established on the accoutrements of the steppe
(now Kaifeng), the former capital of the Tungu-
culture that extended far beyond Mongolia After
sic Jurchen of the Jin dynasty 14 Early Mongol
the demise of the Qitan state of Liao in China,
battle and parade belts and belt buckles with
part of the Qitan nobility, who were most prob-
depictions of dragons are known from archaeo-
ably distant descendants of the eastern branch of
logical finds brought by the first generation of
the Xianbei tribal confederacies, moved west-
Jurchids as early as the 1220s to 1240s to the Euro-
wards to Chinese Turkestan With the help of the
pean steppe zone, pertaining to finds in the
Uighurs, to whom they were related, they created
Dnieper region, the Middle Don region, the
between 1128 and 1133 the Qara-Qitai (“Black
steppes of the Caucasus foreland and the Mid -
Qitan”) state in the Ili Valley, which after their
dle and Lower Volga regions 15 According to
victory over the Saljuq Turks in 1141 near Samar-
Kramarovsky, the first stratum of gilded and niel-
qand stretched over a vast area of Central Asia
loed silver belts with heraldic dragons may be
as far as the northern bank of the Āmū Daryā
assigned to the second half of the twelfth century
(known to the Arabs as the Jayḥūn, “flood”) With
and the first half of the thirteenth century Of a
the expansion of the Qitan, some of their icono-
complete belt found at Krasnoyarskoye archaeo-
graphic expressions also moved westwards into
logical site in the vicinity of Astrakhān, which
Central Asia
would have consisted of 65 to 70 elements, 29
In 1206 Genghis Khān marched westwards
parts survive, many carrying the emblem of a
with the main body of his army, progressively
dragon (fig 183) 16 The type and style of this belt,
taking over the Tangut kingdom, and the empire
which is Central Asian in origin, dates from the
of the Qara-Qitai, who submitted to the author-
time of the formation and the flourishing of the
ity of the Great Khān and were with time assim-
single Mongol state 17 The elite night guard be -
ilated by the local population Qara-Qitai, Jurchen,
longed to the elder generation of the officer corps
Uighurs, Qarluqs, Qıpchaqs and Chinese were
of the Jurchids who arrived in the European part
of the steppes around the middle of the thirteenth
already fighting on the side of the Great Khān in
century and had disappeared by the late four-
the victorious war against the Khwārazm-shāh
ʿ
teenth century 18
Alāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Takash (596/1200–
Among these finds is a so far unrecognised
617/1220)
composition It appears on a belt head and
According to Mark Kramarovsky, it follows
expresses the ancient Central Asian conceptu-
from the description of the military gear of Jalair
alisation of the “Master of the Dragons” as the
Mukhali (d 1223) that the saddle and horse trap-
dragon-tamer The almost universal currency of
pings of Genghis Khān and his elite night guard
the motif throughout the Central Asian world is
(kebteul s ), the most privileged military unit of
underscored by its use on this accoutrement of
the Mongol army, were decorated with dragons 11
rectangular outline with arched ends It shows a
The workmanship and, perhaps, the choice of the
frontally rendered figure with mask-like face,
motif are thought to have been influenced by the
punctuated by small, almond-shaped eyes, angu-
Qitan and Jurchen to the northeast of China 12
lar nose, large open mouth and with large pro-
Kramarovsky suggests that the conscious choice
truding ears, grasps with extended arms the necks
of the dragon as unifying heraldic symbol,
of two imposing rampant dragons, holding them
reserved for the “emperor” and his elite guards,
at bay (fig 184) 19 Although the remarkably fluid
was formed in the period between 1204 to 1206
rendering of the dragons with their long pointed
and 1217 to satisfy the needs of a rapidly growing
horns owes much to the Chinese canon of these
new elite 13 In 1221 the widespread occurrence
fabulous beasts, it is used here in a typically Cen-
of the dragon symbol was observed by the Chinese
tral Asian configuration that was not prevalent
traveller Chang Chun during his visit to Bianjing
in the Chinese empire Given its evident corre-
11 Kramarovsky, 2000, p 203, and, idem, 2005, p 225
17 Kramarovsky, 2005, p 226
12 Idem, 2000, p 205, and, idem, 2005, p 225
18 Idem
13 Idem, 2000, pp 203–4, and, idem, 2005, p 226
19 Cf Golden Horde, 2000, p 69, p 151, fig 7 1 (line
14 Men-da bei-pu [ sic; Mengda beilu (“Thorough Account of
drawing), pp 216–7, cat no 19; Legacy, 2002, fig 198, cat
the Mongol Tatars”)], 1975, p 76, as cited by idem, 2000, p 203
no 142; Dschingis Khan und seine Erben, 2005, p 230, cat no
15 Idem, 2005, p 226
253 (bottom left, depicted in inverted position)
16 Cf Golden Horde, 2000, p 69, p 151, fig 7 2 (line
drawing), pp 216–7, cat no 19
212