![Jarlig Temur Qutlugh copy 1 GIM](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Jarlig_Temur_Qutlugh_copy_1_GIM.jpg)
A jarlig ( mn, зарлиг, zarlig; russian: ярлык, ''jarlyk'', also transliterated yarlyk in Russian and Turkic, or even more correctly yarlıq, and the Tatar: yarlığ) is an edict or written commandant of
Mongol and
Chinggisid
A Borjigin, ; ; russian: Борджигин, Bordžigin; English plural: Borjigins or Borjigid (from Middle Mongolian);''Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan'', p. 119. Manchu plural: is a member of the Mongol sub-clan, which started with ...
rulers' "formal diplomas". It was one of three types of non-fundamental
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
pronouncements that had the effect of a regulation or ordinance, the other two being ''debter'' (a record of precedence cases for administration and judicial decisions) and ''billing'' (maxims or sayings attributed to
Genghis Khan). The jarliq provide important information about the running of the
Mongol Empire.
Ögedei Khagan prohibited the nobility from issuing
gergees (tablet that gave the bearer authority to demand goods and services from civilian populations) and jarliqs in the 1230s.
From the mid-13th to mid-15th centuries, all princes of Northeastern Rus received jarliq authorizing their rule. The issuing of jarlyk on governing of Rus finalized the establishment of the title of
Grand Duke of Vladimir
The grand duke of Vladimir was the ruler of a principality during the era of Kievan Rus' and after its collapse. It ruled territory approximately bounded by three rivers, the Volga, the Oka and the Northern Dvina. From 1157 to 1238 its capital was ...
(Grand Prince). Initially, those jarliq came from the
qaghan in
Karakorum
Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in th ...
, but after
Batu established the
khanate of the Golden Horde (), they came from
Sarai. None of these jarliq, however, is extant. In the mid-fifteenth century, Grand Duke
Basil II
Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...
of Moscow began forbidding other Rus princes from receiving the jarliq from Mongol khans, thus establishing the right of the Moscow grand prince to authorize local princely rule. Mongol leaders gave the jarliq to emissaries, travelers, monks and merchants to give them free passage, exemptions from taxes and imposts and security.
Kublai Khan began the practice of having the four great aristocrats in his kheshig sign all jarliqs (decrees), a practice that spread to all other Mongol khanates in 1280.
Ghazan
Mahmud Ghazan (5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) (, Ghazan Khan, sometimes archaically spelled as Casanus by the Westerners) was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of ...
reformed the issuance of jarliqs (edicts), creating set forms and graded seals, ordering that all jarliqs be kept on file at court in Persia. Jarliqs older than 30 years were to be cancelled, along with old paizas (Mongol seals of authority).
Even after 1260, the
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...
in China still considered ''jarlig'' must be issued by only Qa'an/Khagan (Emperor) but ''linkji'' by khans (princes) of three western khanates. However, some high-ranking officials continued to issue jarligs under the name of a khan or Emperor in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
.
[Dai Mastu]
"A Mongolian Decree from the Chaghataid Khanate Discovered at Dunhuang"
in: P. Zieme (ed.), ''Aspects of Research into Central Asian Buddhism: In Memoriam Kōgi Kudara'', Turnhout (Belgium), Brepols, 2008, pp. 160
The Rus' metropolitan archive preserves six jarliq (constituting the so-called Short Collection) considered to be translations into Russian of authentic patents issued from the
Qipchaq Khanate
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmentat ...
:
# from Khan Tiuliak (Tulunbek) of
Mamai
Mamai (Mongolian Cyrillic: Мамай, tt-Cyrl, Мамай, translit=Mamay; 1325?–1380/1381) was a powerful military commander of the Golden Horde. Contrary to popular misconception, he was not a khan (king), but a warlord and a kingmaker ...
's Horde to Metropolitan Mikhail (Mitia) (1379)
# from
Khatun
Khatun ( Mongolian: хатан; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣, katun; ota, خاتون, hatun or قادین ''kadın''; fa, خاتون ''khātūn''; ; hi, ख़ातून ') is a female title of nobility and counterpart to " khan" or " Khagan" promine ...
Taydula to the Rus' princes (1347)
# from Khan
Mengu-Timur
Munkh Tumur or Möngke Temür ( mn, ᠮᠦᠨᠺᠬᠲᠡᠮᠦᠷ, Мөнхтөмөр; russian: Мангутемир, Mangutemir) (?–1280), son of Toqoqan Khan and Köchu Khatun of Oirat (daughter of Toralchi Küregen and granddaughter of ...
to
Metropolitan Peter
Peter, Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus (russian: Пётр; c. 1260 – 20 December 1326) was the Russian metropolitan who moved his see from Vladimir to Moscow in 1325. Later he was proclaimed a patron saint of Moscow. In spite of the move, ...
(1308)
# from Khatun Taydula to Metropolitan Feognost (1343)
# from Khan
Berdibeg
Berdi Beg or Berdibek ( fa, , tt-Latn, Möxämmät Bärdibäk) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1357 to 1359, having succeeded his father Jani Beg. Berdi Beg was the last khan to rule before the beginning of a long cycle of civil wars in the G ...
to
Metropolitan Alexius
Saint Alexius (''Алекси́й'' or ''Aleksij'' in Russian) (before 1296–1378) was Metropolitan of Kiev and all Russia (from 1354), and presided over the Moscow government during Dmitrii Donskoi's minority.
Biography
Alexius, whose ...
(Alexei) (1357)
# from Khatun Taydula to Metropolitan Alexius (1354)
A seventh jarliq, which purports to be from
Khan Özbeg
Khan may refer to:
*Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan
*Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...
to Metropolitan Peter (found in the so-called full collection) has been determined to be a sixteenth-century forgery. The jarliq to the metropolitans affirm the freedom of the Church from taxes and tributes, and declare that the Church's property should be protected from expropriation or damage as long as Rus' churchmen pray for the well-being of the khan and his family.
Contemporary use
In Russian culture the word means a
label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...
, rarely a
price tag
A price tag is a label declaring the price of an item for sale. It may be a sticker or attached by twist tie or other means.
Some jurisdictions require items (possibly exceptions for bulk good and produce) to be individually marked with the pri ...
. An icon
shortcut in modern
graphical user interface
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inst ...
s is also called this way.
See also
*
Firman
References
Bibliography
*
{{Mongol Empire
Mongol Empire
Legal history of Russia
Turkic words and phrases
Medieval law
Legal history of Mongolia