العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolYASSA
:''For the West African dish, see Yassa (food).''
:''For the Buddhist bhikkhu see Yasa''
'Yassa', alternatively 'Yasa' or 'Yasaq', (Ikh) Zasag or Jasag in Mongolian was a secret written code of law created by Genghis Khan. It was the principal law under the Mongol Empire even though no copies were made available. Genghis Khan appointed his harshest son Chagatai (later Chagatai Khan) to oversee the execution of it.
The document is thought to be extremely comprehensive and very specific although no copies of it survive, even in part. Used to be written in Uigur Mongolian script. Scribed on scrolls, Yasa preserved in secret archives and were known only to the royal families. Nobody has seen this day of these scrolls.
It is thought to have outlined laws for various members of the community like soldiers, officers, doctors, etc. Also addressed some Mongol cultural aspects and lifestyle are reflected specially dealing with environmental matters. Death was the most common punishment including for minor offenses: a soldier not picking up something that fell from the person in front of him would be put to death.
The main purpose of the document was probably to eliminate social and economic issues and disputes that existed among the Mongols and future allied people. Some of the rules for instance was that there would be no stealing of livestock from other people, sharing foods with travellers, stealing women from other families, defecting among soldiers, etc. It was like a day-to-day set of rules for people under Mongol control that was enforced strictly with very stiff punishments for violators.
The word Yassa translates into "order" or "decree". The Yasa was written on scrolls and bound into volumes that could only be seen by the Khan or his closest advisors, but the rules in the content were widely known and were followed.
Many sources give conjecture as to the actual laws of the Yassa. Much of the Yassa was so influential that other cultures appropriated and adapted them, or reworked them for ends of negative propaganda. (For instance, the number of offenses for which the death penalty was given was famous among contemporaries of the Yassa.) However, as an example, here given is a list of possible laws, from a foreign source (paraphrased and quoted from Harold Lamb's ''Genghis Khan: The Emperor of All Men'', Garden City Publishing, 1927):
# There is one absolute God.
# There are no taxes for religious leaders, doctors, or undertakers.
# Emperors must be elected by the Mongol nobles.
# Subjects cannot hold honorary titles.
# Wars are all absolute (i.e. no treaties before absolute surrender).
# Law about army organization.
# Each soldier gets his weapons from his officer before battle and will be subject to inspection.
# Pillaging may happen only after the general commands; all soldiers and officers are equal in their chances; a part must be paid to the emperor. Offenders get the death penalty.
# Law of battues. Also, no one can kill any game from March to October.
# Animals killed for food must be killed by having their hearts torn out.
# Blood and entrails of animals can now be eaten.
# (A list of privileges and immunities granted the officers of the empire.)
# Those who are not soldiers serve the empire otherwise, without pay.
# Thieves of a horse or steer will be killed and cut in half. Lesser theft is punished by 7-700 blows, or the fine of nine times the object's value.
# Mongols may not be servants or slaves. All Mongols are soldiers, except in extreme cases.
# Law against aiding an escaped slave, under pain of death.
# Laws of marriage, including designating the children of the first wife as heirs, granting children by slaves the same rights as those by wives, and designating wives as the caretakers and traders of property, since men are to be occupied only with hunting and war.
# Adulterers earn death sentences, which can be carried out by anyone at any time, without trial.
# Marriage contracts are allowed for alliance purposes even when the children are very young or dead.
# No washing of clothes or bathing during thunderstorms.
# "Spies, false witnesses, all men given to infamous vices, and sorcerers are condemned to death."
# Death penalty for ineffective or disobedient officers of the Khan; lesser offences mean a trial before the Khan.
★ The Yasa of Chingis Khan. A code of honor, dignity and excellence
★ Yasa: The law of the People
:''For the Buddhist bhikkhu see Yasa''
'Yassa', alternatively 'Yasa' or 'Yasaq', (Ikh) Zasag or Jasag in Mongolian was a secret written code of law created by Genghis Khan. It was the principal law under the Mongol Empire even though no copies were made available. Genghis Khan appointed his harshest son Chagatai (later Chagatai Khan) to oversee the execution of it.
The document is thought to be extremely comprehensive and very specific although no copies of it survive, even in part. Used to be written in Uigur Mongolian script. Scribed on scrolls, Yasa preserved in secret archives and were known only to the royal families. Nobody has seen this day of these scrolls.
It is thought to have outlined laws for various members of the community like soldiers, officers, doctors, etc. Also addressed some Mongol cultural aspects and lifestyle are reflected specially dealing with environmental matters. Death was the most common punishment including for minor offenses: a soldier not picking up something that fell from the person in front of him would be put to death.
The main purpose of the document was probably to eliminate social and economic issues and disputes that existed among the Mongols and future allied people. Some of the rules for instance was that there would be no stealing of livestock from other people, sharing foods with travellers, stealing women from other families, defecting among soldiers, etc. It was like a day-to-day set of rules for people under Mongol control that was enforced strictly with very stiff punishments for violators.
The word Yassa translates into "order" or "decree". The Yasa was written on scrolls and bound into volumes that could only be seen by the Khan or his closest advisors, but the rules in the content were widely known and were followed.
| Contents |
| Laws of the Yassa |
| External links |
Laws of the Yassa
Many sources give conjecture as to the actual laws of the Yassa. Much of the Yassa was so influential that other cultures appropriated and adapted them, or reworked them for ends of negative propaganda. (For instance, the number of offenses for which the death penalty was given was famous among contemporaries of the Yassa.) However, as an example, here given is a list of possible laws, from a foreign source (paraphrased and quoted from Harold Lamb's ''Genghis Khan: The Emperor of All Men'', Garden City Publishing, 1927):
# There is one absolute God.
# There are no taxes for religious leaders, doctors, or undertakers.
# Emperors must be elected by the Mongol nobles.
# Subjects cannot hold honorary titles.
# Wars are all absolute (i.e. no treaties before absolute surrender).
# Law about army organization.
# Each soldier gets his weapons from his officer before battle and will be subject to inspection.
# Pillaging may happen only after the general commands; all soldiers and officers are equal in their chances; a part must be paid to the emperor. Offenders get the death penalty.
# Law of battues. Also, no one can kill any game from March to October.
# Animals killed for food must be killed by having their hearts torn out.
# Blood and entrails of animals can now be eaten.
# (A list of privileges and immunities granted the officers of the empire.)
# Those who are not soldiers serve the empire otherwise, without pay.
# Thieves of a horse or steer will be killed and cut in half. Lesser theft is punished by 7-700 blows, or the fine of nine times the object's value.
# Mongols may not be servants or slaves. All Mongols are soldiers, except in extreme cases.
# Law against aiding an escaped slave, under pain of death.
# Laws of marriage, including designating the children of the first wife as heirs, granting children by slaves the same rights as those by wives, and designating wives as the caretakers and traders of property, since men are to be occupied only with hunting and war.
# Adulterers earn death sentences, which can be carried out by anyone at any time, without trial.
# Marriage contracts are allowed for alliance purposes even when the children are very young or dead.
# No washing of clothes or bathing during thunderstorms.
# "Spies, false witnesses, all men given to infamous vices, and sorcerers are condemned to death."
# Death penalty for ineffective or disobedient officers of the Khan; lesser offences mean a trial before the Khan.
External links
★ The Yasa of Chingis Khan. A code of honor, dignity and excellence
★ Yasa: The law of the People
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
