Mongol heavy cavalryman wearing full set of lamellar armour and armed with a mace. (Colour plate by Patricio Greve Moller, copyright by Gabriele Esposito)
From the mid-tenth century onwards, the vast steppes of present-day Mongolia and Manchuria were inhabited by five powerful tribal confederations: the Keraites, Khamags, Naimans, Mergids and Tatars. These large nomadic groups consisted of communities that had a lot of cultural elements in common, since they were all of Mongolian stock. Nevertheless, the five tribal groupings were almost continuously fighting against each other for control of the best pasture lands. The Mongol communities had an enormous military potential, since they were the strongest and wildest tribes among the peoples of the Eurasian steppes, but their lack of unity made them quite weak politically. This was used to their advantage by the Chinese, whose vast empire extended just south of the Mongol lands. In 1125, the northern area of China came under the control of a new imperial bloodline known as the Jin Dynasty, which continued the foreign policy of its predecessors regarding the Mongols that was based on the principle of divide and rule. The Chinese encouraged disputes among the Mongol tribal confederations in order to keep them distracted by their own internal wars and thereby away from Jin territories. In those years, the Khamags tried to unify the Mongol communities by forming a confederation, but this early attempt – carried out by Khabul Khan, the great-grandfather of Genghis Khan – failed completely due to the opposition of the Jin Dynasty. Khabul Khan’s successor, Ambaghai Khan, was betrayed by the Tatars and handed over to the Jin authorities before being executed by them. The Khamags responded by raiding along the Chinese frontier and repulsing a Jin invasion of their homeland in 1143. It was during this chaotic period, characterized by several inter-nomadic wars, that the future Genghis Khan was born in 1162 with the initial name of Temujin. The years of his childhood saw the Khamags – the tribal confederation ruled by Temujin’s family – fighting a series of conflicts against the Tatars and the Jin military forces. In 1161, a joint army of Tatar and Jin troops had defeated the Khamags in a significant battle, meaning it was not easy for Temujin’s family to keep power during the central decades of the twelfth century. If the political situation of Mongolia was very negative during the years of Temujin’s childhood, however, the same could not be said of the climatic one. Indeed, the late twelfth century saw the steppes of Mongolia enjoying their mildest and wettest conditions in more than a millennium. This favoured a rapid increase in the number of horses and other livestock, which significantly enhanced Mongol military strength.
Mongol heavy cavalryman wearing full set of lamellar armour and armed with a mace. (Colour plate by Patricio Greve Moller, copyright by Gabriele Esposito)
Mongol heavy cavalryman wearing full set of lamellar armour and armed with a sabre. (Colour plate by Patricio Greve Moller, copyright by Gabriele Esposito)
In 1177, Temujin initiated his incredible military ascendancy by gathering 20,000 warriors to attack the Mergids, who had kidnapped his wife during a raid. He had earlier formed a solid alliance with the Keraites, which was essential for the success of his expedition. After rescuing his wife, Temujin continued to fight against the Mergids for several years, co-operating with another young military leader of the Khamags, named Jamukha, who was his blood brother. At some point, however, the friendship between Temujin and Jamukha came to an end due to the contrasting interests of the two emerging leaders. In 1193, at the Battle of Dalan Baljut, Temujin and Jamukha fought for supremacy over the Khamag communities. Being outnumbered by his former allies, Temujin was defeated in the clash, but the encounter was not a decisive one since many Khamags abandoned Jamukha soon after the battle. In 1195, the Jin Empire and the Tatars broke their longstanding alliance and fought each other in a bloody conflict, which ended with a Chinese victory. Temujin took advantage of this to attack the Tatars now that they had been much weakened, gaining a resounding victory and, quite unexpectedly, winning for himself the admiration of the Jin military commanders. During 1198 and 1199, Temujin’s forces, together with the Keraites, continued attacking the Mergids and obtained a series of victories over them. In 1199, the Khamags and the Keraites invaded the territory of the Naimans, which led to the birth of a large anti-Temujin coalition that comprised both the Naimans and the Tatars. The leadership of this coalition was later assigned to Jamukha. In 1203, after several years of indecisive campaigning against his enemies, Temujin was betrayed by the Keraites, who changed side and joined forces with Jamukha. Having been abandoned by his allies, Temujin suffered various minor setbacks, but by the end of 1203 he was finally able to crush the Keraites once and for all. In 1204, Jamukha, the Mergids, the Naimans and what remained of the Keraites joined forces against Temujin. However, Temujin, now commanding over 60,000 warriors, defeated the warriors of his combined enemies at the decisive Battle of Chakirmaut.
