AT WAR AND AT THE FEAST: YASAULS IN THE MEDIEVAL TURKIC-MONGOL STATES

The article analyzes the status of yasaul, an official who was in charge of troops disposition during military campaigns as well as for placing of the representatives of power elite at feasts and official arrangements in the Mongol Empire and its uluses. The functions of yasauls and requirements to candidates for this office are examined. The article includes the first Russian translation of valuable historical legal source — yarlyk (khan’s edict) on the appointment of yasaul from the “Dastur alkatib”, the medieval Persian treaty written by Muhammad b. Hindushah Nakhchivani, an official of Ilkhanate, ca. 1360. There are also the characteristics of specific historical figures who obtained office or rank of yasauls and played an important role in one or another Turkic-Mongol state. The authors trace the evolution of the status of yasaul for ages and try to find the reasons of transformation of these military administrators into courtiers and petty officers. The research is based on historical sources: legal and other official acts, contemporaries’ notes, historical chronicles. The analysis of information on yasauls proves an important role of these officials in the medieval Turkic-Mongol states and saving the institution later on, but with substantial transformation of status.

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