MONGOL AND NOMADIC TAXATION

Harvard-Yenching Institute Mongol and Nomadic Taxation Author(s): John Masson Smith, Jr. Source: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 30 (1970), pp. 46-85 Published by: Harvard-Yenching Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2718765 Accessed: 13-05-2015 00:29 UTC

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MONGOL AND NOMADIC TAXATION JOHN UNIVERSITY

MASSON

SMITH,

OF CALIFORNIA,

JR.

BERKELEY

The dominationof the Scythiansover Asia lasted twenty-eight years, duringwhich time theirinsolence and oppression spread ruin on everyside. For besides the regular tribute,they exacted fromthe several nations additional imposts,which theyfixedat pleasure; and further,they scoured the countryand plundered everyoneof whatever theycould. Herodotus, Persian Wars, I, io6 [Amongthe Kazaks] the collectionof tribute,or taxes ... took the form,not of regularized imposts,but of occasional demands. A. E. Hudson, Kazak Social Structure(1938), p. 64

I

HE broadest and most thoroughstudy of Mongol taxation to

dateis H. FranzSchurmann's"MongolianTributary Practices

of the Thirteenth Century."' This work (despite its title) ranges from the thirteenthto the fifteenthcenturies and over the Mongol domains in Mongolia, China, Central Asia, Russia, and the Middle East, and reconstructsfromthe local sources of all these regions a schemeforMongol imperialtaxation,both in its originsand in its development.This scheme has, however,some defects,both in its understandingof the taxes involved and in its corollaryview of the social arrangementsgivingrise to thistaxation.I shall tryto rearrange the evidence forimprovedinternalconsistencyand then show what implicationsthis rearrangementhas forour view of Mongol taxation, and even of Mongol society (and its scholarship). Schurmannholds that two kinds of taxationevolved in Mongolian society: Tribute (alban) and Levy (qubciri), the formerthe symbol 1 HJAS 19(1956).304-389. Much of the thinkingembodied in this articlewas done in Istanbul during1965-1966, while I was on sabbaticalleave fromBerkeley,supported by the American Research Institutein Turkey and the Social Science Research Council. I owe ProfessorJosephFletcherof Harvard Universityand theeditorofHJAS many thanksforhelp withand contributionsto this study.

46


MONGOL AND NOMAD TAXATION

47

and product (in goods and services) of the commonMongol's subjection and obligation to his noble lord in its permanent, customary form;and the second the extraordinary,ad hoc version of this same obligation. As the Mongols attained empire, tributeand levy were extendedby themall across the Eurasian Steppe and into theirsedentaryconquests,where theywere exacted in addition to many taxes of the pre-Mongoldispensations.Eventually,in certainparts of the empire, and afterconsiderable experimentation,the confusionresulting fromthis superimpositionwas overcome,and a triunesystemof taxation based on traditional land-taxes, traditional tolls, and Mongol tributewas applied. As is generallythe case in Mongol history,the situationin taxationat the end is clearer than at the beginning.The finalarrangementof Mongol taxation in China and Persia, reported even by the arrangersthemselves,can be seen very much as Schurmann has seen it. Not so the earlier situation of Chinggis' time and down throughthe middle of the thirteenthcentury,which is known only froma few brief contemporaryaccounts and documents, and fromthe harking-backof later chronicles and essays whose writers considered those the Tbad old days." Here distortionhas takenplace. Schurmanndiscoversthe basic Mongolian taxes, alban and qubviri, by analogy. The tarkhiinpatents-documents conferringtax immunities-that have survivedfromvarious parts of the Mongol realm, despite differencesin language, all seem to referto two main categories of taxation fromwhich their recipients are exempted. The Persian sources specifyqal2n and qubchuir,the Russian documents dan' and poshlina, the Turkic yasaq and qal&n, and finally,the Mongolian speak of alba and qubviri.2 2

Schurmannrefersto a considerablebody of these documents,and quotes from:

1) a Mongolian patent (also available in Chinese) of Mangala b. Qubilai, lord of

An-hsi, dated 1276, fromN. N. Poppe, Kvadratnaja Pis'mennost'(Moscow-Leningrad,1941), p. 59ff.(Schurmann, pp. 324-325). 2) a Persian edict ofGhazan Khan (1295-1304), fromRashiduddin,HistoryofGhazan p. 331). Khan, K. Jahned. (London,1940), p. 218 (Schurmann, 3) twoRussian documents:a) a letterofMengiuTimur of the Golden Horde, thought by its editor to date from1267; and b) a yarlighofBirdibekof the Golden Horde, thought to be of 1357. Both documents are from M. D. Priselkov, Khanskije JarlykiRusskimMitropolitam(Petrograd,1916) (Schurmann,pp. 341-348). 4) briefexcerpts fromTurkic documents of the Golden Horde and of its Crimean successor state (Schurmann,pp. 354-355 and note 117).


JOHN MASSON SMITH, JR.

48

Schurmann thereforeposits the followingequivalences:' Mongolian Persian Russian Turkic

Tribute(permanent) Levy (extraordinary) qubciri alba(n) qubchuir qalan poshlina dan' yasdq qalan

But the analogy is forced: it requires reversalof the word order of the Turkic edicts-yaszq qalan-in order to align the Turkic qalzn with its obvious Persian equivalent,4and it has required Schurmann to attemptto equate poshlina withyasaq in order to justify this reversal. The reversalneeds justificationparticularlybecause the Russian documentsare simplytranslationsof the Turkic edicts issued by the Golden Horde, and one would ordinarilyexpect that the word order of the Russian dan' i poshlina would followthat of the Turkic original,yaszq qalzn, and thatdan' should thereforemeanyasaq, and and has tried poshlina,qal1n.5 Schurmannunderstandsthisdifficulty, to overcomeit by showingthat "podlinais definitelyused in the sense ofyasa-yasaq, 'law'."6 He argues that the Russian text "Now whosoever hereupon commitviolence, he shall explain himselfon the Great Custom (Poslina)"7 is the equivalent of the Turkic "But if they should take [something],theyshall exculpate themselvesaccording to the GreatJaza and shall die"8 in its referencesto the Yasa of Chinggis Khan-as it doubtless is-and thatyasa-yasaq thereforemeans posh3 Schurmann,p. 358. 4 The Turkic phraseologyis exemplifiedby a textSchurmann(p. 354, n. 117) findsin

N. N. Berezin,KhanskijeJarlyki,2 (Kazan, 1851), p. 50 (which I do not have available): The Persian usage qaldn tiptrzlamsundlmdsuznldr." "Basa bu tarkhIdn-ldrz-mzz-dznyasaq is: qazat. . . qaldn wa qubU2rna-dahand .. ., fromRashiduddin/Jahn,p. 218 (Schurmann, p. 331, n. 56). Turkish word order may be "backward" by Indoeuropean standards, but not in listingand enumerationwhen firstthings-yasaq, in this case-come first. 5 These equivalences have been stated by Berezin, Vnutrennoe ZolotoiOrdy Ustroistvo (St. Petersburg,185o), p. 19 and idem.,"Ocherk vnutrennogoustroistvaUlusa DzhuOtdeleniya,VIII (1864), p. 475; and chieva," TrudyVost.Otdel.Russk. Arkheologicheskogo in the case of qalan = poshlina,by B. Spuler, Die GoldeneHorde (2nd ed.: Wiesbaden, 1965), p. 335. 6 Schurmann,p. 338, n. 76. 7 Quoted by Schurmann,p. 349, fromPriselkov,p. 6i. 8 Quoted by Schurmann,p. 349, fromPriselkov,pp. 58-59.



49

lina.9 This last is more doubtful.The Yrzsihas been called a codification of Mongol customarylaw (among other things)'0 and in this sense of custom,is an equivalent ofposhlina; Yrsi = Poshlina is possible. But yasaq = poshlina is somethingelse again. For the essential meaning ofydsU,yasdqis Torder" or "edict";" the Yrsa is "the code of Chinggis' orders,"howevermuch these orders may have had customaryroots. This distinctionsplits Yrsai fromyaszq in the case at hand. The Yrs&-Poshlinaequivalence, created by this special circumstance ofan imperialedict enunciatingcustomarylaw, does not establish that,in tax practice,yasaq and poshlinahad any similarity.Yasiq stands for "taxes ordered by the Mongol ruler," and poshlina means eccustomarytaxes," two differentthings. It is not, therefore,theorderofyasliq-qalinthatshould be reversed, to becomequbchuir-qalizn. but thatof thePersian usage,qalizn-qubchuir, It is much easier to believe in a differencein usage between the styles Mongols of Persia and the Golden Horde than in two different in the administrationof the Horde itself. But if we transpose the instead of reversingthe Turkic yasiq qalln, Persian qalizn-qubchuir we obtain a new scheme: Persian: Russian: Turkic:

qubchuir dan' yasiq

qalln poshlina qalin

Is thistransformation possible? It is ifqalwncan be related toposhlina, since Schurmannhas already convincinglyrelated qubchuirtoyasizq.'2 We should inquire again, therefore,into the natures of qallzn and poshlina. 9 Schurmann,pp. 338, n. 76 and 349-350. 10 V. A. Riasanovsky,CustomaryLaw of theMongol Tribes (Harbin, 1929), p. 2o. Cf. G. Vernadsky,A Historyof Russia, III, The Mongols and Russia (4th printing: New Haven and London, 1966), pp. 99-loo. 11W. Radloff(VersucheinesWorterbuches der Tiirk-dialecte (St. Petersburg,1905), iII, col. 214) definesyasa as "code," "decision," ".imperialorder" and "law." Its verbal form,yasamaq, he defines(cols. 214-215) as meaning "make, do," "erect," "create," "construct" and "promise." Schurmann,p. 358, rendersyasamaq as "fix," "determine". Thus the senses ofyasa thatare closest in spiritto the activityinvolvedare "decision" and "(imperial) order"; the othermeanings,"code" and "law," with theirundertones of Medes-and-Persians rigidity,are more remote,just as codificationis posterior to decision in the process of deciding action. 12 Schurmann,pp. 358-359.


50


To understandwhat qaltn was, it is useful firstto read a general statementof the Mongols' exactions: Since all countriesand peoples havecomeundertheirdomination,they have establisheda census aftertheiraccustomedfashionand classified everyoneintotens,hundredsand thousands;and requiredmilitary service and the equipmentofyams togetherwiththe expensesentailedand the provisionoffodder-thisin additionto [mial];and overand aboveall this theyhave fixedthequpchurchargesalso.'3 Thus the Mongols were concerned with militarymanpower and the postal system(yzm), with mialand with qubchuir. But what about qalin? It is not mentioned here-or anywherein Juvayni-but does appear in a discussion of exemption fromthese same obligationsand taxes: And as thejudgmentof the GreatDecree of ChinggizKhan was such thatqaikas, learnedmenand 'Alids werenot to pay qalianor qiupchuir, We [Ghazan]have orderedthatin thatmannertheybe exemptedand freed, thatone not collectmi21or qiipchair fromthem,nor takelodgingin their houses;thatenvoysshallnotcarryanything off;and that[their]stipends,in themannerin whichtheyare set downin theregisters, be paid fromyear to yearwithoutfail.'4 The Muslim clerics were thus freedfromany obligation to the postal relay system-as "men of the pen" theywere also clearlyunsuited to militaryservice-and exempted frommal and fromqubchuir. Since Ghazan states as precedent for this grant of immunity,the earlier excuse by Chinggisof these same groups fromqalian and qubchuir,and since the postal relay organizationwas established by Ogodei, after Chinggis' death, qalan must,by elimination,be seen as the equivalent of mal.'5 This would explain why Juvayni,'Ala-i Tabriz! and Nasir13 'Ala'uddin 'Ata-Malik Juvayni,The Historyof the World-Conqueror, J. A. Boyle trans. (Cambridge, Mass., 1958), I, pp. 33-34. The edition of the text upon which Boyle's translationis based is by Mirza Muhammad Qazwini, Ta'rakh-iJahan-Gusha (Leiden and London: E. J. W. Gibb MemorialSeries, vol. XVI /1-3; 1912, 1916, 1937). 14 Rashiduddin /Jahn,p. 218. Schurmann (p. 331) gives a slightlydifferent translation. 15 Ghazan's orderis strikingly similarin contentto theyarlighofBirdibekstatingthe immunitiesof the Russian clerics. Birdibek,like Ghazan, refersto Chinggis' exemption of the clerics as the precedent forhis own exemption;he notes that Chinggis excused them frompaymentof dan' and poshlina, says he also exempts themfromthese, and then goes on to forbida numberofotherrequisitions(militaryand postal) and seizures.



