Christianity among the Mongols

In modern times the Mongols are primarily Tibetan Buddhists, but in previous eras, especially during the time of the Mongol empire (13th–14th centuries), they were primarily shamanist, and had a substantial minority of Christians, many of whom were in positions of considerable power.^[1][2] Overall, Mongols were highly tolerant of most religions, and typically sponsored several at the same time. Many Mongols had been proselytized by the Church of the East (sometimes called "Nestorian") since about the seventh century,^[3] and some tribes' primary religion was Christian. In the time of Genghis Khan, his sons took Christian wives of the Keraites, and under the rule of Genghis Khan's grandson, Möngke Khan, the primary religious influence was Christian.

The practice of Nestorian Christianity was somewhat different from that practiced in the West, and Europeans tended to regard Nestorianism as heretical for its beliefs about the nature of Jesus. However, the Europeans also had legends about a figure known as Prester John, a great Christian leader in the East who would come to help with the Crusades. One version of the legend connected the identity of Prester John with a Christian Mongol leader, Toghrul, leader of the Keraites.

Some Mongolians rejected the church structure and what was orthodox for the time, and borrowed elements from other religions and merged beliefs from several Christian denominations together.^[4] Some even identified Adam with the Buddha.^[4]

When the Mongols conquered northern China, establishing the

The Mongols had been proselytised since about the seventh century.^[5][6][7] Many Mongol tribes, such as the Keraites,^[8] the Naimans, the Merkit, the Ongud,^[9] and to a large extent the Qara Khitai (who practiced it side-by-side with Buddhism),^[10] were Nestorian Christian.^[11]

Genghis Khan himself believed in traditional Mongolian shamanism, but was tolerant of other faiths. When, as the young Temüjin, he swore allegiance with his men at the Baljuna Covenant in 1203, there were representatives of nine tribes among the 20 men, including "several Christians, three Muslims, and several Buddhists."^[12] His sons were married to Christian princesses of the Keraites clan who held considerable influence at his court.^[13] Under the Great Khan Mongke, Genghis's grandson, the main religious influence was that of the Nestorians.^[14]

Some of the major Christian figures among the Mongols were:

• Hulagu Khan and Ariq Böke, who were also married to Christian princesses;^[13][15][16]
• Doquz Khatun, wife of Hulagu Khan and mother of Abaqa Khan,^[17] who for his part married Maria Palaiologina, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1265. After the death of Abaqa's mother Doquz, Maria filled her role as a major Christian influence in the Ilkhanate.
• Sartaq Khan, son of Batu Khan, who converted to Christianity during his lifetime;^[18]
• Kitbuqa,^[19] general of Mongol forces in the Levant, who fought in alliance with Christian vassals.
• Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1281 to 1317.^[20]
• Rabban Bar Sauma, a Chinese monk who made a pilgrimage from Khanbaliq (now Beijing) and testified to the importance of Christianity among the Mongols during his visit to Rome in 1287.
• Nayan Khan, a Mongol nobleman and uncle of Kublai Khan
  . In 1287, after becoming increasingly angry with Kublai for being “too Chinese”, Nayan staged a rebellion. Since he was a nobleman and governor of four Mongol regions, Nayan had a significant army. He also allied with other Mongol governors who were themselves dissatisfied with Kublai's rejection of Mongol values, from their perspective. Nayan's battle standard had a cross on it because he was a Christian. Their rebellion was ultimately unsuccessful, and Nayan was quietly executed.

Again according to Weatherford, the Mongols also adapted the Christian cross to their own belief system, making it sacred because it pointed to the four directions of the world. They had varied readings of the Scriptures, especially feeling an affinity to the wandering Hebrew tribes. Christianity also allowed the eating of meat (different from the vegetarianism of the Buddhists). And of particular interest to the hard-drinking Mongols, they enjoyed that the consuming of alcohol was a required part of church services.^[25]

Women in Mongolia were known to indicate their faith by wearing an amulet inscribed with a cross, or to be tattooed with a cross.^[26]

Keraite and Naiman Christian tribes

The

An account of the conversion of the Keraite is given by the 13th century West Syrian historian, Gregory Bar Hebraeus, who documented a 1009 letter by bishop Abdisho of Merv to the Patriarch John VI which announced the conversion of the Keraits to Christianity.^[28] According to Hebraeus, in the early 11th century, a Keraite king lost his way while hunting in the high mountains. When he had abandoned all hope, a saint, Mar Sergius, appeared in a vision and said, "If you will believe in Christ, I will lead you lest you perish." The king returned home safely, and when he later met Christian merchants, he remembered the vision and asked them about their faith. At their suggestion, he sent a message to the Metropolitan of Merv for priests and deacons to baptize him and his tribe. As a result of the mission that followed, the king and 20,000 of his people were baptized.^[29][30]

The legend of Prester John was also connected with the Nestorian rulers of the Keraite. Though the identity of Prester John was linked with individuals from other areas as well, such as India or Ethiopia, in some versions of the legend, Prester John was explicitly identified with the Christian Mongol Toghrul.

Relations with Christian nations

"Know ye, O our Fathers, that many of our Fathers (Nestorian missionaries since the 7th century) have gone into the countries of the Mongols, and Turks, and Chinese and have taught them the Gospel, and at the present time there are many Mongols who are Christians. For many of the sons of the Mongol kings and queens have been baptized and confess Christ. And they have established churches in their military camps, and they pay honour to the Christians, and there are among them many who are believers."

— Travels of Rabban Bar Sauma [31]

Upon his return, Bar Sauma wrote an elaborate account of his journey, which is of keen interest to modern historians, as it was the first account of Europe as seen through Eastern eyes.

Influence of Catholic Christianity

Mongol-European contacts diminished as Mongol power waned in Persia. In 1295, Ghazan (great-grandson of Hulagu) formally adopted Islam when he took the throne of the Ilkhanate in 1295, as did Berke along with other Golden Horde leaders.

In his own letters to the Mongol ruler in 1321 and 1322, the Pope still expressed his hope that the Mongol ruler would convert to Christianity. Between 500 and 1000 converts in each city were numbered by Jean of Sultaniye.^[37]

By the 14th century, the Mongols had effectively disappeared as a political power.

Catholic missions to Mongol China

In 1271, the Polo brothers brought an invitation from Kublai Khan to Pope Gregory X, imploring him that a hundred teachers of science and religion be sent to reinforce the Christianity already present in his vast empire. This came to naught due to the hostility of influential Nestorians within the Mongol court, who objected to the introduction of the Western (Roman Catholic) form of Christianity to supplant their own Nestorian doctrine.

In 1289,

Two massive catastrophes hastened the extinction of this second wave of missionaries to China. First, the Black Death during the latter half of the fourteenth century in Europe so depleted Franciscan houses that they were unable to sustain the mission to China. Second, the Mongol-created Yuan dynasty in China began to decline. The native Chinese rose up and drove out the Mongols, thereby launching the Ming dynasty in 1368. By 1369, all Christians, whether Roman Catholic or Syro-Oriental, were expelled. With the end of Mongol rule in the 14th century, Christianity almost disappeared in mainland Asia, with three of the four principal Mongol khanates embracing Islam.^[39]

See also

• Buddhism in Mongolia
• Islam in Mongolia
• Religion in the Mongol Empire

Notes