son of Vang Khan to a
daughter of Temujin.
This new compact did not, however, last long. As soon as Vang Khan
found that the danger from which Temujin had rescued him was passed,
he began again to listen to the representations of Yemuka and Sankum,
who still insisted that Temujin was a very dangerous man, and was by
no means to be trusted. They said that he was ambitious and
unprincipled, and that he was only waiting for a favorable opportunity
to rebel himself against Vang Khan and depose him from his throne.
They made a great many statements to the khan in confirmation of their
opinion, some of which were true doubtless, but many were
exaggerated, and others probably false. They, however, succeeded at
last in making such an impression upon the khan's mind that he finally
determined to take measures for putting Temujin out of the way.
Accordingly, on some pretext or other, he contrived to send Temujin
away from Karakorom, his capital, for Temujin was so great a favorite
with the royal guards and with all the garrison of the town, that he
did not dare to undertake any thing openly against him there. Vang
Khan also sent a messenger to Temujin's own country to persuade the
chief persons there to join him in his plot. It will be recollected
that, at the time that Temujin left his own country, when he was about
fourteen years old, his mother had married a great chieftain there,
named Menglik, and that this Menglik, in conjunction doubtless with
Temujin's mother, had been made regent during his absence. Vang Khan
now sent to Menglik to propose that he should unite with him to
destroy Temujin.
"You have no interest," said Vang Khan in the message that he sent to
Menglik, "in taking his part. It is true that you have married his
mother, but, personally, he is nothing to you. And, if he is once out
of the way, you will be acknowledged as the Grand Khan of the Monguls
in your own right, whereas you now hold your place in subordination to
him, and he may at any time return and set you aside altogether."
Vang Khan hoped by these arguments to induce Menglik to come and
assist him in his plan of putting Temujin to death, or, at least, if
Menglik would not assist him in perpetrating the deed, he thought
that, by these arguments, he should induce him to be willing that it
should be committed, so that he should himself have nothing to fear
afterward from his resentment. But Menglik received the proposal in a
very different way from what Vang Khan had expected. He said nothing,
but he determined immediately to let Temujin know of the danger that
he was in. He accordingly at once set out to go to Temujin's camp to
inform him of Vang Khan's designs.
In the mean time, Vang Khan, having matured his plans, made an
appointment for Temujin to meet him at a certain place designated for
the purpose of consummating the double marriage between their
children, which had been before agreed upon. Temujin, not suspecting
any treachery, received and entertained the messenger in a very
honorable manner, and said that he would come. After making the
necessary preparations, he set out, in company with the messenger and
with a grand retinue of his own attendants, to go to the place
appointed. On his way he was met or overtaken by Menglik, who had come
to warn him of his danger. As soon as Temujin had heard what his
stepfather had to say, he made some excuse for postponing the journey,
and, sending a civil answer to Vang Khan by the embassador, he ordered
him to go forward, and went back himself to his own camp.
This camp was at some distance from Karakorom. Vang Khan, as has
already been stated, had sent Temujin away from the capital on account
of his being so great a favorite that he was afraid of some tumult if
he were to attempt any thing against him there. Temujin was, however,
pretty strong in his camp. The troops that usually attended him were
there, with the four intrepids as commanders of the four principal
divisions of them. His old instructor and guardian, Karasher, was with
him too. Karasher, it seems, had continued in Temujin's service up to
this time, and was accustomed to accompany him in all his expeditions
as his counselor and friend.
When Vang Khan learned, by the return of his messenger, that Temujin
declined to come to the place of rendezvous which he had appointed, he
concluded at once that he suspected treachery, and he immediately
decided that he must now strike a decisive blow without any delay,
otherwise Temujin would put himself more and more on his guard. He was
not mistaken, it seems, however, in thinking how great a favorite
Temujin was at Karakorom, for his secret design was betrayed to
Temujin by two of his servants, who overheard him speak of it to one
of his wives. Vang Khan's plan was to go out secretly to Temujin's
camp at the head of an armed force superior to his, and there come
upon him and his whole troop suddenly, by surprise, in the night, by
which means, he thought, he should easily overpower the whole
encampment, and either kill Temujin and his generals, or else make
them prisoners. The two men who betrayed this plan were slaves, who
were employed to take care of the horses of some person connected with
Vang Khan's household, and to render various other services. Their
names were Badu and Kishlik. It seems that these men were one day
carrying some milk to Vang Khan's house or tent, and there they
overheard a conversation between Vang Khan and his wife, by which
they learned the particulars of the plan formed for Temujin's
destruction. The expedition was to set out, they heard, on the
following morning.
It is not at all surprising that they overheard this conversation, for
not only the tents, but even the houses used by these Asiatic nations
were built of very frail and thin materials, and the partitions were
often made of canvas and felt, and other such substances as could have
very little power to intercept sound.
The two slaves determined to proceed at once to Temujin's camp and
warn him of his danger. So they stole away from their quarters at
nightfall, and, after traveling diligently all night, in the morning
they reached the camp and told Temujin what they had learned. Temujin
was surprised; but he had been, in some measure, prepared for such
intelligence by the communication which his stepfather had made him in
respect to Vang Khan's treacherous designs a few days before. He
immediately summoned Karasher and some of his other friends, in order
to consult in respect to what it was best to do.
It was resolved to elude Vang Khan's design by means of a stratagem.
He was to come upon them, according to the account of the slaves,
that night. The preparations for receiving him were consequently to be
made at once. The plan was for Temujin and all his troops to withdraw
from the camp and conceal themselves in a place of ambuscade near by.
They were to leave a number of men behind, who, when night came on,
were to set the lights and replenish the fires, and put every thing in
such a condition as to make it appear that the troops were all there.
Their expectation was that, when Vang Khan should arrive, he would
make his assault according to his original design, and then, while his
forces were in the midst of the confusion incident to such an onset,
Temujin was to come forth from his ambuscade and fall upon them. In
this way he hoped to conquer them and put them to flight, although he
had every reason to suppose that the force which Vang Khan would bring
out against him would be considerably stronger in numbers than his
own.
CHAPTER VIII.
PROGRESS OF THE QUARREL.
1202
The ambuscade.--The wood and the brook.--The guard left
behind.--Arrival of Vang Khan's army.--False hopes.--Assault
upon the vacant camp.--Advance of the assailants.--The
ambuscade.--Temujin's victory.--Preparations for open
war.--Temujin makes alliances.--Turkili.--Solemn league and
covenant.--Bitter water.--Recollection of the ceremony.--Temujin's
strength.--His letter to Vang Khan.--Effect of the letter.--Sankum's
anger.--Great accessions to Temujin's army.--Mongolistan.--Final
attempt at negotiation.--Sankum's answer.--Skirmishes.
Temujin's stratagem succeeded admirably. As soon as he had decided
upon it he began to put it into execution. He caused every thing of
value to be taken out of his tent and carried away to a place of
safety. He sent away the women and children, too, to the same place.
He then marshaled all his men, excepting the small guard that he was
going to leave behind until evening, and led them off to the ambuscade
which he had chosen for them. The place was about two leagues distant
from his camp. Temujin concealed himself here in a narrow dell among
the mountains, not far from the road where Vang Khan would have to
pass along. The dell was narrow, and was protected by precipitous
rocks on each side. There was a wood at the entrance to it also, which
concealed those that were hidden in it from view, and a brook which
flowed by near the entrance, so that, in going in or coming out, it
was necessary to ford the brook.
Temujin, on arriving at the spot, went with all his troops into the
dell, and concealed himself there.
In the mean time, the guard that had been left behind in the camp had
been instructed to kindle up the camp-fires as soon as the evening
came on, according to the usual custom, and to set lights in the
tents, so as to give the camp the appearance, when seen from a little
distance in the night, of being occupied, as usual, by the army. They
were to wait, and watch the fires and lights until they perceived
signs of the approach of the enemy to attack the camp, when they were
secretly to retire on the farther side, and so make their escape.
These preparations, and the march of Temujin's troops to the place of
ambuscade, occupied almost the whole of the day, and it was near
evening before the last of the troops had entered the dell.
They had scarce accomplished this manoeuvre before Vang Khan's army
arrived. Vang Khan himself was not with them. He had intrusted the
expedition to the command of Sankum and Yemuka. Indeed, it is probable
that they were the real originators and contrivers of it, and that
Vang Khan had only been induced to give his consent to it--and that
perhaps reluctantly--by their persuasions. Sankum and Yemuka advanced
cautiously at the head of their columns, and when they saw the
illumination of the camp produced by the lights and the camp-fires,
they thought at once that all was right, and that their old enemy and
rival was now, at last, within their reach and at their mercy.
They brought up the men as near to the camp as they could come without
being observed, and then, drawing their bows and making their arrows
ready, they advanced furiously to the onset, and discharged an immense
shower of arrows in among the tents. They expected to see thousands of
men come rushing out from the tents, or starting up from the ground at
this sudden assault, but, to their utter astonishment, all was as
silent and motionless after the falling of the arrows as before. They
then discharged more arrows, and, finding that they could not awaken
any signs of life, they began to advance cautiously and enter the
camp. They found, of course, that it had been entirely evacuated. They
then rode round and round the inclosure, examining the ground with
flambeaux and torches to find the tracks which Temujin's army had made
in going away. The tracks were soon discovered. Those who first saw
them immediately set off in pursuit of the fugitives, as they supposed
them, shouting, at the same time, for the rest to follow. Some did
follow immediately. Others, who had strayed away to greater or less
distances on either side of the camp in search of the tracks, fell in
by degrees as they received the order, while others still remained
among the tents, where they were to be seen riding to and fro,
endeavoring to make discoveries, or gathering together in groups to
express to one another their astonishment, or to inquire what was next
to be done. They, however, all gradually fell into the ranks of those
who were following the track which had been found, and the whole body
went on as fast as they could go, and in great confusion. They all
supposed that Temujin and his troops were making a precipitate
retreat, and were expecting every moment to come up to him in his
rear, in which case he would be taken at great disadvantage, and would
be easily overwhelmed.
Instead of this, Temujin was just coming forward from his
hiding-place, with his squadrons all in perfect order, and advancing
in a firm, steady, and compact column, all being ready at the word of
command to charge in good order, but with terrible impetuosity, upon
the advancing enemy. In this way the two armies came together. The
shock of the encounter was terrific. Temujin, as might have been
expected, was completely victorious. The confused masses of Vang
Khan's army were overborne, thrown into dreadful confusion, and
trampled under foot. Great numbers were killed. Those that escaped
being killed at once turned and fled. Sankum was wounded in the face
by an arrow, but he still was able to keep his seat upon his horse,
and so galloped away. Those that succeeded in saving themselves got
back as soon as they could into the road by which they came, and so
made their way, in detached and open parties, home to Karakorom.