51

uddin Tisi, all of whom discuss Mongol taxationin detail, make no mentionof qaltn.16 Mil, as a termof taxation,can best be understoodfromNasiruddin Tisi's discussion of state finance.'7 He uses it as "resources," as "property,"in modifiedformas a particulartax (mil-i tamghai),and, in the usage closest to that of Ghazan's edict, in the general sense of "taxes." This last usage appears in Tflsi's discussion of staterevenue: "The Sovereign's revenue (dakhl) is from four sources: from the heritageof those who have passed away; fromthe taxes (mil) of the subjects; fromhis own kafayat('lawfulexertions'); fromwhat is granted by the Almighty."'18T-usiincludes under mal in this general sense the taxes on agriculture (kharaj, or 'ushr if it is in facta tithe), the capital levy on the wealthy and merchants ((amghdi),the herd tax (mare'i), and "casual revenues" (tayyerat:escheats and such-like);he also enumeratessome "new" and some undesirable kinds of charge that fall within the general categoryof mal, but these, like (ayyzrat, are oflittlesignificance.Qubchuirhe treatsseparately,and, forreasons of tact,briefly.Mal, forTuisi,was thus a comprehensivetermforpreMongol taxation,whichJuvayni'stranslatorrightlyrendersas "eordinary taxes."'9 The fact that Chinggis' exemptionsare the same as those of Birdibekapart fromthe prohibitionsof thesespecificrequisitionsand seizuresalso suggeststhat,analogously,in Ghazan's edict, Chinggis' qalan is the exact equivalentof Ghazan's mal. For the establishmentof the postal relay system,see the textfromthe SecretHistory below on pp. 68-69. 16 For Juvayni'senumerationofMongol taxes,see below, p. 75. 'Ala-i Tabrlzi's statementis as follows:"The truthis thatthe quota of taxes ofeach place is important.Some of these (taxes) are bound up with the attainingof the harvestand are paid when (the harvest) is reached. Some of these (taxes) are bound up with (business) transactions, such as the tamya which can be paid in installments.Some of these (taxes) can be collected fromthe people (ra'aya) in two or threeinstallmentssuch as the qubcuir.... Quoted by Schurmann,pp. 381-382 and n. 174, froma textof 'Ala-i Tabriz! given in Zeki Velidi Togan, "Mogollar devrindeAnadolu'nun iktisadivaziyeti,"TuirkHukuk ve 1 (1931).19. IktisatTarihi Mecmuasz, 17 Tiisi's work is translatedby V. Minorskyin "Nasir al-din Tusi on Finance," in BSOAS, x: 3 (1941) and morerecentlyin revisedform,in Iranica (Tehran: Publications of the Universityof Tehran, vol. 775; 1964), pp. 64-85. The Persian text, edited by M. Minovi,accompanied the originalarticle. 18 Tilsi /Minorsky, Iranica, p. 69 (omittingsome of Minorsky'saddenda to the text). 19 Juvayni/Boyle,I, p. 34.



52

QalUn not only referredto mrzland therebyto pre-Mongoltaxation, but also stood originallyfornon-Mongoltaxation,forcharges neither of Mongol origin nor of application to Mongols. As nomads, the Mongols bore certain appropriate taxes, collectively designated as qubchuir(which I discuss furtherbelow), but as conquerors,the Mongols also had privileges,including immunityfromthe taxationof the conquered peoples. Thus the "contributions" (mu'an) thatJuvayni lists as charges upon the Mongols include extraordinarylevies (qu7bchuir,'avrizat and bigizr) and the requisites of the postal system and 'ul1iift),20 but none of the ordinary-seden(yiim,uThgh,ikhra-jftt tary-taxes listed by TnsI or Rashiduddin: no mal, no kharaj, no (amghat.Furthermore,qalzn designated not only a certain kind of taxation,but also the people liable to pay this taxation. These were not Mongols. By the end of the thirteenthcenturytheMongol military establishmentin Persia was having difficulty maintainingitself.The increasingfrequencyof rebellionsand civilwars, withthe destruction and attainderof the losers on each occasion, caused abnormal attrition. And the need of the rulers to keep large forcesnear at hand in case of a risingmade the normal Mongol method of nomadic logistic support for the army increasinglyimpractical: nomadism requires dispersion,the Ilkhans needed concentration.2'And so Ghazan Khan, afteran unsuccessfulexperimentwith a salaried royal army,22under took to transferthe whole army froma nomadic to an agricultural base. All the soldiers were to be supplied fromthe land, apportioned

amongthemin grantscallediqp Z',23 andwerein consequenceto"come

into the qalizn."24 The obvious implicationis thatpreviouslythe soldiery-the Mongols-had not been "in the qal2in." Some furthertexts from Rashiduddin amplify this explanation. 20

See below, p. 75.

21

Rashiduddin /Jahn,p. 300. It should be rememberedthat the Mongol had participated in his conquests not as a soldier armed and supplied fromarsenals and depots by transportationand supply services,but as a nomad with his familyand his flocksprovidinghim directlywithhis food and mounts.Maintenanceof a Mongol fieldarmyhad not been a matterof supply based on taxation,but of individual provisionby a selfsufficientnomadic soldiery. Most taxation had been necessary only for purposes less well adapted to the nomadic way of life than campaigningand fighting. 22 Ibid., pp. 300-302. 23 Ibid.,pp. 302-303. 24 Ibid., p.

3o8.



53

While Ghazan was surelyconcernedabove all else forthe serviceability of his army, he and his advisors (like his predecessors and theirs) were also much troubled by the related problem of inadequate state revenues. Ghazan and his vezirs,unlike the previous governments, managed to findremediesfortheireconomicmaladies, in large part by adopting the revolutionarypolicy (of which the introductionof iq(dt' was one element) of encouragingthe "sedentary sector" of the economy instead of relyingupon the inadequate and incapable nomads.25 This was a major departure fromprevious ideology, but one which had had precedents in previous policy. Rashiduddin's descriptionof the charges upon the Mongols prior to Ghazan's introductionof iq.t' maw&shi(a is not quite the same as Juvayn!'s: they paid qiupckhir-i on animals),yizszq,and yizm(so farthe equivalentofJuvayni's qubchuir -but also qal&ns!26 'avarizzt and yiim-iilUghI-ikhrajizt-'ulliifat) qi2pclhiir, What we have here is not qaliznpaid by Mongols: Rashiduddin would not have used the plural (qalznzt) had he intended the more general term,and Juvaynisurelywould have made some mentionof it had it been paid by the Mongols in his time. Rather, the qalznzt here are "some non-Mongol taxes" among those generally termed qalzn or 25

Ghazan's reformis summarizedin A. K. S. Lambton's Landlord and Peasant in

Persia(Oxford, 1953), pp. 83-87 and 89-92.

26 Rashiduddin/Jahn, p. 304. Rashiduddin quotes here fromGhazan's yarligh: "From no one is it concealed thatpreviously,in the timeof our good fathers,the Mongol ulius was called upon for,and had demanded of it all sortsof requisitionsand exactions such as qitpchlir-i mawashi,and the obligationsof the greatyam, and the bearingof the burdens imposedbyyasaq, and the qalanat, whichwe have now at once orderedabolished." There is anotherprovocativeqalan textin Rashiduddin (E. Blochet ed., Histoiredes Mongols[Leyden and London: E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series, XVIII:2; 1911], p. 341) where he discusses a tax which he termsqalan, levied in Persia by Arghiin Aqa in ca. 1253. As Blochet (p. 341, n.e) points out, Juvayni's treatmentof this same tax speaks of qubchuir (cf. Juvayni/Boyle,II, pp. 517 and 519-524), so we must explain why Rashiduddin used a different term.As we have seen, Ghazan's reformobliterated the differentiation fortaxpurposes betweenMongol and Persian,nomadand non-nomad, and brought the Mongols "into the qalan." Qalan thus lost the secondary sense of eesedentarysector" that it had derived fromits primarymeaningof "sedentary taxation" and came to mean "tax-liable population" in general,which in turnaltered its meaningas taxation to "taxation" in general. Thus, Juvayni'saccount preserves the general Mongol termof the conquest period for"tax" or "taxation"-qubchur-where Rashiduddin substitutesqalan because it had now the same sense, while qubchuirhad come to designatea specifictax among manyand would only confusethe reader if used in Juvayni'sgeneral way.


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perhaps, or lesser charges such as mal in I1khanidpractice: tamghaz, baij and badraqa. They are symptomaticof the tendencyamong the Ilkhans to seek out ever more sources of revenue,even at the expense of the ruling Mongols themselves,a tendencyillustratedby Ghazan's similareffortsto enlarge the liabilityforqali2n: theamirs,thejudges [yarghulRepeatedly,he (i.e., Ghazan) reprimanded chis],and the waztrs[saying]thateverytimepeople comewithcomplaints and themutasarrifs, theyaccepttheirwordswithhaste; againstthehakims, he indicatedthatit was possible that thosepeople had not givenqaldn beforethenand had placed theirburdenon others,thatthehakimbrought theminto theqaldn, and thatsuch people naturallycomplained.27 Those counted in the "nomadic sector" of the tax economy as members,howeverhumble,ofone or anotherMongol "establishment" (e.g., anjui)and who possessed both the privilegesof conquerors and theirburdens-cherik,y&mand qubchuir-objected to attemptsby tax agents dealing with the "sedentary sector" additionally and inappropriatelyto levy the non-Mongol,sedentaryqalUn upon them.And when theyvoiced theirobjections they did so in quarters where, as "Mongols," they would receive sympathetichearings: before the Mongol militarycommanders (amirs), Mongol judges (yzrghuchis) and the ministers(vezirs)forfiscalaffairsof the central Mongol government.But their invocation of privilege against governmentneed was vain. The tendency to extend taxation reached its culmination with Ghazan's inclusion of the whole army-the Mongol people in arms-in the qaltn with the grant to them of iq(t4'. Taxation was therebyrationalized and revenues increased: peasant and nomad, Persian and Mongol, conquered and conquerorswere all subjected to qalan (where appropriate) and qubchuir. The understandingof the termqalian in Persia is complicated by substitutionin the earliersources of the Persian equivalent,mal, and by the alterationof the liabilityfor qalzn in Rashiduddin's time to include the Mongols. But in the Chaghatay region, predominantly Turkic and persistentlynomadic, the pristine Mongol disregard for the details of sedentarytaxationsurvived,and the termqalan, withits original sense of non-nomadic,sedentarytaxation,continued in use. There, even persons involved in sedentaryoccupations were considered exempt fromqaltn if,throughmembershipin a nomadic estab27

Quoted by Schurmann,p. 333 and n. 6i, fromRashiduddin/Jahn,p. i8o.