This brilliant victory for Temujin enabled him to start the unification of all the Mongol tribal groups under his rule. In the summer of 1206, at the Onon River, the pre-eminent shaman Kokochu proclaimed Temujin ‘Genghis Khan’, or’ ‘Universal Ruler’, of all the Mongol communities. This event marked the birth of a unified Mongol state, which would go on to conquer most of Asia during the following decades. Soon after becoming Universal Ruler of the Mongols, Genghis Khan started planning an invasion of the Jin Empire that dominated northern China. In 1210, he insulted the Jin Emperor by publicly stating that he was a coward and unfit to rule. The Jin monarch responded by executing the Mongol ambassador who lived at his court, thereby initiating hostilities between the Mongols and the Jin Empire. Genghis Khan assembled an impressive army of over 100,000 horsemen to invade northern China and reached the Great Wall in March 1211. Although the Jin forces garrisoning the Great Wall – which had been built some centuries before to protect China from the attacks of the nomadic peoples – outnumbered the Mongols nearly ten times, they were not capable of concentrating in the sector of the defensive line that was to be attacked by Genghis Khan. Thanks to the activities of his scouts, Genghis Khan learned that the least-defended portion of the Great Wall was the Wusha Fortress, and thus attacked in that sector. The Wusha Fortress was located near a desert ridge called Yehuling, which commanded the north-west approach to the Juyong Pass, the gateway to the Jin capital of Zhongdu (present-day Beijing). Between March and October 1211, the Mongols seized the Wusha Fortress before routing the majority of the Jin forces at the Battle of Yehuling. Following these events, the Mongol troops were reorganized and advanced on Zhongdu. The Jin capital was besieged by Genghis Khan for about four years, during which the Chinese inhabitants of the city were forced to resort to cannibalism before they finally surrendered. With the fall of Zhongdu, the Mongols could occupy a large portion of northern China. The Jin Empire, however, continued to exist south of the territories conquered by the Mongols until it too was destroyed by Genghis Khan’s successors in 1234.
In 1216, following the end of his Chinese campaigns, Genghis Khan turned his attention to the conquest of Central Asia. His first targets were two nomadic states located on the borders of Mongolia, both of whose cultures were under strong Chinese influence: the Qara Khitai of the Khitans and the Western Xia of the Tanguts. The Khitans were conquered quite rapidly by the Mongols between 1216 and 1218, while the Tanguts were spared for some years and their lands were occupied by Mongol troops only during 1225–1227. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the western portion of Central Asia’s steppes was dominated by the Khwarezmid Empire, a vast Muslim state that was culturally Turko-Persian. The Khwarezmid Empire emerged in 1077, following the collapse of Turkic power in Central Asia, and in just a few decades it came to control the whole territory of present-day Iran in addition to a vast portion of the steppes located between the Caspian Sea and Mongolia. The military forces of the Khwarezmid Empire were quite numerous and strong, including sizeable numbers of Kipchak mercenaries. The Muslim state was located south of the Kipchak territories and west of the Qara Khitai. Genghis Khan considered the Khwarezmid Empire to be a strong rival power and thus mobilized large numbers of troops to occupy it. The Mongol invasion of the empire took place between 1219 and 1221 and was characterized by a series of sieges – which ended successfully for the Mongols thanks to the technical assistance provided by several Chinese experts – as well as by the terrible atrocities committed by Genghis Khan’s warriors in order to intimidate their enemies. The forces of the Khwarezmid Empire were decisively defeated in 1221 at the Battle of the Indus River, following which the Mongols raided present-day Pakistan and northern India before annexing the territories of the Khwarezmid Empire to their domains. The conquest of the Central Asian state had important strategic consequences for Genghis Khan’s expansionist plans, since the Mongols could now attack both the Russian princedoms in Eastern Europe and the Islamic countries in the Middle East. After the fall of their country, around 10,000 professional warriors from the Khwarezmid Army migrated to the Middle East, where they were employed as mercenaries by the various Muslim states. They served with distinction under the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, the Arab Abbasid Caliphate, the Ayyubids of Syria and Egypt (the successors of Saladin) before being absorbed by the Mamluks after they established their own independent dynasty in Egypt.