Of course, after this, Vang Khan could no longer dissimulate his
hostility to Temujin, and both parties prepared for open war.
The different historians through whom we derive our information in
respect to the life and adventures of Genghis Khan have related the
transactions which occurred after this open outbreak between Temujin
and Vang Khan somewhat differently. Combining their accounts, we learn
that both parties, after the battle, opened negotiations with such
neighboring tribes as they supposed likely to take sides in the
conflict, each endeavoring to gain as many adherents as possible to
his own cause. Temujin obtained the alliance and co-operation of a
great number of Tartar princes who ruled over hordes that dwelt in
that part of the country, or among the mountains around. Some of these
chieftains were his relatives. Others were induced to join him by
being convinced that he would, in the end, prove to be stronger than
Vang Khan, and being, in some sense, politicians as well as warriors,
they wished to be sure of coming out at the close of the contest on
the victorious side.
There was a certain khan, named Turkili, who was a relative of
Temujin, and who commanded a very powerful tribe. On approaching the
confines of his territory, Temujin, not being certain of Turkili's
disposition toward him, sent forward an embassador to announce his
approach, and to ask if Turkili still retained the friendship which
had long subsisted between them. Turkili might, perhaps, have
hesitated which side to join, but the presence of Temujin with his
whole troop upon his frontier seems to have determined him, so he sent
a favorable answer, and at once espoused Temujin's cause.
Many other chieftains joined Temujin in much the same way, and thus
the forces under his command were constantly increased. At length, in
his progress across the country, he came with his troop of followers
to a place where there was a stream of salt or bitter water which was
unfit to drink. Temujin encamped on the shores of this stream, and
performed a grand ceremony, in which he himself and his allies banded
themselves together in the most solemn manner. In the course of the
ceremony a horse was sacrificed on the shores of the stream. Temujin
also took up some of the water from the brook and drank it, invoking
heaven, at the same time, to witness a solemn vow which he made, that,
as long as he lived, he would share with his officers and soldiers the
bitter as well as the sweet, and imprecating curses upon himself if he
should ever violate his oath. All his allies and officers did the same
after him.
[Illustration: DRINKING THE BITTER WATERS.]
This ceremony was long remembered in the army, all those who had been
present and had taken part in it cherishing the recollection of it
with pride and pleasure; and long afterward, when Temujin had attained
to the height of his power and glory, his generals considered their
having been present at this first solemn league and covenant as
conferring upon them a sort of title of nobility, by which they and
their descendants were to be distinguished forever above all those
whose adhesion to the cause of the conqueror dated from a later time.
By this time Temujin began to feel quite strong. He moved on with his
army till he came to the borders of a lake which was not a great way
from Vang Khan's dominions. Here he encamped, and, before proceeding
any farther, he determined to try the effect, upon the mind of Vang
Khan, of a letter of expostulation and remonstrance; so he wrote to
him, substantially, as follows:
"A great many years ago, in the time of my father, when you
were driven from your throne by your enemies, my father came
to your aid, defeated your enemies, and restored you.
"At a later time, after I had come into your dominions, your
brother conspired against you with the Markats and the
Naymans. I defeated them, and helped you to recover your
power. When you were reduced to great distress, I shared
with you my flocks and every thing that I had.
"At another time, when you were in circumstances of great
danger and distress, you sent to me to ask that my four
intrepids might go and rescue you. I sent them according to
your request, and they delivered you from a most imminent
danger. They helped you to conquer your enemies, and to
recover an immense booty from them.
"In many other instances, when the khans have combined
against you, I have given you most effectual aid in subduing
them.
"How is it, then, after receiving all these benefits from me
for a period of so many years, that you form plans to
destroy me in so base and treacherous a manner?"
This letter seems to have produced some impression upon Vang Khan's
mind; but he was now, it seems, so much under the influence of Sankum
and Yemuka that he could decide nothing for himself. He sent the
letter to Sankum to ask him what answer should be returned. But
Sankum, in addition to his former feelings of envy and jealousy
against Temujin, was now irritated and angry in consequence of the
wound that he had received, and determined to have his revenge. He
would not hear of any accommodation.
In the mean time, the khans of all the Tartar and Mongul tribes that
lived in the countries bordering on Vang Khan's dominions, hearing of
the rupture between Vang Khan and Temujin, and aware of the great
struggle for the mastery between these two potentates that was about
to take place, became more and more interested in the quarrel. Temujin
was very active in opening negotiations with them, and in endeavoring
to induce them to take his side. He was a comparatively young and
rising man, while Vang Khan was becoming advanced in years, and was
now almost wholly under the influence of Sankum and Yemuka. Temujin,
moreover, had already acquired great fame and great popularity as a
commander, and his reputation was increasing every day, while Vang
Khan's glory was evidently on the wane. A great number of the khans
were, of course, predisposed to take Temujin's side. Others he
compelled to join him by force, and others he persuaded by promising
to release them from the exactions and the tyranny which Vang Khan had
exercised over them, and declaring that he was a messenger especially
sent from heaven to accomplish their deliverance. Those Asiatic tribes
were always ready to believe in military messengers sent from heaven
to make conquests for their benefit.
Among other nations who joined Temujin at this time were the people of
his own country of Mongolistan Proper. He was received very joyfully
by his stepfather, who was in command there, and by all his former
subjects, and they all promised to sustain him in the coming war.
After a time, when Temujin had by these and similar means greatly
increased the number of his adherents, and proportionately
strengthened his position, he sent an embassador again to Vang Khan to
propose some accommodation. Vang Khan called a council to consider the
proposal. But Sankum and Yemuka persisted in refusing to allow any
accommodation to be made. They declared that they would not listen to
proposals of peace on any other condition than that of the absolute
surrender of Temujin, and of all who were confederate with him, to
Vang Khan as their lawful sovereign. Sankum himself delivered the
message to the embassador.
"Tell the rebel Monguls," said he, "that they are to expect no peace
but by submitting absolutely to the khan's will; and as for Temujin, I
will never see him again till I come to him sword in hand to kill
him."
Immediately after this Sankum and Yemuka sent off some small
plundering expeditions into the Mongul country, but they were driven
back by Temujin's troops without effecting their purpose. The result
of these skirmishes was, however, greatly to exasperate both parties,
and to lead them to prepare in earnest for open war.
CHAPTER IX.
THE DEATH OF VANG KHAN.
1202
A council called.--Mankerule.--Debates.--Temujin made
general-in-chief.--He distributes rewards.--Reward of the two
slaves.--His reasons.--Organization of the army.--Mode of
attack.--The two armies.--The baggage.--Meeting of the two
armies.--The battle.--Vang Khan defeated.--His flight.--His
relations with the Naymans.--Debates among the Naymans.--Tayian.--Plan
of the chieftains.--Vang Khan beheaded.--Tayian's deceit.--Disposal
made of his head.--Sankum slain.
A grand council was now called of all the confederates who were
leagued with Temujin, at a place called Mankerule, to make
arrangements for a vigorous prosecution of the war. At this council
were convened all the chieftains and khans that had been induced to
declare against Vang Khan. Each one came attended by a considerable
body of troops as his escort, and a grand deliberation was held. Some
were in favor of trying once more to come to some terms of
accommodation with Vang Khan, but Temujin convinced them that there
was nothing to be hoped for except on condition of absolute
submission, and that, in that case, Vang Khan would never be content
until he had effected the utter ruin of every one who had been engaged
in the rebellion. So it was, at last, decided that every man should
return to his own tribe, and there raise as large a force as he could,
with a view to carrying on the war with the utmost vigor.
Temujin was formally appointed general-in-chief of the army to be
raised. There was a sort of truncheon or ornamented club, called the
topaz, which it was customary on such occasions to bestow, with great
solemnity, on the general thus chosen, as his badge of command. The
topaz was, in this instance, conferred upon Temujin with all the usual
ceremonies. He accepted it on the express condition that every man
would punctually and implicitly obey all his orders, and that he
should have absolute power to punish any one who should disobey him in
the way that he judged best, and that they should submit without
question to all his decisions. To these conditions they all solemnly
agreed.
Being thus regularly placed in command, Temujin began by giving places
of honor and authority to those who left Vang Khan's service to follow
him. He took this occasion to remember and reward the two slaves who
had come to him in the night at his camp, some time before, to give
him warning of the design of Sankum and Yemuka to come and surprise
him there. He gave the slaves their freedom, and made provision for
their maintenance as long as they should live. He also put them on the
list of _exempts_. The exempts were a class of persons upon whom, as
a reward for great public services, were conferred certain exclusive
rights and privileges. They had no taxes to pay. In case of plunder
taken from the enemy, they received their full share without any
deduction, while all the others were obliged to contribute a portion
of their shares for the khan. The exempts, too, were allowed various
other privileges. They had the right to go into the presence of the
khan at any time, without waiting, as others were obliged to do, till
they obtained permission, and, what was more singular still, they were
entitled to _nine_ pardons for any offenses that they might commit, so
that it was only when they had committed ten misdemeanors or crimes
that they were in danger of punishment The privileges which Temujin
thus bestowed upon the slaves were to be continued to their
descendants to the seventh generation.
Temujin rewarded the slaves in this bountiful manner, partly, no
doubt, out of sincere gratitude to them for having been the means,
probably, of saving him and his army from destruction, and partly for
effect, in order to impress upon his followers a strong conviction
that any great services rendered to him or to his cause were certain
to be well rewarded.
Temujin now found himself at the head of a very large body of men,
and his first care was to establish a settled system of discipline
among them, so that they could act with regularity and order when
coming into battle. He divided his army into three separate bodies.
The centre was composed of his own guards, and was commanded by
himself. The wings were formed of the squadrons of his confederates
and allies. His plan in coming into battle was to send forward the two
wings, retaining the centre as a reserve, and hold them prepared to
rush in with irresistible power whenever the time should arrive at
which their coming would produce the greatest effect.
When every thing was thus arranged, Temujin set his army in motion,
and began to advance toward the country of Vang Khan. The squadrons
which composed his immense horde were so numerous that they covered
all the plain.