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lishment (injui, here), they counted as "Mongols": "In imposing qalan, neverwas qalan imposed on the injj28 gardeners... we, from the time of these previous khlins,togetherwith our elder and our youngerbrothers,have been cultivatingour gardens; not subject to any other alban yasaq, we have continued to serve our khans."29 Qal2n, then,was an inclusive designationused by the Mongols for the traditional,pre-Mongoland essentiallysedentarytaxationof the conquered West. In Persia, mal was often used in its place, while qalalnitselfcame also to designatecollectivelythose (originallysedentary)persons liable to qal&n; eventuallyit was collected fromMongols as well as Persians, insofaras the Mongols might,as agriculturalproprietors,town dwellers or rich men rather than (or as well as) nomads, appropriatelybe considered liable to agricultural,commercial, or capital taxes.30 28 "Injiu"' is usually translatedas "crown land" (see Lambton, P. 78; or B. Spuler, Iran Mogollara,Turkish translationby C. Kopriuliu[Ankara,1957], p. 357), but thereis thatis, of Mongol milimore to it than this.We findRashiduddin speaking of tium2ns, taryunits,thatare part of Ghazan's injui(HistoiredesMongolsde la Perse,partial edition and translationby E. Quatremere [Paris, 1836], p. 130), and Quatremere,in the note (n. 12) to thispassage cites othertextsin which the anjiuconsistsof peoples or persons and not land. "Royal or princelyestablishment"seems to me thephrase best suited to comprehendthe mixed componentsof injui: the nomadsprovidingsupportforthe royal or princelyfamily(see William of Rubruck, in Mission to Asia, C. Dawson ed., [New York,1966] p. 99, on Batu's supportingherds,and cf.Vreeland,p. 12 on the familieshamjaani ail-assigned to support noble families),the attached nomad militaryunits (withtheirfamiliesand flocks),and thelanded property(withits peasant or slave tillers, such as the "gardener" in the text at hand) providinga cash income for the royal or princelyfamily.A modernanalogue of injii would be the darbar (campingand herding group cumcomitatus)togetherwiththe urban propertyof the Basseri chief;see Fredrik Barth,Nomads ofSouthPersia (2nd printing,Oslo, 1964), pp. 74 and 76. 29 Quoted by Schurmann,p. 335 and n. 67, fromW. Radloff,Uigurische Sprachdenkmaler, S. E. Malov ed. (Leningrad, 1928), p. 28. I have given "alban yasaq" where Schurmannhas "alban and yasaq" for reasons which will appear below. The text involves a complaintto the ChaghatayKhan, Taghluq Timiir (748/1348-764/1362-63). W. Bartholdhas also takenthis textto mean thatqal2n was sedentarytaxation,at least in Turkestan; see his "Ilhanhlar Devrinde Mali Vaziyet," Turk Hukuk veIktisatTarihi Mecmuasz,I (1931), p. 152; thisis a Turkish translationof Barthold's Russian original, "Persidskaya nadpis na stene Aniiskoi mecheti Manuche," AniiskayaSeriya, v (St. Petersburg,191i), of which thereis also a German translationby W. Hinz in ZDMG (1951).

30 Qalan is considered as sedentarytaxation not only by Barthold (see preceding note), but by B. Grekov and A. Yakubovskii, La Horde d'Or, French translationby


56


to traditional And ifqali2nmaybe seen as a generaltermreferring pre-Mongoltaxationin all its varieties,so also mayposhlina,which, likeqal2inin thecase oftheMuslimclergy,was one ofthemaincategoriesof taxationfromwhichRussian clericswere exempted.The documentsissued by the Golden Horde show,in Russian tarkhain betterdetail,the samesituationthatthePersiantextsdepict.Birdibek'syarlighof 1357,like Ghazan'sedict,exemptedRussianclerics fromtwomaintaxes,dan' andposhlina,and froma variety ofexactions such as Mongolenvoysand travellers were accustomed(if not entitled)to require:vehicles(podvoda),food(korm),drink(pitie),"erequests" (zapros)and "tgifts" These exemptions, likeGha(pochestie). zan's, werebased on the precedentforexemptionof such persons fromdan' and poshlinaestablishedby ChinggisKhan."1 An earlierRussian document,the letterof MengiuTimur,when comparedwithBirdibek'sedict,showsus whatposhlinawas. Mengiu Timur,in 1267, orderedthe exemptionof the Russianclergyfrom dan', from yamand thetakingofvehicles(podvoda)and food(korm), from"plow" (popluzhnoe) and tamga,and from military service(voina, literally"war"). He did so on theprecedentsofChinggis,who gave exemptions fromdan' and korm,and of"subsequentemperors," who excusedclericsfrompaymentofdan'; yam;"plow" (popluzhnoe) and F. Thuret ofZolotayaOrda, Leningrad,1937, (Paris, 1939), p. I1 I (in part on Barthold's authority);and by B. Spuler, Die GoldeneHorde,p. 318 and Iran Mojollarz, p. 337. Ann Lambton's statement(op. cit.,p. 8o) that Radloffequated qalan and khara-jis based on theuncriticalrenditionofRadloff'stermdan' (II, col. 230) as harac by Abdiilkadirin his Turkish translationof Barthold's Ani article (forwhich see the preceding note). 31 Priselkov, pp. 6o-6i; translatedby Schurmann, pp. 346-348. Schurmann has slightlydifferenttranslationsfor some of the lesser (in that their prohibitionis not referredto precedents)forbiddenexactions:korm-comestibles,pitie-food,zapros-levy, and (tentatively)pochestie-"honoring"or tributary gifts.I believethattheseprohibitions applied to malpractices of Mongol travellersand that they were more specific than Schurmann'stranslationwould make them.The greatervarietyofprohibitionsby Birdibek as compared with those of MengiuTimur, and of both as against those of earlier rulers cited by MengiuTimur as precedent-yam (pre-MengilTimur); yam, podvoda, korm (Mengil Timur); podvoda,korm,pitie,zaprosand pochestie(Birdibek)-suggest to me increasing simplicityof language as the Mongol administratorstried to set forth precisely,comprehensiblyand comprehensivelythe demands forbidden.I have tried, therefore,to find equivalents for demands such as Mongol travellersmight have addressed to Russian farmers.



57

service(voina).82 Here we see (as we do notin the tamga;and military laterand more sophisticatedPersian sources) the developmentof earlyMongoltaxation.As Chinggis'troopsinvadedRussia theydemandedmenand animals,as theywereaccustomedtodo in a nomadic thispracticewas thenassimilatedtoits milieuon thebasisofqubchlir; nearestRussianequivalent:dan' ("tribute"in earlierRussianusage). and fodderfortheir And theydemandedprovisionsforthemselves animals.This was a newkindof demandbothforthe Mongols,uncountrywithits granariesand storeaccustomedto an agricultural kindof houses,and forthe Russians,used to a moresophisticated levyon agriculture;neitherhad a technicaltermforthisexaction, whichaccordinglywenton record,as it were,directlyout of the mouthof the Mongoltrooper:"food" (korm).Under their"subsewithRussia and herrequentemperors,"as theMongol'sfamiliarity sourcesimproved,and as theirneeds changedwiththe transition to themoreregularconditionsofoccupation,their fromcampaigning The new demandsbecamemorenumerousand moresophisticated.

(since 1229) postal service (yam) was provided for; militaryservice was made a regulated obligation (voina); and the simple kormwas differentiated into an agriculturaltax (the "plow"-popluzhnoe) and capital levy (tamga). The versatile qubchlir (dan'), of course, was retained.Mengii Timur's list of taxes is but a variantupon this essential list, a variant paying additional attentiononly to the ramifying abuses of the postal systemand thus adding to yam the previously implicit exactions of podvoda ("vehicles") and korm. By Birdibek's time these tax practices were well established, the tax administrators Prieselkov,pp. 58-59; translatedby Schurmann,pp. 342-346. Most of the Russian termsof Mengii Timur's letterhave clear Persian equivalents.Yam and tamga-tamgha are unchanged,voinais cherik,and podvodaand kormcorrespondto ul1gh ("remount"), 'alifa ("rations") and 'alafa ("fodder"). The correspondencebetween podvoda and iul1ghsuggeststhatthe sense ofpodvodashould include animals and thatits translation should be "conveyances" or "means of transportation." These equivalencesleave only dan' and popluzhnoe,and on the Persian side, qubchiur, qal2n and m21.Mal (whichcomprehendskhara2j)is the obvious equivalentofpopluzhnoe ("eplow"), and qal2n must be assimilated to m21 (as argued, forother reasons, above) in Persian fromqubchizrmakes it unlikely that dan' could because its differentiation comprehendboth. Qubchizr,by elimination,must equal dan'. And the mal-popluzhnoe equivalence also undermines Schurmann's equation of qubchur and poshlina, since poshlina seems clearlyrelated to popluzhnoe. 32


58


were more practiced and subtle-and abuses of the yam had gotten worse. The framersof the 1357 yarlaghno longer had to remindanyone that clerics did not serve in the armyor the postal stations,and they had learned to speak of poshlina33-customarytaxes-a more succinct yet less restrictivetermthan "plow" or "seal" (tamga), giving access, with the implicitsanctionof Russian history,to any traditional Russian taxes.34And theyhad to proscribean even longer list ofmalpractices:rovingMongols, hankeringafterthe cooperativehospitalityof the steppe and the unrestrainedhostilitiesof the glorious days of the Conquest, were still aftervehicles and food-and drink and "requests" and "gifts" as well. In the development-ofMongol taxationin Russia, poshlina appears as a final,comprehensivetermused fora categoryof taxationthathad earlierincluded korm,and then "plow" (popluzhnoe)and tamga. It is the culminatingexpressionforthe whole range of traditional(sedentary) taxes in Russia. That this was the nature of poshlina is further and decisivelyillustratedby the language of theyarligh of Birdibek, whichpromisesthe MetropolitanAlexei immunityfromMongol exaction of eitherdan' or poshlina, but permitsAlexei to exact whatever poshlina is due the church fromits properties: Whatevertribute(dan') theremaybe, or custom(poshlina),theyshall not take [such]fromthem;nor vehicle[s],nor comestibles,nor food,nor levies,nor honoring[pocestija](?), theyshall not give [such]. Or whateverchurch[possessions]:homes,lands,waters,gardens,vineyards,mills,theyshall not take them[away]fromthem,nor do any violetlceupon them.... And Thou, AleksejtheMetropolitan . .. whateverThou doest through customary[law] (poshlina)35 unto churchhouses,lands, waters,gardens, vineyards,or unto churchpeople, thatis up to Thee.36 33 One other strongpoint against Schurmann's equation of qubchuzr and poshlina is that qubchiur is an expression fromChinggis' own time, while poshlina occurs much later. Dan', of course, is an ancient term,and is used earlywith referenceto Chinggis' practices,as we would expect the Russian equivalentof qubchiur to be. 34 These included, besides dan', certain fees and fines,and a varietyof commercial charges,according to G. Vernadsky,A HistoryofRussia, ii, Kievan Russia (New Haven, 1948), pp. 190-192. 35 See Schurmann,p. 349. 36 Quoted by Schurmann,pp. 347-348 and 346, n. 97, fromPriselkov,pp. 6o-6i. "Tribute" is "dan'," and "custom," or "customary(law)" are "ePoshlina."



59

In order to have developed out of "plow" and 'seal" taxes, and to have servedas a basis forboth Birdibek's taxationand Alexei's, poshlina must have stood fortraditionalRussian sedentarytaxes. Finally, do not poshlina and qalan mean, as well as intend, the same thing?Poshlina,derivingfromthepast tense of Russian "to go," can verywell connote the traditionaland the pre-Mongol (and thus, in application to taxation,the sedentary).Then thinkhow the "Mongols" (who, in Russia, were mostly Turkic-speaking) might have translated poshlina into Turkic, or rather, how they might have phrased in their own language the demand that the Russian would translateas "Poshlina"; thinkof the phrase used by another Turkic interpreterof tax traditionsto an ignorantconqueror: A personcame fromGermiyanand said, "Sell [therightto collect]the b2j37to me." . . . OsmanGazi asked,"What is a baj?7"That personsaid, "I willcollecta silverpiece fromeveryonecomingto thebazar." Osman Gazi asked,"Do thesebazarpeople owe you a debtthatyou shouldgeta silver them]?"That personsaid, "eMyKhan,thisis thelaw,theyhave piece [from it in all countries;the sovereignsreceiveit." Osman Gazi asked, "Was it establishedit?" This person decreedby God or havetherulersthemselves said, "It's thelaw, myKhan, it has comedown[tous]fromofold (ezelden qalm>tzr)."38 Russia's traditional,pre-Mongol taxes, using this vocabulary,would "qalan." become "ezeldenqalan vergiler" "ezeldenqalanlar"-39 Accordingly,imperialMongol taxationin the conquered sedentary areas, down to the stage of developmentinto a triune,land tax-commercialtoll-tributesystemof taxationin China and Persia, was funda37 The baj in later Ottoman times was a market due, as is prefigured(perhaps anachronistically)in Aslkpa?azade's story.See Gibb and Bowen,Islamic Societyand the West(London, 1950), I:2, p. 7,n. 5; cf. Nasiruddin Tasi/Minorsky, Iranica, p. 73, for baj as a "bad" tax. 38 Asikpa?azade, Tevarih-iAl-i Osman, Ali Bey ed. (Istanbul, 1332 h./1913-1914), p. '9 (emphasis mine): "Germiyandanbir ki?i geldi. Eyder, 'Bu bazarin baclnl bana satin' der ... Osman Gazi eyder,'Bac nedir?' 0 ki?i eyder,'Bazara herki?ikim gelse ben andan akce alirim,' dedi. Osman Gazi eyder, 'Senin bu bazar ehlinde alimin ml var ki akce alirsin?' 0 ki?i eyder, 'Hanim, bu tiiredir,cemi vilayetlerdevardirkim padisah olanlar alir.' Osman Gazi eyder,'Tanri ml buyurdu,yoksa beylerkendilerimi ettiler?' der. Bu ki?i eyder,'Tiuredirhanim,ezeldenkalmzstir'der." 39 Qalanlar, "qalans," are evidenced in Persian translationin Rashiduddin's qalanat (Jahn ed., p. 304)-see above p. 53, n. 26.