Mongol armoured horse archer of the Golden Horde. (Photo by Dimitar Atanassov, IEFSEM-BAS, Experiencing History Research Project, copyright by Asociatia C.S. Nokors, Bucharest, Romania)
Mongol armoured horse archer of the Golden Horde; note the rich incisions reproduced on the helmet. (Photo by Dimitar Atanassov, IEFSEM-BAS, Experiencing History Research Project, copyright by Asociatia C.S. Nokors, Bucharest, Romania)
In 1221, the Mongol troops continued their westwards advance by moving from Iran to the Caucasus, where they defeated the Alans and the Kipchaks, together with the Kingdom of Georgia. After consolidating their control over the Caucasus, the hordes of Genghis Khan attacked the Russian principalities from the south and defeated them – together with their Kipchak-Cuman allies – at the decisive Battle of the Kalka River in 1223. Quite unexpectedly, the Mongols did not attempt to occupy Russia permanently, despite having killed thousands of Russian soldiers, instead moving north by following the course of the Volga River and attacking the domains of the Volga Bulgars. In 1225, Genghis Khan regrouped his forces in Central Asia before attacking the Western Xia state. During 1227, shortly after having completed the invasion of the Western Xia territories, the great Mongol military leader – the most effective warlord in the history of the steppe peoples – died after falling from his horse during a hunt. He left behind an ever-expanding empire that was already immense, extending from the Pacific coastline of northern China in the east to the plains of southern Russia in the west. During the period 1227–1300, the warlike successors of Genghis Khan, despite dividing their territories into several autonomous Mongol states, continued their expansion across Europe and Asia. They conquered the whole of Russia, attacked Poland and Hungary several times, raided most of the Balkans, occupied the whole of Iran, annexed the Seljuk lands in the Middle East, captured Baghdad and attempted an invasion of Mameluke Egypt. They also assaulted the Dehli Sultanate in India, submitted Tibet, occupied the whole territory of China, conquered Korea, attacked Japan, assaulted Indochina and campaigned in Java. The Mongol Empire forged by Genghis Khan was the largest empire ever seen and the most long-lasting political entity created by a nomadic people. One of Genghis Khan’s greatest achievements was to organize the tribal military forces of the Mongols in a proper and effective way. He transformed a mass of rugged warriors into a well-structured army, whose units were organized according to a decimal system.
The smallest Mongol military unit, the arban, consisted of ten men, who were commanded by an officer known as a bagatur. Ten arbans made up a larger unit known as a jagun, which was comparable to a squadron since it mustered 100 warriors. Ten jaguns made up a minghan of 1,000 soldiers, which was comparable to a modern regiment. Ten minghans could be assembled together to form the largest kind of military unit employed by the Mongols, the tumen of 10,000 warriors, which corresponded to a division and as such could operate as an independent army during campaigns. On most occasions, after the unification of the Mongol communities carried out by Genghis Khan, a Mongol army consisted of two or three tumens (20,000–30,000 men). Transfer from one unit to another was strictly forbidden, and each warrior was tasked with performing a specific function. Each able-bodied Mongol man was a warrior and as such he was liable for military service between the ages of 14 and 60. While in the field, each Mongol army was divided into three main forces: the left wing (or Junghar), the right wing (or Baraunghar) and the centre (or Khol). Within the Mongol military there was also an elite Imperial Guard called the Keshik, for the formation of which the finest troops were selected. Initially, Genghis Khan’s guard was made up of his personal followers, who came from his same clan or tribal group, but over time the Imperial Guard was greatly enlarged and came to comprise around 10,000 elite warriors. By the end of Genghis Khan’s reign, all the sons of the officers commanding jaguns and minghans were automatically accepted into the ranks of the Keshik, with the other places available in the elite corps being allocated on a competitive basis and thus assigned to the common Mongol warriors who distinguished themselves in battle. The Imperial Guard acted as a military academy for the Mongol army, since – in addition to acting as an elite force that was placed under the direct orders of the khan – it also worked as a training school for its members. A fully trained guardsman was reckoned fit to command a tumen and had precedence over the commander of a minghan. The members of the Imperial Guard enjoyed a series of special privileges compared with the other Mongol warriors, but they were obliged to serve also in peacetime since they formed a permanent military contingent with a professional nature. When it became an elite tumen with 10,000 warriors, the Imperial Guard started to comprise a minghan, which was tasked with performing as the inner bodyguard of Genghis Khan. All the units of the Mongol army, from the smallest to the largest, were drawn from a mixture of clans and tribes in order to ensure that their members’ loyalty would be to the khan and not to a specific component of the Mongolian communities.
