Continuing with a look at some interesting Mongolian postage stamps, this week is a set of what the text at the top of them says (in English, which is convenient) are “The Chinggis Khan’s Militant Soldiers”.

The original art, as credited on the stamps, is by T. Otgonbayar and the date of issue seems to be 1997.

One of the things I like about these as a reference source is that the images were created by a Mongol artist, not a westerner working from whatever sources, probably secondary/tertiary, that they could find.

First is a set of single stamps, three with swordsmen, three with horsemen and two with archers.

The piece d’ resistance is a triptych of the Mongol army in full panoply. What a sight they must have been! It is estimated that at the time the Mongols were conquering city after city, the total number of them was maybe one million. The army probably had 100,000 soldiers. Total. Each one had about five horses. So a half million horses to find graze for. And there was no supply line, no logistics challenges like modern armies face. Being a nomadic people, many soldiers had their gers and families with them, but instead of moving to new pastures, they just kept heading west. No one was longing for home and loved ones, because home was with them wherever they went.

Swordsmen; the one on the left carries a horsehair standard

Horsemen; notice the two cheetahs on the far right stamp; that's something I want to find out more about

Archers; only English longbowmen could approach the ability of the Mongol archers

The Mongol Horde; "horde" is the only Mongolian word that has come unchanged into English; notice, once again, the two cheetahs on the right; and also the black and white horsehair standards; white ones are still used today as important symbols of the Great Mongolian State