60

(appliedboth to nomadsand mentallyclassifiedinto nomadic-style sedentarycategoriesas follows: settledpeople) and traditional Ilkhanate: GoldenHorde: Chinese(P'eng) :40

JNomadic Sedentary Persian qubchiir qalan Russian dan' poshlina qalan Turkic yasaq ch'ai-fa("steppe") ch'ai-fa("Han")

In consequenceofthisrevisionqubchiir appearsas themaincategory as sedentarytaxationin of nomadictaxation:withqalan identified documentsof theWest bothoriginand application,all the tarkhlin to the effectthatthe and the Chinese accountsbecometestimony own summarized their nomadic taxationunderthe Mongolsoriginally singletermqubchuir. 11

Afterdifferentiating betweensedentaryand nomadictaxation,let us of the latterform.In considerfurthersome of the characteristics beyondthatderiving doingso it will help us to look at information ofnon-Mongol fromimperialMongoltimesand evenat descriptions nomadicpractices.The sourcesfromtheperiodofMongolempireare few,terse,and obscure;later and fullerstudiesof the nomadsof Mongoliaand ofsimilarnomadscan illuminatetheearlieraccounts. thesituationoftheMongolsunderChinggisand hishouse Moreover, ofMongolnomadicpracticesbasedonly wasunique,and descriptions that on materials from periodareliabletoconfusethespecialwiththe withthenormal.A generalconsiderageneraland theextraordinary tionofnomadictaxationmaytherefore Mongol helpus to understand nomadic taxation.

Modernstudiesofnomadicpeoplesin CentralAsia and theMiddle East distinguish a varietyof"regular"taxesbutseemto showa commonoccasionaltaxation.Barth,studyingtheBasseritribein Persia, foundthat"each oulad [clan]pays a regularannual tax in clarified a nomadicMonbutter"to thechief,41 whileVreeland,investigating in a templedistrict, observedit to be responsiblefor gol community 40 See below, p. 67-68 and note 55; P'eng speaks of "ch'ai-fa of the steppe" & and "ch'ai-fa of the land of the Han." 41 FredrikBarth,Nomads of SouthPersia (2nd printing;Oslo: 1964), p. 74.



61

regular payments in support of temple services,42just as Hudson's Kazaks reported that everyone,rich and poor, was expected to give one sheep in ten each year to support the mullah.43"Regular" taxation among these nomads thus appears in the formof particular expedients, but not of a general practice. Occasional taxation,on the other hand, is general. Barth states of the Basseri that "the ruling chiefhas the recognizedrightto impose irregulartaxes on the tribesmen,usually in the formofa tax ofone sheep in a hundred (sad-o-yek) or sometimes even as much as three sheep in a hundred (sad-oseh),"44 and Vreeland reportsa similarrightofboth the banners and the templesin Mongolia.45 And among the Kazaks, says Hudson, "the collection of tribute, or taxes (albm)

. . .

took the form, not of regu-

larized imposts, but of occasional demands."46 These reports,then, suggest that occasional taxationis a standard nomadic practice, and that regular taxation,though a common expedient, is not. Is this in factthe case? And if so, why? Nomadism imposes upon the nomad peculiar (as we sedentaryobserverswould put it) conditionsforthe creationofthe nomadic wealth thatis the object of taxation.The nomadismof CentralAsia and (to a considerable extent) of the Middle East depends upon extensivepastoralism.Gleaning, bunting,and even agriculturemay be practiced, but only to supplement pastoralism. And the productive pursuit of pastoralismby the nomad requires that adequate pastures be accessible to him and his herds. This adequacy is determinedmore by the extent of the pastures than by their richness. The nomads under considerationhere inhabit regions with littlerainfalland hence with only seasonal grass and limited sources of water. They inhabit them successfullyby occupying them thinly,dispersing their people in small groups whose herds will not bear too heavilyupon the exiguous resources,and by using movementto obtain access to enough pasture, 42

H. H. Vreeland, Mongol Community and KinshiPStructure(3rd ed.: New Haven,

1962), pp. 112-114. Vreeland (p. 14) also mentions regular taxes (gail) paid to the

bannerorganizationby the nomads assigned to it ratherthan to the temples,but he does not discuss these in detail. 43 A. E. Hudson, Kazak Social Structure(New Haven, 1938), p. 64. 44 Barth, loc. cit. 45 Vreeland, pp. 14 and 114. 46 Hudson, loc cit.


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makinga large, poor territorythe equivalent of a smaller,richerone. Dispersal and movementare the keys to the nomad's pastoral success. And the movementof these dispersed people and herds has certain requirements.They must be free to move where there is grass and water to be found, and when necessary. They cannot move in other directionsand at other timeswithoutjeopardizing theirherds. Furthermore,the essentialdecisions concerningthe directionand timeof be made by the individual herdowner. movementcan only effectively Owing to the dispersal characteristicof his society, it is only the individual ownerwho has both the necessaryknowledgeof the conditionofhis animals and of thelocal terrain,and the requiredauthority, as herd owner, to make the decisions upon which the survivalor loss of these herds-and nomadism-depend. Thus dispersal and movement, and their enabling concomitants of individual freedom,responsibilityand initiativein movementare essentials of nomadism, and necessary conditions for the creation and maintenance of nomadic wealth. Another simple yet importantconsideration is the nature of nomadic wealth, which is animal and human. Taxation of this wealth Animals must takeits characteristicsinto account ifit is to be effective. takenas tax mustbe cared foror consumed, since theyare mortaland perishable. Men who are to be taxed in animals or services must be reached and persuaded, in one way or the other, since they are reluctant and elusive. Properly, it should be convincinglyargued to them that taxation is needed for the service and enhancement of argumentto make,since the nomad nomadismitself.This is a difficult is required by his ecology to be economicallyvirtuallyself-sufficient and compelled by dispersion to be economical both in social and (as we shall see) political arrangements,and thus admits few demands beyond the personal and immediatelyfamilialupon his concern and his wealth. These demands are feltonly in those areas in which selfis not attainedor is not fullyattainable,as, forinstance,in sufficiency "external affairs"-in relationswith other men or with God. In such areas communalaction, specialization,hierarchicalorganization,and, consequently, economic logistic support may be needed, and even admittedand accepted. Let us consider, forinstance, the nomad in his relationshipto his neighbors. The nomad decides for himselfwhen and with whom to



63

move, and where to move, within certain limits upon his range of movementset fromwithoutby the strengthofhis nomadic competitors foruse of pasture, or, more economicallyforall concerned, by some mutuallyrecognized authorityor adjudicators. The making of these arrangements,involvingas theydo the difficultand dangerous business of contact with suspicious and elusive strangers,is entrustedby thenomad to specialists-chiefs-as is theprovisionofthe supporting functionsof diplomacy,hospitality,and communications.To permit the specialists their expenditures of wealth in these functions,the nomad will provide taxation. These services support nomadism and are thereforeworthyof support. If diplomacy and arbitrationfail to contain the Malthusian desperation or the heroic exuberance of nomadic neighbors,or the hostilityof adjacent sedentarypeoples, the nomad will require not only specialists,but special organizationand mobilizationto enable his defense (or, if he himselfbe desperate or exuberant,his attack). The ecologically "normal" condition of arbitratedanarchyamong tinypastoral groups on a commonrange cannot be maintainedagainst attacks that threatento reduce the extent,and thus the precarious adequacy both of the commonrange and of some individuals' herds. The threatenedherdsmen,recoiling fromattack into the midst-and pastures-of their "kinsmen,"will seek theiraid against the enemy,and their "kinsmen," facingboth the enemy and the injurious crowdingof theirfriendswith theirflocksinto the nowdiminishedcommon range, will be glad to give it (as, conversely,the "kin" of the aggressorswill support their effortsto gain new range and herds-at someone else's expense). To deal with such emergencies the nomad needs and will accept the exigenciesofleadership and command, the maintenance of a communicationsand "intelligence" network,militaryservice-and taxes. This briefdescriptionof the objects and objectivesof nomadic taxation has implied restraintsupon nomadic taxationwhich should now be specifiedmore exactly. To begin with, the "taxable base" of nomadic wealthhas a fixedminimumsize. Under nomadic conditionsthe herd mustreach a certainnumberof animalsin orderto be viable; ifreduced below thisnumber,naturaland consumptiveattritionoverbalanThe nomad,whosewayoflifedepends upon ces naturalreproduction.47 47 Barth (p. i6) says that the Basseri consider sixtysheep the minimumviable herd, and there are indications that some similar limit affectsthe Central Asian nomads.


64


maintenanceof adequate herd size, is well aware of thislimit,whether he is a tax-payeror a tax-collector,and he will not allow or attempt taxation that would transgressit. Herds of a size approaching the viable minimumare not subject to tax. And the otherformof wealth, manpower, is similarlyexempted when the requirementof service would threatena family'snomadic capacities-its abilityto moveor to manage its flocks. Beyond these fixed limits on taxation furthervariable restraints obtain. There is a constantpressure to reduce or limit taxationeven upon viable herds because, owing to the vagaries of climate,disease, and aggression,even a normallyviable herd may quite commonlybe subjected to unusual attrition.The herdsmanwants as large a margin of herd size as possible as a bufferagainst catastrophe,and any taxation cuts into this margin. The collectors of taxes (who are themselves ordinarilyself-sufficient) also have reason to keep taxes low: the taxpayers,if they feel themselvespressed, can and will resist or flee the collector; the self-sufficient, mobile nomad can be taxed only if willing, except at the cost of a difficultand perhaps ultimatelyunproductive pursuit and capture (effortsof which authoritiesamong the nomads are oftenincapable).48 If high taxes are wanted,thenomad taxpayermustbe persuaded to want themtoo; ordinarily,he will only Vreeland's table ofMongol animalwealthshowsherds averagingfifty sheep in thelowest animal-owningcategory (p. 31). Such limitswere recognized earlier as well. In early Islamic timesthe beduin paid taxes (zakat) only on fiveor more camels, thirtyor more cattle, and fortyor more sheep (T. W. Juynboll,Handbuch des IslamischenGesetzes [Leiden and Leipzig, 1g9o], p. 1oo and n. 2), and Nasiruddin Tdsi (Iranica, p. 71), speaking in the thirteenthcenturyof the taxationof earlier (pre-Mongol) days, says: "In old timesalso nothingwas collected fromthe animals,but later fromeach (class of) animal capable of reproductionand grazingin the open (sahra) one out of one hundred was levied, while fromsmallernumbersmoney (zar) was collected in the same proportion. This (levy) is called mari'i. (Still) later, one out of fifty was levied." 48 "My papers gave us the rightto olagha-in Manchu wula, in the modern Mongol vernacularula. This is one of the 'servicesand taxes' due froma Mongol tribesmanto his chief and to the banner organization.In the service of the banner, or of official travellersaccreditedto thebanner,horses or camels are commandeeredwithoutpay ... at one place two of our soldiers triedto seize a horse froma Mongol who showed good Mongol spirit;he cuffedone soldier on the ear, kicked the otherin the rear,jumped on the horse and rode offinto the sands beforetheycould shoot" Owen Lattimore,Mongol Journeys(New York, 1941), pp. 12-13.