In the mean time Vang Khan had not been idle. He, or rather Sankum and
Yemuka, acting in his name, had assembled a great army, and he had set
out on his march from Karakorom to meet his enemy. His forces,
however, though more numerous, were by no means so well disciplined
and arranged as those of Temujin. They were greatly encumbered, too,
with baggage, the army being followed in its march by endless trains
of wagons conveying provisions, arms, and military stores of all
kinds. Its progress was, therefore, necessarily slow, for the troops
of horsemen were obliged to regulate their speed by the movement of
the wagons, which, on account of the heavy burdens that they
contained, and the want of finished roads, was necessarily slow.
The two armies met upon a plain between two rivers, and a most
desperate and bloody battle ensued. Karasher, Temujin's former tutor,
led one of the divisions of Temujin's army, and was opposed by Yemuka,
who headed the wing of Vang Khan's army which confronted his division.
The other wings attacked each other, too, in the most furious manner,
and for three hours it was doubtful which party would be successful.
At length Temujin, who had all this time remained in the background
with his reserve, saw that the favorable moment had arrived for him to
intervene, and he gave the order for his guards to charge, which they
did with such impetuosity as to carry all before them. One after
another of Vang Khan's squadrons was overpowered, thrown into
confusion, and driven from the field. It was not long before Vang Khan
saw that all was lost. He gave up the contest and fled. A small troop
of horsemen, consisting of his immediate attendants and guards, went
with him. At first the fugitives took the road toward Karakorom. They
were, however, so hotly pursued that they were obliged to turn off in
another direction, and, finally, Vang Khan resolved to fly from his
own country altogether, and appeal for protection to a certain
chieftain, named Tayian Khan, who ruled over a great horde called the
Naymans, one of the most powerful tribes in the country of Karakatay.
This Tayian was the father of Temujin's first wife, the young princess
to whom he was married during the lifetime of his father, when he was
only about fourteen years old.
It was thought strange that Vang Khan should thus seek refuge among
the Naymans, for he had not, for some time past, been on friendly
terms either with Tayian, the khan, or with the tribe. There were, in
particular, a considerable number of the subordinate chieftains who
cherished a deep-seated resentment against him for injuries which he
had inflicted upon them and upon their country in former wars. But all
these Tartar tribes entertained very high ideas of the obligations of
hospitality, and Vang Khan thought that when the Naymans saw him
coming among them, a fugitive and in distress, they would lay aside
their animosity, and give him a kind reception.
Indeed, Tayian himself, on whom, as the head of the tribe, the chief
discredit would attach of any evil befalling a visitor and a guest who
had come in his distress to seek hospitality, was inclined, at first,
to receive his enemy kindly, and to offer him a refuge. He debated the
matter with the other chieftains after Vang Khan had entered his
dominions and was approaching his camp; but they were extremely
unwilling that any mercy should be shown to their fallen enemy. They
represented to Tayian how great an enemy he had always been to them.
They exaggerated the injuries which he had done them, and represented
them in their worst light. They said, moreover, that, by harboring
Vang Khan, they should only involve themselves in a war with Temujin,
who would undoubtedly follow his enemy into their country, and would
greatly resent any attempt on their part to protect him.
These considerations had great effect on the mind of Tayian, but still
he could not bring himself to give his formal consent to any act of
hostility against Vang Khan. So the other chieftains held a council
among themselves to consider what they should do. They resolved to
take upon themselves the responsibility of slaying Vang Khan.
"We can not induce Tayian openly to authorize it," they said, "but he
secretly desires it, and he will be glad when it is done."
Tayian knew very well what course things were taking, though he
pretended not to know, and so allowed the other chiefs to go on in
their own way.
They accordingly fitted out a troop, and two of the chieftains--the
two who felt the most bitter and determined hatred against Vang
Khan--placing themselves at the head of it, set off to intercept him.
He had lingered on the way, it seems, after entering the Nayman
territory, in order to learn, before he advanced too far, what
reception he was likely to meet with. The troop of Naymans came
suddenly upon him in his encampment, slew all his attendants, and,
seizing Vang Khan, they cut off his head. They left the body where it
lay, and carried off the head to show it to Tayian.
Tayian was secretly pleased, and he could not quite conceal the
gratification which the death of his old enemy afforded him. He even
addressed the head in words of scorn and spite, which revealed the
exultation that he felt at the downfall of his rival. Then, however,
checking himself, he blamed the chieftains for killing him.
"Considering his venerable age," said he, "and his past greatness and
renown as a prince and commander, you would have done much better to
have acted as his guards than as his executioners."
Tayian ordered the head to be treated with the utmost respect. After
properly preparing it, by some process of drying and preserving, he
caused it to be inclosed in a case of silver, and set in a place of
honor.
While the preparations for this sort of entombment were making, the
head was an object of a very solemn and mysterious interest for all
the horde. They said that the tongue thrust itself several times out
of the mouth, and the soothsayers, who watched the changes with great
attention, drew from them important presages in respect to the coming
events of the war. These presages were strongly in favor of the
increasing prosperity and power of Temujin.
Sankum, the son of Vang Khan, was killed in the battle, but Yemuka
escaped.
CHAPTER X.
THE DEATH OF YEMUKA.
1202-1203
The victory complete.--Exaggeration.--The plunder.--Great
accession.--The khans submit.--Sankum and Yemuka.--Hakembu and his
daughter.--Hakembu's fears.--Temujin's gratitude.--His reply.--Yemuka
makes his escape.--Arrives in Tayian's dominions.--Tayian's
conversations with Yemuka.--Yemuka's representations of Temujin's
character.--Plots formed.--Alakus.--The plots revealed to Temujin.--He
is deceived.--The young Prince Jughi.--Council of war.--Yemuka and
Tayian.--Temujin crosses the frontier.--His advance.--Preparations
for battle.--Kushluk and Jughi.--Great battle.--Temujin again
victorious.--Tayian killed.--Yemuka is beheaded.
In the mean time, while these events had been occurring in the country
of the Naymans, whither Vang Khan had fled, Temujin was carrying all
before him in the country of Vang Khan. His victory in the battle was
complete; and it must have been a very great battle, if any reliance
is to be placed on the accounts given of the number slain, which it
was said amounted to forty thousand. These numbers are, however,
greatly exaggerated. And then, besides, the number slain in such
barbarian conflicts was always much greater, in proportion to the
numbers engaged, than it is in the better-regulated warfare of
civilized nations in modern times.
At all events, Temujin gained a very grand and decisive victory. He
took a great many prisoners and a great deal of plunder. All those
trains of wagons fell into his hands, and the contents of many of them
were extremely valuable. He took also a great number of horses. Most
of these were horses that had belonged to the men who were killed or
who had been made prisoners. All the best troops that remained of Vang
Khan's army after the battle also went over to his side. They
considered that Vang Khan's power was now entirely overthrown, and
that thenceforth Temujin would be the acknowledged ruler of the whole
country. They were accordingly ready at once to transfer their
allegiance to him.
Very soon Temujin received the news of Vang Khan's death from his
father-in-law Tayian, and then proceeded with more vigor than before
to take possession of all his dominions. The khans who had formerly
served under Vang Khan sent in their adhesion to him one after
another. They not only knew that all farther resistance would be
useless, but they were, in fact, well pleased to transfer their
allegiance to their old friend and favorite. Temujin made a sort of
triumphal march through the country, being received every where with
rejoicings and acclamations of welcome. His old enemies, Sankum and
Yemuka, had disappeared. Yemuka, who had been, after all, the leading
spirit in the opposition to Temujin, still held a body of armed men
together, consisting of all the troops that he had been able to rally
after the battle, but it was not known exactly where he had gone.
The other relatives and friends of Vang Khan went over to Temujin's
side without any delay. Indeed, they vied with each other to see who
should most recommend themselves to his favor. A brother of Vang Khan,
who was an influential and powerful chieftain, came among the rest to
tender his services, and, by way of a present to conciliate Temujin's
good will, he brought him his daughter, whom he offered to Temujin as
an addition to the number of his wives.
Temujin received the brother very kindly. He accepted the present
which he brought him of his daughter, but, as he had already plenty of
wives, and as one of his principal officers, the captain of his
guards, seemed to take a special fancy to her, he very generously, as
was thought, passed over the young lady to him. Of course, the young
lady herself had nothing to say in the case. She was obliged to
acquiesce submissively in any arrangement which her father and the
other khans thought proper to make in respect to the disposal of her.
The name of the prince her father was Hakembu. He came into Temujin's
camp with many misgivings, fearing that, as he was a brother of Vang
Khan, Temujin might feel a special resentment against him, and,
perhaps, refuse to accept his submission and his proffered presents.
When, therefore, he found how kindly he was received, his mind was
greatly relieved, and he asked Temujin to appoint him to some command
in his army.
Temujin replied that he would do it with great pleasure, and the more
readily because it was the brother of Vang Khan who asked it.
"Indeed," said he to Hakembu, "I owe you all the kind treatment in my
power for your brother's sake, in return for the succor and protection
for which I was indebted to him, in my misfortunes, in former times,
when he received me, a fugitive and an exile, at his court, and
bestowed upon me so many favors. I have never forgotten, and never
shall forget, the great obligations I am under to him; and although in
later years he turned against me, still I have never blamed either him
or his son Sankum for this, but have constantly attributed it to the
false representations and evil influence of Yemuka, who has always
been my implacable enemy. I do not, therefore, feel any resentment
against Vang Khan for having thus turned against me, nor do I any the
less respect his memory on that account; and I am very glad that an
opportunity now occurs for me to make, through you, his brother, some
small acknowledgment of the debt of gratitude which I owe him."
So Temujin gave Hakembu an honorable post in his army, and treated him
in all respects with great consideration. If he acted usually in this
generous manner, it is not at all surprising that he acquired that
boundless influence over the minds of his followers which aided him so
essentially in attaining his subsequent greatness and renown.
In the mean time, although Sankum was killed, Yemuka had succeeded in
making his escape, and, after meeting with various adventures, he
finally reached the country of Tayian. He led with him there all that
portion of Vang Khan's army that had saved themselves from being
killed or made prisoners, and also a great number of officers. These
broken troops Yemuka had reorganized, as well as he could, by
collecting the scattered remnants and rearranging the broken
squadrons, and in this manner, accompanied by such of the sick and
wounded as were able to ride, had arrived in Tayian's dominions. He
was known to be a general of great abilities, and he was very
favorably received in Tayian's court. Indeed, Tayian, having heard
rumors of the rapid manner in which Temujin was extending his
conquests and his power, began to be somewhat jealous of him, and to
think that it was time for him to take measures to prevent this
aggrandizement of his son-in-law from going too far.
