Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 May 2016
Despite the existence of some general overviews, the institution of theMongol tribunals has not been studied in a satisfactory way. A great deal ofdetails are unclear and the functioning of the whole legal procedure isshrouded in obscurity. The present paper makes an attempt to elucidate anaspect of the historical development of this Turco-Mongolian institution inIlkhanid Iran, one of the Chingisid uluses, namely what were thepreconditions and prescriptions of being appointed to the rank of a Mongoljudge? The focal point will be the three charters of appointment (or yarliksamples) presented by Muḥammad ibn Hindūshāh Nakhchivānī (ca. 679/1280 –after 768/1366), in his Dastūr al-kātib fī tacyīn al-marātib(“Guidelines of the Secretary for Defining the Echelons”), a manual ofIlkhanid and Jalayirid administration, accomplished in the 1360s.