On status of judges in the Mongol Empire and its uluses in 13th–14th centuries: an interdisciplinary analysis
Authors:   Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Abzalov Lenar F. , Gatin Marat S. ,   Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Mustakimov Ilyas A. ,   L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Pochekaev Roman Yu. ,   National Research University Higher School of Economics
Published: December 2024

The article is characteristic of status of yarghuchi – judge acted in the Mongol Empire and its uluses during 13th–14th cc. The court of Chinggisid states is well covered in historiography, however, the legal status of judges has not yet been specifically analysed due to the use by scholars of mainly narrative sources and the lack of legal ones.
The basic source of the study is a legal monument – yarligh (edict) on the appointment of “emir of yarghu” (senior judge) included as an example into the “Dastur al-katib fi ta’yin al-maratib” (“A Scribe's Guide to Determining Degrees”) – Persian-language treatise created in the second half of the 14th c. by Muhammad b. Hindushah Nahchivani, the official at the court of rulers of Mongol Iran from Hulaguid and Jalayir dynasties. The goal of the article is to give an analysis of yarligh and compare it with other sources on yarghu courts – legal monuments of the Yuan dynasty and Golden Horde khans, medieval oriental narrative sources (“Secret history of Mongols”, “History of the WordlConqueror” by Juvaini, “Compendium of chronicles” by Rashid ad-Din, etc.). The institution of yarghuchi was established at the dawn of the Mongol Empire because of the need to judge in accordance with imperial legislation: Great Yasa of Chinggis Khan, his aphorisms (biliqs) and khans’ yarlighs, rather than on a base of customs and traditions. Therefore, the position of yarghuchi could be held by trustworthy representatives of military aristocracy who knew well the rules and principle of the imperial law. The competence of yarghuchi was spread over Turlic-Mongol nomads of Chinggisid states who were a basis of their military forces, while sedentary subjects were tried in accordance with norms of religious and local law customs.
Despite the fact that requirements to candidates for the judge positions worded in the analyzed yarligh were universal for Chinggisid states, comparison with other sources of the 13th–14th cc. allows us to clarify specific features of yarghuchi’s status in different uluses. The position of yarghuchi in the Yuan Empire was well institutionalized and correlated with Chinese official ranks. There was a reception of some institutions of Islamic law in the Mongol Iran and careful recordkeeping of legal procedure, etc. Traditional form of yarghu had long been preserved in the Golden Horde: it was functioning in parallel with court of Sharia, moreover, the representatives of two court systems could be in session in the same room of the ruler’s residence.
Detailed regulation of yarghuchis’ status did not mean that the court was an independent power branch. As it was common for medieval states, yarghu was not separated from the executive power: judges after their appointment retained positions of noyons (emirs), i.e. they were primarily military servicemen and performed administrative functions. At the local level of government the functions of judges were fulfilled by heads of the local governments (darughas, or basqaqs).