Of course, Tayian held a great many conversations with Yemuka in
respect to Temujin's character and schemes. These Yemuka took care to
represent in the most unfavorable light, in order to increase as much
as possible Tayian's feelings of suspicion and jealousy. He
represented Temujin as a very ambitious man, full of schemes for his
own aggrandizement, and without any sentiments of gratitude or of
honor to restrain him in the execution of them. He threw wholly upon
him the responsibility of the war with Vang Khan. It grew, he said,
out of plots which Temujin had formed to destroy both Vang Khan and
his son, notwithstanding the great obligations he had been under to
them for their kindness to him in his misfortunes. Yemuka urged Tayian
also to arouse himself, before it was too late, to guard himself from
the danger.
"He is your son, it is true," said he, "and he professes to be your
friend, but he is so treacherous and unprincipled that you can place
no reliance upon him whatever, and, notwithstanding all your past
kindness to him, and the tie of relationship which ought to bind him
to you, he will as readily form plans to compass your destruction as
he would that of any other man the moment he imagines that you stand
in the way of the accomplishment of his ambitious schemes."
These representations, acting upon Tayian's natural apprehensions and
fears, produced a very sensible effect, and at length Tayian was
induced to take some measures for defending himself from the
threatened danger. So he opened negotiations with the khans of various
tribes which he thought likely to join him, and soon formed quite a
powerful league of the enemies of Temujin, and of all who were willing
to join in an attempt to restrict his power.
These steps were all taken with great secrecy, for Yemuka and Tayian
were very desirous that Temujin should know nothing of the league
which they were forming against him until their arrangements were
fully matured, and they were ready for action. They did not, however,
succeed in keeping the secret as long as they intended. They were
generally careful not to propose to any khan or chieftain to join
them in their league until they had first fully ascertained that he
was favorable to the object of it. But, growing less cautious as they
went on, they at last made a mistake. Tayian sent proposals to a
certain prince or khan, named Alakus, inviting him to join the league.
These proposals were contained in a letter which was sent by a special
messenger. The letter specified all the particulars of the league,
with a statement of the plans which the allies were intending to
pursue, and an enumeration of the principal khans or tribes that were
already engaged.
Now it happened that this Alakus, who reigned over a nation of
numerous and powerful tribes on the confines of China, was, for some
reason or other, inclined to take Temujin's side in the quarrel. So he
detained the messenger who brought the letter as a prisoner, and sent
the letter itself, containing all the particulars of the conspiracy,
at once to Temujin. Temujin was greatly surprised at receiving the
intelligence, for, up to that moment, he had considered his
father-in-law Tayian as one of his best and most trustworthy friends.
He immediately called a grand council of war to consider what was to
be done.
Temujin had a son named Jughi, who had now grown up to be a young man.
Jughi's father thought it was now time for his son to begin to take
his place and act his part among the other princes and chieftains of
his court, and he accordingly gave him a seat at this council, and
thus publicly recognized him, for the first time, as one of the chief
personages of the state.
The council, after hearing a statement of the case in respect to the
league which Tayian and the others were forming, were strongly
inclined to combine their forces and march at once to attack the enemy
before their plans should be more fully matured. But there was a
difficulty in respect to horses. The horses of the different hordes
that belonged to Temujin's army had become so much exhausted by the
long marches and other fatigues that they had undergone in the late
campaigns, that they would not be in a fit condition to commence a new
expedition until they had had some time to rest and recruit. But a
certain khan, named Bulay, an uncle of Temujin's, at once removed this
objection by offering to furnish a full supply of fresh horses for the
whole army from his own herds. This circumstance shows on what an
immense scale the pastoral occupations of the great Asiatic
chieftains were conducted in those days.
Temujin accepted this offer on the part of his uncle, and preparations
were immediately made for the marching of the expedition. As soon as
the news of these preparations reached Yemuka, he urged Tayian to
assemble the allied troops immediately, and go out to meet Temujin and
his army before they should cross the frontier.
"It is better," said he, addressing Tayian, "that you should meet and
fight him on his own ground, rather than to wait until he has crossed
the frontier and commenced his ravages in yours."
"No," said Tayian, in reply, "it is better to wait. The farther he
advances on his march, the more his horses and his men will be spent
with fatigue, the scantier will be their supplies, and the more
difficult will he find it to effect his retreat after we shall have
gained a victory over him in battle."
So Tayian, though he began to assemble his forces, did not advance;
and when Temujin, at the head of his host, reached the Nayman
frontier--for the country over which Tayian reigned was called the
country of the Naymans--he was surprised to find no enemy there to
defend it. He was the more surprised at this from the circumstance
that the frontier, being formed by a river, might have been very
easily defended. But when he arrived at the bank of the river the way
was clear. He immediately crossed the stream with all his forces, and
then marched on into the Nayman territory.
Temujin took good care, as he advanced, to guard against the danger
into which Tayian had predicted that he would fall--that of exhausting
the strength of his men and of his animals, and also his stores of
food. He took good care to provide and to take with him abundant
supplies, and also to advance so carefully and by such easy stages as
to keep both the men and the horses fresh and in full strength all the
way. In this order and condition he at last arrived at the spot where
Tayian had formed his camp and assembled his armies.
Both sides immediately marshaled their troops in order of battle.
Yemuka was chief in command on Tayian's side. He was assisted by a
young prince, the son of Tayian, whose name was Kushluk. On the other
hand, Jughi, the young son of Temujin, who had been brought forward at
the council, was appointed to a very prominent position on his
father's side. Indeed, these two young princes, who were animated by
an intense feeling of rivalry and emulation toward each other, were
appointed to lead the van on their respective sides in commencing the
battle; Jughi advancing first to the attack, and being met by Kushluk,
to whom was committed the charge of repelling him. The two princes
fought throughout the battle with the utmost bravery, and both of them
acquired great renown.
The battle was commenced early in the morning and continued all day.
In the end, Temujin was completely victorious. Tayian was mortally
wounded early in the day. He was immediately taken off the field, and
every possible effort was made to save his life, but he soon ceased to
breathe. His son, the Prince Kushluk, fought valiantly during the
whole day, but toward night, finding that all was lost, he fled,
taking with him as many of the troops as he could succeed in getting
together in the confusion, and at the head of this band made the best
of his way into the dominions of one of his uncles, his father's
brother, where he hoped to find a temporary shelter until he should
have time to determine what was to be done.
As for Yemuka, after fighting with desperate fury all day, he was at
last, toward night, surrounded and overpowered, and so made prisoner.
Temujin ordered his head to be cut off immediately after the battle
was over. He considered him, not as an honorable and open foe, but
rather as a rebel and traitor, and, consequently, undeserving of any
mercy.
CHAPTER XI.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE.
1203
Plans for the formation of a government.--His court at
Karakorom.--Embassadors.--Temujin forms a constitution.--Election
of khans.--Division of the country.--Organization of the
army.--Arms and ammunition.--Hunting.--Slaves.--Polygamy and
slavery.--Concubines.--Posthumous marriages.--Punishment for
theft.--Religion.--Freedom of choice.--Assembly of the khans.--Dilon
Ildak.--Their encampment.--Tents and herds of cattle.--Temujin's
address.--Temujin is elected grand khan.--He is enthroned and
honored.--The old prophet Kokza.--Probably insane.--His
predictions.--The title Genghis Khan.--Homage of the khans.--Inaugural
address.--Rejoicings.--Departure of the khans.
There was now a vast extent of country, comprising a very large
portion of the interior of the Asiatic Continent, and, indeed, an
immense number of wealthy, powerful hordes, under Temujin's dominion,
and he at once resolved to consolidate his dominion by organizing a
regular imperial government over the whole. There were a few more
battles to be fought in order to subdue certain khans who still
resisted, and some cities to be taken. But these victories were soon
obtained, and, in a very short time after the great battle with
Tayian, Temujin found himself the undisputed master of what to him was
almost the whole known world. All open opposition to his rule had
wholly disappeared, and nothing now remained for him to do but to
perfect the organization of his army, to enact his code of laws, to
determine upon his capital, and to inaugurate generally a system of
civil government such as is required for the management of the
internal affairs of a great empire.
Temujin determined upon making Karakorom his capital. He accordingly
proceeded to that city at the head of his troops, and entered it in
great state. Here he established a very brilliant court, and during
all the following winter, while he was occupied with the preliminary
arrangements for the organization and consolidation of his empire,
there came to him there a continual succession of embassadors from the
various nations and tribes of Central Asia to congratulate him on his
victories, and to offer the allegiance or the alliance of the khans
which they respectively represented. These embassadors all came
attended by troops of horsemen splendidly dressed and fully armed, and
the gayety and magnificence of the scenes which were witnessed in
Karakorom during the winter surpassed all that had ever been seen
there before.
In the mean time, while the attention of the masses of the people was
occupied and amused by these parades, Temujin was revolving in his
mind the form of constitution which he should establish for his
empire, and the system of laws by which his people should be governed.
He conferred privately with some of his ablest counselors on this
subject, and caused a system of government and a code of laws to be
drawn up by secretaries. The details of these proposed enactments
were discussed in the privy council, and, when the whole had been well
digested and matured, Temujin, early in the spring, sent out a
summons, calling upon all the great princes and khans throughout his
dominions to assemble at an appointed day, in order that he might lay
his proposed system before them.
Temujin determined to make his government a sort of elective monarchy.
The grand khan was to be chosen by the votes of all the other khans,
who were to be assembled in a general convocation for this purpose
whenever a new khan was to be installed. Any person who should cause
himself to be proclaimed grand khan, or who should in any other way
attempt to assume the supreme authority without having been duly
elected by the other khans, was to suffer death.
The country was divided into provinces, over each of which a
subordinate khan ruled as governor. These governors were, however, to
be strictly responsible to the grand khan. Whenever summoned by the
grand khan they were required to repair at once to the capital, there
to render an account of their administration, and to answer any
charges which had been made against them. Whenever any serious case
of disobedience or maladministration was proved against them they were
to suffer death.