Mongol armoured horse archer of the Golden Horde firing his composite bow. (Photo by Dimitar Atanassov, IEFSEM-BAS, Experiencing History Research Project, copyright by Asociatia C.S. Nokors, Bucharest, Romania)
Detail of composite bow used by a Mongol archer of the Golden Horde. (Photo by Dimitar Atanassov, IEFSEM-BAS, Experiencing History Research Project, copyright by Asociatia C.S. Nokors, Bucharest, Romania)
When Genghis Khan was present at the head of his troops, they marched under a special standard known as a tuk, a special yak-tail standard that could be used only by the khan. The khan usually had complete trust in his military commanders and gave them great autonomy while operating in the field. The general strategy was decided by the khan, but the tactics required to put it into action could be chosen without external interference by the various field commanders. These commanders transmitted their orders to the various units placed under their command by means of a great drum (the naccara), which also acted as a symbol of their rank. Mongol society was quite egalitarian, even before the ascendancy of Genghis Khan. Although there were some leading families having aristocratic status – which guided the various clans and tribes – skill at warfare counted far more highly than aristocratic birth. Genghis Khan augmented the degree of meritocracy that was present in the Mongol military forces, for example by promoting to the rank of officer all the common warriors who distinguished themselves in battle. Strict discipline was a key factor behind the many victories of the Mongols, and this was enforced through some very harsh methods via a military code that prescribed a series of different corporal punishments. Frequent inspections were carried out to monitor the condition of each warrior’s personal equipment. Contrary to popular belief, the Mongol armies that conquered most of Asia and Eastern Europe were not always numerically superior to their opponents. Indeed, it was very difficult for the Mongol commanders invading a distant country to obtain sufficient reinforcements from their motherland. The standard Mongol method of reinforcing armies in the field was to absorb defeated enemies, especially if these came from nomadic peoples who were culturally similar to the Mongols. The Mongol armies consisted entirely of cavalry, which comprised large numbers of horse archers supported by smaller contingents of heavy cavalrymen.
The great mobility of the Mongol military contingents was more than a match for their enemies, being part of the Mongols’ traditional lifestyle. All the Mongol communities lived in tents known as yurts, which were made of black felt mounted on a collapsible wicker framework. The yurts were extremely light and easy to carry, being perfectly suited to the nomadic life of the Mongols. They were carried from place to place in one piece on heavy carts, which transported all the goods of a Mongol family. The economy of the Mongols was not based on agriculture but on all kinds of domesticated animals: the Mongols herded sheep and goats for milk, meat, wool and skins, as well as cattle for milk, meat and hides. They also herded great numbers of riding horses, which played a fundamental role in controlling such large herds over the vast distances of the steppes. The Mongols, being nomadic herdsmen, moved with their extended families across the vast plains of their territories in order to seek the best opportunities for grazing and trading as the seasons changed. The extended families were grouped into clans, whose numerical consistency usually fluctuated greatly since families could move from one group to another according to circumstances. Quite often, the number of families making up a clan increased during summer and decreased during winter, depending on the availability of pasture. Each clan or group worked as a herding camp and had its own hereditary pastures. Driving their grazing herds before them, the Mongols trundled onwards with their families and all their goods by following set migratory routes and using traditional camping grounds. A young Mongol learned how to endure cold, hunger and thirst from his early years. The Mongol lifestyle was also characterized by continuous skirmishes with the other nomadic communities that took place in the steppes. Plundering expeditions were extremely common, robbing animals from the camps of rival groups. Large cavalry battles could be fought for the capture of camping grounds, as controlling one of these could determine the survival of an entire clan. Mongol boys were taught from an early age to ride horses both with and without saddles, as well as to use the deadly composite bow of the steppes with great precision. The Mongols were excellent hunters – being masters at doing so with hawks and eagles – and thus their composite bows were also used for hunting purposes. By grouping their herds and by hunting in the steppe plains, they practiced the same movements and actions on which their battle tactics were based. The composite bow represented the greatest empowerment for a Mongol individual over the environment in which he lived. A young Mongol, for example, had to master the use of the horse and the composite bow in order to persuade the elders of his clan that he might – in time – become an effective horse archer.
