The Western campaign of the Mongols is known in detail, many annals and chronicles have been written about it in 20 countries in 15 languages. Starting with eyewitnesses of the invasion of the XIII century and ending with the XVI century. In recent years, burials of victims of Mongolian assaults have been found in Russia. Mongol and Golden Horde artifacts have filled the expositions of museums in Europe and Asia. Based on the array of data and evidence, the history of the Mongols was formed.
However, the collapse of the USSR, degradation and collapse of morals gave birth to the phenomenon of alternative history in Russia. Rejected by science folk-history came to the taste of the common reader. Unable to overcome scientific facts, folk-history simply ignores them. And asks simple questions:
Since you haven’t found any, we don’t think there were any.
No graves or traces of the Mongols? There was no invasion of Batyi.
No graves of the Golden Horde? There was no Mongol yoke!
There were no Huns — what did their horses eat?
There was no Time of Troubles — where are the graves of the Poles?
There was no Battle of Kulikovo — where are the swords on the field?
But the finds of Batyi’s invasion and the Mongol yoke are reflected in scientific reports and bulletins, partly there are in the Internet. Burials of Mongols have been found. All are in museums of Eurasia and Europe for 40 years.
Remains of Mongolian soldiers of Batyi were found at excavations of fortress Raikovets (1948). From the report of the USSR UAS: “Hundreds of skeletons of defenders and enemies were found where death caught them”. In the center of Vladimir (2005г) excavated Mongolian manor of XIV century of Golden Horde baskak.
In Voronezh region the burial site of Olen-Kolodez (1996) of a rich Mongol with characteristic ammunition and artifacts of the late XIII century was uncovered. The National Museum of History of Azerbaijan exhibits finds of 20 Mongolian burials of the Kaziyev expedition of 1946-1953 on the Kura River. The finds are dated to the end of XIII century, arrow sets coincide with the Olen-Kolodez burial ground, graves found in Mongolia, Tuva. Found 3 Mongolian warriors in Mongolian ammunition. Found Mongolian iron paizsa (sign of authority) says that one of them was Tuaji (messenger).
What is archaeology? It’s a needle in a haystack. And 800 years later? Something can only be unearthed if you combine 3 factors:
- the exact coordinates of the place (annals, excavations nearby).
- the place is not occupied (house, square, reservoir).
- It has not been looted/carried away before.
So, for example, mass graves of victims of the Mongol siege have been found. Cities stand where the unfortunate ones fell, buried there. Lucky — there’s access to the ground. They dug, they found them. But with the Mongols, it’s a different story….
Unlike Christians and Muslims, the Mongols’ burial rites changed several times. During the period of shamanism of Genghis Khan/Batya — one. During the period of the Islamization of the Horde, another. In the newest Buddhist Mongolia, a third. The first period that we are interested in is the biggest mystery. Science knows little about the beliefs of the Batyi Mongols and cannot give archaeology the key.
What is the key? The key of the Orthodox is the pogosts of villages. The key of the Scythians is the burial mounds. The key of Egyptians — pyramids and burial caves. There is no Mongolian key, where to dig?
As for other peoples, death is the Mongol’s way into the new world. But unlike others, for the Mongols this path could be interrupted. If the remains were found and desecrated. From the reports of missionaries of the XIII century, who visited Russia and the Mongol Empire, we know — the Mongols did everything so that the graves were never found. And those who were found did not survive. Accessible cemeteries were guarded by guards. When papal ambassadors wandered into a cemetery in Karakorum, they were almost shot.
The bodies of the fallen Mongols were being carried off the battlefield. Carried far away, Marco Polo reports that “great sovereigns, descendants of Genghis Khan, are buried in the great mountain Altai, and bring them there, even if they died a hundred days’ journey from the mountain”. Taking the fallen to who knows where, the Mongols covered their tracks.
“They bury them in this way: they dig a hole secretly in the field, and another one is dug openly. After that, having buried the [true] grave, they drive mares or sheep at night so that they cannot find it. Sometimes they lay the grass previously removed on top. (Benedict)
The graves have no mounds, the earth removed from the grave pit lies in due order, the filling of the grave with earth is done in reverse order, and after burial the earth left in excess is carried far away.” (Yuan-shi)
To prevent us from finding the graves, it was enough for the Mongols to simply bury their friends aside and kill the witnesses. But beyond that, they masked them and did everything they could to make the cemetery disappear. This level of defense archaeology cannot overcome. Only chance will unlock the mystery of the Mongol burials.
Genghis Khan’s grave has not yet been found. The grave of Batyi, Subedei and all the Chinggisids has not been found.