Mongol military organisation
Also called: Mongol decimal system · Topic: Nomadic Empires: The Mongols · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
On the steppe, every able-bodied adult man carried arms. Genghis Khan organised his army into units of 10, 100, 1,000 and, in theory, 10,000 soldiers. A unit of 10,000 was called a tuman. These units were old, but he changed one key rule. Clans and tribes could no longer serve together in the same unit. He broke up old tribal groups and spread their members across new units. Leaving one's assigned unit without permission was harshly punished. As a result, old tribal identities faded, and soldiers' loyalty and identity came from Genghis Khan himself.
Example
Each tuman mixed men from many tribes, including former enemies such as the Kereyits. Commanders were his four sons and chosen captains called noyan. Close companions were honoured as blood-brothers (anda) or ranked as bondsmen (naukar), so rank depended on closeness to the Khan.
Don't confuse with
- Mughal mansabdari: under the Mughals, ranks given to nobles in India (mansabs) were also expressed in numbers. The Mongol decimal units were instead about breaking up tribes and binding soldiers to the Khan.