The Mayan people and the Mongols were among the oldest civilizations with contrasting social, religious, and political structures. The Mayan people were widely known for their advanced writing system, arts, and architecture in ancient Central America. On the contrary, the Mongols occupied Asia, where they formed the Mongol empire, which is the largest empire in history. This paper argues that the political and social structures of these two societies were influenced by the size of their territories and their religious practices.
Mayan Civilization
The Maya people were divided into cities that formed states with independent governments ruled by kings. The people believed that the kings were ordained by the gods to rule and therefore acted as intermediaries between the living and the gods (Luthra, 2018). The kings were assisted in governing the cities by a council consisting mainly of nobles and military leaders (Adler & Pouwels, 2020). Additionally, priests were an important figure in the Mayan leadership structures as they were believed to offer spiritual guidance to the kings and counsel the nobles. Most of the kings consulted the priest for spiritual guidance in times of crisis. Besides, some of the kings were considered priests.
The position of the king was inherited by the oldest son of the royal family. The Mayan kings had several responsibilities, including presiding over religious functions such as praying and offering thanksgiving to the gods (Luthra, 2018). During wars, they led the people to defend their territory and conducted raids on other cities to establish power. Most of the kings had symbols of power that comprised monuments and other structures such as pyramids and temples to demonstrate their legacy. The priests had special religious duties of offering guidance to the people. They assisted the kings in conducting religious functions, especially while offering sacrifices. Furthermore, the priests acted as teachers to the children of the noble class (Luthra, 2018). They taught them how to read and write and basic spiritual doctrines.
The Mayan civilization was highly religious, they believed in the existence of several powerful gods. The rulers led the people in worshiping these gods by offering sacrifices and other rituals to please them. Additionally, the people believed in the existence of ancestors who mediated between the living and the gods (Luthra, 2018). The priests played a significant role in preserving the religious beliefs by teaching the young generations about the gods and guiding them. The Maya people imposed their religion on other groups through military conquest and trade (Luthra, 2018). Initially, they did not tolerate multiple beliefs, but they started adopting other religious beliefs such as Catholicism due to close interaction with foreigners through trading.
The Mayan society was organized into different classes based on wealth, religion, and status. The highest position in society was held by the king, the supreme military and religious leader. The nobles were the second most powerful people consisting of priests and elite families (Luthra, 2018). They used their wealth to exert political, economic, and religious power on ordinary people. They were the most literate people in the society who occupied the central areas of the cities close to the king’s palace. The noble status and the position of authority that the nobles occupied were inherited within the family. The nobles played a significant role in assisting the king in ruling the city-state through managing trading activities, collecting taxes, and conducting religious functions.
Below the noble class, there were the ordinary people, referred to as the commoners. This category consisted of peasants, laborers, merchants, artists, and those who served in the military. Commoners were prohibited from wearing attires that resembled the noble class. They were restricted from purchasing luxury goods such as jewelry reserved for the nobles (Luthra, 2018). Although some commoners were wealthy, they were forbidden from living within the city’s central areas, occupied mainly by the nobles. As a result, they majorly settled in the city’s outskirts.
At the bottom of the hierarchy of the social structure were the slaves and serfs. The serfs were forced laborers who worked for the rulers and the nobles in return for protection and physical residence in the land they worked in. Slavery was active in the Mayan society, practiced by the nobles and the commoners (Luthra, 2018). Some slaves were acquired through trade, while others were enslaved to punish them for committing serious crimes, including failing to pay their debts. (Luthra, 2018). However, slavery was not inherited, and the children of the slaves had the freedom to live ordinary lives. Therefore, each class had its role in society with a code of conduct that must be adhered to, thus making it difficult to change positions.
The Mongols
The Mongol civilization majorly consisted of conquered nomadic tribes, which formed the Mongol empire under the regime of Genghis Khan. The Mongols’ governance system was headed by the khans chosen by state assemblies known as the Kurultai. Since the Mongol empire was vast, the leadership structure was highly diversified. Genghis Khan, who unified the empire, relied on the existing political systems of the different tribes making the Mongol civilization (Adler & Pouwels, 2020). However, the leaders of these tribes were to prove loyalty to him and follow his commands. He mainly employed the meritocracy system of governance, where he rewarded those who proved to be loyal to him by giving them more powers.
The primary responsibility of Genghis Khan was to a code of laws referred to as Yassa, which guided the states of the empire on how to rule the subjects. The death penalty was a common practice and was majorly applied to the communities that resisted the rules of the khan (Christian, 2018). Additionally, the khan had the responsibility to address the welfare of the workers by creating favorable economic conditions for them. At the remote level, the chiefs helped manage the empire and ensured that the rules dictated in the Yassa were followed (Adler & Pouwels, 2020). Additionally, the Kurultai assisted the khan in making domestic and foreign policies for the empire.
The Mongol civilization had diverse religious beliefs, including Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. During the Genghis Khan regime, there was religious freedom, and all the religious leaders were highly respected and exempted from taxes. The multiple religions made the Mongol civilization polytheistic, where they worshipped different gods depending on the religion (Christian, 2018). The Mongols tolerated other religious beliefs and did not impose their religions on other communities. They wanted to minimize conflict and resistance; thus, religious tolerance was essential in cultivating peace.
The Mongols did not have a rigid social structure because of their nomadic nature. However, a hierarchy of social institutions existed, including the family, which was the basic institution followed by clans. A clan was made up of a group of related families. Several clans formed a tribe, while a group of tribes formed a confederation (Christian, 2018). The rulers of the confederations were answerable to the empire’s supreme leader, the khan. The Mongols practiced slavery, and the slaves were not considered vital in the social hierarchy. Religion was highly respected, and it played a significant role in society. Genghis Khan considered the religious leaders important figures who promoted peace and stability among tribes. Social mobility among the people made it possible to change positions. Furthermore, people who proved loyalty to the khan were rewarded by being given positions of power.
Comparison and Conclusion
In conclusion, the similarity between the Mayan and Mongol civilizations is that they both relied on military raids to gain territory and exert influence. Furthermore, the two societies highly respected their religious leaders, who helped the rulers promote peace among the people. Besides, both cultures practiced slavery, and trade was a common economic activity. On the contrary, the Mongols practiced different religions while the Mayan had a single religion. In addition, while kings led the Mayan people, the Mongols were led by khans.
Mayan leadership positions, including the kings and the nobles, were inherited, while the Mongols had an assembly that appointed leaders based on merit. Moreover, the khan of the Mongols was perceived to be a military leader and had limited religious functions. On the contrary, the Mayan society considered their kings supreme military and religious leaders who mediated between the living and the gods. The Mayan social structure was rigid, with strict, definitive positions and specific practices. However, the Mongols had flexible social structures that made it easier for people to change positions.
The Mongols had a different social and political structure from the Maya people because the Mongol empire was vast compared to the small city-states that the Mayan kings controlled. I believe that the rulers of Mayan had more religious powers because they practiced a single religion, while the Mongols had religious diversity. The approach to freedom of religion employed by the khan in Mongols made him more of a military leader than a religious leader.
References
Adler, P., & Pouwels, R. (2020). World civilizations (6th ed.). Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, pp. 187-239.
Christian, D. (2018). A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, Volume II: Inner Eurasia from the Mongol Empire to Today, 1260-2000. John Wiley & Sons.
Luthra, K. (2018). Research and Maya Civilization. Sansmaran Research Journal, 8(1), 6-9.