Genghis Khan's Yassa: The Secret Law Code of the Mongol Empire

What if a single legal code held an empire spanning from Korea to Hungary together? In this episode, we dive into the Yassa — the legendary, yet enigmatic law code attributed to Genghis Khan. Unlike any legal system before it, the Yassa was a blend of tribal custom, military discipline, and harsh penalties that outlawed practices like kidnapping, adultery, and the washing of clothes in running water. We explore what the Yassa actually was, what surviving sources like Juvayni and Rashid al-Din tell us (and don't tell us), and how it was enforced across the Mongol Empire's diverse populations. We also tackle a major historical controversy: was the Yassa a unified written code or an evolving set of oral decrees? And we look at how it influenced later regimes, from the Ilkhanate's legal reforms to the Mughal Empire's administrative traditions. For anyone who's wondered how the Mongols governed, not just conquered. #Yassa #MongolEmpire #GenghisKhan #LegalHistory #Juvayni #RashidAlDin #MongolLaw #SteppeCustoms #MedievalLaw #CentralAsia #History #FexingoHistory #MongolConquest #Ögedei #Ilkhanate #MughalEmpire #Zasag #MongolGovernment Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo