The relationship of religion and state in The Mongols (1206-1294)

Mongols came to the stage of history with Genghis Khan. The Mongols who came together at the congress held in 1206, embarked on a major invasion movement and during the reign of Genghis Khan, they captured a wide geography extending to Central Asia, a part of China and Iran. Conquests continued after the death of Genghis Khan and by the middle of the 13th century, Mongols have come to rule most of the known world. However, political unity has deteriorated since middle of 13th century and quasi-independent Mongolian states emerged in the different parts of the world. Mangolian state, symbolically related to the Great Mongolian Khanete, broke off their relation after the death of Kubilay Khan in 1294. Without doubt, there are more than one reason behind this success of the Mongols, who had a great military success in a short period of a century. In the middle ages, when religion was extremely important, the religious approach of the Mongols also contributed to the success of the military operations. The Mongols, who belong to the belief of the Tengri, which is very familiar to us, didn't consciously attack clergymen and religious values in any region they went to. According to the Mongols, all religions were different ways to reach God. That's way they exempted the clergymen from taxes and respected them, regardless of their belief. In the middle ages, when clergymen were extremely influential on society, this approach of the Mongols weakened the possibility of their rivals to "associate with religious argument." On the other hand, the religious attitude of the Mongols underwent a transformation in the middle of the 13th century. Mongols who belonged to a primitive belief according to divine religions, entered the religions of the geographies they conquered. The religious transformation in question, paved the way for the deepening of the divisions and with the influence of political benefits, an introverted struggle started between the Golden Horde and Ilkhanıd Empire, which were established especially on the borders of the rival states. Towards the end of the 13th century, the Mongols were assimilated by being influenced by the religions and cultures of the regions they conquered. In this way, the Mongol invasion that influenced the world for a century came to an end, but the traces it left triggered major transformations. Keywords: Mongol, Genghis Khan, Religion, Islam, Christian, Buddhism.