During a tumultuous time, being constantly drawn into warfare with their mighty neighbours, the Tangut rulers fervently hoped to solicit the protection of the divine power by relying on Tibetan Tantric adepts, and showed great interest in the wrathful rites associated with Mahākāla, the Great Black One.
(Hou 2022, 401)
Tibetan Buddhists, known for the efficacy of their ritual magic, also served imperial courts to the east, such as the Tangut kingdom of Xixia (1038–1227). One cleric associated with the Tangut imperial line, Tsami Lotsawa, is linked to at least sixteen texts on the wrathful deity Mahakala, including The Instructions of Shri Mahakala: The Usurpation of Government, a short “how-to” work on overthrowing a state and taking power.
(Rubin)
It’s the year 1271.
In our last creative visualization, we saw the Venetian merchant and wayfarer Marco Polo, seated across the vast bulk that was the Mongol khagan and emperor of China, Kublai Khan. They were in Kublai’s yurt, in the great Mongol capital of Shangdu. They were seated on the felt rugs of exotic animals, toasting each other.
Despite his slight trepidation (who wouldn’t feel a vague sense of foreboding when meeting such a dread monarch?), Polo fearlessly pressed ahead with his questioning: Why did the Mongols hate the Western Xia, the Tanguts so much? The Mongol Empire had swept across Inner Asia just a couple of generations ago. The Jin, the Song, the Persians, and so many more: none were spared the wrath of Tengri’s finest warrior, Genghis. Yet the most distilled, pure wrath of the world conqueror was reserved for the esoteric empire that adopted both Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism, and created an entire script focused on translating Buddhist texts for the imperial court.
After some demurring, and questioning the framing of the Venetian’s query, the Mongol ruler leaned forward, not quite enough to invade the Venetian’s space, but certainly enough for him to feel, in the gut, a stab of menace and power. “You and your nosy questions. What if I confessed to you that it was because my grandfather, Temujin, knew of the Tanguts’ esoteric magic and resolved to take their deities and their rituals for our own nation, no matter the cost?”
Polo was taken aback. “Is that the truth?” he asked in a hushed whisper. He took a nervous sip of his now-cooled yak milk, hating the awful saltiness and the viscous milkiness that was completely unlike the dairy of Europe.
“Maybe, maybe not. But would that satisfy you?” Kublai leaned back, suddenly thrusting his tree trunk of an arm out, his sleeve making a great flapping sound from the force. Polo jumped, but it was merely a gesture for a mindful attendant to scurry forth with a bronze teapot and porcelain cup, and pouring the leader a hot serving of Yunnan pu’er.
“It’s a good yarn to weave, isn’t it? You already have the rumors that the Tanguts cursed Grandfather, just as he was about to finish their state. And our worship of the Great Black One: one can’t deny that we took all that from our old foes,” speculated Kublai thoughtfully.
“Do you believe it’s true? That your forces and your forebears adopted the enemy deities because of their efficacy and power?” pressed Polo.
Kublai had a smile on his broad face, though his eyes were mirthless. “Just imagine the scenario in your head, Venetian. . . what it might have been like that day. . . ” His grin widened, and for the first time, Polo truly felt frightened.
“The day we made the Tanguts’ wrathful gods our own.”
The story continues in the recollection of the fall of the Great State of White and High. . .
Reference
Houran Hou. 2022. “Mahākāla Literature Unearthed from Karakhoto.” In Yukiyo Kasai and Henrik H. Sorensen. (eds.) Buddhism in Central Asia II: Practices and Rituals, Visual and Material Transfer. Leiden: Brill, 400 – 29.
See more
War Magic: The Wizarding World of Tibetan Sorcery (Rubin)
Related blog posts from BDG
Mahakala, Tangut and Mongol Deity of Ritual Warfare: Kublai Khan
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