Darughachi



Darughachi (Mongol form) or Basqaq (Turkic form) which originally designated officials in the Mongol Empire in charge of taxes and administration in a certain province, is the plural form of the Mongolian word darugha. They were sometimes referred to as governors. The term corresponds to the Persian داروغه dārugheh and the Turkic basqaq (also spelled baskak) and to da lu hua ch'i (in Wade–Giles romanization, 達魯花赤 in Traditional Chinese characters, 达鲁花赤 in Simplified Chinese characters, dálǔhuāchì in Pinyin romanization) in Chinese.

The Turkic term basqaq does not appear in Mongolian sources. In Russian sources, the darughachi were almost always referred to as baskaki. They appear in the thirteenth-century soon after the Mongol Conquest but were withdrawn by 1328 and the Grand Prince of Vladimir (usually the Prince of Moscow) became the khan's tax collector and imperial son in law (kürgen), entrusted with gathering the dan' or tribute from the Rus' principalities for the Golden Horde.

In the 13th century, chiefs of Mongol darughas were stationed in Vladimir and Baghdad.

The Mongol Empire attempted to send darughachi to Goryeo of Korea in 1231, after the first (of six) invasions. According to some records, 72 darughachi were sent and Mongol military garrisons withdrawn. However, repeated rebellions and continued Goryeo resistance to Mongol dominion (the original darughachi that were stationed were all killed by Goryeo forces in the summer of 1232) made the stationing of darughachi difficult. While there are questions regarding the actual number of darughachi stationed (the extant record denoting 72 darughachi was itself a derivation of an older record that has been lost; Goryeo was too small a territory to merit so many darughachi; the names of none of the 72 darughachi remain, which is unusual considering the importance of their position), most reliable sources (including the Goryeo-sa) indicate that at least some darughachi were stationed in Goryeo for the duration of its vassaldom to the Mongol Empire. While further mention of the darughachi in Korea is scarce in extant sources, after peace was secured between Goryeo and the Mongol Empire in 1259 establishing Korea as a vassal to the Empire, the stationing of darughachi in Korea was likely a more stable proposition.

After 1921 the word darga (boss) (Khalkha pronunciation of darugha) replaced the aristocratic noyan as the term for high-level officials in Mongolia.