Representations of power and statehood in the legal heritage of the Mongolian peoples in the 17th century

The article studies the perceptions of power and statehood of Mongolian peoples, which were reflected in sources on juridical matters in the 17th century. The study of legal history of Mongolian peoples enables us to reveal the peculiarities of shaping and functioning of state institutions and the evolution of perceptions about its subject and boundaries in the historical retrospective. The set of objective legal monuments forms a valuable historical source. On the one hand, they reflect the status quo they are designed to regulate; on the other hand, they 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. This, however, did not preclude the possibility of their further editing in order to adapt them to new ideological objectives. The study is based on such written legal and historical monuments as «Ik Tsaaz» (the Great Statute of 1640), «Eighteen Steppe Laws», «Tsaadzhin bichig» (Mongolian Code), «True Records of the Mongols of the Qing Empire» and others.