65

be willing to pay for services that are clearly essential and likewise beyond his own individual means. Nomads, then,are ordinarilyreluctantto pay taxes-like most taxpayers. But beyond this common human negative reaction, nomads hold a positive antipathy toward taxation. For one thing, taxation resultsfromthe need to make up fordeficienciesin the nomadic way of lifeitself.It is symbolicof failuresto achieve the nomadic ideals of self-sufficiency, mutual aid, and cooperation,and it is symptomaticof the inadequacy of normalnomadic practices,such as the symbiosisof rich and poor, to withstand the pressures upon nomadism. In this sense taxation is not only undesirable, but improper to nomadism, since it provides thingsthe nomads should not need. Furthermore,it provides thingshe should not have. Nomads must consider that taxationnot only takeshis wealth,but puts it to dangerous uses. Taxation supports chiefs,with theirproclivityforcommand and leadership in disregardof the nomad's need of autonomous movement;it supports organization,which hampers dispersal and hinders movement.It requires and facilitatescontrol of the shepherds, and therebyjeopardizes the sheep-and nomadism. The peril that organization and authorityentail fornomadism is especiallyapparentin the case ofnomadic organizationforwar,which has been brieflyconsidered above. Mobilizationdemands the concentrationand the hierarchicaldirectionof the nomads' manpowerand of the logistic "tail"-the camps and herds-that supportthem;militaryoperationsrequiremovementwhich,thoughunable to ignore the pastoralnecessitiesupon which logisticsurvivaldepends, at least must compromisebetween these necessities and strategicand tactical exigencies. Thus, militarystrengthand success are obtained at the expense of ecological balance; the mobilized nomads may win victories, but maylose theirherds in doing so. Since the nomad's main purpose (almost always) is to protect or promote his pastoral way of life, he cannotput up withmobilizationforlong, and as soon as themenace is overor the objectivegained, must tryto resumehis dispersed,autonomous pastoralism. The nomad's dislike of taxation is thus part of a larger antipathy to any social cohesion or political authoritythat might,throughorganizationand control,menace nomadism.49 49 I assume in this discussion a fundamentalattachmentof the nomad to nomadism. There is evidence forthis attachmentin the reversionsto nomadismof "sedentarized"


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beNomadictaxationis thusessentially limitedand extraordinary cause it threatensnomadismand suggestsits inadequacy.Taxation it requires withherdmovement; reducesherdsize and mayinterfere and authority. The needfortaxationand the and enablesorganization attaina balance in the nomad's servicesit supportsmusttherefore before ofecologicalnecessity againsttheconsideration understanding the nomadcan be persuadedto pay. Only on specialoccasionscan this need acquire the gravityenablingit to outweighthe constant withas largea reserve nomadicconcerntoshoreup hisself-sufficiency as possibleagainstdisasteror depredation,and to rejectwherever and controls.When no such need is felt,the possible,organization nomadwill counterany demandby drawingupon his considerable And as taxationappears genabilityto refuseor avoid payment.60 inefficient, and even so also it seemsunnecessary, erallyundesirable, and thenaself-sufficient, improper.Successfulnomadsare virtually consumption tureoftheirwealthmakesit suitableonlyforimmediate notforcollectionand storageagainstpossibleneed, or redistribution, And taxationforconexceptby special,unnomadicarrangement. is notbeing suggeststhatself-sufficiency sumptionor redistribution achieved,that nomadismis not working;taxationinvolvingmore fixedestabto provideforregularassemblies, elaboratearrangements lishments,and permanentorganizationand authority-allof them goingbeyondand to some extentagainstnomadism-impliesthat fornomads,and nomadismis notenough.Such ideas areunthinkable and illat best awkward in that is of them a taxation the suggestion as assortedonlyrendersthattaxationharderto accept. Antithetic

nomads (e.g. the Qashqa'i in Iran), and in the nomad's scorn forthe peasant and the e"civilized";thereis reason forit in thefavorableeconomic,social and political condition of the"full" nomad by comparisonwiththepeasant. It has, however,alwaysbeen a prefforpersons of sedentarybackgroundto comprehend. erence thatis difficult 50L. Krader,in Social OrganizationoftheMongol-Turkic Pastoral Nomads (The Hague, 1963), p. 146, remarksin the course ofa discussionofKalmuk societythatwhileabsolute fealtyof subject to ruler was an ideal, it was one much infringedupon by the actual practice of decampingto attainindependence or tojoin anothergroup. V. A. RiasanovLaw oftheMongol Tribes(Harbin, 1929) mentionslegislationagainst sky,in Customary decamping in the Mongol-UyratRegulation of 1640 (p. 96), the Khalka Djirom (pp. 113-114), and the Mongol Code of 1815 (p. 132).



67

nomadictaxationcannotbecomeordinaryor well as antipathetic,

normal. 51

III

Let us now tryto see how farearlyMongoltaxationis informed by thisnomadicconcernforlimitand occasionin a taxationthatis generallyantipathetic. The earliestdescriptions of the taxationof the eenomadic sector" of the Mongolempireare those of the Chinese observers P'eng Ta-ya J17%and Hsi! T'ing *-, written in 1236, and, fromthe sameperiod,of the SecretHistory. Limitand occasion are alludedto in themall. P'eng Ta-ya,writingin 1236,statesthat "[the Mongols']collectingof taxesis calledch'ai-faAR. They rely on horsesformilk;theyrequiresheepforfood.In all casestheycollect themon thebasis of size of thepeople's herds.It is like the 'provisioningof the ruler' (shang-kung _Et) of the Chinesesystem."52 The phrase"on thebasisofsizeof. . . herds"refers, thoughobscurely, to thematteroflimitand proportion:collectionis somehowrelatedto herdsize,buthow?Numeroustextsin latersourcesattestto a conventional Mongoltax rateofone in ten-a tithe.MarcoPolo's statements thattheOng Khan,beforeChinggis,waspaid onebeastin tenby theTatars,53 and thatin KinsaitheGreatKhan derived(inter

alia) one-tenth of the yield of flocks and soil54 are typical of late

examplesof these. P'eng's "on the basis of" probablymeans "in proportion to" and refersto Mongolcollectionsoftaxesat fixedrates butin amountsvaryingdirectly withthesize oftheherdstaxed.The testimony of Hsi! T'ing, withits emphasison theliabilityof "high and low," seemsto coincidewithsuch an interpretation: 51Notice, in this regard, that of the examples of "regular" nomadic taxationgiven above, both Hudson's Kazaks and Vreeland's Mongols are paying for non-nomadicor supra-nomadiccauses: the maintenanceof a mullah or of the Buddhist hierarchyand ceremonial,and the support of the Manchu tributeand banner administration. 52 Quoted by Schurmann,pp. 312-313, fromthe Hei-ta shih-liieh' Kuohsiiehwen-k'u,ed., vol. 25 (Peiping, 1936), pp. 75-78. 53 Marco Polo, The Travels ofMarco Polo, R. Latham, trans. (Penguin Books, 1958), p. 62. 54 Ibid., p. 200. Compare this with the statementof the Russian chroniclerthat the Mongols took a tenth"of everything"(Vernadsky,The Mongols and Russia, p. 216, quoting the Novgorodskaia Pervaia letopis',A. N. Nasonov ed., [Moscow and Leningrad,

1950], p. 286).


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In thedesertarea which[I,] T'ing, traversed, fromtheTatar ruler,the pretendedqueen,crownprincesand princesses,and [royal]relativesdown, all havetheirdomains,Theirpeople all giveforthoxenand horses,vehicles and weapons,laborers,mutton,and mare'smilkas ch'ai-fa.Withoutdoubt, in thesteppewhichtheTatarshavesplitup [intodomains]and administer, everyonegivesforthch'ai-fa.Nobleand mean,thereis notone whomaybe exempted.There is anothermatter,namelythateach givesforthch'ai-fa for the requirementswithinthe postal relay [system]of each domain. Again,it is the same withhighand low. This, thus,is the ch'ai-faof the steppe.55 But P'eng's ambiguous phrasing may result not simply fromimpression but fromhis attemptto include the idea of limit as well as that of proportion. "On the basis of size of . . . herds" may intend eewithdue regard forherd size." For the Mongols, like othernomads, had always to consider herd viabilityin any matter affectingherd size. We see thisconcernin Ogodei Qa'an's orderon tax reformin the SecretHistory: WeitersprachOgodai Chan: "Das von meinemVaterTschinggisChan unterSorgenbegriindeteReich willich nichtSorgenhalten.Ich willihm Freudegeben,in demich es seinenFuss aufden Boden,seineHand aufdie Erde setzen lasse. Wo ich auf dem Throne meineskaiserlichenVaters sitze,bestimmeich, um das Volk keineNot leidenzu lassen,dass manfur aus dieserBevolkerung in jedem Jahrevon der Herde die Suppe [sh1ilen]56 loc cit. Quoted by Schurmann,p. 313, fromthe Hei-ta shih-luieh, Shiilenhere clearlymeans more thanjust "soup," althoughelsewherein the Secret History,as noted by Ahmet Temir, its Turkish translator(in Mogllaran Gizli Tarihi [Ankara,1948], p. 2o2, n. 2), it is used in this simple sense. A varietyof possible connotationsfor shiulenin the larger sense is found in the meanings of this and related termsin Buryat,Tiirki, and Chaghatayusage, whichprobablyderivedfromtheimperial Mongol term,since neitherKashghari (see Besim Atalay, Divaniu Ligat-it-TfirkTerciimesi,Index [Ankara,1943]) nor theOrkhoninscriptions(see Talat Tekin, A Grammar of OrkhonTurkic[Bloomington,(Indiana), 1968]) employedit. Among the nineteenthcenturyBuryatMongols, the siilengewas a clan or villageleader responsibleforhospitality,maintenanceof a common table, and leadership of common sacrifices(L. Krader, Social Organizationof theMongol-TurkicPastoral Nomads [The Hague, 1963], p. 8i, frommaterialsof A. P. Shchapov in "Buriatskaia Ulusnaia Rodovaia Obshchina," Izv: 3-4 [1874]). In OtdeleniiaImp. Russ. Geog. Obshchestva, vestiia Vostochno-Sibirskogo ChaghatayTurkic we have sholen,"food prepared for the commonpeople," sholenchi, and shilen,"public festivities";and in TiArki,sholle,"food prepared for the e"cook,"1 commonpeople," shilen,"cooked militaryrations," and shilenchi,"officerin charge of Thus we have shiilenimplirations" (Radloff,IV, 1037 and 1077 [mytransliterations]). cated in public and cult feasting,perhaps in poor-relief("food for common [poor?] 55

56



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ein zweijihrigesSchafgebensoll. Aus hundertSchafensoll man ein Schaf herausnehmen und an die Armenund Bediirftigen innerhalbdes eigenen Stammesgeben.Weiter,wenndie Brilder(Prinzen),das ganze Heer und Leibwachen,sich versammeln, wie konnenda die Getrankefuralle diese aus dem Volke beigetriebenwerden?Man soll dafiiraus den einzelnen Tausendschaften derverschiedenen GebieteStutenaussuchenund melken, danachMelkermitihrerWartungbetrauen.Danach sollenbei standigem Wechseldie Lagerordnerals Stutenpfleger dienen.... Weiter,wenndie Kurierereiten,lassen wirsie bei der Bevolkerung entlangreiten. Das gibt bei den reitendenKuriernVerzogerung und auch furdas VolkBelastigungen. JetztwollenWir durchwegfolgendeBestimmungen einfiihren:Aus den einzelnenTausendschaften der verschiedenen GebietePostleuteund Pferdeburschen zu stellenund an den einzelnenStationenPoststelleneinzurichten, so dass mandie KuriereohnedringendenZwangnichtmehrbei der Bev6lkerung entlangleitet,sondernilberdie Poststellenreitenlasst. Das warewohlam besten.57

of a hundredsheep as the taxablemiminum Ogodei's specification insured,witha comfortable margin,thathumanexactionswouldnot compoundnaturalattrition.58 taxrate, Combinedwiththeone-tenth people"), and in logistics (cf. in this regard the synonymousand analogous Ottoman chorba-chorbaji). Fuad Koprulu (in TurkEdebiyatiTarihi [Istanbul,1926], p. 83) triedto synthesizeseveral of these meaningsin the definition"public sacrificialfeast," and to extend theirapplication by claimingas synonymsof shiilenthe Persianjashn, "feast," and Turkic toy,"feast." Kopriilu's shilen-jashn-toy identificationseems convincing. but his definitionmisleading.Juvayniuses jashn and Rashiduddin toyforthebanquets of the Chinggisids,and shiilenhas survivedin Persian as shilan, "royal table or entertainment" (F. Steingass, Persian-EnglishDictionary[London, 1892], p. 776). "Royal (or princely)feast"would thus seem theproper definitionfromthe Persian evidence. and it seemsappropriateto the SecretHistorytextat hand, since Ogodei is tryingto alleviatethe The furthersenses, in laterBuryatand Turkic public burden ofprincelyentertainment. usage and in Kopriilu's definition,of religiousritualand public service,emergedas the e"royal"aspect of the termfaded with the Mongol empire; thislet the religious characaffairsappear moreprominently,and gave greaterweight teristicsofall familio-political to the needs and interestsof the "public" as against its authorities.Finally,in Khalkha Mongolia,amid religiouschange, dynasticdecline, and generalilliteracy,shiilenlost all these larger senses; today shol is again only "soup" (F. Lessing, Mongolian-English Dictionary[Berkeleyand Los Angeles, 1960], p. 708). 57 SecretHistory,section 279, E. Haenisch's translationin Die GeheimeGeschichte der Mongolen(Leipzig, 1948), pp. 144-145. The Mongolian text is in HistoireSecretedes Mongols,P. Pelliot ed. (Paris, 1949), p. ii8; Pelliot's translationin the same book goes only throughsection 185. 58 Juvaynialso speaksof theherd-limits recognizedby taxation:animalleviesareexacted at a rate of one per hundred; herds of less than one hundred head are exempt: Juvaymi/Boyle, II, p. 6oo.


