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Genghis Khan and his heirs at Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul
by:
Elspeth Moncrieff
Since the recent collapse of Soviet communism and the re-birth of Mongolias national consciousness, Genghis Khan has been reinstated as the countrys hero. Western and Mongolian scholars have had access to previously closed archival material and more importantly, major archaeological surveys and expeditions by the Mongolians, French, Turks and Germans have taken place in Mongolia itself. This has uncovered important new historical evidence, both in the Mongol city of Karakorum and on the Eurasian steppes, relating to the pre-Mongolian empire Turkish tribes.
This exhibition celebrates the 800th anniversary of the founding in 1206 of the Mongol empire, which lasted until its defeat by the Chinese in 1380. It showcases many of the new archaeological finds and brings together loans of some of the greatest national treasures from thirteen different Mongolian venues, the Topkap? Palace in Istanbul, and some twenty European institutions.
Genghis Khan (Chinggis Khaan, 11621227) has always had a bad foreign press, portrayed as a ruthless and bloodthirsty warrior. Yet the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongol tribes left scant factual evidence about him. What is known is that the Mongols success was based on their skill as mounted warriors, the strength and stamina of their horses and their loyalty to their leader. Genghis Khans grave, which might yield untold riches, remains a secret. Legend has it that those who buried him were executed to silence them.
The prime source for his life is a document written shortly after his death, The Secret History of the Mongol, giving an account both of the life of Genghis Khan and his brother ￖgedei Khan. The current exhibition at the Sak?p Sabanc? Museum in Istanbul sets out to substantiate the life of the legendary ruler using the scant available material evidence. It paints a far more rounded picture of Genghis as an astute and wise ruler and places him in a firm historical context spanning over 1,500 years of Mongolian history.
To administer his vast empire, Genghis had to establish an effective system of government. Seven years before his death, the Mongols had already partly abandoned their nomadic life to begin building the sophisticated city of Karakorum, as an administrative centre for the empire in inner Mongolia. Genghis encouraged religious and cultural tolerance and subsumed old tribal loyalties uniting different factions under a new system of government loyal to him.
He was a lawmaker who established a common language and administrative system and encouraged art and culture. He introduced one of the earliest forms of identity papers or passport, the Paiza. This is an inscribed tag about fifteen centimetres long, wooden for the ordinary people and silver for the envoys of the government, which ensured unimpeded travel through his empire. Under the Pax Mongolica during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, merchants, scholars and artisans could travel with security along the Silk Route for the first time in history. Trade and culture flourished in an unprecedented exchange between East and West.
Beautifully installed, with dramatic panoramic vistas of the Mongolian plains and a background audio of neighing and galloping horses, the first part of the exhibition is devoted to the pre-Mongolian period when Mongol and Turkish tribes lived side by side on the steppes. The Turkish tribes were subsequently absorbed into the Mongol empire and lost their independence. Burial finds attest to a rich civilisation from as early as the first century AD. An embroidered textile fragment dating from the first century AD shows both real and imaginary animals. Both this and a second century AD clay vessel stamped with deer indicate strong Chinese influence.
French excavations beginning in 2000 at the necropolis of Golmod, 400 km to the west of the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, revealed a dozen tombs including a monumental tomb over thirty metres in length belonging to a first century Chanyu (head of the Xiongnu tribe). The finds include the remains of an impressive chariot which differs significantly in structure from those of the Han dynasty in China. Seventeen horse skulls found in the tomb, all pointing north towards the Pole Star, may have pulled the chariot in a symbolic manner. Gold, glass and mosaic ornaments attest to a sophisticated culture which developed independently from that of neighbouring China.
Among the most important new finds are those from the 2001 archaeological excavations in Archangaj province in Mongolia, organised by a joint Turkish-Mongolian expedition. This yielded 3,000 objects of gold, silver, bronze and precious stones from the memorial of the Turkish leader Bilge Kagan (d. 734), brother of the Turkish commander Kul Tegin. The most precious of these include a gold and ruby diadem and an exquisite gold and silver statuette of a deer. A wealth of ornaments and more practical vessels attest to a highly sophisticated culture. Extraordinarily vivid is the scene of galloping horses on a roof tile, found in 2003, during excavations along the south-eastern side of the perimeter wall of the memorial shrine to Bilge Kagan. It is unique among the archaeological finds of Mongolia. The sturdy short-limbed horses with their bound tails are typical of Central Asian saddle horses.