Temujin remodeled and reorganized the army on the same or similar
principles. The men were divided into companies of about one hundred
men each, and every ten of these companies was formed into a regiment,
which, of course, contained about a thousand men. The regiments were
formed into larger bodies of about ten thousand each. Officers were
appointed, of all the various necessary grades, to command these
troops, and arrangements were made for having supplies of arms and
ammunition provided and stored in magazines under the care of the
officers, ready to be distributed to the men whenever they should
require.
Temujin also made provision for the building of cities and palaces,
the making of roads, and the construction of fortifications, by
ordaining that all the people should work one day in every week on
these public works whenever required.
Although the country over which this new government was to be
established was now at peace, Temujin was very desirous that the
people should not lose the martial spirit which had thus far
characterized them. He made laws to encourage and regulate hunting,
especially the hunting of wild beasts among the mountains; and
subsequently he organized many hunting excursions himself, in
connection with the lords of his court and the other great chieftains,
in order to awaken an interest in the dangers and excitements of the
chase among all the khans. He also often employed bodies of troops in
these expeditions, which he considered as a sort of substitute for
war.
He required that none of the natives of the country should be employed
as servants, or allowed to perform any menial duties whatever. For
these purposes the people were required to depend on captives taken in
war and enslaved. One reason why he made this rule was to stimulate
the people on the frontiers to make hostile excursions among their
neighbors, in order to supply themselves and the country generally
with slaves.
The right of property in the slaves thus taken was very strictly
guarded, and very severe laws were made to enforce it. It was
forbidden, on pain of death, to harbor a slave, or give him meat or
drink, clothing or shelter, without permission from his master. The
penalty was death, too, if a person meeting a fugitive slave
neglected to seize and secure him, and deliver him to his master.
Every man could marry as many wives as he pleased, and his female
slaves were all, by law, entirely at his disposal to be made
concubines.
There was one very curious arrangement, which grew out of the great
importance which, as we have already seen, was attached to the ties of
relationship and family connection among these pastoral nations. Two
families could bind themselves together and make themselves legally
one, in respect to their connection, by a fictitious marriage arranged
between children no longer living. In such a case the contracts were
regularly made, just as if the children were still alive, and the
ceremonies were all duly performed. After this the two families were
held to be legally allied, and they were bound to each other by all
the obligations which would have arisen in the case of a real
marriage. This custom is said to be continued among some of the Tartar
nations to the present day. The people think, it is said, that such a
wedding ceremony, duly solemnized by the parents of children who are
dead, takes effect upon the subjects of it in the world of spirits,
and that thus their union, though arranged and consecrated on earth,
is confirmed and consummated in heaven.
Besides these peculiar and special enactments, there were the ordinary
laws against robbery, theft, murder, adultery, and false witness. The
penalties for these offenses were generally severe. The punishment for
stealing cattle was death. For petty thefts the criminal was to be
beaten with a stick, the number of the blows being proportioned to the
nature and aggravation of the offense. He could, however, if he had
the means, buy himself off from this punishment by paying nine times
the value of the thing stolen.
In respect to religion, the constitution which Temujin made declared
that there was but one God, the creator of heaven and earth, and it
acknowledged him as the supreme ruler and governor of all mankind, the
being "who alone gives life and death, riches and poverty, who grants
and denies whatever he pleases, and exercises over all things an
absolute power." This one fundamental article of faith was all that
was required. For the rest, Temujin left the various nations and
tribes throughout his dominions to adopt such modes of worship and to
celebrate such religious rites as they severally preferred, and
forbade that any one should be disturbed or molested in any way on
account of his religion, whatever form it might assume.
At length the time arrived for the grand assembly of the khans to be
convened. The meeting was called, not at Karakorom, the capital, but
at a central spot in the interior of the country, called Dilon Ildak.
Such a spot was much more convenient than any town or city would have
been for the place of meeting, on account of the great troops of
horses and the herds of animals by which the khans were always
accompanied in all their expeditions, and which made it necessary
that, whenever any considerable number of them were to be convened,
the place chosen should be suitable for a grand encampment, with
extensive and fertile pasture-grounds extending all around.
As the several khans came in, each at the head of his own troop of
retainers and followers, they severally chose their ground, pitched
their tents, and turned their herds of horses, sheep, and oxen out to
pasture on the plains. Thus, in the course of a few days, the whole
country in every direction became dotted with villages of tents, among
which groups of horsemen were now and then to be seen galloping to and
fro, and small herds of cattle, each under the care of herdsmen and
slaves, moved slowly, cropping the grass as they advanced along the
hill-sides and through the valleys.
At length, when all had assembled, a spot was selected in the centre
of the encampment for the performance of the ceremonies. A raised seat
was prepared for Temujin in a situation suitable to enable him to
address the assembly from it.[C] Before and around this the various
khans and their attendants and followers gathered, and Temujin made
them an oration, in which he explained the circumstances under which
they had come together, and announced to them his plans and intentions
in respect to the future. He stated to them that, in consequence of
the victories which he had gained through their co-operation and
assistance, the foundation of a great empire had been laid, and that
he had now called them together in order that they might join with him
in organizing the requisite government for such a dominion, and in
electing a prince or sovereign to rule over it. He called upon them
first to proceed to the election of this ruler.
[Footnote C: See Frontispiece.]
The khans accordingly proceeded to the election. This was, in fact,
only a form, for Temujin himself was, of course, to be chosen. The
election was, however, made, and one of the oldest and most venerable
of the khans was commissioned to announce the result. He came forward
with great solemnity, and, in the presence of the whole assembly,
declared that the choice had fallen upon Temujin. He then made an
address to Temujin himself, who was seated during this part of the
ceremony upon a carpet of black felt spread upon the ground. In the
address the khan reminded Temujin that the exalted authority with
which he was now invested came from God, and that to God he was
responsible for the right exercise of his power. If he governed his
subjects well, God, he said, would render his reign prosperous and
happy; but if, on the other hand, he abused his power, he would come
to a miserable end.
After the conclusion of the address, seven of the khans, who had been
designated for this purpose, came and lifted Temujin up and bore him
away to a throne which had been set up for him in the midst of the
assembly, where all the khans, and their various bodies of attendants,
came and offered him their homage.
Among others there came a certain old prophet, named Kokza, who was
held in great veneration by all the people on account of his supposed
inspiration and the austere life which he led. He used to go very
thinly clad, and with his feet bare summer and winter, and it was
supposed that his power of enduring the exposures to which he was thus
subject was something miraculous and divine. He had received
accordingly from the people a name which signified _the image of God_,
and he was every where looked upon as inspired. He said, moreover,
that a white horse came to him from time to time and carried him up to
heaven, where he conversed face to face with God, and received the
revelations which he was commissioned to make to men. All this the
people fully believed. The man may have been an impostor, or he may
have been insane. Oftentimes, in such cases, the inspiration which the
person supposes he is the subject of arises from a certain spiritual
exaltation, which, though it does not wholly unfit him for the
ordinary avocations and duties of life, still verges upon insanity,
and often finally lapses into it entirely.
This old prophet advanced toward Temujin while he was seated on his
carpet of felt, and made a solemn address to him in the hearing of all
the assembled khans. He was charged, he said, with a message from
heaven in respect to the kingdom and dominion of Temujin, which had
been, he declared, ordained of God, and had now been established in
fulfillment of the Divine will. He was commissioned, moreover, he
said, to give to Temujin the style and title of Genghis Khan,[D] and
to declare that his kingdom should not only endure while he lived, but
should descend to his posterity, from generation to generation, to the
remotest times.
[Footnote D: The signification of these words, in the language of the
Monguls, was _great khan of khans_.]
The people, on hearing this address, at once adopted the name which
the prophet had given to their new ruler, and saluted Temujin with it
in long and loud acclamations. It was thus that our hero received the
name of Genghis Khan, which soon extended its fame through every part
of Asia, and has since become so greatly renowned through all the
world.
* * * * *
Temujin, or Genghis Khan, as we must now henceforth call him, having
thus been proclaimed by the acclamations of the people under the new
title with which the old prophet had invested him, sat upon his throne
while his subjects came to render him their homage. First the khans
themselves came up, and kneeled nine times before him, in token of
their absolute and complete submission to his authority. After they
had retired the people themselves came, and made their obeisance in
the same manner. As they rose from their knees after the last
prostration, they made the air resound once more with their shouts,
crying "Long live great Genghis Khan!" in repeated and prolonged
acclamations.
After this the new emperor made what might be called his inaugural
address. The khans and their followers gathered once more before his
throne while he delivered an oration to them, in which he thanked them
for the honor which they had done him in raising him to the supreme
power, and announced to them the principles by which he should be
guided in the government of his empire. He promised to be just in his
dealings with his subjects, and also to be merciful. He would defend
them, he said, against all their enemies. He would do every thing in
his power to promote their comfort and happiness. He would lead them
to honor and glory, and would make their names known throughout the
earth. He would deal impartially, too, with all the different tribes
and hordes, and would treat the Monguls and the Tartars, the two great
classes of his subjects, with equal favor.
When the speech was concluded Genghis Khan distributed presents to
all the subordinate khans, both great and small. He also made
magnificent entertainments, which were continued for several days.
After thus spending some time in feasting and rejoicings, the khans
one after another took their leave of the emperor, the great
encampment was broken up, and the different tribes set out on their
return to their several homes.
CHAPTER XII.
DOMINIONS OF GENGHIS KHAN.
1203
Karakorom.--Insignificance of cities and towns.--Account of
Karakorom.--The buildings.--The grand encampments.--Construction
of the tents.--Dwellings of the women.--Mountains and wild
beasts.--Hunting.--The danger of hunting in those days.--Modern
weapons.--Carabines.--Fulminating balls.--Devisme's establishment
in Paris.--Specimens.--Great danger.--Wild beasts more formidable
than men.--Grand huntsman.--Timid animals.--Stratagems.--Mode of
taking deer.--Training of the horses.--Great desert.--Cold.--No
forests.--Pasturage.--Burning the grass on the plains.
