A paiza or paizi or gerege ( xng, Гэрэгэ, mn, Пайз, fa, پایزه ''pāiza'', ''páizi'') was a tablet carried by
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
officials and envoys to signify certain privileges and authority. They enabled Mongol nobles and officials to demand goods and services from civilian populations.
Although only someone with a paiza was required to be supplied with mounts and served specified rations, those carrying military rarities used the
yam even without a paiza. The officials and nobles of the
Mongol Empire issued paizas unofficially and abused civilians. Therefore,
Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khagan (also Ogodei;, Mongolian: ''Ögedei'', ''Ögüdei''; – 11 December 1241) was second khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire. The third son of Genghis Khan, he continued the expansion of the empire that his father had begun.
...
(r. 1229–1241) prohibited the
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
from issuing paizas and
jarliqs.
To attract foreign or overseas merchants and talents, the Great Khans gave them paiza exempting them from taxes and allowing them to use relay stations. Most of these merchants were business partners of the Mongols, known as ortoq. However,
Möngke Khan
Möngke ( mn, ' / Мөнх '; ; 11 January 1209 – 11 August 1259) was the fourth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire, ruling from 1 July 1251, to 11 August 1259. He was the first Khagan from the Toluid line, and made significant reform ...
(r. 1251–1259) limited notorious abuses and sent imperial investigators to supervise the business of the merchants who were sponsored by the Mongols. He prohibited them from using the imperial relay stations or yam (zam) and paizas.
Marco Polo, who visited the
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...
during the reign of
Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294), left a good description of the paiza.
The
Ilkhan Ghazan
Mahmud Ghazan (5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) (, Ghazan Khan, sometimes archaically spelled as Casanus by the Westerners) was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of ...
(r. 1295–1304) reformed the issuance of jarliqs, creating set forms and graded seals, ordering that all jarliqs be kept on file at court and canceling jarliqs older than 30 years and old paizas. He fashioned new paizas into two ranks, ordered that they bear the names of the bearers on them to prevent them from being transferred and required them to be relinquished at the end of the official's term.
Although paizas were popularized by the Mongols, they were not (contrary to common claim) a Mongol innovation. Similar such passports were already in use in northern China under the
Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...
, and their use was continued under subsequent kingdoms such as the
Jin Dynasty and the
Tangut kingdom of
Xi-Xia. The Jin paiza had seven different ranks.
[John Man ''Xanadu: Marco Polo and Europe's Discovery of the East'', p.36]
File:Paiza Golden Horde.jpg, A Gerege in Mongolian script
The classical or traditional Mongolian script, also known as the , was the first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most widespread until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946. It is traditionally written ...
, found in the former territory of the Mongol Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...
(Dnieper River
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The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...
, 1845)
File:Phagspa vinokurov tablet.jpg, Official pass with Mongolian inscription in 'Phags-pa script reading "By the power of eternal heaven, his is
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
an order of the Emperor. Whoever does not show respect o the bearerwill be guilty of an offence."
File:Paizi.jpg, A nightwatchman's pass of the Mongol empire, with inscriptions in Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
(left), Mongolian in 'Phags-pa script (centre), and Uyghur (right). The Mongolian inscription reads "Announcement: Beware of evil-doers".
References
{{Commons category, Paiza
Mongol Empire