Дробышев Ю.И. Монгольский хаган как сын Бога

Патриарх отечественной тюркологии: [Сборник статей памяти Д.Д. Васильева] / Отв. ред. А.Д. Васильев [и др.]. М.: ИВ РАН, 2023

The article considers a remarkable monument of the Juchid historiography – the production of the Khiva Abu'l Ghazi Bahadur Khan "Family tree of the Turks". The subjects related to the Mongol Empire and its founder, Genghis Khan, are analyzed. The prehistory and history of the empire in this work are presented mainly according to the "Collection of Chronicles" by Rashid al-Din, but with major changes. The value of the information contained in it is determined not only by some new data, but also by the interpretation of already known facts. It is shown that the author, who himself belonged to the descendants of Genghis Khan, defends the legitimacy of his ancestor's claims to rule the entire earth, and thereby confirms the legitimacy of the rule of his dynasty. Therefore, this is not just a story about the glorious past, but an ideological weapon in the struggle for power.

Восток. Афро-Азиатские общества: история и современность. № 1, 2024

The article proposes a solution to the question of Temujin / Chinggis Khan’s plans for world domi-nation. Based on reports of a number of medieval sources, the author comes to the conclusion that his military campaigns pursued specific goals mostly to take revenge on numerous enemies and were not a part of a common aggressive plan. After uniting nomadic tribes and pacifying borderlands, Chinggis Khan usually reacted severely to external challenges, and his first campaignto Xi Xia and Jin were predatory. At the same time, the war did not always imply seizure of foreign territories, or the Mongols at first limited themselves to their partial annexation. In process of revealing Chinggis Khan’s motivations, his testament to descendants is of great importance. Sources refute an idea that the dying khan bequeathed to complete his world conquests. In fact, his political testament is boiled down to the following: he approved Ogedei as his successor, ordered his sons to obey the new ruler and to do away with Tanguts, Jurchens, and Kipchaks. All these points were subsequently fulfilled. Chinggis Khan’s deathbed speeches do not contain words about the need to seize the whole earth. Plano Carpini was one of the first to attribute him such a will, but the source of his information is unknown. Most likely, the idea of world domination was formed by the Mongols during the reign of Ogedei, and then it began to be ascribed to the founder of the Mongol Empire, which probably arose in spite of his desire.

IX Международная проблемно-методологическая конференция «Письменные памятники Востока: проблемы перевода и интерпретации». 28‒30 октября 2019 г. Тезисы и конспекты докладов, 2019

Золотоордынское обозрение. Т. 12, № 1. С. 28–38., 2024

The article analyzes a new edition of the book by the famous Franciscan ambassador to the Mongols, John de Plano Carpini (1182–1252), who made a long journey from Lyon to Central Mongolia in 1245–1247 where he witnessed the enthronement of the khagan Guyuk (1246–1248). Following the results of his difficult and dangerous journey, he wrote a report “The History of the Mongols,” in which he described quite fully and accurately what he saw and heard. The work of Plano Carpini was published in Russian three times: in 1795, 1825 and 1911; the last translation, made by A.I. Malein, was then published more than once and gradually overgrown with comments. However, all these editions cannot be considered fully satisfying the requirements of publishing medieval sources. The new edition in question here meets the standards of modern science. It includes an introductory part, a critical text of the source, its new translation into Russian and detailed comments made by professional medievalist historians. In the comments, various aspects of the Central Asian civilization of the XIII century, with which the Franciscan mission had a chance to come into contact, are covered as fully as possible: material and spiritual culture of nomads, organization of their society, military affairs and many others. Despite the high level of preparation of this publication, some points in it do not exclude an alternative interpretation.

Труды Института востоковедения РАН. Вып. 30: Письменные памятники Востока: Проблемы перевода и интерпретации. Избранные доклады. Том IV. М.: ИВ РАН, 2021. С. 106–119., 2021

The article analyzes very scarce information about the Mongols, which is contained in extant sources of the Tangut state Xi Xia (982–1227). Maximum information the “New laws” include drawn up after the disastrous Mongol invasion in 1209-1210. Also, Tangut studies devoted to the Mongol-Tangut wars of the first quarter of the XIII century are considered from a critical point of view. It is shown that hypotheses about mention of Genghis Khan’s name in a Tangut ritual song, as well as about his symbolic image on a Tangut painting scroll, are based on many assumptions and cannot be accepted. The author comes to the conclusion that so far we have more interpretations of information about the Mongols and their leader, drawn from Tangut sources, than facts extracted from them.

