Yam (route)

Mongol rider on the Yam (Postal) System. Diez Albums, SBB-PK, Diez A fol. 71, p. 28, no. 1.[1]

Yam (Mongolian: Өртөө, Örtöö, checkpoint) was a postal system or supply point route messenger system extensively used and expanded by Ögedei Khan and also used by subsequent great khans and khans.[2]

Relay stations provided food, shelter and spare horses for Mongol army messengers. Ögedei Khan gave special attention to Yam because Mongol armies travelled quickly; their messengers had to be even faster, and they covered 200–300 kilometres (120–190 mi) per day.[2] The system was used to speed up the process of information and intelligence.

The system was preserved in the Tsardom of Russia after the disintegration of the Golden Horde.

  1. ^ The Diez albums: contexts and contents. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. 2017. p. 229. ISBN 978-90-04-32155-7.
  2. ^ a b Weatherford, Jack (2004). Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80964-4.