Perceptions of power and statehood in the legal heritage of the Mongolian peoples of the 13th - 17th centuries

The article studies the perceptions of Mongolian peoples of power and statehood, reflected in historical sources of 13th-17th centuries. The study of legal history of the Mongolian peoples enables us revealing the peculiarities of shaping and functioning of state institutions and the evolution of perceptions about its subject and boundaries in the historical retrospective. In this context, the legal monuments form a valuable historical source: they reflect the status quo they are designed to regulate, and shape goals and imperatives of social development. In addition, being official documents that construct the historical reality, these historical sources are devoid of personal interpretation. The study is based on such written legal monuments as «Ikh zasaag» («The Great Yasa»), «Chagan teuke» («The White History»), «The Altan-Khan Statute», «The Khutuktai-Sechen Law», «Ik Tsaaz» (the Great Statute of 1640) and «Eighteen Steppe Laws».