After the ceremonies of the inauguration were concluded, Genghis Khan
returned, with the officers of his court and his immediate followers,
to Karakorom. This town, though nominally the capital of the empire,
was, after all, quite an insignificant place. Indeed, but little
importance was attached to any villages or towns in those days, and
there were very few fixed places of residence that were of any
considerable account. The reason is, that towns are the seats of
commerce and manufactures, and they derive their chief importance from
those pursuits; whereas the Monguls and Tartars led almost exclusively
a wandering and pastoral life, and all their ideas of wealth and
grandeur were associated with great flocks and herds of cattle, and
handsome tents, and long trains of wagons loaded with stores of
clothing, arms, and other movables, and vast encampments in the
neighborhood of rich and extended pasture-grounds. Those who lived
permanently in fixed houses they looked down upon as an inferior
class, confined to one spot by their poverty or their toil, while they
themselves could roam at liberty with their flocks and herds over the
plains, riding fleet horses or dromedaries, and encamping where they
pleased in the green valleys or on the banks of the meandering
streams.
Karakorom was accordingly by no means a great and splendid city. It
was surrounded by what was called a mud wall--that is, a wall made of
blocks of clay dried in the sun. The houses of the inhabitants were
mere hovels, and even the palace of the king, and all the other public
buildings, were of very frail construction; for all the architecture
of the Monguls in those days took its character from the tent, which
was the type and model, so to speak, of all other buildings.
The new emperor, however, did not spend a great deal of his time at
Karakorom. He was occupied for some years in making excursions at the
head of his troops to various parts of his dominions, for the purpose
of putting down insurrections, overawing discontented and
insubordinate khans, and settling disputes of various kinds arising
between the different hordes. In these expeditions he was accustomed
to move by easy marches across the plains at the head of his army,
and sometimes would establish himself in a sort of permanent camp,
where he would remain, perhaps, as in a fixed residence, for weeks or
months at a time.
Not only Genghis Khan himself, but many of the other great chieftains,
were accustomed to live in this manner, and one of their encampments,
if we could have seen it, would have been regarded by us as a great
curiosity. The ground was regularly laid out, like a town, into
quarters, squares, and streets, and the space which it covered was
sometimes so large as to extend nearly a mile in each direction. The
tent of the khan himself was in the centre. A space was reserved for
it there large enough not only for the grand tent itself, but also for
the rows of smaller tents near, for the wives and for other women
belonging to the khan's family, and also for the rows of carts or
wagons containing the stores of provisions, the supplies of clothing
and arms, and the other valuables which these wandering chieftains
always took with them in all their peregrinations.
The tent of the khan in summer was made of a sort of calico, and in
winter of felt, which was much warmer. It was raised very high, so as
to be seen above all the rest of the encampment, and it was painted
in gay colors, and adorned with other barbaric decorations.
The dwellings in which the women were lodged, which were around or
near the great tent, were sometimes tents, and sometimes little huts
made of wood. When they were of wood they were made very light, and
were constructed in such a manner that they could be taken to pieces
at the shortest notice, and packed on carts or wagons, in order to be
transported to the next place of encampment, whenever, for any reason,
it became necessary for their lord and master to remove his domicil to
a different ground.
A large portion of the country which was included within the limits of
Genghis Khan's dominions was fertile ground, which produced abundance
of grass for the pasturage of the flocks and herds, and many springs
and streams of water. There were, however, several districts of
mountainous country, which were the refuge of tigers, leopards,
wolves, and other ferocious beasts of prey. It was among these
mountains that the great hunting parties which Genghis Khan organized
from time to time went in search of their game. There was a great
officer of the kingdom, called the grand huntsman, who had the
superintendence and charge of every thing relating to hunting and to
game throughout the empire. The grand huntsman was an officer of the
very highest rank. He even took precedence of the first ministers of
state. Genghis Khan appointed his son Jughi, who has already been
mentioned in connection with the great council of war called by his
father, and with the battle which was subsequently fought, and in
which he gained great renown, to the office of grand huntsman, and, at
the same time, made two of the older and more experienced khans his
ministers of state.
The hunting of wild beasts as ferocious as those that infested the
mountains of Asia is a very dangerous amusement even at the present
day, notwithstanding the advantage which the huntsman derives from the
use of gunpowder, and rifled barrels, and fulminating bullets. But in
those days, when the huntsman had no better weapons than bows and
arrows, javelins, and spears, the undertaking was dangerous in the
extreme. An African lion of full size used to be considered as a match
for _forty_ men in the days when only ordinary weapons were used
against him, and it was considered almost hopeless to attack him with
less than that number. And even with that number to waylay and assail
him he was not usually conquered until he had killed or disabled two
or three of his foes.
Now, however, with the terrible artillery invented in modern times, a
single man, if he has the requisite courage, coolness, and steadiness
of nerve, is a match for such a lion. The weapon used is a
double-barreled carabine, both barrels being _rifled_, that is,
provided with spiral grooves within, that operate to give the bullets
a rotary motion as they issue from the muzzle, by which they bore
their way through the air, as it were, to their destination, with a
surprising directness and precision. The bullets discharged by these
carabines are not balls, but cylinders, pointed with a cone at the
forward end. They are hollow, and are filled with a fulminating
composition which is capable of exploding with a force vastly greater
than that of gunpowder. The conical point at the end is made separate
from the body of the cylinder, and slides into it by a sort of shank,
which, when the bullet strikes the body of the lion or other wild
beast, acts like a sort of percussion cap to explode the fulminating
powder, and thus the instant that the missile enters the animal's body
it bursts with a terrible explosion, and scatters the iron fragments
of the cylinder among his vitals. Thus, while an ordinary musket ball
might lodge in his flesh, or even pass entirely through some parts of
his body, without producing any other effect than to arouse him to a
phrensy, and redouble the force with which he would spring upon his
foe, the bursting of one of these fulminating bullets almost any where
within his body brings him down in an instant, and leaves him writhing
and rolling upon the ground in the agonies of death.
On the Boulevard des Italiens, in Paris, is the manufactory of
Devisme, who makes these carabines for the lion-hunters of Algiers.
Promenaders, in passing by his windows, stop to look at specimens of
these bullets exhibited there. They are of various sizes, adapted to
barrels of different bores. Some are entire; others are rent and torn
in pieces, having been fired into a bank of earth, that they might
burst there as they would do in the body of a wild beast, and then be
recovered and preserved to show the effect of the explosion.
Even with such terrible weapons as these, it requires at the present
day great courage, great coolness, and very extraordinary steadiness
of nerve to face a lion or a tiger in his mountain fastness, with any
hope of coming off victorious in the contest. But the danger was, of
course, infinitely greater in the days of Genghis Khan, when pikes
and spears, and bows and arrows, were the only weapons with which the
body of huntsmen could arm themselves for the combat. Indeed, in those
days wild beasts were even in some respects more formidable enemies
than men. For men, however excited by angry passions, are, in some
degree, under the influence of fear. They will not rush headlong upon
absolute and certain destruction, but may be driven back by a mere
display of force, if it is obvious that it is a force which they are
wholly incapable of resisting. Thus a party of men, however desperate,
may be attacked without much danger to the assailants, provided that
the force which the assailants bring against them is overwhelming.
But it is not so with wild beasts. A lion, a tiger, or a panther, once
aroused, is wholly insensible to fear. He will rush headlong upon his
foes, however numerous they may be, and however formidably armed. He
makes his own destruction sure, it is true, but, at the same time, he
renders almost inevitable the destruction of some one or more of his
enemies, and, in going out to attack him, no one can be sure of not
becoming himself one of the victims of his fury.
Thus the hunting of wild beasts in the mountains was very dangerous
work, and it is not surprising that the office of grand huntsman was
one of great consideration and honor.
The hunting was, however, not all of the dangerous character above
described. Some animals are timid and inoffensive by nature, and
attempt to save themselves only by flight. Such animals as these were
to be pursued and overtaken by the superior speed of horses and dogs,
or to be circumvented by stratagem. There was a species of deer, in
certain parts of the Mongul country, that the huntsmen were accustomed
to take in this way, namely:
The huntsmen, when they began to draw near to a place where a herd of
deer were feeding, would divide themselves into two parties. One party
would provide themselves with the antlers of stags, which they
arranged in such a manner that they could hold them up over their
heads in the thickets, as if real stags were there. The others, armed
with bows and arrows, javelins, spears, and other such weapons, would
place themselves in ambush near by. Those who had the antlers would
then make a sort of cry, imitating that uttered by the hinds. The
stags of the herd, hearing the cry, would immediately come toward the
spot. The men in the thicket then would raise the antlers and move
them about, so as to deceive the stags, and excite their feelings of
rivalry and ire, while those who were appointed to that office
continued to counterfeit the cry of the hind. The stags immediately
would begin to paw the ground and to prepare for a conflict, and then,
while their attention was thus wholly taken up by the tossing of the
false antlers in the thicket, the men in ambush would creep up as near
as they could, take good aim, and shoot their poor deluded victims
through the heart.
Of course, it required a great deal of practice and much skill to
perform successfully such feats as these; and there were many other
branches of the huntsman's art, as practiced in those days, which
could only be acquired by a systematic and special course of training.
One of the most difficult things was to train the horses so that they
would advance to meet tigers and other wild beasts without fear.
Horses have naturally a strong and instinctive terror for such beasts,
and this terror it was very difficult to overcome. The Mongul
huntsmen, however, contrived means to inspire the horses with so much
courage in this respect that they would advance to the encounter of
these terrible foes with as much ardor as a trained charger shows in
advancing to meet other horses and horsemen on the field of battle.
Besides the mountainous regions above described, there were several
deserts in the country of the Monguls. The greatest of these deserts
extends through the very heart of Asia, and is one of the most
extensive districts of barren land in the world. Unlike most other
great deserts, however, the land is very elevated, and it is to this
elevation that its barrenness is, in a great measure, due. A large
part of this desert consists of rocks and barren sands, and, in the
time of which we are writing, was totally uninhabitable. It was so
cold, too, on account of the great elevation of the land, that it was
almost impossible to traverse it except in the warmest season of the
year.
Other parts of this district, which were not so elevated, and where
the land was not quite so barren, produced grass and herbage on which
the flocks and herds could feed, and thus, in certain seasons of the
year, people resorted to them for pasturage.
Throughout the whole country there were no extensive forests. There
were a few tangled thickets among the mountains, where the wild beasts
concealed themselves and made their lairs, but this was all. One
reason why forests did not spring up was, as is supposed, the custom
of the people to burn over the plains every spring, as the Indians
were accustomed to do on the American prairies. In the spring the dead
grass of the preceding year lay dry and withered, and sometimes
closely matted together, on the ground, thus hindering, as the people
thought, the fresh grass from growing up. So the people were
accustomed, on some spring morning when there was a good breeze
blowing, to set it on fire. The fire would run rapidly over the
plains, burning up every thing in its way that was above the ground.