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the recognition of herdminimameantthatnomadictaxationcould not (in principle)operateso as to impoverish thetaxpayer:a titheon a herdof loo sheep wouldleave the ownergo sheep-still a viable herd-but would renderhim immunefromfurther exactionsuntil naturalincreasehad againbroughttheherdup to loo head. And it shouldbe notedthatOgodei's strictures againsthaphazard exactionsfrom,and unnecessary burdensupon the Mongolsshowa further dimensionoftheconcernwithlimitand proportion. The taxgatherermust considernot only capacityto pay but proprietyin exaction,out ofregardforthenomad'spoliticalmobility."High and low" alikemustpay, in proportionto theirmeans,and theburden mustbe evenlydistributed, notjust forefficiency, butforequity.Limit and proportionare requirednot only to protectthe ability,but to fosterthatwillingness topaywithout whichnomadictaxationis hardly feasible. topay. Scrupulousmethodsalonecannotengenderthiswillingness find into To itsorigins-itsoccasions-wemustinquire theoccasional natureof Mongoltaxation.That Mongoltaxationwas in largepart as intendedby Hudson, occasionalin the samesenseofirregularity Barth,and Vreelandcan certainly be shown.We have alreadyseen thattheMongolsdividedtheirimperialtaxationin generalinto the twocategoriesofqalainand qubchu2r (or theirequivalents), intending, respectively, sedentaryand nomadictaxation.And qubchuir, which becamethegeneraltermfornomadictaxation,specifically designated an irregular, or occasionallevy.The Secret recountstheoccaHistory sion on whichChinggisraiseda qubchuir to rehabilitate the impoverishedand fugitive Ong Khan,in a mannerprefiguring theinstitutionalizedpoor-taxofOgodei's reform .. . .nachdemer [Ong Khan]an den Stadtender Ui'ut und Tang'ut v%orbeigezogen und sich dabeihatteso ernahren miussen, dass sie Ziegen undmiteinander unddenKamelenBlutabzapften, molken erschien fingen nunin grosser NotamSee Guse'ur.... UnddanachzogihmTschinggis ChanvonderKeluren-Quelle undmitRiucksicht auspersonlich entgegen, dassjenerso verhungert (larauf, undabgemagert ankam, liesserfurOngchaneineSteuerumlage machen[qub-cr-i qubciju]und nahmihnin sein ihn. Gehegehereinundverpflegte 59 SecretHistory,section 151 (Haenisch trans.,pp. 50-51; the textis givenby Pelliot, pp. 45-46).



71

And we have also the languageof Ogodei's reformto supportthe of qubchlzr as an occasionallevy: the irregular(and interpretation of drinkfromthe people by the princes improper)requisitioning seemsto be an essentialconIrregularity employsthetermqubchi-.60 notationofqubch1dr.6' But themeaningof"occasional"mustbe morethantheirregular, is withits connotations, ifqubchiur, mustvergeon theextraordinary to stand (as it did fortheMongols)fornomadictaxationin general, Suchenlargedmeanas wellas irregularities. includingitsregularities closelythepurposesofMongoltaxaingcan be foundifwe scrutinize tion.The reformof Ogodei and the discussionby P'eng and Hsiu quotedabovefroniour earliestsourcesshowthreepurposesofearly and supportofpublicgathMongoltaxation:provisionofhospitality ofthepoor. ofthepostalrelays;andrehabilitation erings;maintenance of the providesa good illustration The case of public gatherings factthat"occasional"need not (thoughit is apt to) mean "irreguand unscheduledprocedures.Someoccalar," or involveintermittent sions (annual holidays,periodicreligiousceremoniesand the like) The shiilen are ofregularoccurrence and requireregularprovisions.62 forwhichOgodei made taxprovisionwas obviouslyan occasion,alofthese thoughit was supportedby regulartaxation.The regularity annual-of taxesmayhavecorrespondedto theregularity-perhaps of the tax to one lambper familyper theshiilen,but thelimitation yearwas intendedto limitindividualliability(one per family)and to ofthisliabilityratherthanrepeatedpayrequireproperdistribution mentsby themostaccessiblefamilies.This tax derivedits rationale and characterfromits purposes,whichwereoccasional,ratherthan fromits methods. The postal relaysprovidedthe communications requiredby the also a facility developedto meetthe Mongolempire,but constituted fortheguidanceofmovement. generalnomadicneed forinformation SecretHistory,section 279 (Pelliot text,p. 1 i8). M. Roublev, in "Le Tribut aux Mongols d'apres les Testaments et Accords des Princes Russes," Cahiersdu Monde Russe et Sovietique,VII: 4 (1966), p. 528, suggests that the Russian tributeto the Golden Horde may have been irregularlyremitted. 62 The "regular" taxationmost thoroughlydiscussed by Vreeland (pp. 1 1 1-1 13) is of alba) fromthepeople to supplyregularly just thissort: collections(called, interestingly, scheduled templeservices. 60 61


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The collectionand transmissionofinformationis a matterin which all nomads will willinglyengage, although they usually do so as individuals (as indicated in Ogodei's statement),receiving,feeding,and rehorsingthe bearersofnews who pass theirway. The maintenanceof communicationsin this way is clearly an occasional matterin all the usual senses of "occasional": it is of irregularoccurrence,depending on the coincidence of the courier's route withthe nomad's movement, and it is inspired by the special importanceof informationto the nomad-the coming of a messenger is an occasion. With the development of Chinggis' enterpriseand the increase in the flowof couriers that accompanied it, the informationservice became more burdensome, and also more important.As more couriers were dispatched, and as theynaturallytookroutesalong which theywould findnomads and their hospitality,the cost to these nomads increased-to the point whereOg6dei feltimpelled to alleviate the individualburden by distributingthese costs among the whole people. This systematization ofcommunicationsby the establishmentof a publicly-supportedpostal service did away with most of its irregularcharacter.But its occasional nature remained and even increased, owing to the increased emphasis on the occasion that was required to induce the nomads to accept regularpayments,service,and organization.The postal relays, stationsof men, animals, and provisionsat fixedpoints,in exact antithesis to the requirementsof nomadism, required special arrangements to mediate between the moving supplies and the stationary posts they supported; the nomads had thus to take into account, as they planned their pastoral movement,their ecologically irrelevant obligationsto theyam. This potentiallydangerous intrusionupon the nomad's freedomofmovementcould be justifiedin part by showingit to produce more equitable results than the old, haphazard way. But morepersuasive stillwas the recommendationofefficiency-thecouriers will no longer be delayed-and implicit in this, of enhanced service for that matterof special importanceto all the Mongols: the enterpriseof Chinggis Khan. Participationin this enterprise,so approximateto the nomads' mythicand epic ideals, was an occasion of such consequence as to permita revolutionin themanner,ifnot in the nature,of nomadic communications.We thus see in the development of Mongol communicationsthe occasion in its varyingrelationshipto nomadic needs and desires,as well as inbothirregularand regularforms.



73

The Mongols' provision forrehabilitationof the poor exhibits the occasion as emergency.Povertyis a commonyet extraordinarysituation in nomadism.63Nomadismdepends upon a certainlevel ofanimal solvency,and is disabled by subsidence below that level. Povertyis thus not a nomadic condition (although it is the condition of many nomads) but a nomadic emergency-and emergenciesare among the few thingsthat persuade nomads to disregardpastoral dictates. The impoverishednomad is faced with a hard choice among unpleasant alternatives:dangerous raiding to restorehis flocks,demeaning subjection to richerneighborsin returnforsupport, or becoming one of the despicable peasantry. And his circumstancesmay forceanother choice upon his more fortunateneighbors. The poor are objects of Mongol pity for having lost their capacity to practice the good life, and ofMongol concern fortheirinabilityto contributeto it. The poor have no flocks and no horses, no self-sufficiency, and no military potential. They are either a burden upon the "full" nomads, or a danger to them,as theybecome peasants and seek eitherto recapture (fromnomads) the means to renew nomadism,or endeavor to protect (fromnomads) theirnew lands and products. The "full" nomads, in theirsympathyand self-interest, thereforetryto cope with the challenge of nomadic poverty.Their usual effortsare individual, not collective,as is the case in most nomadic activity.Some of the poor are taken into the camps of the "efull"nomads as dependents, or servants64;the more able join new familiesby marriage,65or make a new start toward pastoral independence through a "share-herding" arrangementwitha large herd owner.66At times,however,theincidence The dynamicsof impoverishmentand "denomadization" are described by Barth, pp. 108-iog; the incidence is considered in Chapter ix. The consequences of "denomadization" in the Central Asian regions where sedentarizationis not an important option, are grim: consider the storyin the SecretHistory,sections 14-16 (Pelliot trans., 63

p. 123). 64

SecretHistory,loc. cit. The suspicions ofAlan-qo'a's older sons concerningtheparentageof theirbrothers born aftertheirfather'sdeath suggest-whether or not one accepts Alan-qo'a's explanation-one kind of opportunityforadvancement.See the SecretHistory,sections 17-21 (Pelliot trans.,pp. 123-124). 66 On share-herding,see Vreeland, pp. 92 and 103-104; and Barth,pp. 13-14, and (for the dangers involvedin it) p. 103. Vreeland's discussion of the share-herdingof horses (p. 104) nicely complementsthe descriptionby William of Rubruck of Batu's 65


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ofpoverty mayoverwhelm theresourcesofnomadindividualism, and at times(butmorerarely)thenomadsmaydisposeofpublicfacilities fortreatingpoverty.Chinggisand his heirs,we may imagine,did muchdamageto nomadismwiththeirorganizingand campaigning; had thecapacityto repairmuchofthisdamage.67 theycertainly And the factthatOg6dei,at least,triedto do so musthave helpedrecommendboththedynastyand organization to thenomads. Here again, the indirectrelationship-contrary to the nomadic norm-betweenthesourceand thedestination ofwealthinvolvedin its redistribution requiredmediationand thusmeantinterference in nomadism, but thiswas doublyoffset bytheimportance of Chinggis' enterprise and thegravity whichanythreatto it wouldassumeto the Mongols.Nomadicpovertytherefore also createsan occasion-one to whichthe impoverished nomadmust tryto rise and to whichhis neighbors-andhis society,ifany-has theobligation, ifnot always thesocialability,to respond. Finally,we shouldobservethatoccasionaltaxationmaybe notonly orregular,butincessant.This waswhatdismayedthesedenirregular and thiswas,too,an important element tarypayersofMongoltaxes;68 ofMongolpower,as Juvayniremarks: arrangementforsupplyinghis camp with mares' milk (in Missionto Asia, Christopher Dawson ed. [New York: Harper Torchbooks, 19661,p. 99). 67 Public supportforthepoor as introducedby Ogodei was practicedby the Mongols in Persia at least until Ghazan's time: "[Before the reign of Ghazan Khan, 1295-1304] the customaryand traditionaltaxes ('adat wa rusum) [upon the Mongol army]were still in effect:each year they exacted a qitpchuir of horses, sheep, cattle, felt,hides (? farwat)and otherthingsfromthewhole armyforthepeople of the orduiand the soldiers who were poor" Rashiduddin/Jahn,p. 300. Emphasis mine. 68 Who were taxed,wheneveran occasion arose: "The hazkim used to collect 2 qubUirs per year fromthe people, and in some places 20 or 30." Quoted by Schurmann,pp. 385 and 384, n. i8o, fromRashiduddin/Jahn,p. 243. Anothercryfromtheheartagainst qubchuirwas voiced by Pfur-iBaha in his satirical"encomium" to the vezir'Ala' uddin Juvayni(V. Minorsky,"Puir-iBaha and his Poems," Charisteria[J. Rypka] [Prague, 1956] and again in Iranica, op. cit.) It is much more likely that this characteristicof qubchiur,ratherthan its poll-tax and therefore jizye-likeaspect (as Schurmannasserts, pp. 375-376), thatdisturbedNasiruddinTuisi (Iranica, p. 73); he would have been free, giventhe Mongol government'ssectarianindifference at thattime,to state the comparison betweenjizyeand qubchfir had he wanted to,but to complainabout the frequencyof taxationwould have approached Pse majeste.