A stone carving of the head of the Turkish commander Kul Tegin, who died in 731, shows very similar features to the present day Mongols. A bird of prey carved on his head indicates the shamanistic beliefs of these people, who believed that the soul of the departed turns into an eagle and flies away. Burial finds and standing stone monuments which surrounded the graves give evidence of a sophisticated culture. On memorial sites and graves found along the rivers Orkhomi, Tunul and Selenge, these Turkish leadersrather like the Roman generalsrecorded their victories.
Although well known, the so-called Kul Tegin monument is here catalogued and translated for the Turkish people, giving them the first opportunity to see it in its entirety. The ancient text is displayed side by side with the modern Turkish and the similarities in the language are surprising. It shows that modern Turkish descends from this eighth-century language of the steppes, rich in both poetry and metaphor.
The central section of the exhibition devoted to the reign of Genghis Khan is sadly the weakest. This is partly because there is so little surviving contemporary material evidence; the man who built the largest empire in history left almost nothing behind. Biographical material on the great emperor within the exhibition is insubstantial and the organisers could have been more inventive in illustrating his life and times.
A major omission is textiles, the most creative art of these nomadic people; even if not contemporary with Genghis Khan, superb collections of Mongolian textiles survive in American, Chinese and European museums which would have introduced the colour and flavour of their culture.
The opening of the exhibition was accompanied by colourful Mongolian dancers, singers and musicians, and a section on Mongolian music is well illustrated with twentieth-century examples of traditional instruments. One very important loan from the Hermitage was the so-called Stone of Genghis,
c. 122425, the earliest recorded mention of the emperor. It was found in Gorodisce Chirchirinskoe, in the territory that once formed part of Yisngges domain. Yisngge (c. 1190c. 1270) was a nephew and brother-in-arms of Genghis Khan.
The front of the stela bears an inscription consisting of five vertical lines of Uighur-Mongolian script.
The most famous surviving portrait of Genghis Khan, which depicts him not as a warrior but as a wise sage in the Chinese tradition, was executed thirty years after his death. It is shown here only in reproduction, as are the marvellous series of portraits of the Mongolian wives of the Yuan dynasty emperors of China, with their traditional Mongolian headdress.
We are left with two recent chance grave discoveries, one dating from the tenth century from a rocky crevasse in Bajanchongar province and the other from a fourteenth-century Mongolian cave, to give us a flavour of Mongolian life around this time. They contain mainly practical items: from the tenth century, saddles, a helmet, bows, arrows and part of a horses bridle and from the fourteenth century, stirrups, a leather boot and more luxurious items such as a silk purse and pendant. The remains of a chariot wheel, weapons such as clay grenades and spiked iron traps, and examples of Mongolian armour and costume are all typical but of later date. This evidence, scant as it is, portrays a practical society where horses and the arts of warfare are the most vital ingredients of success and the luxury arts are still undeveloped.
When it comes to the recent excavations at Karakorum the picture changes. This is one of the most interesting sections of the exhibition. The city founded seven years before Genghis Khans death and finished during the reign (12271241) of his son ￖgedei Khan became the fixed administrative centre of the empire. It was an important cultural centre, drawing in skilled craftsmen from far-flung outposts of the empire.
In 1999 the University of Bonn in collaboration with the Mongolian Academy of Sciences began excavations on the site. They focused on the urban centre, especially the main road and the adjacent houses and workshops of the Chinese quarter, while the excavations of the German Archaeological Institute focused on the so-called palace precinct in the south-west of the city. This group of several house podiums surrounded by ramparts had previously been believed to represent the palace described by Flemish Franciscan monk Wilhelm von Rubruk (c. 12101270), who talks of the palace like a church, with a central nave, and two sides beyond two rows of pillars, and with three doors to the south. Having excavated the great hall, the team found numerous Buddhist finds which proved the site was not a palace but a richly decorated Buddhist temple. Several hundred fragments of toes, fingers, pleated robes and lotus tiles indicate a monumental decorative scheme, with many statues up to three and four metres high.