Монгол улсын ерөнхийлөгч ухнаагийн хүрэлсүхийн ивээл дор их эзэн Чингис хааны мэндэлсний 860 жилийн ойд зориулан зохион байгуулж буй “Чингис хааны ертөнц ба монгол судлал” олон улсын эрдэм шинжилгээний хурал (Монгол улс, Улаанбаатар хот, 2022.VIII.05-10). Улаанбаатар: Соёмбо Принтинг., 2022

The article discusses the very few mentions in the Russian chronicles of Genghis Khan and his descendants - the great khans of the Mongol Empire. Despite the rarity of such mentions, the chronicles contain valuable and sometimes unique information.

Вестник Института востоковедения РАН, 2020

Based on the earliest work of Mongol historiography — “The Secret History of the Mongols”, the author traces evolution of ideas about the power of the founder of the Mongol Empire — Genghis Khan (1162?–1227). Of course, the statements attributed to Genghis Khan cannot be considered unconditionally authentic, but most likely they are close to what was actually uttered by him in connection with certain events in the turbulent Inner Asian history of that era. Almost all statements were made by him after his proclamation in 1206 as the supreme ruler of nomadic tribes. They are more and more clearly sounding with monarchical notes. Genghis Khan explains his high position and victories by the patronage of the Eternal Heaven. He strongly condemns treachery, expresses ideas of state building, and looks into the future. Of great interest are the words of Genghis Khan about a certain “high throne”, which he allegedly gained after defeating the Kerait ruler Wang Khan in 1203. There is a reason to believe that the figure of Wang Khan has personified idea of a centralized power in the steppes, that is why Genghis Khan (then known by his childhood name Temujin) needed to secure his support, and by taking his place, Genghis Khan took a central position in the nomadic world. The words of Genghis Khan also shed some light on the nomads’ understanding of his era about the earth’s limits. We can confidently think that before the first decade of the 13th century both he and other nomadic leaders actually equated “the whole world” to the steppes, but afterwards the borders of the oecumene began to expand rapidly for them, and this process was reflected in the studied chronicle. It is suggested that the compiler of ”The Secret History of the Mongols” could also consciously capture what the great Khan did not say, but should have said as a person intended by the Heaven itself to guide all peoples. He leads his readers to an idea of legitimacy of rule of Genghis Khan’s descendants not only over the nomads, but also over the entire oecumene.

Ориенталистика. Т. 4. № 5. С. 1125–1144., 2021

The article discusses the relationships of the Mongols with Tibet in the short period between the first Mongol campaign against the Tangut state of Western Xia (Xi Xia) in 1205 and the Great Kurultai of 1235 to resolve the issue of the intentions of the two first Mongol khans to subjugate Tibet. Tibetan and late Mongolian historiographies are full of reports about an invasion of Tibet by Genghis Khan himself and about his successfully implemented plans to annex this country, as well as about his adoption of Buddhism; however, this information is legendary. An analysis of the whole set of sources at our disposal as well as the experts’ opinions reveals the following. Most likely, during the lifetime of Genghis Khan and Ogedei, the Mongols had no plans to seize Tibet, and all reports concerning Mongol military operations in this country refer only to the border areas in Eastern Tibet, through which nomads encompassed the hostile states of Jin and later – Southern Song from the right flank. The results fully confirm the conclusions already made by some scholars: the vast, desolate, remote from trade routes and poor lands of Tibet were not of primary interest to the Mongols. Despite the decision taken in 1235 to conquer most of the countries known to the Mongols, the first reconnaissance recorded in the literature took place only in 1240, and the real inclusion of the “Land of Snows” into the Mongol Empire dates back even later.

Бартольдовские чтения / Под ред. А.Д. Васильева, В.Н. Настича, Д.М. Тимохина. М.: ИВ РАН, 2023

The article highlights some problems of medieval Mongolian diplomatics, particularly ultimatums presented to independent rules by the Mongols. The source material was taken from Rashid al-Din's "The Collection of chronicles".

2019

The article is about one of bright examples of modern Buddhist landscape architecture in Mongolia, Aglag buteeliin khiid (“Monastery of Creativeness”), which is situated about 100 km to the north from the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. The khiid was founded in 2011 by famous Buddhist artist G. Purevbat. Among the khiid ensemble, the path over a cliff presents a special interest. On the path, a visitor can see some figures of Buddhist pantheon well-carved of granite rocks, and other sculptures mainly representing the idea of procreation and rebirth.