The Institution of Bukaul in Turko-Mongol States: Ilkhanid, Jochid and Chagataid Traditions

Introduction. The article examines the institution of bukaul in Chinggisid states and their successors. Special attention is given to functions implemented by the official in the uluses of Hulagu, Jochi and Chagatai — and the former’s evolution throughout centuries. It is also explained why the functions tended to vary in different Turko-Mongol states. Goals. The study seeks to characterize the status of bukaul in Chinggisid and post-Chinggisid states. To facilitate this, the paper introduces a Russian translation and an interdisciplinary analysis of one legislative act — yarliq (decree) — appointing an army bukaul, and compares it to other sources for specific features of this official in Turko-Mongol states. Materials and methods. The paper examines Dastur al-Katib fi Tayin al-Maratib (A Scribe’s Guide to Determining Ranks) compiled in the mid-fourteenth century by Persian official Muhammad ibn Hindushah Nakhchivani, and other historical sources on Turko-Mongol states — from the empire of Genghis Khan and to Central Asian khanates of the eighteenth–nineteenth centuries. The work employs a series of historical and legal research methods, such as those of source criticism, diplomatic analysis, comparative historical research, formal legal approach, historical legal and comparative legal analyses. Results. Bukauls are often mentioned by medieval Asian historians but the messages tend to vary, which gives rise to different opinions as to their status and functions. The paper introduces the yarliq appointing a bukaul from Dastur al-Katib into Russian-language scientific discourse and supplements it with a detailed interdisciplinary analysis. Our comparative insights into other sources attest to that functions of bukaul in different Chinggisid states were as different and diverse, which resulted from the latter’s specific sociopolitical and economic development conditions. Conclusions. Depending on correlations between Mongol imperial and regional traditions of power, administrative and socioeconomic patterns, bukaul could serve as distributor of material benefits in the army (Mongol Iran), as executive of administrative and law-enforcement structures (Ulus of Jochi), and even as courtier in charge of khans’ cuisine (Chagatai Ulus). At the same time in Chinggisid and post-Chinggisid states, bukauls were usually ethnic Turko-Mongols of noble origin with military-oriented minds and corresponding training, which resulted in that they could be actively involved into military endeavors regardless of their official positions and functions

On the Fate of Lost Property in the Medieval Turkic-Mongol States

This article analyses the state policy of the medieval Turkic-Mongol khanates towards lost property. The authors introduce the first Russian translation of a yarligh on the appointment of bularguchi, an official who oversaw the search, storage, and return of lost property. The yarligh comes from the Dastur al-Katib Fi Ta’yin al-Maratib, a Persian-language treaty written in 1360s by Muhammad b. Hindushah Nakhchivani, an official at the service of the rulers of Mongol Iran. A complex interdisciplinary analysis of this document helps characterize the legal status of the bularguchi and the evolution of the state policy towards the lost property in the Turkic-Mongol states from the Mongol and Yuan Empires to the Crimean Khanate. The authors attempt to clarify the differences between the property which was lost and that which was recognized escheat after the death of its owner abroad. The authors establish that the rulers of the Turkic-Mongol states took measures to provide the rights of the owners of the lost property, but at the same time, officials abused their power to pass such property to the state treasury as it was a substantial part of the state revenue. The source base of the research includes legal acts, notes of contemporaries, and diplomatic correspondence. The authors also consider works of specialists who dealt with the bularguchi institution as well as questions on the fate of the lost property in the medieval Turkic-Mongol states