The State Hermitage Museum: Exhibitions

The Treasure of the Golden Horde

Paitzes

13th century

Great Mongol State

Silver

The paitze was a metal tablet that served as a sort of document. There were two different kinds - one a decoration awarded for services rendered, the other a kind of letter of commission given to individuals performing special tasks on behalf of the ruling dynasty. A silver paitze was the property of the commander of a thousand men, while a paitze written with gold letters gave the right to a vassal territory. Both these paitzes bear inscriptions consisting of five Chinese characters - one reads "Badge of Honour Number 34", the other "Declaration Number 42". On the first, a further inscription in the square Mongol script used for official documents states "By the power of Everlasting Heaven, may the name of the khan be sacred. He who does not obey should be killed, shall die."; on the second - "By the power of Everlasting Heaven, may the name of Mangku Khan be sacred. He who does not respect shall be slain, shall die."
The paitze inscribed "Badge of Honour Number 34" was found together with other silver items in 1853 near the village of Niuki in the lower reaches of the River Selenga (east of Lake Baikal). The other was found in 1845 in the Minusinsk district of Yenisei Province.