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What armyin the whole worldcan equal the Mongol army?In timeof action,whenattackingand assaulting,theyare like trainedwildbeastsout aftergame,and in thedaysofpeace and securitytheyare likesheep,yieldand ading milk,and wool,and manyotherusefulthings.In misfortune versity theyare freefromdissentionand opposition.It is an armyafterthe fashionofa peasantry, beingliableto all mannerofcontributions (mu'an) and renderingwithoutcomplaintwhateveris enjoinedupon it, whether occasionaltaxes ('avarizat),themaintenance(ikhrajiit)of travelqiupchiur, lers or the upkeep of post stations(yam) with the provisionof mounts (iMilgh)and food ('ul1if2at) therefor.... Even when theyare actually engagedin fighting, thereis exacted fromthemas much of the various taxesas is expedient,whileany servicewhiclhtheyused to perform when presentdevolvesupon theirwivesand thoseofthemthatremainbehind.f9 Chinggis had played upon the nomad's longing for company and community,on his acquisitive urge and his heroic hopes-the products of social tenuousness and political inefficiency-andhad enticed him into a novel society that improvedupon and largely supplanted (instead of merelysupplementing)thatof nomadic pastoralism-into a Quest that redefinedand idealized the nomad's purpose. And this Quest was an occasion, although not occasional. It established an emergencyon a permanentfooting.And so, as the occasion of organization gained epic dimensions, occasional taxation became incessant, and as the nomads' purpose gained a new magnitude, their taxation became urgent, exigent, and yet acceptable. It is no bad measure of Chinggis' abilityand accomplishmentthat he could sway the Mongols-nomads-from reluctance to pay taxes at all to a willingness to pay themendlessly. Early Mongol taxation thus displays the same characteristicsas does pastoral nomadic taxation in general. The texts specifylimits and, togetherwith tax terminology('avdrfi,qubchuir), occasionalness. And in this context of limit and occasion, the incessant and dutiful paymentsof the Mongols are certainlyextraordinary.This has been difficultto understand. The circumstancesgiving rise to this extraordinarytaxationwere themselvesso extraordinaryas to induce the illiteratenomads to have them recorded and thus preserved,out of their more normal and thus unrecorded context, and this has led manyto consider these circumstancesand this taxationas normaland typical.Moreover,scholarsofsedentarybackgroundhave usually such 69 JuvaynI/Boyle,I, pp.

30-31. Some diacriticalmarkingsadded.



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a sense of the regularity,inevitability,and common excessiveness of taxes as rendersincomprehensibleto themoccasional, avoidable, and voluntary taxation. But without such an understanding, the later historyof Mongol taxationand the relationshipbetween the taxes of the Mongols and of other nomads, is itselfincomprehensible. IV

The exceptional characterof nomadic taxationforcedthe transformation of later Mongol imperial taxationjust as it had shaped its early development. The invasions of Russia and the Middle East ended, respectively,by 1242 and 1260; China was conquered by 1279. With the conclusion of campaigning came to an end the emergencythat Chinggis and his heirs had so long sustained, and which had for so long persuaded the Mongols to pay theiroccasional taxes on almost incessant occasions. The Mongols had compacted with Chinggis to obey his commandsin timeofwar and had fullyhonored theirundertaking.But now that theywere at peace, theirbargain with Chinggis and his heirs demanded only that theyrespect the "interests" of the Chinggisids70-respect their larger grazing and camping privileges, theiradjudicatoryand diplomatic effortsin the public interest,their name and reputation. 70 Jfindthissense of contrastin theMongols' wartimeand peacetimeundertakingsto Chinggis in Arthur Waley's translationof the Chinese-languageversion of the Secret History:"If in timeofbattlewe disobeyyour ordersor in timeofpeace we act contrary to yourinterests,part us fromour wivesand possessions and cast us out into thewilderoftheMongolsand OtherPieces[London, 1963], p. 245). Another ness" (The SecretHistory translationof this version,by Wei Kwei-sun (The SecretHistoryof theMongol Dynasty [Aligarh,1957], pp. 87-88), uses similarlanguage. Although I am not qualifiedto engage in Chinese or Mongolian textualcriticism,I would point out that thereappears to version be some confusionover thispassage in theMongolian-text-in-Chinese-characters of the SecretHistory.As worked out by Haenisch, it has the Mongols promise to obey ordersin war and not to "violate youralliance" ("deinen Bund verletzen")in peacetime thantheChinese version,thatthe (p. 33). This suggests,perhaps even moresignificantly most the Mongols will promise Chinggis in peacetime is to refrainfromdecamping! Pelliot,however,findsappositionin his reconstructedMongoliantextwheretheChinese versionand IHaenisch'sshow contrast:"On the day of battle,if we disobeyyour orders .... In timesof peace, if we break your decisions.... (Au jour de la bataille, si nous contrevenonsa tes ordres. . . . En temps de paix, si nous avons brise tes avis. . ..

(p. 156).



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The Chinggisidshowevernaturallydesired to enjoy the power and pomp of theirforebears,and those who ruled over primarilynomadic domains, as did the princes of Mongolia, Chaghatay and the Golden Horde, had to try to persuade the Mongols to keep paying for it. Accordingly,they put forwarda new rationale for taxation: the organizationof state itself,theyargued, deserved and required tax support as had the now completed Mongol enterprise. The idea was probablyof Chinese origin.The thoughtthatmeans ratherthan ends justifytaxationis unnomadic but unexceptionableforsedentarycivilizations. And the language used to convey the new theoryderived who had earlierspoken fromthe Chinese: the Mongol administrators, simply of "taking" or at most of qubchuir,now began to use the Chinese termforMongol taxes-ch'ai-fa,-in Mongolian translation: alba qubciri.7' From the middle of the thirteenthcentury this new terminology begins to appear in the bilingual Sino-Mongoliantarkhiandocuments. We have already seen that the term ch'ai-fa was employed in the descriptionsofP'eng and Hsii in theapproximatesense of"taxation." However, the term is a composite one with a fullersense that the Mongol tax authoritiesfoundinstructiveas theirambitions(and their understandingof Chinese words and thoughts) increased. Ch'ai, according to Schurmann,"seems to have the connotationof something done by the government,"and it is translatedin this sense by Pelliot as "official,"and by Schurmann,notingthe factthatthe governments involved in his examples are always non-Chinese, as "imperial." Fa means simplylevy or requisition. Together they produce "livraison officielle"(Pelliot) and "imperial levy, or tribute" (Schurmann).72 Now the Mongols were familiarwith levies, but not with government or empire.Therefore,to develop such concepts, in the hope thatthey would make a case forcontinued taxation,the Mongol administrators sought a Mongolian term that would qualify taxation with the ap71 Schurmann,pp. 324-325. Schurmannconsiders the alba of alba qubcirito be "the permanent,customarytributeor servicewhicheach subjectregularlyrendered" (p. 310) and the equivalentof qalan and dan'. His thesis,apart fromconfusionover qalan and between nomadic and sedentarytaxation,fails to explain why this the differentiation "basic tribute"is not even mentionedin the SecretHistory,and cannot takeadvantageof the intendedidentityof alba qubciriand ch'ai-fa. 72 Schurmann,pp. 319-320 and 324-325.



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theyfound"alba: and institution; ofobligation propriate connotations service." ofChinggisKhan, or conscription intotheenterprise Byenlistment theMongolsundertooklargeobligations:"in timeofbattlewe shall obeyyourorders,"to paraphrasethecompactwithChinggis,and as forbattle, Chinggis'timeswerealwaystimesofbattleorofpreparation theMongols(and others)whohad made thecompacthad to engage thediscipline,and thecampaigning thatthese in theregimentation, havesumbattlesrequired.Alba,itwouldseemtome,mustordinarily and "service"wouldseemto me a fruitful marizedtheseobligations, On theone hand "service"connoteswell and expressivetranslation. hard the dedicationthatwe knowChinggiselicited the and both work and on theother,it impliesthatthereis someone fromhis followers, or something to serve.It couldbe considered,as it is by Schurmann, betweensubjectand lord,"73 thatalba designates"the relationship thatthe Mongols'traditionheld that but it shouldbe remembered beforeChinggistheyhad been "a lordlesspeople"74and thatthis termdoes not appear in the SecretHistory. apparentlyfundamental neologism, Rather,I wouldsuggestthatalba wasa thirteenth-century denominatingthe obligationof the Mongol to the enterpriseof to that Chinggis(alba: service),describingtheMongol'srelationship enterprise(albatu: serviceobligated;serviceman),and adjectivally as institution-TheService-a suggestion suggestingthe enterprise ofalba: "crown,social;75 thatlurksin theusualadjectivaltranslations public."76Byputting"service"to theMongols official, governmental, as an explicitrequirement withthe clear implicationthatthereis some respublica to be served,rather something,some institution, thanrelyingupon thetacitexpectationofservicebased precariously theMongolstateson personalrelationships and tribalistic traditions, menhoped to obtaina continuity ofMongoldedicationto theenterpriseas The Service,a continuingentitydespitethe otherchanges 73 Schurmann,p. 327.

p. 2i; Marco Polo, p. 62. These statements,which must reflect Mongol tradition,are suggestiveof the evanescentcharacterof the nomadicstate,and of nomadic acceptance of the idea of anarchyand classlessness. 75 Schurmann,p. 327, citingJ. S. Kowalewski,Dictionnairemongol-rzlsse-franfais, I (Kazan, 1844), p. 83a. 76 F. Lessing. Mongolian-English Dictionary(Berkeleyand Los Angeles, 1960), p. 28. 74 Juvayni/Boyle,I,



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and confusionsof ends, personalities,and loyaltiesin the enterprise. Thus, at the very moment that the conquests are ending and the rivalriesof the Chinggisids beginning to get out of hand, the term alba is firstused to modifyqubciri77and the Mongols are asked to pay taxes,notjust as part of,but to the enterprise,to The Service as well as in service-to the state ratherthan on occasion. The Ilkhans in Persia had to cope not onlywithdecreasingMongol interestin organizationand taxation,but with declining Mongol effectiveness.Nomadic mobility,the great asset of the Mongol field armies,had become a liabilityof the Mongol occupation of Persia. For nomads not only can, but mustmove,and theirmovementshiftedthe logistic base frombeneath the occupying army. The Ilkhans had to dispose of theirforcesto protecttheirfrontiers and increasinglytheirown persons-in accordance, thatis, withstrategic and political needs.78The herds and herdsmenthat supported the armyhad, however,to findand move about in ecologicallysuitable regions-fewer in Persia than on the Eurasian steppe. Nomadic taxation, adapted to the supply and maintenanceby a moving nomadic establishmentofan accompanyingarmythatcan conformto its movement,could not bridge thewider gap thus opened betweenthe guards and garrisonsand their nomadic suppliers. The distances were too great, the supplies too perishable, the intermediariestoo human. Moreover,the revenues provided by the nomads were of the wrong sort. Ruling Mongols and administeringPersians required cash, not milk. Nomadic taxation was no more suited to mediate between income in kind and expenditurein cash than betweenfixedconsumers and mobile producers. Ghazan thereforeabandoned reliance upon the "nomadic sector" and upon nomadic taxation,and sought to encourage the sedentary sector in the expectationof gaining more and bettersupport fromit. The separation,fortax purposes, betweenthe nomadic and sedentary 77 I thoughtat one point to interpretalba in alba qub'iri as a substantive,yielding betweentaxationon goods and on serv"service and levy" or some such differentiation ices. However,Kuo-yi Pao (in Studieson theSecretHistoryoftheMongols[Bloomington: Indiana UniversityUralic and Altaic Series, vol. 58; 1965], pp. 63 and 66) shows that qubci-,as used in sections 223 and 224 of the SecretHistory(Pelliot text,pp. 86-87) described the tax collection of services-in fact,of people-as well as goods. Alba as substantivewould consequentlybe redundant. 78 See above, pp. 52-54, for the details of Ghazan's militaryreform.