Detail of sabre used by a Mongol archer of the Golden Horde. (Photo by Dimitar Atanassov, IEFSEM-BAS, Experiencing History Research Project, copyright by Asociatia C.S. Nokors, Bucharest, Romania)
Mongol keshig (bodyguard) of the Golden Horde wearing wide-brimmed cap made of leather. (Photo by Dean Nedialkov, Bulgaria, copyright by Asociatia C.S. Nokors, Bucharest, Romania)
The Mongols prepared their campaigns with great care and attention, for example by examining all the possible weak points of their opponents’ forces through an effective network of scouts and spies. These scouts also collected vital information concerning roads, weather conditions and possible grazing grounds that was of fundamental importance for the invasion of a foreign country. The Mongols became infamous for their massacres of civilians, which were perpetrated across Eastern Europe and Asia. However, these acts were not committed without reason, being part of the psychological warfare conducted by the Mongols. They terrorized their enemies by showing a level of cruelty that was otherwise unknown in the sedentary civilizations of the Middle Ages. Differently from the other nomadic peoples, the Mongols could also campaign during the winter months, as they were used to extremely cold temperatures. Their main sources of supplies while on campaign were the countries they planned to invade, but livestock was often driven on the hoof, while significant amounts of reserve weapons were also transported by camels of the steppes or by pack-horses. The horse breeds living in the steppes of the Mongols could be fed on virtually any quality of pasturage, since they were capable of fending for themselves in the very severe conditions of their natural environment. Coping well and gaining sustenance for their horses gave a decisive advantage to mounted warriors during extended campaigns like those conducted by the Mongols, as their mounts did not require the carting of fodder but were simply let loose at the end of a day’s riding to fend for themselves. The ugly appearance of the Mongol horses was compensated by their resilience, which impressed contemporary Christian and Muslim observers. The small and sturdy ponies of the Mongols were far better at climbing, jumping and swimming than the horses of their opponents; they were used to living in a semi-wild way and thus could endure any hardship. The Mongols, like several other nomadic peoples, made a practice of travelling with a number of reserve horses to ensure that they always had a fresh mount when needed. They were capable of riding with no interruptions for an entire day, meaning they could travel enormous distances in a relatively short period of time, eating only some cured meat that was transported under their saddles.
When invading a foreign territory, the Mongols usually advanced in widely separated columns before concentrating their forces into a single point when a decisive battle had to be fought. In every Mongol military camp there were always at least two horses kept saddled for the sending of messages, while smoke signals could also be used to communicate messages. Each Mongol army had large numbers of scouts operating up to 70 miles ahead of its main body, as well as on the its flanks and to the rear. The screens of explorers provided a constant supply of information to the commanders and operated in a wholly autonomous way. The standard battle formation of the Mongols consisted of five ranks: the two front ones were made up of armoured heavy cavalrymen, while the remaining three ranks comprised horse archers. When a battle began, the mounted archers advanced through the gaps in the heavy cavalry formations and poured a devastating volley of arrows into the enemy ranks. At the same time, either or both the wings of the horse archers began an encircling movement aimed at taking their enemies in the flank or in the rear. This movement was known as the tulughma, or ‘standard sweep’. If the attack of the light cavalrymen was repulsed, they calmly withdrew but continued to shoot arrows as they went (since Mongol horse archers were trained to perform the famous ‘Parthian shot’, turning and firing arrows backwards while riding). Usually, after a few repeated attacks of the horse archers, the formations of the Mongols’ enemies fell into disorder. It was at this point that the Mongol heavy cavalry would launch a frontal charge, which usually decided the outcome of the battle. All these battle movements were carried out with perfect order and in complete silence, with orders being communicated by the raising and lowering of black and white flags or by using lanterns when a battle took place at night. When present on the battlefield, the Imperial Guard – the members of which were heavily armoured – was usually kept in reserve and was employed only to deal with any enemy counterattacks. No army knew better than the Mongols how important it was to pursue a defeated enemy, and thus they usually harassed their fleeing opponents for days over many miles. Mongol armies were also well known for the use they made of the nomadic tactic known as the feigned retreat, which was accompanied by a series of other tricks such as stirring up dust clouds to simulate the presence of additional troops. The Mongols believed themselves to be invincible, but during their early campaigns fought outside the steppes they experienced serious problems while besieging enemy fortifications because they had very little experience of siege warfare. With the progression of time, however, they learned from experience and started to build impressive siege machines under the supervision of Chinese or Muslim military advisors.