Reference to a similar temple, the Pavilion of the Rise, was found inscribed on a block of stone at the nearby Erdenezuu monastery, built in 1586 largely from the ruins of Karakorum. It refers to the successful renovation of a Buddhist temple in Karakorum in 1346. Construction of the temple had begun under Genghis Khans third son and successor ￖgedei (reigned 12271241). This predates the existing evidence for conversion to Buddhism by 100 years. The stela is the earliest original source to mention the foundation of Karakorum by Genghis Khan in 1220.
Excavations concentrating on the artisans quarters of Karakorum along the main road south of the city show this area was inhabited by Chinese craftsmen. The excavators found sophisticated metal, glass and jewellery workshops as well as everyday objects of birch bark. A high percentage of Chinese coins found indicated everyday business was conducted with Chinese money. Chinese traits were prominent in the architectural features. Porcelain and stoneware from China as well as locally made ware attest to the flourishing trade in Chinese porcelain which was exported the length and breadth of the Mongolian empire. An exquisite fourteenth-century gold bracelet decorated with a phoenix and taotie masks is very similar to a surviving matrix on the site, showing it was locally made.
The remainder of the exhibition is devoted to the four realms of the empire as it was divided under Genghiss grandsons: the Ilkanate empire in Iran founded by Genghiss grandson Mongke Khan in 1258, Yuan dynasty China founded by another grandson Qubilai (Kublai Khan, 12151294) in 1272, the realms of the Golden Horde in Russia and the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia. While bringing together the culture of the furthest corners of the empire, there is no explanation of how Mongol culture influenced the arts of their conquered territories. The explanatory panels are devoted to the very complicated Mongol campaigns and historical events taking place. More material on the development of the arts, pointing out common links between different sections of the empire would have been appreciated.
The Ilkanate section is illustrated with marvellous Iranian miniatures from the Topkap? Palace depicting Mongol subjects. While continuing their nomadic lifestyle, the Ilkans were major patrons of art and architecture and the arts of this period produced masterpieces of Persian, Islamic art. The Battle of Iranians and Turanians, c. 135674 shows the disciplined Mongol army, black war banner flying, slaying their foes. A Tabriz manuscript of the fourteenth century shows the enthronement of the Khan, depicting the elaborate Mongolian costumes adopted by the court. Birds of prey, a feature of Mongol life, are depicted and the tortoise, a sacred Mongolian symbol, appears in Iranian miniatures. A marvellous dancing figure in Central Asian costume is illustrated in a manuscript in Uighur script, the language adopted by Genghis Khan. What we are not told is how Mongolian culture was absorbed into the already highly sophisticated Persian court, developing and influencing both culture and protocol.
The same can be said of the section devoted to China under the Mongol Yuan dynasty (12791368). Illustrated with marvellous examples of porcelain, it would have been interesting to have learnt something about production under the Mongol emperors. While large numbers of scholars, artists and artisans from Central Asia came to China during the Yuan dynasty, Mongolian culture exerted little influence on Chinese art.
The planned section devoted to the Mongolian empire in Russia known as the Golden Horde did not materialise. The discovery of some thefts at the Hermitage meant the museum had to withdraw their loans and the Russian section of the empire was missing.
The exhibition is a superb achievement for its attempt to make fact the extraordinary legend of Genghis Khan. It succeeds in painting a picture of a wise and astute statesman who set up an efficient system of administration ruling a vast empire where trade and commerce flourished in Central Asia as never before. We see him as the founder of the highly sophisticated city of Karakorum and learn that shortly after his death the ruling classes abandoned their pagan shamanistic beliefs for Buddhism.
The exhibition is of great significance for the Turkish people in terms of identifying the early history of the Turkish tribes, the development of their language and their place in world history. Yet there is too much emphasis on history and not enough on the development of the arts and the influence of the Mongol people on culture and society; their contribution in terms of colour, poetry or even their ideal of beauty is not explained. After several hours in the exhibition one has not really come to grips with the Great Khan himself. He still remains an illusive, shadowy figure yet his influence extended to the furthest corners of the known world.
Genghis Khan and his heirs is on show at the Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul until 8 April 2007. |
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