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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(JULY, 1882.
wrong, and as Von Hammer urges, "the word is a medley of Mongol Laws and of their customs, no doubt the Hebrew and Arabic Tora, original- and is clearly not immediately derived from the ly meaning the Law of Moses, which has been Yasa. His notice is the basis of the account applied by the Musalman historians to the of the Yasa contained in Petis de la Croix's Mongal code. Timur's code was called Tusukat. history of Chinghiz Khan and in the notice of Schmidt says tüssüge and tüssül mean, in it in De Guignes' history, while it has also Mongol, survey taxation. In the Shajrat ul been illustrated at greater length from the same atrak we are told, that the orders and regula- source mainly by M. Langles in an article tions of Chinghiz were written in the Uighur on Mirkhavend's account of Chinghiz Khân, character in the records called Shub Ashob, published in the 5th volume of the Notices et and they were also called the great code of Extraits des MSS. du Roi. In both these Regulations."
accounts as well as in that given by D'Ohsson Let us now turn to the code itself. It the account of Mirkhavend is supplemented by had a very wide application. Makrizi tells extracts from Rubruquis, etc. and which are in us that it was known even in Egypt where several cases rather descriptions of manners many Mongols lived, some who had been bought than laws, and have no claim to belong to as slaves, others carried off there as prisoners, the Yasa. It was Von Hammer who in his while in some cases bodies of them had de- case as in so many others introduced a methodserted and joined the service of the Mamlukical treatment of the subject. He has gone Sultans. These strangers took their law and through the various av thors who have left us customs with them into Syria and Egypt, and materials for Mongol history, and collected the officials were appointed to administer justice notices of enactments and laws which they among them. Among them Makrizi mentions assign to the Yasa, thus laying under contributhe two amirs Arkatai and Itmesh, who weretion Juveni, Bar Hebraeus, Binaketi, Rashid constantly consulted in regard to the Yasa." u'd-dîn, Vassaf, Makrizi, Mirkhavend, KhuanMakrizi tells us further that when Chinghiz demir Abulghazi, the Mokademi or intropromulgated his code he had it engraved onduction to the Sherif Nameh, etc., etc. The iron plates, while Arabshah says that when it notices these authors have preserved of the had been written down in Mongol characters Yasa, Von Hammer has classified and arranged. it was divided into several sections which were It will be understood that what followe, which wrapped in silk, and ornamented with precious is based largely on Von Hammer's analysis, stones, and they were then put away among is to some extent conjectural as we have the archives. Makrizi tells he was informed no actual transcript of the Yasa to go to. by Abu Hashim ibn Bushan that he had seen Nor must we suppose that in many cases a copy of the Yasa in the Madrasseh Mostan- Chinghiz Khan was the author and originator sariet at Baghdad.'
of the regulations. In many cases he no doubt The Yasa was the final court by which diffi. merely embodied and set in orderly fashion the culties of all kinds arising in the Mongol polity matured experience and the long-established were tried, and it was treated in the various customs of his people, and gave express authoHordes as of supreme authority. It is very rity to the old common law of the steppes. strange considering its reputation and renown Before I turn to Von Hammer's analysis, that we should be so wanting in definite infor- which I shall supplement from other quarters, mation as to its contents. The great historio. I will quote a passage from an author ap. grapher Rashidu'd-dîn does not tell us what parently overlooked on this occasion by it contained. Makrizi in his account of Egypt him, namely, Haji Khalfa, an extract from has preserved some of its enactments, and his whose Jihan Nama is given by Langles, who notice is supposed to be the most valuable one reports that by the Yasa it was forbidden on extant. Mirkhavend has also preserved a pain of death for any one to assume the posi. number of its clauses, but his narrative contains tion of Khakan or Grand Khân until he had
Von Hammer, Gesch, der Gold. Horde, p. 630. 1 Miles, op. cit., p. 91. " Quatremere, op: cit., clxviii and clxix note.
* Id., clxvi and clxvii ; Von Hammer, Golden Horde, p. 184, note 2.
