6 Temujin’s Tribe, Temujin’s Rules

Chapter 5 Temujin's Tribe, Temujin's Rules For centuries, steppe warfare revolved around one thing: looting. One tribe attacked another, and if the victims fled, the battle was over and the victors took all the losers' belongings. In 1202, at the request of Toghril, forty-year-old Temujin returned to fight the Tatars. Before

the battle, Temujin made some new rules: First, the battle would go on until the enemy was defeated once and for all. Second, any looted property would go directly to Temujin. As leader, he would divide the goods as he saw fit. Finally, Temujin decreed that if a man died in battle, his family would receive his fair share of the loot. Steppe life had never been fair, and these new laws were revolutionary. Still, some men did not like the new rules and deserted Temujin to join Jamuka. Those who stayed were all the more loyal. Had these laws been in place when Temujin was a boy, his family might never have been abandoned by their tribe. Temujin led his Mongol army into battle and this time defeated the Tatars for good. Temujin distributed the winnings evenly, gaining the trust and respect of his people.

However, this new method of warfare presented Temujin with a problem. Because he did not allow the Tatars to flee, he now had thousands of new captives. If he let them live, they would grow stronger, and they would be at war again in a few years.

Temujin and the tribal leaders decided to execute any Tatar male taller than the axle of a wheel. Every Tatar man, and many Tatar boys, would be killed. Everyone else would become part of the Mongol tribe. It was a brutal decision. The Tatars were all Mongols now. Temujin had to make sure all members of his tribe obeyed him, and only him. To do this, he reorganized his army. He formed squads of ten soldiers each. The soldiers in a squad came from different tribes but fought together as brothers. They were forbidden from leaving behind their comrades in battle. The oldest man in each

squad was the leader. Ten squads formed a company of one hundred soldiers. Ten companies formed a battalion of a thousand men. Company and battalion leaders were selected by the soldiers. Finally, ten companies formed a tumen of ten thousand soldiers. Temujin personally selected the leader of each tumen.

Now, when Temujin gave an order, it traveled easily from the top down. Temujin had absorbed many thousands of people into his tribe. Now he proposed to Toghril that his first son, Jochi, marry Toghril's daughter. Toghril was an old man by now. Some said Temujin wished to bring the Kereyid under his command once Toghril died. At first, Toghril refused Temujin's offer. Then, perhaps fearful of Temujin's response, he reconsidered. After all, Temujin commanded an