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(qalian) sectorswas abolished and the formernomadic sector,including pastoral nomads, "settled" or urbanized "nomads," and the farmersor agriculturalslaves attached to nomadic establishments,was made liable to the standard Ilkhanid taxation that had formerlyapplied in full only to the sedentarysector. Farmers paid kharaj and qubchuir,pastoral nomads paid qubchufr, and townspeople and the rich paid tamgha.79The effectof this measure upon the nomads was surelyto reduce theirtaxes, since theirqubchfir would now have been established by the budget of a favorablydisposed governmentrather than by the needs of the importunatearmies; Ghazan undoubtedly expected political creditforthis measure. He probablyalso expected political advantage, since conversion of the nomad's qubchfirinto a governmentaltax instead of a revenue of and for the nomadic sector would have reduced theincomesand independence ofpotentialrivals. Neither the modificationof the old taxation nor the creation of a new systemsucceeded. Neither took into account the importanceof occasion in nomadic taxation,or, forthatmatter,in nomadic political and social affairs.In Mongolia and on the Central Asian steppe, the proponents of alba qubcirior alban yasiiq80 were demanding the continued support of the stateby the nomads, but were unable to interest the nomads in providingthis support. Now that the campaigns were over, the nomads no longer needed the state, and insofaras it interferedwith theirpastoralism,theyno longer even wanted it. And the Chinggisids,who were concerned only to preserve the advantageous statusquo, were not themen to rediscoverto the nomads those special 79 The coverageof Ghazan's reformedtaxation is found in Rashiduddin/Jahn,pp. 264-265 (quoted by Schurmann,pp. 382-383). 80 The termalban yasaq is found in use in the Chaghatayregion in the complaintto Tiglhluq Timu-r,quoted above, pp. 54-55; and in the Crimeankhanate,a successor-state to the Golden Horde, the termyasaq alban (cf. musammasaligh, "named impost" used in apposition in the same text) is foundin the fifteenth century;see Schurmann,p. 355 and n. 1 i8. Here alban maywell have the substantialmeaningof "tax" or "tribute" that it was eventually to acquire. It should be noted that the materials upon which the elucidationof the meaningofalba(n) depends date notjust fromafterthe conquests,as does the termalba(n) itself,but fromafterthe collapse of Mongol empire; see Schurmann, pp. 326-327. Schurmann derives his understandingof alba(n) fromB. Vladimirtsov'sanalysis ofMongolian societyof the fourteenththroughseventeenthcenturies (Le re'gimesocial des Mongols [Paris, 1948], pp. 204 and 211); and fromphilological materialsfromManchu China and nineteenth-century Russia.



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nomadic intereststhat the state could serve. In the face of the evervital nomadic antipathyto organization,this purposeless state traditionbecame less and less able to resist the impulses to tribalismand anarchy.Conditionsno longerrequiredthe nomads to obey the orders of the Chinggisids,but only to respect their "interests," which the Mongols and many Turks have done in large measure almost to the present day. Simultaneously,however,they could and did begin to avoid or evade statedemands8"and to undertakenew,moreresponsive and less exigentpolitical allegiances. While the language of taxation came to suggest obligation to, and compulsion by the state, the taxpayers were paying more and more lip-serviceand fewerand fewer taxes. The period in which the termalba(n) is most fullydeveloped and best known in all its obligatoryand coercive senses, is also the period in which Mongol power is only a dream once more, because crownand state have not been accepted by the nomads as occasioning taxation. We can see the developmentof this gap between theoryand practice in the later historyof the Mongols in Persia, where the nomads were not asked to continue but to abandon old traditionsinappropriate to new circumstances.Ghazan's taxreformand his re-establishmentofthearmyupon an iqta' base did not simplyreduce the nomads' taxes. It likewise reduced their role in Persian militaryaffairsand 81 Decamping was a commonMongol practicebeforeand duringChinggis' time.The SecretHistorymentionsseveral incidentsof decamping: the move of Qorilartai-margan (sectiong; Pelliot trans.,p. 122); theabandonmentof Ho'aliin and thefamilyofChinggis by the restof theircamping-group(sections70-72; Pelliot trans.,pp. 133-134); and the breakawayof ChinggisfromJamuqa (sections 1 18-12o; Pelliot trans.,pp. 153-154); and Chinggishimselflegislatedagainst it: "No man of any thousand,or hundred,or ten in which he hath been counted shall depart to anotherplace; ifhe doth he shall be killed and also the head [chief]who received him" (Gregory Abu'l-Faraj Bar Hebraeus, Chronography, E. A. Wallis Budge trans.,I [London, 1932], p. 355). V. A. Riasanovsky, in CustomaryLaw, p. 59, quotes another versionof the same regulationfromMaqrizi. Decamping is harder to discernafterChinggis' timein such detail as is foundin the SecretHistorybecause the later chroniclerswere concernedwithlargerevents (and were not nomads themselves,in most cases). But large scale defectionswere noticed, as for instance the movementof the Tegiuderis(Nikfldarisin Rashiduddin) to Sistan (C. M. D'Ohsson, Histoiredes Mongols,III [The Hague and Amsterdam,1834] pp. 516-517); the flightof the fUyrats under Tuqay Gurgan to Syria (Rashiduddin/Jahn,pp. 97-98); or the immigrationof Baba Kawun's tiimento Iran fromthe Golden Horde (D'Ohsson, oP. cit.,IV [1835], p. 572). For some modernexamples, see Barth,p. ii6.


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their commitmentto the government.When the nomads had been relieved of the logistic responsibilityfor theirkin in the forces,they and discipline required by the were also freedfromthe self-restraint organizationof support. And when thisresponsibilitywas transferred to the peasantrythroughiqt(a', the nomads' interestin the armyand governmentof Persia fell in proportion to this considerable "sedentarization" of the armyand government:the affairsof peasants and theirmastersare not proper concerns of nomads. Consequently the nomads could now begin to obey once more the demands ofa narrower and more purely ecological self-interest. Duty no longer discouraged them froman anarchic pursuit of pastoral self-sufficiency through self-help.Commitmentno longer restrainedthem fromthe tribalism that supported this pursuit. And self-interest now began to turn the tribesagainst the government.For while Ghazan and his successors had reduced the part and interestof the nomads in government,they had not lessened the burdens or pressures of governmentupon them. Their taxes had been reduced in volume,perhaps, but maintainedand probablyincreased in regularityand thus in impropriety.And their liberties and privileges-their rights-were infringedupon as the governmenttried to revivethe peasantryand renew the strengthand productivityof the "sedentary sector": more farmland meant less pasture, and increased peasant securitymeant diminishednomad opportunity.Thus the Mongols in Persia not only came to have no occasion to continue supportingthe state,but foundoccasion-and, with the recrudescence of tribalism,the means-to oppose it, with the result notjust of Chinggisid decline, as in the steppe regions,but of the fall of Mongol governmentin Persia. Thus the later Mongol state (in its various manifestations)could never get round the obstacle posed by the occasional and extraordinarycharacterof nomadic taxationto the reconciliationofrelianceon nomadic power with the need for revenue. The effortsto do so involved either the disregard or the dismissal of the nomads, and the nomads, in theirstubbornness,could not be disregarded,nor,in their strength,be dismissed. They were more successful,in their turn,in ignoringor overturningthe state.



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V

In summary,Mongol taxation, in the beginning of the khanate of Chinggis,was simplythe occasional taxationcommonlyfoundamong pastoral nomads, authorizedby Mongol enthusiasmforChinggis' enterprise,and intensifiedby the exigencies this entreprisegenerated. These taxes were collectivelycalled qubchuir.As Chinggis' enterprise met with success, qubchuircame to be extended to conquered as well as convertedpeoples, both nomadic and sedentary.In these circumstances qubchuirwas oftentranslatedusing termssuggestingimposition rather than contribution (yasiaq, "ordered [tax]"; dan', ["tax which must be] given") and impositionby state authority(ch'ai-fa "officiallevy"). In sedentaryregions, traditionaltaxation continued to be exacted in addition to qubchuir.These taxes were sometimes referredto by traditional,specificnames (e.g., the Russian "plow" tax), and sometimeswere designatedcollectivelyby termsreferringto the traditionupon which they were based (poshlina, "custom[ary tax]"; qalain, "[tax] remaining[frompast practice]"). In the later period of Mongol empire, qubclhurtaxation had to be transformedbecause, as an occasional tax, it could no longerjustifiablybe required regularlyof nomads afterthe conclusion of the ocor justly be exacted casion-proliferating conquests-nor efficiently froma peasantrywhose agriculturecould only sustain regular,proportionateand seasonable charges. The Mongol authoritiestherefore tried to make the nomads' qubchuirregular, substitutingreason of state foroccasion and therebyadopting a sedentaryprinciple of taxation (chiai-fa, "officiallevy": alba qubsiri, "officialqubchunr"),and wherepossible theytriedto renderthe taxationof the nomadic sector unimportant,placing reliance instead on a rationalizedand reordered taxation borne largely by a revitalizedpeasantry. These efforts,improperin principleand in attitudeby nomadiclights,failedto gain the acceptance of the nomads and contributedto the decline or destruction of Mongol government. In conclusion, the elucidation of Mongol tax practices enables a betterunderstandingof Mongol society and history.This taxation, fittedas it was to the purposes and necessities of Mongol society,in some ways betterpreserves the shape of that society forus than do other more overtly "historical" materials, such as the chronicles,



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whichpresentMongol historyas Chinggisiddestiny,and viewMongol society as the imperial order that Chinggis created and that his descendants wanted to perpetuate; or such as the Great Yiasia, which reflectsMongol societyand thoughtbent to thewill ofChinggisKhan. The Chinggisids and their reporterscan assert that "whatever the Emperor and the chiefsdesire, and howevermuch they desire, that they receive from their subjects' property; and their persons they dispose of in all respects according to their own good pleasure."82 But upon closer inspectionit appears thateven the Mongols' taxation was essentiallyoccasional, providingforservicesand functionsbeyond and apart fromthose of the ordinarynomadic processes, and requiring the inspiration of emergencyor opportunity,respect for ecological limit and equitable proportion to wealth. Rather than arbitraryand inordinate,it was, as applied to, and judged by nomads, sensible and serviceable,weighing lightlyand intelligiblyupon the nomad in his ordinarypastoral round, yet enabling him, when inspired, to devote his entireresources to the translationof vision into action. Even imperialMongol society,to which this taxationwas adapted, was thereforeno ponderous permanentpyramid of clans and tribes cemented togetherby chieflyauthority,but, like other nomadic societies, a temporaryand dismountablestructuresuch as is ordinarily stored, along with the blueprintsforassembly,in bits and pieces in the nomad's mind. It can be put up, in any of a varietyof patterns, wheneverneeded, and can be held up by cooperative effortfor as long as its utilityoutweighs the dangers it raises by inhibitingthe individualismand restrictingthe movementvital to nomadism. The physical strengthof Mongol society and empire, like that of other nomadic societies,derivedfromvoluntaryparticipationand self-discipline generatedand generalizedby extraordinarycircumstances.But since thatsociety (like the others)was describedin genealogical terms for mental convenience and hierarchicallyordered out of common militarynecessity, and since it provided the Mongols with mental comfortas well as physicalpower,it gained intellectualforcefromthe order of genealogical and militarythoughtand the persuasivenessof desire. This force,unlike its physical strength,could be manipulated 82 John of Plano

Carpini, HistoryoftheMongols(in MissiontoAsia), p. 28.



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to the advantage of the rich, the clever, and the literate. But their effortsshould not convince us that the schemes of classes and clans thattheyconstructedto theirown advantage are more than representationsofa momentaryconditionin the economic,social, and political fluxofnomadism.Their accounts describe a social and political order of the nomadic ecological ofa rigidityincompatiblewiththe flexibility order, and of a capacity incommensuratewith the nomads' meagre historicalachievements.Occasional societyand an occasional political organizationcohere betterwith the nomads' occasional taxationand occasional history.


MONGOL AND NOMADIC TAXATION

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