spondence with imagery relating to the overmas-
Arrān, and Nakhchavān 23 In their quest for legit-
tering of the dragon, this iconography can be
imacy, the Mongols may well have given serious
assumed to have been implicitly imbued with
consideration to their choice of the motif of the
favourable properties, possibly of an empowering
mounted archer and dragon as a symbol of “inher-
quality, which would in turn be passed on to the
ited” sovereignty, using it as a means of propa-
owner of the buckle At the same time it is a sign
gating their ideological formula The image here
of supremacy and of victory over untamed forces
represents a victorious mounted archer in Mongol
The frequent application of the dragon motif on
dress, combined with the traditional imagery of
accoutrements pertaining to a traditional nomadic
the dragon-fighting horseman that was easily
lifestyle, moreover, suggests that it was not only
recognisable throughout Western Asia
well-known but firmly enshrined in Mongol
Another important form of dragon symbolism,
mythological concepts and formed an integral
that of the tree with dragons, had made an appear-
part of their artistic repertoire even before the
ance in thirteenth-century Mongolia in the form
onset of the period of Mongol imperial rule The
of an automaton During Ögödei’s time the des-
fact that belief in a dragon played a significant
ignated capital of the empire at Qaraqorum in
part in the indigenous beliefs of the Mongols (see
the Orkhon valley in central Mongolia, chosen
below), lends added weight to this possibility 20
by his father as early as 1220, was walled and,
Two years after Genghis Khān’s death in 1227,
according to the Yüan-shih (“History of the yuan
his third son and designated successor, Ögödei,
dynasty”), the official history of the yuan dynasty
was confirmed as the second Great Khān (r 1229–
composed in the early Ming dynasty, Ögödei con-
1241) From 641/1243–4 until 653/1255–6 his
structed a palace there in 1235 24 In the imperial
territories in greater Khurasan were overseen by
precinct his son Möngke erected a serpent-tree,
governor Arghūn Āqā, who was part of the Oirat
which became a monument of central signifi-
Mongol clan 21 It was under him that in 642/1244–5
cance At his orders it was built in the form of a
the Mongols minted their first silver coins in
large, gilded silver tree-fountain by the French
Arrān (the district in Transcaucasia between the
silversmith Guillaume Bouchier, a prisoner-
Kur and Aras rivers) Not least because of the
of-war, together with fifty local workmen 25 The
turbulent political situation in Khurasan, Arghūn
serpent-tree-fountain was of considerable size and
chose to retain the area of Azerbaijan as one of
was situated in the southern section of the main
the centres of Mongol monetary production 22 It
reception hall of the Khān’s palace called Tumen
is significant that for the iconography of these
Amgalant (“Myriad Tranquillities”) opposite the
first coins, the Mongols chose that of the dragon-
Khān’s throne 26
fighting horseman The latter is portrayed as a
During Möngke’s reign the Franciscan friar,
galloping archer in Mongol attire turning to aim
William of Rubruck (Willem van Ruysbroeck, c
over his shoulder at a “Saljuq-style” ophidian
1210–1270) from French Flanders visited the
dragon The arched inscription above, written in
Mongol capital of Qaraqorum in 1254 and in his
the Turkic language but in Arabic script, states:
Itinerarium addressed to king Louis IX of France
“Ūlūgh Mūnqūl ulūsh nyk/One great Mongol
gives a detailed account of this silver tree-foun-
nation ” Coins of this type were chosen for dif-
tain:
ferent principalities such as Ganja, the capital of
20 Spuler, 1939, repr 1955, p 140, with reference to
24 Dschingis Khan und seine Erben, 2005, p 152
Banzarov, D , Čërnaja věra ili šamanstvo u Mongolov i drugi-
25 For a monograph on William Bouchier, see Olschki,
ja stat’i (“Der schwarze Glaube oder der Schamanismus bei
1946
den Mongolen und andere Aufsätze”), ed Potanin, G N , St
26 Cf a contemporary oil on paperboard painting rep-
Peterburg, 1891, pp 15–6 Cf Liu, 1958, p 10; Roux, 1978,
resenting the silver serpent-tree-fountain by B Pürevsüch,
p 128, also p 143
Mongolia, 1980 (Mongolian Cultural Foundation, Ulan Batar,
21 Cf Kolbas, 2006, pp 100, 114
inv no 21); Dschingis Khan und seine Erben, 2005, p 153,
22 Eadem, pp 114–5
cat no 109 See also an eighteenth-century engraving of the
23 Eadem, pp 125–7 and n 20; Ganja: pl 5 1 (reverse)
fountain in Bergeron, 1735, p 96, preserved in the Staats-
and cover; Nakhchavān, preserved in the Bibliothèque Natio-
bibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Orientab-
nale, Paris: the dragon’s head rears up behind the horse, an
teilung, Ms 4’Uk 2408; reproduced in Olschki, 1946, pl 3,
arrow piercing its mouth
and Dschingis Khan und seine Erben, 2005, p 154, cat no 110