Genghis codified many aspects of inclusiveness into law. He outlawed kidnapping women and made it illegal to sell them into marriage (even as his warriors continued to rape and take concubines from among the defeated). He declared all children to be legitimate, thereby eliminating the concept of illegitimate or lesser people. And he introduced, perhaps for the first time anywhere, total religious freedom. While conquered peoples had to swear allegiance to Genghis and had to obey the Mongols’ common law—and while he executed clerics and imams who preached against him—they could otherwise
...more