Mongol horse archer. (Colour plate by Patricio Greve Moller, copyright by Gabriele Esposito)
Mongol horse archer of the Golden Horde. (Photo by Dean Nedialkov, Bulgaria, copyright by Asociatia C.S. Nokors, Bucharest, Romania)
The physical appearance of the Mongol warriors shocked many contemporary Christian and Muslim observers during the early thirteenth century, since it was not common for the inhabitants of Europe or the Middle East to see ‘wild’ people from the steppes of the Far East and who practiced a pagan religion that was unknown outside Mongolia. The Mongols had broad faces, flat noses, prominent cheekbones, slit eyes, thick lips, thin beards, straight black hair and swarthy skin tanned by sun and wind. They were also short of stature, and their stocky, heavy bodies were supported by bow legs. The Mongols usually shaved a square on top of their heads, and from the front corners of this square they shaved seams down to their temples, which were also shaved, as was the neck up to the point where it joins the skull (thus leaving a broken ring of hair around the head). The lock of hair left on the forehead was allowed to grow and hung down as far as the eyebrows. The hair remaining on the scalp was wound into two plaits, which were knotted behind each ear. The basic ‘national’ costume of the Mongols was very practical, being designed to protect the body from extremely cold temperatures, for example in the choice of furs and padded clothing. The standard Mongol headgear was a cap with a conical shape and made of quilted material or cloth. It had a large turned-up brim that could be folded down in times of cold weather; sometimes the brim was divided in two parts. The Mongol cap was often lined with fox, wolf or lynx skin, or could be lined with plush fabric. Earflaps were quite common too. The main garment worn by a Mongol warrior was his long robe-like coat, which opened from top to bottom, with; the left breast doubling over the right side, where it was fastened by a button or a tie located a few inches below the right armpit. The Mongol coats had wide sleeves, which were long in the winter coats made from sheepskin and short in the summer ones made of cotton. A shirtlike undergarment, which was very simple and comfortable, was usually worn under the coat. For the richest warriors who acted as officers, this shirt could be made of silk and have rich decorative embroidering. Mongol trousers were wide and tucked into stout leather boots, which did not have heels but thick soles made of felt. The boots were fastened by long laces. During the winter, Mongol warriors wore thick felt socks and one or two fur coats over the standard coat described above. One of the fur coats was worn with the fur in contact with the skin and the other with the fur on the outside (exposed to wind and snow). The Mongols generally obtained furs from the skins of bears, wolves and foxes, but the poorest individuals could get them from the skins of dogs and goats. During winter, the usual trousers were replaced by special ones made of felt, and the richest warriors insulated their clothing with silk stuffing (which was very light but warm). The common warriors, meanwhile, lined their clothes with cotton cloth or with the fine wool that they picked out of the coarser wool used for making felt. Each Mongol warrior carried two leather bottles, which were filled with dried horse milk curd mixed with water, which produced a sort of watery yogurt that was greatly appreciated by the Mongols. While on campaign, each Mongol warrior usually carried a light axe that was used as a working tool, a file for sharpening the arrowheads that was fastened to the quiver, a horsehair lasso that could be employed as a cavalry weapon, a coil of stout rope, an awl, a needle and thread, a cooking pot made of iron or earthenware and the two leather bottles already described above. Mongol warriors also had a large bag made of soft leather that was closed by a long thong; this was used to keep clothes and other equipment dry while crossing rivers, being tied to the horse’s tail. Each basic military unit of ten men slept in the same tent made of felt. The sturdy Mongol horses, having dense coats that kept them warm during winter, had a simple but effective equipment that comprised a firm saddle, which weighed about 10lb and was high at the back and front. The saddle was rubbed with sheep’s fat to prevent swelling in the rain. The Mongol stirrups were extremely solid and slung from very short straps.
