«MANCHURIAN TIGERS». STATEHOOD OF THE MONGOL-SPEAKING AND TUNGUS-SPEAKING PEOPLES IN THE 7TH-13TH CENTURIES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the statehood of the Mongol-speaking and Tungus-speaking tribes of Manchuria in the 7th-13th centuries.

The purpose, task of this work is to analyze the political history of the Mohe, Khitans and Jurchens, to show the political and ethnic processes that took place in the state of Bohai, the empires of Liao and Jin.

The work uses problem-chronological and comparative research methods. The problem-chronological method consists in the search for general patterns of development of the Far East in the Middle Ages. The comparative method is to compare Bohai, the Liao empire and the Jin empire.

The novelty of the work lies in its panoramic coverage of the history of the Far East in the 7th-13th centuries and identify some regularities in the development of statehood in this region. The first state that arose on the soil of the Far East was the state of Bohai, founded by the leaders of the Sumo Mohe tribe. It was the first Tungus-speaking state. It borrowed Chinese experience in architecture and Goguryeo experience in public administration. The formation of the state became possible due to the remoteness from the Tang Empire and the struggle of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples against the Chinese threat. The ruling dynasty of Bohai was the House of Da. Bohai's most dangerous enemy was the Khitans, who crushed Bohai in 926. Bohai's real successor was the state of Dinan, which, led by the Wu dynasty, held out against the Khitans until 995. The Khitans were a Mongol-speaking people located on the periphery of the Eurasian steppe, on the border with China . This is the reason for their vassal status in relation to the steppe khaganates and Chinese empires. The true founder of the Khitan Liao empire was Yelü Apoki, who carried out large-scale campaigns against the Chinese and steppe nomads. Under Emperor Tai Zuo, the Liao empire agonized. Large resources were diverted to the fight against the Song Empire and the Mongol-speaking nomads of the Zubu. This struggle distracted the Khitans from the wars against the Jurchens. The wars against the Jurchens were considered a second-rate front, which made it possible for the Jurchen state to get stronger. The leader of the Jurchens, Yingge, created a powerful state on the periphery of the Liao empire. His successor Aguda threw off the Khitan yoke and proclaimed the creation of the Jurchen Jin Empire. Aguda broke the back of the Khitan statehood, and the next Jurchen emperor Wutsimai destroyed the Liao empire. Like the Khitans, the Jurchens did not pay due attention to the events on the periphery and practically missed the creation of the Yeke Mongol ulus. Actually, the Mongols crushed the Jin empire, just as the Churens once crushed the Liao empire.