On the Meaning of Some Legal Terms from the Supplementary Laws of Khan Donduk-Dashi

Abstract

A set of laws known as “the Great Code of the Nomads”, i.e. Iki Tsaadzhin Bichig (1640) is a valuable source of information, reflecting not only political and socio-economic system, but also legal relations as well as ethnographic data, and the written language of Mongolian society of the XVII century. The text of the “Great Code” contains a wide range of legal terms, i.e. ranks and titles of representatives from different social layers of the nomadic society such as yaamt humun, yaam ugey humun, and albatu humun. According to the Mongolian-Oirat laws, all committed offenses were punishable by a fine, the size of which was largely dependent on the social status of the person. Special attention is paid to the moral and ethical standards of knights, clergy and officials, whose strict code of conduct was considered to be an example for others to follow.