But the roots of the grass, being below, were safe from it. Very soon
afterward the new grass would spring up with great luxuriance. The
people thought that the rich verdure which the new grass displayed,
and its subsequent rapid growth, were owing simply to the fact that
the old dead grass was out of the way. It is now known, however, that
the burning of the old grass leaves an ash upon the ground which acts
powerfully as a fertilizer, and that the richness of the fresh
vegetation is due, in a great measure, to this cause.
Such was the country which was inhabited by the wandering pastoral
tribes that were now under the sway of Genghis Khan. His dominion had
no settled boundaries, for it was a dominion over certain tribes
rather than over a certain district of country. Nearly all the tribes
composing both the Mongul and the Tartar nations had now submitted to
him, though he still had some small wars to wage from time to time
with some of the more distant tribes before his authority was fully
and finally acknowledged. The history of some of these conflicts will
be narrated in the next chapter.
CHAPTER XIII.
ADVENTURES OF PRINCE KUSHLUK.
1203-1208
Kushluk's escape.--Tukta Bey.--Kashin.--Temujin pursues Tukta Bey
and Kushluk.--Retreat to Boyrak's country.----The various
tribes submit.--Fall and destruction of Kashin.--Proclamation.--Temujin
returns to Karakorom.--Boyrak's precautions.--Great battle.--Boyrak is
taken and slain.--Flight of Kushluk and Tukta Bey.--Ardish.--River
Irtish.--Tukta Bey's adherents.--Genghis Khan pursues them in
winter.--Difficulties of the country.--Death of Tukta Bey.--Kushluk
escapes again.--Turkestan.--He is received by Gurkhan.--Presentation
of the _shongar_.--Urus Inal.
Prince Kushluk, as the reader will perhaps recollect, was the son of
Tayian, the khan of the Naymans, who organized the grand league of
khans against Temujin at the instigation of Yemuka, as related in a
preceding chapter. He was the young prince who was opposed to Jughi,
the son of Temujin, in the great final battle. The reader will
recollect that in that battle Tayian himself was slain, as was also
Yemuka, but the young prince succeeded in making his escape.
He was accompanied in his flight by a certain general or chieftain
named Tukta Bey. This Tukta Bey was the khan of a powerful tribe. The
name of the town or village which he considered his capital was
Kashin. It was situated toward the southwest, not far from the borders
of China. Tukta Bey, taking Kushluk with him, retreated to this place,
and there began to make preparations to collect a new army to act
against Temujin. I say Temujin, for these circumstances took place
immediately after the battle, and before Temujin had received his new
title of Genghis Khan.
Temujin, having learned that Tukta Bey and the young prince had gone
to Kashin, determined at once to follow them there. As soon as Tukta
Bey heard that he was coming, he began to strengthen the
fortifications of his town and to increase the garrison. He also laid
in supplies of food and military stores of all kinds. While he was
making these preparations, he received the news that Temujin was
advancing into his country at the head of an immense force. The force
was so large that he was convinced that his town could not long stand
out against it. He was greatly perplexed to know what to do.
Now it happened that there was a brother of Tayian Khan's, named
Boyrak, the chief of a powerful horde that occupied a district of
country not very far distant from Tukta Bey's dominions. Tukta Bey
thought that this Boyrak would be easily induced to aid him in the
war, as it was a war waged against the mortal enemy of his brother. He
determined to leave his capital to be defended by the garrison which
he had placed in it, and to proceed himself to Boyrak's country to
obtain re-enforcements. He first sent off the Prince Kushluk, so that
he might be as soon as possible in a place of safety. Then, after
completing the necessary arrangements and dispositions for the defense
of his town, in case it should be attacked during his absence, he took
his oldest son, for whose safety he was also greatly concerned, and
set out at the head of a small troop of horsemen to go to Boyrak.
Accordingly, when Temujin, at the head of his forces, arrived at the
town of Kashin, he found that the fugitives whom he was pursuing were
no longer there. However, he determined to take the town. He
accordingly at once invested it, and commenced the siege. The garrison
made a very determined resistance. But the forces under Temujin's
command were too strong for them. The town was soon taken. Temujin
ordered his soldiers to slay without mercy all who were found in arms
against him within the walls, and the walls themselves, and all the
other defenses of the place, he caused to be leveled with the ground.
He then issued his proclamation, offering peace and pardon to all the
rest of the tribe on condition that they would take the oath of
allegiance to him. This they readily agreed to do. There were a great
many subordinate khans, both of this tribe and of some others that
were near, who thus yielded to Temujin, and promised to obey him.
All this took place, as has already been said, immediately after the
great battle with Tayian, and before Temujin had been enthroned as
emperor, or had received his new title of Genghis Khan. Indeed,
Temujin, while making this expedition to Kashin in pursuit of Kushluk
and Tukta Bey, had been somewhat uneasy at the loss of time which the
campaign occasioned him, as he was anxious to go as soon as possible
to Karakorom, in order to take the necessary measures there for
arranging and consolidating his government. He accordingly now
determined not to pursue the fugitives any farther, but to proceed at
once to Karakorom, and postpone all farther operations against Kushluk
and Tukta until the next season. So he went to Karakorom, and there,
during the course of the winter, formed the constitution of his new
empire, and made arrangements for convening a grand assembly of the
khans the next spring, as related in the last chapter.
In the mean time, Tukta Bey and the Prince Kushluk were very kindly
received by Boyrak, Tayian's brother. For a time they all had reason
to expect that Temujin, after having taken and destroyed Kashin, would
continue his pursuit of the prince, and Boyrak began accordingly to
make preparations for defense. But when, at length, they learned that
Temujin had given up the pursuit, and had returned to Karakorom, their
apprehensions were, for the moment, relieved. They were, however, well
aware that the danger was only postponed; and Boyrak, being determined
to defend the cause of his nephew, and to avenge, if possible, his
brother's death, occupied himself diligently with increasing his army,
strengthening his fortifications, and providing himself with all
possible means of defense against the attack which he expected would
be made upon him in the coming season.
Boyrak's expectations of an attack were fully realized. Temujin, after
having settled the affairs of his government, and having now become
Genghis Khan, took the first opportunity in the following season to
fit out an expedition against Tukta Bey and Boyrak. He marched into
Boyrak's dominions at the head of a strong force. Boyrak came forth to
meet him. A great battle was fought. Boyrak was entirely defeated.
When he found that the battle was lost he attempted to fly. He was,
however, pursued and taken, and was then brought back to the camp of
Genghis Khan, where he was put to death. The conqueror undoubtedly
justified this act of cruelty toward his helpless prisoner on the plea
that, like Yemuka, he was not an open and honorable foe, but a rebel
and traitor, and, consequently, that the act of putting him to death
was the execution of a criminal, and not the murder of a prisoner.
But, although Boyrak himself was thus taken and slain, Kushluk and
Tukta Bey succeeded in making their escape. They fled to the northward
and westward, scarcely knowing, it would seem, where they were to go.
They at last found a place of refuge on the banks of the River Irtish.
This river rises not far from the centre of the Asiatic continent, and
flows northward into the Northern Ocean. The country through which it
flows lay to the northwestward of Genghis Khan's dominions, and beyond
the confines of it. Through this country Prince Kushluk and Tukta Bey
wandered on, accompanied by the small troop of followers that still
adhered to them, until they reached a certain fortress called Ardish,
where they determined to make a stand.
They were among friends here, for Ardish, it seems, was on the
confines of territory that belonged to Tukta Bey. The people of the
neighborhood immediately flocked to Tukta's standard, and thus the
fugitive khan soon found himself at the head of a considerable force.
This force was farther increased by the coming in of broken bands that
had made their escape from the battle at which Boyrak had been slain
at the same time with Tukta Bey, but had become separated from him in
their flight.
It would seem that, at first, Genghis Khan did not know what was
become of the fugitives. At any rate, it was not until the next year
that he attempted to pursue them. Then, hearing where they were and
what they were doing, he prepared an expedition to penetrate into the
country of the Irtish and attack them. It was in the dead of winter
when he arrived in the country. He had hurried on at that season of
the year in order to prevent Tukta Bey from having time to finish his
fortifications. Tukta Bey and those who were with him were amazed when
they heard that their enemy was coming at that season of the year. The
defenses which they were preparing for their fortress were not fully
completed, but they were at once convinced that they could not hold
their ground against the body of troops that Genghis Khan was bringing
against them in the open field, and so they all took shelter in and
near the fortress, and awaited their enemy there.
The winters in that latitude are very cold, and the country through
which Genghis Khan had to march was full of difficulty. The branches
of the river which he had to cross were obstructed with ice, and the
roads were in many places rendered almost impassable by snow. The
emperor did not even know the way to the fortress where Tukta Bey and
his followers were concealed, and it would have been almost impossible
for him to find it had it not been for certain tribes, through whose
territories he passed on the way, who furnished him with guides. These
tribes, perceiving how overwhelming was the force which Genghis Khan
commanded, knew that it would be useless for them to resist him. So
they yielded submission to him at once, and detached parties of
horsemen to go with him down the river to show him the way.
Under the conduct of these guides Genghis Khan passed on. In due time
he arrived at the fortress of Ardish, and immediately forced Tukta Bey
and his allies to come to an engagement. Tukta's army was very soon
defeated and put to flight. Tukta himself, and many other khans and
chieftains who had joined him, were killed; but the Prince Kushluk was
once more fortunate enough to make his escape.
He fled with a small troop of followers, all mounted on fleet horses,
and after various wanderings, in the course of which he and they who
were with him endured a great deal of privation and suffering, the
unhappy fugitive at last reached the dominions of a powerful prince
named Gurkhan, who reigned over a country which is situated in the
western part of Asia, toward the Caspian Sea, and is named Turkestan.
This is the country from which the people called the Turks, who
afterward spread themselves so widely over the western part of Asia
and the eastern part of Europe, originally sprung.
Gurkhan received Kushluk and his party in a very friendly manner, and
Genghis Khan did not follow them. Whether he thought that the distance
was too great, or that the power of Gurkhan was too formidable to make
it prudent for him to advance into his dominions without a stronger
force, does not appear. At any rate, for the time being he gave up the
pursuit, and after fully securing the fruits of the victory which he
had gained at Ardish, and receiving the submission of all the tribes
and khans that inhabited that region of country, he set out on his
return home.
It is related that one of the khans who gave in his submission to
Genghis Khan at this time made him a present of a certain bird called
a _shongar_, according to a custom often observed among the people of
that region. The shongar was a very large and fierce bird of prey,
which, however, could be trained like the falcons which were so much
prized in the Middle Ages by the princes and nobles of Europe. It
seems it was customary for an inferior khan to present one of these
birds to his superior on great occasions, as an emblem and token of
his submission to his superior's authority. The bird in such a case
was very richly decorated with gold and precious stones, so that the
present was sometimes of a very costly and magnificent character.
Genghis Khan received such a present as this from a chieftain named
Urus Inal, who was among those that yielded to his sway in the country
of the Irtish, after the battle at which Tukta Bey was defeated and
killed. The bird was presented to Genghis Khan by Urus with great
ceremony, as an act of submission and homage.
What, in the end, was the fate of Prince Kushluk, will appear in the
next chapter.
[Illustration: PRESENTATION OF THE SHONGAR.]
CHAPTER XIV.
IDIKUT.
1208
Idikut.--The old system of farming revenues.--Evils of farming the
revenue.--Modern system.--Disinterested collectors.--Independent and
impartial courts.--Waste of the public money.--Shuwakem.--Idikut's
quarrel with Gurkhan's tax-gatherers.--Rebellion.--He sends to
Genghis Khan.--His reception of the embassy.--Idikut's visit to
Genghis Khan.--Gurkhan in a rage.--Jena.--Subsequent history of
Kushluk.--Kushluk's final defeat and flight.--Hotly pursued by
Jena.--Kushluk's death.--Genghis Khan's triumph.
There was another great and powerful khan, named Idikut, whose tribe
had hitherto been under the dominion of Gurkhan, the Prince of
Turkestan, where Kushluk had sought refuge, but who about this time
revolted from Gurkhan and went over to Genghis Khan, under
circumstances which illustrate, in some degree, the peculiar nature of
the political ties by which these different tribes and nations were
bound to each other. It seems that the tribe over which Idikut ruled
was tributary to Turkestan, and that Gurkhan had an officer stationed
in Idikut's country whose business it was to collect and remit the
tribute. The name of this collector was Shuwakem. He was accustomed,
it seems, like almost all tax-gatherers in those days, to exact more
than was his due. The system generally adopted by governments in that
age of the world for collecting their revenues from tributary or
conquered provinces was to _farm them_, as the phrase was. That is,
they sold the whole revenue of a particular district in the gross to
some rich man, who paid for it a specific sum, considerably less, of
course, than the tax itself would really yield, and then he reimbursed
himself for his outlay and for his trouble by collecting the tax in
detail from the people. Of course, it was for the interest of the
tax-gatherer, in such a case, after having paid the round sum to the
government, to extort as much as possible from the people, since all
that he obtained over and above the sum that he had paid was his
profit on the transaction. Then, if the people complained to the
government of his exactions, they could seldom obtain any redress, for
the government knew that if they rebuked or punished the farmer of the
revenue, or interfered with him in any way, they would not be able to
make so favorable terms with him for the next year.
The plan of farming the revenues thus led to a great deal of extortion
and oppression, which the people were compelled patiently to endure,
as there was generally no remedy. In modern times and among civilized
nations this system has been almost universally abandoned. The taxes
are now always collected for the government directly by officers who
have to pay over not a fixed sum, but simply what they collect. Thus
the tax-gatherers are, in some sense, impartial, since, if they
collect more than the law entitles them to demand, the benefit inures
almost wholly to the government, they themselves gaining little or no
advantage by their extortion. Besides this, there are courts
established which are, in a great measure, independent of the
government, to which the tax-payer can appeal at once in a case where
he thinks he is aggrieved. This, it is true, often puts him to a great
deal of trouble and expense, but, in the end, he is pretty sure to
have justice done him, while under the old system there was ordinarily
no remedy at all. There was nothing to be done but to appeal to the
king or chieftain himself, and these complaints seldom received any
attention. For, besides the natural unwillingness of the sovereign to
trouble himself about such disputes, he had a direct interest in not
requiring the extorted money to be paid back, or, rather, in not
having it proved that it was extorted. Thus the poor tax-payer found
that the officer who collected the money, and the umpire who was to
decide in case of disputes, were both directly interested against him,
and he was continually wronged; whereas, at the present day, by means
of a system which provides disinterested officers to determine and
collect the tax, and independent judges to decide all cases of
dispute, the evils are almost wholly avoided. The only difficulty now
is the extravagance and waste with which the public money is expended,
making it necessary to collect a much larger amount than would
otherwise be required. Perhaps some future generation will discover
some plain and simple remedy for this evil too.
* * * * *
The name of the officer who had the general charge of the collection
of the taxes in Idikut's territory for Gurkhan, King of Turkestan,
was, as has already been said, Shuwakem. He oppressed the people,
exacting more from them than was really due. Whether he had farmed the
revenue, and was thus enriching himself by his extortions, or whether
he was acting directly in Gurkhan's name, and made the people pay more
than he ought from zeal in his master's service, and a desire to
recommend himself to favor by sending home to Turkestan as large a
revenue from the provinces as possible, does not appear. At all
events, the people complained bitterly. They had, however, no access
to Gurkhan, Shuwakem's master, and so they carried their complaints
to Idikut, their own khan.
Idikut remonstrated with Shuwakem, but he, instead of taking the
remonstrance in good part and relaxing the severity of his
proceedings, resented the interference of Idikut, and answered him in
a haughty and threatening manner. This made Idikut very angry. Indeed,
he was angry before, as it might naturally be supposed that he would
have been, at having a person owing allegiance to a foreign prince
exercising authority in a proud and domineering manner within his
dominions, and the reply which Shuwakem made when he remonstrated with
him on account of his extortions exasperated him beyond all bounds. He
immediately caused Shuwakem to be assassinated. He also slew all the
other officers of Gurkhan within his country--those, probably, who
were employed to assist Shuwakem in collecting the taxes.
The murder of these officers was, of course, an act of open rebellion
against Gurkhan, and Idikut, in order to shield himself from the
consequences of it, determined to join himself and his tribe at once
to the empire of Genghis Khan; so he immediately dispatched two
embassadors to the Mongul emperor with his proposals.
The envoys, accompanied by a suitable troop of guards and attendants,
went into the Mongul country and presently came up with Genghis Khan,
while he was on a march toward the country of some tribe or horde that
had revolted from him. They were very kindly received; for, although
Genghis Khan was not prepared at present to make open war upon
Gurkhan, or to invade his dominions in pursuit of Prince Kushluk, he
was intending to do this at some future day, and, in the mean time, he
was very glad to weaken his enemy by drawing off from his empire any
tributary tribes that were at all disposed to revolt from him.
He accordingly received the embassadors of Idikut in a very cordial
and friendly manner. He readily acceded to the proposals which Idikut
made through them, and, in order to give full proof to Idikut of the
readiness and sincerity with which he accepted his proposals, he sent
back two embassadors of his own to accompany Idikut's embassadors on
their return, and to join them in assuring that prince of the
cordiality with which Genghis Khan accepted his offers of friendship,
and to promise his protection.
Idikut was very much pleased, when his messengers returned, to learn
that his mission had been so successful. He immediately determined to
go himself and visit Genghis Khan in his camp, in order to confirm the
new alliance by making a personal tender to the emperor of his homage
and his services. He accordingly prepared some splendid presents, and,
placing himself at the head of his troop of guards, he proceeded to
the camp of Genghis Khan. The emperor received him in a very kind and
friendly manner. He accepted his presents, and, in the end, was so
much pleased with Idikut himself that he gave him one of his daughters
in marriage.
As for Gurkhan, when he first heard of the murder of Shuwakem and the
other officers, he was in a terrible rage. He declared that he would
revenge his servant by laying waste Idikut's territories with fire and
sword. But when he heard that Idikut had placed himself under the
protection of Genghis Khan, and especially when he learned that he had
married the emperor's daughter, he thought it more prudent to postpone
his vengeance, not being quite willing to draw upon himself the
hostility of so great a power.
Prince Kushluk remained for many years in Turkestan and in the
countries adjoining it. He married a daughter of Gurkhan, his
protector. Partly in consequence of this connection and of the high
rank which he had held in his own native land, and partly, perhaps, in
consequence of his personal courage and other military qualities, he
rapidly acquired great influence among the khans of Western Asia, and
at last he organized a sort of rebellion against Gurkhan, made war
against him, and deprived him of more than half his dominions. He then
collected a large army, and prepared to make war upon Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan sent one of his best generals, at the head of a small but
very compact and well-disciplined force, against him. The name of this
general was Jena. Kushluk was not at all intimidated by the danger
which now threatened him. His own army was much larger than that of
Jena, and he accordingly advanced to meet his enemy without fear. He
was, however, beaten in the battle, and, when he saw that the day was
lost, he fled, followed by a small party of horsemen, who succeeded in
saving themselves with him.
Jena set out immediately in pursuit of the fugitive, accompanied by a
small body of men mounted on the fleetest horses. The party who were
with Kushluk, being exhausted by the fatigue of the battle and
bewildered by the excitement and terror of their flight, could not
keep together, but were overtaken one by one and slain by their
pursuers until only three were left. These three kept close to
Kushluk, and with him went on until Jena's party lost the track of
them.
At length, coming to a place where two roads met, Jena asked a peasant
if he had seen any strange horsemen pass that way. The peasant said
that four horsemen had passed a short time before, and he told Jena
which road they had taken.
Jena and his party rode on in the direction which the peasant had
indicated, and, pushing forward with redoubled speed, they soon
overtook the unhappy fugitives. They fell upon Kushluk without mercy,
and killed him on the spot. They then cut off his head, and turned
back to carry it to Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan rewarded Jena in the most magnificent manner for his
successful performance of this exploit, and then, putting Kushluk's
head upon a pole, he displayed it in all the camps and villages
through which he passed, where it served at once as a token and a
trophy of his victory against an enemy, and, at the same time, as a
warning to all other persons of the terrible danger which they would
incur in attempting to resist his power.
CHAPTER XV.
THE STORY OF HUJAKU.
1211
China.--The Chinese wall.--The frontier.--Outside the wall.--Origin
of the quarrel with the Chinese.--Yong-tsi.--Genghis Khan's contempt
for him.--Armies raised.--Hujaku.--Many of the khans come over on
Genghis's side.--Victory over Hujaku.--Genghis Khan is wounded.
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