Adam Glantz

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Outside his army, Temüjin also focused on ways to bind together the society under his rule. Here he bore some resemblance to the great Byzantine emperor Justinian. A law code known as the Jasaq or Yassa enjoined everyone under Mongol rule to refrain from stealing from or enslaving one another, to exhibit strict protocols of generosity and hospitality, to obey the authority of the khan above all others, and to disdain rape, sodomy, washing clothes in thunderstorms, and urinating in sources of water. Harsh and usually mortal punishments were levied without sentiment on anyone who offended ...more
Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages
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