A tümen was a military unit of ten thousand warriors in the Mongol army, and it was the basic strategic unit of the Mongol Empire. The tümen was the largest of the regular units of the decimal system, and it was the unit that was typically deployed on a major campaign. The tümen was commanded by a tümenchin, who was one of the most senior officers in the Mongol army and who was typically a member of the imperial family or a close relative of the khan.
The tümen was, in many ways, the basic unit of the Mongol military. The tümen was the unit that was typically used to project Mongol power into a new territory, and it was the unit that was typically used to garrison a newly conquered territory. The tümen was also the unit that was typically used as the basis for the recruitment of the armies of the successor khanates.
The Word “Tümen”
The word “tümen” (also spelled “tumen,” “tuman,” or “tüman”) is the Turkic-Mongolian term for “ten thousand.” The word is derived from the Turkic word “tümän,” which means “ten thousand,” and it is the source of the modern Mongolian word “tümen” and the modern Turkish word “tümen.” The word is also the source of the medieval European term “taman,” which was used to refer to a Mongol army of ten thousand warriors.
The word “tümen” was used in the Mongol military to refer to a unit of ten thousand warriors, but it was also used in the broader sense of “army” or “military force.” The tümen was, in effect, the basic unit of Mongol military power, and the word “tümen” came to be used as a synonym for “army” in many contexts.
The Composition of a Tümen
A tümen was composed of ten mingghans, each of which was a unit of a thousand warriors. The mingghans were, in turn, composed of ten zuuns, each of which was a unit of a hundred warriors. The zuuns were, in turn, composed of ten arbans, each of which was a unit of ten warriors. The tümen was, in effect, a hierarchy of units, with each level responsible for the conduct of the units below it.
The tümen was not, however, a rigid hierarchy. The tümen could be broken down into smaller units for specific operations, and the smaller units could be combined with units from other tümens to form larger forces. The flexibility of the tümen was one of the keys to the success of the Mongol military, and it was one of the reasons why the Mongols were able to defeat much larger armies.
The Commanders of a Tümen
The tümen was commanded by a tümenchin, who was one of the most senior officers in the Mongol army. The tümenchin was typically a member of the imperial family or a close relative of the khan, and he was responsible for the conduct of the tümen in the field. The tümenchin was given a high degree of autonomy in the field, and he was expected to make decisions on his own initiative.
The most famous of the tümenchins was Subutai, the son of a blacksmith, who rose through the ranks of the Mongol army to become the most successful general in the history of the Mongol Empire. Subutai was the commander of a tümen in the western campaigns of the 1220s, and he went on to lead the Mongol invasion of Europe in the 1240s. Subutai was a master of the feigned retreat, the envelopment, and the use of intelligence, and he was one of the most influential military commanders in the history of the world.
The other tümenchins included Jebe, who was the co-commander of the western campaigns in the 1220s; Batu, who was the grandson of Genghis Khan and the commander of the invasion of Europe; and Hulagu, who was the grandson of Genghis Khan and the commander of the invasion of the Middle East. All of these tümenchins were important figures in the history of the Mongol Empire, and they played major roles in the conquests of the thirteenth century.
The Use of the Tümen in Battle
The tümen was the basic strategic unit of the Mongol army, and it was the unit that was typically deployed on a major campaign. The tümen was typically used in conjunction with other tümens, and the combination of tümens could be tailored to the specific needs of the campaign. The tümen was also the unit that was typically used as the basis for the recruitment of the armies of the successor khanates.
The tümen was typically deployed in a formation that allowed it to respond quickly to changing circumstances. The tümen was organized into a main body, a reserve, and a screening force, and the units could be shifted between these roles as the battle progressed. The flexibility of the tümen was one of the keys to the success of the Mongol military, and it was one of the reasons why the Mongols were able to defeat much larger armies.
The Tümen in the Successor Khanates
The tümen continued to be the basic unit of the Mongol military in the successor khanates. The Yuan Dynasty in China, the Ilkhanate in Persia, the Golden Horde in Russia, and the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia all maintained armies organized along decimal lines, with the tümen as the basic strategic unit. The armies of the khanates were, however, generally smaller than the armies of the original Mongol Empire, and the tümen often consisted of fewer than ten thousand warriors.
The tümen also became a term in the languages of the conquered peoples. The Russian word “tuman” was used to refer to a Mongol army of ten thousand warriors, and the word was widely used in the Russian chronicles. The Persian word “tümen” was also widely used, and the word is still used in modern Persian to refer to a large number or a large sum of money.
Sources
- Timothy May, The Mongol Art of War (Barnsley, 2007).
- David Morgan, The Mongols (2nd ed., Oxford, 2007).
- Christopher I. Beckwith, Empires of the Silk Road (Princeton, 2009).