Türks and Mongols lived in close contact for many millennia and were part of the same states. For this reason, scientists are still struggling over the insoluble problem: what origin were those or other steppe tribes — originally Turkic or originally Mongolian?
They had a common religion, way of life and culture. Turkic and Mongolian children sat on a horse before they learned to walk, in a couple of years they began to learn to shoot a bow and handle a saber, and by adolescence they were already ready warriors. The famous commander Subudai already at the age of 13 received the title of bagatur.
The Türks were as numerous as the Mongols. After all, the army of the Central Asian state of Khorezm was estimated to be several times larger than Genghis Khan’s horde. The last Khorezmshah Jelal ad-Din defeated the Mongols more than once with his flying Turkmen detachments.
After the incorporation of certain Turkic tribes into the cosmopolitan empire of Genghisids, it was on their shoulders that the burden of subsequent conquests fell. And the army of the Golden Horde or Chagatai Khanate was considered no worse than the army of the indigenous ulus, which included the Mongol steppes and China.
So why did the Mongol horse archers defeat the Turkic archers if both had roughly equal fighting qualities?
Three main reasons: army manageability, military discipline, and horses. Let’s discuss each in detail.
Peoples who live in clan formation go into battle in clan formation. This means that in battle, you will have a third cousin on your left and an uncle on your right. Most likely, because of his seniority, he will be in charge. But even if your relative knows a lot of jokes, knows how to whistle his fingers and spit diagonally, it does not mean that he is a good junior commander. And so on — at all levels of command.
Genghis Khan, not disputing the generic nature of his army, gave it temnniks, thousandmen, centurions and tens, which markedly increased discipline and manageability. He created a whole cohort of experienced officers who dealt with reconnaissance, engineering and supply. He forbade the commander from participating in battle, instructing him to observe it from afar.
For leaving the ranks, fleeing the battlefield without orders, robbery before the time was henceforth strictly punished. Even one of the siblings of the shaker of the universe paid for the latter. He retained his life and position, but from now on he was not invited to family councils. It should be assumed that less noble people paid for their “joints” with their heads.
Even in the 18th century Russian soldiers, who chased the Nogais in the Crimean steppes, said that they attack together, retreat together, they are not afraid of blood, and evade the battle only if the factor of surprise has exhausted itself and it is no longer possible to win. This is how the nomads were influenced by the reforms carried out by Genghis Khan.
Let’s move on. Ironically, Mongolian horses were usually not better, but worse than Turkic horses. Smaller in stature, making them wary of attacking an army riding larger horses; not as strong; not capable of significant acceleration. Even the Polovtsians had much higher quality horses, not to mention the Turkmen Akhaltekes.
However, Mongolian horses could eat only grass and did not need additional fodder. They were obedient and faithful to their master and were simply amazingly enduring. Therefore, the Mongols could conduct military campaigns in the winter and spring when the horses of the Turks were weakened due to fodderlessness.
Again, this important quality made it possible to take not 2-3 trotters, but 5-6 horses on a campaign and replace them as needed. Mongolian horses were always fresh, which gave their masters noticeable advantages in initiative. They could get grass from under the snow and were satisfied even with the fodder that Turkic argamaks turned their noses up at.
Together these three factors led to the fact that the Turkic commanders could not give battle to the Mongols. Neither the fury of the Cumans nor the organization and experience of the Khorezmians were able to tip the scales, despite the fact that one on one Turkic batyr was equal to a Mongolian bagatur.