Mongol horse archer. (Colour plate by Patricio Greve Moller, copyright by Gabriele Esposito)
Mongol horse archer of the Golden Horde. (Photo by Dean Nedialkov, Bulgaria, copyright by Asociatia C.S. Nokors, Bucharest, Romania)
The main weapon of the Mongol horse archers was the composite bow, which had a pull of 166lb and a destructive range of 200–300 yards. Each Mongol warrior usually carried a longer bow and a shorter one, plus two or three quivers holding about thirty arrows each. The arrows could be of two different kinds: light arrows with small and sharp points that were designed for long-range shooting or heavy arrows with large and broad points that were designed for shooting over short ranges. The arrowheads were hardened by heating them until they became red-hot and then dipping them into salt water, a treatment that made them hard enough to pierce armour. The shafts of the arrows were usually fletched with eagle feathers. Instead of the composite bow, the heavy cavalrymen were armed with a long spear fitted with a hook for pulling enemies from the saddle (a weapon that the Mongols probably copied from the Chinese). Mongol heavy spears were designed for thrusting and were extremely powerful. They were used with just one hand, since most of the Mongol heavy cavalrymen also carried a small round shield that was made of skin or wicker and offered good protection against enemy arrows. The Mongol heavy cavalrymen also carried various offensive weapons designed for hand-to-hand fighting, which included maces and short axes. All Mongol warriors, be they horse archers or heavy cavalrymen, were equipped with a light sabre that was very similar to that used by the Cumans and Kipchaks, the Mongols having copied it from the Turkic peoples of the steppes. The Mongol heavy cavalrymen protected themselves with various types of cuirass; they could be made from leather or iron lamellae. Following the Mongol expansion into Eastern Europe and the Middle East, however, chainmail also started to be used by them. Leather armour was made by joining various sections together in order to make a tough and flexible plate, the leather having first been softened by boiling. Leather armour was weatherproofed by covering it with a crude lacquer made from pitch. It was often worn only on the front of the body, consisting of a simple corselet. This kind of armour was usually employed by the poorest warriors of the heavy cavalry. Lamellar armour was made by taking a number of thin iron plates – a finger’s breadth wide and a hand’s breadth long – and piercing eight holes in each plate. A series of such plates were then bound together by leather thongs in order to create numerous strips that were later joined to make an armour plate. The lamellar armour of the Mongols was extremely difficult to pierce but very flexible, thanks to its peculiar construction. It was polished so brightly that it was said one could see one’s reflection in it. The lamellar armour plates were made up into suits, which included a long coat reaching well below the knees. This opened all down the front and was fastened as far down as the waist (no doubt for convenience in riding). A lamellar armour plate was worn on each shoulder and was fastened to the coat, thus completing the suit. Several of the richest warriors, especially the officers who usually equipped themselves as heavy cavalry, wore decorative surcoats over their armour. These were produced in bright colours and could have complex decorations. The helmets of the Mongol heavy cavalry had a segmented construction and a central spike or round ball on the top, which was surmounted by coloured feathers or horsehair and often bent towards the rear. Most of the Mongol helmets had very wide neck-guards made of iron lamellae applied on a leather aventail, which were designed for protection against enemy arrows. Sometimes they were large enough to reach around under the chin. Over time, both cheek-pieces and nasals were added to the helmets of the Mongol heavy cavalry, which already had a special plate placed on the front that comprised a brim and protected the eyebrows. In most cases, the horses of the Mongol heavy cavalry were armoured, being protected by lamellar cuirasses. These consisted of five sections: one on either side of the horse, which stretched from the tail to the base of the neck and were fastened to the saddle; the third one behind the saddle on the back of the horse; the fourth on the horse’s neck; and the fifth on the breast. The forehead of the horse was protected by an iron plate consisting of a single piece of metal.
Mongol infantryman. (Colourplate by Patricio Greve Moller, copyright by Gabriele Esposito)